the fountainside.

It's time.

2008-06-19T17:27:00.006+10:00

If you've been checking in over the last few weeks to this site, you'll know that the end has been approaching for this blog, at least in the form you've known it for the last two years. We've really enjoyed blogging here at blogger, and we hope you've enjoyed reading too. Thanks for all the comments, laughs and discussions. It's been fun!

The last few weeks, Soph and I have been hard at work creating a new home for our blog, and we're very excited that we can now introduce you all to the new home of the fountainside... thefountainside.com! Head on over and check it out. Leave us a comment to tell us what you think!

Don't forget to update your links, bookmarks and RSS feeds.

The days of this blog are numbered.

2008-06-17T19:03:00.002+10:00

We're wrapping things up. Soon.

Read at work

2008-06-13T09:56:00.003+10:00

Bored at work and want to read a good novel without the boss seeing?

The New Zealand Book Council has launched a great viral advertising campaign that allows you to read literary works under the guise of "working" on PowerPoint presentations.

Check it out at readatwork.com.

Changes afoot...

2008-06-13T09:01:00.000+10:00

...for thefountainside. stay tuned.

Jack Bauer Kills

2008-06-11T16:28:00.001+10:00

A complete list. 185 in total.

Head above the clouds - at last.

2008-06-10T18:56:00.003+10:00

When you learn foreign languages there are often periods of 'fogginess' as you get under way. During these times it's easy to feel as if the foreign language must be incredibly complicated, or that you are just plain stupid, or most commonly "this sucks and I'm never going to get it!"
The reality however, is that foreign languages are just that: foreign. And with enough exopsure and immersion, you can slowly come through the fog and above the clouds to see that it's not that complicated after all.
I haven't had too many struggles (yet) with learning Greek (a stack of pre-college work at the prompting of an MTS trainer with a lot of foresight to thank here!), but Hebrew has been another story. I've felt like most of the classes so far have been just another wave of confusion rolling over me, leaving me with more vocab, more paradigms and more concepts that I wasn't understanding. But about a month ago, I decided to bite the bullet and start chipping away at it all, forcing myself to memorise things (even if not understanding them), and just hope for the best.
This afternoon I had my first 'head above the clouds' moment. I got a whole stack of exercises right, and even translated a few sentences. It sounds pretty small, but these are the kind of moments you need to keep you going in language learning. Unfortunately they don't come unless you put in the hard hours first...

Hymns

2008-06-08T22:57:00.002+10:00

I love singing hymns at church. Tonight we sang one of my favourites:

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

Food.

2008-06-08T22:57:00.001+10:00

Sam often jokes he does a lot of washing up on weekends where I'm house-bound, as I like to cook on days in.

I'm not a fancy or accomplished cook, by any means. I take lots of short cuts and can never be bothered measuring anything properly, but I do enjoy the process of cooking, especially when its raining outside and there's something good on TV. I am looking forward to baking with my kids one day, if God blesses us with kidlets. I think that would be fun.

I also enjoy budgeting for our meals every week. I really enjoy working out which dishes to cook, what foods to buy, how I can make sure we get heaps of vegetables and fresh ingredients without having to buy overpriced "organic" stuff. Is that weird? I think I enjoy it because it reminds me of a logic puzzle, the kind with heaps of pieces you have to make fit together. I like that. There's something soothing about a grocery shopping list that comes under budget, yet provides nice meals. It's tidy and neat, so it makes me feel good.

This weekend I baked lemon and poppy-seed muffins, brownies and I have a shepherd's pie baking (we are unexpectedly home early from church!), waiting to be eaten.

Unstoppable Plodder?

2008-06-07T18:33:00.007+10:00

Some people are unstoppable for Jesus. They approach ministry as if the world is a sinking ship that is going down tomorrow and their job is to throw out as many lifelines and get people into the life rafts in the next half hour.

There is a lot to like about these kinds of people. They are taking Jesus at his word when he says He is coming back as a thief in the night, and they are the innovators of our churches - trying new things, pushing the boundaries and toiling 'night and day'. They are growing big churches, mostly through seeing people outside Christ come to trust Jesus. Find a church that is doing anything (more than paying lip service) to reach the lost - generally one of these guys is at the helm.

Other people are careful plodders for Jesus. They approach ministry as if setting out on a long voyage; i.e. you can only set out after every bit of preparation has been taken care of, all the stores have been loaded up and the sailors on board has been trained for every possible scenario.

There is a lot to like about these kinds of people too. They display a genuine trust that it is God who saves people by the gospel, and they know all too well that they are simply 'clay pots'. They rarely get sucked into fads that sweep through the church. The believers in their pews are likely to stay with Christ their entire lives, and many of them will be so inspired by their captain that they'll (to stretch the metaphor way too far) follow in his footsteps and end up running their own ship. Find a church where the believers feel genuinely built up in their faith - generally a plodder is at the helm.

Both of these are caricatures obviously, but from what I've observed most people in ministry tend to lean one way or the other. It's rare to meet someone who has effectively 'straddled' both of these areas - an 'unstoppable plodder'.
I've experienced working alongside and in both models. While both are prone to blind-spots, I'm thankful to God for the diversity of experiences he's given me as I've trained in ministry. For me, I'm asking God that he'll open my eyes to my own weaknesses and strengthen me for service in ways that will see both the lost won for Christ, and the saints strengthened for his service.

Music from Highschool days

2008-06-07T13:19:00.002+10:00

I've been buying a few tracks of iTunes with a voucher my sister gave me a while back. Mostly it's consisted of replacing tracks from a couple of CD's that were stolen from my first car, way back in the great heist of 2000. This was this mornings purchase: Harvey Danger's 'Flagpole sitta'.

Those were the days...

My Weekend

2008-06-06T21:54:00.000+10:00

I've just finished rereading Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace. It's times like these I wish I was in a book club or back in English class at school. There are so many themes and ideas in this book, but I have no one to talk to about them!

Looking forward to the long weekend. I'm not doing much - just trying to get over this flu - so it will be nice to stay at home and read books, bake, finish my painting, watch DVDs.

I would like the rain more…

2008-06-06T10:10:00.001+10:00

…if I could stay at home and didn’t have to go to work with a terrible cough and cold. I feel disgusting, like one of those sick and spluttery, germ-carrying people on the train you inch away from. I wish I could take a day off, but I have insane amount of work to do!

People who say they love the rain don’t have to catch the 8:21am all-stops from Summer Hill in it, or trudge through puddles in work clothes with creeping wetness in pants/heels, or leave office in darkness and shivering cold, or slip on platform and fall on large man with BO. (Though of course am thankful for rain - drought, farmers and all that).

Perhaps I'll be more appreciative after a well-deserved doona day tomorrow.

My favourite breakfast at the moment…

2008-06-04T10:18:00.000+10:00

A big bowl of rolled Oats, sultanas, one cut up banana and skim milk (it has to be skim, or else it goes too creamy and gluggy).

Microwave on high for 2.3 minutes, just before the oats totally cook. Then mash up the banana and eat!

It’s also really good with sliced pears.

Map my Run

2008-06-03T23:30:00.003+10:00

A cool site for runners. Over 3000 routes around Sydney, with stacks of info on each one. I'm going to give this one a go on friday arvo if the weather is okay, though I think I'll start from Carillon Ave in Newtown, rather than down at Johnston St. (h/t MW)

&amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/australia/sydney/1009719021"&amp;gt;Eleven Kays of Awesome&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/find-run/australia/sydney"&amp;gt;Find more Runs in Sydney, Australia&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;

Xbox nite.

2008-06-02T17:47:00.003+10:00

Video is up at the CIM site. Was a great night - thanks to the Toosehoose for the loan of some of the stuff to make it happen.

Running

2008-06-02T17:07:00.005+10:00

I've turned from swimming to long distance running for my winter exercise. I enjoy running on crisp winter days, the cool air makes it possible to keep up a good pace without overheating, and the air in your lungs feels great. As a teenager I think I ran around every street in Carlingford, meaning I know the area pretty well. Now I'm starting to know a few of the back streets around the inner west pretty well too! Here's where I went today.

I like having a challenge of a destination to get to - today's was the iron-cove bridge. Any suggestions? An hour and a half is probably my max running time.

A great piece

2008-06-01T21:46:00.002+10:00

Worth a read. Soph and I reckon this is the best Christian response to the recent Art vs Pornography debate that we've read. Some have been real disasters, but this is a carefully nuanced piece, full of grace, which takes a moral stance without throwing stones at the artistic community from the sidelines. (h/t ruth).

Mindmeister

2008-05-29T16:57:00.003+10:00

Just planned a short essay using a mindmap I created on mindmeister (h/t Craig). You can create a branching tree structure and have notes at every stage, where you can put quotes, references etc. Worth a look if you're a visual thinker.

office space

2008-05-29T16:11:00.004+10:00

I visited the new Optus headquarters today at Macquarie Park to interview one of the directors. It was nice. Lots of space, clean architecture, slick without being cold and corporate.

With my job I visit some really nice offices and lobbies, the best being ad agencies with their decked out staff rooms (pool tables, turntables for night-time parties, stocked fridges, espresso machine, etc), funky loft-feel and great sense of space. My office looks and feels like a call-centre. Yuck!

Here’s what my ideal office/working environment would have:

Timber floorboards (but good heating so it didn’t get too cold)
Spacious desk area
Macs – shiny new ones!
Inspiring artworks on the walls
A big loft space, with open staircases and a mezzanine floor
An in-house world class barista (though to be fair, I already have one of those at home!)
Massive staff room with couches you can nap on
Big windows
A gym! And daycare centre for the working mums
Stocked drinks fridge
Halogen lights
Nice outdoor area with tables and chairs, deckchairs too!

that "click" factor

2008-05-29T15:39:00.003+10:00

We’ve been looking at hospitality and welcoming in our bible study the past few weeks, which has raised a few thoughts for me about what it means to fit into a church community.

Generally in life, you meet people who are nice enough, and then you people who you really “click” with, personality wise. The latter often end up becoming friends, who you invest time in.

At church the same thing happens, except that there is a motivation amongst God’s people to reach out to those who are new. Whether you “click” or not with that person shouldn’t stop you from including them, befriending them and sharing your life with them. That’s the power of Jesus and of God’s love. It transcends human barriers and natural tendencies to just stick to the people you feel comfortable with.

But, the reality is that we still live in a world governed by human behaviour. There are still “in” groups at churches and it can still be hard to find the right “fit”, even if the people are as lovely as can be.

I think that was my experience when I first arrived at my current church. Even though everyone was so encouraging and extremely welcoming, I found it really hard to fit in.

For one thing, all the girls had known each other for ages before I joined, so there seemed to be pre-existing bonds everywhere that, understandably, excluded me. It was hard for me to jump from being a congregation member to being someone’s friend (how do you even go about this with people, I wonder? Ask, “Hello, can I be your friend?”). I had also come from a hard couple of years at my old church where I experienced some burn-out, so my confidence when it came to making new female friends was somewhat deflated. As the fiancé of an MTS worker, it was hard not to think of myself as part of a “set” and just rely on Sam to make all the friends for us. At times I grew lazy, hanging on the coat-tails of all the relationships he was building as part of his ministry.

Two and a half years on, things are heaps better. God has blessed me with some lovely friends and both Sam & I have felt so loved by our current church family. However there are times when I till feel like I could do with deeper companionship within my church, the kind of friendship where you can call each other up last minute and just hang out for fun. Perhaps this is something I need to work on initiating!

My previous experience however has made me wonder: is it enough to be a welcoming church in order to build a sense of community? How do you go from being surrounded by lovely people to being friends with them?

I used to think that my past concerns over making friends was just my neurotic shyness, until two good friends of mine revealed they are going through the same thing at churches they've recently moved to – great service, lots of nice and friendly people, but no “click” factor. These aren’t crazy or socially inept people either; they’re nice, interesting, mature Christian women, really lovely people who have just happened to change churches.

When I think about all the strong female friendships I enjoy, most of them have that “click”, or if not that, a shared history and experiences, a willingness on both parts to invest in a friendship, not just a one-off act of welcoming. Is it possible to replicate this in a church setting, when you have no shared history, no shared experiences and perhaps even no “click” factor?

How do you go from acquaintance to a friend?

Coffee in Canberra.

2008-05-29T11:08:00.005+10:00

The first of the swirling posts:)
Each morning in Canberra, my folks and Soph & I headed out for coffee. The place we went on Sunday morning was worth reporting on. If you're down that way, and on the 'south side', the place to check out is 'Kingston Grind': a bustling, but friendly cafe.

Coffee was a house blend, and I assume they offer a single origin too, as they had a few grinders, but I couldn't see a sign for them. My flat white was wonderfully rich and chocolate-y, and a sweet rosetta covered the whole surface of the cup.
As for equipment, this place was packing some nice stuff. A fully equipped kitchen/bakery (they sell their muffins out of the baking tray!). The counter was decked out with a beautiful La Marzocco, and a couple of Mazzer super-jolly's.

There was plenty of space to sit, the smell of freshly baked muffins, friendly staff and a nice sunny courtyard outside if you can stand the morning chill.
Two thumbs up from me.

My primary school burnt down.

2008-05-26T18:30:00.002+10:00

See here. I remember wishing for this kind of thing when I was a kid. Now I think it's really sad when fires happen. That mural was on the wall of my second grade classroom.

sisterhood only goes so far

2008-05-26T13:16:00.001+10:00

A moving story on what it's like being the daughter of feminist and author of The Colour Purple, Alice Walker.

Thanks Craig for the link.

linked by the ABC.

2008-05-26T09:11:00.003+10:00

Here. Our hits spiked massively over the weekend. There are a lot of people reading the ABC online...

Lots of posts swirling around in my head

2008-05-26T08:49:00.002+10:00

We've been away for the weekend and had a great time. I've seen lots and had some interesting conversations, many of which have given me ideas to post about. Here's some (more for my benefit) of them so that I don't forget my thoughts.

Why evangelicals need to spend time in art galleries.
Have we failed the baby-boomers?
Coffee in Canberra.
Is 'reformission' a sleight of hand?
Real men need big garages.
The NSW state government sucks.

Stay tuned.