Tall flourishing gum trees have always grabbed my attention, and I very often stop to take in the raking branches.

This one sits around the corner from our new home in the capital city. It is magnificent, like all gum trees that flourish and stand tall.

A tall, thriving gum tree.

Still grabs me after all these years.

We’ve been here in Canberra for a little over a week. It has been very hot all over Australia in recent days, and Canberra hasn’t been spared. This has meant extra challenges in settling down to our new home and surroundings.

The little fellow for example, did not want his dinner last night. We had taken him to Kiddo’s home in the arvo. Kiddo and Mic had a date on Sunday and took in the Wicked movie, and Mic’s mum had little Abby for the arvo. This is a wonderful respite for them, as the new bub is due in under 5 weeks, when such restful and rejuvenating pleasures would be like hen’s teeth. I’m so glad they could go this.

We had lunch with them after SBC (Southside Bible Church) finished just before noon, after which we came home as they went on their R&R. We changed into garbs that we thought would deal with the heat more sensibly, swapped cars (from Tress’ hatchback to my CX60) and headed to their home. We took the little fellow there to reacquaint himself with Milo.

The bigger job was to transport their Weber Family Q to our home. We maneuvered and pushed the barbie and the trolley stand it was sitting on, out from their deck through the side gate around to the car port, We then discovered that the Weber was inseparable from the stand, unlike the Q we had back at Vicki Street. So the unit has to be carted intact, which presented a greater challenge, not least in the heat that was slowly but surely building up.

Tress found some cardbox remnants that we thought Mic had cut up from a rocking/nursing recliner they recently bought and we made full use of them as we heaved, hefted and applied elbow grease liberally and finally carted the unit into my car. We took the barbie and the trolley stand back to our home, and left the little fellow at their home with Milo. We then headed back and played with both pooches for a while, let them out to the yard, before we headed back late in the arvo.

Back home, we rested a bit and then got on with the job of getting the Family Q ready for use. After more elbow grease that greased not just the elbow, the barbie is ready for the summer now. I think. It looks the part as it sat on our patio, along with the Weber kettle that we brought with us from Vicki St.

The heat has made the weekend a blur in some ways. What pulled into focus, for me, were a couple of things. A couple of affirmations.

One, the affirmation that springs up, every time I said “hi” to little Abby, and see her face light in a smile that would brighten up any room. The affirmation that lingers and takes hold when she lifts up a hand, to ask that I hold it as she shuffles off somewhere. The affirmation that wells up when she tires and lifts up both hands to ask that I carry her, and when I do, gives me the gentle hug that says she knows who I am and accepts me. An affirmation that says whatever the sideshows that can threaten to overwhelm, we have done the right thing to uproot and leave Vicki St and head up north to this the capital city to be with this family.

The second is less convincing but has probably started to be one. It is the slowly building affirmation that perhaps Southside Bible Church is where we should be. We still want to visit another – one that is, on “paper”, very similar to St Alf’s – but the idea of being in the same church community as Kiddo, Mic and Abby is one that is hard to knock. I thought its DNA is of the prescriptive persuasion and that is a dissuasion but I wonder if that is what I need at this point in my walk with the Lord. I don’t know. It’s a work in progress and I’m giving it time.

It’s just over a week to Christmas. Last Saturday morning, as we had coffee and pastries in a bakery in Kambah Village with Kiddo, Mic and Abby, I wandered into the butcher’s shop and placed an order for a pork loin roll for Christmas lunch. We’ve planned to do it in our new home and adopting the Family Q from Kiddo and Mic was part the grand scheme for this. Mic’s parents and one of Kiddo and Mic’s good mates from Sydney will be coming along. It will be a relatively small and hopefully pleasant Christmas lunch. One that I trust will provide yet more affirmation, that we haven’t wondered too far off the reservation, in this journey of ours.

Tress and I walked the little fellow together through our neighbourhood, once more before we left. We did some last minute packing and tidying and went for an early lunch at the FHC shopping centre. We then decided that I should start my drive first, and not wait for the removalists to first arrive. Tress was to wait for them, who had a good reputation for being punctual.

I took off, in my car that is packed to the rafters, and slowly made my way out of Melbourne.

I arrived to a bucketing Murrambateman, and then made my way to Kiddo’s home for a bite. I then went to our new home in Duffy and slowly unloaded the boxes. It was the first of several late nights.

The next day, I went for a walk, bought a coffee and then exchanged messages with Tress and Kiddo. Tress was keeping me updated of the removalists’ ETA, and Kiddo asked if I wanted to get breakfast at a cafe before they took little Abby for her weekly swim class. I caught up for brekky, and then got home in time for the removalists to arrive. Our new home was being filled with stuff from the old home.

The process went on for the whole day and I spent the next several days unpacking… and each day, I caught up with Mic, Kiddo and little Abby. It was very satisfying.

Early on Sunday morning, a little car pulled up in front of our new house. It was my Uber ride. I was grateful it showed up on time (just a little after 5am). The Bhutanese driver and I had a good chat as he took me to the airport. I caught the first flight out, and landed at Melbourne airport a little before 8am, where I promptly headed to the wait area where Tress has been parked, with the little fellow on the backseat. Tress jumped out, I got into the driver’s seat and we began the last leg of our move. We drove up (back up for me) to Canberra, and arrived a little after 3.30pm.

When we got home (yes our new home), I tidied up the lawn, Tress unpacked and tidied up and we teed up a dinner with the mob we did all this for.

Last night as we sat around the dining table having dinner, the odyssey this has been, clicked again. It all made sense.

This morning, as Tress, Oreo and I walked around the area to take in the new surroundings and familiarise ourselves with the area, I said to myself that we’re in a great spot. I am, again, ever so thankful to our Lord for having blessed us so abundantly through this time.

The weather often dictates our plans. Last Friday had a forecast of fine weather, and it was the only dry day for a little while. So I took the day off, for the lawns, JS hedges etc, to be given their final trims, before we leave. It was a thorough job and I was spent when it was all done. That night, we caught up with our “St Alfred’s Hot Pot” group – a bunch of Asians, who are a small minority, that had spent time over nice meals. Mainly Malaysians, a couple of Singaporeans and bloke from HK, we share many things in common, of about the same vintage, and allowed the court jester (Warren) all the time and spotlight he wanted to share his tales. We had a lot of fun and we will miss them heaps.

Earlier on Thursday night, there was the Growth Group breakup/farewell dinner at the Longs’. A more serene, sedate and quiet group, it was also a group with loads of fun and blessings. I had to miss the dinner however, as I was running a bad cold and there were some more senior members in that group who have had bad runs of infections in recent years so I didn’t want to run the risk and stayed home. We caught up on WhatsApp video however and it was really nice. We will miss them heaps too.

Saturday was to be a wet day but I used those intermittent drier spells to duck in and out of the shed, and cleared out, packed and cleaned the place. Tools etc all bundled up, hose carts cleaned and bundled with all lengths of hose, stuff hard rubbished or quickly sold, the shed is now cleaned out. I felt washed up too…

Yesterday at St Alf’s, Helen Petering did the community notices and pointed out that it was Tress and my last Sunday there (at 26:32). She asked us to stand where we were and acknowledged us. That was nice (slightly embarrassing too but what the heck). After the service we spoke to numerous people to say goodbye. We had also arrived earlier than usual, to also speak to more folks. We will miss the people we have come to know and share journeys with.

We then went to our usual lunch spot and enjoyed a hefty and hearty meal, said goodbye to Ann and Ben the couple who own and run the place (Ben is also the chef) – yet another of those people we will miss.

We have said to goodbye to many. We are walking away from a life we have built and loved. We trust we are making the right decision (although often we still question it). The ongoing lesson is that God leads and we are to wait on Him. I hope this simple mantra doesn’t become too difficult to live.

On Sunday arvo we continued the process. We packed, dismantled beds, took stuff out for hard rubbish, had Warren pick up our old washing machine, and generally plugged away to get the move ready. Last night, as I crashed onto our floor ridden mattress and nursed my sore back, I fell into a quick and deep sleep. I woke this morning, to a message on my watch that said to me I had a “100% body battery”. I hope it lasts long enough for us to see this process through.