The Great Southern Railway

I took a few pictures on my train journey from Melbourne — Adelaide — Perth

I also overheard a few conversations. And I had a few conversations on Facebook. 

So, here are the highlights!

-------     --------     -------

David Edgren

11 September 

Always dreamed of taking the train to Perth. After the surgery my balance will be affected for life. Motion sickness may be my new friend. I'm booked to do a double WOP in Perth next week... So, I've decided to take the train before the surgery! First stop — at North Shore Station (Geelong)

Graeme Frauenfelder I love the train across Australia. Enjoy it heaps! 

Jodine Azzopardi that will be wonderful! Good for you! Praying motion sickness will not be!

Briohne Sykes Hooray!!!

Tanya Karaoglanis Enjoy!!!!

Clansi Rogers Liking the train part, not the reason for your surgery!

Vicki Knight Praying for you David. God Bless. The best train ride you will ever have.

Tony Cullinan Brilliant mate! Hope you have a ball pal!

Neil Wilson Our family will be praying all goes well for you in surgery Dave. God bless you. Enjoy your trip.

Whizzing past Winch...

(I'm sure Winchelsea is just there somewhere!)

Mt Ararat.

David Edgren

11 September

So green out here. Rain is a blessing! — at Dimboola Railway Station (Horsham)

Just outside of Bordertown.

Rolling hills coming into Adelaide.

The mighty Murray from train bridge (see shadow!) 

with paddle steamer included just for character. ;)

Murray River from the bridge into Adelaide.

David Edgren

11 September

What an amazing day! Beautiful on the train. all the way from Lilydale (at 6am) until Adelaide (at7pm). Sunny. Clear skies. Funny people ride the train. Big windows. Swivelling seats. I worked a half-day on my iPad. Random conversations with various people - also random. I read for hours on my Kindle. I took snapshots out the window, doctored them up and posted them on FB. Just finished tea downstairs. Went shopping at Coles for breaky (right across the road!). Now, I'm sitting on my bed, with free wifi... Life is good! — at Metropolitan Hotel (Adelaide)

Philip Knight Well done Dave. And what memorable things you get up to!! Good on you!! Enjoy the trip across the desert :)

Candice Jaques You should get some great story material on your train adventure.

Tony Cullinan Thats awesome mate. Good on you Dave!!

The lounge car. Powerpoints with a view!

David Edgren

Thursday via Mobile
After a two day layover in Adelaide, I'm back on the train. Let the adventure continue! — at City of Salisbury, SA, Australia
Tanya Karaoglanis Enjoy!!! And relax ....

David Edgren

Thursday

Woke up as the train stopped. — at Mambary Creek

(Maybe a bit too relaxed, eh Tanya?) lol

Any window. 

They're all the same. 
Just like snowflakes.

David Edgren

Yesterday

Just Overheard: "Look at that gum tree. Isn't it amazing how the morning sun shines off it's leaves."

My Thought: "Nobody flying from Melbourne to Perth ever says that!"

Aldona Jones no...but substitute "gum tree" with "sunrise" and "leaves" with "colourful clouds" and it brings back memories of flights from Melb to Perth (or Sydney, or Brisbane, or wherever). however you travel, you will always have an opportunity to glimpse some of God's wonders that you wouldn't see any other way!

Katherine Darroch I did that flight twice last year - the only thing that I was saying was, "If they didn't cram in so many rows of seats I may actually be able to move my legs now..." Guess you don't have that problem either hey?

Scrub. Framed. 

Train seat. Saved. 
For you!

David Edgren

Yesterday

Stopping to check the mail! Lucky for the people in Tarcoola that we stopped by. :) — at Tarcoola

Scenery change. 

Looks like God stopped after the base coat.

David Edgren

Yesterday

Just Overheard: 

Woman: Is there anything worth taking photos of?

Man: Well there's a toilet block coming up.

I laughed. I thought he was kidding. The left side of the lounge car emptied as the oldies charged the view of the toilet block. I stifled my laugh. These are serious tourists!

Today, it's not just what's outside the windows that matters. 

It's what you do with it! lol

Kaye Wilson LOL, even though aged, they were interesed in some thing!!

Tony Cullinan Was it a well built toilet block?

David Edgren Yeah, I think it worked out.

In between Sydney and Perth lies Cook: 

a toilet and a souvenir shop. 

The school is closed!

David Edgren

Yesterday

20 minute break in a ghost town. Any disciples on the train? It's not a ghost, Peter! — at Cook

David Edgren Makes me wonder: If Jesus could walk on the sea, could he swim in the desert? (better go out and have a look!)

Katherine Darroch What's the verdict?

David Edgren I'm back: I didn't see any swimming but I did see a few of the least of these. So, Jesus is in the desert.

Scott Wegener I've been to Cook via car. Not much there. We went to the tip to find snakes and saw the Indian Pacific stop over while there.
David Edgren Where did you come from? It's really out there!

Scott Wegener I know, up the dirt track from the Aussie bite.

A sign and a train. 

COOK!

Cook gaol cells. 

A bit too gentle on the badies, I say. 

Private rooms and stoves!

David Edgren was at Wynbring (dirt Runway).

Yesterday

David Edgren Went by so fast I didn't have time to write a description. So, here it is. 
Red. Dirt. Runway.

David Edgren

Yesterday

Just went past a most misnamed bit of scrub. — at Forrest

Katherine Darroch The people that named it either had a great imagination or a great sense of humor:)

Crossed Over!

David Edgren

Yesterday via Amazon

finished The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy and gave it 5 stars

Late night in Kalgoolie. 

Hanging out at the train station because it's cool. 

Raining actually.

David Edgren

20 hours ago via Mobile

Bedtime. Todays official roo count - 27. But I wasn't really trying!

Tony Cullinan Well, we expect far better from you next time!

Tanya Karaoglanis Instead of counting sheep to help you go to sleep in the outback it's Roo's .... very Australian. Lol.

James Toogood oh - i thught you meant you hit no 27 driving home from country

David Edgren Larrikins, the lot of ya!

Coming into Perth.

David Edgren

about an hour ago near Canning Vale, Western Australia

Arrived on time in Perth - 9:15am. Got picked up by PrRobert Stankovic and got to church with 30 minutes to spare before my children's story and sermon! Awesome day!

Tonight (Tuesday, Sept 18) we went to see the city at night. 

Snapped this with "slow shutter" on my iPhone 4S 
(all the pics in this post are iPhone4S pics)

Perth, the beautiful...

Story Building with King David

My story building strategy is simple. There are two core principles I operate from when building a new storytelling presentation. First, stories from our ancient faith are of ultimate importance. If they weren’t valuable teaching stories they wouldn’t have been told, told and retold until they were anthologized in the Bible. Because these stories are recorded in the Bible they are core material — for Christians, Muslims, Jews (Old Testament), and western listeners (most of us) — and are very important source material that our kids need. The world around our children will make more sense, their faith will have more precedence to them and their personal character will be built on higher ground if they know the core Bible stories. These stories have been the building blocks of little minds for millennia and led to development of many great minds in adulthood. Even atheists in Western Society wound not be who they are if they did not come from a culture founded on the Biblical narrative. So, firstly, I must tell Bible stories and tell them in a captivating fashion that leads to a love for the Bible.

The second core principle is to choose ONE value to teach and build the storytelling around that value. You can put the value in the mouth of a character. You can have the narrator imbed the value in the way the character does what they do. You can even play around the edges of the value and have the kids guess what it is. But the principle I try to obey is, Choose one Value. Teach that value through core-faith stories. My typical approach is to search for a primary verse or story that states the value as clearly as possible. Once I have that key story/verse, I build the other stories around that.

So, let's build a story together. Let's do some work on humility. Think about the value: Humble. The first thing I thought, being a comedian at heart, is a funny text about Moses which says, “Moses was the humblest man who ever lived.” According to tradition, Moses wrote these words. That’s just funny! How can a humble person write that? How could you even think it? The humble people I know think the exact opposite about themselves. Biblical Scholars put brackets around the statement suggesting it was added in by an editor or copyist long after the text around it was written. That makes sense. But, this text is not a good core text for me to teach humility because it will take me down the tangent that it has just taken me down. And that’s not the point.

Then I thought of the verse, “David was a man after God’s own heart.” I chased it and found that this was said about David before anybody (other than God) knew who it was referring to. This captivated my attention and this is where I started my new talk. 

Well, after a small intro... How many of you watched the Olympics? Who was the tallest man there? BOLT! That’s right. He was head and shoulders taller than the rest. There is another hero, from ancient times, who was head and shoulders taller than the rest. His name? KING SAUL! 

And so starts the story of the Prophet Samuel coming late to a sacrifice only to be told by King Saul that they went ahead without him. They made a sacrifice to God, without the prophet. King Saul pretended he was the prophet. He’d seen Samuel do it a hundred times. Samuel was late. So Saul did it himself. Arrogance.

Samuel was enraged. He told Saul off. Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samuel and he said, “God was going to rule this kingdom through your descendants for generations to come, but not now! NOT NOW! God has already chosen someone else to be king after you. God has chosen someone after His own heart. Your days are numbered, big guy!” Samuel limped off, leaning heavily on his staff.

The search began. Who? Who had God selected? Samuel searched high and low throughout the land. He followed the leading of the Spirit and ended up in the home of Jesse. The Spirit is strong here. He asked to see all of Jesse’s sons. He went through them all and was disappointed. “Is it possible you’ve forgotten to call one son?” Ah, yes, David.

And the boy was anointed. “God has special plans for your life, young David.” Oil was poured over his head. Samuel left. David returned to the sheep, wondering, what was that all about? I’m just a shepherd boy. Precisely, just a humble shepherd boy.

Then David met Goliath. In the telling, I have a lot of fun with this story. But the key is in the way I enact it. David goes from humble righteous indignation to prideful showing off. Incensed by the Giant’s arrogant words against God and God’s army, David’s religious zeal was aroused. He told King Saul, “God wants this giant dead and when God wants something dead, it dies.” He told the king about the lion and the bear that came to take his father’s sheep. The lion and bear that David hit with his stick and then, when the beast dropped the sheep and spun to defend itself, David grabbed by the beard and beat with his stick — to death. “They are my Dad’s sheep. My Dad asked me to look after them. I asked God to help me. And when God’s Spirit comes over me... well, things happen! And God is being mocked by that ruffian of a Philistine and God wants him dead. So, I’ll go do it, if you let me!”

Goliath was a giant. He was head and shoulders taller than the other giants of Gath. And he was shouting, “Send me your biggest, tallest, strongest man. Let’s do this one on one.” And that man, the man head and shoulders taller than the rest of God’s Army was? KING SAUL! That’s right. And he didn’t want to go. he was afraid. 

But David was willing, ready and (according to his stories) able to kill the Giant. King Saul took a leap of faith. He risked loosing his kingdom to the Philistines by offering the fight to David. “Winner takes all. One man down means one kingdom down.” Those were Goliath’s terms, not Saul’s. But still, if Israel sent out a champion, their action showed they were agreeing to the terms. And Saul sent David. He must have been convinced that God worked through David. And perhaps that was the first inkling Saul had as to who his successor would be. Saul sent David to meet the Giant.

David came back with the giant’s head and his sword. He offered them to King Saul. Spoils of war, boy. They are yours! 

David did exactly what Bolt and every other gold medalist do — he went on a victory lap. David went from town to town and the crowds flocked to him. He pulled out the sword for inspection. And when the people pressed in tightly enough, he reached in his burlap bag of tricks and pulled out Goliath’s gnarly stinking head. People jumped back at the sight and stench and then crowded forward again in intrigued disgust. 

The women started to sing a new song — or maybe it was a new verse in an old song about King Saul. The verse said, “Saul has killed his thousands, David his ten’s of thousands.” Saul heard the song one to many times and set his sites — his war-machine sites — on David. How many times must David have wondered if his victory lap was really the wisest strategy. It brought the might of the kingdom down on his head. Perhaps I should have shown more gentleness of heart, David must have reflected time and again.

When the day arrived for David to kill Saul, they were both different people. Saul had gone mad. David had grown-up. They both had their followers. King Saul’s followers were conscripted soldiers, forced to obey. David’s followers were blood brothers, compelled by honor to serve David. The two groups of men were night and day. One served the darkened mind of a murderous king. The other joined the cause of everyman, protecting the wellbeing of farmers and landowners from stock thieves and wandering criminals.

David and his band of men holed up in a cave system for the night. Saul’s army wasn’t far behind. But, David knew the network of caves and felt safe slipping into them knowing there were many escape routes. Saul and his army came to rest outside the cave mouth just entered by David’s group. Saul wandered to the quiet privacy of the cave to relieve himself. But he wasn’t alone.

David’s men saw the situation as a gift from God. “God is sending Saul into your hands. Kill him, David!” David agreed and snuck up behind the business oriented king. He drew his dagger and hunched down for the final few steps in darkness. As his eyes fell on the King of Israel — God’s King — David was humbled. He crumpled to his knees in shock at what he had nearly done. Then he saw the hem of Saul’s robe. He reached out, clenched a fist carefully around the robe and cut off what he held in his hand. Silently, he tip-toes back into the depths of the cave. 

His men were dumbstruck. “You didn’t kill him?” David explained the horrible folly of even considering the murder of God’s anointed king. The men were humbled by the Godly nature of their leader, and reminded once again why they loved David so deeply. This is a man after God’s own heart.

Then he showed them the remnant of Saul’s garment. Eyebrows raised. Arms crossed. Feet scuffled. “I cut his robe!” David started to laugh. “I cut the King’s robe!” Then, realizing the sad nature of the joke David looked into the eyes of his chagrined men and recognized what he had done. He shook his head, “I didn’t want to disrespect God by killing his anointed king, so I chopped up his clothes instead. What’s wrong with me. I am such an idiot.”

Then David did the unthinkable. He turned and ran toward the cave entrance. Toward the army of Saul. His men would have stopped him, but he was gone before they knew what he was thinking. 

David ran out of the cave mouth and shouted, “Saul! King Saul!”

From the camp of his army, Saul yelled back, “David? My son, David?”

Then David apologized. He held up the remnant of fabric and said, “I will never hurt you King Saul. You are God’s anointed. Why must you hunt me?”

King Saul’s reply still leaves leaders humbled. Leaders who have seen the error of their ways in the godly character of a young person. King Saul shouted, loud enough for everybody to hear, “David, you are more Godly than I.” In his own words King Saul heard an echo from decades before, “A man after God’s own heart.” David was becoming the King God needed — a humble king.

When I tell this story to high school groups, I tell the story of Bathsheeba. Wooed by King David. Fell pregnant. Her husband sent to his death by King David to save face. Not David’s best day. 

And then my favourite kind of Bible character shows up – one of God’s Storytellers. Nathan, the prophet, told David a story (this happened in your Kingdom, sire!) about a rich man who had hundreds of sheep and a poor man who had only one. The family of the poor man loved their one sheep so much they let it live inside and eat scraps - like a pet. The rich man had a guest show up and decided to have roast lamb for tea. But he didn’t want to deplete his own stock, so he sent his servant to the home of the poor man, took that sheep, cooked it up and ate it with his guest.

David was livid. His knuckles went white as he gripped his throne, “That man!” He shouted, “That man should be forced to pay four times over for his evil!”

Out came the bony finger... The prophet waggled his pointer finger in the King’s face, “You are the man!”

And David got it. Oh, the power of story! 

And oh, the power of humility in the heart of one who has the heart of God. 

David slumped to the floor. He begged for forgiveness. His newborn child — Bathsheba’s newborn child, was dying. “Please Lord! Please forgive me. Me! Punish me! Let the child live. Please, forgive me!”

For seven days David stayed in this posture. The palace servants were so fearful for David’s sanity and safety they didn’t know what to do when the child died. “If we tell him, will he kill himself?” They whispered amongst themselves. 

David heard murmuring. His head jerked up. He demanded, “Is it the child? Is there news?”

“Yes, my Lord,” one servant stammered. “The child has died.”

David stood and walked toward his rooms. “Run my bath. Prepare a meal. I have lots of work to do.”

Just like that. David was over it. Well, probably not, but David was handling it. Why?

Because a man after God’s own heart is Humble. And When God wants something it happens. And David knew this. His prayer was hopeful but not heartless. He knew God will do what God will do. And he had a heart that understood God’s heart.

The wiseman wrote, “Humble yourself before God and He will lift you up.” Just like he lifted David up, after seven days of fasting, weeping and begging. Just like He lifted Jesus up after He was whipped, mocked and crucified — the death of a criminal — to a place above all others, given a name above all others so that at His name every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. ... And what does Jesus do with this praise? “To the glory of the Father.” He gives it back. 

That’s what a heart like God’s heart is like. All glory belongs to God the Father. The rest of us, at our very best, are humbled in incomparable insignificance and yet loved beyond all reason by the lifter of the humble hearted. 

David was a man after God’s own heart. Not because he was good enough. Not because he didn’t make mistakes. Not because he deserved it.

David was a man after God’s own heart because when he realized he had done wrong, he saw himself for what he was — broken and in need of mending. He didn’t defend himself, throwing the dirt higher so it took longer to land — digging his own prideful grave. And he saw God for who He is — the lifter of the hunble hearted. 

David humbled himself in the eyes of God and God lifted him up.

May we all Live like THiS.

Living the Dream(s)

You know those “one day” dreams? 

One day, I’ll go on a cruise to Alaska.

One day, I’ll go on a safari in Africa.

One day, I’ll go on a train across Australia.

One day, I’ll ride a motorcycle across America.

And those are just my A’s...

I also have little dreams — things around the neighbourhood I’ve always wanted to do. Finding out about this tumour, has made me take another look at the list. 

I understand that after the surgery, I will down for awhile. I’ll be tired. I’ll be sore. I’ll be uninterested in much movement. But that will change, I will heal. 

But, there are the unknowns. This type of tumour grows on the balance nerve and often the hearing nerve. I haven’t noticed any balance issues but the hearing is certainly effected on the left side. When they remove the tumour I will possibly (most likely) loose my balance nerve (they may cut it to remove the tumour) and maybe my hearing on the left side.

The result has the potential to be life altering. While the stitches will come out, the nerve will not regrow. Nerves don’t do that. So, I will need to relearn my balance skills and master the art of placing annoying people on my left. There is, of course, a chance that my balance and hearing nerves will not be cut completely and I may retain some use of them. But, I won’t know until after the surgery.

So, back to the dream list. There is this one curvy stretch of road I have wanted to ride since getting my motorcycle. It wiggles from Warburton to Healseville — the long way — taking in a few mountain ridges, valleys, Marysville and more. What will motorcycle riding be like if my balance nerve is kaputz? dunno. So, I did the ride. And it was wonderful! 

Right now I am sitting on the Indian—Pacific Railway, on my way to Perth for five fun-filled days of sharing Bible stories with two schools. This is the first time I’ve ever done two Week-of-Prayer programs during the same week! Each day, I will do one school in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Book sales and signing on the Wednesday and Thursday! Fun! Fun! Fun!

I’ve had the airplane tickets booked for months. I’ve been excited about this double-header for a long time. I love these storytelling trips. So, I book the flights in advance, to get a good price and lock the trip into my schedule. And every time I click on Webjet to find the best ticket prices to Perth, I think, The Great Southern Railway will get it’s chance when I have a week to burn.  One day. 

Trains are bumpy. They wobble. They are not fun for people with balance issues. A couple of weeks ago it hit me, “What if you can’t handle trains after the surgery? You’ll never ride a train across Australia!” And then I remembered I was going to Perth before the surgery. So, I’m on the train!

Can I encourage you, don’t just dream your dreams — live them! Take the time out and just go for it. Our days are numbered and we can’t see the countdown clock. Don’t wait until you retire to start enjoying life. 

Recent research on happiness has revealed that the happiest people are the ones who do little things they enjoy every day, every week, every month. Rituals make us happy. Have that morning cuppa with a friend, every day. Participate in a weekly worship ritual you love. Celebrate birthdays, Christmas and other meaningful days to you and your family. Take joy in being joyful on schedule. 

What I’m saying is, if you are miserable and think, one day all this will be over and I’ll be sitting on a beach somewhere. Why wait? The white-marble sand is ready now. Start celebrating the small today. And create room in your busy schedule to make dreams into reality. You’re worth it. 

You don’t need a brain tumour to get on board! 

T - Live like THiS: 4H (the 28 Stories story)

A few years ago, I had just started working as Children’s Ministry Director and as Adult Sabbath School Director for the Victoria Seventh-day Adventist Church (my current position) and was passionately trying to get people (be they Adult Sabbath Schools, Children’s Sabbath Schools, families, friendship clusters or work groups) into small groups. I kept hearing the same comment from them all: What resource should we use? 

I searched and found only a few options and they all left me with that dry-mouth feeling. You know the one — when you wake up and have been sleeping with your mouth open. That dry-mouth feeling is the best way I can explain the spiritual/emotional feeling I was having to these studies as I tried to use them. They were so dry! And linear. And proof driven. 

Around that time, my eldest son, Cyrus, wanted to do Bible studies in preparation for baptism. And he wanted to do them with me. What an honour! And then the question came, what studies will I use? I read thru a few “youthy” sets of studies, my tongue quietly thickening with wall-paper paste. I wanted a way to teach the beautiful Truth without feeling like I was forcing a dog to swallow a pill (if you’ve ever had to put your finger down the back of a dogs throat, you know what I’m talking about!) or playing the role of mother bird, regurgitating a previous meal so my little ones could gulp it down. 

I wanted a gracious way to offer the Truth I love. Like Christmas morning presence and presents. If you are a parent, you know the intense joy of watching your children opening the gifts they have been aching for since October - that kind of presence, for both of us. I wanted our studies to be as joyful as the faith I hold dear. So, I decided to write a series of Bible studies. 

Now the real dilemma hit me. OK, Mr Smartypants, what are you going to write? Think it’s so easy, do ya? How are you going to create a series of Bible studies that draw out the beauty, joy and majesty of God’s Word while still transferring that core of wisdom and truth? 

I searched for months. I needed the right hook. The right strategy. I read books, blogs, websites, listened to lecture series. Then, I discovered something in a theology text. In “The Heart of Christianity” theologian Marcus J Borg explores four ancient aspects of what we moderns have reduced to one word: Faith. He used the latin words Assensus (a proposition), fiducia (trust), fidelitas (loyalty) and visio (a way of seeing). I’ll leave you to ponder on the latin and jump ahead to my synthesis of these concepts.

Head, Heart, Hands, Horizon. I call it the 4H Bible study. The hook was firmly set. I was ready to write the stories. I had known since first deciding to write the studies, they should start with stories - Bible stories, retold as I love to do. But, the study after the story was the struggle. Now that I had a strategy for the studies, I started writing. 

I wrote two a week. One to discuss with Cyrus and the group. One to send home with them as a journalling exercise. 28 Studies - 14 Weeks. Write! Write! Write! The studies were on Thursdays. So, I set aside each Tuesday morning for writing. And, when that didn’t work, I crammed! Luckily there were breaks and cancellations that gave me the occasional extra week. I wrote, we tested and the kids critiqued the studies. After finishing them, they were published by Signs Publishing Company as “28 Stories”. To date, they have sold more than 3300 copies! 

This year I have been applying the 4H approach to the adult Sabbath School lesson. Rather than write a “teaching guide” for teachers to use verbatim, I have been producing an enrichment tool called SS4H to broaden the teacher’s experience with the lesson topic. Each week, I read through the lesson and come up with two questions that approach the —
Head: building a foundation of knowledge. What more can we learn about this topic?
Heart: learning to love what God loves. How can we experience this emotionally?
Hands: choosing to act as God desires. What can we or should we do?
Horizon: exploring the Kingdom beyond my walls. What can we learn from others?

This 4H approach to Truth has reshaped my life - my parenting, my ministry, my listening skills, my busyness, my desire for God and His presence, power and purpose. I don’t have answers anymore. I have questions. At least, I try to have questions. A believer with only answers is no longer seeking. A teacher with all the answers is not teaching but preaching. A leader with all the answers is walking toward a wall, or a drop-off. 

In our search for Truth, and our ever growing experience of faith, we will only grow to know if we are never satisfied to have answers, but only the next question. Truth is a journey.

May we live like THiS

Steve’s First Sabbath

More Bible Study and Sabbath School Resources

Steve adjusted the ribbon to the current page and quietly closed his Bible as Sabbath School came to an end with closing prayer.

Once Susan finished her prayer, everyone turned to face Gerald. “We will be meeting in the car park, after church luncheon is finished,” Gerald said. “Marg and I have prepared all the supplies. There is enough for everyone to be involved.”


Steve* turned to Susan, “Thanks for your prayer, Susan. It was really nice of you to include me, even though I’m new.”

“We pray for each other every Sabbath,” Susan said, smiling.

From across the circle, Marg said, “We pray for each other every day of the week!”

“True,” Susan laughed. “Steve, now that you have attended our Sabbath School class, you can be sure you are being prayed for 7 days a week.”

“That’s really nice,” Steve said. “And on Sabbath I can hear those prayers!”

Everyone laughed. A few of the Sabbath School members said their goodbyes and headed into the church foyer. But Gerald, Marg and Susan stayed back waiting to see what Steve would do.

“It’s exciting to have a new person in our Sabbath School,” Gerald said to Steve.

“It sure is,” the ladies chimed together.

“Are you guys for real?” Steve laughed. “I’ve been to Sabbath School all my life, but I’ve never seen one as caring as yours. It’s like you are a family.”

Susan answered, “It hasn’t always been like this, Steve.” Her eyes were tearing up, as they often did when she tried to talk about the past. “Our group made a decision three years ago that we would never let information rule over relationships.”

“We lost some really great people,” Marg said, “because we let Sabbath School be about minds instead of hearts.”

“Sabbath School was never meant to be one dimensional,” Gerald said. Both ladies shook their heads in agreement.

“So, you’ve made your Sabbath School about friendship rather than study?” Steve asked.

“Oh no,” Gerald answered. “We study like never before. Because we all feel loved and appreciated, we can't wait to share what we've learned during the week.”

“Sabbath School is four dimensional!” Susan laughed, wiping her eyes.

“Four?” Steve asked. “What are they?”

“First,” Susan said, “There’s nurture. Nothing of any use will happen if we don’t know we are valued and needed.”

“Kind of like faith,” Steve said. “For God so loved the world... The love comes first.”

“Exactly,” Susan said.

“The next is local mission,” Gerald said. “making a difference in the neighbourhood. If they don’t know we love them, they won’t want to know us.”

"Or the God you serve,” Steve said, clearly caught up in their excitement. “That’s what you were talking about - after lunch - right?”

“Right,” both ladies said together as Gerald nodded.

"What kind of outreach programs do you do?" Steve asked.

"They're not programs, as such," Gerald said. "We do all kinds of things, depending on the day of the week and the number of people we need. We visit shut-ins, run a soup kitchen, paint fences, run market stalls, knit blankets, teach religious instruction at state primary schools, and much more.”

"Then we bring the stories back," said Marg, "to Sabbath School and tell them to each other."

"Wow," Steve said. “So, what local project are you doing this afternoon?”

“Not telling,” Gerald laughed. “You’ll have to come and find out!”

“I might just do that,” Steve said. “So, what are the other two dimensions?”

Susan answered, “Well, of course we have Bible study. That’s how we know and grow.”

“We have a discussion-based lesson every week,” Gerald added. “We all study our lesson during the week, so rehashing the pamphlet day-by-day is not usually the strategy we take. The teacher for the day expands on the lesson with a few well thought out questions and we explore the Bible together.”

Steve was nodding. “I noticed that. It was like a conversation around a table, rather than a sermon begging for responses. So that was planned?” He turned to Susan, “I thought you were just a great teacher!”

“She is,” Gerald said.

Susan was shaking her head. “No way! Before we started using questions, I hated taking the lesson. I actually refused to do it.”

“Most intriguing,” Steve said, rubbing his hands on his knees. “You guys have really thought this through. So, what’s the fourth dimension?”

“The biggest dimension!” Gerald said, laughing.

“Bigger than Bible study, nurture and local evangelism?” Steve chided.

“Ah ha,” Gerald said, pointing at Steve, “you’re on to us. That is the fourth - only bigger: local evangelism on a global scale — world mission.”

“You mean,” Steve said, “like 13th Sabbath offering and the back page of the pamphlet? That kind of world mission?”

“Exactly,” Gerald answered. “More than ever, we live in a global village. We need to be the ‘good neighbour’ Jesus challenged us to be.”

“I agree,” Steve said, “but how does that fit into your Sabbath School group?”

“We get involved with the Adventist Mission focus for the quarter,” Marg said.

“How?” Steve shrugged. “By watching the Mission Spotlight?”

“And taking it home with us,” Marg said. “We research that part of the world with our children and save our spare change.”

“Then on 13th Sabbath,” Susan said, “we bring our offerings to the storehouse.”

“You people are full on,” Steve laughed.

“Not really,” Gerald said. “We just take Sabbath School seriously!”

“That’s cool,” Steve said. “Other than the vibrant discussion we experienced today. Oh, and that great feeling of being prayed for. Other than that, have you noticed any other effects of this four dimensional approach to Sabbath School?”

All three people nodded and started to talk at once. Then they laughed, paused and looked to Marg.

“I’m the head elder of this church,” Marg said. “And I can say, without a doubt, that taking a holistic approach to Sabbath School has changed our church, our families and our personal relationships with Jesus. We care more — about everything and everyone.”

Susan was nodding. “It’s so true, since Marg asked the board to try this new Sabbath School model it has changed our church from the ground up. It is a much happier church.”

Gerald took Marg’s hand. “On a personal note, ever since my wife decided to be our Elder for Nurture, Sabbath School has been a true joy.”

“Elder for Nurture?” Steve asked.

“Yes,” Gerald answered. “I am the Lesson Coordinator for our class. I ask people to take the lessons, or do it myself. But Marg’s focus, in our Sabbath School class, is nurture. She leads the first part of the class each week as we discuss our lives, needs, struggles and joys. And she contacts group members who missed Sabbath School with a call or a card.”

“Each Sabbath School in our church has the same thing,” Marg said. “An Elder for Nurture and a group leader who is the Lesson Coordinator.”

“I really like it,” Steve said. “Can I stay?”

“We hope you do!”

Published in two parts in the 3rd and 4th quarter
Sabbath School Toolbox 2014 

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*All characters in this story are potentially realistic. Any similarities to people in your church is completely desirable.

High-Low

The Sabbath after finding out about the tumour my kids were met with the usual question in JETS Sabbath School: "What was your high and low this week?" This is a great question and usually reaps a slew of stories including scraped knees, birthday parties, tough tests and family adventures.

The Sabbath School teacher told me, during church luncheon, that she was not ready for the answer from Rachael. The teacher didn't know about the tumour and was quite shocked when Rachael said, "My high and low are the same thing. The doctors found a tumour in my dad's brain."

Everyone sat there in stunned silence. Stumbling for a reply, the teacher said, "Really?"

"Yes," Rachael said.

"That is shocking!" The teacher said, "I can understand how that is your low, but how is it your high?"

"It's my high because now they will take it out and Dad will not die," Rachael said. "If they hadn't found the tumour it would have made him more and more sick, very slowly. And it could have killed him if they didn't find it. So, that's a big high. It's my low too, though, because my Dad has to have surgery."

I was amazed when the teacher told me this story. Rachael is only eleven and such an approach to life is so wise and wonderful. Upon reflecting, and due to many comments coming from readers of this blog, I realise how much of an impact our approach to life has on our children. Jenny and I have decided to take a very open approach to this tumour and allow the kids to see, hear and experience the entire journey. This helps us process our grief conscientiously while also encouraging our children to be part of the journey.

This blog is part of this openness. I'm telling my story as clearly, honestly and often as I can. Each time I write a post I read it to the family. We talk about it. We ask questions. We share the journey one blog entry at a time.

I learned something about myself a few years back: when I write a story, I tell it that way from then on. Leadership guru John Maxwell says, "We don't truly know something until we've written it down." Every story has at least two sides. How you tell it is more important than what actually happened to you! Your chosen attitude and storyline will shape you and all those around you. When we tell our story "off the cuff" we unintentionally put our current mood into the story, even though the story is from the past. When I write something, carefully considering each word, phrase and attitude the story takes a more permanent form. It gets told that way from then on. That's a good thing!

My kids are hearing the carefully considered retelling of the stressful story of this tumour saga. They know I have highs and lows each day, but they remember and believe the story as it is told and retold. And so do I.