Getting There!

Tuesday:



Finished Packing. Now you know how I pack.. well, I had way too much for flying over so had to try to cut down what I had to even less.. managed to downsize by 6kg but that was as far as it was going.. the rest of the excess weight I would just have to pay for. Left Coonalpyn for Adelaide.


Wednesday:


Woke up 4:30am to get to airport and catch plane to Brisbane. Arrived in Brisbane, looking forward to my day around 8am local time. It was a good day except for my bags.. two of them broke to some extent. The first split along the top which I managed to gaffa tape up.. until it split on the other side, finally fixed that up good enough with a couple of luggage straps from a cheap shop. The other bag the wheel broke.. now this was my heavy bag which I then had to carry with me everywhere around Brisbane. Watched Tangled, was good. Caught public transport to my friends place. Not a huge fan of public transport in a place I don’t know.. managed to get the right bus but missed my stop. Had an extra hour of waiting in order to catch the same bus back to the right stop and then the right bus to my friends place. Got there, caught up, chatted, was all good.


Thursday:


Woke up 4:30am to catch public transport to airport for 9am flight. Noticed bruising starting to come through from pulling my muscles carrying bag around yesterday. Got there with no further hassles as I had Wednesday. Plane had a total of 36 passenger seats for an idea of size. We were flying at a slightly lower altitude than normal and turbulence wasn’t bad at all. It was good having the opportunity to see the lay of the land where I would be living for the remainder of this year. I got off at Windorah, which was stop 4 or 5, just past 1pm. Here I was met by their niece who then took me back to Windorah. Spent the afternoon hanging around the pub (her parents run it) and chatting with her and two irish girls who are working there at the moment. Went for a swim in the creek for a bit too. Finally met the people I’m working for that evening around 7 or 8 when they came in for dinner, and to pick me up. That night there was an awesome storm that blew in. Thunder and lightning all the way around lasting for hours. Short lived heavy rain and small hurricane strength winds. Went storm chasing with them for a little while too. I’ll tell you what, it was a great welcome for me to the place. Anyway, due to the circumstances ended up staying in town for the night at the motel. Oh yeah, the boys are gorgeous.


Friday:


So, after a slow start, finally headed out to Keeroongooloo. It took about 1 ½ hours, 2 cars, and wet pants. Can’t drive across the creek at one point still so had to leave the car and walk across about 500m of creek (up to my hips in some places) and then jump in another car left on the other side. Got a quick tour.. our place, your hut, kitchen, school room.. there’s other building around as well but I don’t know what they all are yet. Oh yeah, I have my own place, my hut as they call it.. got a verandah, bedroom, spare room, bathroom, and ‘lounge’ room. It’s not much but considering I had no idea what I was getting I think it’s great!

My 'Hut'

So, what else.. There 5 fella’s here at the moment working, at least one more coming that I know of, and the cook.. a 70 year old lady whom I hear is lovely. The heat is stifling but I don’t mind that too much, and there’s air-conditioning.. thank goodness! I caught a mouse as it jumped out of an air conditioner when I first got here.. it bit me but then I got revenge.. not that revenge is a good thing. I found a frog in the toilet bowl.. after I’d used it.. I was extremely grateful it didn’t jump. Mentioning frogs, there’s plenty of them here, along with mice, lizards, and spiders.. but mainly it’s the frogs which are visible and annoying.

Excitement plus, hey! God Bless.

Endings and Beginnings

Don't really have much to say today but thought I had better put something up as I am leaving tomorrow morning and I have a feeling that the next couple days are not going to leave me feeling like updating this thing anytime soon so..

I mentioned last time that I really do not like goodbyes. Part of this is because it is a focus on the past, on what has been, and sometimes we just get too caught up in this to look forwards to where we are heading, to where God is guiding us.

You know that saying that sometimes when a door closes another one opens. Well sometimes it seems like there is no other door, there is just a room with one door in and out.. look for a window! Not everything is in our face, or obvious, but God is always there for us and if we go the wrong way, He will put us back on the right path.

What I am looking at at the moment is a new beginning, and I am excited to be going and trying to find out what God has in store for me. After all, we are to spread the gospel and do his work, not just sit back in our comfort zone with our friends and family around us, but to keep them while going forth and making new ones as well.

So, let us be strong, unafraid, and go forth! After all, if we are with God, we know that no matter what happens it will all be okay in the end, as He knows what is best for us, even more than we do!

God Bless.

Goodbye

I don't know about you, but I really don't like saying goodbye. The way it gets awkward because you know it's going to be the last time, at least for a while that you're going to see this person. How you don't quite know when to let go, whether to hold on for longer or just get it over with quick. The way it actually signals that it is the end of something and so you can't quite hold onto it the same way any longer.

Most of the time I like to just slip away un-noticed and avoid the goodbyes altogether. This is partly due to my dislike of attention and partly because it brings everything into attention.

Just recently I was 'surprised' with a surprise farewell that some of my friends organised for me and I am ashamed to say that I wasn't very good about it. At least at first anyway. Having just been greated by a room full of smiling faces my response was sorry, the surprise didn't work. My natural reaction to anything slightly surprising or which catches me off guard is defence. So automatic reaction is BARRIERS UP! DEFEND! Don't let anyone see what is actually going on inside.

It is only afterwards that I actually realise what has already been done though and it is too late to alter things or make an apology without bringing it all up again. But more than this my focus was on myself at that moment in time and not on those others in the room. My friends whom God has blessed into my life. That they had taken the time out to come and sneak in to surprise me. That they had organised this for me. I felt so very loved and overwhelmed at the same time that I could do nothing more than hide it and hurl unkind words.

So, I am sorry. And I am very thankful. Please forgive me. I feel very blessed to know that you consider me a friend and are willing to put in the time and effort to see me before I leave. I pray now that I too may be a worthy friend to you, that I too may be able to put in that time and effort to keep up with each of you even while I am absent.

God Bless.

New Year

tick. 3. tick. 2. tick. 1. tick...

It is but a moment yet it can mean so much. What were you doing as midnight ticked over this New Years Eve to herald in the year of 2011? Perhaps you were asleep insistant that it is just another day. Perhaps you were out with friends enjoying the chance to celebrate. Perhaps you were at home with family. Perhaps you were on your own.

I do not know how your year has begun but this I can say.. how my year began! A lot has happened throughout 2010 and there is a lot to look forward to in 2011.. a lot that I know of, and even more that I do not know. More than anything in each coming year the thing I look forward to the most is what God has in store for me, what it is that he will teach me, and how through that I will come closer to him yet still.

This year as it began I was travelling, on my own, towards a celebration with friends. While it was slightly disheartening not to be there that little bit earlier I would not change it for the world. As it was getting closer to that moment in time I was reflecting on all that had happened, all that I had learnt in that year, and as that moment in time passed I was in prayer.

For all that has been since the beginning of time, for all that God has done, for the year just been, and the yera to come, for those around me, those whom are close and those not quite so much - and those whom I am yet to meet, for all the bad times and the good times, and in everything I am thankful and in everything I asked that it would be for Him, and through Him, with Him as our guide that we may stand and move forward to embrace the unknown of the year ahead and what it has in store for us all.

I know some people who try to give each year a label at the beginning.. the year of fulfillment, the year of fun, the year of negativity, the year of continued pretended normality. Well following this I thought I would give this year a label.

2011.. the year of PRAISE amidst many CHANGES.