New Perspective

This blog was for the purpose of informing every one of my amazing adventures in Australia. Now I’m home… well sort of, I’m back at school in the good ole land of Illinois. My attitude the last few days has been focused on my perception that the adventure is over- now it’s back to the real world of nothing but stress and work in order to graduate in May. One thing I do know is that God is not done with me yet. Maybe life will not be as exciting as it was in Sydney. Maybe I will no longer get to take a ferry to the coast and stand on a cliff overlooking the ocean and watch an amazing sunset…. But the point is that God’s glory is everywhere- and is represented in many different ways. Maybe I will get to see it on Sunday mornings as I help with the nursery or as I stand in a chapel of thousands of students raising their hands to worship. Maybe I will get the opportunity to witness his love as I wait on tables and see someone pay for a stranger’s meal. Little miracles are happening around me on a daily basis and it’s up to me to either see them or spend my time wishing I was somewhere else. As life get’s busier, my prayer is that God will fill me up with His presence and allow me to see Him in the little things- that will be worth more than a thousand adventures abroad. 

Life After Australia

  

     Ok, so I really feel like I need to update this blog but my thoughts are so scattered I’m not sure what to write… First of all, I’m only a few assignments away from claiming the title of “senior” and that is just too crazy to process! Second, I only have less than two weeks left in Australia (three weeks till I’ll be home)! I’m so excited to be home because I miss everyone but at the same time… yeah let’s just say my emotions are up and down most days. One thing that I feel God pressing on my heart is that I can’t go back with the attitude that life is going to be boring or insignificant just because I’m going back to more “normal” activities. Wherever I go there will be abundant life and opportunities to grow personally and spiritually. This will most likely be my last blog update before leaving so I just wanted to thank everyone for their prayers and support on this journey!

 

The End is Near

      Hey blog readers, I know it’s been awhile since I’ve updated… life has been speeding by at a pace I find challenging to keep up with. Some of my activities of the past few weeks have included: working on a photography project (pictures below); exploring more of Sydney; going to an Australian football game (nothing like American football!) and finding a semi-warm day to go snorkeling (my first time!). Other days are spent attending classes, writing papers, working on projects, spending time with my host family and working at my service placement. The days are full but I always am able to get plenty of sleep which is good. J The crazy thing is that I only have about four and a half more weeks in Australia and then it’s on to New Zealand before heading home. I’m looking forward to being reunited with family and friends and soon meeting my new niece or nephew! As the time draws nearer it’s time to begin processing my time here and everything I’ve learned while at the same time preparing myself mentally and emotionally to leave. There are some things I will not miss such as waiting for the bus every day or not being able to communicate with my family when I want to. But there are other things that I will miss terribly and I have felt my heart begin to connect on a deeper level with people and places the last few weeks. No matter how I feel when I leave: whether I absolutely cannot wait to board that plane and head home, or whether I’m heartbroken as I say my goodbyes: I am grateful for my time here. I’m going to sign off on that note but thank you to whoever takes the time to read my posts and I hope to update again at some point!

Beauty in Christ

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before in a previous blog but this semester I’m focusing on memorizing Psalm 34. This wasn’t anything I had planned on previously but instead found it to be something that was really encouraging and applicable. One of the verses that has been on my mind for awhile is verse five: “Those who look to him are radiant: their faces are never covered with shame.” You know those people who are so in love with their Savior that the joy just overflows into their eyes? That’s the kind of person I picture when I read this verse and this is what I pray for in my own life. So much of the time I let my frustrations with circumstances in life or with the overwhelming presence of sin in my heart amount so that I can no longer see past any of it. This is about choosing to turn my attention to God and allowing Him to change me: He has the ability to turn my heavy heart into pure joy. These thoughts may seem scattered but sometimes how I process things is to write them down in the form of a poem so that is what I’ll leave you with:

One way into Christ’s beautiful arms

I breathe peace and see clearly

This crazy world has the potential to bring me down

I choose to go only as far as my knees.

Processing Events

   How do I go about describing everything that happens while studying abroad? Sometimes life just seems so normal as I get on the bus, attend classes, feel completely overwhelmed with the amount of school work I have: these are the things I dealt with while back in the States (minus riding public transportation). But then something happens like our trip to the outback last week- such a surreal experience and a memory that I will always treasure. On Thursday morning we loaded up onto a tour bus with our faithful driver Ian and headed for a long trip out of the city, through the Blue Mountains, and to the flat plains and red dust. It’s an eight hour drive straight through but add in the times of stopping for morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea (they feed us a lot here!) and one stop at an Indigenous center , we arrived approximately twelve hours later. The place we went to is a sheep station and we all got to bunk in the sheep shearer’s quarters. Before going to sleep that night we were presented with a challenge: to sign a sheet saying we wouldn’t shower for the next few days. This was because there were only a couple of showers for forty people but also to conserve water. Not everyone signed it but most of us did and by the end my thought was what would have been the point of showering anyway as the red dust sticks to you and everything you own anyway? I won’t go through all the details of our time there but some of the highlights were riding pick-up trucks or “utes” as they call them here, star gazing (never seen a night sky like that!), having meaningful conversations and hearing people’s stories around the campfire, playing with the many pets and seeing all the feral animals (which included a fox, a wild boar, kangaroos, an emu, and some beautiful exotic birds). Now that I’m back at school I need to switch my focus onto all my assignments that are due next week but I wanted to keep you all updated on my experiences here!

Never-Ending Adventures

      Hello blog readers! I promise I have not vanished into thin air or anything- just been super busy and internet deprived. Last week was the beginning of our school break which many of the American students have been calling “spring break” despite the fact that it is not spring here J. Speaking of the opposite seasons, the last two days have definitely felt like fall weather! I suppose I was hoping that it would stay sunny and warm for the rest of our time here but it has been quite chilly the last 24 hours or so. This weekend was beautiful though! Friday I met up with some people and we spent the day as beach bums at Manly Beach. Friday night my family rented the movie “Red Dog” which is a newer Australian film- I enjoyed watching it. Saturday I had service placement in the morning and then the afternoon was spent going to a market, and watching some free shows at Darling Harbour. Easter Sunday I spent the whole day with my host family, went to church with them, had fish and chips at the beach, and then they had a family dinner Sunday night with some of their extended family. The last couple of days have been mainly devoted to homework but I did take a trip to Watson’s Bay where there is a lighthouse on top of some cliffs- a beautiful view for sure! Tomorrow we leave for the outback; we’re taking an eight hour bus ride to a sheep station in the middle of nowhere. We’re told that it’s won’t look like the outback that we’ve probably been picturing in our heads simply because they’ve had a lot of rain and so the plants have sprung to life. Anyway, this is just a quick update on what I’ve been up to but I hope to update again soon (after the outback trip) about some of the stuff I’ve been learning! I miss everyone back home and would love to hear how you all are doing!

Work and Play

    Hello long lost blog, it’s been awhile. What have I been up to since we last talked? Good question…. Despite the deceiving pics on my facebook, I’ve actually been wasting away in a library for the most part. School has decided to pick up the pace (which I guess makes sense seeing that I’ve been here for over five weeks now). Last weekend, for our “Indigenous Cultures, History & Identity” class, they packed the American students into a bus and we headed to the South Coast, our destination- Booderee National Park. It was about a three hour bus ride to get to the campsite; we then proceeded to set up our tents, and then make our way to the botanical gardens. The Aboriginal community own and operate the park and they gave us a tour and taught us many things about the various plants, animals (including trying to get a python to come out of hiding, I made sure to back up several feet but thankfully they were unsuccessful), as well as many things about their culture. That night at camp after dinner, several of them showed us some of their traditional aboriginal dances. We then ended the night with smores (with Australia’s flavored marshmallows), stargazing on the beach, and playing card games. Unfortunately it rained that night while we slept so many people woke up in puddles (my tent stayed dry for the most part thankfully). The next morning the rain moved away and we proceeded to pack up our mud caked stuff. We had to head back to the city pretty quickly but not before stopping at “Summer Cloud Bay” where I got my first view of dolphins and learned a little more history of the area. On the way back we stopped in the town of Kiama to eat lunch, we enjoyed watching their famous blow hole spew water into the air as well as climbing on the rocks to get some amazing views. That was an eventful weekend but the days before and since has been spent preparing for a presentation, writing papers, reading, etc. It’s now Friday and I’m looking forward to my service placement, visiting churches, and maybe even… the beach? Hmm… don’t really have anything to complain about there. J