Matt has a great blog that explores how we engage with new spiritualities. He has tagged me and I am required to let you in on 8 things about me… I’ll try and let you know some stuff that you otherwise wouldn’t be aware of from reading the general nonsense on this blog!

Here goes:

1. I was once destined for the scrapheap when it comes to education. Growing up in Belfast, I did poorly at the 11+ exam and was due to be sent to the local tech school (a second grade education) but that same year we moved to the land of Oz. Because Irish kids started school 2 years before Oz kids I was quite advanced for my age and finished up becoming the runner up dux of the primary school. From then on, instead of thinking of myself as dumb I began to think of myself as intelligent and competent, a shift I believe was pivotal in orienting my whole life.

2. I have never had a bad experience of church – at least not one that I carry as a war wound. Sometimes it seems that those of us who are seeking to do mission and express our spirituality outside the main stream are perceived to have been burnt. Nope. I have always had very good experiences and love the church in all its expressions.

3. I used to be a pretty decent basketballer… but those days are long gone! I had a great 3 point shot, but was a lousy ball carrier. I played up until I was 40, but badly hurt my back that year and have struggled to get back into it.

4. Danelle and I ‘dated’ for 3 weeks before I proposed to her. Ok, so we lived in the same Bible College for 9 months together… but we literally were serious for 3 weeks before we both felt confident enough to jump. Even weirder is that I spent one of those weeks at a state basketball tournament in Sydney and while I was gone she went and purchased fabric for a wedding dress… before I had even asked her… Don’t call me presumptious!

5. I have been to the Philippines 9 times. The first two were short term basketball mission trips, the next couple were surfing trips and then I came back to visit friends and with a view to being a missionary there. It never eventuated, but it was those experiences that formed my sense of calling to be a vocational missionary.

6. I hardly ever listen to music. If I am driving I prefer silence, or if I listen to anything its usually a sermon. There is some music I like and I actually find music very moving and powerful at times, but I could easily live without it.

7. I like to drive old cars and believe they are better value than newer cars. I don’t think I have owned a newish car (let alone a brand new one!) but my favourites have been a Datsun 1600 (that once did 165kph down the freeway – at 3 am in the morning), and my current 1985 Landcruiser. If someone could prove to me that it was more economical to buy a newer car then I would change, but for now, I believe the best way to spend money on a depreciating asset is to spend as little as possible.

8. When I was 16 I used to have a job at Myers in Karrinyup, working in the ‘despatch’ area. It was a weird job because on Thursday nights and Saturday mornings there were never any despatches… so I never had anything to do. On Thursday evenings I would take in my homework and just finish that off while on Saturday morning a teenage girl’s dance class came in (and they were stunning), so I just watched them do their thing… I went on holidays after 6 months and when I came back my job had been discontinued… someone had caught on! It was fun while it lasted!