Post Christmas reflections.

My old Macbook Pro... so much good work... but like me, now old. 

I met a man today. Many years ago here I am helping his mum move into the Habitat for Humanity House we built when he was just a shy boy. 

Pre-Christmas weekend
Last weekend was really busy. At the little local Presbyterian Church we decided to reach out into our community at Christmas. We are a little Church with most people older than I am. On a good Sunday we would get a congregation in the early 20's - but we have been adding to that number - slowly. In the last year or so we have been making attempts to serve our community with a couple of programs geared for families. On Saturday the 22nd December we held a community BBQ in the evening. It rained but we moved inside, and with me cooking the sausages, we had a great time. We had somewhere between 60 - 70 people come through. I led a fairly small Sunday service, but on Christmas Eve we held a family orientated service which we had advertised well. There were 70 - 80 people there, mostly young families. I led that. On Christmas Day we as a family had a quiet day. Our out of town families were visiting in-laws so we only had our local daughter and son-in-law and our foster daughter who copes with severe disabilities. We contacted all our family via phone or Skype. It was, however, a very busy few days. I hope, dear reader, that you had a great Christmas Day too. 
Health
I have been getting over my surgery, but having a difficult time. I have felt tired. I seem to have had indigestion and times of nausea, especially at night. It has distressed me because I was looking forward to leaving illness and health issues behind. I even worried that I was beginning to have heart problems. Last night I woke with world war three happening in my stomach. I got up and found comfort trying to sleep in the lazy-boy chair in the lounge. I got to thinking about my experience, feeling quite depressed. Then a penny dropped. Since my back problems and whenever I had renewed back or muscle pain I had been taking a prescribed pill for damaged nerves, that helped me relax. In the wee small hours of the morning I determined to look up the side effects of that pill. So after breakfast I went on the internet and found the appropriate sites. Apart from one or two symptoms, it was an exact description of what I had been experiencing! So I will stop using that medication and look forward to 2019 with more hope. It has got to be an improvement on 2018!
Today a day of nostalgia. 
A man now - We visited a hardware store and were searching for the right purchase at the right price. I was on the other side of a fixture than my wife when I heard her being greeted warmly by a man. They engaged in warm conversation and I wondered who he could be? "David's around the other side." I heard my wife say. A fully bearded young man came around the corner. I had not talked with him for years. I first knew him as a young shy boy, the son of a woman whose house we built through Habitat for Humanity. I am a facebook friend with his mum, so I recognised him from recent photos. He is now a student, working over the holidays at the hardware store. He lives with his partner and seemed very outgoing, warm and friendly. My mind went over the journey we had been on with his mum, him and his younger sister. We have kept in touch with mum often. I felt good once again about the energy I had poured into building the house for this family. His mum and his sister, also a student, still live in the house.
A fire chief - We were visiting the hardware store before lunch today and coming out we bumped into one of the local fire chiefs. He is high in the regional rankings. He greeted me warmly and his wife joined us. We chatted briefly and moved on. My mind went over our journey. I knew him as a new firefighter years ago, when he started in the midst of industrial unrest in the fire service. I have taken naming ceremonies for his teenage children when they were new born babies. I have taken his Dad's funeral. As I drove away I was having another warm trip down memory lane. 
Changing computer - My old Macbook Pro is old! It is so old that I cannot get updates for applications and modern stuff does not work on it, though it still does a good job. I have eventually been convinced that since I use it for powerpoint presentations, videos and music in Church, I ought to update it. So this afternoon I have purchased a flash new apple laptop, and with the help of my daughter and son-in-law, managed to set it up. There is sadness, the other one had travelled around the world and has done a lot of work for Habitat for Humanity, Churches and for the Night Shelter. It opened up a whole new world for me. I kind of suspect this new one will see me out. 

Change is inevitable, life has its uncertainties, but good warm memories enrich the journey and help bring significance to it all.  Happy New Year, all the best for you and yours, and all of us on planet earth, in 2019. 

Friendship - Generosity - Surgery at last.

Dunedin Night Shelter

Mercy Hospital Dunedin NZ

Friendship experience - On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, a week ago I got to spend nearly three working days with a friend from Alaska.  He is a fisherman, a year younger than I, who I met years ago when I was involved with Habitat for Humanity. He used to escape Alaskan winters by visiting NZ, surfing NZ waves, tramping NZ hills and fishing in NZ waters.(when he had a one man boat here.)  He would time his visits to be in various parts of the country so that he could work on Habitat for Humanity sites.  With a brief NZ visit this year he rang me to see if there was any handyman work required at the Night Shelter. Over the years he has donated many thousands of dollars to the Dunedin night shelter cause. The funny thing is, I do not think he is poor, but if you saw him walking down the street or in the old van he drives (older than mine!) you would suspect he was some sort of homeless tramp.  He does not have email or use the internet, (which I find frustrating) and when he visits he insists on sleeping in a tent at the camping ground. It was great, however, to spend three days doing some roof repair work with him at the Night Shelter, I was back at my old trade of being a plumber and he was my “apprentice”. We had elongated interesting lunch hour discussions - Donald Trump - The Church - American democracy –climate change – NZ politics - Christian faith – getting old - and the future. He is a pleasant quietly spoken man, but I have learned over the years, that when we are together working or walking he is relaxed and not backward in sharing his beliefs and opinions.  He came to our place for morning tea on Tuesday before he headed out of town and we both admitted to being a bit sore and tired from our efforts. My friend summed up the conversation with “’Gettin’ old ain’t for sissies!’ is what they say in America”.  I just love how service to great causes builds bridges of friendship between people of different backgrounds. I also value the friends my involvements have brought into my life. 

Generosity - We spent three working days at the Night Shelter and during those hours there were no staff working. Each day we were there we encountered at least three visits from people giving donations for the shelter! A young couple that had just started running a café in town came with left over baking they had at the end of the day.  A woman who is the best forklift driver at the brewery I visit as chaplain came on the Saturday with her family. She delivered a heap of delicious left over food from the workers’ Christmas party. A man who had heard a talk about the night shelter brought a quantity of shampoo and cleaning products. Some mysterious person dropped a bag of good clothing. These were just some examples. With each visit I felt compelled to welcome and thank them. I would then proudly show them through the shelter and answer questions. I was thankful I had an “apprentice” who just kept working. I love the generosity and empathy somehow built into the hearts of so many people.

Surgery at last - I have grumped about my “prostate issues” in blog posts recently. I have had two stays in hospital with infections, and frustrations living with a catheter while New Zealand’s Accident Compensation Corporation make a decision whether or not to pay for surgery. I got a letter saying they would pay, so I rang the reception office of the specialist a couple of weeks ago. To my surprise the voice on the phone asked, “What date would you like?” So today I went into a private hospital, had my surgery and late in the afternoon returned home. I hope it all works out fine. The actual procedure turned out being more extensive than what they thought was necessary, but the specialist came to visit me and satisfied himself that I was fit to go home.  I will not be doing much tomorrow, but I am thankful that it has happened.  I am looking forward to a more comfortable healthy, normal life again.  The nurse who looked after me in the hospital was great. She was friendly, caring, with a sense of humour that kept me smiling and she accepted my weird sense of humour.