Politics

My Christmas wish for you is that in these festive times you can see past pain, hurts and troubles to reach out your hand. I pray that your hand will give hope to another as you reach out to help.

My Christmas wish for you is that all that you do, albeit the same as any other day, that it will be done with appreciation for all that you have that others may not. I pray that you are enveloped in joy as you serve others.

My Christmas wish for you is that you take the time to love someone else that you find hard to love. I pray that in doing so that you feel loved for just being yourself too.

My Christmas wish for you is that you can consider others with a higher regard than yourself. Then, when you arrive home safely after your celebrations, I pray that you can bring thanks to God that no one lost their life at your hands that same night.

My Christmas wish for you is that you can share the spirit of Christmas in special ways with those who see you in a faceted way. I pray that your life is a testimony of love to work colleagues and clients, to playgroup mums and to the barrista at your local coffee bar.

My Christmas wish for you is that as you contemplate the year ahead that your already laid plans clearly seen as wise or unwise. I pray that all fear, angst and stress be replaced with empowerment, encouragement and, above all, peace.

With love at Christmas

If you don't live in Adelaide then you are probably somewhat unaware that it has a quiet reputation for earthquake tremors. In fact, 99 per cent of visitors to the city would not have felt one during their visit as usually they are small and only noticeable to the most still person along the fault line at the time.

However, tonight Adelaide has experienced a quite noticeable tremor and it will see what news breaks (outside of social media) in the coming day or so. If there was a geographic map that pinpointed traffic sources for social media sites then Adelaide would have lit up the room from around 2338H (according to my wrist watch). Twitter and Facebook went a little crazy with hundreds of tweets and over 100 new groups for the 'Adelaide Earthquakes' appearing within 15 minutes of the event.

The last time I experienced an earthquake in Adelaide was the 1997 Burra-centred earthquake which hit whilst tutoring / babysitting 2 young boys in Hawthorndene. Of course, Hawthorndene has a fault line running through it down to Darlington (right through the middle of Flinders University on the way). It had a very clear build up and ramp down with a strong peak somewhere in between.

I remember sitting at the dining table when it began. I asked the children what that noise was and was told it was just the wind and that it 'happened all the time'. Just as he finished saying this the paintings on the walls started banging and I realised that I was experiencing my first ever legitimate earthquake beyond those minor tremors that happen from time to time.

Well, tonight it's happened again. I happened to be at Berocca's home in Glenalta and as we grabbed some gear to haul out to my car it hit. I found myself thinking, "Freight train, no, low aircraft, no, storm, no, ah, earthquake!" Berocca had not felt a tremor like this and it was not until I said it was an earthquake and that we should just 'get the stuff outside' that she realised what it was herself. It really sounded no worse than a freight train but it was the sensation of shaking from the ground up is always a startling one. The standard reading from the Buckleboo Station shows that something quite noticeable happened. (Buckleboo station is denoted as 'BBOO' on the Geoscience Australia Seismic Monitoring Stations map for your reference).

If you are planning to find someone to witch hunt over this event then you should probably start with Mr David Love and Mr Kevin McCue, both of whom illuded to this event almost exactly one year ago. On the 19th of April 2009, Australian Seismological Centre director Kevin McCue was quoted by the Adelaide Advertiser as saying, "According to statistical theory, 2010 poses the highest risk for an earthquake of magnitude six or larger in SA." Of course, preliminary information indicates that it is in the scale of 3.0-3.4 magnitude but our house says that it was more in the order of 4.0-4.2 according to The Man of the House's experience of it as our home is nearer the fault line than Berocca's home is.

Also, on the 15th of April 2009, just 1 year and 1 day ago, Mr David Love was quoted by the advertiser saying: "The law of certainty says it [an earthquake] is closer now than it was last week."

Now, this in mind, there was an earthquake off the shore of Adelaide on the 5th of April, and with this occurring less than two weeks later, it is within the realms of possibility that Adelaide may be in for more noticeable tremors in the coming months.

Of course, at the time of Mr Love and Mr McCue's statements to the media our Mr Rudd was more focussed on the bush fire bandwagon after Black Saturday. Perhaps now it is time to heed the advice of these experts who are also quoted as saying (in the Adelaide Advertiser articles linked to above):

Mr McCue said SA was "not well prepared" for a larger earthquake.

Industrial designer Michael Angerson, who specialises in earthquake-resistant building design, labelled Adelaide buildings "very unsafe". He said concrete slabs used in homes would crack and crumble.

"It doesn't matter how far you sink the foundation, an earthquake will just rip it up."

"It's pretty dangerous stuff and yet councils insist on that sort of (design), which is dangerously arrogant and not very scientific."

Just as earthquakes are impossible to predict, they are difficult to plan for. As a simple example, if the epicentre of a new earthquake again was around Darlington [alike the 1954 quake before Adelaide extended South of Marion], who could know if the Flinders Medical Centre would be operational to cope with injured people?

Food for thought, Adelaidians, food for thought. Remember, Mike Rann was reminded of this risk just one year ago and I am certain not much has been done about this at all. What happens then the next 'big rock' happens?

Oh, what a joyful week that past last week. Along with spending so much time around water in the form of lakes, rivers, rock pools, waterfalls and the beach we have been wash with The Word too. Yes, we have spent the week at Capernwray Bible School for their Refresh 2010 conference with the theme: 'How is your soul? - Reflections from the Psalms'.

David and Dianne Sharman as well as the whole Capernwray team put in a massive effort to make sure everyone was comfortable and they bent over backwards to take care of us after PJ Bear broke his arm. It was a week of being supported and encouraged across each and every day.

Our accommodation was fantastic for the week. It is great as a family to get a private space to retreat to when you need it and the quiet to allow young people like Boof to still have restful daytime sleep. The view from 'The Hedges' where we were accommodated was also gorgeous.

So, when you can't take the whole family to Estes Park, Colorado, you bring a piece of that location to you. In this case, it was our speaker Frank Cirone of Ravencrest Chalet and his daughter Anikka. Frank shared of himself as openly as he shared of God's Word and I can only wish we had the chance to meet his whole family.

The week was inspiring and certainly has me equipped to face the week ahead. If you are interested in recordings from the Conference then please contact them as they have all the sessions available for purchase on CD, DVD and MP3. Or, maybe consider coming to Refresh 2011? I had been asking Michael for us to go for years and it was not until I suggested that I could do with a break from cooking and cleaning before this baby came that he agreed. For all those years did I fail to mention that it was fully catered? Yes, fully catered with a children's program for 3-12 year olds also and not to be missed!

For an extra fix, which I am not sure I'll be able to attend, there will be a Refresh for Women weekend in September from the 24^th until the 26^th with Jill Briscoe speaking straight to the heart of Christian Women. For more information check out the Refresh 2010 link on the Torchbearers web site.

Thank you to all of the Capernwray team, and its volunteers for the week, for making the week so great for all of our family. We wish you every blessing with the school year ahead - may you make an eternal and everlasting impact on each and every student.

Boof

Born 27/07/2007, weighing 3.95kg, Mum achieved a natural, intervention and drug-free birth!!