I'm ready to go home now.

It's been an exhausting morning.

I spent $600 on J and M's books and uniforms. We went to enrol N in high school but they don't open until tomorrow. Given that I start work on Wednesday, I feel like we are cutting things a bit fine.

I met my new boss and heard about my job. It seems I'll probably be teaching some PE along with music. PE!!! I did say that I was happy to do whatever, but PE?

I miss my old school. I miss knowing everyone. I miss calling the shots. I miss my beautiful, big, well organised classroom with well looked after equipment. I miss my teaching partner.

Can I go home now?

Dear Sydney,

What I love about you is that if a person has hung around in one of your Anglican churches for a few years at some stage of their life, they will know what an expository talk is.

Today I have been reminded that this is no small thing.

Yours gratefully,

Simone

Be inspired!

Al has posted this beautiful photograph of his kids.

When I saw it, I felt inspired. It's the kind of picture that we need to see every day. All it needs is a suitable verse to go with it.

So I've taken it upon myself to help Al out. I've sourced 5 7 inspirational verses. Which do you think is most appropriate?

1. Let go of the uncertainties of the present and run to the enchanted possibilities of the future.

2. Throw your dreams into space like a kite, then chase them to see where they lead.

3. I believe the children are the future. Teach them well and let them lead the way.

4. A little child will lead them.

5. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary.

6. Childhood is the world of miracle or of magic: it is as if creation rose luminously out of the night, all new and fresh and astonishing.

7. If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older.

Tomorrow...

... is the last day of Andrew's long service leave.

Real life resumes Monday morning.

On Monday I have to get the kids completely ready for school - buying uniforms, covering and naming books, enrolling Nathan in high school, working out the text book hire scheme, buying Joel a school bag... I also have to pick up 70 ukes brand new (lower end) ukes from school and start tuning them. I have to teach the teachers to play at some stage during pupil free days (hopefully Friday). Each uke has to be tuned about 50 times before it will hold it's tune. It will be a big job.

Tuesday I have to continue to tune 70 ukes, work out what I'll teach the teachers to play, and finish off the book covering.

Wednesday is the first pupil free day. Andrew has to take the kids to work with him. It's not ideal in his first week in a new job, but we have no friends in Cairns that we can ask yet. Andrew will work from home most of the time and the kids can entertain themselves. When he goes to meetings, the kids can tag along with electronic devices. When they are at home, they can tune the ukes for me! I think I'll give the $10 each if they can get them into tune.

Thursday I work again, then at night I'm hoping to have church musicians over for dessert and coffee. The kids will have been home all day so the house could be in an interesting state.

Friday, work again!

It will be a trying week. The kids are still a bit fragile. They don't want to go out anywhere, just stay in the safety of our house with their e-devices. Joel spent about 3 hours today skyping a friend. The pupil free days will probably be tough. Generally the only think that makes them bearable is having friends to sit with and whisper/pass notes to. I won't have any friends yet.

Oh well. Maybe I'll take my computer (and wireless internet) just in case anything bloggable happens!

Just wondering...

Have you thought of this stuff before? To me, it's obvious and I thought I was just writing what everyone was thinking, but I'm now questioning that assumption.

Leave a comment if you're brave enough.

Why congregations don't sing heartily.

The more I think about congregational singing (and I've been thinking about it a lot lately) the more I'm concluding that the best measure of a music team's performance is in the answer to this question: Are the congregation singing the Word heartily?

There's two things we're looking at here.

1. Are the congregation singing the word?

2. Are the congregation singing heartily?

To assess Q1, you need to look at the term's song selection. Do the songs deeply reflect the concerns and passions of God's Word?

To assess Q2, you need to look at how well the congregation are singing. Are 30% of the people just standing there waiting for the song to be over? Are people engaged with the singing? Are they getting into it? What sound does the visitor to church notice? Is it the sound of the people out the front or the sound of the congregation? I want people to be blown away by the sound of the congregation.

But people often don't sing heartily (or at all). 

Why not?

Here are some reasons I've thought of and some solutions.

1. The congregation are embarrassed.

The music team have chosen songs that are embarrassingly dated or daggy or maybe the musicians are poorly rehearsed or just incompetent. Whatever the reason, the congregation feel embarrassed about the music and so they don't sing.

Solution - Don't choose embarrassing songs. Rehearse properly.

2. The congregation is nervous.

The girl leading the singing is visibly uncomfortable and her fears are transferred onto everyone else. The whole congregation feels her nerves and so doesn't sing well.

Solution - Rehearse more so the song leader won't be so nervous. Have her lead with someone more experienced.

3. The congregation is overwhelmed.

There is a tidal wave of sound hitting the congregation from the front. All their energies are spent processing that sound. Who has any energy left to sing? And what difference would it make if you did sing?

Solution - Turn the volume down!!!

4. The congregation is unconverted.

Why sing songs about Jesus when you don't care about him?

Solution - Preach the word.

5. The congregation is unfamiliar with the song.

It's new and strange and I don't know it. How can I sing it heartily?

Solution - Sing fewer songs more often and teach songs better.

6. The congregation feel exposed.

There are so few people / such poor acoustics / such poor leading that individuals don't want to sing because they think everyone will hear them

Solution - sit people closer together, rent-a-crowd, lead better.

Can you think of any more?

Tonight...

I'm going out for coffee with a couple of women from church.

#idohavefriendsireallydo

The piano tuner man is here.

It seems he can tell me the make and model of every piano housed everywhere in Cairns. He just told me the history of our church piano and every other in this suburb.

Impressive. Cairns has a population of 150,000+!

I'm not looking for cliche orgasmic moments in church music...

...but if I were, I'd start the song pretty low with an unmemorable melody, then step it up (in pitch and rhythm) in the prechorus before punching out a high, repetitive, sentimental chorus - the kind that can be sung with eyes shut and hands in the air in an 'I surrender my body to you' kind of a way. And the great thing about a chorus is that you can do it multiple times.

Could this be the worst congregational song ever?

We've been to 5 different churches in our last month of holidays. Some encouraging things happening around the place.

In our travels I was introduced to this song for the first time. It's interesting. Some wild metaphors. I was singing hesitantly through the hurricane and ocean bits, then I stopped when I got to the red words. What do you think?

He is jealous for me 
Love's like a hurricane, I am a tree 
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy 
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory 
and I realize just how beautiful You are and how great your affections are for me. 
Oh, how He loves us so 
Oh, how He loves us 
How He loves us so. 

Yeah, He loves us 
Woah, how He loves us 
Woah, how He loves us 
Woah, how He loves. 

So we are His portion and He is our prize, 
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes 
If grace is an ocean we're all sinking 
So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss and my heart turns violently inside of my chest 
I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way 

That he loves us, 
Woah, how He loves us 
Woah, how He loves us 
Woah, how He loves 

He loves us, 
Woah, how He loves us 
Woah, how He loves us 
Woah, how He loves 

Haven series 4!!!!

Coming some time this year!

If you haven't gotten into this, you really should. Pop into JB HiFi or cruise on over to the itunes store.

Les Mis

Chris, Andrew and I saw Les Mis with the kids yesterday.

8 things.

1. Don't take your kids to see it. The beginning section with Fontine and prostitution is pretty confronting and inappropriate. Actually, the whole movie is pretty confronting. The kids are pulling me up on my double standards - why did I 'make' them see that when it is so much less suitable than other things that they'd like to see? Having said that, Nathan (aged almost 13) liked it a lot.

2. If you do take your kids, don't buy them extra large slurpies or give them paper bags full of snacks. Paper rustling and toilet breaks kill the mood.

3. The two lead guys weren't up to it vocally, but their acting was great. Some 'moments' that should of happened didn't happen - and I was waiting for them and was disappointed. But overall it still worked. I was moved. I felt stuff. I was a little teary at the end.

4. The women were excellent.

5. The death scenes and particularly the resurrection bit at the end were well done.

6. Marius was lovely. Of course.

7. The alto had her heart broken then she died.

8. The soprano got the man.

So we are in Cairns.

We drove up on Sunday with our friends Chris and Josh. We had 2 cars and Chris helped with the driving. Andrew and Joel left from Brisbane and the rest of us left from Murwillumbah in northern NSW. It was a little stressy at first when the car wouldn't start at the servo just outside of M'bah. It seems that the starter motor has gone. We decided to risk driving it to Cairns anyway - we had to push start it every time we switched it off. Thankfully we made it.

Chris has just left. Saying goodbye to him felt like the end of our SEQld lives. Tomorrow will be hard for the kids as they say goodbye to Josh.

Five things.

1. Cairns is beautiful. It's green and lush with lovely breezes. The mountains are gorgeous. (Sorry Nathan, in terms of natural beauty Townsville doesn't come close.)

2. We drove north on a particularly hot day (40+ in Brisbane) so Cairns has been a cool change. The temps here are generally 25-33 which it very manageable. Last night I had to turn the fan down. AC hasn't really been needed much yet. I'll probably regret saying it, but I like the feeling of nice moist air. When we were in Melbourne, the thin dry air hurt my chest when I ran.

3. Our house should work well. Last night we sat and talked with our feet in the pool. It was idyllic. Our back patio is also great.

4. We've been on 'holidays' for a month now and are all exhausted. I'm feeling strange and longing to find a rhythm for life again. Sleep is a bit elusive. I can't get my head around having left our old church. I want to know how Christmas went for people and if Karen's had her baby yet. I want Tash to pop in for afternoon tea.

5. Moving sucks. Not in any hurry to do it again but at the same time can't handle the thought of living so far away forever.

5 points on women giving sermons

Okay. So I've read the ebooks and all the meta. I'm not sure exactly* where I'm landing with it all but...

1. Let's stay calm. Nothing that John Dickson or Kathy Kellar have written is all that revolutionary. Dickson is arguing for a capable woman giving the occasional sermon at church. Kellar is arguing for much the same thing. Both are still within the complementarian camp. Both hold that there are differences between men and women in the home and at church.

2. None of this would have been controversial with most evangelicals 25 years ago. Such things happened.

3. There's no need for our heresy warning alarms to be going off as soon as someone starts questioning our interpretation of a verse. It's entirely possible that we've been wrong for centuries. Looking closely at the bible is what we should all be doing.

4. If compelling evidence came to light that made it pretty much certain that Dickson and Kellar are right, would the bottom fall out of your faith? Why?

5. The issue that we need to be discussing is what Paul meant by 'teach' in the pastorals.

What do you think?

* I'm sympathetic.

2 days left in the deep south...

We drive to Cairns Sunday-Monday.

I'm venturing out of my cave to see some friends this afternoon. Perhaps this will be the end of my adventure in introversion. Or maybe not.

I'm sorry that I haven't gotten to say goodbye to everyone I wanted to. Easter?

Ryan Layne Whitney (Scarlatti: Sonata K. 69)

 I started working on this one yesterday. I like it.

Introverting

After a stupidly busy last.... well... 5 years, I've stopped.

I have nothing pressing. No Sunday School lessons to prepare. No school musical to write. No marking to do. It's amazing. I have nothing to do.

Except play the piano.

So I am. 

For 3 hours a day.

I've gotten my scales back up to speed and am working on a handful of 7th grade pieces I found in mum and dad's piano stool. (I want more music, but there's no decent shop on the southern Gold Coast) Although I play at work all day, it's been so long since I've read real music (with treble and bass clef!) that I thought I'd forgotten how to do it, but it seems I haven't.

I'm playing 2 Scarlatti Sonatas (A and G minor), a Solar Sonata (D), a Chopin waltz and a Mozart movement.

I don't think I've ever been this introverted. I don't particularly want to talk to anyone or go out anywhere.

We are on the coast until Sunday, then we drive to Cairns.

New Year's Resolutions.

1. Move north. 

2. Parent a teenager.

3. Get a new job.

4. Get a new church.

5. Experience life in a different climate and with different people.

Want a tour through our new house?

Andrew made this little video for the kids. They won't get to see our new place for another 3 weeks. Take a look!

Melbourne

Plan A has been successfully executed. Our new house in Cairns is set up (except for one room). Our kids survived without us for four days and made it to Melbourne. Their very gracious grandparents survived as well.

Today we flew from Cairns to Melbourne. The air isn't as thick and warm down here but it's great to see the kids again.

It doesn't feel like Christmas to us. We gave our boys their presents over a week ago. We're doing our extended family Christmas thing on new years eve, so tomorrow will just kind of be another day. But we'll go to church. So far this month I've only heard 5 christmas sermons, so it will be good to get another one in!

I hope you all have a very happy christmas.

xo

What really sucks...

... is that we'll have broken the back of our unpacking just when the Mayan calendar ends and the zombie apocalypse starts. Perhaps we should just keep our stuff safe in the container for a few weeks while everything finds a new post apocalyptic normal.

What's not to like?

crocodiles, humidity, heat, distance from friends and family

Nothing!

Friday 21st December

Don't believe this day is here!

By some mighty miracle, everything is going to plan.

Andrew and I are in Cairns. We've just been for a 5km jog and a 1km swim. It's a lovely 24 degrees.

In one hour we sign our lease and pick up our house keys.

Then at around lunch time, all of our stuff should be delivered.

This afternoon, my mum drives our kids from the Gold Coast to Brisbane. Tomorrow, they set out for Melbourne with Andrew's parents. We'll meet them there on Monday night.

But now we've got to get ourselves ready for the big unpack. The removalists put beds together etc, but we've got to do the rest. How long should it take? Ten hours? Twenty?

Moving...

The removalists arrive in 30 minutes.

Big day.

Last Sunday at Church

After 10 years.

I'll miss the piano.

And playing it with people who know what I'm thinking.

And being able to say 'That was rubbish. Let's do it again.' without offending.

I'll miss the beautiful rose window.

And the lovely organ pipes.

And our pretty leaf logo.

I'll miss the morning teas, lovingly prepared.

And the conversation and laughs in the hall.

I'll miss being in the place that has so many memories.

Breastfeeding a little one in the hall. My baby asleep under the piano while I played.

Joel hiding under the communion table during church while I was playing piano and trying to communicate to friends that I had lost him.

Joel's name written in permanent marker on the church wall (in his backwards 6 year old scrawl.)

Nathan sitting at the sound desk.

I'll miss being around people who have watched our children grow, who have cared for them over the years and who love them.

I'll miss being around people who know me and love me despite knowing me. The people who have prayed with me, ministered to me, grown with me.

I'll miss the familiarity, the history.

But none of that is what I'll miss most.

Thank you all for the last decade.

We love you and will miss you.

House cleaning.

I think houses should come with waterproof insides so I could just hose it all out. 

There could be a three step house cleaning machine. You clear everything out, then hose it with the sudsy wash, then rinse it with water, then dry it with a massive blow dryer.

The mother of invention

Necessity.

I wrote Nathan out a harmony part for 'Safe and Sound' as part of the year 7 graduation song medley.

He played it through once or twice then lost it. Or maybe I lost it. I certainly lost my own chart.

I offered to write something out for him again but he said, 'Don't worry, Mum. I'll just make it up.' And he did.

That's my boy!

Choices: Get better with paper organisation or learn to improvise.

We have a house!

Next Friday, we'll be moving our stuff in to this house.

Yay!

We've not seen inside it at all - there's no inside pics on re.com, but we trust that it is pretty much the same as all the other houses in the suburb.

Ticking stuff off

Academic Awards evening performances - DONE
Musical - DONE

Today the year 7s have to repeat their graduation songs at a school assembly. I need to organise that, then clean up all the sound gear in the school (quite a big job), return my school computer, box up all my work resources and clean out my classroom.

The packers come to our place tomorrow. It is a disgusting mess. Before they get here we need to pack our bags - Andrew and I for a week, the kids for a month.  We also need to chuck out about 10 wheelie bins worth of stuff. Not sure how that is going to happen.

I should probably just start.

Plan A seems to (maybe) be going ahead.

It looks like things might fall into place for our move. All our stuff is getting packed up on Friday and is going on the train on Monday. We are now told that the house we've applied for will be available pre-Christmas. I'm hoping pre-Christmas doesn't mean Christmas Eve. We need it next Thursday - 20/12. Someone is having a look at it for us today. After that, our application can get processed. If we suit and the date works, then we can buy flights to Cairns next week and move in.

Things seem to be moving very slowly, but hopefully we'll know one way or the other by tomorrow. If this house isn't going to work out, we have to quickly start the process again with another one.

Cool date

12/12/12

Read between the lines.

Dear Parents,

On Wednesday this week, reports will be handed out. On Thursday there will be class break up parties, a farewell to the year 7s and a final school assembly. The kids will have emptied their tidy trays and taken all their books and pencils home. Their chairs will be stacked in piles and the desks will be pushed against the walls.

On Friday, the teachers use the day to tidy up their own stuff, empty filing cabinets, finish filing everything and moving their things into the classrooms they'll be teaching in next year. There is a special lunch for staff. While some children come to school, attendance on this day is not expected. There will be no lessons held. The few children who are at school will be grouped together and put to work cleaning. Notes will not be sent home for children who are absent.


It's been a great year, but we are all looking forward to THURSDAY afternoon. We hope you have a lovely holiday.

Yours etc.

Wrapping up...

3 performances and one cd left to do at school.

I'm organising the year 7 leaving song again this year.

I'm a sucker for wanting to give lots of kids parts, so we're doing a medley of 5 songs - Skyfall, Chasing the Sun, Good Riddance, Safe and Sound, and Hall of Fame. It's length is a bit epic, but the kids like it.

Last week of school!

3 weeks without sugar or artificial sweeteners

I've lost 3kg.

I don't miss sugar.

I had half a can of diet softdrink yesterday. I used to guzzle the stuff, but drinking it now seems kind of pointless.

It's meant to take 3 weeks to lose the taste for sugar. I think I've lost it, but I'm a bit bored with eating overall. I've been too busy to experiment with any new flavours, so I've pretty much just eaten things plain. I'll need to work more with fresh herbs etc if I'm to keep going. I'm not hungry much anymore except at lunch and dinner times, which is good.

Love in blogdom

We had a lovely email from a Cairns blog reader this week.

She had some good advice on property in Cairns. Who would have thought of issues like flooding?

Two performances down....

... And one cd basically made.

Still got to finish year 7 cd and get the kids to burn them all off.

This time next week the packers will be here.

Still no house confirmed.

Song for today. Air Conditioner.

One performance down!

My Junior Choristers are amazingly good at picking stuff up quickly. Fab.

RE finished!

My next three weeks - 6 performances, 4 cities, moving house.

Tuesday 4/12

RE Christmas pagaent. Put on by my Junior Choir with half hour rehearsal. I hope they'll be able to pull it off. For 7 year olds, they're a pretty disciplined group.

Final church bible study. Sad.

Wednesday 5/12

Junior Choir performs (outside! Annoying!) at the building opening post school fire in December 2012.

Year 6 CD launch. Remember all those songs I've been posting? I need to finish tidying them up by Wednesday and print of a pile of CDs. We're having some kind of party.

Thursday 6/12

Funeral for Andrew's great aunt. The third elderly relative we've lost this year.

Friday 7/12

Staff Christmas Party

Saturday 8/12

Church Christmas carols rehearsal.

Sunday 9/12

Church Christmas carols and preschool pagaent.

Monday 10/12

Rehearsals for next two days

Tuesday 11/12

Academic Awards evening. I'm organising the year 7 graduation songs (Chasing the sun, Good Riddance, Hall of Fame, Safe and Sound) and accompanying the senior choir. Rehearsals all day, performances at night.

Wednesday 12/12

Premier of 'Courtney - The Musical'. Remember that *great* idea I had in January, that I'd get a group of kids to write a musical? Well, it's done!

Thursday 13/12

Kids' last day at school. I'll be saying goodbye to all the kids on this day.

Friday 14/12

Micah's birthday. The packers arrive and put all our earthly possessions into boxes.

Saturday 15/12

????

Sunday 16/12

Final Sunday at church.

Monday 17/12

All our earthly possessions go off on a train to Cairns.

Tuesday 18/12

House cleaning.

Wednesday 19/12

House cleaning then drive to my parents place on the Gold Coast.

Thursday 20/12

If we've found a house, Andrew and I fly to Cairns. Kids stay with my parents.

Friday 21/12

If we've found a house (hopefully!) Andrew and I unpack our stuff and set up shop in Cairns. Kids go to Brisbane to Andrew's parents.

Saturday 22/12

Kids drive with Andrew's parents to Melbourne. We continue to unpack.

Sunday 23/12

Kids continue to drive to Cairns. Andrew and I have a day off together.

Monday 24/12

Andrew and I fly to Melbourne.

Tuesday 25/12

Happy Christmas!