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.

My wife has a dodgy heart valve

This week we have been in Brisbane for some medical tests. It turns out that Laetitia has a dodgy heart: mitral valve prolapse with regurgitation. Her cardiologist has suggested that the severity of her situation is on the severe side of moderate, and that he “would be surprised” if she didn't need surgery sooner rather than later (in 5 years rather than 20). For the moment she will need annual checkups to keep track of her condition.

If I knew what to write next, I would write it. If I understood how I felt about it, I'd write about that. But I don't. Watch, wait and see, I guess. And trust God to provide what we need.

He has certainly provided well for us so far. Not only do we have access to a great cardiologist (he was Laetitia's father's cardio too, for the same condition), we also know three people who have recently (i.e. in the last two years) had open heart surgery, two of them for mitral valve issues. So we have some idea now of what to expect.