Calvary Baptist Church is the name of the new church I've been going to -- and I'm really enjoying going there. Simon, a bloke from church (introduced through a friend we share) has been giving me a lift there. It's great -- the preaching is really sound, and they sing a lot of hymns (which is fine by me -- I love those old hymns). There's been a lot of meeting new people, but I'm gradually starting to get to know people and making friends. I even get to wear a shirt and tie to church and not feel out of place -- but it is by no means expected that you do. Some blokes turn up in suits, and others turn up in t-shirts. That's one of the many things I like about Calvary Baptist. (I have to be careful when I speak about it to people, though : if I said, "I went to Calvary on Sunday...").
Thanks to all of you who were praying that I'd find a church I would enjoy going to.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Thursday, March 6, 2008
in the hangar
We started doing some work in the hangar today, which is great. We are making bucking bars, which are pretty much lumps of steel used together with a rivet gun to buck rivets. There is a lot of filing involved, but it's fun to be out doing stuff with my hands. I'm enjoying being out at Coldstream 4 days a week.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
ahh, weekends...
Weekends at BCV...the sun shines down from a clear, blue sky...I sit here, typing, munching on the other half of the packet of dates that I put in my spice cake this afternoon. It's sitting next to me, cooling down. Pascal has gone out to inspect a house that he hopes to rent once he and Beck are married. There's nothing much to do except sit back and relax. I do have homework to do, and it would be nice to get some of that done today, but it's only 5:00. There's still plenty of time left to do that.
Weekends for me are generally pretty lazy here. I haven't found a church yet this year, but I'm thinking about a church called Calvary Baptist Church which is on Canterbury Rd. We'll see. I took my bike down to the shop to see what needs fixing - the rear cassette (set of gears) needs replacing, as does the chain. The parts alone will cost $80, so I'm thinking I might just do without a bike for a while. I'm also looking for a job, so if you are wondering about what you could pray for me, pray for that.
Meanwhile, I think I'll just kick back and enjoy the evening. Oh, by the way, here's a poem I wrote (hope you like it; and "descry" means "to discover by looking carefully") :
The wind wanders softly through the trees
as they sigh at its gentle passing-by;
and I the wild complexity of these descry
and trace a pattern with my finger in the sky.
Weekends for me are generally pretty lazy here. I haven't found a church yet this year, but I'm thinking about a church called Calvary Baptist Church which is on Canterbury Rd. We'll see. I took my bike down to the shop to see what needs fixing - the rear cassette (set of gears) needs replacing, as does the chain. The parts alone will cost $80, so I'm thinking I might just do without a bike for a while. I'm also looking for a job, so if you are wondering about what you could pray for me, pray for that.
Meanwhile, I think I'll just kick back and enjoy the evening. Oh, by the way, here's a poem I wrote (hope you like it; and "descry" means "to discover by looking carefully") :
The wind wanders softly through the trees
as they sigh at its gentle passing-by;
and I the wild complexity of these descry
and trace a pattern with my finger in the sky.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
my future is no uncertain thing
I was out cycling this afternoon - the first time in a while. I borrowed a friend's bike and headed out with some friends. Out, down the hill, and here we are away again. Everything else forgotten, just my steady friend, the road, running underneath my wheels, and the familiar burn in my legs, and the sickening feeling of a full stomach plus a coffee jumping around down there (perhaps we timed the ride badly). Pushing up the hills, rolling down the far side, resting. As I ride, I watch the countryside push slowly past me - the grassy fields, cows idly watching us ride; the vineyards, the occasional house; there's some really beautiful countryside not far out from Lilydale. The sunset, to my left, is beautiful. Soft yellows and pinks against some cotton-wool cloud are forgotten next to the flash of metallic reds and oranges that stand on the horizon in place of the sun.
A thought strikes me.
"We'd better head back," I say to Dan Chan, the Chinese-Mauritian student and avid cyclist next to me.
So we turn around and begin to go back the way we came.
Half way there, I get off my bike. Jye and Dan cycle back to investigate the problem.
"It's too dark," I say. "I'm going to walk back." It might seem I'm just trying to avoid riding up the last big hill, but it's not the case. I'm wearing dark clothing and my borrowed bike doesn't even have reflectors, let alone lights. I'm less worried about seeing the road than I am about being hit.
They talk me into riding. "Take the back streets," they say. "Less traffic." It'll be ok.
Riding back, everything's fine. Several cars pass, but they've all seen me and given me some room as they pass. As I ride up to a roundabout, I can see several cars have stopped. Jye and Dan, some distance ahead of me, pass straight through the roundabout, just before three cars go left to right through the roundabout. One, two. You'd better stop, I say to the third car. I've got right of way here. I enter the roundabout, keeping an eye on him. Halfway through. He enters the roundabout. I enter his headlights a metre in front of his bumper. I swerve. He stops. Probably shakes his head at me. So do I.
They say every accident is a result of a chain of mistakes. Bad timing of the ride. Riding on an unfamiliar bike with no reflectors or lights. Wearing dark clothing, with no reflective strips attached. Deciding to push on despite knowing it's unsafe. Ignoring the fact that the sky is getting darker by the second. Insisting on my right of way through the roundabout.
Fortunately God has a plan for my life, and obviously has things for me to do yet.
"My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
A thought strikes me.
"We'd better head back," I say to Dan Chan, the Chinese-Mauritian student and avid cyclist next to me.
So we turn around and begin to go back the way we came.
Half way there, I get off my bike. Jye and Dan cycle back to investigate the problem.
"It's too dark," I say. "I'm going to walk back." It might seem I'm just trying to avoid riding up the last big hill, but it's not the case. I'm wearing dark clothing and my borrowed bike doesn't even have reflectors, let alone lights. I'm less worried about seeing the road than I am about being hit.
They talk me into riding. "Take the back streets," they say. "Less traffic." It'll be ok.
Riding back, everything's fine. Several cars pass, but they've all seen me and given me some room as they pass. As I ride up to a roundabout, I can see several cars have stopped. Jye and Dan, some distance ahead of me, pass straight through the roundabout, just before three cars go left to right through the roundabout. One, two. You'd better stop, I say to the third car. I've got right of way here. I enter the roundabout, keeping an eye on him. Halfway through. He enters the roundabout. I enter his headlights a metre in front of his bumper. I swerve. He stops. Probably shakes his head at me. So do I.
They say every accident is a result of a chain of mistakes. Bad timing of the ride. Riding on an unfamiliar bike with no reflectors or lights. Wearing dark clothing, with no reflective strips attached. Deciding to push on despite knowing it's unsafe. Ignoring the fact that the sky is getting darker by the second. Insisting on my right of way through the roundabout.
Fortunately God has a plan for my life, and obviously has things for me to do yet.
"My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
"your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be."
Psalm 139:15-16
Read all of Psalm 139.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
at BCV again
Well I'm back at BCV again, as the title indicates. This past week has been a bit of a slow one, but it will pick up tomorrow as classes start. I have one Bible subject (Intro to Missions) on Mondays, and Tuesday (1100-1700) and Wednesday to Friday (0800-1700) will be out at the hangar at Coldstream. I'm looking forward to getting stuck into the planes. Mum and Dad bought me some sets of pliers for Christmas which will come in very handy.
I'm looking for a new church this year. There's a couple of options, one being Mt. Evelyn Presbyterian, and another being Calvary Baptist Church. I'll let you know how things turn out.
I also have my own room this year, and already it's nice to have my own space. I inherited Kako's coffee machine from last year and am enjoying that no end.
Read this and be encouraged :
"But now he [Christ] has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him." (Hebrews 9:26b-28)
I'm looking for a new church this year. There's a couple of options, one being Mt. Evelyn Presbyterian, and another being Calvary Baptist Church. I'll let you know how things turn out.
I also have my own room this year, and already it's nice to have my own space. I inherited Kako's coffee machine from last year and am enjoying that no end.
Read this and be encouraged :
"But now he [Christ] has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him." (Hebrews 9:26b-28)
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