LayGuy

Well our holidays came and went and it’s back to the normal flat out lifestyle our family needs to endure. After getting back late on Monday, I had 2 days grace period at home before I had to jump back on a plane and head off to New Zealend for a 4 day conference.

I am now in Christchurch - a beautiful little city on the South Island. My conference wraps up tonight after a large dinner/party to help celebrate the 5oth Anniversary of the Haemophilia Foundation of New Zealand (HFNZ).

I’ve met a bunch of characters on this trip from all over the world and it’s really a great thing to experience. Two examples of which are below. In my attempt to keep some form of privacy on this blog, let me just say that these two guys are some of the biggest personalities in the world of Haemophilia. And the Irish guy was Time magazine’s “Man of the Year” in 1996!

After a bunch of wines, we sat down to discuss the Mid East “peace process.” The guy on the left in the blue shirt is an Irish guy and the guy in the suit is an Aussie Secular Jew (oxymoron?!?) The Irish guy always kept saying “Jesus Christ” and the Jewish guy kept on saying “who’s that?” Every time he did so, he elbowed my in the ribs as he knows I am a Christian.

Our “discussion paper” became our wine soaked table cloth and the debate was thick and fast. And like the real discussions on the right of Israel to exist, our discussion ended up all frustrated. The Irish guy was hostile to Isreali foreign policy, the Jewish guy was funny, blunt and arrogant and I was trying to justify Israel based on world history and what scripture says about it.

The Irish guy was Catholic and the Jewish guy was, well a Jew who didn’t believe in God but every time I brought up a scriptural reference, they both frowned like I dropped a smelly fart! A totally fascinating yet frustrating conversation indeed!

I also had the chance to meet a New Zealand Gold medal winning Olympian, Rob Waddell. This guy won a gold medal at the Sydney Olympics for singles rowing. I thought I was tall, and I am at 6 foot 4. But it’s always refreshing to look up to someone every now and then! For more photo’s from my trip, click here.

But through it all, I am missing my wife and kids dramatically. My travels rip me apart from those most precious to me far too often. I get back home on Sunday. Then on Monday I’m off to Sydney for 3 days and the weeks after that, it’s Adelaide, Hobart and Perth.

Australia is roughly the size of the US and to travel from one side to the other very frequently (at least once a week) takes it’s toll. But one thing I am trying to learn all the time is the impact this has on my family. One area I aim to focus on is to remind my wife how special she is to me.

Far too often when I get home I spend time with the kids, I’m there for my wife also but I fail to verbalise and express my love for her also. I often simply assume that she knows I love and miss her and this has been my mistake. From now on, things will be different because she is the love of my life.

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