Daylesford Gospel Music Outing

Sandie and I had a wonderful time on Saturday visiting with our eldest son Simon and his fiancee Lorraine at beautiful Daylesford. After a tasty lunch at a sushi cafe, Simon led us out of town to a place called Shepherds Flat and the house that he will be renting. The irony is that Shepherd's Flat is very hilly - anything but flat. There was a kangaroo on the next hill and abundant evidence that many kangaroos regularly visit the grassy area just near the house.
We made it back into Daylesford in time to catch a workshop run by the Melbourne Mass Gospel Choir in a large room below the Town Hall. That was good fun although, at one point, I felt transported back to the time of slave working gangs in the US. Simon and I joined the tenor section while Sandie was in the Sopranos. Not sure what group Lorraine was in.
After that, we enjoyed some poetry performances from Cameron Semmens, and then a proper concert from the MMGC. Great vocal energy and skill!After the concert, we met Lorraine's Mum, Sylvia and, rather than taking in more of the other singers at the concert, we chose a restaurant nearby where we could all have something that suited our palate and level of hunger. It was getting pretty cold and wet by this stage.
Congratulations to the Daylesford Community Church (the church Simon attends) for putting on a great event. Hope you'll be able to do it again! It was a long day for us, coming from Warrnambool, and we were pretty tired by the time we got home. But the day was thoroughly enjoyable. And we wish Simon and Lorraine every blessing in God's good grace.

NATIONAL DAY OF THANKSGIVING

Saturday night - 26th May, the New Life Christian Church had a rather unique celebration for Australia's National Day Of Thanksgiving. 
It was a progressive dinner - within our church building - interspersed with Bible readings, prayers and some pretty wild games.  It was a real family night and great to see so many get into the spirit of the night.  We had soup in our main foyer, hot nibbles in our extension foyer, and again in our #1 Sunday School Room, then cakes and slices in our Family Hall.  The games were all in the main auditorium.
I think we were all very well aware of the goodness of God.  It only makes us want to worship Him all the more and introduce as many others to Him as possible.
Part of Christian culture - any culture - is getting together to celebrate things.  Giving thanks to God is a great way of doing that.