Christchurch, New Zealand!

We flew into Christchurch on Wednesday afternoon. We left Brisbane at 9am, where it was already over 20°C heading for about 28°C, and arrived three hours later at 3pm. Don’t you love travelling between different time zones? (But not to worry, we’ll get those three hours back on the way home again!) When we arrived it was grey, about 18°C with a stiff breeze making it feel closer to 10°C.

We sorted out a local prepaid SIM card for Laetitia’s phone, then called for a pickup from our hire car company (Apex). They gave us a manual Nissan Sunny for just under $40/day, with an Interislander ferry ticket included (for the car only; we have to pay extra for ourselves).

We stayed the night at Tui Lodge Motel. They upgraded us to a larger room, and the lady running the place was very friendly and helpful. They had beautiful roses in the gardens in front of the rooms. Unfortunately the pillows were a bit lumpy and there was an unpleasant musty odour wafting around the back.

For dinner we went to the Welcome Vegetarian Chinese Café, which we spotted while buying some groceries and our hotel host said she liked when we asked her about it. It was fantastic! The menu has a symbol to mark dishes that aren’t vegan, and they don’t cook with capsicum at all (which Laetitia was very pleased about). The food was delicious! Highly recommended: it’s on Wharenui Rd at Riccarton Rd.

The next morning we took a little drive around Christchurch, seeing the fenced-off areas in the city where so many buildings were damaged in the earthquake earlier this year, and stopped for a walk in the Botanic Gardens in Hagley Park. It was beautiful there. We especially enjoyed the giant pine trees.

Then we drove off to the west along State Highway 73 through Arthur’s Pass. The scenery was (of course) beautiful. Lush green forest, high mountains and wide valleys, many one-lane bridges. The rivers were quite clear water rushing over rocks and pebbles.

At a rest stop on the eastern side, just after one long one-lane bridge (long enough to have a passing bay in the middle!) we saw our first Kea. It was fat and green and curious. It was so fat it waddled! Later, in Arthur’s Pass itself, we saw many more. They are as cheeky as their reputation, and yes, they are definitely very interested in door seals! We even saw a couple staying on car roofs for a few seconds as the cars drove away.

In praise of nurses

With Laetitia in hospital getting her heart valve fixed, I've been spending a lot of time in the company of acute-care nurses. And I'm struck by just what an amazing job they do. In the ICU it's busy and noisy 24/7, they do long shifts watching just one patient. Whatever needs to be done to keep you alive and comfortable, they'll do - no hesitation, no complaints, happy to serve.

Leah, Sophie, Steph - thanks for caring for my wife and speeding her recovery. You're amazing!

John Piper

Parking at the BCEC $15
Ticket $35
Hearing John Piper's message - priceless :)

Starting from:
Only one life that soon will pass
Only what's done for Christ will last
.. he spoke on the topic "Don't waste your life" - where a wasted life is one that doesn't reflect God's magnificence. My life should at all times magnify God to a world full of people who can't see him clearly (or at all) for their own sin and the broken world we live in. "To live is Christ and to die is gain" - God made me, he owns me, everything I am and have and do belongs to Him. My life should demonstrate that I consider God worth more than anything else - riches, food, rights, freedom, even my life.

Ok, so what does that look like in my life?

Well, I'm reflecting on my teaching. I have been learning over the last few years how to be a good teacher, and how to include God's priorities in my teaching - both topics and practice. But am I reflecting His glory in the way I teach, in the way I treat my students, in how I respond to dishonesty, misbehaviour, rudeness? Does my teaching show that I value God above my subject, above my own desires, above my job, above assessment items, above school rules, .. above everything else?

Hard questions. Watch this space. I know God can do miracles - as those who knew me as an arrogant teenager also know! What will God do with me next?

Prayer updates for Laetitia's heart surgery

Laetitia's heart surgery is scheduled for Thursday 22 September at Epworth Private Hospital in Richmond, Melbourne. We're going there because it's the only place in Australia where they offer robotic repair surgery. This will hopefully mean less trauma and therefore a quicker recovery than going through the front of the chest.

We know that God responds to the prayers of His people; we would love to have you praying for Laetitia. I will be posting updates about her progress through surgery and recovery to a blog I've set up called "Laetitia's Heart", at http://laetitias-heart.blogspot.com/. If you would like to receive these updates by email instead, you can do so from that blog page (or click here). You will receive a confirmation email address; respond as directed in that email, and you'll be subscribed.

Red Dog

Saw a movie tonight, thanks to a friend's generous gift of a pair of tickets. We chose Red Dog, and loved it. Very cute, sad, romantic, very Australian. Beautiful scenery and witty cinematography. And of course we now want a kelpie!

Highly recommended.

A busy semester

Well what can I say? Sorry it's been so long. It's been a very busy first semester.

As I wrote earlier, this year I'm teaching Year 11 and 12 Maths A, and Year 10, 11 and 12 Physics. The Physics classes are going much better this year, since it's now my second time around—especially since the start of term two (I only started teaching Year 12 Physics in term two last year). My revised and extended Year 10 Physics unit is definitely an improvement. I'm even collecting and marking the assignments electronically now. I wonder if I can figure out a way to get them to do their exams online too…?

I am missing the Year 10 Prep Maths A, though.

Other than that, I enjoyed my lecturing at CHC, although it was a lot of work. That's finished now; I didn't even have to create a supplementary exam! (Which is not the same as saying that all the students passed…)

So far this semester has been much less stressful. I hope it stays that way.

Asthma

Many, many years ago—long before blogging or Facebook—I was asthmatic. At high school I used to carry around so much medication in my pencilcase that I was called a walking apothecary. My triggers were a list of allergens including dust mites and cats, as well as vigorous exercise. I missed several weeks of school in Year 11, because I simply couldn't sleep properly; lying down exacerbated my asthma, so I spent all night and much of the day sitting more-or-less upright in a lounge chair.

As I left my teens behind, I gradually found I needed less medication. And then one day I read about the link between sulphur dioxide (additive 220, used as a preservative) and asthma, removed it from my diet, and what little asthma I had left stopped almost overnight.

Or so I thought.

Over the last ten years or so, I've had asthmatic symptoms maybe a handful of times. On most occasions a hot shower was all I needed, the warm moist air alleviating my discomfort within a few minutes. (And on every occasion I prayed!)

Until this year.

So far this year I have had several significant asthma attacks. So much so that during Easterfest in Toowoomba I  bought some Ventolin and I have actually used it more than once (for the first time in over ten years).

Apparently I'm not alone. I have read and heard from many others with allergy / hay fever problems that this year is a very bad year. The reason may be that due to the flooding that has broken the drought out west, there's a whole lot of plants (mostly grasses) that are suddenly flowering for the first time in, oh, probably at least ten years, releasing pollens to drift around the continent on the wind.

I'm not looking forward to August and the westerlies.