Dad.....

06/07/1946 - 06/04/2012
Ernst Robert Dammasch

Born and brought up in post war Germany, my Dad came to Australia permanently as a young man. By the time he left Germany, he had completed an apprenticeship as fitter and turner. Here in Australia he met and married my Mum. That was a little over 36 years ago.

I only turned up on the scene much later. By the time I was born, they had celebrated their eleventh wedding anniversary. And I was the fourth, in a family of five. By the time I was ten, Dad was working very long hours as a truck driver, trying to make ends meet, and support his family. But there are definitely a few happy memories with my dad from those days...

At the time, dad used to ride a motorbike to work and back, and usually only came home on weekends (He often worked 60+ hours a week, and we lived a long way out in the country). Every Friday afternoon, we (My younger brother Henry and I), used to run outside at the sound of his bike coming up our street, racing each other to make it to the gate first. It was hardly a fair race, because I was 6 years older than Henry, and at least 12 inches taller, but it was unusual for Dad to get to the gate before we did. Why that was so special, I don't even know, but it is.

Dad drove a truck almost identical to this one for ten years...

Then occasionally I would get to go for a ride with him in the truck. Sometimes he would even drive up our street. Somehow it made me proud to see the big semi trailer parked there. Maybe it was just because I was a little kid, and big trucks were impressive, but in any case, I was proud of that truck. I even remember the number plate of the truck! (He usually drove the same prime mover, and they just hooked different trailers on it depending on what he was delivering)... Usually he delivered for Woolworths. Sometimes I went with him for long rides. On Sundays he would often go from Brisbane to Kingaroy, several hours drive, and I'd love going with him. He'd tell me about his work, about the problems of driving a truck, of some of the impossibly difficult places he'd had to reverse a truck into, etc. I was with him when his front passenger side tire got a puncture. To this day I can remember the sound. A brief rattle as whatever did the damage got flung out of the tire again, and then the sound of a tire going quickly flat. We sat on the side of the road for an hour waiting for a repair truck. One day we arrived at the destination to find a badly stacked pallet had collapsed. Whoever had done it, had stacked heavy things on top of tissue paper rolls and delicate things, and it just collapsed.

One weekend, Dad and I went camping together. Just the two of us. We went to Gympie, saw the big pineapple, and camped next a lake there. I remember riding up there with him on his bike (A big touring bike). We put our drinks in the lake to chill them, and warmed up our food over a campfire.

When I was in my late teens, Dad had to stop trucking for a living for health reasons. He had done over ten years of full time truck driving for Linfox. Ten years of work in which he occasionally would have worked less than 50 hours a week. A year or two later he worked on the farm with me for a few months.

Anyway, if I was going to keep reciting, I could keep going forever. There were unhappy times too, but why bother with those? I'll always remember the good times. Happy times.

There are regrets too. But they are pointless now. Sometimes I wish I had gotten to spend more time with him. Then I wish I had called him more often in the last year or so while I have been away from home. I guess you don't really miss someone till they are really gone.

So this is goodbye to my Dad. I hope to see him soon.

It's quiet.... Too quiet.....

It's 9:30 in the evening, and the house is empty, except for myself, a few mice, a spider or two, and just possibly a rat in the laundry. My wife is on her way to visit family for 2 days, and as the saying goes, you only know what you had when it is gone.... Who would have thought that in a few hours I could miss her so much?

I'm getting tired... I should go to bed, but it just doesn't seem right. There's a 5' 1", clue eyed, curly brown haired person missing! And what's worse, I love her, so I'm going to miss her something awful. Maybe I'm just being silly...? Maybe I shouldn't miss her? Well, I can't help it. I love my wife, and revel in her company.

And when she gets back, I 'm going to give her a very big hug, and tell her how much I missed her, but words can't really express it. "I miss her".... Three simple words... But I have missed other things in the past, and it just doesn't compare with missing my wife. It's not even in the same scale.

So I just need to survive the next few days... That might be harder than you think... I have to make my own meals, :D....

Everything that glitters, is not gold....

Have you ever heard the saying, "Not everything that glitters is gold"? Well, funnily enough, it's true. In almost every aspect of life, things appear to have a varnish, but in most cases that varnish is scarcely 'skin deep'.

Buy a used car with a shiny paint job, and you may get a very practical demonstration of this principle. Own it for a few months, and it may just fall apart on you, while another car which didn't look so flash, keeps ticking over.

They say that when the Cullinan diamond was discovered, the worker who found thought that he had found a chunk of glass, and only made a closer examination as an afterthought. The result was the largest diamond ever found on earth. But it wasn't discovered as a shimmering piece of diamond, ready cut and waiting to be sold. It looked like an ugly lump of glass, hardly worth looking at. What power transforms a lump of glass into a piece of incredible value like the 'Cullinan'? In the case of the 'Cullinan', it was a man named Asscher, one of the most famous gem cutters ever to have lived, who, after days of examination, cleaved the stone, removed the impurities, and brought to the world a masterpiece of unrivaled excellence. But until the impurities were cut out, the stone would reflect no more light that a lump of coal.

The uncut Cullinan. Not much to look at...

Some people are like a diamond. Not much to impress at first, but with incredible value, often invisible to those around them, until something shows the diamond for what it is. Others are no more than fools gold. They make an exciting impression, seeming to charm all in their wake, but of little value to those around them otherwise. They may be entertaining company, but when the heat is on, they don't prove to be the real thing.

There is a reason that God 'looks on the heart' to judge people. If He looked on the outward appearance, He'd be fooled most of the time! But He isn't. People see the outward appearance (and I don't mean looks here, it can be anything from personality to beauty...), but they cannot judge the impulse of the heart. The person who acts charming in public, often has a very different manner when behind closed doors. There is only one thing that can motivate a person through every act of life, to be true gold. And that is love.

When Jesus came to earth, He was nothing special to look at. The Bible says He had no spot or blemish, but He didn't stand out of the crowd in appearance. People crowded to Him because He loved them. He longed to bring hope into their lives. And He loved them still, when they were nailing him to the cross.

Do you glitter only when things go well, or does even the heat of difficulties show you to be the true metal? It is your choice, but it isn't something you can change on your own. You need to have someone come into your life and cleave out the impurities in your life. And Jesus is the greatest 'gemcutter' in the universe. He can turn anyone into an incredible diamond, if only that person surrenders everything in their life to Him.

Try being a diamond. It is a lot more valuable than fool's gold....

Finally...

Here it is... The good news that we have been waiting for.

We are going to be payed out for our car. It has been assessed as a write off, and finally we can seriously start planning to buy a car.

To fill in, on the 22nd of Dec, our car died, after driving through about 20cm of water and flooding the engine... It broke a conrod in the engine, which for those who don't follow, means the engine is not worth repairing, and needs to be replaced. Additionally, we had about 2 inches of water inside the car... I put in a claim to my insurance company, and promptly we began the long wait, what with the madness of Christmas holidays being what they are.

A week later the car was towed away to the nearest repairer, who told us it was certain to be a write off, as it would not be worth replacing the engine, given what the car was valued. The insurance had other ideas.

The insurance assessor for the area rang Cherith, and proceeded to explain to her that they do not cover mechanical failure, and that we would be liable to pay 75% of a new engine (which would come to about $2000, on top of the fairly hefty claim excess), or we could opt to put a second hand engine, which would cost me about $1000, and would be payable by me entirely, or, option number three, which was to accept a payout of what they estimated the car was worth without an engine, which would leave me seriously out of pocket as a result. We prayed. All of those options would really leave us stuck. Especially as me live 70km from the nearest town... We needed a car. It had been 2 weeks since we had been able to go shopping. Thankfully, we had done a hefty shopping trip just before the car died, but we still relied on a little 'top-up' shopping by Cherith's dad, who worked in town.

So I rang the insurance assessor. I rangled with him for half an hour, and seemed to get nowhere. Until I mentioned the water inside the car. His smooth talking stalled. Apparently no one had told him about that (He hadn't been to see the car in person yet), and he said he would have to check it out and would get back to us.

Then on Friday, we got the call. The insurance company said that the car had been assessed as a write off,  because the inside had gone mouldy. Hardly surprising considering the amount of water that had been locked in there for two weeks! But praise God!

Don't get me wrong. I am very sorry to see the car go. It has been a faithful little car since I bought it, and well worth the money I paid for it. But it was in need of some repairs already, which I couldn't afford, and the car was highly impractical for us in our situation here (Living and working on a dirt road, a small front wheel drive vehicle is not the best option... It's not the worst either, it had worked through some awful weather for 8 months, but it was time for change).

So God has answered our prayers. And he used a hefty dose of humble mold to do it! He has a thousand ways to provide the answers to our prayers, and sometimes it is astonishing how He does it.

New year's resolutions, late....

Ok, so I know it is rather late, but better late than never... And I think I have some really good ones. New year's resolutions that is.

Without further ado, here they are... Oh, and because the Bible says it best, I'll quote it! Yep, they aren't even originally mine, lol... I'm just borrowing these, but I know a good thing when I see it...

Resolution Number 1. "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" Micah 6:8



This one has always been a favorite of mine, because this has been the point that so many Christians seem to miss, especially conservative Christians... This one actually contains three things.
"Do justly"   Do the right thing. Act justly and fairly towards your fellow men (and women :D).
"Love mercy"   Be merciful to those around you. Know why these two are in the same verse? When people start to focus on "Doing justly", they start to get the idea that they need to "help/coerce" everyone else to do as they are doing. But that isn't the idea. It says "love mercy". Be kind to those around you, even if they don't live according to what you believe to be right. Don't judge their motives, don't jump to conclusions about their actions. Just live and let live. Encourage those around you. Try to be a little ray of sunshine, instead of being a little thundercloud!
 "Walk humbly with your God"  Be humble. Even if you are doing justly and loving mercy, being humble isn't always the easiest thing. It is easy to look down on others. STOP! That isn't Christianity. That is hypocrisy. But this isn't a sermon. These are my resolutions. And this text has been a favorite of mine for 6 or 7 years.

Resolution Number 2  "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." Ecclesiastes 12:13




Another big favorite text. This one goes with the previous one. After all, what does it mean to "do justly"? This text has the answer. And what is more, it is the whole duty of man. Our duty is to keep God's commandments. Period.

And then, the biggest, and best one of all.

Resolution Number 3. "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him..." Job 13:15

God has been good to us. Life hasn't always been smooth and easy, but that would be boring anyway. But I really need to trust God more. Regardless of what happens. Because He knows best. And He promises that everything works out for the good of those that love and trust him. So I'm going to trust Him, no matter what circumstance we face.

So those are my new year's resolutions, albeit two weeks late. But better late than never.

Tranquil... Peaceful... Relaxing...

Strangely enough, in spite of all the things that have happened in our life since getting married, our life has been rather tranquil...

Setting up our own little home, in the country, away from the hustle and bustle of towns and cities, it is easy to forget that crowds and noise exist, except at night, when the crickets, frogs, and other creepy crawleys voice their serenade to the moon.

But the quiet, calm, where we have the freedom to live life as we choose, without neighbors in sight, is worth almost anything.

Yesterday, as the thermometer climbed to the hotter side of 35 degrees, we decided it was time to see if we could find a nice spot for swimming. Good thing we have a creek nearby, one that has been recently cleaned out by rain and flooding. We discovered that a few sheltered waterholes had the most beautiful cooling water, though by no means was the water cold.

As I enjoyed the water and cooled off, I thought about how important it was at times to simply forget about everything and simply kick back and relax. Life usually hands us enough worries to send us to an early grave if we let it, but taking time to relax is incredibly important. Laughing, swimming, letting everything else pass by unnoticed for a while, I simply enjoyed the water, and in all honesty, I felt so much better by the time I climbed out of the water. It was just so relaxing, so blissfully enjoyable.

So if you feel like life is just getting a bit tense for you, maybe it's time to let your hair down and take some time away from the stress of life. Enjoy a good laugh, indulge in a tickle fight with a sibling or friend, go swimming, read a book, and don't stop till you get to the end, go for a walk, or relax with a bowl of popcorn and watch a video, but whatever you do, take a moment to enjoy the fun that can be a part of life if you take time for it sometimes. It may not be often, life is hectic sometimes, but you still need it. Everyone needs a break from time to time...

THE cars

I'm not the sort who buys and sells more cars than most car dealerships... In almost 9 years of driving (and 9 years of car ownership), I have owned 2 cars. And yes, I owned both of them for 4 and a half years...

The '76 Corolla.

 The first, I bought with money I earned during school holidays working on a local farm, along with some help from my mum. The second, I bought from money I earned at that same farm, though by then I was working there full time.

It was a 1976 Toyota Corolla. Reliable, gutsy for it's age, and black. The sunroof was great, though I had to be careful to shut it just right or it would leak.

My older brother Toby had owned it before me, and he had, among other things, put a new engine in it, repainted it, lowered the front suspension, and put the mag wheels on it. I had bought it off him, 6 months before I was legally able to drive it, so for 6 months it sat under our house, waiting for the moment I got my learner license. Then when I got my provisional license, it carried me to TAFE and back almost every day for 6 months, as I did my certificate in IT. Then, after I had finished school, it took me to work and back, faithfully, even though I didn't exactly drive it gently. It broke down exactly twice in the four and a half years that I owned it. Once, when the fuel pump died, and the second time when it needed a new ignition coil. Oh, I had a flat battery a few times from leaving the headlights on accidentally, but I could hardly blame the car for that! It was a reliable, tough little car, with not too much power, or I probably would have killed myself before I settled down a little in my driving habits.

By the time I was 20, I was looking for another car. My little Corolla was getting old. It's heartbeat was still nice and steady, but I was just wanting to upgrade to something a little newer. My brother had bought and owned a pulsar, and from driving his, I quite liked them, so I started looking for one, just casually to begin with. Then, one morning on the way to work....

It was a damp morning, and coming around a bend not far from our house, I make a mistake. I downshifted in the corner. Now in some cars this might not be a problem. But this was a rear wheel drive, little four cylinder, with absolutely no weight on the back wheels. they locked up, and I slammed into the curb. It buckled the front wheel back until it was almost scraping. I drove it to work that day, and took the next two days off work to buy a car.

The wheels I added myself, about a year after I bought the car

My brother Markus, who is a mechanic, and I, drove around to a lot of car dealerships the first day, but couldn't seem to find anything that looked good. That evening I went looking online at car advertisements, and found two that looked promising. The next morning my Dad drove me to see one of them, about two hours drive from our home. We had arranged with the owner of the car where to meet her, and when. We arrived a little early, and she wasn't there yet, so we waited. Suddenly I saw the car driving around the corner, "My car" I thought. I looked the car over. It looked very neat, and well looked after. Half an hour later, after a quick test drive, I had decided to buy it. Driving it home the next day felt great! I had a car again, and it was exactly what I had wanted. It was a 1997 Nissan Pulsar. Almost exactly 10 years old at the time when I bought it. Not only economical, but the sort of car that is fun to drive. I enjoyed driving it for over four years. And again, it broke down exactly twice. But then again, I look after my cars, and God blessed me with a car that had been looked after before I got it.

And that brings me to now. My car served me faithfully til the 23rd of December. Then, being coaxed through some floodwater that was just a little too deep, it finally gave up. Actually, I think I did the damage a week or so before, again, driving through water. It got water into the engine, weakened something, and on that day, it finally gave way, snapping one or more of the conrods. A loud knocking noise, followed by an even louder crack, and my faithful car was no more. I placed the insurance claim, and yesterday the car was towed away and assessed. The tow truck driver said that it was guaranteed to be a write off, and for the first time in my life, I am glad to lose my car. Driving it on the rough dirt roads around here had destroyed the suspension, and the registration had run out, which meant that I would have had to fix the car up properly before I could re-register it. Then I would have to sell it anyway to buy a vehicle that is more suited to our needs. If the insurance does indeed pay us the value of the car, then we have to go shopping for another one, and hopefully one that will last us at least 4 years, :D.

But it was still a little sad to lose this car. This was the car I drove to Lismore to visit Cherith in (and which seemed to impress her so much). This was the car the two of us travelled around in so much at the end of 2010, and the start of 2011. This was the car we drove off to honeymoon in. A lot of memories, and yet, it is still only a car. But it was, for four years, one of the few things I could count on. I knew, that when I walked out in the morning to go to work, that it would start, first try, every time. No if's, no but's, no maybe's. It just did.

For now though, we have to rely on other people to either take us shopping, or do it for us. Life is good, even if not always smooth. Because God is in control, and He doesn't take time off, or wear out after 4 and a half years like my cars seem to. He is always there for us, and that is the most comforting thought in life....