25th Wedding Anniversary

To all you out there in blogdom, I declare today my love for Mrs Gillian Davis who has endured me for some 25 years and been such a faithful friend, wife, advisor, buttkicker, theologian, mother, supporter. She has been the unseen glue of our family, the steady hand when I have been travelling, my inspiration to keep going, the one who has shaped me more than any other, a wise mother, a great talker, my greatest critic and encourager and the reason to come home.

They say that behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes.......

I love you Gill

Road Trip Lennox Head

One of the great aspects of the Easter conference is heading on the surfers road trip! We had a great time travelling with Aaron, Albags, Paddy, Zank and Jared, as well as my family.

Heading up we caught up with former leaders Marty Dures (cheers for the accommodation Marty) and breakfast with old salts Luke Hadfield and George Watt. Then I convinced the groms to detour to visit our former North NSW RC Boyd Pope in a hippie commune (go Boyd, 60 and still grooving). Boyd showed us his artwork, hand made home, Greenough spoon, and was even playing 'Morning of the Earth' to set the scene. He is shining the Jesus light there as he has been for so many years.

Up at conference we saw Jon and Anita Woods, now a Presbyterian minister at Byron Bay, and they're fitting in really well (love the dreads Anita) and seeking to shine a contemporary biblical Christianity in a town that is far, far away from that.

Coming back, we stayed at the Browns shed, and what a 'shed' it is with bunk room, honeymoon residence, ping pong table, etc. complete in farm setting with cow aroma! Thanks Pete and Bec!

After a 4WD up the beach to back Hat Head the boys scored empty waves and it was a great way to finish off the road trip. The people and places along the way made it, as they say the most significant things are not the destination, but the journey. God is good.

CS Australia Conference

What has 440 feet, 160 surfboards, 20 bodyboards, 30 kids and 220 beating hearts for mission? Yep, the CSA national leadership conference was held at Lennox Head over Easter with some 220 attendees.

We had a great time with challenging speaker Mick Duncan, awesome worship, 4-6' surf, good food, inspiring story and the annual reunion of CS leadership.

This was the 28th conference and I was so proud to see another generation of leadership coming through after pioneering the early years. It was fun to share the CS story via a representative human timeline and walk through our history together. Gill and I also did some marriage seminars and exhorted others to stay the course in marriage.

Taylor and India came as well (Taylor clocking up another 6 hours driving) along with Aaron and 4 junior leaders from our local mission.