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!