here i am in canberra, our nation's capital, at a conference. we have around 750 students spread out over four colleges, doing a number of activities, and coming up to us every so often with questions little and big. yesterday i ate breakfast in ten minutes, went into the office at 8.00am, had a 15 minute lunch and dinner, and went out of the office at 11.00pm. my legs are very sore...

given that kind of day, it's interesting to note the various approaches when people have a problem with something. they will either be apologetic and say "you guys are doing great work, we really appreciate it" or they will be belligerent and inconsiderate, behaving as though they are the only people in the universe and we are here to cater specifically to them. not so unusual you might say, particuarly if you work in a 'customer service industry'. but the problem here is that all the students are Christians.

someone once said to me that as Christians we tend to hold other Christians to a higher standard, that we expect more of their behaviour and maybe overlook the fact that they are human and therefore flawed. maybe so, on some occasions, but in this instance i expect people, Christians or not, to be aware that when there are 749 other people around they might have to, i don't know, stand in line and wait...

tired. soooo tired. going to have dinner now. pasta bake. mmmmm.....