backyardmissionary

Here’s an Ozzie Christmas
Lunch was sensational! Danelle knocked up one of the nicest meals I’ve ever had and the family came around.

It was 39 degrees C today - hot as!…

So this evening we headed down to the local beach for Christmas ‘dinner’ with a few friends from the community. This pic was taken at […]

Well, its been a bit sporadic around here the last few weeks, and I can’t see it being much different in January!
Hopefully there will be plenty of work digging trenches in people’s backyards, and when there’s not maybe we’ll even get a surf or two in… So blogging might be reserved for quiet moments […]

Here;s another hot spot for coffee snobs in the deep south.
In Albany right opposite the Post Office in Sanford rd is The Naked Bean, a roaster and brewer of some fine coffee.
I reckon it won’t be long before decent coffee will be available everywhere. Although having said that, on the way home on Saturday we […]

While eating dinner one evening on holidays Ellie told us she knew some swear words… ‘Ok - which ones?’ Danelle asked curiously.
‘Well…’ she said tentatively ‘There’s the ’sh’ word, the ‘b’ word and the ‘f’ word’…
Danelle and I looked at each other. Did we really want to pursue this? Then in a playful motherly tone […]

Well, its rained every day…
But it has still been a really good time. A few moments worth noting:
> Surfing with Sam in freezing cold water with a ridiculous windchill factor. Oddly enough he hasn’t asked to go back!
> Catching up with Ray & Caroline, some friends who live down here. The kids loved their farm […]

12 bloody degrees! Summer…. Should have gone to tasmania! And sam wants to surf …

Holidays start tomorrow!
So here’s a quick ‘life update’ before I shoot thru.
Our weekend retreat was great and was a time of encouragement and refocusing. There were no easy answers to come out of the time away, but a strong sense of re-grouping and re-energising together for the year ahead. We asked the hard questions of […]

Ethics is complicated I reckon.
Lying, killing, stealing are all off limits in the big 10 and for good reason.
But this morning as I was reading Exodus Ch 1 I read the story of the Egyptian midwives who refused to kill the Hebrew babies and then told Pharaoh it was because the Hebrew women were too […]

Today I finished up with Sam for the day as Danelle did the settlement on our investment house.
After a small retic job and lunch at the local cafe we decided to hit the beach and take 14 year old Winston the labrador with us. The normally timid Sam decided he wanted to go surfing […]

A couple of months back the marketing crew at Satterley rang and asked if our family would be willing to be in the upcoming ads for the Brighton Estate. Its their policy to use ‘real people’ (rather than pretend ones I guess!) and knowing we lived there we got asked. We agreed - thought it’d […]

I was flicking thru some of Scottie’s pics from his northwest trip and came across this one.
Its the gravesite of Danelle’s grandparents. You can’t really make it out on the image but they were missionaries in the northwest from 1935-1987, 52 years…
52 years of being salt and light and loving aboriginal people… is it just […]

This weekend we are heading down to Madora Bay with our mission team to reflect on where we are at and to listen to what God is saying to us.
Danelle will be facilitating the weekend and I will simply be there and doing as I am told…
I reckon it’ll be great for us to spend […]

Its always good to catch up with old mates.
My friend John Wilmot who is a missionary in Malawi is back in town for a few weeks recovering from a car accident and getting some medical attention.
He flew in yesterday and today I was able to drop down and visit him in hospital. The injuries […]

We have our Upstream site hosted with a mob called Connected Hosting who haven’t been too impressive at all in the little time we have used them.
It now seems the Upstream site has disappeared in the last week and all attempts to load the connected hosting sites aren’t working either…
Gotta love the net hey?
No […]

Last night was our farewell to the Herden family who have been part of our Upstream team since the beginning.
Earlier this year they bought a house back in Lesmurdie and in a few weeks time will move back there. Its been interesting observing how the economic boom here in Perth has affected our team. […]