home is where the heart is

I missed a lot of things about home this week: family, friends, mexican(always), sanctuary, church, school, you name it, the list goes on and on... Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not sitting at home pouting all day, but at various times, I'm reminded of where I've come from and how many people love and support me while I'm away. And it always humbles me. So thank you, thank you for taking the time to read my blog and still stay connected with me while I'm gone. I'm a firm believer in the saying: "you don't realize how good you've got it, until it's gone".

This past week has been a really good one, though. I was able to get a lot of work done for church and still have some time for myself. I never thought creating your own schedule or being your own boss, would be such a difficult thing; believe me I've only just started being half way successful at it. Wednesday was a work day, I spent most of the day in front of the computer and then went to Cath's house to have dinner with her and a couple of her friends. Thursday was a calm day; me and Amy went and saw a movie and then I had a leader's meeting for church that evening. It was a really encouraging meeting, we talked about the possibility of going to India in Jan. of 2007. I would love to see Westchurch take that opportunity. Friday I went for a run with my friend Sian, then me and Helen had our weekly prayer time, and spend the rest of the day planning a 50th Birthday party for a lady at church. Friday night there was about 15 of us that went to Floreat Beach and had a barbque and played some volleyball. It was so encouraging; several of the youth brought some of their friends along for the first time. Afterwards, I took some of the younger girls out for some coffee at a posh coffee place in Subi. Then, as if that wasn't enough, I drove out to the airport with the Nevill's to pick up Sam, who had been in the states for about 3 months. I don't think I got home til 2:30am. Saturday was a busy day as well; spent the morning running errands for the party, then went to Anna and Brenton's wedding, and the rest of the night, I organized LeeLee's 50th birthday. I really think I should go into event planning or something. So far since I've been here, I've helped do a fundraiser, a wedding reception, and now a birthday party. I think I've found my next calling...I'll just hang onto that one for a while. And today was church, we went and ate at King's Park for lunch and then I went into Subi to the markets to buy some fresh fruit and veg for the week. It's like a mad house in there; seriously, you can get a black eye over a good piece of produce if you're not careful!

the hottest day this summer

Yes, it is upon us as I type this. It is 42C, which is comparable to about 100F, and it is so hot! I've spent the day in and out of buildings which had air conditioning, or air con as the aussies like to call it. It is rare to find a house with air conditioning in Perth, so everyone retreats to the shops or movies to sit in the cool air on these hot days. Most of the time you get a nice ocean breeze, so everyone just opens up the house and it'll cool things down nicely, but sometimes the heat is just too overwhelming and you are stuck feeling rather sicky all day.

Tuesdays are my day off, so I usually spend the day doing whatever I want, putting whatever church stuff I have on for the week on hold. This morning I met my friend Liz at a Dome coffee shop in Subi and we sat and chatted for a good two hours. It was really nice catching up with her. Then we walked around Subi and I did some shopping, there were some really good sales on and I couldn't pass up tank tops for $5, especially in this heat. I'm a sucker for a bargin. Afterwards, I went to a mall and just walked around, hoping to find more bargins. Luckily, I found none and went to my local Dome and ordered lunch and pulled out my huge book, The Chronicals of Narnia, and finished The Magican's Newfew. Great story, based on the story of creation. And then I ventured back home to take care of some things around the house, aka: a nap. I'm pretty sure me and Helen are making Mexican tonight, I just can't get enough of it and then I'm off to my Bible study with the girls. We're following a study called A Beautiful Offering and it's been so encouraging, I recommend it for any women's group.

The photos are of Helen's house, the house that I am living in while in Perth; Billy, Sue Simmon's little boy from church who I babysit occasionally; and Helen, Darienne and Anita. Helen is in the middle of the girls. So don't worry, I'm being looked after!

wacky weekend

Friday, I went into a local high school, St. Stevens, to eat lunch with a couple youth from our church. Since I had never gone before, I just sat at a table near the canteen, and waited until I saw some familiar faces. High school is so funny, everything seems so much smaller once you've been away from it for a couple years. After sitting for about 20 minutes, Jade finally found me and I ate with her and her friends in what they call "houses". Apparently each student belongs to a house, probably similar to what we called "teams" in middle school, which is just a tag for the same teachers and the same classes. At least, I think that's how it works. Friday night was youth group, we went and played Wacky Putt at Hillary's. This mini-golf course was unique in that each hole had a different prank for you to experience. Most of the holes just squirted you with water or when you went to reach for your ball, something alarming happened. Definitely great entertainment for the evening. I'm hoping for more kids at the next one: "If you build it, they will come".

Saturday morning me and some of the girls got together and made breakfast at Cath's house, we were stuffed by noon. Then, me and Hayley hung out at her house and watched way too many Gilmore Girls episodes. I don't feel so bad admitting that, considering that Josh is probably more addicted to the show than us. Sunday morning was an early start. I put my foot in my mouth and told my friend Steve I liked to go running, and he said, "Oh, what about a run bright and early Sunday morning?" So we went for a brisk run and then I hurried to church. The song leader had me sing with him actually in the front, which is an upgrade from singing in the back into the microphone. The service was really nice and Josh began his lessons on John, I love the gospel of John. After service, me and some of the girls had a hen's party to go to for our friend Anna, who is getting married on Saturday. We had the party in King's Park, it's absolutely beautiful and green there, I always feel like a kid in a candy shop, so much to explore. Sunday evening I went to church with my friend Sian, who I went up north with me on our trip to Exmouth. She goes to Mount Hawthorne Baptist, their praise and worship is so uplifting, I haven't experienced that in a while, it was really nice. It made me really appreciate Sanctuary back in Nashville, I would love it if we could get something like that started here. After church, we went to the Universal Bar in the city and listened to a Jazz band, Sian knew some of the guys in the band. It was a great atmosphere, and of course, I found my way to the dance floor.

Today has been pretty uneventful, except for an incident this morning. On my way to Care group, I was stopped for a random breath test. They made me pull into a parking lot and asked for my license and checked my car. I thought great, American driver's license, but they only made a few jokes about North Carolina and let me on my way. I don't know what it is about uniforms that makes me so nervous, and then I think, well, if you act nervous, they're going to be suspicious, and you have nothing to be nervous about. But then that usually makes me more nervous because I'm trying to act normal, but I'm obviously nervous. Does that happen to anyone else? All in all, I wasn't deported and everything is ok, just another day in the life of duty.

An afternoon in Rockingham

I spent the day in Rockingham, which is about a 45-minute drive south of Perth, with my friend Ilona. We had lunch at a cafe on the foreshore and then walked along the path that is close to the water after lunch. We sat on the beach and chatted for about an hour. Unfortunately, half of my face was exposed to the sun, so half of my face is now sun burned. It's a good look. Rockingham is a really cute town, it had a nice feel to it and the foreshore was gorgeous. I enjoyed spending the day there. The last time I tried to go and visit her, I got a flat tire, but luckily, that didn't happen this time. The other photo is from when me, Amy and Ryan went to get coffee yesterday morning and I thought it would be a funny photo if they got on the kiddie carousel.

Tonight I plan to sit in front of the tv and watch LOST, I'm so addicted, it's bad. They've just started up season two here, so everyone is into the show at the moment. I'm one of those annoying people that keeps turning up the volume if there are other people in the room talking. Eventually it gets so loud, you have no idea what's going on. Or I just tell people to leave the room. My parents can vouch for my obsession with the show. I used to hate following tv shows or I would never watch tv to begin with, and then there was LOST, and the rest is history. So, think what you will about me now that I've exposed my weakness, but don't point the finger until you've sat through an episode, it's so addicting.

Valentine's Day Dinner

Yesterday, me and Amy and a couple of the girls from the Perth church put on a Valentine's Dinner for the all the singles at both churches. We had it at Amy's house and it was a huge success. There were about 20 of us all together and we shared a meal and watched a movie(Remember the Titans) on Amy's lawn afterwards. The weather has been so warm here, so last night was a perfect evening to spend outdoors. The boys even brought us some flowers, which was thoughtful. Me and Amy explored all the different ways in which we could incorporate our roses into different photos. We are easily entertained.

Today will be a work day, lots of things to prepare for this week. I hope to go and eat lunch at St. Steven's on Friday, which is a high school in Perth. Several of the youth go there, and hopefully I can meet some of their friends and spend time getting to know them. Tonight, me and Cath are having our high school girls group, which we will spend the evening playing sport on the beach or something. I forget how crazy 14-year-old girls can be, but they keep us on our toes!

my backpacking trip to Walpole

These photos are from a backpacking trip that me and three of the youth from Westchurch went on in the beginning of January. We backpacked for three days and joined up with a group from the Perth Church of Christ. The terrain was extremely challanging at some points during the trip, but we managed and I just kept looking up when we were hiking ENORMUS sand dunes. After we got to the end of the track, we went back to the place we camped at the first night, called The Valley of Giants, named after the giantic trees, and did a tree-top walk. It was incredbile; Amy was a little weary of heights, but we all encouraged her to keep going! Walpole is in the south of Western Australia and the surroundings are so different compared to the coastal terrain Perth has to offer. It was much cooler down there and the trees were incredible to look at, I felt so small standing among them. All in all, it was a great trip and I learned how much your body is capable of if you push it a little.

The weekend was pretty slow. It's been really warm and humid here, so we've been trying to stay in water as much as we can. Luckily, Sue from our church has a pool and we tend to drop by regularly for a quick dip! Friday night, Sue invited me to stay for dinner after I had been for a swim. I babysit her little boy Billy sometimes, so it was really nice to spend time with them. Friday night, I sat in the comfort of Helen's house and watched the Grammy's by myself. It was great. Me, Hayley and Amy decided to do a 40-hour fast beginning at 8pm Friday night and we ended it at noon on Sunday. So, Saturday was a little painful, going without food is a lot harder than you think! We spent time occupying our minds by watching Gilmore Girls and making invitations for a lady at church who has asked us to plan her 50th birthday party. Me and Amy think we should go into business planning parties, we've been helping with quite a few lately. And Sunday is always busy with church. We had a church meeting after the service, which I gave a compeling youth report and we talked more about the possibility of combining with the Perth church. All the discussions were fairly positive and we are working on moving forward with our meetings. Sunday evening a few of us went up north to Ocean Reef to visit another congregation. I was pleasantly surprized to see Ryan Deetlef who had just come back from his big trip around the world. I almost didn't regonize him. The Deetlef family invited me and Amy to stay for dinner and we didn't end up leaving until around 10:30pm. They are such a warm and loving family, it made me miss mine so much. Their middle son, Lee, reminds me so much of my brother, it's kinda spooky.

And Monday has been filled with lots of work. We're planning a Valentine's Day Dinner for all the singles of both churches, so we've been running around everywhere trying to get organized for it. I'm still convinced that Valentine's Day is a holiday created by american greeting card companies, and they've still managed a way to invade their propaganda on Australia.

my trip to Exmouth

I thought I would post some photos up from my trip up to Exmouth the day after Christmas. Exmouth is about a 17-hour drive north from Perth and it's known for it's warm weather and nice spots for snorkling. On the way up, me and the three of my friends who I went with, decided to stop in a national park called Karijini. It's known for it's goregous(ha!) gorges and natural pools that formed in the bottom of them. We actually hiked down into the bottom of them and swam in a little oasis. It was incredible, one of those times during your life when you questioin whether what you are experiencing is real or not. The photo of the beach is where we went snorkling, it's called Turquiose Bay and again, absolutely beautiful. I didn't want to get out of the water, so many fish and beautiful coral, I even spotted a couple sea turtles and swam after them.

Monday evening I went with a couple of my friends who I went up north with, Simon and Sian, to a Christian camp that was for college students. There's an organization at the universities here called the Christian Union and it's sort of like a christian outreach on the different uni's around Perth. I really enjoyed the speaker Monday night and was excited to learn about another opportunity to reach non-christian students in Perth. Tuesday was my day off, so I spent the day with my friend Sian again and we ventured down to the beach. We, unknowingly, fell asleep on the beach and woke up a little red. Bad move on our part. Me and some of the girls from church had our weekly Bible study last night, we're doing it on a book called "A Beautiful Offering", it's great, I strongly recommend it.

Something that has been really confronting for me the last couple of days is the idea of having a real hunger and thrist for God. If you think about it, when you're hungry or thristy, you immediately go for something to eat or drink. In the same way, when we are feeling low spiritually, we should go to God for him to quinch our hunger. But so often we turn to other things, things that leave us feeling more empty afterwards. Going straight to the source, God, will fulfill our needs every time. The more and more we go to him, the more and more we fall in love with him. It seems so easy, right?

this is my first post on my new blog

i've been threatening to create this for a couple months now, and i've finally done it. i hope you guys enjoy some of the things i can share with you through this. my life in Perth is very different to what i've been used to the last couple years as a college student. i wish i can say i've made the adjustment successfully, but sadly, i've still got a a lot to learn. working with Westchurch has been incredible, i've got a wonderful support system here and an awesome church family. the youth are eager to grow in their faith and we're always looking for new ways to do that. currently we are looking at joining with another church in the area, the Perth church of christ, and we had a combined service with that church yesterday. it was really encouraging to see the numbers increase at the service and more and more of the members are getting excited about the change ahead. since i've been here, they've recruited me to sing on the praise team in the mornings, to help with the songs, since some members aren't as familiar with them. that's been very new to me, i don't claim to have a good voice, but i am eager to help where help is needed and i don't mind making a fool of myself for God. so, singing on the team yesterday was a little stressful, but i think it was recieved well. after church me and couple of the young people went and ate lunch in a part of town called Northbridge and then we went and watched a game of cricket. some of our guys were playing at an oval near by. i don't understand cricket and was easily distracted by the idea of a swimming pool, which we eventually left the field to go and find. it's summer here in perth at the moment, so it can get really warm! our friend sue simmons from church has a pool and graciously invited us over for a swim. it was nice; me and my two friends amy and ilona jumped straight in without any hesitation. and last night, several of the youth got together to celebrate our friend Kim's birthday. we ate at a restaurant called Fasta Pasta and shared a great time of fellowship. some of the photos are from the past weeks: me and Amy at Josh and Hayley's celebration of marriage, me and the crew enjoying Australia Day festivities, and the girls group that me and Cath James have started up for Thursday nights.