06 April, 2012

An update of late proportions. Introducing; April Update!

Dear friends,
We come before you to humbly confess that we have been negligent. We have failed to love you through communicating via this blog as we should have. Accept our confession and grant us the reprieve of your reading eyes, thoughts and prayers once again.

Whew! With that out of the way (we really are sorry about the delay!) let's get on with the task and share with you where things are at.

Ridley
Can you believe that we have already had 7 weeks of class? Insane!
In that 7 weeks we have written and submitted our essays for our New Testament class, and I, Sarah, have also written and handed up an exegesis essay for my Gospel of John class - focussing on ch13:5-15 (the footwashing). Now, our attention turns to yet another essay, this time for Old Testament, which is due on 19 April.

We are still loving being at Ridley and being a part of the community within.

One of my favourite times of day is Wednesday lunchtime. There's no officially 'community lunch' in the dining hall, like there is on Tuesday and Thursdays. But, head into the Student Lounge, and it's hard to get a seat at the table, because of the great bunch of (mainly) first years, who sit down and chat and reflect. It's really wonderful.
Recently, one of our classmates organised an afternoon picnic across the road at a park. It was very casual, but a very fun time of relaxing and chilling out over food, on a picnic blanket, enjoying the delicious weather that Melbourne has been offering to us (thanks God!).

Another highlight was the recent Chapel service, held in 'hip hop' style. Every Tue-Thur, the College community meets from 9.50am - 10.50am for a Chapel service. There is a group of students doing a subject called 'Christian Worship'. Every so often, they take control of Wednesday's chapel service, at do the service in a particular style, or with a particular theme. Congregational singing was replaced with congregational rapping, and 'Amen' was replaced with 'Word!', among other things. It was good to try something different!

We've also been getting to know some of our classmates over meals, which I have now dubbed 'Friday Friendship Meals'. What better thing to do on a Friday night than to relax over food, and get to know people better, and maybe even play a board game or something. I'm hoping it's a tradition we'll definitely continue!

Church
We have been attending St Jude's church, in Carlton, the 11am service, since we moved to Melbourne. We're keen to get to know people, have been attending a fortnightly homegroup and at the moment are considering how we might serve the congregation in the near future.
As great as the people at St Jude's are, we are finding the transition somewhat difficult. We blame Trinity Bay for this, in every good way! Our time at the Bay was very special, and we were very quickly integrated into the congregation, and from very early on, we had a wonderful sense of belonging, and of community. We got to know people over shared meals after the service and other mid-week activities. One factor for this was that, when we entered the community, Stephen had a role on staff, and a special one at that, of directing the learning times for the children. In that sense, there's a natural progression of integration. The other factor, we believe, is that the people at the Bay had been well-trained for a culture of welcome, particularly of hospitality, and this shone through.
St Jude's is a very differently shaped community and church. I'm being careful not to compare, or hold one congregation up and better than the other - naturally human bias will make this impossible, so I do acknowledge it. But I believe that it's because we had such an amazing experience at the Bay, that there is some difficulty, on our part, to grow to love St Jude's, as we did the Bay. The integration is far far slower than we would like, and this is really causing us to struggle. For this reason, please keep us in your prayers especially on this point, as we accept God's timing and wait upon him.

Other
God has been incredibly gracious to us, in making this transition so smooth. We feel privileged to be living where we are (Coburg), sharing with great housemates, being set apart from full time work for awhile to be able to study, and getting to know people in this city.

It's great to be close to Stephen's family, and exciting times are just around the corner, with our niece/nephew due on 2 May! Ellice (Stephen's sister) and Chris had a baby shower a couple Sundays ago, and I (Sarah), had a great time attending, participating in the games, and staring at Ellice's gorgeous belly, in awe that we'll soon be meeting this new life within. Amazing.

As I write this, I'm sitting in the campervan at Belgrave Heights, at their annual Easter Convention. This is a convention that has shaped and formed Stephen's faith and growth in knowledge and love of God, as his family would come up every year for Easter and Christmas. I love sharing in this tradition, and the fact that we're now only 50 minutes away (not 7 hours!). The teaching here is excellent, thought and heart provoking, the singing is hearty and heartfelt and the surroundings tranquil (if not a wee bit breezy today!!), and a great time to unwind and focus our thoughts on Jesus, this Good Friday.

On Easter Sunday, we will jump in the car and be on our way to Adelaide of a week-long getaway and reunion with my family, our church family and other friends.

Ps - when I'm back in reach of a PC, I'll post some photos as well, for those of you for whom this block of text really was a block to push through! And, pictures are more fun, anyway!

Please pray with us for;
- Continued diligence in completing assignments, whilst keeping up with the ongoing reading and requirements.
- Stephen, to work out a good study routine, and be able to focus on his study for appropriate lengths of time.
- Sarah, as she considers, in light of what she's learning, how she might continue to serve God next year, and whether investigations into full time ministry, of some sort, could be on the cards.
- Continued faith and trust in God and his provision, to follow his lead one step at a time.
- Patience with church, and community, and that God would show us what we are to do.

Please praise God with us for;
- His care for us over the semester so far, that we have been able to learn, listen, and complete assignments on time!
- The joy and privilege of being close to Stephen's family, and for the impending arrival of our niece/nephew.
- The gift of his Son, who so loved the world that rebelled against him, that he made the ultimate sacrifice for sins, that we, along with all of God's creation, could be redeemed into a loving relationship with our Heavenly Father.
- The caring staff at Ridley, and the community, in which we feel so blessed to be a part of, and the work God is doing in people's hearts and minds through the College.