It’s not a very creative title I know but appropriate for what I am going to write about and I can not deny I am such a fan of the slogan. It’s the daggiest thing ever but it so works.

I guess it is old news now but I am pleased that Kevin Rudd won the election. While my initial enthusiasm for him dwindled as he became more and more conservative (so much so I didn’t even vote for him in the end) I still think he will be better PM than John Howard and I am holding on to hope for a more just Australia. I am holding out hope for an answer to my election prayer. While I don’t think he will address all the issue on my list I am looking forward to a withdrawal of our troops from Iraq, a slight increase in foreign aid, the ratification of Kyoto, a dropping back of workchoices, some improvements in health and education and a rethink of the NT intervention.

So Tom you can tell anyone who heard your sermon that even though it is quite cloudy today the sun is shining a little brighter for me.

Today in my quiet time I wanted to pray for the election. I find that sort of thing hard though and wasn’t sure what I would say. So I opened the Bible to the Psalms which I am reading at the moment and I happened to be up to psalm 72 which is this:

Give the gift of wise rule to the king, O God,
the gift of just rule to the crown prince.
May he judge your people rightly,
be honorable to your meek and lowly.
Let the mountains give exuberant witness;
shape the hills with the contours of right living.
Please stand up for the poor,
help the children of the needy,
come down hard on the cruel tyrants.
Outlast the sun, outlive the moon—
age after age after age.
Be rainfall on cut grass,
earth-refreshing rain showers.
Let righteousness burst into blossom
and peace abound until the moon fades to nothing.
Rule from sea to sea,
from the River to the Rim.

Foes will fall on their knees before God,
his enemies lick the dust.
Kings remote and legendary will pay homage,
kings rich and resplendent will turn over their wealth.
All kings will fall down and worship,
and godless nations sign up to serve him,
Because he rescues the poor at the first sign of need,
the destitute who have run out of luck.
He opens a place in his heart for the down-and-out,
he restores the wretched of the earth.
He frees them from tyranny and torture—
when they bleed, he bleeds;
when they die, he dies.

This is now my prayer for the election.

The last couple of days have been pretty full farewelling Jo. On Saturday Jo had her farewell party. I couldn’t make it as I had to work. This was very disappointing for me but I did get to go to Coogee beach with her in the evening. This is a bit of a tradition for Jo and I who have on a few occasions, when one of us had to work/study on a Saturday, gone there for a swim. It was my first beach swim of the season and it was beautiful. Matt, Louisa, Martin, Ryan, Tom and Jessica also joined us so that was fun too and we had a BBQ.

On Sunday I went to Jo’s church to pray with the community there for her and on Monday we had our last house dinner. We went to China town for noodles and beer. Tuesday was Jo’s last day so we had out last swim and pancakes and went to the car wash to wash our cars. Another tradition. The day before Jem left we did this and the day Jon left Tom got his car washed too. In the evening we went to communuity dinner and we prayed again for Jo and then finally yesterday we dropped at the airport.

It has been a pretty sad time for me. I am going to miss Jo a lot. Her constant and gentle presence in our home, her ability to listen and reflect compassionately, her committment to people, her energy and her sense of fun. I am going to miss talking to her, praying with her, eating with her and watching seachange with her.

On the other hand, I know this is something she has wanted to do for a long time and so I am excited about what she is doing. Well, like Tom said, I am excited about what God is doing through her and that even though it is a long way away we will all be able to support her different ways.

I am inspired by the fact that I am surrounded by people, my friends and family, who do not aspire to live easy, comfortable, risk free lives. I am inspired by the fact they are people who do not seek money, privelege or power. Instead they seek to live serving others and God in the pursuit of justice. For many that will be here in Sydney but for others it will be in other states or countries and so while this means that we as a community will often be farewelling someone I am grateful as it inspires me too. And I am excited about the adventures God will lead people on and I hope that we continue to do this together no matter where we are.

Finding it hard to get motivated at work. Lots of jobs I do not want to do today and boy oh boy have I managed to procrastinate. All non urgent, not very important jobs are done. Inbox is pretty empty. And I have spent way too much time on the net. My facebook page has all these added applications and now I am blogging. It is silly really cause if I had just done them when I got in, they would probably be over and I would feel much better.

My mum lives in Alice Springs, my dad lives in Tamworth and my sister lives in Melbourne however today they are all in Sydney so we hung out. We went to Coogee Beach for lunch to celebrate me finishing uni and then we checked out the Sculptures by the Sea. We didn’t get to see all of it as it was very wet and we had to sit in a shelter for awhile but we had fun anyway. I quite like the beach when it is stormy, at those times it really feels like the ocean is trying to say something. It was great to have them all around. I couldn’t imagine three people who I’d rather spend my first day not being a student with.

It was my mum’s birthday too yesterday so Happy Birthday Mum. I love you heaps and looking forward to seeing you.

One more assessment to go and then uni is over……

So it is almost nine ao clock and we have finished dinner, washed up and had tea. I like that. It feels so much better than going to dinnner on a full stomach. Also, I went for a swim after work. I like that too. It really clears my head and I sleep heaps better.

I have been a pretty slack blogger lately, yes I know but right now there are five other people in my house and I am blogging so that’s commitment. I don’t imagine my mum will be impressed but I reckon Robert Howie might be.

So I am blaming October. The October tiredness that I was talking about earlier this month has followed me right through. Uni has been especially taxing. However the end is nigh. On November 5 I will be finished uni forever, for good and I will be a teacher. Scary. And that week I am going to the Indigo Girls and Xavier Rudd so yay. Then in December I am having like two and half weeks off for only claiming four days annual leave. Yay again.

The other thing that I am blaming is the big decision making process that I am going through. I don’t think I’ll go into too much detail about that but right now Martin and I trying to work out what we are doing next year and I really don’ know what to do. I keep reminding myself that I am very privileged because the reason that I am struggling so much is that both options are so good which means I am very lucky but it is still causing me much anguish. Pray for discernment for me if you’re the praying kind.

I am leaving Alice in about two hours. I am looking forward to seeing my darling husband and my friends but I have to say I wish they were all here so I wouldn’t have to leave. It is so beautiful here and so quiet and even though I have had a lot of work to do it has been pretty relaxing. And I am going to miss mum and Keith again.

See you soon.