Mom and Dad Lipsy Have Arrived!!

They arrived on time (only a hour and half late) and through a set of challenging international flight scheduling issues.

Sorry to not have more to post right now but more is on the way.

Heading Out for Ulverstone!

Monday October 5th to October 9th we went to the city of Ulverstone for the Accelerated Christian Education (A.C.E.) Convention. A.C.E. is a christian home school curriculum that many chrisitans in Tasmania use. There are also schools that follow the A.C.E. curriculum and augment the curriculum with arts & crafts and music.

While in Ulverstone we stayed with our friends David and Mandy Kerridge. David is stated pulpit supply at the Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia (PCEA) in Ulverstone. The PCEA in Ulverstone is very similar to the SPC and our folk are close and enjoy fellowship together.

Before we left Monday morning we chatted with family over Skype and the phone. In the above picture I am having a theological chat with my brother-in-law Pete. I enjoy talking to my dear brother but we both keep busy and connecting can be tough.

On the way down to Ulverstone our insightful little Julia took one of her favorite books apart. It has a wheel you could spine to make different pictures appear on different pages. She decided to look at them all at once!

After we arrived at David and Mandy's in due course. Julia had a fun time playing with their son William's musical piano thing toy.

Here are our friends and gracious hosts David and Mandy (and the most recent Kerridge yet to make an out of the womb appearance).

We had a marvelous breakfast the next morning: mini-cinnamon rolls!!

Julia hung out in the auditorium while I was judging the Platform events. Julia loves her books and is wearing her knew baby harness. We asked her if she wanted the frog, monkey, or the bear. She joyfully responded, "Monk- eee"!

Chilli'n

Read'n

Napp'n

Julia loved the play ground equipment outside, especially the slide!

Fun with the bubbles outside in the yard at Camp Clayton (where the ACE Convention was held).

More fun on the equipment.

The initial serving of lunch to the first group of students at the convention.

Some of the paintings, pen & ink, and sketches.

Some of the arts & crafts.

A bit more of the art & craft.

There were a lot more things to get pictures of, like the wood and metal work, but did not get any.

Here is a picture of a young friend of ours, Ruth Taylor. This is picture was taken from a great distance and was snapped in between hiding her face and running away.

Julia's dinner.

David Kerridge and his son William.

David's amazing wife Mandy.

Playing with William's toys!

We took a drive to see the Tulip fields on Table Cape but we were to cheap to pay to get a closer look. The Tulip Festival is a popular attraction this time of year with fields and fields of Tulips.

Quick stop for lunch after the visit to Table Cape.

There was a little play area where we stopped.

Another slide!

Dive!

Dive again!

Awards night at the ACE convention.

Many children from the SPC placed well in various areas of competition but it was touhg to get good pictures. Here is one of the Seabrook Christian School of Launceston's award winning choir.

Old Photos From a Trip to Greens Beach
(last year)

A Couple of Local Visits

Carleen (pronounced "Kaah-leen" here in Tas) Coles came over for a visit with some family when they were in Launceston a while ago. Carleen is on the left holding her most recent child, Dustin. Carleen is married to Stewart and they have four boys: Bradley, Thomas, Rohan, and Dustin. They are part of the Launceston SPC congregation, but they live about an hour and half or so North and West of Launceston. The young lady to the right of Carleen is Linda Coles. Linda lives down in Hobart and she is Stewart's sister. There is a chance she may make the big move North and we could see her a bit more often. Hobart's loss would be our gain!

Julia always had a great time playing with Rohan (center) and Thomas (right).

Awww....! Aunty Linda and her nephew Dustin.
What cuties!

This is Many Kerridge and her son William. Mandy is married tio David, who is pulpit supply for the congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia (PCEA) in Ulverstone. Martha and I feel blessed ot have David and Mandy in Ulverstone as they are in pretty much the same stage in life as we are and we have a lot in common. The PCEA and the SPC have a lot in common and the PCEA congregation in Ulverstone has several people who are friends with folk from the SPC and the Lord lead them out of Baptistic Arminianism together.

By the grace of the Lord we are still a very happy couple!!

35 REASONS NOT TO SIN

• Because a little sin leads to more sin.
• Because my sin invites the discipline of God.
• Because the time spent in sin is forever wasted.
• Because my sin never pleases but always grieves God who loves me.
• Because my sin places a greater burden on my spiritual leaders.
• Because in time my sin always brings heaviness to my heart.
• Because I am doing what I do not have to do.
• Because my sin always makes me less than what I could be.
• Because others, including my family, suffer consequences due to my sin.
• Because my sin saddens the godly.
• Because my sin makes the enemies of God rejoice.
• Because sin deceives me into believing I have gained when in reality I have lost.
• Because sin may keep me from qualifying for spiritual leadership.
• Because the supposed benefits of my sin will never outweigh the consequences of disobedience.
• Because repenting of my sin is such a painful process, yet I must repent.
• Because sin is a very brief pleasure for an eternal loss.
• Because my sin may influence others to sin.
• Because my sin may keep others from knowing Christ.
• Because sin makes light of the cross, upon which Christ died for the very purpose of taking away my sin.
• Because it is impossible to sin and follow the Spirit at the same time.
• Because God chooses not to respect the prayers of those who cherish their sin.
• Because sin steals my reputation and robs me of my testimony.
• Because others once more earnest than I have been destroyed by just such sins.
• Because the inhabitants of heaven and hell would all testify to the foolishness of this sin.
• Because sin and guilt may harm both mind and body.
• Because sins mixed with service make the things of God tasteless.
• Because suffering for sin has no joy or reward, though suffering for righteousness has both.
• Because my sin is adultery with the world.
• Because, though forgiven, I will review this very sin at the Judgment Seat where loss and gain of eternal rewards are applied.
• Because I can never really know ahead of time just how severe the discipline for my sin might be.
• Because my sin may be an indication of a lost condition.
• Because to sin is not to love Christ.
• Because my unwillingness to reject this sin now grants it an authority over me greater than I wish to believe.
• Because sin glorifies God only in His judgment of it and His turning of it to good use, never because it is worth anything on it’s own.
• Because I promised God he would be Lord of my life.

Taken from the www.therebelution.com

Hi all - Martha here. I'm going to depart from tradition by posting something written entirely by someone else, on someone else's blog. I really enjoy catching up on other friends' blogs, learning from their reflections and enjoying the experiences they share. The following blog post, however, resonated with me so much and made such a wonderful point that I decided to share it. First I asked Kara, though. She's the author, and a long-time friend of Terry's from Michigan days. She and her husband Darryl live with their three children in Cambodia, where Darryl teaches Bible classes in an influential "international school" and Kara helped set up the library. Their blog is at www.dedertfamily.blogspot.com So without further ado, here's her post:

Keepin' My Hands Clean

I wish I could deal with all conflict through email. Wouldn't that just be easier?

"Dear Darryl, I'm sorry I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. Sorry I complained about getting up and criminalized you for blissfully sleeping the early morning hours while I slaved about with the children. Sorry for holding a grudge. I love you." Send.

There. Conflict resolved. I wish.

I do think it is a glorious way to solve problems. S0 impersonal, so guilt-free. So clean.

I'm the same way about good-byes. Please don't make me get in touch with my emotions, just drop me off at the airport and let's pretend it's like any other day. Don't sum up what we mean to each other in a few short sentences and sad embrace. Send me an email. I can take it better that way. I want to take things in at my pace, mulling over words, putting my thoughts together carefully before saying it and meaning it, allowing myself to keep my thoughts and emotions private, let out as I want them.

But life isn't like that. Life is personal, humanity is up close highs and lows, it does demand personal involvement, interaction and accountability.

As relationships deepen with those around me, the more people open up about themselves. Sometimes it's hard things--sin, struggles, painful scars. It's easier to shield myself, I don't want to feel their pain, I'd rather believe the facade on the outside. I'd rather live in an oblivious bubble pretending all around me is ok.

We are called to be the body, caring for one another, helping each other in weaknesses, encouraging one another in the Lord as brothers and sisters in Christ. The Master Designer does know us better than we do ourselves, this is His design. It goes against my grain, against my self-contained (i.e. safe) mentality. Why did He design the Church to function as a body?

I've been thinking of this a lot as we've walked through hard things with others. It would be easier to keep my hands clean, distance myself, and not invest in those around me. What I'm learning is it does require a lot from one's self to truly act as a member of the body, but it is a way that we are forged together with other imperfect sinners and forged closer to our perfect Savior.

Soul lessons abound. It is hard and yet reassuring to realize that I don't have the answers, my self-reliance disappears and I lean completely upon Him. My words become trivial and His Word central. The realizations of my inadequacies and inability to solve things with my own (lack of) wisdom show me Christ's complete sufficiency. Standing beside others gives me a glimpse of the Lord's hand at work. It's not that the Lord needs us to help one another or that we have so much to offer, we don't. It's a blessing He's given to us for our own benefit.

The Master Designer knows we need fellowship, direct involvement, and personal humanity with other believers. Not only does acting as the body open us up to pouring out of ourselves and but it also gives us more exhilarating glimpses of truth and leads to roads we never imagined before. New friendships are forged, lessons learned, humility deepened, love increased, and understanding awakened.

Just think how lonely and stunted I'd be if I could have it my way with keepin' my hands clean.

Girls Love to Cook & Eat

Julia is a confirmed girl. She likes almost everything Mommy and Daddy eat, except spicy things and carrots (oddly enough). Note the double protection.

She is learning to use a spoon and fork herself. Sometimes, though, it's still much more convenient to spoon feed her ourselves.

Yogurt is great to mix with various things, like this winning combo: yogurt and tuna. Another new favorite today was yogurt and sweet potato. She's been a little less enthusiastic lately about the old sweet potato standby, but with yogurt it just tastes so sweet and creamy. As you can see, the spoon isn't the only utensil she used; her hand was more versatile for finger painting the table, styling her hair, and generally "mucking around" as the Aussies say.

Apples steamed just to the point of tenderness are nice, since they hold their shape but are still more chewable.

Rowena, Ruth and I enjoyed another baking session on Saturday. This time, we made angel food cake, a delicacy unheard of in this part of the world. We also made a wonderful blueberry sauce to go with it. I found the recipe for it on my second cousin Rebecca's blog. Her blog was also the source for the recipe we used to make pizza from scratch! (Click for the base, sauce, and method.) It was a really fun afternoon.

Pizza sauce simmering

Meanwhile, Julia delves into the toy basket. She really gets around these days, as you'll see later on.

This picture was taken today. What a smile, eh?

Now for the videos: once more, my sincere apologies for taking them sideways again! In this first one, Julia sorts the bookshelf. She starts with an almost methodical perusal of her selections, but then abandons form for the fun of pulling them down.

Next, Julia checks out the more curious dimensions of toy box trivia, ending with a tussle with a playful Tassie devil.

Finally, the video you've been waiting for: a demonstration that Julia truly does walk! It really clicked for her this weekend. When she wanted to hang out in the kitchen baking with us girls, or make a beeline for the rail where all the kids hang out at church, walking was the preferred mode of transport. Beautiful, isn't it?

Sometimes I wish I walked with such a single purpose. Always toward the thing God puts in front of me... always to Him.

Since Julia has become a bit more cuddly and sometimes clingy, it has convicted me of the fact that the simple love of a child can be stronger than that of a wandering, absorbed, self-reliant adult. It is an example to me. Truly, in fellowship with Him is our joy. And I pray I'll encourage Julia to enjoy confiding in me too, by not putting her off simply for convenience when caught up in a book or some such enjoyance. There are so many things I can include her in, whether praying, enjoying music, or sharing small aspects of housework.

Isn't that what God has us do in His kingdom? When we are saved from the dominion of sin and Satan, we stumble around wanting to help. But in ourselves we are powerless to be efficient servants; our attempts are often laughable. Yet God is patient with us, blesses our efforts, and teaches us with His Word and Spirit. We are so much less important than we'd often think, like that toddler smearing crumbs around with a dish cloth, but God does desire His children to grow and commands us to contribute to His kingdom's work in our small ways.

Reflecting even briefly on this strikes home the truth: God cares amazingly much for His children and is so powerful and gracious to work through us! In light of His tender love, let us prayerfully renew our devotion to desiring His presence and serving Him in our childlike manner.

Amazing what can come back to you....

Off and on throughout my life a song I heard as a child keeps coming back to me. I must have been between 5 to 7 years old when I would listen to this song. The song was off a child's christian music tape.

I remember there were some songs on the tape I did not like and there was even one song that even scared me. So I often skipped around on the tape to the songs I liked or thought was OK.

I believe the name of the song was "Input."

The basic flow of the song went...

Input, output,
that is what it's all about
Input, output,
Your mind is a computer who's,
Input, out put,
Data you must choose

Let the Bible be your primary source,
And it will operate alright!

It's a little corny but essential true. I remember listening to it as a child and thinking that I did not want it to be true. I wanted to put in my mind what I wanted to and I did not want to make the Bible "primary." I wanted to make primary what I wanted to make primary not the Bible. But even then I knew that was wrong and was convicted that the Bible needed to be my primary source of input and let the Word mold me (even though I do not think I would have expressed it that way then).

It truly is amazing to see how the Lord uses all things to exalt His Word in the lives of His people! We must remeber to embrace that Word and not fight against it.