“
14 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. 15 He gave five bags of silver[b] to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.
16 “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. 17 The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. 18 But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.
19 “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. 20 The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’
21 “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!”
Matthew 25: 14- 21
We’ve been planning a trip to the Northern Territory for several months now. We have some family up there that we are itching to see. We are also over the moon to experience the ‘Top End’! We will do a big circle, from Darwin, across to Kakadu, down to Katherine then up back to Darwin with a day trip to Litchefield. We’ll spend just over a week in the Northern Territory, just before the dreaded ‘build up’ before the wet season. I’m told Darwin has two seasons. One where it’s terribly hot and humid, and summer!
This blog isn’t so much about travel, but the work that goes behind travelling. The preparation. The ‘making it happen’. You’ve probably seen those stories in the news where people throw all caution to the wind, pack the car and just drive off into the sunset. Well, we aren’t those people! Even a day trip involves ensuring we have all the right preparations – a backpack, plenty of water, first aid kit, antibacterial wipes, snacks, a plan for lunch, a spotify playlist. You name it, even a day trip requires a certain level of planning.
Furthermore, there are two types of people in this world. People that plan and make it happen, and people that don’t plan. This blog is about the people that plan. More specifically, this blog is in praise of one certain person who plans. That person? My amazing wife, Verity.
Verity is the person you want on your side. She’s the type of person that you give a massive task to do, and she can see every minute detail that needs completing to see the plan through. Our family holidays are no exception. When I started talking about going to the Northern Territory, she was googling micro details like ‘is there a supermarket in Katherine’ or ‘what is the distance from our glamping tent in Kakadu to the toilet’ or ‘how much does it cost to screen print family t-shirts?’! She sees the bigger picture and doesn’t get daunted by it. To the contrary, she relishes it. She breaks down every element into micro decisions. From flights to accommodation to food to transport – you name it, she spreadsheets it!
Our entire holiday has been mapped out on a spreadsheet. The whole kit and caboodle. It’s a work of art!
We haven’t even left yet, and I already know the holiday will be wonderful because my wife has done the most amazing job of planning and executing every detail. She knows where to buy breakfast croissants on day three. She knows how much cash we will need every day for incidentals. She knows where to find the laundromat to do our washing half way through the trip.
So the purpose of this blog really is to praise her and thank her for simply being her. I started this blog with a famous parable of Jesus, talking about the parable of the talents. You would have known how it goes, and how it ends. I know Verity has a strong faith in the Lord, and I know when it’s time for her to meet the Lord in glory he will absolutely be amazed at how she has used the gifts and talents he has given her. How she has served the communities she is involved in, using her many gifts and talents to help those around her. She is like the servant who was given five talents, and increased those talents. I’m incredibly blessed to have someone so wonderful, so talented, so outward looking as Verity.
The challenge for me constantly is am I doing the same? Am I being the good and faithful servant? Am I growing those gifts and talents that have been entrusted to me? I wonder – am I the servant that had five talents, or two, or one? Am I hiding my talents in the ground, or developing them and using them to glorify the Lord?
I can’t wait for our family trip to NT. It’s been organised, categorised, accounted for on the spreadsheet! It will be wonderful, and yes – we will be sharing a stack of photos and blogging our adventures when we CU in the NT!
Have Family, Will Adventure. 