Long time no see

Where does the time go? June already! Her Royal Majesty's 80somethingth birthday (it's a bank holiday Monday here in NZ) and several people have given us a gentle reminder that we've been a bit slack on the blogging front.

Lizzy here, by the way.

So, as I kept waiting until we had time to write a blog, and now I've realised that having a baby means we'll never have time for anything ever again in our lives, I thought I'd just write a speed catch up blog, and anyone reading will have to fill in the glaring omission of details for the past 2 months!

Here goes

April - Easter time - the CF give away Easter Cold Cross Buns on campus. Good on them!


And the Hodge family is faced with the awesome responsibility of keeping Nathan Paton's chooks alive while he is at Easter camp.

We got off to a bit of a faltering start as Mothy was convinced there ought to be three hens in here, but the first time we went and looked there were only two! (One had died before Nathan left though! Phew!)

And Easter Monday we had a wander round Halswell Quarry. Nice spot.


April 21 and 22 Mothy went with the International Christian Fellowship to Hanmer for a couple of days. Here they are stopping off for a leg stretch on their way up the coast.


April 24 Marc and Lydia tied the knot at Tai Tapu church. Yay!


It's the 2nd wedding Gideon has attended, though we still couldn't convince him to wear a tie. Just his tank top knitted by Nan.


1st May is the Christian Fellowship weekend away at Mt Hutt Retreat Centre. Mothy did 4 talks, and Lizzy and Gideon enjoyed listening in. Evidently this book is important or something.


A major highlight of the past couple of months was Mothy's 100th pint of Goldings Bitter at the Twisted Hop in Christchurch. Brewed on site, it's a top drop apparently, and he had the honour of being able to pull his 100th pint himself - under the watchful eye of the professional, of course.


As he's reached the ripe old age of four months Gideon has been introduced to the joy of the jolly jumper. It's the best thing ever ever EVER he reckons.


Another reason I never get to blog these days: our lovely garden - although very lovely indeed - could keep us occupied all day every day if we let it! Sometimes I just have a go at tidying the bits I can see from the lounge.


May 16th, and Rob & Jenna got married in Chch - I don't have a nice picture of them unfortunately but here's some of the dodgy looking guests.

Gosh - I'm nearly up to date - anyone still reading this???

For the long weekend the Hodge family went on one of Mothy's famous mystery weekends. We ended up in Greymouth on the West Coast.

A beautiful place - and we got all the nice weather while Christchurch had sleet. Heh heh heh. Gideon doesn't own any sunnies yet, so had to borrow Dad's for this picture.


The drive home was stunning too.


And I think that's it for now. The rest of our days have been filled in with eating, lots more sleeping than the previous 2 months, changing nappies, attending mum's coffee mornings, and for Mothy an inordinate amount of book stuff organising for Catalyst. Here he is hard at work.


The reason you can't see him is cos he'll be curled up in the foetal position whimpering over some credit notes and packing lists that bear no relation to the books he's actually ordered or received in these boxes. It's a sadly all-too-common occurrence. But slowly but surely, against all the odds, he's building up the stock to create NZ's first graduate Christian on-line resource centre. Yay-hay!

Gideon meets the Hodges

Fortunately Gideon was only grandparent-less for one week after the departure of the Fullers before Tim's parents arrived in NZ!

Here he is with his Grandma.
And here are three generations of Hodge men (all with a middle name of Richard) studying hard.


We got to go on another holiday - this time to Tekapo. The hot pools were most enjoyable, though Gideon and Grandma just spectated on this occasion.
Grandpa loves swimming so we also got to hang out on various beaches around Christchurch.


But now they've left again, and we're all a bit sad. Lizzy and Gideon have to go visiting friends in Lincoln everyday so Gideon can keep up the cuddle quotient.

..and wisdom....

Tim Chester at The Resurgence is on the money once again:

The great Reformer Martin Luther spoke of theologies of glory and a theology of the cross. Theologies of glory look for the revelation of God in his mighty works: creation, miracles, spiritual experiences. But this kind of knowledge, said Luther, only puffs people up. Instead God has chosen to reveal himself supremely in the cross. And that means revelation is only discernible by faith. Only by faith do we see in the weakness, foolishness, and shame of the cross the power, wisdom, and victory of God. Theologies of glory lead to pride. The theology of the cross leads to humility—or, in Luther’s language, humiliation.

Now apply the same idea to our churches. Churches of glory will put their confidence in mighty works: stage performances, big budgets, large numbers, powerful arguments, charismatic preachers. A church of the cross will be characterized by power in weakness, wisdom in foolishness, victory in shame. Its confidence will be in the sovereignty of God, the presence of his Spirit, and the power of his Word. Jesus said the kingdom of God has been given to “my little flock.” Most of the time it will be under the radar. But, like yeast in dough, it will grow unseen to fill the earth.

Wise words indeed.

As both Lincoln University Christian Fellowship and Lincoln University International Christian Fellowship approach Easter they are praying about using the opportunity to proclaim Jesus. Lectures go right up to Good Friday so Easter, or maybe more properly Easter holidays, will be in the minds of many in that last week of term.
Ideas abound:
- Hot cross bun with a verse giveaway
- Last supper meal, reclining at tables, with a 10 minute evangelistic talk and open questions
- Easter egg hunt

Please do join me in praying that these two small groups at Lincoln Uni will, in the words of Chester, have confidence '...in the sovereignty of God, the presence of his Spirit, and the power of his Word.' They may well be 'under the radar' but God has chosen to use the foolish things of this world to show his glory.

I've been asked to preach at our home church here in Lincoln on Easter Sunday! What an opportunity, but what a responsibility! So if you'd like to pray that I too have that same confidence I'd appreciate that.

Silliness....

Two silliness things today:

1. Yesterday I went to pick up the new Lincoln University Christian Fellowship large, bright orange banner. A new one was being made because the old one got stolen a couple of weeks back. The signwriter sent through some good proofs, but on actual pickup it turns out they'd misspelled 'Christian'. When I pointed out that 'Christian' has two I's they didn't even notice that they'd printed 'Christan'. Grrrrrr.

2. Thanks to my mate Mike in France for highlighting this silliness:


Best line? '...to be my bride but you cut off too much from the side....' Nice. I liked Plain White T's 2007 original, but I prefer this parody!

Two silliness things, two funny things.

2009 O week at Lincoln University

O week stands for Orientation Week. The first week of lectures of a new academic year - and it's now all over.


LUSA (Lincoln University Students Association) did a great job at welcoming new students, and arranging O week and Freshies week too, (the week the halls students move in). During both Freshies week & O week LUCF (Lincoln University Christian Fellowship) worked hard at welcoming students and getting LUCF known, and getting into conversations about Jesus.

Many aspects went really well:

• It was good that LUCF events were included in the main LUSA publicity
• It was good for LUCF to staff the 'time out' area at each evening LUSA gig, handing out ice blocks / toasties (depending on the weather!) under the huge LUCF orange banner
• It was good to have the huge support from staff at Lincoln Hospitality Limited - meaning the LUCF O week budget went much, much further.
• It was good to have a higher profile than in previous years
• It was good to do door knocking in the halls and introduce ourselves
• It was good to see the relaunching of Lincoln International Christian Fellowship - international students reaching other international students for Jesus

• It wasn't so good that it was a really wet February and outdoor plans had to be rapidly rearranged.
• It wasn't so good that LUCF wasn't fully organised for after O week for the larger lunchtime meetings, cell groups and the like
• It wasn't so good that it was just a core of returning CFers working hard rather than the whole of LUCF.
• It wasn't so good that the big bright LUCF orange banner was stolen half way through the week!
  

But I'm really happy about the above - much more good than not so good! For this, I praise and thank God. It's been exciting meeting new students from so many places both within NZ and internationally.

Here's a photo of Paul & Kongchay from ICF and Nathan from LUCF staffing the stall at Clubs Day - it's a real shame the large banner was stolen......

Please pray for both LUCF & LUICF as they seek to introduce Jesus to their peers through word and deed in days, weeks and months ahead.

I think my wife's a Calvinist

2009 is the 500th anniversary of John Calvin's birth. Calvin was used by God during the reformation - a French theologian changing the world from Switzerland. His influence continues into the 21st century church, as the following video testifies.



Well done Brandon Milan. My wife loves this, especially the mandolin. Good times.
What's your choice of best line? Mine is 'you made me burn my NIV Study Bible....'!!

Gideon meets the Fullers

My (Lizzy writing by the way) family have just spent 3 weeks with us here, and we had a great time together, and took Gideon for his first holidays around NZ.

Here we all are at the top of Conical Hill in Hanmer.


We also went to Nelson and the lovely Milo took everyone out on his boat, (though Gideon and I watched that particular outing from dry land!)


Lucky Gideon got taken for lots of walks in his front pack - which seems to have an amazingly soporific effect on him. Almost without fail he'll fall instantly sound asleep. Here he is after a walk on Uncle Ben

I loved spending time with my brother and sister. Unbeknownst to me, in the past 4 years my brother has turned into a real foodie - and they're both coffee connosseurs now too.

Here we are together in the botanic gardens (between coffees).


All the Fullers were suitably enamoured with Gideon I'm pleased to report, and did a wonderful job of helping us look after him - it's a good thing the other grandparents arrive in a week's time though - I think he got very used to all the cuddles!

Here's a six week old Gideon enjoying all the attention from his Nanny Lorraine.


And because this is actually supposed to be Mothy's blog really, here he is having some tummy time with his son!

2009 Minty1 - Raumati, Kapiti

It's Feb 1st. We're already 1/12 of the way through 2009. And today is the start of 2009 TSCF Minty - the Ministry INTernship Year. From Feb to Nov Minterns, who are recent graduates, are trained and enthused about the grace of Jesus. This year is all about grace - giving things a go and growing in the knowledge and love of Jesus; all within the student context.


The aim is based on Psalm 92:12-15 - that each man and woman may grow gospel convictions that last a lifetime.
Here's a fuller explaination of what we're trying to achieve with Minty.

Minty is very exciting.
It's exciting to see a focus on input into the Minterns rather than a focus on output.
It's exciting to see a focus on grace.
It's exciting to see transformation as Minterns grow in experience of handling the word of God correctly, ala 2 Tim 2:15.
It's exciting to have 3 residential conferences throughout the year, and all in baches by the beach which is a lot of fun.
It's exciting because Minty is discipleship training that is refreshingly different.
It's exciting for me to be part of it. I'm well looking forward to working with and training Nathan here in Lincoln, and all other Minterns nationwide as I care-take Minty throughout NZ whilst my colleague Andy recovers from a cycling accident.

Minty1 conference starts tomorrow, at a bach in Raumati, Kapiti Coast. The Minterns will be nervous, thinking 'just what have I let myself in for?' and I'm nervous in leaving Lizzy & Gideon at home for a week without me. I'm not looking forward to leaving them home alone, nor the 5.30am departure, but I am looking forward to the rest of the week!

Gideon plays air guitar

We've been quite overwhelmed by how interested everyone is in the boy Gideon! Obviously we think he's the most gorgeous baby who ever lived, and spend many hours admiring him, but apparently lots of our friends want to take their turns too!

So as there were one or two comments about Mothy's last blog not having quite enough Gideon focus, here is Lizzy's attempt to rectify the situation.

Gideon and Dad on 8th Jan - who looks more tired?



Gideon on day 3 of his life, about to leave hospital.


Perhaps not impressed by mum's choice of hard-core banjo breast-feeding soundtrack.


Gideon 5 days old - still grooving

Wee Gideon

Liz is fantastic. In the summer heat she lasted until after the end of both the Black Caps vs Windies ODI (a fine Black Caps 7 wicket victory) and the end of the Aussie vs SA test, with Smith batting at 11 with a broken hand in an attempt -that almost worked- to gain the draw....anyway, Liz, not cricket....

Yes, Liz is fantastic - after the cricket she had a 4 hour labour and birthed wee Gideon Richard at 1.34am NZST January 8th. He was 3.98kg (think that's 8lb 12ish in old money) and made some tears in Liz in his eagerness to get out, so it was a 3am ambulance transfer from Lincoln Maternity to Christchurch Women's for some stiches, then back out to Lincoln Maternity until Saturday. Lincoln Maternity looks, and is, lovely:


Three things made it even more interesting:
1. All this was without Mel our midwife as she was still at a really long labour, so we had her backup, Liz, who was marvellous. It just would have been nice to meet Liz before Liz was in such pain!
2. During being stitched up in Chch Liz had gas & air and loved it. This was odd, as she had gas & air at Lincoln and didn't love it as much. Turns out she may not actually have had gas & air at Lincoln - 4 hour labour with nothing but panodol and hot and cold towels.
3. The heat. I know it's summer, but this is ridiculous! As this article highlights, the mercury hit 36degrees in parts of Christchurch - that's very very close the the top January temperature ever and way way higher than the usual 25-28 January temps we'd expect. Lincoln Maternity Hospital is full today, and none of the 6 mums (or 6 babies) are liking this sort of heat. Both Liz and I like it that Canterbury is sure to see 30degrees in January summer and -5 in July winter; that range is lovely. Outside that it's ridiculous. Here's a sign right outside the entrance to Lincoln Maternity - fat chance today! Instead, I burnt the soles of my feet walking on the concrete!! Still, I mustn't moan - the warm nor'wester is swinging cold southerly at the weekend with highs of just 15degrees!!

Like I say, Liz is amazing.

Her she is with our wee Gideon Richard:



I can't really speak for Gideon, but Liz & I am so tired.

It was neat for me to pray with Liz & Gideon and ask God that one day Gideon will get to know and love Jesus. Do join us in that pray if you'd like, and pray for us in the adjustments ahead, especially for Liz. We've no idea about parenthood and the idea that on Saturday wee Gideon will be at home is too far fetched entertain seriously.....

I like the God-incidence that the verse-of-the-day on our 'Gospel Gems' calendar is Ps 92:12 (go on, look it up). In 2009, I'm involved in leading TSCF Minty throughout NZ, a one-year discipleship training programme for graduates. The aim and key Bible verses, are Ps 92:12-15. It's cool to have my son's birth-day on the same day that the calendar happens to highlight the Minty verse.

So. Gideon Richard has left the womb!

Nope, not yet

Hi
Lizzy here.

We seem to have had lots of phone calls and visitors lately, all asking pretty much the same question, so I thought it was time to publish an official press release.
As of 3.40pm on Tuesday 06 Jan I'm still preggers, and just to prove it, here's a photo Mothy took a couple of hours ago, while we were going for a walk on New Brighton beach. He took the picture just as the sea came in over my feet - and it was COLD!
Life is pretty cruisy at the moment, with Mothy waiting on me hand and foot, and I'm just getting to chill out with some good books to read, so it actually feels like everyone else is much keener for me to have this baby than I am! Even the midwife today said she's "looking forward to this one" as she rubbed her hands in apparent glee!

Hmmm... I think that's encouraging.