Rain

We have gone from the above to the below in only a couple of weeks. Creation is amazing.

Novelty items

Yes, I admit I have purchased novelties in the past. In a cedar chest in South Dakota I have a Ronald Reagan drinking glass. There is a story behind this purchase. You see, I was in Washington D.C. the week before Mr. Reagan was inaugurated as president of the United States. I had the opportunity to attend the inauguration thanks to Rep. Clint Roberts; however, because I was on a school trip, the school would not let me stay even with my parents permission. I knew this was for me a once in a lifetime experience and since I live in Australia, I was probably right.

So I sulked and purchased Reagan memorabilia.

Today, in the grocery store in Roma, I found and interesting novelty item. Yes, indeed, Obama dolls, many of them stacked above a couple of Churchill dolls. I was very interested to see US presidential stuff in the grocery store in Roma. Churchill didn't surprise me because, the Queen of England is still a figure head of some sort here.

I may have expected to find Obama dolls in the city but out here? Well, and above Churchill well only 60 years or so will verify that.

So the photo, sorry for the quality, I am still learn to use the phone camera.

Happy New Year to you and whatever doll you play with!.

A week before Christmas

A week before Christmas

and all through the house

is disorder and chaos

and could be a mouse.

The stockings are hung by the

gas heater with care

but heat won't be needed

its summer out here.

Nestling in bed might be nice

but there's work to be done.

Carol services to finish

meals to plan

The kids will be visiting

and friends will stop too.

And what about those here

with nothing else to do?

I expect that on Christmas

there will be a clatter

of voices and dishes

relationships ringing!

Sorry Santa you're not the star

of the day we celebrate

but relationship with God

his Son incarnate.

Merry Christmas.

The things you see

Mal and I were driving down a residential street this week and suddenly we saw a weedeater or whippersnipper (you get the picture) fly onto the sidewalk with great force. There was a disgruntled man walking away. He happened to look up at us just as we passed. Mal and I kept straight faces until we were by but then lost it. Mal said, "I have wanted to do that on many occasion." I thought he must have been embarrassed a bit by being caught. It was really funny. I hope the bloke had a bit of a laugh over it too.

Then today we had a coffee at a nice coffee shop. For those who don't know you leave a door or window open when using an evaporative cooler. This coffee shop had the door open and in flies a willy wagtail. This bird fly directly in lit in front of the counter momentarily. Hopped around tables, flew to the window where the food comes from the kitchen. Flew past the women at the register barely clearing her head, which made all the staff and us laugh. He checked things out very thoroughly. Then left out the door again. He clearly knew his way around. The staff then told us, through their laughter and ours that they had named the bird Hoover and he comes in two or three times a day making a circuit. We were clearly in his territory.

Fencing

Building our faith, or discipling, is a bit like building fence. We have these theological concepts that form the corner post or strainers. Concepts, on hand that God reigns, Christ is king and on the other hand, Jesus came to serve and was crucified. These seemingly opposing ideas give us hymns like "The Servant King". But I imagine a fence. The opposing ideas at each end; the divine Jesus on one end and the human Jesus on the other. Our faith is wire that stretches in between. If we have one end but not the other the wire is propped up on one end and one end and lays down at the other and you don't have a fence. If you don't have well developed corner strainers then the will not hold the weight of the wire and will eventually sag and the result again is no fence. Both ends must be strong, then the faith wire must be held taut between the two. Too tight, the wire breaks. Not tight enough, it sags and again no fence. But wait, there's more! Between the two corners are many little ideas, I'll call them posts. They must line up between the two. They do not need to be level or even too straight to begin with. But if a post is out of alignment for a long time it will wear on the wire and create rust and the wire may break. So it is imperative that you walk the fence from time to time; regularly, starting at one end and check each post for weakness moving posts and adjusting wire along the way. A good fence draws admiration to the property it creates the boundary for. A good fence can stand alone for some time. It can take the normal pressure of livestock but also can often withstand flood, blizzard, and small fires, in Australia called cool burns. After huge disasters fences need repair. We need to spend time again starting at one end walking to the other repairing the damage. Rarely, though do you have to repair the corners, if they were well built in the beginning. Yesterday, I took my congregation fencing. Some even seemed to enjoy it.

Desert Limes

Today, Mal and I experience a Roma treat. Desert Lime Jam. A member of the congregation with connections to Tourism Roma gave us a small introductory size sampler. It came with a brochure that gave serving suggestions. We tried the Desert Lime Jam over a bit of vanilla ice cream and we were both sold. Mal stated the more he ate the more he liked it. I found quite good and dipped into the jar for a bit more as I had been maybe a bit conservative at the onset. I will look for new ways to enjoy this local treat. And for any readers in desert locales that enjoy citrus, the tree is an Australian native citrus glauca. The product that I can honestly recommend is found at Australian Desert Limes. Enjoy

interesting conversation

What do you talk about after church during fellowship time? Maybe you get into a deeper discussion about the sermon. Or maybe just polite conversation about the weather, boys, girls, relationships, kids, grandkids, or work. Maybe it is about natural disasters, news items, global economics, or world poverty. Maybe you chat about upcoming projects or studies. Sometimes you have conversations, that are just fun - light banter. Do you remember any of these conversations. Recently, after worship during the fellowship, we had a conversation that I just can't seem to stop thinking about. The topic - snakes, yes, snakes. All kinds, the King Brown, the Red Belly Black, the Tiger Snake, and Death Adder to name them specifically. All can be found around here. Now, people who know me know I don't like snakes. But I learned a bit about them. I learned that they can be found in washing machines. I learned that "in the good ol' days" snakes were routinely shot. Now because of animal protection, people call have them them removed. So there were several stories about snake removal. I learned that the gas pipeline crew employs a snake handler to go ahead of the work crews and relocate the snakes. I learned that you can often tell if you have a snake around by listening to the frogs. Apparently, frogs make a very distressed sound when being eaten by a snake. I will be listening for that for sure. I also learned a few ways people keep snakes away. Apparently, if you drape the shade material used for shade sails around fences, snakes will get trapped like a net so that they can be removed before you happen across one accidently. I will not forget this conversation for some time.