Unwritten and Unthunk

Thus far, it's been a fun trip to Malaysia, and it's been fun re-experiencing Malaysia through the eyes of Sarah and Micah. Experiences include:

• We were allowed to bring our wonderful pram with us, but we had to check it with the rest of the luggage. As a result, Micah had the loan of an extremely dignifying pink stroller.
• Flying on an airplane with a baby. All things considered, Micah was very well behaved, and charmed the people sitting behind us. One lady in particular was enthralled.... we realised that her husband was Chinese, and she was Caucasian, which explains the cluckiness, no?
• Arriving at Kuching at midnight, local time = 3am Sydney time. Zombies disembark from the plane, and nod dumbly before crashing into strange beds.
• Glad to see my Ah Ma (grandmother) in ruddy good health. Catching up mainly involves a lot of head nodding, being fed food, guessing at what she's trying to say in Hokkien (one of the five non-Mahjong related words I know is: "Jia" = eat), occasional translation from my Dad, and lots of doting over Micah.
• Felt nostalgic playing Mahjong with Ah Ma. I basically get to play Mahjong once every few years when I see my grandmother, (from playing... well, ludicrously often in high school). The frisson of the first half-hour of playing was hard to describe. Probably a good deal of nostalgia flooding in.
• Re-introducing Sarah to (a small cross-section) of my large and wonderful extended family, who would all like nothing better than to feed you.
• A bombardment of wonderful local foods: Roti Chennai, Satay, Laksa, Kolo Mee, Char Kuay Teow, Char Ju Mee, Kueh of all varieties, and then fruits: miniature bananas, rambutans, lychees, papaya (paw paw), mangosteens, lang sat, and varieties of crazy jungle fruit, picked from the jungle and brought straight to your local fruit seller.
• Pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying driving in Kuching. Lonely Planet notes that Sarawakian drivers are a good deal more sane than the rest of Malaysian drivers. In Australia, maybe 5-10% of the people on the road are P-platers and/or hoons, but in Kuching, everyone drives, on average, 10% more dangerously. Which means that everyone's expecting you to drive a bit crazily, and nobody horns you when you cut in front of them, because they're sorta expecting it. And three-lane roundabouts are fun.
• Amused by street names in Kuching. In a town where street-names are long (Jalan Tun Ahmad Zaidi Adruce, Jalan Datuk Amar Kalong Ningkan, equivalent to naming a street: Brigadier-General Sir Walter Henry FitzWilliam), there's a major road called Jalan Rock, which translates to Rock Street, or perhaps: Rocky Road.
• Impressed by the speed at which Ah Ma, unbidden, produced pants for Micah, "to protect him from the mosquitos"
• Still fascinated by James Brooke, the first White Rajah of Sarawak. Sarah and I enjoyed an afternoon at the Sarawak Museum, reading up on Sarawak history, and all the ins and outs of how an Englishman ended up being appointed Rajah, and his short dynasty.
• Appallingly bored by the Sarawak Museum's Petrified Wood exhibition. The only exhibition we needed to pay to get into (RM4 each), to see a large collection of... rocks. Rocks that look like wood. Placed on actual wood, to hold them up. Petrified wood fetches a fair price in Malaysia (a small chunk can be worth RM30, large chunks probably hundreds or even thousands), so it must have cost them a fortune to acquire the collection, but what a boring collection! I'm sure it's fascinating to the right people who can recognise the different bontanical markers, and which extinct tree is which, but to me? Chunks of wood-shaped rock. Meh.
• Surprised, then charmed, then annoyed by the maid who comes in and tidies our room. Ah Ma has an Indonesian maid who's supposed to help her with household chores. Except my Ah Ma wants to do everything herself (and is still capable of it), so she frequently sends the maid to my uncle's house (where we're staying) to tidy and sweep the floors. She also tidies the rooms, folding all our clothes and bedclothes. The first time it's surprising, then charming, but after the tenth time of not being able to find something in the place where I left it, it's @#!% annoying.

The New Year is a time to look forward and look back.

Much happened in 2009, and God has blessed us greatly.

2009

• We bought a house (albeit subsidised heavily by my parents)
• We started at Bible College (SMBC)
• We had a baby—the delightful Micah!
• We started Soma with Pete and various others.
• We made significant progress with the Geeks Ministry (which I mention because that's likely to occupy a large proportion of my time sometime in the future.)

All in all, it's been a pretty momentous year. I've only really mentioned the big things; there've been lots of small things too.

Lessons

I've learnt a lot too. Bible College has taught me a lot; and notwithstanding all the stuff I've learnt, it's shaped me a great deal as a person, as a Christian. Not only have I met many wonderful people, but I've also had the influence of their lives in my life, and it has been an especial joy to meet the Bible College lecturers and witness their faith and lives. Someone it is not incongruous to combine the scholastic with joy, the academic with godliness and warmth and wit and humour and gentleness. The staff at SMBC are such an immense variety of people, from different backgrounds and traditions and possessing different ideas and dispositions, but nevertheless, the staff are all godly men and women who love Jesus. I love seeing diversity and unity at work.

I've appreciated having godly models to follow, because in reality, Christianity is as much caught as taught. Christianity is about following, not learning.

It's been wonderful to have such a range of godly men and women to follow.

I've also learnt lots about fatherhood, and about myself. I worried before Micah was born, because I am the least clucky person I know. Having Micah confirmed that for me at first, because many of my male friends were able to summon levels of cluck that I haven't been able to do for other people's children.

But I've changed. I'm very glad about that. Sarah thinks it's wonderful how clucky I am about Micah. And I am. I love Micah, and I can't get over how wonderful he is. I could go on, but I won't.

I'm hoping that all my thoughts and ideas about fatherhood will crystallise over the coming years. I have a perfect idea in my head of how I ought to raise Micah (and the children to follow) and I imagine the difficulty will be to a) stay the course, and b) realise that I'm wrong in various ways.

I also surprised myself this year. In 2009, I started gardening, and started baking sourdough. Our vegetable garden has worked well this year. Our tomatoes and carrots are growing well now, and the snow peas and pak choy went crazy in spring. My potatoes died, and I'm going to have to do something about that. And I have really enjoyed baking sourdough. I suspect it's bad to be eating this much bread, but there's something lovely and organic about cooking with sourdough that I don't really get from making normal bread. I'm getting better (I really should start posting photos).

Regrets
In 2009, I haven't read my Bible nearly enough. That's probably a strange thing for a Bible College Student to say, but it is. Things have been hectic, no doubt, but I don't think that's an excuse I'm allowed to make. If I don't read my Bible now, I won't read it in years to come, when I have less biblical input, less time, less opportunity. 2010, I need to read my Bible more.

In 2009, I didn't exercise enough. My excuse, once again is secure: a knee reconstruction, and a baby, have taken away a lot of my time and ability. But I'm much behind on my rehab. I need to get in the gym in 2010, strengthen my knee, and get back into running. 2010 may be the year I start riding a bike. We'll see.

I've just been back from NTE.

As I talked to students, and I hear the talk, impelling them to gospel work in their lives and beyond, I remember being in their shoes. I remember how I thought and lived as a Christian in my early years. How the world was starkly black and white: and all matters were either ephemeral or eternal. And those things that pass were unimportant. How the gospel was all that mattered. I learnt those lessons well, and I think it is fair to say I pursued God's kingdom as hard as I could. I didn't always succeed, but it drove me as I served at Unichurch, as I uprooted to Quakers Hill, as I pursued MTS as the avenue to understand ministry, and if that was what I should do. I learnt those lessons and I dreamt in black and white.

In reflecting on my year at SMBC, it occurs to me that one of my big lessons this year has been to see the world that God has made in colour. Subjects such as Intro to Degree Theology, Old Testament, and various sermons on Wisdom Literature has tried to show me that the world that God made is wonderful and deep and mysterious; that Yahweh, our God, is amazing and unpredictable and joyful and spontaneous.

The created world is wonderful. It sings with beauty and splendour. The variety of creation: thousands of types of trees, birds, flowers. It is amazing to watch a baby grow and change and develop. It is wonderful to be part of the created world; and we should marvel no less at the things that man has accomplished which God has hitherto imagined: cars and buildings and computers and books and the internet.

I still feel the urgency of the gospel. People still need to hear about the saving work of Jesus Christ. Teaching the word is still necessary, and preaching the gospel to the unsaved is of prime importance. But the wonder of this present world that God has created hasn't paled in comparison. Rather it paints it in even sharper focus. There is still a God-like-ness in working, in bringing order to creation, in bringing life to the world, in saving and restoring, in ecology and social work. In care that only lasts for one lifetime.

Because even though the effect is fleeting; and the trees we save, the people we heal, the order we restore to the world will not last, these hymn we sing to God, of his glory and honour and praise will last for eternity.