24 Years

Forgive for a little bit of self indulgence. Today Jo and I have been married for 24 years.

Jo you have been at my side constantly for the last 24 years
You have loved me and cared for me
You have stayed with with me through many highs and lows
You have never criticized me or put me down
You have constantly encouraged me to be all that I can be
You have always seen the best in me and honored me in every way possible
You have been a wonderful Mother to our children
You have been a constant example of godliness and humility
You have given me more than I ever dreamed of
I treasure every day we have together
I would not be where I am today without you.
You have prayed for me more than anyone else
Whatever a man could ever want in wife, you have been all of that and more.
You are best gift God ever brought into my life.
As I said at our wedding 24 years ago, 'This is the Lord's doing and it is wonderful in my eyes'
Thankyou for 24 years of constant love and companionship
You mean everything to me
I love you more today than I have ever have before
It is you I have loved, and will continue to love until the day I die.
24 years ago we stood at the front of a church and pledged our lives to one another forever. We did that in front of family and friends and before the Lord whom we both love so much. Today I renew my commitment to you.
I love you with all of my heart
Your life long friend, companion, and biggest fan,
You loving husband,
LARRY


This is one of my favorite pictures of Jo at the age of 8

Looking even better than ever

Mass Appeal

Tonight Jo and I went to the theatre to see a play called 'Mass Appeal'. It was a story about two priests in the Catholic Church. One is the older, wiser, popular Father Farley who has a comfortable parish and knows exactly how to win the hearts of his congregation. His congregation think he is wonderful and keep him endowed with many bottles of fine wine.

The other priest is a young seminary student who is assigned to the older priest. The younger priest is enthusiastic and passionate about the being a priest and bringing about renewal into the church.

After many heated disagreements with Father Farley and church superiors the young priest is finally facing expulsion from the church. Father Farley must ultimately decide if he is willing to risk losing his own position in the parish in order to do what he knows deep down is right. He gradually realises just how high the stakes really are.

One of the most powerful lines in the play was in the older priests final sermon to his congregation. He said, 'I so much wanted you to love me, but in so doing I have lost Christ'

Despite being two very different people the two priests develop a deep freindship. Towards the end of the play Father Farley says to the younger priest, 'You know Jesus never sent his disciples out alone. He sent them out in twos. I think I now know why'.

Well, overall a good night out and a very thought provoking play raising many very real issues for anyone in ministry.

Maybe I'll have a coffee and head for bed.

Sightseeing Again

Well Monday rolls around again. Today we visited the gourmet delicatessen and packed ourselves a lunch to die for and headed off for another day of sightseeing in this beautiful corner of Tasmania. (I think I might get a job with the Tassie Tourist commission!!) We headed off to Dodge's Ferry and continued down to Primrose Sands. On the home we called in to have a look at Marion Bay. What a beautiful beach we found there.

Hobart Christmas Pageant

Christmas starts early in Hobart. This morning was the Hobart City Christmas Pageant with a full scale street parade. The churches of Hobart had seven floats depicting the Christmas story.


Check out the good looking banner carrier on the right


Take a closer look at the centurian second from the right


There is again on the right this this time


And unlike Ali, I didn't even have to audition


Thankfully I didn't get assigned the part of the donkey this time



And of course our church band was in full swing as well.

And what's more. The man said that next year I might get to be the angel!

Sarah's day at the cricket

Well for the first time in a few years they are playing test cricket here in Hobart. The state premier was a little worried there may not be a crowd, so he extended an invitation to every school to have a day at the cricket free of charge. It all sounded good. Sarah was fired up and ready to go and see the Aussies bat against the Windies. The trouble was that it rained most of the morning and Sarah came home again without seeing any play at all. The cricketers did come out in the rain and sign autographs for the school kids however and Sarah said her arm was signed by a West Indies player. It's a pity they didn't stick around because later today our opening batsman Hayden and Hussey both reached their centuries. Well they never did see any cricket, but our premier did come out on the ground and bowl a few balls himself against Ricky Ponting. He must have been desperate to get some entertaiment happening for his crowd of school kids.



The towel came in handy during the rain!

WHAM Elizabeth College Art Exhibition

Tonight we went down to Simon's school and had a look at their annual art exhibition featuring art work of different mediums from students at the college. Simon had his own booth at the exhibition where a number of his movies played continuously on a loop. His graphic design piece on the theme of eternity was also featured for which Simon won a cash prize of $50.00.

Graeme & Brenda's Backyard

We decided to use part of our day off this week to go and vist Lauderdale where Graeme & Brenda Holt live. Their house backs right on to the beach. After a great feed of Tasmanian scallops we headed for the beach and took a stroll through 'Graeme & Brenda's backyard'. How would you like all of this in your backyard!

A self portrait by Emily

Look out for that tree!

This week our local council had hard rubbish collection which included garden waste. The opportunity was too good to miss, so I attacked the tree in the front yard with a vengeance. It is now of a size where you can actually enter the house without having to fight with the tree! I guess it will soon grow again. If you look closely you may make out our dog 'Shadow' standing in my shadow!

1000 visitors

Well it's taken a while but this week our blog page reached a major milestone clocking up over 1000 hits. We are celebrating this achievement by publishing our blog in a bold new colour. Keep on visiting!

Magnificent Tasmania

With 28 degrees, delightful sunshine and a day off from work, what else would you do than go off to explore a little more of this manificent south east corner of Tasmania. It truly is a beautiful place to live and work. I loved the ocean at Warrnambool and could have lived there forever, but this place just continues to take my breath away with its amazing beauty. Today we headed off down to Cygnet and then followed the beach road all the way around the peninsula. Truly a wonderful day. We had lunch at the very trendy 'Velvet Hat Cafe' in Cygnet and then topped the day off with coffee and chocolate cake at Peppermint bay. My camera is getting old and doesn't quite capture the colour and the beauty we saw today, but here's a sample anyway.

Doug MacFarlane

Tonight we had Doug MacFarlane in our church. Doug has been around the scene for a few years now. He is a singer come evangelist who travels extensively throughout the nation singing and preaching the gospel. We had about 100 more people than we regularly have in church on Sunday night. Doug sang a few songs and then preached a straight gospel message and about 12 people responded to the the altar call. In all another good Sunday, but now I'm home and can relax and unwind for a while before thinking about the week ahead.

Eating with friends

At our church each month we have a program called 'Eating With Friends'. We pick up about 35 people from our community who live alone and have no family close by and give them a really good quality meal at our church. We have a great team of people who serve together each month to make it happen. It's lots of fun and a small step towards us fulfilling our vision of becoming the living presence of Jesus in Hobart.