Yesterday

put in blog 13/6/05, written 12/6/05

A pity that a lot of this weekend’s conversations have come back to church and the multiple issues associated with that. A fantastic day nonetheless but I had to shove what I heard this morning aside and have left it until now to consider it further.

Gut reaction. I have heard far more than I wanted to hear. Know possibly what I shouldn’t and am not entirely or at all glad to know it. Breakfast. Got talking to Long Van. It is curious when you are faced with a slightly different facet of the WPC story. An angle you aren’t entirely agreed upon, yet have to hear out. So she isn’t entirely satisfied with Geoff. Not quite up to ‘Keith’ standards. I think that is expecting too much. Not everyone is gifted with ‘pastoral care’. Pastors can operated effectively without a strong passion in that arena. Her concern was for the elderly people ‘that he hasn’t fully accommodated for them’. There may well be some aspects. Pleased she isn’t outright attacking him lets me question where Mark stands on this wants me to have a fuller picture of what dad thinks. No doubt, Geoff is a quality guy.

My disquiet is not with that, instead far more on that she gave me the undisclosed information that Age has resigned (now disclosed/public). More than that, that she mentioned something about ….(removed)… Angry. She shouldn’t be talking about that. I don’t want to hear that, that is their business. She should know better, (removed). Unfortunate, but my respect for Long Van dropped a fair bit. You could pin the word ‘malicious gossip’ on it, which might be naming it a little harshly, maybe not. I was not impressed.

Ah God. Why is it so hard, it hurts to hear this stuff. They’re calling a church meeting. That was the ‘last resort’ a week ago. Invite chaos to take reign. I don’t want to be there.

Today. Aside from all the issues I managed to sideline. Conference session/s were interesting, a lot around the budget, pushing things forward.

The most interesting thing has been observing people, their relationships with their spouse/partner and their kids. I really do work with some amazing people.

I find Prableen and Harpreet an interesting couple. Time to observe an arranged marriage in it’s early throws. She can’t be more than a few years older than me. 22 maybe. What would it be like? Oh I wouldn’t want it. Prableen, I don’t know what to think. She looked lonely at one point; she obviously loves, or is ‘learning’ to love him… I guess you see her looking for response, which doesn’t always come.

Jo and Hugh. They have such fun. Rachel and Phil. How I like seeing how that works. Rach is alive. Paul and Ange, how he left an apple (just secretly) at her spot on the table… she ate it completely unaware. Ian and Anne, her words make up for his silence. (:) Ian’s great)

Can’t say this hasn’t had me thinking about relationships. Because it has. Bad move in some ways, lonely. Well God. Interesting how the desire for a ‘one’ gets stronger, beyond just the factor of having a relationship. I guess I haven’t had much of an opportunity to watch young families interact (not since I was too young to care), interesting what you can glean from a bystander perspective.

Team sports. Finally the ‘Round Robin’ came about effectively. Great fun! Green team. Scavenger hunt, fishing, volleyball rallies, bikes, croquet, the pool.
We won.
Only team that caught a fish. Not bad for 20mins. Chris got it, right as we were about to go. I succeeded in loosing the reel handle off my rod – I have no idea how. I looked down and it was just not there.

Dinner. Not as heavy as last night. Still huge. Three courses. Three hours (or thereabouts). Gnocchi entrée thing however was a little strange. Nice though. Chicken main, with capsicum sauce, apple/berry crumble for desert; possibly the better menu. Bek and I sat with the ‘older’ kids. Zac D, Zac B, Heidi, Joshua, Levi and Rachel. They soon left.

Dinner over. Bek and I managed to find DVD of Finding Neverland and took it back to the room. I love that movie. Not a clichéd ending. Moves me. Seen it once before – at the movies.

And now.

Big day God. A lot you need to have a lot of thought, a lot of want I am incapable to deal with on my own. More I need your help, to know you’re there. More to know of your plan for my life. More to understand that direction lies with you and I cannot possibly have all the answers, nor is it appropriate.

God search me and know me. Know when I sit and when I rise, discern my thoughts. Know my going out and my coming in.

Know me. I want to know you more.