• Family,  Parenting

    Holiday

    Although it seems like it was an age ago already – instead of two weeks – we welcomed 2019 in with a wonderful holiday to Australia.

    Burleigh Heads Beach, QLD

    When you have small children, holidays aren’t really holidays. They’re just a change of scenery, as the hard work of caring for young ones still has to continue. (Unless you’re smart and booked yourselves in at Club Med where you get nannies.)

    Mr G and I reckon our trip to Australia was the first one that felt like a proper holiday since having kids. Our two kids no longer have to be watched like hawks, plus they’re good travellers who take it all in their stride. There’s no nappies to change, naps to fret over, or prams to lug around. Most importantly – they know how to operate Netflix so Mr G and I can sleep in.

    The flight from Christchurch is a mere 3 1/2 hours. Mr G rigged up our portable DVD player with a double headset, so the kids were entertained nicely for most the flight. We were even complimented on how well behaved they were on the plane! So, thanks Mr G.

    The purpose of the trip was to attend my BFF’s wedding in NSW. I was her bridesmaid and E was her flower girl. We tacked several days on either side of the wedding, with no real plans other than to lie on a beach somewhere in the Gold Coast, and see the Aussie animals up close. But like, from behind the safety of glass at a zoo.

    Ready to go to Auntie’s house!

    We spent a couple of nights at Ballina, which FYI is pronounced ‘Bal-in-uh’, not ‘Ba-lee-na’, as Mr G and I discovered and were mocked mercilessly for. It’s a lovely spot, away from the hustle and bustle of the GC, with plenty to do.

    While there, we swam at Lake Ainsworth (over the road from Lennox Head beach). It is a fresh water lake, surrounded by tea trees which infuse their goodness into the water. The water is much darker as a result, but makes for a rejuvenating swim, and has even been known to help people with their skin conditions. My own skin felt fantastic after a dip there!

    Then it was on to Armidale for the wedding.

    I don’t have a photo of the bride for privacy, but she looked like a screen siren from the 30’s – just gorgeous. It was a privilege to see her marry her lovely fella ( I *may* have shed tears at the ceremony, and *possibly* sobbed buckets as they danced to Etta James’ “At Last”).

    After the wedding we headed back to the Gold Coast, stopping at Dorrigo National Rainforest and Woolgoolga Beach along the way.

    We spent the rest of time staying at Southport on the Gold Coast. The GC wasn’t high on my list of places to visit. I expected to hate it, as it has a rather brash and tacky image over here in New Zealand. To my surprise, I found it rather beautiful.

    We kept costs down by shunning most tourist attractions. Our kids are quite content happy with going to the beach or a playground, so we’ll save the theme parks for when they’re older.

    We were only a few minutes from The Rockpools and Broadwater Beach. The Rockpools is a great splash pad area for younger children and toddlers to cool off; complete with squirting octopuses, crabs and even a waterfall. A minute’s walk from The Rockpools is the beach and a really cool playground. We had a marvellous time and it’s all free.

    My beautiful friend D, who lives in Adelaide, came over especially to see us. I cannot tell you how much that meant to me! I met D in London, and she and I and our friends had many, many adventures together. D brought her adorable baby with her, which is no mean feat. Travellers with babies, I salute you! It did my soul good to hang out with them both for a couple of days.

    We all went to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, which I was dying to visit. Wow, what an incredible place! My kids are animal mad, and thanks to a great kids tv show called The Wild Kratts, they have become quite knowledgeable about all sorts of animals – especially Aussie animals. Seeing their faces as they looked (and even held!) at crocodiles, snakes, Tasmanian devils, koalas, and kangaroos in real life was something I won’t forget. My children are STILL talking about it, weeks later.

    It was definitely a highlight for me, and I’d recommend the sanctuary to anyone visiting the area. I learnt a lot about the care and conservation of the animals, and the animals certainly looked well cared for, in good facilities.

    We had a great day chilling out at Burleigh Heads beach, and enjoyed a good meal out at the local RSL club – a very Aussie experience.

    We enjoyed the wonderful beaches and warm weather so much that we are already plotting to return. I can finally understand the pull of the GC for many kiwis. There’s plenty to do, the beaches are gorgeous, and the water isn’t freezing like it is back home!

    Thanks GC, hope to be back soon.

  • Faith,  Family

    Life lately (in pictures)

    It’s been a whirlwind of activity here in the Pleasant Point Manse: birthdays, visitors, fashion parades and more.

    First it was my birthday, which I celebrated a little early by having three nights away at Lake Hawea, BY MYSELF.  It was a very restorative break, both in terms of getting rest and in doing things-that-make-Angela-happy.  “Oh, there’s a museum!’  ‘Oh, there’s some historic buildings!’  ‘Oh, there’s a Mexican restaurant!’  ‘Oh, there’s some gobsmackingly beautiful scenery!’.

    Lake Hawea

    I read two books, pottered around Wanaka, and explored Cromwell.

    I almost cried when I came home to this lovely gift that friends had made for our house/my birthday…

     

    Before I could blink it was my beautiful boy’s fourth birthday!  He had a simple, frugal, and fun Star Wars party.  We borrowed my brother’s precious Star Wars figures to use as cake toppers, and had an obstacle course and a pinata.

    D is 4!

    For the first time in my life I am a bit lost as to what to do with myself for work in the distant future, and exploring options is taking a lot of time and headspace.  But I find myself regularly loving on the children at our church.  It’s not hard, as they are a nice bunch of kids, and I genuinely enjoy their friendship and look forward to catching up with them each week.  The beauty of living somewhere small like Pleasant Point is that everywhere is walkable.  We find our house overrun with children most Sundays after church as our kids and the church kids continue their play.  I have quite a ministry in providing copious amounts of baking to the hungry hoards, and judging various magic tricks and fashion parades that unfold.  I grew up doing the same stuff, so I love, love, love seeing the kids playing like this.

     

    Life is not all sunshine and roses (and lakes).  Mr G is really feeling the pressure of his internship now.  Balancing study with the demands of the parish is stressful and the study often takes a back seat, only to loom large when assignments are due.  All four of us have been sick a lot with little bugs that don’t last long but are annoying to deal with all the same.  I’ve been missing my friends, family and ‘life’ we had in Whanganui.  I’m not usually a person who looks back, but this move has been difficult to process – I suspect simply because it was not my own choice to come here.  It’s not that I don’t like it here!  I do, and I am grateful for the friendships I’ve made here; I think it’s more that I feel at a bit of a loose end here as this move was for Mr G to learn the ropes of ministry which has meant putting my own plans on the back burner.  My aunt passed away, which has naturally been extremely hard for my cousins, and the only silver lining in that dark cloud is that while I am here in Pleasant Point, I am only an hour away from them and therefore am close enough to provide support.

     

  • Faith

    When church gets in the way

     

    Once I committed myself to Jesus, and decided that if I was going to be serious about this Christianity stuff, I’d better get serious at going to church.  I didn’t grow up going to church – at least not regularly.  But to me, the Bible is pretty clear that you can’t live out your faith on your own – you need the fellowship of other believers to encourage, stretch and even enrage you.  God knows that by getting alongside a bunch of imperfect people you can’t help but to grow and mature in your faith.

    I can be a bit of a boots-and-all kind of girl, and I’ve long been quite involved in the life of the various churches I’ve gone to.  I’ve sung in the band, read scripture and led prayers during the service, helped with the kid’s ministry, led bible studies, prepared devotionals, been part of the church leadership team, and preached; as well as welcomed strangers, poured copious cups of tea, cleaned the toilets and vacuumed up the morning tea crumbs.  So I was not completely unprepared for the life of a ‘not-quite-Minister’s wife’, and for how busy it can be.

    As in the rest of life, sexism abounds in the church.  I’ve had expectations of my new role – both said and unsaid – that are simply not aimed at the male spouses of female ministers.  The minister of my last church was a woman, and while her husband is a wonderful, wonderful guy, I’m pretty sure no one expects him to make meals for the sick, go visiting, go on the morning tea roster or be on the kid’s ministry team (he actually is, by the way).  Men who do these things are applauded.  Women who don’t do these things can find themselves the target of bitter resentment – usually by the women who do.

    Soooo many cups of tea

     

    I’m a card-carrying feminist, and whilst I’m certainly not above scrubbing toilets or pouring cups of tea or anything like that(!), I am trying to forge my own Angela-shaped role, and not do things out of a sense of obligation or because ‘that’s what minister’s wives do’. What has surprised me is the depth of my own feelings of responsibility for the church as the ‘minister’s spouse’.  When Mr G worked for an emerging IT company, I didn’t lie awake at night pondering the future of his company.  I didn’t ask after the welfare of his colleagues in any more than a desultory way.  I didn’t even pray for the success of his company!  But now I am enmeshed in my husband’s workplace.  His employers/clients are my friends.  I want this church to thrive and grow.  I want to see lives transformed in this community.  I pray for this church all the time.

    I’ve always had an overblown sense of responsibility for others, which means I have to enforce good boundaries in my life as they don’t come naturally to me.  “Oh, you have a problem?  Let me help you with that,”  is generally my first reaction until Wise-Angela kicks in.  When we got to Pleasant Point, both volunteer children’s workers needed to step down for personal reasons.  I stepped up because no one else would (there’s that boots-and-all thing), and I felt responsible for the continuing success of the church because kid’s ministry matters.  I really felt that mantle of responsibility.  Like I’m the minister.  Like I’m God.

    I found myself spending hours on the children’s ministry in the lead up to Easter: so many hours that I had no time to reflect on the most important event in the church calendar myself.  I had no time to just be with Jesus.

    It was only after I managed to get a team on board with the children’s ministry, and got some breathing space that was I able to see the ridiculousness of my situation.  Which was of my own making.  Wise-Angela had lots to say to boots-and-all-Angela.  I’ve learnt my lesson.

     

    Church can be a wonderous thing.  A refuge, a sanctuary.  A family, a safe place to land.  But it’s not going to fall over if you’re not there.  Even if you’re the minister.

     

    Frantically ‘doing’, even if it’s for the church, can stop you from ‘being’.

    I can’t lead or mentor others in Christ if I’m not spending time in prayer or reading scripture myself.  I’m not giving glory to God if I’m doing His work with a resentful heart.  I’m certainly not doing His work if I haven’t even taken the time to discern if He wants me to do it in the first place!

     

     

    When church gets in the way

    If you’re a churchgoer, there will most likely be the odd season where church takes over your life due to an event you’re helping with, or perhaps there’s a crisis with a church member.  Sometimes stuff just needs to be done.  Bills need to be paid, rosters need to be drawn up, someone needs to write a sermon. But if it’s more than a season, then it’s time to make a change.

    How can we stop being so busy with church groups, or events or administration (yawn) and just hang out at the feet of Jesus, like Mary?

     

    1. Take responsibility for your actions.  If you are so busy that your personal devotion time is non-existent, or your church family sees your more than your own family, it’s time to take stock and figure out how you got yourself in this mess.  Was it because you can’t say no?  Were you pressured into it?  Guilt tripped into it?  Do you think that your ministry will fail if you step back?  Is it time to ask for help from others?  Is it time to let that role go?  Ask God to reveal the truth of your particular situation.

     

    2. Ask yourself – is this MY responsibility?  When we don’t have good boundaries, sometimes we take on things that aren’t our responsibility in the first place.  This is especially true of roles that are inherited from others, and where there is a culture of ‘that’s the way it’s always been done’.  For example, some ministers find they are expected to do all sorts of things unrelated to their actual calling because ‘the last minister  did it’.  If some of your tasks aren’t actually yours to do, it’s time to either hand them back to the person who should be doing it, or discuss it with the church leadership to find a less busy way forward.

     

    3. Am I doing this solo because I need control?  If you find yourself swamped with an event or ministry and you’re the one doing all the leg work – why haven’t you asked for help?  Do you find working with others too irritating?  Are you able to take suggestions or advice if others want to run things in a slightly different way?  Or is it your way or the highway?  I’ve seen this many times in churches, where someone has a very definite vision of how an event or outreach ‘should’ run.  They don’t listen to others – instead they take offence or think these people are just trying to rain on their parade, so they soldier on by themselves.  Most folks don’t want to rain on your parade, they just might see pitfalls that you don’t, and we all need to be humble about stuff like that.  Other people can be micro-managers, unable to fully let others take on responsibility in case something goes wrong/it’s not done properly/I don’t trust them.  Do you need to let go of your need to control others?

     

    4. Is this event necessary?  Just because your church has ALWAYS had three services over Easter, plus a stations of the cross installation, a prayer vigil and a hot cross bun outreach, doesn’t mean you have to do all those things this year.  Or indeed, ever again.  Each congregation should approach the year afresh, acknowledging changes in its makeup and capacity.  If it all just seems too much, then let some things go.

     

    5. Does this event have to be done to this standard?  Sure, last year’s women’s night was epic; with a guest speaker, home made nibbles, and fancy handouts and worksheets.  But if this year seems too stretched, there’s nothing wrong with simply watching a DVD and discussing it over some store-bought crackers and cheese.

     

    6. Am I in a hard season of life?  Have you had a baby?  An illness?  A chronic illness or disability? Your personal life has imploded?  You’ve switched to a more demanding job?  Old age has caught up with you?  IT”S OKAY TO GIVE UP YOUR MINISTRIES.  IT’S OKAY IF ALL YOU CAN DO IS PRAY.  PRAYING IS PLENTY!  There’s not a single person alive who hasn’t endured a busy season of life.  Most of the time it’s not forever.  And you know what, if it is forever, God’s got other things in store for you.  It’s okay.

     

    7. Is this life-giving?  Do you enjoy this ministry or this role?  Do you look forward to it, or is it something you grit your teeth and suffer through?  Have you lost your passion for it?  If it’s not giving you joy, or you feel obligated, resentful or angry about doing it, then make like Elsa and LET.IT.GO.

     

    8. Am I self-soothing with unhelpful things like TV, food because I’m so stressed and busy?  Again, examine your motives for doing what you are doing.  If it’s because you feel obligated, or guilty, or resentful because no one else is helping you, then start over at question 1 and dig deep.  What changes can you make to your schedule?  What can be let go?  Who can I bring on board to help?

     

    9. Have I discerned if I’m called to do this?  Have you prayed about how you should use your time?   Or asked for God’s direction?  I love listening to Joyce Meyers on the radio.  A few weeks ago, I caught a talk where she said she was called to be a teacher, but is often asked to do other things that take her away from her purpose.  So she says NO to those things.  What would life be like if you were fulfilling your purpose?

     

    10.  Let things fall over.  I know several beautiful people who hung on and on and on with a particular ministry because no one else was willing to take it over.  Sometimes you just need to let it fall over.  To end.  Yes, it’s going to be really sad.  But if it’s time for you to step down, then step down.  If I’ve noticed anything about church life, it’s that they have seasons.  Perhaps in your church people reminisce about the once-thriving youth group you had, or that really awesome home group that petered out, or the Friday night dances that bought many couples together.  Your church might simply be in slower season, or have no young and energetic folks to run things anymore.  GOD IS DOING A NEW THING.  Let Him.  It’s not up to you.

     

    11. If you are a churchgoer, contribute!  In just about every church the bulk of the work is done by a few.  If you have the capacity to help out in some way – big or small – don’t just be a consumer.  Bless your church with your gifts and maybe help lighten the load of the few.

  • Family,  Uncategorized

    Movie review: Peter Rabbit (2018)

    Peter Rabbit [DVD]
    image credit
    Apparently two big-shot reviewers here in New Zealand hated the recent release of Peter Rabbit (now in cinemas).  I haven’t read these reviews, but I strongly suspect these reviewers are a) old men; b) white and c) are very similar to Mr McGregor, the curmudgeonly, rabbit-killing fiend of the book and movie.

    Peter Rabbit rocks!

    I loved it just as much as my children, and was snorting into my popcorn from start to finish.  My 3-year old who is always on the move only got antsy with 10 minutes to go, which earned him a lifetime achievement award.  My 5-year old is still going on about the movie, three weeks later.

    This incarnation of the much-loved tale of Peter Rabbit takes it fully into the 21st Century.  If you’re a die-hard fan of Beatrix Potter, you might want to give the movie a miss; kind of like if you prefer real Winne-the-Pooh over Disney Pooh.  In no way does this version of Peter – or any of the other characters – resemble the original.  If you’re not a purist, then simply enjoy the ride.

    Peter (voiced by James Corden, who I’m ashamed to say I didn’t recognise, have turned in my movie buff card), his sisters Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail, along with cousin Benjamin spend their days trying to nick vegetables out of Mr McGregor’s incredible, immaculate garden.  NZ’s own Sam Neil is almost unrecognisable as the grizzled, apoplectic gardener who wages war on the rabbits.  His artist neighbour, Bea (played by Aussie Rose Byrne) has looked after the rabbits since they were orphaned at the hands of McGregor, and gives them free range of her impossibly quaint cottage.  Where she manages to live quite well despite creating truly terrible art and not seeming to have any other form of income…I digress.

    (SPOILER) Mr McGregor suffers a fatal heart-attack during a daring raid by Peter.  Peter and his animal mates move into to McGregor’s house and stuff their faces with all that delicious veg.  Cue party time!

    McGregor’s uptight nephew Thomas, played by Domhnall Gleeson (you may remember him from Harry Potter), inherits his uncle’s property.  Thomas works at Harrods, making sure that everything is perfect with a capital P.  Upon learning that his uncle’s house might be worth a bit of coin, he decides to go and see it, with the view of selling it.  Thomas finds the house overrun with animals, and Peter finds him a challenging adversary.  The two go head-to-head to get rid of each other, something made a little more complicated by Thomas falling for the lovely Bea.

    There’s loads of slapstick comedy – especially by Domhnall Gleeson – and the humour is pitched both at kids and adults.  It’s a little bit cheeky in places (it is rated PG), but nothing outright rude.  There are explosions, and yes, people trying to kill the cute bunnies, but my two highly sensitive kids, saw it for what it was – a funny plot device.  They weren’t scared one jot.

    Peter Rabbit is a great family film, two thumbs up.