First Communion

Princess and The Man had communion for the first time this last week. It has been something they have both been looking forward to for some time, but most particularly over the last two months.

Making their confession of faith

Being welcomed into our congregation

Hot and happy after church.

We were privileged to be able to time it at the same time that Christian's father and brother and family were with us. Christian's brother was the one who remembered to take pictures for us on this big milestone. When they arrived at our house a day earlier someone asked The Man about what he was up to and his excited reply was: "I'm having communion for the first time tomorrow!!"

The Man is currently expressing a great desire to fly planes in remote places and tell others about Jesus. He loves the work that Missionary Aviation Fellowship are doing and would like to join them. This all came about from watching The Wild Brothers and an SBS show about the world's most dangerous places to fly.

The morning of their first communion I gave Princess a cross to wear and The Man a silver love heart with a cross in the middle and the Lord's Prayer in German on  it.

Princess was amazed that her visiting cousin didn't know that it was a cross she was wearing (she kept calling it the letter T). Because of this, she determined to buy a bible for her cousin to read that she may know about Jesus love and forgiveness for her. We are always astonished at how easily Princess talks about her faith with her friends.

Tornado...!

The end of the storm.

This picture shows the end of a tornado that went directly over our house this afternoon. You can still see the end of the tail touching the ground. When the storm passed over our house it was about 20 to 30 metres wide. [Edit: Storm chasers said it was more like 100 metres wide in places]

Our front gate.

Our great tree that welcomed people to our home.

We were all inside at the time of the storm. I had just laid down at the front of our house for a rest with Tank and Skipper. Christian and the other children were at the back of the house, also resting.

The storm took less than two minutes to pass, but the damage it did was incredible! Our saddest loss was that of two of our geese. Both our females were thrown about by the storm and died fairly quickly from injuries. Our gander was quite bereft.

Barely a tree was left unscathed in it's path. We lost one garage that was housing our unpacked things from the move. My car, the blue van was damaged. [Edit: The van took over 3 weeks to fix]

There is going to be a lot of cleaning up to do!!! But there are many things to be glad about:

We were not outside!

This was once a large pepper tree,
probably 130 years old, with a large amount of
shade (and termites no doubt)

Our neighbours were not outside! (We saw the storm go directly over their house also, they lost some sheds and have some house damage but were all safe).

We have loads of wood for the coming years!

We finished our renovations to the termite damaged area (this storm would have knocked down the house, as it is we have now found more termite damage because of the storm).

We are insured. They have been called...and now we just have to wait for that to pan out.

We arrived home at midnight today instead of midnight tomorrow. Not knowing how it all happened would have been quite shocking!

Emergency services clean up

We have WONDERFUL emergency services people. They were out within an hour clearing our roads.

We have a fantastic community! One neighbour (and parishioner) dropped everything and came right around to help. Another called the footy club to alert them of the storm and we were given the leftovers from todays footy match (We don't even know a lot of these people!!). Three other parishioners dropped over and helped clear out Christian's books from the downed garage so that they wouldn't get damaged from the rain.

Our beautiful home...Christian is near our gate.

We are so grateful to God for His wonderful protection. When all the hooha had settled down, we gathered together in the lounge room and read Psalm 46:1-3

Around our sheds.

Looking up to the back paddock.

God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,

though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

 though its waters roar and foam,

though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

The trail of disaster to our neighbours place

Best Concert Ever!

We love Colin Buchanan's music!

The Man and Tank on stage.

It started for me years ago (1999) when I saw Colin play on the Today Show for his "Edge of The Kimberley" Album when he won the Golden Guitar (Australia's top country music award). Brilliant music...and very Australian.

Tiger and Princess helping out for The Mummy Song.

Then I saw his kids music at Koorong. I started using his music in my teaching at school.

So my kids have been brought up on Colin. I've bought pretty much every album. I love his country stuff and his kids praise stuff, and his adult christian music is fantastic too. His christian music is not just fluff, and it's all great theology...more than that it's deep theology. My kids are singing stuff that in years to come when it comes to their mind (or to mine) they will continue to have "Aha" moments.

We've been to two concerts indoors...they were great.

Joybug thought he was just great!

But this concert was outdoors. Colin was on the back of a semi trailer, the kids had plenty of grass to dance around on and more than that our church was organising it. So...PK perks (PK is short for Pastor's Kid)!!! All of our kids (except Joybug and Skipper) got up on stage to help at different parts of the concert. And Daddy got up at the end to do a quick thank you and to wind up the concert (Colin said he did a great job tying it in and keeping it short).

We all lined up and got Colin to sign our CD's, and Tiger had his cap signed. And of course there were photos. We had so much fun!!

Praise God From Whom ALL Blessings Flow

What an evening!! What a cascade of events!!

Yesterday was Harvest Thanksgiving at all our congregations. Our little family has been so blessed with the harvest from our orchard that we did not plant and the grape vine that we did not tend, we really do feel like we have come to the promised land in so many ways. That and our veggie patch that we planted has kept us well supplied.  This was our opportunity to formally give thanks to God for the wonderful and great blessings here.

So I brought along a platter of my grapes, thinking I would be giving them away. What I didn't know was that here they give all the produce from Harvest Thanksgiving to the pastor's family! I came with my small offering and ended up with 50 fold back!

Massive zucchinis

So today was a preserving day. The kids and I spent the afternoon making "Harvest Jam" - grapes (from Thanksgiving), apples and figs (from our own trees) and making Tomato and Zucchini chutney.

After all that it was time for a break, so we went out to feed the sheep and Mum's horse. It looked like a storm was coming so we decided to head into the paddock and up the hill to check it out.

Have I mentioned our property is over 130 years old? We have plans to do some archeology at the old school site, which we think we have found through looking at the topography in the old school area. We have had a few minor finds in our walks, like a glass drink bottle from a cordial company that closed in the mid 1950's, or a piece of coloured, patterned glass that may have been in a window above a main door. But today Tank made a major find.

Our archeological finds.

Tank found an uncovered brown coloured glass bottle in amongst some old bits of flat tin. Tiger gave it a bit of a clean with his hands and found a date "1925". So right up front we dated our find. A wee bit of hand digging and lifting a few bits of the tin and we discovered an old tin pot and then an old cast iron cooking pot. We also found a number of tins stacked inside each other, and so we think that this was one of the old house rubbish tips that we have been looking for.

At which point Christian arrived home...and the storm did too. We quickly bundled the kids out of the paddock (away from a bucking horse) and into the house. Then managed to get the clothes off the line just as the first big drops started.

The "pool"

It was a great downpour. We walked around our verandah as we cooled down from the day. The paddocks were all misted from the rain, our down pipes were overflowing and when we got to the back of the house we discovered the area we are about to pave was flooding. 

What a blessing! We had heard about this kind of downfall from my brother, but now we got the chance to see it and work out what we could do to mitigate it before we pave our back area!

Our back door.

There was much fun for the kids building dams to save the unpacked boxes of books in the garage, building dams to redirect the water into the veggie patch and away from the laundry door...digging trenches. We were all thoroughly drenched, so the kids had a play in their "pool"...an area thats a part of a large contour drain to stop the flooding.

All topped off with a dinner off the land. What a fantastic day!

Nativity 2014

Joybug with the sleeping Baby Jesus (Skipper)

Every other year since Tiger was born, we have had a baby to put in the manger at Christmas.

This year was Skipper's turn.

Today the children took part in the Christmas play at Holy Cross Lutheran church in Burrumbuttock. Tiger and Princess read parts for puppets, Tank played a wonderful shepherd, The Man was an amazing wise man and Joybug chose to be the star.

Surrounded by adoring children...and crowns cast down...
quite theologically appropriate!

But the highlight for everyone was baby Jesus, who was played by our Skipper. He had a trial run on Friday during the rehearsal and since he was so still and quiet then (he was in wonderment at the puppets above him) he was allowed to try it during church.

It was sleep time, so a gentle wrap and a dummy was all that was needed. He was surrounded by the little children taking his hand and all obviously in love with him...and so he fell fast asleep.

The adults were more than just a bit impressed. His timing...impeccable.

Afterwards Tiger and Princess put on some dress ups
for a family nativity scene

Christian spoke only a short message, but an important one: We have all been invited to God's party, we all have been given a gift.

Our children, like all the children we know, are in love with
 babies...particularly this one.

Jesus is the gift.

Given FOR YOU.

Not to those people over there, for YOU.

To paraphrase Martin Luther's words: It doesn't matter if Jesus came into the world if he didn't come for you.

Harvest 2014

I've never been a farmer...but I've always admired them from afar.

It's a menacing look on a photo, and I wouldn't want to get
in his way, but still beautiful...and amazing that I got a shot.

Sure we owned 6 acres in the Snowy mountains for a few years, but we never tried to run anything other than a horse on it, and it was not arable land.

But here, in Burrumbuttock (gotta love the name)...it's harvest time.

It's nearly 10pm and I can still hear the header whirring. It's a high pitched sound, with the low drone of motors from the harvester under toning it. Ordinarily, it's the kind of sound that would have annoyed me in the city...annoyed me a lot. But here, it's a sound that makes me feel excited.

A full paddock of ripe wheat (which is what our neighbours all had this afternoon) is a beautiful sight. Even more beautiful, after 20ml or more of rain in the past week, is hearing the headers take the wheat, knowing that it's now safe. Over and over since I heard the headers this afternoon I've been singing in my head "Bringing in the Sheaves, bringing in the sheaves, we shall come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves!" It's an old song, but it matches the excitement.

The Seven Silos tonight.

Our front verandah looks out on a large paddock with seven silos. Tonight there were multiple vehicles there with their lights on as they delivered their wheat. As I was walking and watching and feeling the excitement of the night, I heard one of them whoop. I know this can be a great time for farmers, the culmination of the best part of the year of planning, working and praying that the weather goes their way. It's good to be able to share in their excitement as we see our lonely lane become a bustling road of trucks, utes, tractors, headers, harvesters and chaser bins.

Tomorrow, Christian is installed as Pastor here in the Burrumbuttock parish, with 4 congregations and 5 preaching points. They have been vacant for three years. But they have not been idle, there has been much activity going on in the absence of a pastor. We pray there will be much to harvest here...and many good plantings and harvests in the future too.

A Princess is Born!

With Daddy…doesn't he look young without the beard!

Princess, Princess…How we love thee!

Before she was born, Christian and I decided to do everything possible to give us a chance of a natural delivery. After much discussion, we decided on a "Hypnobirthing" class. I was concerned about the "spiritual" implications of such an "new age" concept, but Christian assured me, that for pain relief hypnosis was something that had been used for a long time in the medical community and in this form had nothing to do with other spirituality.

It was the Hypnobirthing or the "Calm Birth" class that we did with Peter Jackson (remembered his name because of the famous one who made the Lord Of The Rings films) that changed everything in this birth.

Three generations of women.

Labour started as I was sitting at the computer one evening. I was on the phone to Mum and noticing the back ache that I just couldn't get comfortable with. Eventually I realised that it was coming in "waves" that coincided with my tummy getting tight, and mentioned it to Mum. She told me to call hubby who was on call at the hospital that night and had not yet come home. I made the call. We waited half an hour to be sure, and then Christian called in the other doctor from our practice who was to back him up (my obstetrician…didn't think about him needing a good sleep!). Christian was rather stoked to get off call. Mum got in the car and made her way across the Snowy Mountains from Wagga to Cooma.

Getting to meet Tiger.

When she arrived she was surprised to find us up, happy and very calm. She sent us to the hospital, telling us she would look after Tiger. We went, but I wasn't in "proper" labour yet. Our doctor would time our labour from when I hit 4cm.

So Christian and I were put in a room in the maternity unit and left to ourselves. He slept in the chair, I slept on the bed, and together we worked as one through contractions. When we did hit 4cm we worked a bit more actively (moving about and other such things), but our doctor was keen to watch us. He was well aware that my pain level should be the same as it had been with Tiger. Princess was presenting posterior (as was Tiger), but apart from being uncomfortable in my back, there was little to no pain.

Christian and I worked together. The doctor, our dear friend and colleague, was in awe. Looking back it was indeed a beautiful time. Christian read to me passages from the Bible, gave me soft touch, I breathed, and went in and out of "hypnosis". It was a special bonding time for both of us.

But time ran out.

Dr Learoyd gives us our first look of Princess.

We were in a country hospital and had been given a 12hour period to labour, since I was trying for a Vaginal Birth After Caesarean. Time to intervene had arrived. At the time they put in the epidural I was 8cm, but at next look I was 10cm. We were all very hopeful that we could deliver.

But for an hour doctor pulled (ventouse or vacuum) and I pushed. Our little girl was high, very high. Still floating the doctor said, and she would not come down. I kept trying until I was in theatre, but no, she was just too high!

Abigail Grace arrived at 10:30am on Sunday morning, hearing first her Daddy's voice give her name and then the doctors as they sang Happy Birthday to her.

Still in theatre being stitched up

The doctor they had called in to do the anaesthetic was enjoying taking photos (he was from the other practice in town). We got our best photos of this birth…but in his excitement he failed to notice that the anaesthetic was wearing off, and I decided not to tell. I used my calm birth skills to work through the stitches of the last two or three layers that I could feel. When they pushed me out to recovery they were exceedingly surprised to discover that I could already move my toes, and moved me straight on to the ward.

Our Princess was the most wonderful placid, happy baby. My recovery was also amazing. The next day was Christian's birthday, and we left baby in the hospital under the care of nurses whilst we went to a Chinese restaurant in town with Mum and Tiger. We left hospital two days later.

Still asked if these two are twins. Have ever
since she was about 8months old. Perhaps
it's because they are such good friends.

Princess continued to be an amazing little baby. No feeding problems! To this day no antibiotics! To this day no medical concerns! We are so grateful for this young lady.









P.S. I do not regret this second caesarean. I know our doctor gave us the best medical care that he possibly could give us at the time. I am so grateful that medical intervention exists to help our mama's like me. A missionary friend just told me that 1 in 7 women die in childbirth in PNG. Intervention in Australia may be high, but too often my "home birthing" friends belittle those of us who need to use it.

Tiger's Ungodly Shoes

Tiger couldn't find his shoes a few Sunday's ago.

I looked in his cupboard and there were a pair that he was given by parishioners.

"What's wrong with these? Wear them." said I

"I can't wear those, Mum!!" He said in shocked reply..."They're Nikes"

I didn't get it. In my day these were pretty fashionable shoes. In fact I think I remember a cousin who nearly had a toe cut off by an auger (farming equipment) and he was more upset that he was wearing his Nikes at the time.

"What's wrong with Nikes??" Thinking of course, that I was just behind the times.

"Nike is a greek god, Mum! It's ungodly!!!" said as if I should have known all along.

This boy knows a lot for a 10.5 year old. We actually refer to him whenever a greek god is mentioned in the New Testament, as he usually knows who it is and what they stood for. Having this information adds a lot to the reading of the New Testament. Those reading it closer to the time would have known all of these gods and understood the background better of what Paul or Luke or any of the other writers were expressing.

Tiger tells me: "Nike is the greek god of Victory, normally you see her with Athena, the greek god of war and wisdom."

My Wedding Veil Came From A Rubbish Bin!

My Dad was determined to wear his scottish
regalia. The Campbell scarf I am wearing
was intended to be worn by Mum, but was
a last minute decision. Dad had worn a kilt
to their wedding 30 years before.

A friend recently ran a wedding dress fashion parade, telling the love stories that go with the dress.

She asked me to share mine...in 500 words or so...how is that possible!

The story of my dress starts with my veil and bodice. My Dad pulled it out of a rubbish bin one night in the early 1990's. It was really good quality veil and satin fabric in a bin outside a top dressmaker's shop in the centre of Sydney. There was no wedding in sight, but we couldn't pass up the bargain (my Dad is one of those who rummages a bin if he sees something he can recycle).

The love story started in 2001 at Australian Lutheran College in South Australia. I was that "late to start" student who got their own personal introduction. Christian noticed me.

We noticed each other after church my first Sunday in Adelaide. We chatted for some time. He offered me a ride home, but I had come with someone else, and felt I should go home with them. I joined the church choir, and then walked a few times in the hope of a ride home, I walked to church each Sunday for 8 months (under the guise of exercise)...sigh...he didn't think to offer again.

I noticed Christian in a class we had together. I occasionally left my books behind so that I could share with him. These, of course, were the few classes where he couldn't come because he was called in to work as a doctor.

In August he invited me to coffee after church, with my girlfriend and another sem student. He was then rude to my friend and "scrubbed" from the eligible list in my mind.

My father married us at Brighton Presbyterian
Church in Victoria. Our Lutheran pastor preached.

In late September I asked Christian a medical question. He said "That will be $50 thanks!" I told him it was only friendly advice and if he wanted I would buy him a coffee. He said "I'll take a rain check." And I thought I was off the hook.

In early October he rang my room and asked to cash in his "rain check". I was stuck. I didn't know how to say "no" to him. Technically, I owed him! The only time that was mutually agreeable was Friday night. We went to dinner at Kwik Sticks. I don't know what he thought, but he barely spoke all evening! When he walked me home I asked for a lift to the airport the next day.

He took me to the airport, but instead of a drop off, as I expected, he parked and walked me in. My plane was 2 HOURS late!!! He stayed!! We sat and I tried to get to know him. Conversation wasn't always easy, but it wasn't impossible. Still one line stuck in my head. He said:

"I'm nearly 30, and I've done nothing with my life!"
I thought: He's a doctor, studying theology in his "spare time"? This can only mean that he is looking for a wife, and he's looking right at me!!! Oh no! How do I get out of this!!???

The plane couldn't come fast enough!

A week or two after I came back he rang and asked if I would see a movie with him. I was stunned. Speechless! Without realising it I said yes, mostly because my brain froze and I couldn't come up with a reason to say no. What was wrong with me? It was a Friday night, we saw the least romantic movie I could come up with, which is always a good thing when you are on a date that you want to stay purely platonic.

We walked next door from the church to the rose garden for
afternoon tea, and photos.

We went for pizza afterwards in Glenelg, and then a quick walk up the jetty. Okay, this was not a good move. He started to hold my hand, and my brain again froze. How do I get out of this? So I detoured to show him the church my grandfather was minister, and firmly stuck my hands in my pockets!

We got back to his VW Golf. I just wanted to get home. But he made a move to kiss me before I got in the car. I did that "sink" move to get out of his embrace. I did like Christian, but suddenly this all freaked me out.

The next time I saw him was Sunday after church. I asked him up to the common room in my accommodation hall. There I laid it out. I remember the point I went over more than once was "we are not 'kindred spirits'". I was trying to say, and I'm sure I said it, I was NOT interested in a relationship. As I saw him out the door he asked: (in a slightly confused voice) "so can we still go out as friends?"

"Friends, yes! Nothing more."

I went back home to Mum and Dads in Melbourne for a weekend. We talked a lot about this Christian fellow. I explained that it was just too hard to be friends with him. Whilst I was away he rang and chatted to me for an hour and then invited me to Cirque du Soliel. I wanted to go, but with him? This sounded like a date! Sigh! This was an opportunity that I didn't want to pass up, and as my Melbourne friends said "who says it has to be more than friends?"

Long before I was wearing my Campbell
scarf, Christian decided to have a Campbell
hatband, as a nod to my family.

Cirque du Soliel was BRILLIANT! He held my hand. I decided I didn't mind that all too much. I also decided to be brutally honest with him. Maybe he might not be so interested. I told him that night that the girls in my dorm all laughed at the way he flicked his hair, and all thought he needed a good hair cut. I told him worse than that, but it doesn't bear publishing. He bore my criticism so beautifully. He was amazing...is amazing.

But no, this couldn't go on. I didn't want to lead the poor guy on. He invited me to lunch one Sunday soon after. I was talking about my parents going to holiday in Tasmania after Christmas, and he suggested we should join them. I instantly put my foot down! "I am not THAT kind of girl!!!" He assured me that he knew I wasn't and he was thinking about separate rooms.

Tempted as I was, I told him that it just wasn't going to happen between us (again). After all, I said, I believed God wanted me to teach in Queensland. I remember his response clearly: "Well, I guess they need doctors in Queensland." I was horrified! What had I gotten myself into! He was a stalker!!

It came to a head one Sunday when he invited me to his home for lunch (actually his Dad's house). I decided I had to say "no" once and for all.

I arrived before him, and I distinctly remember seeing him as he came around to the front door from the garage. The sun shone on his hair so that he had one of those "ahh" halos that you see in adverts sometimes. He looked amazing! I mentally slapped my face and reminded myself of the task at hand.

Extra fun photos were taken at the beach houses on
Brighton Beach.

We went to the backyard and sat down, where I preceded to tell him "it's not you, it's me. No, there is nothing you can do to sort out my issues. I will not travel to Tasmania with you. We are not kindred spirits. It's not going to happen!" Poor guy. He was concerned, and clearly deeply upset. But he bore it beautifully.

Monday, next day...I took a good male friend over to speak to him (in a group), so as to "break the ice". Both my friend and I noted how chatty he was! Unusual.

Tuesday. I was behind in a few assignments, and borrowed a heap of heavy books from the library. Christian saw me, and questioned me over them as I stood holding said heavy books. Then he drew me inside the library where he added a few more heavy books to my pile that he said would help. No, he didn't help me carry them to my car. But that night, I noted to my girlfriend that I was living with that  "he's just like Mr. Darcy!" I was hooked. But how could I tell him I was wrong, when I had been so clear that there would be no relationship? That night, he dejectedly told his boss of Sunday, and she encouraged him to ask me out again, "just as friends"

He called me that night, and when he asked me to go to a movie with him "just as friends" I was stoked. I had a way to change my mind without much trouble.

All the girls dresses were different colours (a nod to
 Mum and Dad's wedding) and slightly different design.

Wednesday. We went home from choir together, I attempted to tell Christian that I was mistaken on the Sunday just past. But I wasn't sure that he got the message.

Thursday. After seeing a movie together we walked along Semaphore Beach. I finally got the courage to give him a kiss. I figured that since I had been so negative, I should jolly well make it clear I had changed my mind. When we got back to his car he gave me some wilted roses that he had picked from his garden, but was obviously too nervous to give to me.

Sunday. After watching Shrek where the main character says "I love you" right at the end, Christian told me that too. I told him that was "nice" but I wasn't prepared to say that just yet. Truth is, I somehow had this idea that if I told him I loved him he would ask me to marry him in the very next line, and I just felt that was too fast!

The day was overcast, and ready to rain...
until just before this photo!

Following Sunday, November 18th. I had decided I was well and truly in love with Christian, but that I was going to save it for Christmas. Funny! After a teary discussion, it was decided that I needed to sleep, in the process of which Christian made it clear that he intended to marry me. I couldn't help it...it just happened! I said:

"Christian Alexander Fandrich, I love you!"

and his very next words were:

"Will you marry me?"

We were married five months later on April 5th 2002.

Birth of a Tiger

We had a lot of snow that year!

Waiting for our Tiger to arrive in 2003 felt like forever!! Tiger is our firstborn, our ground breaker in our parenting journey, and like most first time Mums I told a lot of people the "actual" due date, instead of my due month. And I showed BIG, so we all kind of expected that the due date would be more like the last date.

We had bought a 6 acre property a few months earlier, with a beautiful four bedroom, bullnose verandah home. Our dream home, in Cooma NSW. My Mum came to stay with us for the two weeks before Tiger was born. Since Tiger wasn't in a rush to arrive, we spent those two weeks raking leaves in the paddock and burning off, chopping down dead trees and thinning out the weedy ones. I distinctly remember sitting on the ground trying to saw through the base of a little tree (only as thick as my calf) with my gigantic belly in front of me, thoroughly getting in the way, making the task twice as hard as it should have been. One would have though that all the action should have got something going, but it didn't!

Mum and Christian even had time to put together our massive bookshelf. But finally it came to Sunday August 31st, and after church Mum said she had to go home for some Uni assessments. We were both so disappointed, but decided to leave the plane ticket buying till after our traditional Sunday afternoon nap.

I didn't nap well. I couldn't get comfortable. When I finally got up I had the worst back pain, and felt in a daze...until I saw my "show" a minute later. Finally I understood that the aches meant labour! Christian and Mum were ecstatic!

We sorted out plane flights, for Mum and Dad (he was anxious to meet the new little one), then, as you do, went to town for supplies and DVDs. I remember having some pretty huge contractions in the video store, and trying desperately to cover it up. Being so HUGE, people had been ushering me out of their stores for well over a month now with the words: "Don't have your baby here!" 

Such a gorgeous happy little Tiger!

We hired Lord Of The Rings (the first one), we thought we were in for a long night, so we might as well enjoy it as much as possible!

We tried lots of ways to help things along during labour. At midnight, with no progression other than significantly more pain, Mum sent us to bed to rest. At 2am, realising that I had 10minutes to drive to get into town, and that I needed help with the pain, we drove to our country hospital.

Further checks confirmed that labour had not "properly" started as I had not reached 4cm dilation. Baby seemed fine, and so we tried out gas. Disgusting stuff!! I didn't like how weird it made me feel. Tiger was keen to avoid detection on the handheld doppler, so I was strapped to a monitor. The nurses also confirmed that Tiger was posterior, however, I was already labouring leaning forward or on my knees, so there was nothing else to be done.

At 6am Christian's GP/Obs colleague and friend David was called in to check on us. By this stage I was resting on the bed, with Tiger's heart under constant monitoring. Due to my level of pain, which with constant contractions was not abating, we consented to an epidural. As they were prepping for this David asked for me to use the gas. I didn't want to, so Mum and Christian held the mask to my face as I moved my head from side to side. I don't think it offered pain relief, but I became so drowsy that I felt I was in and out of consciensness. When finally I was asked to sit on the edge of the bed I told them I was going to be sick. Then for the first time in over 10 years I vomited...all over the newly scrubbed nurse. For the first time in David's career the epidural was instant and perfect. The pain relief was wonderful, God, our Heavenly Father provided in an amazing way.

Soon after, Mum saw David as he left the room, and our usually happy, easy going doctor was worried.

He's a real thinker, our Tiger!

The nurses started prepping me for a caesarean. I asked them to wait for the doctor to talk to us about it. David came and told us that Tiger's heart rate had dropped during a contraction and whilst this was normal, his return to a normal heart rate had been exceedingly slow (over five minutes), I had merconium in the waters, I had not progressed in dilation at all even though the contractions were on top of each other. Christian and I had prayed that should intervention be necessary it would be really clear cut. David was worried that we might lose our baby if we didn't move fast.

Within half an hour we were in theatre, and David announced "it's a boy", Christian responded with: "His name is Enoch Matheson Fandrich." We both cried to see and hold our wonderful little boy. David then sung "Happy Birthday" to our little man.

We named our Tiger after Enoch in the Bible, the seventh from Adam, who walked with God, and didn't die, because God took him, and who (according to Jude) prophesied about the coming of Jesus. We continue to pray that our delightful young man continues to walk with God his Heavenly Father.

"Making Princesses" Retreat

We went to a place where we stayed at a cabin called "Applegum". That night we had a spa and ate chocolates. Mummy read a book to me about girls. That night we watched "Nim's Island".

The next day we had hot chocolates with Tim Tams and Bacon and Tomato with spinach leaves. Mummy gave a book for girls to learn more about Jesus. We went for a bush walk before lunch and walked mostly downhill. That afternoon we watched "Nim's Island" again. It's a good film about a girl named Nim who lived on a Island and had lots of adventures.

Half way through, I found a tick in my hair. We went to the office and got the tick out of my hair. Then we went back to the cabin and got dressed to go out. We went to a Chinese restaurant and had a good dinner and some dessert.

The next day we packed up all of our things and had a massage. We drove back home.

Written by Princess

Psalm 144:12
May our sons in their youth
  be like plants full grown,
our daughters like corner pillars
  cut for the structure of a palace

Dressed up for our special dinner together. We girls have
decided not to go tenting on our retreat. We think we
need something a bit special!

Otherwise known as "Big Girls Camp", or "Big Boys Camp", both Christian and I take our children away by themselves for two nights every year once they turn 8. Christian takes the boys, and I take the girls. 

The purpose of our camp is for us as parents to develop our personal relationship with each of our children, to give specific discipleship and encouragement in their relationship with Jesus, to teach them about their changing body and give them a godly perspective on sexuality and how to relate appropriately to the opposite sex. We do this well before they are teenagers because we want to imprint God's standards in their lives before the world gets it's chance. 

The idea comes from many sources that talk about our culture having a lack of "coming of age" or "initiation"event, as traditional cultures have. We did this in my family when we each turned 18. But we decided that it was important to develop our personal relationship with our children earlier because of the sexualisation of our world. Currently, I use Concordia Press: Learning about Sex series to teach our children about their body. This year both Tiger and Princess received a devotional book that we taught them how to use. Another good resource, particularly for girls would be Dannah Gresh's book on Mother Daughter dates.

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Worship With Kids

"Mum, take a picture of us. We're angels!" said Tank, just before communion today.

Today I did just that, to remind me that the perspective of children is SO very different to that of adults. They were not naughty children, unable to sit still. They were in God's house, the best place to be, so chill out! 

Jesus says: "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."(Matthew 18:3) So what does that look like?

I think I need to start by taking church services a little less seriously. If God is truly our Father, then like my earthly Dad, He must prefer seeing me enjoy myself. The first answer in the Westminster Shorter Catechism is: "The chief purpose of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." Enjoy being in your Father's house! It's as close as you are getting to Home whilst you are here on earth!

I think it also means that we need to work out ways that our children can be a part of worship. And allow them to be children too. 

Most of the time, I am the parent with the youngest children in the Church, I say "I" because hubby is too busy to share. Regularly, but hopefully this will change, mine are the only children in Church. I don't agree with the philosophy of taking my children out of the service to the "cry room" because they need food, or are frustrating me with their wriggles. I don't even like to send my kids to Sunday School if it takes place during the service time! 

This is because my philosophy is that children are a part of the Church, and should be included in the life and worship of the church, not segregated. Also, I believe we can learn a lot from children in worship (and we should since Jesus commands us to have faith like them). And finally, children learn a lot from being actively involved in worship...they are listening!

So how do I try to do this?

* We have snacks and water in church. Church time is about the time of their normal morning tea time at home and I don't think it's sensible to make them wait it out. Besides, the first church services held were centred around a meal! 

* I have a "Church Bag". This bag holds a number of toys and tricks that keep our children's hands occupied. Currently it contains: fuzzy wire, beads, threading toys, some magnetic animals that can have their heads and tails changed, and some mini pegs. In the past a favourite has been paper clips. I have thought about rubber bands, but then...you can just see them flying up into the sanctuary area and causing no end of disruption :) In the past I have also included musical instruments for playing during songs (making their joyful noise) but it can be difficult to rescue these before the prayers start.

* We sit at the front. Even during holidays, we sit up the front. This means the children can see what's going on and therefore they seem focused. It means there are no other children around to help in distracting my children (they need no help). And it means I can sit on the floor and focus on my children during the sermon. They feel that Mama is playing with them and seem more willing to play the whispering game.

* And we try to play Church aerobics. We try to stand when everyone else stands, etc. This way they are not sitting the entire time. And occasionally, like today, I make fun with my older children by singing in an operatic voice.

What is the point of me doing all this? To show my children the Church, the Bride of Christ, and allow them to be a part of it, since they too love Jesus and are therefore part of the body of Christ.

But seriously, it goes against the grain that so many people, some parents included, think that children shouldn't be in Church because then the parents and others don't hear the sermon. But even on the super difficult days (yes they do happen), I'm still hearing even when I don't feel like I am. Besides this, if hearing the sermon is so important, which it is, then get a copy for later listening and enjoy it whilst you drive around town or do the dishes! If you can't get your pastor's sermon recorded then ask him for a recommended sermon podcast. I listen to podcasts whilst hanging out the washing.

Here in the Divine Service God gives us forgiveness, His Word and His body and blood. This is life giving stuff! Why deny our children? They can teach us a fair bit about worship!

Jesus LOVES children. He loves their enthusiasm, He loves their joy, He loves their creativity, He loves the way they think outside the box, and He loves their trust and faith in Him. In Matthew 19:14 Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven."  

Enjoy your children during Church. Pray for them. Let distractions be for God's work, not the devil's. Pray for the parents you hear with grumpy children, instead of giving dark looks or making comments. Even better, offer support! 

When Tank was a wee bit older than 18 months we attended the Queensland Synod Sunday service at Buderim. It was a fantastic service, brilliant children's address and President Mike Semmler preached. He was getting rather energetic with his preaching as he preached about the mustard seed being like our sin, needing to die. And like a good preacher/politician he then went on to give the same point in a number of ways. Tank started to call out at the top of his voice: " Die! Die! Die!!" Hubby wanted to crawl under his seat, yep we were at the front. Pastor Mike then went on to outline how we are to grow to be more like Jesus. This time Tank called out: "Gwow! Gwow! Gwow!"

Children are listening at church, even when we think they are too small. And every time we have them in Church with us they are learning more about the Church and about Jesus. I pray that they are learning that the Church loves them, as well as the fact that Jesus loves them. 

Matthew 11:25 Jesus declared, " I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children."