The Luckiest Man in New Zealand?

The Unthinkable...

The unthinkable happened today: I found myself cheering for Australia in the Soccer world cup...I'm seeking therapy...

For the record: they wuz robbed! The Spanish and the Italians may hate each other, but the Spanish ref proved continental Europe sticks together when it really counts...

Monday Musings

Some days the world is more interesting than others - well at least it appears that way:

• England beat the banana capital this morning, ironically with a Beckham banana kick. There really is no one who can bend it like Beckham and I have to say I was pleased for the guy. Its great to see someone succeed at something where they have a special gift - he's been getting such a hiding in the UK press that it was good to see him come right - after all what else has he got to fall back on? OK I guess I asked for the inevitable comment...
• The ultimate utility vehicle has to be the Rover soft top I saw in Panmure today. You wouldn't think you could get a washing machine in the back seat. But you can. Just take the top down and in she goes!
• The otter from Auckland zoo is still loose! This is a more dripping drama (sorry I meant gripping) than the P addict of a few weeks back. But here's the cool thing - the very DOC worker responsible for capturing this wild beast, was the lucky recipient of a visit from the said furry friend just last week - he appeared in the guy's driveway! This is the start of an arch rivalry on the same level as Superman and Lex Luthor...or maybe Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny...Brian Tamaki and G. Beyer...

Maybe its just me?

Not the Sum Total

If I were to form my picture of God out of the negative experiences of this past week. I think I would envision God as a "dispatcher". In this role as "dispatcher", God is marshalling his workforce with one specific goal in mind: to go into all the world and piss me off.

And yet we know, DON'T WE (?) that our pictures of God are not generated out of our experiences...except they often are. There is a disconnect between the theory and practice.

On the flipside there have been things that outweigh much of the negativity. Big things that will shape a whole community. I am reminded that while the church is certainly its people, the direction and endurance of the church is not down to us. Just as well. I don't say that tritely. And I don't just mean the church I get to be part of. We may all hold much of the future of our respective faith communities in our hands - we get to make choices that impact people and lives - and sure God is in that, but churches open and close all the time - we do get to make an election in that process whether we're part of the closing. What I am getting at is that the relentless purposes of God will roll on.

I pray that I don't get left behind as His purposes roll on. I could bear almost anything but not irrelevance. I can deal with love or hate, but not indifference. I don't mind not being significant, but insignificance is something much feared.

You see these dynamics in scripture in lots of places - people get left behind as God moves on. Other times God restores or empowers. In that sense experience does count - the experiences of those who have gone before wrapped up in the ambiguous parcel which is the Bible.

If there is one thing that my experience has told me it is that I don't have any options - not real ones. I get to do what I most long to do. There is nothing left to go back to when you're already living the dream. And so I get to take the bad with the good. I get to learn not to equate the choices of others with the will of a relentless God. And I get to realise that He is an exceedingly better bet than the whimsical and fleeting favour of his creation.

Power Cuts Rule OK?

So because of Mondays big power outage here, Jean's cheffing assessment got moved, which meant that the original consumers of the assessment we compowelled to be at work, which meant that the Jones family could come off the bench to turn in a sterling late second half performance...

It was verrrrry good! I was a littled overwhelmed by the menu:

• We started with vension in a soup - I couldn't pronounce the name properly, so I improvised, "I think I'll call him...Bambi..."
• Then there was salmon but it was like nothing I've ever had out of a can...
• I was worried bout the main because the menu said it was "Poison" but it turned out to be a baby chicken (spot the culinary infanticide theme)
• The icecream was made with beans but it looked just like regular ice cream - I guess I was thinking it would be a hokey pokey kind of experience except with beans - but it wasn't even green...

So 2 thumbs up to Jean for such a great job and 3 thumbs up to Transpower for making it all possible.

Jonesboor

Wife, Now in Residence

Had a great weekend at the Wesleyan Convention in Taupo. May even blog on the experience later.

Meantime, we arrived home to Kristen's Residency permit which has finally through! Now we can have "all" our future babies for free...

A nice start to the week...