October, 2010:

Recording Your Dreams

Can you imagine being able to record your dreams? Is that something that excites or frightens you? It’s a little bit of both for me.

I guess we’ve all had those dreams that seem so real and so wonderful at the time but then we wake up and we’re left feeling a bit let down as we try to scramble our memory to search for all the pieces to the amazing scenes we’ve just experienced. I’ve visited far off, exotic locations and met with some amazing people but then I wake up to find that not only wasn’t it real, but the memory of those dreams is slipping away incredibly fast. I love the dreams of being back in India or of cycling across Australia.

Maybe you’ve also had those dreams that you don’t remember having at all when you wake up, but then something happens during the day triggers a memory and the dream you had last night floods back.

Now we’re being told that US scientists hope to record people’s dreams.

They’re in early stages of research at the moment but it may one day be possible to TiVo your weird and wonderful night time adventures. If it ever happens, sign me up, but first I want to ensure that the recordings are kept secure, with me being the only one to watch my dreams. I’m sure that there’ll be stuff I’ll show others or even post online once I’ve edited it but having my mind in its most unguarded moments streamed live isn’t something that would thrill me.

How about you? Have you had some dreams that you’d like to be able to re-visit? Would you want to record your dreams?

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I’m not a monster …

Oct 28th, 2010

by Rodney Olsen.

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… so why am I made to feel like I am?

Many years ago if I’d seen a child looking lost in a shopping centre or a park I would ask that child if they had lost their mum and then try to help finding them. These days I stand there and look around for a woman, any woman, to ask for help. It shouldn’t have to be that way.

Miranda Devine has written an excellent article titled, Why are all men made to feel like fiends? I encourage you to read her article all the way through and then think about what it means for our communities.

She tackles the difficult issue of paedophilia and how it has tainted the way that society looks at men. These days men are more likely to ignore their first reaction to immediately rescue or protect young children and to find alternatives to helping vulnerable youngsters.

She talks about a man who desperately wanted to help a child in imminent danger but was concerned about the consequences. Thankfully the child was rescued but in another story Devine tells, the outcome wasn’t so happy.

In 100 different ways every day the same scenario is played out, reflecting a profound and largely unspoken shift in the way decent men view small children.

These are just ordinary men, fathers, grandfathers, brothers, uncles, who have been made to feel like criminals around children and obliged to suppress their natural, healthy instinct to protect the most vulnerable members of our society. – News.com.au

I’d like to think that if a child was in immediate danger I would still act, despite the consequences, but would that moment of hesitation lead to tragedy?

Have you experienced this kind of phenomena? Are you a man who has held back rather than jumping in to help? Are you a woman who has wondered about the motives of a stranger?

We need to aware of the dangers around us and protect our children but I think Miranda Devine sums the situation up well in the final lines of her article.

… demonising men won’t prevent child abuse. In the interests of children, we women must force ourselves to reclaim the notion of male innocence.

The male protective instinct, after all, is one of the most crucial safeguards of childhood.- News.com.au

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Mila’s Story

Oct 28th, 2010

by Rodney Olsen.

1 comment

I mentioned Operation Christmas Child yesterday and the great difference it can make in the life of a child and a community.

Today I wanted to share a video with you to let you see what it’s really all about.

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Operation Christmas Child 2010

Oct 27th, 2010

by Rodney Olsen.

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There’s only a few days left for Operation Christmas Child with 98.5 Sonshine FM this year.

The yearly project, run by Samaritan’s Purse, is a great opportunity for families in developed nations to touch the lives of children in developing countries. The great thing is that it doesn’t only effect the children who receive the shoe boxes filled with toys and other items, it reaches into the lives of family and the wider community.

Operation Christmas Child is a unique project of Samaritan’s Purse that brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes.

It provides an opportunity for people of all ages to be involved in a simple but hands-on project that has the power to transform children’s lives.

In 2009, our teams in Australia and New Zealand delivered over 300,000 gift-filled shoe boxes to South East Asia and the South Pacific. Globally, Samaritan’s Purse distributed an estimated 8.5 million shoe boxes to children in 105 countries.

As each shoe box gift is delivered, it is treasured by the child that receives it, and is a lasting reminder that he or she is precious to God.

Our family has put shoe boxes together for a number of years and our church, Thornlie Church of Christ, is not only enthusiastically involved but serves as a collection centre for people in the area wanting to drop off their completed gifts.

The amazing thing is that many of the children who receive the shoe boxes have never before received any kind of gift. They’ve never known what it’s like to be given a birthday or Christmas gift. Their families are often so poor that they’ve never had the means to give their children a gift of any kind.

Our son, James, is turning a year older on Saturday and while our family finances are very tight right now, I couldn’t imagine not spoiling him with gifts and celebrating with him. When I think of the children receiving these shoe boxes I also think of the pain their parents must be going through in not being able to provide something special for their little ones.

At a Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child shoe box distribution in Papua New Guinea, the children were asked if they had ever received a new gift and, if not, what they would hope for.

Tawhiri, a 9-year-old boy who lives near the Kokoda Trail, waved his hands and shouted that he would love something to cover his head when it rained.

So imagine his excitement when Tawhiri opened his box and pulled out a perfect beanie! His joy was infectious as all the children saw that his wish had come true. They all opened their boxes to discover they were full of gifts – just for them.

While the cut off date for this year’s Operation Christmas Child is rapidly approaching, the reality is that Samaritan’s Purse is collecting boxes year round, so there’s always plenty of time to put together a box to change a life.

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What’s Wrong?

Oct 27th, 2010

by Rodney Olsen.

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Do you ever get the feeling that something’s not quite right? The sense that something’s out of place or missing? It’s then that you immediately run through a mental checklist to try to work out what’s wrong.

I had that sense one morning some weeks ago as I rode off from home. I got about two houses away and something didn’t feel right. It didn’t take me long to discover that for the first time that I can remember, I was cycling away without my helmet. I quickly turned around, headed back home, put my helmet on and started the journey all over again feeling that everything was now right with the world. I’m glad I hadn’t got any further before that feeling started to overtake me.

So do you get that sense now and then? Do you have an unexplained feeling that something isn’t as it should be and that you need to put it right? Has that feeling saved you from something happening?

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