Marching on....

Dear friends,

Here we are, at the start, nearing the middle, of March.

Study
For Stephen and I, it's the end of Week 3 of College. (Excepting the three weeks of intensive Greek Stephen has already completed).

Our first assignment, an essay for New Testament will be due on a couple of short weeks. (Hence why I'm now writing a blog post. What better way to procrastinate let the creative juices flow?).


On Monday Stephen sat his Greek exam (end of Semester 1 exam). Thanks for those who have been able to pray for him. He's been working hard, and we're delighted that his efforts have paid off - he passed, and passed very well!

On Friday and Saturday last week I (Sarah) had classes for my fourth subject - Gospel of John. The class ran from 9am - 5pm on both days. I have another two weekends like that. The course shape is called an 'extensive', so rather than weekly classes, or three weeks of one subject, it's spread out through the semester. While I came home utterly zonked on Saturday evening, it was a good way to soak up the subject matter and get some good theological and exegetical discussions going. (See, I'm at College, I can use those big words now!!)

On a personal reflection note - Sarah - while I didn't come into study with a particular ministry goal, I'm absolutely loving what I'm learning. I'm also appreciating more fully what a unique opportunity this is, to spend 12 months devoted to learning more about God's Word. I'm somewhat surprised at just how excited I am. I don't think I was expecting to love it this much - but I do. And thank God for that!

Church
We started home groups a couple of weeks ago. As the group meets fortnightly, we're looking to join another group in the alternate weeks as well, to ensure we have weekly fellowship and encouragement, and get to know more people from the 11am congregation.

General
The biggest news so far is that Centrelink have approved our applications and, praise God, we have received our first payment. Sarah's payments have begun straight away; Stephen's are subject to a waiting period. But at least we now have money for rent! Always a good thing.

Again, feeling the sting of being far away from close friends and family is going to be a recurrent theme. On of Sarah's close friends celebrated her engagement last Saturday night, and it was hard to miss that.

Please praise God for:
- Provision of Centrelink payments.
- What he is teaching us through our classes at Ridley and the richness of this learning.
- Sarah's enjoyment and excitement at learning big words, and what God has to teach her through them!
- Continuing integration into St Jude's community.

Prayer points:
- Diligence with study, especially for planning essays and exams.
- Comfort in times when we miss family and friends, and some of the important occasions in life we can't be there for.
- Making a decision about home group, that God would make it clear to us where to go.

Mid Feb update

Dear friends,

Well, time keeps flying by. 20 Feb has arrived and with it, the start of semester one at Ridley.

So, what have we been up to?

Church
On 12 February, we were officially welcomed to the 11am community at St Jude's. It was actually nice to be pointed out as 'newbies', as it afforded people the opportunity to come up and have the 'so, you're new!' conversations. The service was followed by lunch on Lygon St, where we enjoyed getting to know more people.

Connected to this, we attended out first home group on Thursday night (16th). It's a young adult (or young adult at heart) group and we spent the time sharing dinner and getting to know each other. Of course, this couldn't happen without the good old 'Two Truths and a Lie' game. I found it more fun to think up three lies, personally!! This home group meets fortnightly, so this Thursday we'll attend another homegroup to be part of in the alternate weeks.

Ridley
While today marks the first day of Semester One, it also marks the end of the Greek A Intensive, which Stephen had been doing. He still has a couple of classes before a end of 'semester' test on Monday 5 March. This is a big prayer point, especially as he now needs to juggle 3 other subjects and still keep his Greek practice going daily.

For this semester, Stephen's subjects are; Greek, Old Testament, New Testament & Evangelism & Ministry Foundations.

Sarah is doing Old Testament, New Testament, Evangelism & Ministry Foundations and a Gospel of John extensive. Extensives are held over 3 weekends.

We have also just come back from Launch Camp, where ourselves and 70 other students + faculty spent time meeting each other, sharing meals, and hearing talks from the faculty about what we can expect at Ridley and some of its values and aims.

It was a fantastic time, in the beautiful setting of Upper Plenty Conference Centre. We did laugh that we ended up sharing, not just the same lodge, but WALL as our housemates. Clearly God wants us to get to know each other quite well!!

We're so pleased about what we heard on the weekend. The returning students were very generous in their praise of the College, in particular, the emphasis that's placed on community life and the integration between academic studies and personal transformation. We're excited about what God is going to teach us through our subjects and look forward to experiencing and contributing to the community life at Ridley through Chapel and shared lunches, prayer triplets and other student activities.

General
Overall we're settling in well. I (Sarah) have enjoyed filling in for Stephen's sister's netball team and having time to organise the house and write blog posts! But also very much looking forward to my first class tomorrow!!

On another note, we had to resubmit some paperwork to Centrelink after it apparently appeared in a black hole. This has further delayed the outcome of our application for financial support for another 2 weeks. We'd like to think we're reasonably patient people and this is certainly testing that belief!!

Please praise God for:
- Settling in well to St Jude's community, enjoying home group and meeting new people.
- The values of Ridley College, the excellent launch camp and our excitement to begin full semester together.
- This opportunity to spend time getting immersed in God's Word, studying it and allowing it to transform our lives.

Prayer points:
- Stephen's Greek exam on Monday 5 March.
- Patience with Centrelink!
- Diligence with study, especially for planning essays and exams.

Hard copy update at your request

Good evening!

We've just finished putting together a newsletter to summarise our time here so far.

If you're lucky enough to attend Trinity Bay Church, hard copies will be available this Sunday (12 Feb).

Note, it doesn't really contain much new information other than extensive contact details.

Here's the obvious question 'But why, Sarah, when we've so diligently followed each and every update, would you ask us to hate nature and kills trees, to print out this newsletter?'

Fair point. It's just that, with a blog, you don't get to draw a mustache on Sarah's face and give Stephen funny glasses. But you also can't put it on your fridge or the back of your toilet door as a reminder to pray for us (or emergency loo paper, when times are tough).


A picture of the aforementioned newsletter is below. We can send you the file so you can have your very own copy. Just email Sarah (sarahDOTurmston87ATgmailDOTcom). With all the free time she currently has, you'll probably get it within the next 10 minutes.

Feb update

Hi friends!

Sorry it's been so long between posts. The chief staff writer of the blog has been mildly distracted by her own blog...

Since we last communicated, Stephen started Greek and is halfway through his second (out of three) weeks already. A major praise point is that he's been able to get through the work quite well, receiving great marks for his tests and is studying very hard.

Today we had our enrolment! This procedure took a little while, but a very valuable part of it was the opportunity to sit down with a faculty member to talk over subject choices so they could offer input and guidance. Followed closely by chatting with members from the student committee about our involvement on campus while we study.


Now that have our student cards, it all feels a little official. We're particularly proud of Stephen's photo. I'm not sure that such 'come hither' eyes have ever before been witnessed on a student, or will since....

Ridley...where I can stare you down in a student card...

As for me (Sarah), my time has been ridiculously relaxing, keeping up with housework and trying to keep focussed on tasks that need to completed. I'm really enjoying the close proximity of the shops, the local fruit n veg shops & butchers, and having some alone time.


We've been attending St Jude's (3 weeks now) in Carlton. This Sunday we'll be introduced as 'newbies', which I'm sure will assist with the 'getting to know everyone' process. We're also going to attend our first small group next Thursday evening.


It's hard to hear about things that are happening in Adelaide and not being there sometimes. A good friend of Sarah's got engaged last weekend, which was very exciting. We Skyped with friends and got to see their beautiful daughter looking so grown up! Seeing photos of the youth group on Facebook and hearing about the new venue for Church is wonderful. Just strange not to be there. And each Sunday is a bit of a reminder of the people we miss at the Bay. Knowing God's got us sorted is helpful. But, while we're still getting into the swing of things over here, it's still feels a bit like being away from home!


Which moves us on to prayer points...


Praise points:
 - That Stephen is actually enjoying Greek and doing well at it.
 - We're officially enrolled, accepted and all engines are set to go for our year of study together at Ridley.
 - The house is going really well and we're getting along great with our housemates.


Prayer points:
 - that we'd continue to be rooted in the Word of God and devoting time every day to prayer and reading our Bibles, making it a top priority.
 - For the remainder of the Greek course for Stephen, that he would continue to be able to soak up new concepts and work diligently.
 - For our application to Centrelink for Youth Allowance/Austudy (submitted last Monday, they have up to 28 days to get it through)
- To be able to connect quickly with people at church and study, and build a strong friendship base.

Photographical content

Ignoring the fun play with mirrors...note the CityLink e-tag! I guess we're pretty much "real" Melbournians now.

Our first tram ride into the city. Once we worked out how to insert the ticket (with some help from a friendly local), it was a smooth ride.

We saw Sherlock Holmes movie. It was very good. Quaintest cinema ever (next to Lobethal)!

The documentary we watched on our wedding anniversary. Fantastic story about how Kevin loved puppets from a young age and managed to meet Jim Henson and eventually work for and with him. Brilliant.

The rest of January...

Greetings, friends!

It's been a busy couple of weeks for us Urmstons.

One of the main appointments was our interviews with the Ridley faculty. Stephen and I were interviewed separately. It was a good time, good conversation. The staff laid out the expectations of the College (such as getting involved) and we got to talk through things like subject choices.

Stephen begins his Greek intensive classes on Monday, and has started his preparation - learning the alphabet. The intensive runs for 2.5 weeks and squeezes a semester's worth of learning into that short time. This means the rest of the course can be spread over 2 semesters. Please pray for Stephen in his preparation and learning that the information would soak in quickly, and he'd be able to pick it up well.

Last Sunday we attended St Jude's in Carlton. The service was fine and we met some lovely people. It was an interesting experience, to go to church again as a 'newbie', be introduced to people and accustom ourselves to a different space. We'll be back again tomorrow at the 11am service. At the moment, it seems this is where we'll call our church home. We've tossed up about spending more time visiting different churches vs 'settling'. Our priority at this time is to plug into a community, join a small group as quickly as we can and feel 'at home'.

On Thursday, while everyone celebrated Australia, we celebrated 4 years of marriage! It was a great day. We went to our favourite place in the city - ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image) and watched a documentary about Kevin Clash (who operates Elmo and is now director of Sesame St). Followed that with dinner at Brunswick and then back home to watch the tennis!

And finally, due to her love of words and reviewing each day in detail, Sarah has started her own blog! You can read it here: http://sarahurmston.wordpress.com/

Even more finally, here are our prayer and praise points:

Praise points:
- Family! We're enjoying regular catch ups with Stephen's sisters and parents. Sarah's also enjoying staying connected via SMS to her mum over their love of tennis.


 - That the application with Ridley is proceeding smoothly

- We enjoyed our visit to St Jude's and can see ourselves settling in there

Prayer points
-  For our application to Centrelink....just need to drop in some final documentation on Monday and then it all remains with them.
 - For Stephen as he begins the Greek intensive
- For Sarah, that she'd be productive at home, while Stephen is studying!

Some photos

Life's sometimes more interesting with pictures. So here are a few from this week (10-18 January).

From the drinks fridge at Blockbuster, Sunbury. South Australians will be able to tell what's different (yep, avoiding the word 'wrong') about this picture...

We started with a kitchen full of boxes. A near insurmountable task!

But we did overcome the boxes and, with a bit of help from our friends at Ikea, have a great cooking & eating room.

We're still trying to work out where the plate from the microwave has gone though. We'll keep you updated on the mystery as it unfolds...

Unfortunately, we did suffer a couple of casualties.

But God has a sense of humour.

One of the boxes that contained mugs had a terrific gash in its side. Fearing the worst, we opened it up. Fortunately, all mugs made from delicate, easily breakable material (like most mugs) were fine.

The plastic Australia cup, however, is another story...

Australi works for me. Anyone else for Australi as the new name for our great nation??

Guess you can't win them all!!