Subject: The Secret to More Hugs
From: <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 6 Aug 2006 09:06:29 +1000

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Issue 206 - 7 th August, 2006 	Go to our website Here
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*	Hello Warwick
*	Grandads
*	Laughter
*	Single Dads 
*	All you need is Love
*	Thought of the Week
*	Special Feature
*	News & Info
*	Dad's Prayer
*	Help Us

Hello Warwick

 

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We are fast approaching the start of our 'Good to Great' Fatherhood
Mentoring Course in early September (7th Sept). In order to provide
further information for those interested in attending this great course,
we are having an information night (17th Aug) with one of our course
speakers, Brigadier Jim Wallace, former head of Australia's crack
fighting force, the SAS.  The SAS, by reputation and historical records,
are regarded as one of the best special force units in the world.  Every
soldier undergoes a rigorous training programme which develops a broad
range of skills, including survival under the harshest conditions
imaginable.  To prove their skill they are often dropped by parachute
into a remote area, on their own, with no rations. The task is to walk
out unaided, a distance of several hundred kilometres over unhospitable
terrain without maps.

Many people have asked me, "What does SAS training have to do with the
challenge of being a great father?"  The truth of the matter is that the
challenges faced by SAS soldiers have remarkable similarities to the
challenges faced by any father, committed to becoming a great dad.

Being a father requires the mastering of many skills, one of which is
emotional survival under the harshest of conditions.  The terrain is
largely unmapped and often inhospitable.  You have to be able to keep
your cool AND your sense of humour at all times.  It is interesting to
note that over extensive discussions with Jim Wallace while formulating
the Good to Great Fatherhood Mentoring Course, Jim told me that without
a sense of humour you can't even enter Australia's SAS.  He pointed out
that a sense of humour is a sign of intelligence and usually indicates
creativity and an ability to see yourself from different point of view.
Sometimes it is the only way to keep your sanity under incredible
moments of intense pressure.  Life is tough and being a father - leading
a small platoon called a family, in a culture that at times is anything
but family friendly - can be one of the hardest things to do on this
planet.  So it is that 'Good to Great' is one of the toughest, yet
rewarding, fatherhood courses AND Brigadier Wallace is one of our
speakers.

The other reason that Jim Wallace is one
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of our 'Good to Great' Fatherhood Mentoring Course speakers is that he
is a loving father of two beautiful young ladies who love their Dad
deeply.  Maybe the gentleness evident in his life is due to all the time
he spent playing with his girls and their Barbie dolls after training
men how to kill all day back on base.  I can still remember accompanying
Jim to his home one night after a meeting at Parliament House.  It was
getting dark but, but still light enough for Jim's youngest daughter to
see her father arrive, throw open the front door, run down the path and
wrap her arms around her dad, giving him a big hug to welcome him home.
What more could a man wish for?

Lovework

Play with your daughters and their dolls when they are young.  When they
are older you will get more hugs.  Play rumbles with your sons when they
are young and when they are older they will let you beat them in an arm
wrestle.  Sure the terrain of fatherhood is tough and sometimes
inhospitable, but there ain't nothing that love can't overcome.

Yours for more hugs

Warwick Marsh

PS  If you would like to register for the 'Good to Great' information
night with feature speaker Brigadier Jim Wallace, former
Commander-in-Chief of Australia's SAS, please act now as space is
limited.  We will also have former graduates of 'Good to Great' to give
you first hand accounts of the positive effect this course has had on
their own families lives.

The free BBQ information Night will commence at 6 pm.  

The information programme commences at 7.15 pm.

Thursday 17th August 2006 

1 Railway Square Wollongong

Lighthouse Life Centre

Bookings are essential.

RSVP: Tuesday 15th August 2005 

[email-masked] <mailto:[email-masked]>  

Ph: 02 4272 6677

 ________________________________________ 

Warwick Marsh  has been married to Alison for 30 years. He is 
the father of five children, four boys and one girl, ranging in 
age from 25 years to 13 years.  Warwick is a musician, 
songwriter, producer and public speaker who likes to think he 
can still laugh at himself.

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Grandads

 

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e.jpg> 

The great man is he who does not

lose his child's heart.

Mencius

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Laughter

 
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Two guys were talking at work. 

"I've got a problem," said the first one. 

"What is it?"

"My wife has done it to me again. I'm supposed to buy my mother-in-law a
present for her birthday, from the two of us. And I am fresh out of
ideas. I mean it's HER mother, why can't she buy it?"

"What did you buy her last year?" the other one asked.

"Last year I bought her a VERY EXPENSIVE cemetery plot." 

"Hmmmm, hard to top that one," said the other.

The two guys couldn't come up with anything. So the son-in-law didn't
buy his mother-in-law anything for her birthday. 

When the big day arrived the next weekend, she was a bit upset. At the
family gathering for her birthday, she announced out loud to everyone,
"Thank you all for the wonderful gifts. Too bad my daughter and
son-in-law weren't so thoughtful!"

Thinking quickly, the son-in-law responded, "Well, you haven't used the
gift I gave you last year!"

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Single Dads 

 
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The price of Children............... 

This is just too good not to pass on to all. Something absolutely
positive for a change. I have repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost
of raising a child, but this is the first time I have seen the rewards
listed this way. It's nice. 

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from
birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle income family. Talk
about sticker shock!  That doesn't even touch college tuition. 

But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into: 
* $8,896.66 a year, 
* $741.38 a month, or 
* $171.08 a week. 
* That's a mere $24.24 a day! 
* Just over a dollar an hour. 

Still, you might think the best financial advice is don't have children
if you want to be "rich."   Actually, it is just the opposite. What do
you get for your $160,140? 
* Naming rights. First, middle, and last! 
* Glimpses of God every day. 
* Giggles under the covers every night. 
* More love than your heart can hold. 
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs. 
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies. 
* A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate. 
* A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites 
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or
how your stocks performed that day. 

For $160,140, you never have to grow up. You get to: 
* finger-paint, 
* carve pumpkins, 
* play hide-and-seek, 
* catch lightning bugs, and 
* never stop believing in Santa Claus. 

You have an excuse to: 
* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh, 
* watching Saturday morning cartoons, 
* going to Disney movies, and 
* wishing on stars. 
* You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator
magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand
prints set in clay or Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for
Father's Day. 

For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a
hero just for: 
* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof, 
* taking the training wheels off a bike, 
* removing a splinter, 
* filling a wading pool, 
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball team that
never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless. 

You get a front row seat to history to witness the: 
* first step, 
* first word, 
* first bra, 
* first date, and 
* first time behind the wheel . 

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family
tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called
grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in
psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human
sexuality that no college can match. 

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all
the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed,
patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and
love them without limits, So . one day they will like you, love without
counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!! 

Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren

________________________________________________________

This article was forwarded by Tony Miller - Dads in Distress

www.dadsindistress.asn.au <http://www.dadsindistress.asn.au>  

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All you need is Love

  

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY 'ON HOLD'
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By Lachlan Heywood

July 25, 2006

News.com.au

YOUNG couples struggling to buy their dream home are putting off
marriage and delaying having children.

A national housing summit heard yesterday how the rising cost of home
ownership is forcing couples to sacrifice quality of life.

Housing affordability has deteriorated significantly in the past 20
years, with at least 750,000 households now paying more than 30 per cent
of their income on housing.

Professor Julian Disney, who chaired the summit in Canberra, said
"crazy" house prices were having a wide-ranging impact on the community.

"In some cases, that's leading to them, for example, delaying marriages,
or quite a common impact is not having children because they don't
believe they can afford it as well as aspire to a house," he said.

"It's really a pretty grim outlook which has been building for quite a
long time."

The summit heard that average house prices relative to income had almost
doubled in the past decade. At the same time, the proportion of
first-home buyers had fallen by about 20 per cent and average monthly
payments on new loans had risen by 50 per cent.

As reported in The Courier-Mail yesterday, the gap between what people
can borrow and the cost of an average established house in Queensland
has blown out to almost $100,000.

Professor Disney warned that looming interest rate rises would
exacerbate the problem.

"Prices are still rising in most parts of Australia. Rents are now
starting to rise substantially, and that will get a lot worse," he said.
"We've got more mortgage defaults."

Yesterday's summit is part of a push for a new National Affordable
Housing Agreement between Commonwealth, state and local governments.

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Thought of the Week

 
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g> 

Spend time with your children -

making the most of the time - 

buying up every opportunity.

Taken from 10 Commandments 

for Effective Fathers

and Ephesians 5:16 Amp

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Special Feature

 
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The Cost of Child Care 

 Alan Barron's Gender Report 

The Australian Government will spend around ten billion (not millions)
in 2006-07 to provide financial assistance to help working parents meet
child minding costs, mainly through the Child Care Benefit (CCB) and the
Child Care Tax Rebate (CCTR).

CCB is a subsidy which varies according to parents' income, the number
of children in formal child-minding and the type of care. CCB is
increased every year in line with inflation to maintain the value of the
payment to families, and increased by 2.6 per cent in July 2005.  It
will increase again in 2006.

The CCTR is a non-refundable tax rebate on out-of-pocket child minding
expenses, that is, fees incurred for approved child minding less CCB.
The CCTR will cover 30 per cent of out-of-pocket expenses for families
who receive CCB and meet the work/study/training test, up to a maximum
of $4,000 per child.  Families can claim the rebate in the tax year
after child-minding expenses have been paid.  This means that families
will lodge claims for 2004-05 child-minding expenses in their 2005-06
tax return.  The Government has allocated $1 billion over four years for
the CCTR.

To give an example, of CCB, a family with two children under the age of
five in full-time child-minding for a family with an annual income of
$80,000 would be $162.43 per week.  Both parents must satisfy the work
test to receive this level of CCB.

The CCB entitlement for a family on an annual income of $45,000 with two
children under the age 5 of in approved child-minding for 50 hours per
week would be $267.42 per week.   Both parents MUST BE IN WORK, training
or study to receive this level of CCB.   If both parents do not satisfy
this requirement, the family would only be entitled to 20 hours of CCB
per child per week.  This would reduce the level of CCB that the family
is eligible to receive to $117.66 for two children in 20 hours approved
child minding per week.

As of 3 July 2006, all eligible families will be able to receive CCB for
up to 24 hours of approved child-minding per child per week, regardless
of whether they are working, studying or training.  However, in order to
receive more than 24 hours of CCB per child per week, parents will need
to undertake paid or voluntary work, or work-related study or training
for around 15 hours per week, or have an exemption from this
requirement.  Please note that it is important to look at the whole
family financial situation (including private income, Family Tax Benefit
Part A, and Part B, child-minding fees, CCB, and  CCTR when comparing
scenarios).  (Letter from Jonathan Epstein, adviser to the Treasurer,
the Hon Peter Costello, dated 26/6/06).

Comment:  In 1979, Australia signed the UN's Declaration on the Rights
of the Child.  Principle 6 of this Declaration said:  'a child of tender
years shall not, save in exceptional circumstances, be separated from
his mother.'  And in Principle 2, it stated;   'The child shall enjoy
special protection' In the enactment of laws for this purpose, the best
interests of the child shall be the paramount consideration.'

In 1979, Australia declared its intention to protect children by signing
this Declaration and apparently took seriously Principle 6, 'a child of
tender years shall not, save in exceptional circumstances, be separated
from his mother.' 

However, 27 years down the track, not only does the Australian
Government sanction the separation of a child from his or her mother,
but in fact pays them a handsome dividend for so doing.  It is clear
from the present funding of universal formal child-minding that the
interests of the child are no longer of 'paramount consideration'.

Two income families who can earn up to $80,000 per household, can
receive $162,43 per week!  The stay at home mother does not receive
anywhere nearly as much for doing the right thing and caring for her own
children in the family home.  Plus the Government spends millions or
subsidizing private and State built child-minding centers. (I don't like
'Childcare' is in my opinion it is state sanctioned child abuse).   In
1999-00 the Howard Government spent an additional $79.5 million dollars
to create an extra 12,500 child-care places.  The average family
receives about $2,000 a year in child-care benefits, which is tied to
the consumer price index.  (There are over 760,000 children in formal
child-minding. Representing about 25% of all families with children.) 

Under Labor in 1996 there were 306,000 childcare places in formal
child-minding centres.  Under the Howard Government, this has blown out
to 600,000 places. (2006 budget at a glance, issued by the Howard
Government, 13/07/06).

Alan Barron

[email-masked] 

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News & Info

Good to Great

Fatherhood Mentoring Course

for the 21st Century

Launch and Information Night

With Brigadier Jim Wallace - former leader of Australia's SAS, speaking
about, "Fatherhood, Leadership and Keys for Happy Families" plus
graduates of past Good to Great courses.

When: Thursday 17th August 2006

What: Free BBQ

Time: 6 pm

Where: Lighthouse Church, 1 Railway Square (west side of
station),Wollongong

Information Night commences 7.15 pm

RSVP: Tuesday 15th August to [email-masked] or 02 4272 6677

Good to Great Mentoring Course 

will be running for 10 weeks from:

7th September 2006 - 16th November 2006

It includes many activities for dads and their families.

Cost of the course is $250.00 which includes a course manual and a copy
of the book, 

'Fathering from the Fast Lane'.

For more information please contact:

Fatherhood Foundation
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g> 

[email-masked] 

PO Box 440

Wollongong  NSW  2520

02 4272 6677

 

________________________

 

OzFamily Life and Figtree Anglican Church present
"A Day to Treasure" : timeless principles for a great marriage. 
 
We invite you attend this special time away, a great opportunity to
listen, laugh and learn... to talk and reconnect.
Date/Time: Saturday 21st October 2006 9am to 5pm
Venue: Cedars Christian College
Cost: $80 per couple includes manuals, lunch and morning and afternoon
tea.

Affordable childcare available onsite.
For information and registration ring 
42718124

 
Peter and Shivani Tambyah
8 Cassian Street, Keiraville
NSW 2500
Australia
 
_____________________________________________
 
   Millions owing in Child Support

THE Federal Government is about to crackdown on parents -  mostly
divorced fathers - who owe almost $900 million in child-support
payments.  Read more below:

 http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20027695-421,00.html
<http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20027695-421,00.html> 
________________________________________________________
  Good Hubbies a Rare Species

AN Australian study has found what many women may already know: a really
good husband is rare. Follow the link:

 http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20035230-36398,00.html
<http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20035230-36398,00.html> 

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Dad's Prayer

 

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%202.jpg> 

 

Dear God

Couldn't you have made it 
easier to be Dad?

I mean suddenly, I find myself
holding my newborn.

No handbook, no instructions,
no anything!

Then I have the challenge to keep a positive relationship

with a busy mother who is going through 

intense hormone changes at 
the same time,

do well in my career, 

keep my cool at all times

and keep a sense of humour,

even when things are going wrong.

Don't you know that your own 
Prime Minister said,

'Life was not meant to be easy'.

If you don't overcome some challenges 

you will never become a man.

Leadership is tested in the 
fire of adversity.

How will your children know what 
life is really like 

unless you experience it first?

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How will they know the truth 

unless the truth 
first lives in you?

How will they know
how to live 
in a difficult world 

unless you can show them through your own experience?

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Help Us

Click here for more information about us
<http://www.ausheart.com.au/fathers/about/index.html>  

Help Us!

The Fatherhood Foundation is a Harm Prevention Charity. 
Fatherlessness and inadequate fathering has been proven to be a   source
of harm. 

The Fatherhood Foundation helps children by promoting excellence  in
fathering. Excellent fathers are in word and deed: responsible,
involved, protective, loving and committed to the well-being of their
children and their children's mother.

If you would like to give financially to the Fatherhood Foundation
Public Fund and receive tax deductibility:

Fatherhood Foundation Public Fund 
(Name, address and amount details must be emailed for a receipt for tax
deductibility)
Westpac Branch Wollongong
BSB: 032 695
A/C: 25-5558 

Or mail cheque and address details to:
PO Box 440
WOLLONGONG  NSW  2520
AUSTRALIA

The Fatherhood Foundation Public Fund  is a public fund listed on the
Register of Harm Prevention Charities under Subdivision 30_EA of the
Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.

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