August 17th

After spending the morning trying to get on with preparation for the prayer wheel I went off with Ian to the pastors' meeting. I was able to share about the Prayer Wheel event there. The pastors at the meeting said it was a shame we hadn't had much opportunity to visit other churches. We prayed together and they prayed for our journey home which was lovely. (Left to right: Sue, Graeme, Ian, Don and Col)

After the meeting Sue (a pastor in all but name) and I went for a coffee and a chat. We shared our stories and I discovered that she has been instrumental in creating a way forward for women in Queensland in Baptist ministry, but still retains the title 'Ministry assistant' which annoys her! She said in the last 12 months that women are being recognised as being able to be pastors, but that it would take years for things to really change for the better.

Sue brought me home and shortly after Jon and the girls got back from visiting the park. On the way home they saw three lizards, one snake and a heron by the river's edge.

Jon led Home Group this evening and said it was an interesting study based on Psalm 137 with lots of difficult questions on the last couple of verses. It seems strange to be doing things for the last time. We are realising just how much we could do if we had the time. We seem to have barely scratched the surface with what we have been involved in – maybe another 6 weeks might do it!

July 25th

Another morning spent planning my sermon while Jon took the girls on the ferry to New Farm Park. On the way to catch the ferry they walked along the top of Kangaroo Point cliffs and saw a 6ft carpet snake – real wildlife! At first the park seemed to be a fairly ordinary park - but after about quarter of an hour they found the playpark which was fantastic! They had built a massive treehouse/climbing frame amongst some huge banyan trees (not strangler fig trees, as we first thought) - through the roots and branches.

After dinner the girls and I went shopping, leaving Jon to do some preparation work for the home group on Thursday evening. After tea I took the girls out on a ferry trip in the dark to look at the city lights. We walked up to South Bank and went down to the CBD on a CityCat. Then we caught a ferry back up to South Bank – we were able to sit up on the top on an open deck which was absolutely magical!