50-years-old, a half century, I have been waiting for this for...well you could say for 50 years, but really just the past 2 years thinking "Man 50 is really old."
It isn't 30 old, after all 30 is the new 20. It isn't 40 old, because let's face it, 40 is the new 30. It is 50-years-old, and 50 is just plain old. Well, I have some exciting news. 50 is the new 25! That's my internal age and externally I still have the same body - much to my wife's disgust.
Saturday 5th I was blessed to have representatives from various phases of my life meet around Fire, Friends and Fun. With a 'Surf Retro' theme we decorated the yard with old boards, lit fires to warm ourselves, wore old Hawaiian shirts, and I even got to wear hair! Highlights included: Phil Williams multi tasking speech live from the UK driving a bus full of youth with his webcam perched on the passenger seat (only Phil!); the reunion of our Cronulla CS open house; a replica t-shirt of the original CS logo; fantastic curries; old ministry and surf stories. Gill had compiled some awesome music (go Supertramp, Stevie Wonder and James Taylor - do some research you under 30's!) and we laughed the night away.
Geoff Thompson helped lead me to Christ in 1976 and walked us through a BD trivia quiz, here's a sample for you to attempt...
BD's first date with Gill was:
a) The Ocean Room Sydney Harbour
b) All you can eat for $2 York St Lantern
c) Lunch at her parents
d) Picnic dinner at sunset at Cronulla Point
BD's wedding was memorable for (circle true answers):
a) A pink shirt
b) A car with 'we're gonna have sex' written on it
c) A lack of alcohol
d) A lot of people
BD's blunders include (circle true answers):
a) Harnessing the wrong baby into his car one night
b) Ordering 'The Secret of Loving' from a porn film company
c) Sleeping in the women's dorm of Carpenway Bible College
d) Eating maggot-ridden lamb in the CS house
(answers b, all, all.....I'm not even going to attempt to explain all this)
Thanks for speeches from: Paul Campbell, covering 33 years of surfing together and the early CS days - still going strong; Duncan Rintoul, my partner in crime for men's ministry at Austi church - the gorilla suit will be resurrected some day; Mark Groves, faithful friend and Friday 6am prayer - I can't promise your wife we won't be in life threatening circumstances again...and lastly my son Jackson for lovely words, my son Taylor and daughter India for a rap song and most of all my wife who shared lovely things about me when she knows better than anyone.
I was actually looking forward to meeting this Brett Davis, he sounded much better than the one I know.
My concluding words that I would also want to share with you all. "Trust in Jesus. No Regrets." and the verse I wrote up on the day: "They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, 'The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.'" Psalm 92:14-15
Trust in Jesus, no regrets.
