The man on the corner

I had an interesting encounter last night as i dropped home one of the youth from a small group course we are running on Monday nights teaching our young men about sexual purity. I picked him up at about 5:45pm and noticed as i turned off the main road an Asian man standing on the corner opposite the deli/takeaway store of the road i turned into to, didn't seem unusual apart from that it was raining, but he had a jacket on, didn't really take much notice.
It was about 7:30pm when i was dropping the boy home again, with another in the back seat i was dropping off somewhere else smsing his girlfriend totally distracted by her. As we turned off the main road onto the street to where he is living, we both said to each other, "hey that guy is still there", and as we drove by him he put his hand in the air signalling to us. I kept going and dropped the boy home.
As I was driving back out to the main road I couldn't help but wonder why this Asian man was standing there in the rain for so long, so with the boy in the back seat still focused on his girlfriend's txt message, i stopped as i was turning out of the street and wound down the window on the other side to see if this guy was alright, as I was about to ask if he was alright i noticed it was a lady in jeans and a warm jacket with short black hair and before i said anything she said "I'm working" to which i kindly wound back up the window and drove off.
I didn't even think about where I was, the suburb I was in is of quite bad reputation, and the Asian man on the corner was actually a female prostitute working the corner.

I felt a bit silly and naive for not recognising what she was there for. As I drove away i couldn't help but feel terribly sorry for her. I don't imagine she was there because she wanted to be, but rather that this is the way she gets money to live, for the lack of other means. It also made me think this morning of some of the girls we have come through the youth and children's communities of our church from this and other nearby areas. Are they going to grow up to sell their bodies to make a living? If they don't find hope and love here is this where they will end up, on a street corner in the rain at night waiting to sell their bodies and souls?
Who is going to love that lady on the corner?
Where is God in this?
I hope she will see his love, although I don't know how.

Congrats

I would just like to throw a big shout out to my dear friend Tab who just recently got Engaged!!!
It's very exciting :)

Norco

I am the happy new owner of a Norco Katmandu MTB, it's a hardtail MTB that will do me well over the next few years and is good to upgrade to better parts when the time comes. Is not a particularly expensive bike, for a MTB that is. I paid in the 500ish range for it, without being too specific. I aslo picked myself up a new Mace helmet and riding gloves. I am pretty excited about getting into riding again, haven't really done much since 2002 so still finiding my feet again and my fitness is improving.

Are They Safer?

Are they safer? Is the question asked on SBS's Insight where the Intervention into indigenous communities in the N.T. is a controversial topic. That's an understatement I think. Always a great show, journalism where you get hear from many sides. Watch/Listen/Read here...

Blog Study

Found this transcript of an interview on ABC radio's The World today, it is about a study by Swinburne Uni on whether blogging is good for your mental health. Read here...

Having a crack at the pokie habit

Found this article today, is an opinion piece by Tim Costello on Pokies and Gambling in Australia.

Good Friday Tradition

The young people from my church we have a good Friday tradition, it is only a few years old and so I have participated in three of the 4 years it has been happening, it starts of course with the Good Friday service at Enfield Baps and moves on to brunch at The Original Pancake Kitchen and finally to Rundle Mall for a spot of cricket. The shops are closed and so is most of Adelaide so the normally crowded and busy mall is pretty empty with mostly international tourists walking around wondering where all the people are. There are many a random passer by who joins in and we play a bit more cautiously when the police go by in their vehicle or on their bicycles. It's good that they don't seem to mind, and we do wonder what the cafe who would have found a few tennis balls on their veranda would have thought, that was six and out though.
This year after a person from the local paper on their lunch break spotted us they mentioned it on their return and a reporter and photographer were sent to find us out. This resulted in the following....

Yes that's me second from the left in the back appealing. People mentioned in the article, Scott is the batsmen, Brenton is behind the stumps on the middle of picture and to the left of him is Dan. Was a very fun day.

I want to be like

Psalm 1
Oh, the joys of those who do not
follow the advice of the wicked,
or stand around with sinners,
or join in with mockers.
But they delight in the law of the Lord,
meditating on it day and night.
They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
and they prosper in all they do.

Too often I feel like I fail in all I do, which is not really true, just seems my failures seem to stick out more. Sometimes it is hard to get back up when you have been knocked down. It takes courage to keep on going, and deep roots planted in the truth.

Instead of delighting in the law of the Lord I can find myself dreading it, "oh that's too hard, too much, I don't see others doing that God."

Yet it is His law that guides me, that loves me, that frees me.

Courage

Picture from The Guardian (2006)

Courage is not the absence of fear, but the judgement that something else is more important than fear. Attributed to Ambrose Hollingworth Redmoon.

There Is No Denying

Went and saw a film tonight called "Run Fat Boy Run" was good and well worth seeing, quite funny if you can handle the humor. Anyways no i am not doing a film review, the story was about this guy who in some ways i felt i could relate to sometimes. Dennis is a guy who runs from his problems when things get too tough and also seems to figure that if he does something courageously stupid he can win the heart of the lady he loves. I am yet to see this work though. The movies deals with these issues in Dennis' life and if he can over come them.

Made me think alot about the things I am going through at the moment, like finishing my studies instead of running away from how hard I can find it to be to do the study. Like feeling like you don't deserve the girl you like because you think you are not good enough for her.

I think this movie is going to continue to make me think through a few things more, it is interesting how you may know what the problems are but you don't really get it till someone comes out and says it, like you are denying in your mind that it is true, but when it comes out there is no denying. So back to study it will be and courage and strength and discipline for me.

Built On Rock

In The Gospel Accroding To Matthew Jesus talks of rock a couple times, the first is a teaching that a man who listens to the words of Jesus and does them is like a wise man who built his house on rock and that when the storms came his house stood firm, unlike the foolish man who built on sand and his house was washed away. May I be the man who builds on rock.
The second time is when Jesus asks who his disciples say he is, and Simon speaks up and says Jesus is the Messiah the Son of the living God. Jesus renames Simon to be Peter (which means rock) and says that upon this rock He will build his Church and that the powers of hell will not conquer it.
It seems to me that things are Stronger when they are Built on Rock.