Taking Time Out

I’ve been mostly absent online over the past few days. I managed to get a couple of posts published on this blog but from Friday, my 48th birthday, until yesterday afternoon, I was spending time with my family in Dwellingup.

Situated in the heart of the majestic jarrah forest, Dwellingup is a town enveloped by earthy and historic charm.

Dwellingup is truly one of Peel’s hidden treasures and a fabulous all round holiday destination for a day, weekend or even longer. Offering an abundance of attractions and activities nearby, Dwellingup is also a popular base for regional touring with the choice of luxury chalets, Bed and Breakfasts and family budget cottages situated in natural bush settings.

The close proximity to Perth provides Dwellingup with a number of scenic entry drive points – one from the foot of the hills through Serpentine Jarrahdale, the other via the coast and Mandurah, both bringing unique driving experiences. – Experience Dwellingup

I can’t remember the last time just the four of us headed away for a break together. We stayed in a cosy A-Frame cottage with a log fire burning constantly. The cottage is set in magnificent gardens and the property surrounded by tall trees and wonderful Western Australian bush.

The few days we were away gave us opportunity to relax, explore, recharge and to enjoy God’s creation in what is surely one of the most beautiful places in W.A. We even took the opportunity to indulge in a little mountain biking on some gravel roads and tracks.

Life starts to return to normal today with Emily and James back at school. I’m still on leave until the 8th of August and this morning I’m happy to be cleaning out my email inbox and tapping out this blog post. I’m hoping to get time over the coming days for some reading and catching up on a few bits and pieces I need to do.

When was the last time you spent time away with your family? Do you like your holidays to be five star luxury or back to basics relaxation? Do you have plans for holidays any time soon?



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Mother’s Day without Mum

Dad, Mum and RodneyI’ve now seen more Mother’s Days come and go without a mum than I have with a mother. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a sad day for me but Mother’s Day does bring moments of reflection amongst the moments of celebrating what an incredibly wonderful mother my own children have.

I know that for many, who have more recently lost a mother, the pain is just a little more raw today and I do hope that if that’s the case for you, you’ll be able to recall some wonderful memories and think about the influence your mum has had on you.

I’ve shared most of the following details before but they’re what I’m thinking about this morning so I thought they were worth posting again.

On the 28th of February, 1987, my mother, Margaret Sadie Olsen, passed away at the age of 66. I was just 23 years old when mum died. When I was born my mother was 43.

There is so much that I wish she could have shared over the last couple of decades. Mum wasn’t around to see me cycle across Australia for the first time, just 8 months after she passed away. She never lived to see me realise my childhood dream of working in radio.

By the time I met Pauline, mum had already been gone for close to 5 years. She never got to see her youngest child marry the woman he loves. Mum never got to hold Emily or James in her arms. How I wish she was still here to see our wonderful little family. I desperately wish that Emily and James could have met their Grandma Olsen and that Pauline could have spent time with her mother-in-law trying to unearth some embarrassing stories from my childhood.

Mum never heard me tell stories of my trips to India, Canada or Papua New Guinea and never had to sit at home and worry when I had to evacuate from Haiti during food riots a few years ago. She never experienced the thrill of seeing Emily and James top their classes or perform so well in so many areas of life. Mum was never very tall so Emily would already be taller than she was. Emily could have playfully leaned on her Grandma just as I used to do when I was younger.

I know that there are many significant events in the lives of my four siblings that mum has missed too. There have been highs and lows along the way but all of them would have been quite different if mum had been around to share them.

Mum’s last couple of years were spent in hospital after suffering a brain aneurysm. For most of that time she was unable to communicate with us. Occasionally she was able to say a word or two but there were other signs that would show us that she knew a lot of what was going on. Mum was pretty much paralysed so even making movement to communicate was difficult.

There were several times that more bleeding in her brain would cause doctors to tell us that mum only had hours or maybe days to live. We would all begin to grieve our loss only to find the days turning into weeks or months until there was another medical setback and the whole process would begin again. You can imagine the kind of emotional toll that took on each of us.

When mum finally left this earth I experienced a mixture of relief, sadness and joy. Relief that she didn’t have to suffer any longer, joy that she was now enjoying paradise but still the immense sadness of losing someone I loved so very, very much.

I know that the person I am today is very much a product of who mum was. I value the influence she was and continues to be in my life.

The photo in this post shows me a little younger than I am today with both my parents. You can click the picture for a closer look. Dad passed away over 8 and a half years ago, just days before his 83rd birthday.



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From Mouths of Babes

Sometimes you just trip over great blogs. Other times you have to travel thousands of kilometres to find them.

As well as the many great stories that I’ll be sharing about my trip to Papua New Guinea, I want to share a blog I’ve just discovered. It’s called From Mouths of Babes and it’s written by Katrina Roe who was a member of the media team that travelled to PNG. Katrina’s the morning announcer on Hope 103.2 in Sydney.

So what’s her blog about? Here’s part of the story in her own words.

When I fell pregnant for the first time, I couldn’t have been happier. We had been trying for a baby for a while and I knew I was ready for this next stage in my life. But so often my friends with kids had only negative things to say about becoming a parent. ”Enjoy your sleep while you can!” ”You don’t know what you’re in for!” Or sometimes just a smug smile that said, “You’ve got a big shock coming.” The thing is, my first year as a Mum was the best year of my life. I loved everything about it. That doesn’t mean the adjustments weren’t difficult, but just that the joy of knowing my child far outweighed the difficulties.

So I really want this site to be a celebration of parenting, a celebration of all the joy and love our kids bring us. Yes, we need to talk about the hard stuff too, but let’s talk about it in a way that encourages us to be better parents and better people.

I love that attitude. We had people telling us the same sort of negative stuff when our kids were very young but I can assure you that Emily (14) and James (12) have brought us untold pleasure over many years. Of course there are tough times but I wouldn’t swap parenting them for anything.

Katrina’s most recent post, A Brown River Christmas, tells part of the story of our trip to a couple of villages near Port Moresby. I hope you’ll enjoy reading her account of the trip and that you’ll stick around to read more of her posts.



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How can you find reliable parenting advice?

Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man. – Francis Xavier

It’s the very early years of life that will have the most influence on who a child will become. That can be a frightening revelation. When our children are “brand new” we’re just “brand new parents”. At the time we most need to be getting it right, we’re just feeling our way into this strange new experience of parenthood.

How do you know how to be a good parent? What parenting advice can you trust? Why does it always look so much simpler on television?

Thankfully help is at hand. Every fortnight as part of my morning radio program I speak to David and Charissa Scotford on a range of parenting issues. I’m always impressed by their down to earth, common sense solutions to parenting problems.

They’ve just launched their new website, 4 The Family. If you’re a new parent or even quite a few years into the process, you’ll find some really helpful hints and resources at the site.

Whether you are expecting your first child or have several children at different stages, 4 The Family is a website filled with Resources to help you.

You will find materials grouped according to the main stages of parenting. Some of them overlap and you’ll be able to see a complete list of everything that’s available in our Online Store.

We also have several Resources you can download for FREE.

While they’d be the first to admit that they’re not perfect parents, or that perfect parents even exist, the Scotfords are people who ‘practice what they preach’ and the results are obvious in their own family. I’ve spent extended periods of time with David, Charissa and their four children and I can assure you that the principles they talk about work.

If what you need to know isn’t on the site, they’re always happy to be contacted with questions.

Do your kids, your marriage and your family a favour and check out 4 The Family.



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700 Billion Minutes

So think about this one. Four years ago most of us did not use Facebook at all. And today we are using it compulsively.

Tim Challies has written a fairly confronting article for those of us who use Facebook titled 700 Billion Minutes. It focusses on the time we spend on Facebook and highlights some alarming statistics.

While I was away last week I did manage to ‘stay connected’ with various online sites to a limited degree but I must admit that it was rather freeing to be somewhat disconnected while making real life connections with other members on our cycling team.

I certainly thought about my involvement online and about achieving a better balance in that area of life. I’m not going for a knee jerk reaction and closing down accounts all over the web but I do want to use my time wisely. I think the thing that most hit me while I was cycling last week is how our time can be so consumed with things that didn’t even exist a decade ago. Tim’s article brings that out very clearly.

For the majority of us, Facebook is a new thing. Those 700 billion minutes are not minutes that we’ve taken away from other online pursuits. They are minutes that we’ve taken away from real life. Studies show that time spent interacting online comes at the expense of face-to-face relationships and about at a 2:1 ratio. So every hour we spend on Facebook comes at the expense of 30 minutes talking to a person face-to-face.

Do you think you need to step back and look at your time priorities? Have you noticed your online life robbing you of ‘real life’ relationships? Are you taking time away from your family and close friends to interact with those you’ve never met?

If you want some great food for thought I encourage you to read through 700 Billion Minutes and then consider your own plan of action.



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