Escapism?

Wow I never knew this blog impacted people that much. I had a friend of mine email me, basically shouting and saying how I don't update this anymore. Well if I had emailed this friend more often then they wouldn't have to rely on my blog. But now since I don't blog and I rarely email, this friend starting going insane. Ok they didn't go insane, but they were upset. All because I didn't update. Wow. Ok I'm shocked...

It's really hard to think of the things I've been to over the past 2 months really so I'll recap the bigger events that I do remember (and most of them won't be a surprise to what's left of the readership because they've been to most of these).

Went to Carmy and Erine's wedding in Parramatta back in mid January. For those who don't know, the church that they've come from have 2 English services, and it must be a rare event or you're close to both groups in order to see all the people regularly. I saw some people I hadn't seen in quite a while too, including old leaders so that was great to see how they're still alive and kicking.

It also showed during the photos too. Because of how large the English congregation is as a whole, the bride and groom decided to split the other language congregations from the English one and for good measure too. When the English congregation was called up to take photos with the bride and groom...I think there was about 100+ people who walked up and were somehow squished into some little seating space and somehow a photo was to be taken. People were standing on the sides trying to squish into the picture, standing on the seats. You know the drill. It was pretty funny...looking back on it...

Being in that church was something too. It's one of the oldest, if not the oldest in NSW? I think it was something like that and yeah it was a very touching wedding. Including the talk...with a glue stick as a wedding present. Hehehe typical of the pastor to do that, he had a knack for making people engage. Unfortunately not too long after the service finished I had to rush off to the next event...

...Being Gracie and Mo's engagement party. Since it was a rainy day it was moved to Grace's church and yeah for me it was awesome to see Trina and Enoch. Two people I haven't seen in quite a while and two people you'll rarely see...if they're in the country that is. One was in the country for a few weeks after being away for a year and a bit...and I think this person's leaving soon/already left now. Damn. The other will be leaving in April forever. Well hopefully like the other person this person will come back :) It was good catching up with both of them because it's so rare to see them face to face and I praise our Lord for that time just to see how they're going.

Of course the main attraction was great to see and especially with Gracie - it was quite a while since I last saw her so seeing her again was definitely great. Mo, well, I don't know how that boy does it but he looked alive :) It's really interesting how he is able to manage stuff and how they're still as strong as ever. I think that's something that we should praise our Lord for.

Of course seeing some other people there like Ant, Dave and Yvette were also great because, like Trina and Enoch, they're people I don't get to see often. Great to catch up with them and see how their lives have moved.

The only thing I didn't get to do was to talk with the parentals. I haven't spoken with their parentals in some time and I didn't get to thank them for giving Gracie and Mo to us, which praise gets shot up to our Lord for blessing them with Gracie and Mo. But hey there's always the wedding :)

Ro & Heather's wedding. Wow. That church is pretty big. Not compared to Hillsong but that doesn't count. It's also one of the most traditional and radical weddings I've been to. Ever. Period. It was so good though. The traditional parts were basically everything but the 2 really sticking points that made it so radical. It just shows what you're really aiming towards and also how dedicated they are to our Lord.

Radical point #1 - They picked Revelations 21 as their sermon passage. I have never been to a wedding and heard this preached out at a wedding. Ever. But wow we already knew that Ro and Heather knew what they were doing, but to pick a passage like that as their wedding passage? Wow. That's something that you don't see everyday. Awesome encouragement though. Fantastic pick by them :)

Radical point #2 - The groom performing at his own wedding. Now you'd normally expect that the groom and the bride sit back through most of it and soak it up, not doing too much. Not this one. The groom showcased his talents that everyone knew about in front of everyone with a special meaning to his wife. He played "I will be here" by Steven Chapman and that was absolutely perfect. He was awesome and the words were a perfect choice. But it's something you don't see everyday. It's definitely a wedding that will stick in my mind for quite some time.

The last bigger thing would be Jazz' birthday the other night. Great to see people in the flesh for once hehehe. Also to get out of the house and see some people for once. Although I wasn't able to really talk to everyone that I wanted to, it was well worth it by the convos I did have with people. Definitely great to see how people are absolutely great, and great to see people struggle. Yes I know what I just said, but it's great because those people recognise how much our Lord does fit into the picture. It's just sad sometimes to have an event like that to make us stupid people realise that.

It was nothing really big, just a whole heap of people in her house and it was fantastic. Although bigger events mean that I'd normally see these people every now and again, it's always great to see them, even if it is only for a short while with these people. It helps me heaps. In ways that aren't normally present.

Of course the night wouldn't be complete without me doing something stupid. This time it was forgetting about [edit] Kathryn [/edit]. It's not my fault I haven't seen her that often. But yes I don't know what I was doing, but when I was saying hi to everyone, I came to her and said "Hi, I don't know you..." and left it there. Then I realised that I do know her and it was stupid. I still don't know why I blurted out that instead of my name. Sigh. I do really stupid things and it's nice to know I keep that reputation up. Unfortunately it's not the case all the time :( But all up, fantastic night that made my regain a small portion of my sanity.

A friend of mine who has been distant for some while due to business recently challenged me in a way I never thought. Some people are aware that I like to escape reality or at least attempt to do so. Now because I escape reality, some usual things that I used to do, like blogging, I rarely do anymore. This friend questioned why I needed to escape reality in the first place. I told this friend my reasons for doing so and they said (paraphrased and edited in my own words):

"Why are you trying to push things away? You out of all people know you can't delay things, you can't escape things, you can't make it disappear. So what are you doing?"

I explained further why this was so, making it almost crystal clear to why this is the case. This friend understood, but posed this question:

"Instead of trying to escape reality, what's a better use of your time? What could you be doing with what little time you have left?"

It's something I've been challenged by quite a bit. I know part of the reason is the people. Like Tom. He was telling me at Jazz' place how his new occupation makes it quite lonely for him because it's not something people would normally offer him with what he does. That's definitely challenged me and yeah it's a great example.

Hopefully after a little while I'll try and post more regularly and hope it somehow satisfies your curiosity with what's happening with me :) Hope you're all well :)