Singular Scene

So Singular in Each Particular

What’s not to Love?

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  1. The weight of the camera in my hand.
  2. The cat snuggled under my covers.
  3. Skype conversations with family.
  4. Rainy Days.
  5. Coffee.
  6. Waking up with a jazz standard stuck in my head.
  7. French Perfume.
  8. Foreign Currency.
  9. Taking off and Landing.
  10. Watching my boys [All Blacks] do the Haka.
  11. Daffodils.
  12. Driving long highways.
  13. Living within walking distance of the ocean.
  14. The God who is there.
  15. Having a night in.
  16. Quality movies.
  17. The smell of rain on hot tarmac (it even has a name – petrichor)
  18. Eating with chopsticks.
  19. The scent of fresh herbs.
  20. Salt and Vinegar on chips (and crisps).
  21. Exploring new places (camera in hand, of course!).
  22. Tweaking Movable Type.
  23. Eggs Benedict.
  24. Oh, how could I leave these to number 24?!!  Margaritas, baby…
  25. Roast Lamb.  Is this a Kiwi thing?
  26. Singing with my awesome choir.
  27. Speaking to Woh Woh on the telephone.
  28. Hanging out with Kirk and the family.
  29. Washing that dried on the line – not in the drier.
  30. Board Games.
  31. Chilli and Chocolate – in the same mouthful.
  32. Coke Zero – even better than the real thing.
  33. Watching Tennis.
  34. Making static designs come alive in HTML (it’s a coder thing).
  35. Renewing old acquaintances.
  36. Crossword Puzzles.
  37. Ticking off a long list of jobs to do.
  38. Wrapping my brain around a complex problem and solving it.
  39. Waking up without an alarm.
  40. Slipping between clean sheets.
  41. Cheese and Vegemite on toast.
  42. Long slow kisses.
  43. Champagne bubbles.
  44. Cooking up a storm.
  45. Arranging music for voices.
  46. Living in Sydney, and by extension, Australia.
  47. The view out onto my garden.
  48. Hanging with my friends!
  49. Being part of an awesome community.
  50. The fact that my 3 favourite baristas make my coffee without asking what I want!

Seriously, I’ve seen people do 100 of these… who has time for that??

The Farewell Speech.

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It’s not without a little bit of a pause that one decides to hand in their notice after 7 years.  These days people look a little askance at someone whose résumé has such long tenure with one employer, however, they’re usually assuming someone is unambitious and unmotivated towards brighter and bigger things; they’re not seeing the bigger picture of just to whom it is this servant has been in service.

I was asked publicly early on in my time on staff to define why I loved working here and the answer has never changed.  I love serving an eternal purpose not a temporal one.  I love that people are the bottom line, not the usual bottom line of profit and loss.  Our profit is the extraordinary community of people who have gathered around the One extraordinary person of Jesus, and I will never be sorry to have given so much time for such a place.  But places and people change, I’ve changed and I owe much of that to this place, to the people who have been around my world in this time.  I’ve not only walked through pleasant and peaceful ground but also water and fire, and in all of it I’ve  grown, developed, overcome and achieved things I’d never have imagined possible. I’ve studied, learned, taught, loved, lost, lived and experienced. The value of that is immeasurable and all in all, it has been marvellous. 

Now, I have other things to learn, others to teach, and new avenues to pursue so I think it’s time.  Seven; the number of completion.  Seven years, the perfect time to leave. [Note: I found out in discussion today with our Payroll clerk that in fact, this speech was actually delivered on my 7th anniversary! Wild!]

It is with grateful thanks that I acknowledge Pastors ____ and _____ for their faith in me and the extraordinary opportunities I have had to work along side them to serve their vision; The Captain, Fish and The Great Dane, who have been the most encouraging and supportive team to work with; they’d probably say long suffering too if they were asked… Crabman and Mrs Crabman for whom there are not enough words to express my gratitude for all their love and support over some of that rocky ground. P.I.A, pastor, friend and shoulder on more than one occasion!  Dixie whose spontaneous appearances at my window caused occasional heart stoppage but were always welcome. Cove a constant friend in all those years and OzLoz a new one! Finally, Daddyof3 with whom I worked closely in those early years and who STILL rings me up for occasional help with his computer…  These people are gold.  There’ll be no other team like you anywhere, and you and all the others of you who have gone unmentioned are the reason I will always look back at this time with love and immense gratitude.

Above all of this, I wish to thank God that his purpose for both me, and this place, was worked out in my being here for the last seven years.  He has sustained, encouraged, and moulded me through my time, and to you who remain, particularly those whose tenure is just beginning, allow Him to do the same and you too will surely fly.

Friday Fill Ins

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1. My blueprint for success includes leave it to the last minute, panic, pray like mad.
2. A Kellogs LCM bar… it’s made or RiceBubbles stuck together with marshmallow (‘scusting) was the last candy I ate.
3. The best facial moisturizer I’ve ever used is Clinique’s DDM.
4. Photography can be good therapy.
5. I’d like to tell you about work, but then I’d have to kill you.
6. My common sense is my strongest characteristic.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to getting in the car and going home (6hr babysits are the too long ones,) tomorrow my plans include cleaning the house coding some CSS and partying 1920’s style for a friend’s 30th and Sunday, I want to sleep in but I’ll go to church, BBQ with buddies and take FUNKY photos at Cafe Live…

Have a good one peeps!! See you tomorrow

Shamelessly filched from Debra… really didn’t have the get up and go for a carefully crafted post… it is Friday after all!!

Teach Me, Teach You.

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I know stuff.

You know stuff.

We all know stuff.

Some of it I need to know and you’re just the one to teach me.

Some of it you need to know, and I’m just the one to teach you.

But if I’m telling you the stuff you know better than me then go ahead and tell me to back the heck off.

And I’ll do the same for you.

I know websites. I see thousands of them a month.  I build websites and I’m just ok at it. I’m fully aware I need to learn more… so I’m looking at going to Uni to study more. To know more.  So I can say I know stuff and also have the piece of paper that proves it.

I’m thinking about these things because I’m making a website for someone who builds other things.  Someone with whom I have to hold my tongue and do what he wants because he’s the one writing the cheque. I think I nearly bit through my tongue about 3 times in a 10 minute conversation this evening while I took direction for his website plans.

Let’s just say the thing on my mind was – “Mate, I don’t tell you how to do what you do on a building site… how about you don’t tell me what to do while I’m building a site.”