Westserve

M-Day approaches

There’s been little time for blogging of late, with preparations for the house and ministry move next week.
It’s no wonder that moving house is regarded as one of the highest stress events in people’s lives. The last few weeks has been a whirlwind of (deep breath): preparing for Christmas church, getting one son off to Beach Mission, working out where said son will live after next week, helping another son work out living arrangements, deciding and booking the moving date, starting to sort and toss out piles of the detritus of modern living that seems to just grow around us, start changing address with various companies, etc, working out phone and internet at the new house, fitting in outstanding leave before leaving Toongabbie, working out when our last day and farewell at Toongabbie would be, receiving an increasing stream of email from my future boss with everything from draft church calendars for 2007, to preaching rosters for me to fill in, to paperwork from the tax office, and internal church paperwork.

Then there’s the Diocesan mountain of paperwork connected to my ordination on February 3rd. The changes to Diocesan policy regarding ordination of Deacons means there is a bunch of people like me being ordained along with the high numbers graduating from Moore College, and the Diocesan Registrar can’t keep up, so the paperwork is late and not really suited to people in my position who are not just graduating from college. And of course the bureucratic processes can’t cope with the fact that I start work at Springwood on January 29th as a Lay Worker, and then four days later, will be ordained. So there are two complete and different sets of paperwork to complete – one for four days of work as a lay minister, one for after my ordination.

Last Sunday night Sam finally got a chance to go up to Factory Night Church at Springwood and check it out. It was a smaller group – due to the January holiday period – but we were both impressed by the friendliness, the warm welcome and the bellbirds. Yep. Bellbirds. Springwood’s Ministry Centre is located in an industrial area, away from housing and next to some bush land. On a Sunday evening in summer the only outside sound to be heard during church were the bellbirds. A very nice change from the locals doing burnouts at Toongabbie!
FNC was very similar to SNC here at Toonie, so I figure I’ll slot in quite smoothly. They seem keen, enthusiastic and eager to push on in ministry. A really encouraging time.

And then there’s the packing and the removalist. We have always started packing for house moves early. That way, we can sort and toss as we go. That means getting packing boxes from the removalist. But our removalist is never at the office, and supplies of boxes take 4-6 phone calls over two weeks to arrange, and then they appear mysteriously outside the church building very early one morning. Very strange.
But we are just about there. Only about 10-15 boxes to go.

In all of this I’ve been on something of a roller coaster emotionally – something I’m almost getting used to during these periods of change of house/ministry. One minute I’m deeply regretting leaving the people and ministry opportunities here at Toongabbie. The next minute, I feel incredibly fired up for the work that lays ahead at Springwood.
However, in all the rush and bother, I’ve been very conscious of God. The first Sunday in January I preached on Psalm 73 and last Sunday heard a good talk on Psalm 89, and in their own ways, both these Psalms spoke powerfully to me, reminding me of God’s utter faithfulness and dependability and his unchanging nature. Also, that God’s work is just that: his work, work that He brings to fruition in his time and his way. That he graciously chooses to use us sometimes is the icing on the cake. Great things to be reminded of in times of upheaval and emotional turmoil.

Good reader, if you are a praying person, we would value your prayers at this time. Especially for Robyn, my wife, working very hard to prepare us for the move, settle two of our boys into independent living, say goodbye to Toongabbie people, and prepare for the onslaught of new relationships at Springwood. Very challenging for her in her poor health. And for me, that I would be wise (in the biblical sense) and godly in seeking to settle into the ministry at Springwood.

More reflections on the process post move.