2010 is going to be an interesting year for my eldest son

-

I think 2010 is going to be an interesting year for my eldest son Andrew ... and in relation to my son for me too.

He turned 17 in mid December 2009 and a couple of weeks ago passed his NZ restricted driver's license. This means he can legally drive (but no passengers) between 5 AM to 10 PM. However he is allowed him to take passengers as long as he is with a full license holder (with 2 years experience) with him, or if it he is driving a family member.

On Saturday after an afternoon of "washing" our house (cleaning the dirt and grime on the outside walls) he took his brother out for ice cream (without any of us in the car). On Sunday, I got a lift from a friend for a meeting and after the meeting I called my son to come and pick me up! Rather strange role reversal but nice :-) Then yesterday, being both Jennifer and my day off, we even allowed him to take Jennifer's car to work. And even as I type this post, he has taken my car to run some errands related to his student loan.

Which relates to another major change. Andrew got accepted into Auckland university and is applying for his government student loan. While I still have to sign the forms as he is under 18, I am making him do all the paper work and "leg work", and he is doing a good job. He is growing up fast.

Being a NZ resident is a real blessing as he qualifies for an interest free loan that will take care of his university fees. This takes is a big burden off my shoulders. He only needs to repay his loan once he starts work, and even then the government is kind with policies that require minimal weekly re-payments that are very manageable. If he can balance his studies and manage a couple of days of part time work, he will be very comfortable, since he has free board and lodging at them LONG motel :-)

Balancing university life, a part time job, his church ministries, (namely being a Youth Ministry leader, a regular in the church music / worship team and a key person running the church AV ministry) and his social life is going to be an interesting challenge. His initial response to this challenge has been positive and pragmatic ..."Spend a lot less time on the PS3!" A very good answer in my opinion :-)

Anyway I am a proud dad and very thankful to God!!



Comments

  1. UnknownJanuary 27, 2010 at 9:52 PM

    congrats to Andrew!!! :D growing up indeed..

    and congrats to Paul and Jennifer for a job well done.

    all praise to God..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Paul LongJanuary 28, 2010 at 8:38 AM

    Thanks Guatz. Praise God!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Forgiving the Church (Henri Nouwen)

-
Had to post this up! Another gem from Henri Nouwen that is so relevant for today! I have highlighted in red what especially resonates with me as it has bothered me for years that there is a fast growing number of Christians who think they can have Christ without the church. Then back to work. I have finalized my magic routine fro this Sunday - now just need to practice and coordinate with "the Weeman" so our acts flow smoothly from one to the other. Forgiving the Church When we have been wounded by the Church, our temptation is to reject it. But when we reject the Church it becomes very hard for us to keep in touch with the living Christ. When we say, "I love Jesus, but I hate the Church," we end up losing not only the Church but Jesus too. The challenge is to forgive the Church. This challenge is especially great because the Church seldom asks us for forgiveness, at least not officially. But the Church as an often fallible human organization needs our forgiven...
Read more

The Ideal / Perfect pastor

-
Image
The Ideal / Perfect Pastor .... from various sources :-) I had better not add my own lest it be misunderstood. LOL The Perfect Pastor The perfect pastor preaches exactly 10 minutes. He condemns sin roundly but never hurts anyone’s feelings. He works from 8am until midnight and is also the church janitor. The perfect pastor makes $40 a week, wears good clothes, drives a good car, buys good books, and donates $30 a week to the church. He is 29 years old and has 40 years experience. Above all, he is handsome. The perfect pastor has a burning desire to work with teenagers, and he spends most of his time with the senior citizens. He smiles all the time with a straight face because he has a sense of humor that keeps him seriously dedicated to his church. He makes 15 home visits a day and is always in his office to be handy when needed. The perfect pastor always has time for church council and all of its committees. He never misses the meeting of any church organizat...
Read more

Geoffrey Woo Ramblings

-
Image
It was nice to reconnect with Geoffrey via Facebook (Yes FB has it's positives) earlier this year. I first met him more than 25 years ago! And I got to know him and his heart when we served together in a special SU Camp. That was the year too I first got to know my good friend Allan Yong. Allan Yong became an inspiration for me (a good role model of a man of God on fire for God ... and he still is) especially in the area of youth work (but that is another story) Anyway Geoff (now may be known as Geo?) made a big impression on me as well. Down to earth and to me a bit of an "eccentric"! A "greenie" before being green was "an in-thing". He would cycle practically everywhere on his bike, often turning up sweaty! :-) But he had a passion for Jesus that was very evident (and I hear that this passion has not waned but has kept growing! Praise God!) One major thing I picked up from him that still has remained as a huge impression on me was his deep sense ...
Read more