Loving My Neighbourhood

My family and I made the move about a year ago to a small farm outside a the capital city of Australia, Canberra. It was a big decision and we turned our back on the fast pace of Sydney where we’d come from, the shops, the coffee and the food. But we also turned our back on the traffic, the pollution and the lack of space. For us it was perfect.

We had a great community of friends in Sydney but we’ve been welcomed with open arms by the rural community where we live. And it’s probably more diverse than where we used to live. There’s a Jewish family, a number of very active Christian families, quite a few hippy families, some artists and a lot of real farming families too. They all treat us with the same acceptance.

Our children are at a school with 84 students and the teachers are brilliant, the range of activities extraordinary.

But where being a member of a community has really been put to the test was over the past few months as we navigated through a huge number of tests and scans for our 8 year old as doctors worked on pinpointing the type of lymphoma he has. The support, the love and the hugs were there every day. And it’s made it so much easier.

At the end of the process we now have an excellent prognosis and a sub-type diagnosis which allows us to just monitor him by scans over a number of years with no chemotherapy. We are certainly counting our blessings and thankful for everyone’s prayers.

As a parent it really drives home the wonder of your village, your neighbourhood or your local town – and reaching out to people in times of need. Because it’ll come back to you in spades when you need it most.