Merry/Happy Christmas!!

Just a quick blog to say Merry/Happy Christmas! I pray that you all had a lovely Christmas. I will update you in full (with Photos) of our Wagstaffe Adventures shortly. The week was full of LOTS of fun things - I even got a tan. Unbelieveable!!!

Well until I return home and have time to blog properly - enjoy your holidays!!

Farewell, Survivor & Shopping!!

Sunday was my farewell from Dapto. It was very sad but also very lovely. I think maybe about 200 people turned up to say goodbye. I felt really loved. It was nice. Leaving your home church is something you only do once. And it is such a strange feeling. I am very excited about my new adventure but a little sad about the people I will leave behind and not get to see week-in & week-out. But I will work hard at keeping in contact with them and will pray that they will do the same.

Survivor!! We had a Survivor afternoon/night at Naomi's house in Como yesterday. It was lots of fun. We watched 3 episodes that we had missed then watched the Finale & the Reunion. Oh yeah and in between we had a delicious dinner and a spa. It was great! Hanging out with friends is always good.

Well, today was shopping with Ingrid and Lynette. That was lots of fun also. I didn't spend as much money as I thought I would. I picked up some fantastic bargains - jackets, shirts, & pants from Just Jeans for $5 or $10 each (mainly for my brothers). I was so impressed. I did get some new clothes with money I got from my Grandma for my birthday and Christmas so that was fun too. I didn't get anywhere near as many Christmas presents as I would have like but there is still at least 1 1/2 days of planned shopping left in this week :)

Next week is Wagstaffe...I am so looking forward to a holiday. Wagstaffe in the Central Coast and there are a number of us going to stay at Naomi's family's holiday house. There will be plenty of fun, wake boarding, good company, plenty of rest and hopefully amongst all of that I can get some talks written for a camp I am speaking at in Jan. We will see.

Well it is time for some sleep. :)

End of a Chapter...

This weekend marks the end of a chapter in my life... Dapto! I will be finishing up at Dapto this Sunday. In 2 days time in fact. It all feels a little weird. I am excited about seeing ministry done differently and I love the idea of change. I love adventures and really am looking forward to what God has in store for me next year. But at the same time I look backwards and see the great things about Dapto. My mum tells me I have been at this church for 19 years. That is a long time!! It is practically my whole life. A lot has happened in that 19 years. All the things that have occurred have shaped me into the person that I am now. God has used every little experience (both good and bad) to make me who I am today. So to move on from that is also a little strange. When you leave something that has really only been your reality for most of your life is bizarre yet exciting. I think the reality of the situation is beginning to kick in.

I guess there is also working out how to finish off ministry the best way possible and to care for people in the best way I can. I know that this is not something that will be complete by Sunday night. It will take time and energy. But when you are talking about people's lives sometimes you need to sacrifice things so that another person will benefit more in the long term. I will work this through. I do know that this will not be my final time at Dapto forever but at the same time I know that honestly I wont be back to see Dapto Anglican on a Sunday much at all. I will have another parish that will require my attention. There are many mixed emotions going on inside at the moment.

My time at Dapto has been a great time to build some amazing friendships. The Pickford's have been absolute treasures. They have welcomed me into their lives and family so freely. There has been hard times but the I guess in the end I just feel apart of this family and indebted to them in many ways. There are also some amazing friends that I have here at Dapto. I have received so much support and love and I know that there are many that will continue to pray for me as I leave Dapto. And what a privilege prayer is. To know that people are committing you to the most awesome and high God's care is just so comforting and reassuring. He is a great God and he is faithful and powerful. He us able to do immeasurably more than we can ever ask or imagine.

Well, some random catch up of events. We had our carols in the showground tonight and it was great. I was involved in Kids' craft for the first 2 hrs or so but it all went really well. People pulled together and helped out and were amazing.

Grand Finals for squash were last night. I lost in 3 but played quite well and our team also lost. But in the end we had fun and we didn't have to referee so we were happy. And plus we won hand towels that are quite nice - so who can complain. My squash team is great and I love them heaps. They are great girls.

Well I think that I should sleep now - I am extremely exhausted. Please pray for this weekend. I am not sure really what it will hold (particularly Sunday night). Thanks :)

Jessamine McPhail

McPhail Girls

Here are the McPhail girls. Isabelle and Tamsyn holding their baby sister Jessamine.

Mountains Adventure

Mountains and Madness!! Yesterday a group of us went to the Blue Mountains to hang out with Tim and Jodie. It was great fun!! We had lunch on a cliff at Jodie's house, went for a huge and very fun bush walk, had dinner at a look out looking at the 3 Sisters, and had coffee at a very flashy hotel. It was really lovely. I will post photos as soon as I get them.

I also have my squash Grand Finals on Thursday night so hopefully we can win!!

My friends the McPhail's had a beautiful baby girl on Friday morning. Her name is Jessamine Love McPhail and she was 9 pound 9oz (very big girl). I will be living with these guys for Dec and the beginning of Jan, which will be really really lovely.

Ok dinner calls...

Ben Lee Rocks!!!

Arjh and I went to see Ben Lee last night. And he ROCKED!!! It was such a good concert. I know many of you out there don't like Ben Lee but he is a great performer and I had an absolute blast. This will just be a short blog (unusual for me I know) because I have to preach at our 5pm Youth Service tomorrow and my sermon still needs a lot of work. Please pray for me. So I shall go to bed so I can get up and do some productive work before 10am Church (I am very sleepy now). Night all!!

Holidays are Here!!

Well, the holidays are here! This week is going to be bit of a crazy week but I am not stressed or unhappy about it. It is good that this is the busy week and I haven't had time to crash yet. I spoke at Refresh (our Mums of Preschoolers Group) this morning. It was an evangelistic talk about the preparations God made for the first Christmas and our need to prepare for Jesus' return. By God's grace it went well and I believe that there were interesting conversations afterwards. That is pleasing.

I still have a talk on Daniel for Kids' Club on Friday and a sermon on Mark 11 & 12 for the Youth service on Sunday. So still quite a bit of work to do this week. But I really enjoy preparing talks and getting stuck into the Bible so it should be an enjoyable week. And God is gracious when his word is being taught.

My birthday had continued for 3 days now and that is nice. I went out to lunch today with my Grandparents for lunch and then went to Thai with my parents for dinner. Grandma took me shopping to spend my birthday and Christmas money and I bought new jeans and a new party top. So I am looking forward to wearing my top out to Karaoke next Wed night.

Well to put a slight downer on my birthday my real dad in his usual style completely forgot about my birthday and even when I dropped him hints today still didn't really get it. You would think after 23 years I would be used to it but it still makes me a little sad :(

Anyways in general it has been an absolutely lovely week. Oh yeah I nearly forgot that Molly (Mary - who I stay with on the week ends, her 11 year old daughter) had made me a birthday cake. So I got to have that last night. That was lovely. It tasted great too!!

Ok that is all for now...