Thirtieth Anniversary!

Last night I went walking with an old friend Nick and our two hounds - his whippet and my new 'bff' the jet-black Ash. 

I mentioned that today (4th) was the thirtieth anniversary of my induction/ordination to the ministry in 1983.  We started to reminisce about those days and the journey life had led us since then.  We both expressed deep gratitude for both the highs and lows, the grief and the joy. Nick and his wife were two of the first people I baptised and then married and I treasure our friendship to this day.

Back then we were running together, rather than walking! One of the more memorable was the following year (1984) when we both ran the Rotorua ('Fletcher') marathon the day after my  daughter Amber was born (Don't ask - I've been hearing about it ever since!)  Having witnessed my wife enduring the travails of labour, it seemed more than reasonable and entirely empathetic to then endure as much pain as any male can possibly bear by running 42.2 km (26.2 miles) at a tick under three hour pace...

Here are some of the things from the past three decades of life and ministry for which I am grateful:

1. A rich heritage of faith

These are wedding photos of my grandparents: Dad's parents on the right, Mums on the left.  I never met Herbert, Dad's father who died in the early 1940's. Grandma raised the three kids on her own on a war-widow's pension, living in the same State house all those years in Takitimu street, Orakei.  She was a faithful member of Orakei Baptist and her home and heart were always welcoming and warm places. Herbert's grandfather was one of three Scottish brothers who emigrated from the Isle of Bute (via Victoria!) to NZ in 1853. Grandma's family came from Swedish stock (Stenberg clan)

Mum's parents, Bertie(Bof) and Janet Williams came from Wales and Scotland respectively after WW1. Poppa and his four brothers started new lives in NZ after surviving the Battle of the Somme, bringing out their parents to join them in the early 1920's.  Poppa became a life-elder at the Baptist Tabernacle and was President of the Baptist Union of NZ for a time in the 1940's.  His love of his Lord, music, travel and the NZ bush are all gifts I have identified and made my own these past 30 years.

I can remember Dad once spending a number of months in Anstruther, Scotland on a short-term Interim at the little Baptist Church there.  It must have been with a whole mix of emotions that he and Mum returned to their country of origin to minister and serve for that time.  Mum always had a great heart for missions and I didn't find out until quite recently that when they were first married they had applied for overseas missionary service, but Mum's legacy from an early bout of TB ruled them out on medical grounds. 

I am deeply grateful for the faith that was passed on from "generation to generation" and which continues in the lives of the most recent generation of our beloved grandchildren!



2.   A love of the Sea

This is one of my favourite photos of Dad - rowing BJ in his custom built dinghy that just fitted in front of the mast (but was two small for two adults in anything but dead calm seas!)

The other shot is Mum and Dad's retirement package - the Noelex 25 'Roaring Mac' in which they and we had a ball for about 7-8 years before ill-health forced them to sell her. Trips to the Barrier, mid-week two-handed races, a stint moored in Opua all formed part of the legacy.  You can just make out our two boys sitting in the inflatable as their Dad sailed merrily along off Waiheke island  one summer...  I'm sure at least Jonathan had a pfd?


Below is our staged-retirement package on a broad reach in 20 kts... more on that and other things another day.