rhianwren: Wow... worn out...

I had a busy day today. Mr Grasby and I walked up Mt Ainslie... we wandered off the track, and so it was a rather steep walk. We then walked back down exiting the nature reserve at the War Memorial. We stopped for drinks and fruit salad at the 'Outpost Cafe', and then walked across to ANU. We stopped there only briefly, before we came back to my place. Mr Grasby went to fetch burgers for lunch while I gathered together the relevent paperwork so he could help me with my tax return. After we went through the basics together, he washed up and put the garbage out while I finished up the tax stuff. Then he drove me to Dickson to post it, and bought me an ice cream. The best thing was when the Obligatory Jesus Talk came up.... it was a bit different this time. He said that he had realised that as much as he would like it if I and his blood daughter would return to some kind of Christian community, it was far more important for me to be true to myself, and true to my own heart and beliefs, than for me to pretend to be something I am not just to please the people around me. He said that he now understood that I had legitimate reasons to want to distance myself from Christians and Christianity, and that by pressurising me about my relationship with Jesus he was not only pushing me away, and making me uncomfortable, but also displaying a lack of faith in Gods ability to draw me back to Him in His own time, not Mr G's. He went on to explain that he has realised that as a father he had neglected his responsibilities not only to his blood daughter, but in many ways to me aswell, to us as HUMAN BEINGS in his eagerness to ensure that we grew up into Fine Christian Women, and that he had infact let us feel neglected, and unloved, and driven us away from the God he feels such a connection to.
He said that from now on his interest in me is purely based around the fact I am a mature, young adult with wisdom in my own right, that needs a friend and a father, not as a little girl that needs Jesus. I was really touched by the whole thing. Also it was nice to know that I don't have to worry about the Obligatory Jesus Talk every time I communicate with the Grasby's. It was so nice to have a day that was kind of like hanging out with a father of my own. We found common ground in our hate of anti-intellectualism, and no-name food, and cheap shoes. Mr Grasby and I haven't really talked for over a year, as much as I love him, just cos there was always the Jesus Talk being formulated by him, and dreaded by me. Today was wonderful though.