I’m not really sure why World Taco Day is a thing. It’s probably just a marketing device to boost sales at restaurants, Mexican or otherwise. The same goes for Taco Tuesdays – why not #TequilaTuesdays? #TeaTuesdays? #TiramisuTuesdays? I don’t understand it, but I’m okay with it. In fact, Taco Tuesdays have become a beloved part of my week. Method: Head to local pub after work. … Continue reading How tacos can change your life
I didn’t think much of the earthquake, to be honest. And I’m going to be very honest about this. The first time I experienced a tremor, I was sitting in my upstairs room in a rural village in the Ecuadorian sierra. It was kinda cool – cool enough to write home and tell people I’d just been in an earthquake. But it was also disappointing because I … Continue reading Just another earthquake?
I have a friend who used to say that there’s no such thing as luck, only statistics.
It’s all just a matter of chance and probability. What we’re really saying when we say something that happened was bad luck is that the improbable (but not impossible) negative outcome happened. What we’re really saying when we wish someone good luck is that we hope probabilities work in their favour.
Then there are those moments when you really see how the stars have aligned. Yes, it’s still probability at play – but I don’t believe statistics preclude God’s involvement; indeed I believe God can work with probabilities and against them.
B, one of our clients, was diagnosed with cancer and given a 60-70% of responding to treatment and a 40% chance overall of recovering. Hospital A doesn’t generally provide chemotherapy. They were going to send B home to free up a bed, and put her on the three-month waiting list at another hospital. It’s Monday. Continue reading Coincidence vs Providence
Spiritually and emotionally, this last week for me has been marked by distraction and devotion. I think that’s the perennial question for most believers, but I am particularly conscious of it at the moment. Distraction The other day I was in the car with my sister, the radio was on and it was news hour. Despite my almost total lack of interest in the whole … Continue reading Between distraction and devotion
It was exactly two months ago that I left Loja. I shed some tears on the plane to Guayaquil, just thinking about how two years in a place is an awful long time, a lot of love given and received. And now that I’m home, I can say I miss some things, my closer friends, things we used to do, the smell of the place … Continue reading After the mission field: two months on
Canberra, my love Today you are stunning warm even when you’re cold cool even with your sunny disposition and I get lost in your blue sky searching for the me in you and the you that’s reflected somewhere in my heart but I think it is buried deep and yet however far beneath the surface you lie, motionless, asleep even if I were blindfolded I’d … Continue reading two reflections on being home again
It’s been over a month since my last blog post. Between my last post and this one, I’ve said “Adios” to Ecuador, and “Hello” (again) to Australia. So two years as a missionary in southern Ecuador are over, I am back home in Australia … with a job to boot! And it’s strange because it’s been quite easy to slip back seamlessly into life here, … Continue reading return to Oz
I shouldn’t be counting the days. But yes – one month before I fly out of here. I spent the afternoon in, felt myself slipping into poetry, melancholy -mode. A billion words swirling around inside my head but unable to organise themselves into linked phrases. Wondered what life will feel like on the other side of two years of mission in Ecuador. Watched Fast Five … Continue reading counting the days
So things have been really difficult with youth ministry at church lately. Well, it’s always been a complicated, uphill battle; but last month we almost threw in the towel. Numbers were dropping, meetings were badly coordinated in spite of our efforts to organise and plan more, a key leader withdrew, everyone seemed to be getting distracted. Morale was low. I said to the other leaders, … Continue reading snatches of encouragement
The month of April was sandwiched by two lovely visits from Australia – a few days with my parents at the beginning, and with a couple of friends at the end. But somehow in between and even during that time I was struggling (see part 1). Last Friday an unexpected timetable swap at El Sendero meant a later start for me, so even though it … Continue reading this state of mind 2
⎯suansita⎯ 