"A father is the primary transmitter of honor in a family.  He says 'Son, I am proud of you'...and 'Daughter, you're beautiful.'  There is astonishing strength in a father's words of approval."

...Mark Stibbe

"Authentic Christians are persons who stand apart from others. Their character seems deeper, their ideas fresher, their spirit softer, their courage greater, their leadership stronger, their concerns wider, their compassion more genuine and their convictions more concrete."
...Bill Hybels

Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ's love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They're really doing themselves a favor—since they're already "one" in marriage. (Ephesians 5:25-28)

No pressure boys but just please love your wives as Christ loves the church.  By the way, "everything he does & says is designed to bring the best out of her"! Maybe after another 15 years I will feel like I have even begun to walk this path.  

To my amazing wife: thanks for hanging around babe & happy Valentines Day!

Today is Joshy's 1st day in prep at Toowoomba Christian College…the girls are back at Toowoomba East State School in grades 5 (Rachi) & 7 (Teagie).  I was starting in high school in grade 7 (in NSW) & traveling nearly 2 hours across Sydney on 2 trains & a bus to get to school…how did they get so old already!?

It's early morning at the end of another unbelievable day where the floods have risen around us in every direction so that we now can't get back to Brisbane or get home to Toowoomba & my family.

First thing in the morning we headed down the Warrego Highway towards Brisbane to check out the lay of the land but we didn't get far before we were stopped by a 500 metre stretch of water across the road where there isn't normally even a bridge.  The picture in my previous post shows the scene & if you look closely on the far side of the water you can see a couple of house roofs of mostly submerged houses.  The people Joy is speaking to are some of the five families we met in about 20 minutes whose homes were in the same state on the other side - it is sobering to stand with a traditional tough Queensland bloke as tears stream down his face.

Down near Karalee Shopping Centre was another wall of water & houses semi-submerged but the really striking thing was when we all of a sudden realised that a TV antenna was sticking up from a house that was otherwise completely under the water. I know that we're not supposed to be 'rubber-necking' (or as Joy put it, rubber ducking!), & I agree completely if it in any way gets in the way of emergency workers or people's safety. But I don't think everyone who stands on the edge of the water just watching is there out of morbid fascination so much as a need to grasp the scope of the disaster & share it (often silently) with other people.

With no power & no phone reception at Joy's we found a back way to her brother Tim's house where the power was still on and from there were able to get into Ipswich for some last minute supplies where there were more crazy scenes of roads, houses & shopping centres very much under water.  But tonight was a completely different kind of amazing with a house full of people either suffering from or offering hospitality in the middle of the floods: Tim & his housemates opening their home to us all, Joy & her parents plus their neighbours & the kids of a family whose home is completely underwater that are staying there…and Drew & me stranded on 'Ipswich Island' waiting for an opportunity to get back home to my family in Toowoomba so we can get into helping with the clean up.

We have met 5 families in the last 20 minutes whose houses are completely under water...

No doubt that is the question we'll all be asking each other years from now…

Right now I am sitting at Joy Argow's dining table on the fringes of Ipswich.  The power is out but the rain has stopped at least for now…we have only the eery sound of crickets & frogs to keep us company.  The only lights in the room right now are the glow from laptop & iPhone screens - apparently this is the way natural disasters are done in the 21st century, the wonders of iPhone tethering means I can still post this blog (although I probably should save my batteries for later).

We are waiting for midnight Queensland time as it will then be Drew's 40th birthday.  Not exactly the way we had planned to spend that but hey, at least we are together.  We tried to drive back from the Sunshine Coast to my home in Toowoomba yesterday but couldn't get closer than the Maccas at Gatton…we even started to try getting there via Warwick but it was hopeless.  So now we are imposing on the hospitality of Joy & her parents and I am separated from my family who are in a devastated Toowoomba after yesterday's flash flooding although they & our house have been mercifully untouched.

Joy, Drew & I went to the shops today for 'supplies'.  It was all pretty surreal at the time so despite the advice of the lady behind us in line (who went through the 1974 flood) we bought a bunch of fresh food with a few token bottles of water & canned meals…now sitting in the dark with no power that seems like it may have been shortsighted.  Ah well, next time we go through a natural disaster we'll be much better at it. Somehow I think I am unlikely to starve to death anytime soon…might double as a great weight loss program!

We're pretty sure that the flood waters won't make it this far but it is hard not to be a tiny bit nervous during such a crazy & unpredictable event. Really I can be nothing but grateful considering the loss of property & life that others have already suffered in the last 36 hours across the region…our house was apparently the only one in our street not to get water through it, although we're separated I know my wife & kids are safe & so am I, with great company to pass the time.

Your perspective certainly changes at times like these, you get a much clearer sense of what matters & what doesn't…wish I knew how to keep that when it's all over.