Flying is for the BIrds

So, I was awake at 3am, trying hard not to think about hurtling through the air in a tiny metal tube. I love getting places, but for me flying is strictly a means to an end. My nervousness about it has increased as I've got older!

After tossing and turning for the next 3 hours, I finally decided to get up and do my bible reading. This year I'm trying to read the whole bible in a year and so one of today's readings was Matthew 10:29-31 where Jesus says

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows.'

So comforting! To know that not a single sparrow (or plane) falls to the ground apart from the will of my heavenly Father. Thanks, God.

Karen, Monday 7th Feb 2011

Adios Shellharbour City Anglican Church!

Today was our last church service at our church til May 15th. It was also the first of our new 9.30am service. The sermon, music and general vibe were fantastic. Our kids had a very happy time at kid's church too! We will miss our church family very much.


As part of our long service leave we will be visiting our link missionaries Shane and Ruth Sparks who live in Gijon, Spain. We will be taking greetings from our church to theirs, and so we thought we'd take a photo of us too. This is some of our church family saying, 'hola'!

And to the saints of Shellharbour, we say 'adios'!

Karen

The Great Commission – Part II

It seems that the first step in carrying this out is to work out whether a person is already a follower of Jesus or not. How can you tell? Relationship, relationship, relationship; working this out begins and ends with relationship. So I guess we’re going to need to be friendly with people we meet: friendly, welcoming, caring, kind, and interested in them more than ourselves.

In any relationship it comes out very quickly where people stand with Jesus. So from there, either we get to share the good news and have the privilege of lovingly introducing them to the Savior of the world or we get to share in our common faith together and encourage one another to follow Jesus with all our hearts.

Michael

The Great Commission

I preached on the Great Commission 4 times last Sunday. The Great Commission is another name for Matthew 28:16-20, which says

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

I spoke about living this out, which begs the question: how we are planning to do this with everyone we meet while we are away?

Any ideas? Tomorrow I’ll post my thoughts so far.
Michael

another reason we'll be happy to go!

Our ducted airconditioning broke down last week. The repairman came this morning, and this is what he found:

The alternator had melted and burnt out (which would account for the burning smell we had last week!) It will take 6-8 weeks to get the parts and have it fixed.

Today is supposed to be 34 degrees, it's very hot here, but in LA? Tops of 19 degrees. My kind of weather! I can survive 5 more days in heat knowing I'm heading to winter on the other side of the world!

Karen

‘Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning’

is a quote from the bible, but the first place I read it was in one of my favourite books. I grew up with Anne of Green Gables, Emily of New Moon, Jane of Lantern Hill and Kilmeny of the Orchard. Some of my copies of these books were my mother’s, and my copy of ‘Anne of Avonlea’ says in the front ‘To Jean, 1926’ – Jean was my nana. They have been a legacy to me from the women in my family.

When I was pregnant with our eldest in 1997 my morning sickness was dreadful so that Easter I just went to bed and read all my LM Montgomery books again. They are like an old, dear friend. The sentence above is from ‘Anne of the Island’ – Anne realises she does really love Gilbert but he is dying. After enduring an agonising night, she hears that he has turned a corner and will be well again. It says,

‘A sentence from a very old, very true, very wonderful Book came to her lips: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning”’.

It has been a dream of mine to visit Prince Edward Island…to visit so many sites from these books …and we had planned to do so on this trip…but alas! My sunny Australian optimism has meant that I had thought that April would be perfect (after all, isn’t that heading into summer?) But friends of my parents who live in Canada kindly researched for me and we have discovered that April isn’t perfect, in fact it’s snowy and cold and not much is open. So, we need a plan B (which doesn’t involve PEI!)

I’m waiting for joy to come in the morning.
Karen

The packing starts

Why 'A Williamson Odyssey'?

A good question, thanks to those who've asked! It started when Michael wrote on the front cover of our church newsletter in October last year letting our church family know about our LSL plans. That article is below...

L.S.L. a Williamson Odyssey

When 2011 rolls around it will mark 10 years as an Anglican minister for me (6.5 of these spent in here in Shellharbour City). This means I’m due to take Long Service Leave and I plan on taking Karen and our boys with me! Our plan is to combine the 10 weeks of LSL with 3 weeks of annual leave holidays and 2 weeks of study leave, making it a 15 week odyssey from the 7th February to the 19th May.

What about SCCAC? The Anglican Church LSL “rules” declare that I am to vacate the Parish entirely and install a Locum Tenens in my place. Hence, in consultation with the Parish Council the following arrangements have been made: Mal Forrest will be in charge of all operational matters of the Church for the duration of my absence, ably assisted by the Rev. John Cornford who will work part time for 12 of the 15 weeks (as the Locum Tenens).

Where will we go? Our long term dream and savings plan has been to tour the east coast of the USA in a motor home: touring the Civil War sites, Puritan towns, political heartland as well as taking in the scenery, see some old friends and visit Disney World with the boys. With the strong Aussie dollar and some discounted fares, we’ve been able to extend this now to include parts of Europe & the UK. With lots to see and lots to do, we are praying it will be a real milestone for our family.

In terms of study leave, I will be examining different models of ministry in other churches I expect will help us in our mission here. To this end I am enrolled in a 5 day intensive in Washington at Capitol Hill Baptist Church with Mark Dever. In the UK I will be spending a day each with staff and Rectors at 3 separate churches recommended to me by our First Fruits supporter. We also plan to visit the Sparks family and their church in Gijon, Spain; this will be a particular highlight of our trip.

All in all it will be a significant time of recuperation and stimulation to get us ready for the next 10 years!

So there you have it! Our odyssey starts in 10 days. Can't believe we're this close!

Welcome!

As you know, we are heading off on our trip of a lifetime very, very soon! That’s right, Team Willo (comprising of Michael, Karen, L, M, E and A) are packing their bags and going on Long Service Leave. Well, actually, only Mike gets LSL but the rest of us are coming too!
We thought we’d try and blog our way around the world. Let us know if you’re reading, and feel free to comment.