Mate, Where Have You Been?

And well may you ask, I say!

Unfortunately, the answer isn’t quite as simple as the the question. I haven’t written here much at all since since 2019, and then a little in 2021. Strangely enough this coincided with the “Great Covid Shutdowns” which we here in Australia experienced between 2020 and 2022. I’m not here to advance any conspiracy theory, or to give an opinion on what I now think. Suffice to say that it has changed me, along with much of the rest of the nation.

What Changed For Me?

Not being able to interact as freely as we had been able to for the past decades of our lives affected my wife and I pretty deeply for a while, and we found ourselves quite isolated. We even resorted to stashing paracetamol syrup and other emergency supplies in the car (like chocolate and other goodies) that we could drop in for the grandkids. The reason being is that back then, if you were out and about you might be stopped by the authorities and have to give an account as to why you, a God fearing, responsible citizen was so flagrantly breaking the law, putting at risk the whole space/time continuum and threatening to destroy the world as we know it!

I took a lot of time off work at the time and played around with publishing stuff on Amazon (not really successful, but another learning experience), smoking meats and nuts and drinking copious amounts of coffee, and unfortunately at times, a little too much booze. My spiritual life took as much of a hit at this time as my social life did, but God is gracious and led me out of it, as He always has.

I remarked to a couple friends one day that I needed to change, but they couldn’t see why I would need to. Deep down though I knew that if I didn’t act I could find myself in a downward spiral. It would be too easy to knock back an extra nip of scotch or three if I couldn’t sleep, and get caught by a random breath test, either on the roadside or at work when I returned there.

So Where Did The Change Start?

It can be summarised in four words: “Back To The Bible”. I resolved to read the Bible morning and evening for twelve months, and have been doing it since. Almost immediately things began to change, and I found that as the weeks went on I was sleeping better, the anxieties that I’d been battling died down, and my thought life changed dramatically.

I had been out of Church fellowship for quite some time, which in turn had made it easier to compromise. While some may say that you don’t have to go to Church to be a Christian, I’d have to say that it can certainly help you to remain and become a better one…!

Anyway, which Church would I go to?

The Next Step

Back in 2015 or so, I’d seen an article in the local paper about a new Church in town which was meeting at a local school hall. The article featured Ps Caleb and Renee, and I felt prompted back then that I should at least check it out, but somehow, I found excuses not to follow the promptings. Besides, I’d already been involved in two pioneer works and still bore some scars. Regrettably, as poor as those excuses were, they kept me away at the time.

Two years ago though I decided to seek out a new Church and ended up having coffee with Caleb, the senior pastor at Generocity Church. Of course, I told him I probably wouldn’t fit at his Church (after all, I was an all original chandelier swinging, Bible thumping holy roller, and this place was so quiet in comparison) and I was in the process of checking out other fellowships. While I have checked other groups, I soon realised that Geno was where I was meant to be.

Our Family Has Changed Too!

2019 saw the arrival of our two youngest grandchildren, and the past few years have been full of love and laughter as we enjoy watching them grow.

Jake the Wonder Dog (aka Boofhead, pictured left) forgets about everyone and everything else when they are here (except when James, our eldest grandson, is here of course, then he and everyone else chases after James).

Jake has a great grasp of the English language with us spending so much time at home. We tried spelling d-o-g p-a-r-k when we were talking about going out, but he cottoned on to that and now we just tell him to grab his lead. Just don’t mention dinner!

Priorities Change

As I get older I find my priorities have changed. I definitely feel my mortality a bit more, and my age, especially as the old joints begin to creak and groan!

Coming back to the blog I’ve found that some of my writing skills need work, again, and my tech skills have definitely fallen behind. I must say though that what matters more than anything today is people.

My family, my friends, my Church family and the community generally have grown in importance as I realise that yes, in my present state, I am indeed mortal. Having said that, I’m looking forward to living a full life as I get older, as I know that God still hasn’t finished with me, thankfully!

Hopefully we’ll catch up again soon. Stay well, stay safe, and remember that there is Hope!