a fantastic weekend… in spite of the cough…

[Post migrated from LiveJournal]

Friday 28/07

Last Friday was different. Instead of the usual parking at church/Clayton and travelling to and from work by train, I drove to my usual Malvern spot and took the tram. The main reason for doing this was that FOCUS was meeting in U-groups – in houses! Just like the adult/Surge groups do. Our U-group met at JL’s place – big and spacious – which in the end was all needed, considering we had 18 people there!!! Talk about WOW! All us ‘regulars’ were present, so it was a really great U-group event. We began the evening with a steamboat dinner. JF and WL had bought all the food stuff, I provided the steamboat unit. Since we had waay too many people, we ended up cooking a whole lot of stuff and just dishing out portions to each person… although JF and WL were constantly eating throughout the mealtime… right up until the main program began… JT led worship; DL the offering; NL (not me – or I would say so!) the study. Inter U-Group contact was also an interesting aspect to the evening…

  1. NL picked up some bowls from the Superheros u-group on the way over…
  2. JL popped by from his u-group to pick JY up.
  3. JC rang my phone to pass a message that WL was to call his dad…

I left just after 11pm, providing a lift to one of the visitors – a guy who seems very interested in what we do. Both me and NL spent quite a bit of time (separately) sharing with this guy; the connection is thru RH as a classmate – RH herself was somewhat a visitor… We all hope to see/meet this guy again, since that is a main purpose of FOCUS. Pray for this guy – EL.

Saturday 29/07

A quiet daytime. Lunch at ABC Cafe – haven’t been there for quite a while – my har-mee content was quite low and in need of satisfying! After lunch, my Dad and I went to a house inspection in Mulgrave. This property was literally around the corner from my old friend’s place – WL. What was particularly freaky was that the front of the house (inside) was identical in layout and look to WL’s place… these houses must have been built around the same time… I swear, if I didn’t know better, I could have mistaken the lounge/meals/kitchen area for WL’s place… As a whole, it is a nice place, the best prospect it being currently leased – so the rental income will be realised immediately. 6:30pm: DH came over for dinner. It was a good opportunity for my dad to meet some of my FOCUS friends – especially the new ones. Good impressions were made by both my Dad and DH! DH and I then set off to Bayswater – Fab Nobs Theatre – to a theatrical performance of The Castle. Not really knowing what to expect, I had a really good time. The theatre setting was arranged like a coffee-house, with the set at the front. Kinda like Seinfeld… There would’ve been maybe 10 tables of varying size and a stall/stand in the back-right corner to seat 30 people… one of the things DH and I discussed was how cool it’d be if church had that kind of layout, or if we could use that kind of environment for FOCUS… =oP The performance itself was fantastic – my friend who I do work for – he was the main lead – and wow, was he a great actor. He never once forgot his lines, and he totally embodied the character Darryl Kerrigan. The young guy (my age from estimates) who played Dale Kerrigan was also an outstanding actor. At the end of the night, I introduced my friends to one another; they both share acting/drama as a huge interest. What I was particular pleased with was that through this outing, I’ve helped to rekindle DH’s love of drama/theatre. He may even go again! Wuhoo!

Sunday 30/07

For a change, this Sunday I wasn’t singing with the Temple Band. My excuse was that my throat needed a rest and a chance to recover for this coming Friday/Missions Focus. Arriving early for the 10am service (I’m a 10 o’clocker!), I went to the train station to try and convince the ticket office to issue me a Zone1&2 ticket for a Zone 2 price. My argument is that I have already paid for a Zone 1 YEARLY ticket – so I should not have to pay for the Zone1 component of the Zone1&2 ticket… Also, this Sunday, I helped out TC with communion. Meantime, my Dad had gone to visit Crossway. After church, a whole group of us went to Wah Kee for lunch. TC’s fiancé (YW) was kinda the focus of the lunch – to spend time with her, since she works sooo hard and we all don’t get to see that often nowadays… After lunch, I gave MC a lift home, giving her the opportunity to view some old, old photos… @ Gravitate & JC’s Birthday Dinner Dan’s message was really raw, in that it hit home the whole point that we as followers of Christ are to unselfish, considerate and above all – to have a heart for the lost, needy, broken and unloved. A few surprises were revealed at the end of Gravitate – two old friends that use to attend the church when they were little – were visiting (partly because Dan Lian was speaking). It was great to just catch up and find out what people were up to. After much natter, we all eventually reunited at Airstream! Somehow, it felt like deja vu… well, at least to me it did… having done the exact same thing to celebrate my birthday. As I moved from group to group, table to table, it occurred to me that JC and I share a lot of friends… but then, on the other hand, we both are GW/Church/FOCUS/Monash Uni alumni… =oP —————————- As you can see – I’ve had a very busy weekend… and my cough is slowly getting better. Thanks for all the prays guys! Nic =)