Secret Women's Business

Q: Should I have a baby after 35? A: No, 35 children is enough. Q : I'm two months pregnant now. When will my baby move? A: With any luck, right after he finishes university. Q : What is the most reliable method to determine a baby's sex? A: Childbirth. Q: My wife is five months pregnant and so moody that sometimes she's borderline irrational. A: So what's your question? Q : My childbirth instructor says it's not pain I'll feel during labor, but pressure. Is she right? A: Yes, in the same way that a cyclone might be called an air current. Q: When is the best time to get an epidural? A: Right after you find out you're pregnant. Q : Is there any reason I have to be in the delivery room while my wife is in labor? A: Not unless the word 'child support payment' means anything to you. Q: Is there anything I should avoid while recovering from childbirth? A: Yes, pregnancy. Q : Do I have to have a baby shower? A: Not if you change the baby's nappy very q...

Most people who work in Christian organisations know a thing or two about tight (or non-existent) budgets. One learns to make do... sneaking down to Community Care to borrow a glue stick, promoting events by email to save on stamps, budgeting events to break even (and praying like mad enough people will register so this can happen.) Etc. etc. Shocking though this may sound, gentle reader, I have moaned for some years about not having money to develop a website (although only in a terribly gracious, charitable and Christian kind of way, of course!) Well, over the past week my wondrous boss Martin has just whipped one up on his laptop! He keeps threatening to turn it all pink and girly when I give him cheek, which is most of the time. So if it has a sudden change of hue, you'll know I've pushed the boundaries with Martin just a little bit too far. So here (drum roll) is "Mark One" of a women's ministry site for Churches of Christ Vic/Tas. Any feedback or comments ab...

As unruffled and efficient as I may be (ahem), it is with some alarm I note that I will be running / MCing a major conference in just over 3 weeks. Arrgghhh. (That's a cyber scream. Though in cyberspace, no one can hear you scream... Or was that real space?) Anyway, if you could spare a prayer for me, the speakers, the organising team, and a spare prayer of blessing for those who attend, that would be greatly appreciated. http://cofcaustralia.org/cofc-cms/images/stories/CofCVicTas/coc%20refresh%20dl%20web.pdf?PHPSESSID=eca047d7f2d06c01ecb01144aeb5e6ab

I am amazed. No, really. My comment on Danny Nalliah’s blog (see previous post) has been rejected. Apparently, it’s ok to have his comments described as: “disgusting” and as “blatant opportunism”. But describing his exegesis as “sloppy” is apparently a comment too hot to handle. I don’t think I’ve said anything too radical (although perhaps I had a bit of a “tone” in my comments... I was a little ticked off when writing). I was trying to make a simple point, really. The first testament describes a covenant between Yahweh and a people (the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), promising them the land of Israel. If the Jewish people obeyed the laws given to Moses, they would have peace and prosperity in this land. God promised his presence in the temple in Jerusalem, and if his people had been unfaithful, God would always hear them as they repented and prayed in this temple. The New Testament describes a new covenant, where all who follow the way of Jesus become God’s people, regard...

The bushfires raging around Victoria have created a most sobering week... more than 1800 homes lost, more than 180 people dead, thousands of people with traumatic near misses from the fire. It has highlighted to me what an interlinked community we have in Victoria... everyone I speak with knows someone, or knows someone who knows someone, who has been deeply affected by these fires. Even as I write now I can smell smoke and see the reddish-gold smoke-tinted sunlight as fires continue to blaze in the hills. Amidst all the trauma and sadness and heroism and kindness and generosity, there has been a voice of gross insensitivity noted in the newspapers. Danny Nalliah, a Christian pastor known for "Catch the Fire Ministries", has publicly claimed that the bushfires are a direct result of God removing his protection from Australia in general and Victoria in particular because of our recently modified abortion laws. One wonders the cause of the 80's Ash Wednesday and the 30'...

While I might George W Bush a teeny weeny bit harshly for things like... oh, failure to regulate bank lending leading to global economic chaos, torture, prolonged detention of suspects without trial, and a trumped up war (have you seen Google earth lately... where did they hide those weapons of mass destruction again?), I honestly don’t judge him too harshly for saying dumb things when he steps aside from an autocue. (See previous post). The Lord alone knows how many dumb things I’ve said in my time... especially since the acquired brain injury of pregnancy. (I keep waiting for my brain to recover, but am close to giving up hope on that score). Last year at the supermarket deli, I asked for 5 honey soy and 5 satay kebabs. “Do you mind if they’re in the one packet?” the attendant enquired. “No, I don’t want them mixed together...” (thinking the sauces would cross-pollinate, so to speak). Then I noticed they were already in two separate plastic bags. “Oh, I don’t mind if they’re in the s...