In highschool I had two friends who had a passion for motorcycles.   While I was focused on my studies and preparing for university, they inspired me with their stories of adventures riding their bikes on the weekends.  Many years later I took up that passion and to this day create my own stories of motorcycle adventures. In my first congregation I met this master craftsman who could turn rough lumber into heirloom furniture.  It was...

How well do you know God?   I think I know my wife Jeannie.   I know she likes drinking Chai tea.   I know she loves going for hikes.   I know she enjoys her work in aged care.   I know she likes sleeping on cool sheets.  I know the relationships she keeps:  her friends, the ones she regularly writes to, and her love for Jesus and her desire to follow God.   But...

The climate is changing.  According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, 2019 was Australia's warmest year on record, with the annual national mean temperature 1.52 °C above average.   There have been significant heatwaves in January and in December.   This was Australia's driest year on record, with rainfall below average for most of Australia.   Yet rainfall was above average for parts of Queensland's northwest and northern tropics.  Much of Australia is affected by drought,...

Over a billion of animals and "hundreds of billions" of insects have been killed in bushfires throughout New South Wales this season, according to leading wildlife experts.  In an ABC news report we are told that Australian wildlife has had to deal with four things: the incredibly fragile overheated periods before fires, the fire itself, the lack of habitat and food after the fire, and the invasion of foxes and cats in these burnt out areas. ...

For as long as I remember I love to be creative!  I love building things.  I think it started with popsicle sticks.  One time while visiting my aunt in Holland she showed me a jewellery box I had made for her from these craft sticks more than 20 years earlier.  I eventually used larger pieces of wood to craft furniture.  I have dabbled in pottery and painting.  In highschool I had aspirations to become an architect. ...