The year past and the year to come

Well, I know it's already the 3^rd of January, but better late than never to think through the year that has been (2009) and think ahead to 2010 – the beginning of a new decade brings many new beginnings for me. In February I will begin a new job at the University of Wollongong, lecturing in English Language and Linguistics at the Language Centre. Initially it will be for 6 months, but may become longer, God willing. So that will involve moving to Wollongong (for the uninitiated, that's about 1.5 hrs drive south of Sydney), finding a new church, getting to know a new city, making new friends, somehow trying to keep in touch with family and friends in Sydney, and getting my head around a different university, its administrative systems and the curriculum I will be teaching.
The final year of the 'noughties' (BTW, what will this current decade be called?) was a very full and busy year, and I was able to witness God's work in my life in many ways. I give thanks for many things, including:

• Being able to complete my thesis on time, and the encouragement and support of friends during the writing up stage
  
• The blessing of an office on campus for the final 12 months of my PhD, and a friendly and supportive office-mate
  
• The encouragement and support of my supervisors and colleagues at uni
  
• Continued fellowship with the Lighthouse Forum at Macquarie Uni, and the work God did on campus through all the Christian groups throughout the year
  
• God's provision of everything I needed throughout all the lean and stressful times, especially the provision of work after my scholarship expired at a time when work appointments at uni were very hard to come by
  
• Safe travel to China twice, and the helpful experiences I had there at the conference and job interview
  
• Safe travel to Canberra for the inaugural Cite conference, and the great encouragement and inspiration it was to meet with other Christian academics there
  
• Safe travel to Victoria at Christmas to spend time with family
  
• Opportunities to make new friends in a number of contexts, and opportunities to share the good news about Jesus with various people
  
• The generosity of my family

I'm really thankful for this new job also, because not only will it be helpful financially (boring pragmatic reason), but it is also a really good opportunity for me to develop skills in lecturing and convening university courses. And it's a good time for me to move away from home and branch out a bit too. Wollongong is a very pleasant city, from what I've seen of it, and it's not so far from Sydney!