A NEW CHRISTMAS PERSPECTIVE
It’s quite likely that everyone is too busy to read a blog during the Christmas season and that’s okay. I’ve found myself too busy to write one, most of the time. We’ve been here in Adelaide since the 3rd of December;staying with the Perkins and visiting a few other friends in the area. We spent a couple days as guests of Kingsley and Glenda Purdie in Port Elliot on the southern coast of SA, just an hour’s drive from Adelaide. We were treated very graciously and thoroughly enjoyed their beautiful home and stunning view out over the crashing surf! June Lawrence (Glenda’s stepmom) sends here greetings to all in BV who remember her and her visits to Calgary. We caught up with Denny and Lorna Poitras and their family just before they left Adelaide for Christmas in Canada. (they were part of our Cambrian Hts phase and Lorna is Brent Williams sister) So as you can tell we’ve been busy, just like you!
It’s hard to adjust our thinking to Christmas when the temps have fluctuated between +22 and +40 the last few days. However, a visit to the mall and 15 minutes driving around to find a parking spot reminded us that we really were ramping up for Christmas. There is no snow and ice to battle in the parking lot but remembering to keep to the left and the very tight lanes and roadways here do keep one on their toes.
A week ago we ventured over to Kangaroo Island with the Perkins and spent 5 days exploring the unique setting. It was all quite rural with lighthouses…fishing villages…sheep dairies…lavender and honey farms…kangaroos loping around…crashing surf…incredible rock formations…seals lolling on the rocks and fairy penquin colonies. Only our fishing adventures (John & me) proved frutiless…a bit like fishing with Mike on the Bow I might add! We did have an up close and personal encounter with a wallaby while I was driving home in the dark. It was a brief and brutal meeting…the Wallaby likely has no recollection but we remember every day as we view the bent licence plate and broken front bumper! Fortunately a couple kms later we had a similar meeting with a full grown kangaroo which ended much happier. I swerved and braked as he/she stood on the center lane confused about whether he/she was coming or going. We watched it bounce off in our headlites in much better shape than it’s cousin who lay peacefully in the ditch a few kms back.
In a few days we’ll be celebrating Christmas (a day ahead of you Calgarians) with the folks at Aberfoyle Uniting Church. They cancel their wk’d services and put on “The Road to Christmas” which is a walk-thu Bethlehem experience for the community. They considered casting me as Herod but decided against type-casting Canadian pastors! Their services and community are very similar to BV so we’re feeling right at home and yet…we’re ready for home and looking forward to our return in just 10 days now.
Our travels have caused me to reflect on the biblical reference and song lyrics that remind us that this world is not our home…we’re just passing through. In reference to being away from home for this amount of time we do indeed feel like we are strangers (especially when the major sports of this area are cricket and Aussie Rules Football) and the longer we are away the more we begin to long for home. Such a great analogy for our time here on earth…the longer we live the more we long for our heavenly home.
This is my last blog and I thank all of you who bothered to keep up with it. I anticipate preparing Sunday messages once again and sharing them face to face instead of writing blind to whomever takes the time to open them up.
Merry Christmas to each one of you. Take time to revel in the amazing details of the God who loved us enough to leave his home and become a sojourner amongst us for the purpose of bringing us all safely home. -Rick