Vanity...

'Ministry without love is vanity.'

David Hansen, 'The Art of Pastoring'

What's in a name?

Gsi-dney?!?

Well, we thought it might be time to repeat our little 'note of explanation':

We DO know how to spell Sydney (see!), but there's a good reason for the mix. 'Gsi' stands for the province in Austria that we come from. It's a nickname which derives from the past participle used in our dialect 'i bin gsi' = 'I have been'. Well, and Sydney is obviously the capital of Australia... NOT! Of course the capital is Canberra, but the good thing about Sydney is that everybody in the world knows it (which we're afraid cannot be said of Canberra;-)... Anyway, we're glad to be here.

Deliver me

From prayer that asks that I may be
sheltered from winds that beat on Thee,
from fearing when I should aspire,
from faltering when I should climb higher,
from silken self, O Captain, free
the soldier who would follow Thee.

From subtle love of softening things,
from easy choices, weakenings
(not thus are spirits fortified,
not this way went the Crucified),
from all that dims Thy Calvary,
O Lamb of God, deliver me.

Give me the love that leads the way,
the faith that nothing can dismay,
the hope no disappointments tire,
the passion that will burn like fire.
Let me not sink to be a clod:
Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God.

Amy Carmichael,
missionary in India

Being on holidays means....

... enjoying food, fellowship & games with friends!

Brett & Robyn with little Obi


... enjoying a fun-walk around Sydney

Catching the train to Circular Quay, walking over the Harbour Bridge

- and here we are, near the water,
on the most beautiful walking track,
wow!

Stunning views in every direction...

a stunning car with the name of a flower



bottom line:

we're having a great time being on holidays!!!

How we see ourselves...

'We are not to think of ourselves as basically independent and on the right track, but occasionally in need of a little input from the Deity, a little blessing called down by an appropriately formulated prayer. That sort of view is almost akin to pagan magic; it is only a whisker from raw animism.

Carson, 'A Call to Spiritual Reformation'

It's interesting how the most obvious implications of our faith are also the easiest ones to overlook. And it's scary how our personal prayer life reflects more of our understanding of God than all our bible-knowledge. Can't be reminded of this too often...