I hate the saying "all good things must come to an end."

We left Brisbane this morning.

Not a happy day.

It was so sweet - we had 14 people come to the airport to see us off. We definitely had the biggest group at our gate, anyway! And yes, in Australia you can still go all the way to the gate with people - remember those days? It was a mix of the families we stayed with and some of the people our age also. How sweet!

I was just fine, dry-eyed when I was going around the goodbye-circle at the gate until I came to Doug, the daddy that we stayed with the longest. I started to tear up then...and when I got to Mandy, I lost it. She was crying a lot too. As was Josh, their 10 year old son - just about broke my heart!

Gosh, it was hard to leave. I've never had such a close family away from my true family before - but that's the wonderful thing about the body of Christ. We truly were bonded as sisters and brothers. And I learned so much from the families I stayed with, as well as the other people I got close to in the church. I was blessed so much by having some tell me that they had learned from me as well, and that I had blessed them while I was there. It was so encouraging, because I have doubted at times whether I had really made an impact or whether I was the only one coming away with anything. But who was I to doubt that the Lord really can work, even through someone like me??

So now I'm sitting at Kiah Ridge campsite outside of Sydney, and I'm about to go through the debriefing-sharing-processing period. I'm not really looking forward to that, but I know it's good and necessary so I will try and get the most out of it! That way I will be ready to talk about my experiences when I get back. I think I've already discussed how I have issues talking about trips right afterward - well, I think these two days should help with that. It has been fun catching up with the others who were in Australia this summer though - I'm remembering how much fun they are! It should be a good day tomorrow I suppose :)

Today in Sydney was so fun too! It was so lovely - the Opera House truly is stunning, and Darling Harbor is just gorgeous. I took heaps of photos - I'll upload when I get home and have time! I'm so glad I got to see Sydney for a little bit before I left. We had about 4 hours to walk around the city, so we got to enjoy it. It was a great day outside too, not too cool!

Love you all, I'll be home so soon!

Less than one week.

Wow.

How fast this summer has gone by! It's strange - there were times that it really seemed to be going slowly, but now at the end it seems that it was just yesterday that I got here. And yet, I'm so close to all of my new friends and "family" that it seems like that I've actually lived here all along. (I don't mean that literally, Mom...I know where my home is!)

So, we leave Queensland on Wednesday. That means we have 3 more whole days here. I've gotten to the point where I almost don't want to have to do the whole goodbye thing, I'd almost rather slip away quietly. It's going to be too sad. Goodbyes are never fun. But I know that we will be doing a good bit of them on Sunday night. The Heinrich's are hosting a "supper" (which is the meal that comes after dinner here) after church partially as a goodbye for us. It will be good, but I don't want to leave people. And part of me is just ready for this next week to be over with, and to be back home. It will be all goodbyes, a painful attempt to discuss my experiences with other people, and over 24 hours of traveling.

God, give me strength for this last stretch.

I have this problem with the end of every one of my travels - I have issues with discussing what happened to me with others who weren't with me. I'm aware of the problem, but that doesn't change the fact that when I get back, it's always hard for me to tell people about what I did, what I learned, what I experienced. That's one reason I blogged - to share my experiences and what I've learned with people while it's happening instead of trying to explain it all afterwards. I tend to have a hard time sorting it all out in my head for a few days until sometimes a week afterward. So, don't be offended if you ask about my trip and I don't feel like talking about it or I have a hard time explaining it - it's not you, it's me.

This post is starting to sound a bit depressing and melancholy, but that's not really how I feel. I'm content with where I am. I'm so thankful that God allowed me to come here this summer. Part of me still can't believe I'm actually in Australia. I'm ready to return home, back to normal life, yet I can't stand the thought of leaving all of these wonderful people. But it will be alright. It always is, and God is with me - though I leave friends behind in life, He will never leave me and I will never leave Him. It's so amazing to think about.

I'm not really sure that this post has even made much sense, but I'm going to go now and try and catch some sleep. Good night to you all!

Play time!!

Hello!

So, for the last few weeks that we're here, it's mostly play, a little work! Hooray! We have had so much fun lately and we're getting to relax a little, enjoy our time. I caught the virus that Cameron had during Youth camp and so I was a little sick last week, but all better now.

This past weekend we had SO much fun going down the coast with the Marriott's. We went to watch and hang out with the Christian Surfers, then went to "The Shack" - the Farley family's beach house. While we were there, we went to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary...it was so wonderful. We got to hold a koala (named George), feed and pet kangaroos, feed rainbow lorikeets, and see heaps of Aussie animals (such as Tassie devils, wombats, echidnas, etc.) What a cool experience! Then we got to hang out with some of the wonderful families that I have grown to love all night. The next day we went to another cool marketplace and slowly made our way back. Such a fun little trip!

This is an interesting time period for me. I am not doing as much "work," so we're getting to do some things we want to do before we leave, and of course hang out with all of our friends. But I find myself having to remember the real reason why I'm here, and the fact that I'm still on a mission to spread the gospel and the be the salt and light. It's good for me to grow accustomed to living the mission out daily, and it's a mindset that I want to carry over when I return home.

I also am at such a weird place because we have so little time left. Part of me is eager to see family, friends, and especially Will, and yet a large part of me cannot stand the thought of leaving my new family and friends here. I am looking forward to seeing everyone back home, but I am trying to fully live out every minute that I am still here - I don't know if I'll ever get an opportunity like this again! I ask God constantly to remind me of the work He has for me, of the reason I'm here, and to help me make the most of my time.

We have two more Supa Clubs this week, and that's pretty much it for the "work" that we are doing. We're getting to go to the Australia Zoo on Wednesday - hooray!

Love you all-

It's been a long week!

Hello all!

Wow, what a long week! It has been a while since I wrote last for that reason.

So...Winter Youth Camp '09! Incredible. We went up to Mt. Tambourine for the camp, which was a little cold but so nice. There were over 40 kids, most from Cleveland Baptist but some from another church in the area called Birkdale Baptist. Three of the leaders that came were also from Birkdale, including their youth leader who led worship (which I also helped with despite having a bit of a cold - not the best singing I've ever done!)

The camp was based around a Focus on the Family program called No Apologies; this is their Abstinence program. It is such a great program, really focusing on the emotional and spiritual reasons for not having sex before marriage instead of just the physical reasons (pregnancy, STDs, etc.) The kids get most of the physical reasons in school, so it was great to get to talk about other reasons to stay pure that many hadn't considered before.

We were up at the camp from Monday morning until Thursday afternoon. Unfortunately, Cameron wasn't able to come because she was sick with a viral throat infection :( But I had so much fun with the other leaders and the campers. Many of us were somewhat sick with colds and such but we didn't let that ruin our fun. In between sessions, we had games, free time, and obviously food. Ryan and Brenny, two of the male leaders, came up with a bunch of fun games for the kids to play, and they had a great time. The pinnacle of the camp was probably Wednesday night, when we split the girls and guys into separate groups in order to talk about the more delicate subjects, such as "how far is too far," points of arousal, how to show respect to the opposite sex (eg., girls not wearing revealing clothing to help out the guys), and stuff like that. The session went on for around 3 hours, which is HUGE for kids their age, because the girls kept asking so many questions and were so eager to learn more. Many had never heard that type of information and were keen as to know anything that could help them. It really was an incredible night of openness, honesty, humility, and bonding for the girls and for the guys. It was so wonderful!

I got to reunite with Cameron on Thursday, and it was so good to see her! She's feeling much better now. Friday we slept in late and just chilled-out the whole day, relaxed after the hard week. On Saturday, we woke early to go with the Heinrich's to go up to the Sunshine Coast - so fun! We went to a place called Eumundi where they have a HUGE market with so much food, clothing, crafts, souvenirs, etc. Then we drove to Caloundra to hang out on the beach and watch the surfers. We went to a GREAT gelato place there too - yum! We drove back and met up with Mr. & Mrs. Jenkins, who took Cam and me to an AFL footie game. SO fun! It's such a different sport - much like rugby, but with totally different rules (which is why they call it Aussie Rules - only Australians play the game this way, like how we are the only ones who play American football our way.) It was a face paced sport with probably more skill required than rugby, and was very entertaining to watch. They don't smash people as much as in rugby though, so some people don't like it as much, but I thought it was great. And our team, the Brisbane Lions, killed the other team! Hooray!!

Sunday, I had to get up early again to help lead worship, and then we moved into the Marriott's home for a week. I'm so excited about getting to know this family better and hanging out with them for a bit! We will be back to the Heinrich's for the last bit though.

Well, I need to go do some reading for the online class I'm taking (getting this class all sorted out has been a headache in itself!) so I'll go on now. I'll try and upload a picture from camp or something later on. Ciao!

Surf's Up

Well, I survived VBS week. Hallelujah!

I helped plan this event since the first day I got to Cleveland. Meaning there were four weeks of my helping plan for this 5 day event. Five very, very long days. The kids were actually only there from 9-12, but it felt much, much longer. And there was so much else we had to do in preparation in the week before, the weekend before, and especially each morning and afternoon afterward. So...I'm glad to be done! But it really was a fun week.

The theme was "Surf's Up," so the whole place was decorated with beachy, surfy things. Eg, surfboards, flippers, beach towels, beach balls, posters of surfers or the beach, etc. It looked really great. All of the games were surf or beach themed, including sand-castle building competitions (yes, we had to haul in sand for that one!) The teaching time was also somewhat beach themed.

Cameron and I had a lot of work! We planned the morning games every day, directed/acted in the dramas, led small groups of kids, helped Chris with the teaching time, and really whatever else they needed. We were kind of the "go to girls" for any random thing that was needed. We also had helped a lot with the admin-type stuff in the weeks before. We had so much fun with it. It was fun getting to be a kid again, thinking as a kid thinks, trying to decide what would be most entertaining and fun for them.

The last night, we had a "luau" family-night. The kids brought their parents and we all had pizza for dinner. We had prizes for the week's competitions, a demonstration of all the songs over the week (which are STILL stuck in my head!!), had a true-blue surfer come and speak, and showed a slideshow of pictures from the week. It ended up being a very fun night, and I was exhausted at the end!!

All of the kids were so precious. I really got pretty close with the sweet kids in my group, and it was so good to get to meet their parents last night. How fun! I'll have to put up a picture of some of them.

Anyway, it's officially the Fourth of July here, as well as in the States! It is past midnight when I am typing this where you all are! This is the third Fourth that I have been away from home, so it's a little bittersweet. However, my darling mother sent me some Fourth of July goodies so I can celebrate, and my sweet family here (the Heinrich's) are putting on a little party tonight. We're having two other families over, and we're going to have fried chicken, corn on the cob, baked potatoes, ice cream and apple pie. Yum!! Should be fun.

Well, that's a little bit of an update with me. I'm still fighting the lethargy after mono, so this week was a little hard at times for me. Keep praying for my health, please. Monday we leave for Youth Camp, so it's going to be a full-on week again. Pray that I won't be too worn-out! I'll be there from Monday through Thursday, then I'm pretty sure that the Heinrichs are going to take us up the coast for a few days too for a little break! Should be fun.

Love you all!