DISQUS

Well good on you Geoff.I am an INFP too, and we are such a rare breed that I have only ever met two others( one of whom is Laura). Dreamer-not so sure I like that label ,but I guess it fits-now if I can only turn that dreaming into some concrete action! Perhaps Bec"s changes (mellowing) reflect on the time she has spent with you and what has rubbed off, which can only be a good thing IMO.
Melinda

Great topic Geoff- We didn't give this one much thought as a young couple because every we knew used contraception and as to the theology of that-we didn't even consider that it warranted discussion-God had given as brains and a free will and within reason we expected to plan our family as intelligent beings and if we happened to slip up and have any unexpected blessings (hi Hannah!) then we would accept them as God's blessing. After having 3 planned , one unplanned and another unplanned(miscarried) then deciding that for my sanity , health and lots of other reasons to call it quits at 4, Gerry had the chop .
Several years later I can across a group of Christians (all protestants I might add!) who believed very strongly (and now I realise it had become legalistic) that you should let God plan your family and have however many he chose to give you. The basic theology went that children are a blessing from the Lord and who are we to decide how many blessings we should have -God knew what we could handle (that is pretty simplistic, but I won't go into more detail as there is not space) .I read a lot about this time and was initially convinced that we had got it wrong and that it was God's will for us to have more kids and not use contraception-even went so far as to try and talk Gerry into having a reversal ( a couple of our friends actually had this done) Thankfully-he was not keen and it was too darn expensive anyway! It certainly gave me a good guilt trip for several years and lots of discontent- because I somehow thought my worth as a mother/good christian women was tied up in having lots of children, home birthing and homeschooling them all and all that went along with that line of theology.
That is not to say I think it is totally invalid either-I have several friends who I respect greatly who have followed this line(one has just had no 10 and the other has 8 and counting!) As I said -it is easy for our strong convictions to become legalistic and try and foist them on others as the only truly godly way and this is what happened to me-thankfully I saw reason before I had another 10 kids!
This whole area is a bit of a minefield both theologically and medically. I have pretty negative feelings about the pill because of the bad side effects I had from it and concerns about effects on long term health and fertility, though I am sure current formulations are probably easier to take. IUD's are out because they are abortifactants so that doesn't leave too much except barrier methods which are fiddly, messy and not very conducive to spontaneous pleasure!!
Well hope that is not too negative or anxiety provoking for you- I won't be dictating what you two end up doing or believing-I'm sure you can work it out -meanwhile I will wait patiently for my quiver full of future Grandchildren! (only kidding!)
melinda

Hi Geoff aka future son-in law,
loved all the story of the big proposal and all and I/we are very excited etc. Just one comment on the blog site. I get this HIDEOUS black and yellow lines thingy when I first enter the site- I daresay it has something to do with a certain football team and it does go away after a bit BUT it is driving me crazy and is enough to set off epileptic seizures - can anything be done to keep me sane?
Your future Mother In Law!

I am also a fan of this song Geoff, and agree entirely with what Rhonda wrote. I guess my idea of God's beauty relates partly to his role as the Creator, a creator of an immmense amount of what is truly awesome and beautiful in the natural world (inc us humans and even innocent little ducks;))If God as creator could create such incredible beauty in our world-that surely somehow reflects an aspect of his own being that knows and is beauty, in the same way that he is holy, or powerful. Not sure if that makes sense, but I'll share it anyway!

On further reflection, Geoff , I see this as just an extension of previous cruelty against Duck kind. It all began innocently enough with abducting and hiding ducks in various locations around the house and next thing you know the boy is mowing them down with his Corolla! I'm locking up my collection right now!

Welcome to the assorted birds and animal killers club Geoff! I have a bit of a reputation in our place having knocked off a Cockatoo, Magpie and a cat in the last year(unintentionally, of course!) At least it didn't happen in the Solomons where you would have an angry mob belting on your little green Corolla demanding compensation!

I agree with Laura.
I'm a bit of both-always voted mostly to the left side (a family tradition!) but occassionally get sick of them all and go a bit rightish. Can I sit on the fence-both have their positives and negatives -and I HATE voting day because I have to make a decision!

I thought it was a smudge of last night's roast gravy under your nose, Geoff. I will take more "motice" next time I see you.
Here's a good saying for Bec (and you) "A Kiss without Moustache is like an egg without salt" -not sure where that comes from, but having kissed a moustached man for the last 20+ years I can vouch for it.

Hmm,
I might just whip up a tasty Tuna Casserole tomorrow night Geoff...!

Hi Geoff,
Like the new look. My only comment is that it is hard to read some of the bits in the black sidebar on the right-specifically This is by... and Today's Poll-the grey writing doesn't show up clearly-the bits with blue writing are fine.
Or perhaps I just need new glasses or a better computer screen!

Two lines from my fav U2 song-Beautiful Day-
teach me-I know I'm not a hopeles case (comforting, I guess!)
it's a beautiful day-don't let it get away (was our theme song on 2004 Centre Trip-make the most of each day)

I'm personally very fond of goats as my family will attest, Geoff.
They have a sort of stubborn patheticness that appeals to me for some reason.We see a family of three goats that I greet every morning on the way down York Rd on the way to school, and they have even been given names. We(being Em, Han and I) create imaginary and sometimes evil scenarios for them ( the current one is imagining the 2 geese that live nearby, being impaled on the impressive horns of the male -who is known as Hornsby).
Weird, I know. I would like to own a goat one day-so no more anti goat posts please!

Have known Bec very well for 20 years so that might qualify me for an opinion (totally unbiased of course).
Apart from being a lousy cook and not in a great hurry to do her chores she is really quite a terrific girl. Must be something to do with excellent genetic nmaterial plus exemplarary parenting!
Good on you Geoff for your honesty. We are quite excited by this development. Now her sisters have someone to tease other than Laura who has patiently born "boyfriend" jokes etc for the last 7 years!
Melinda '
PS Great Blog Geoff -I never thought I would be into reading blogs but they are quite fascinating and addictive!