Australia...

We've been doing more traveling around again! This week we visited Hillsong, Canberra, Collaroy (drove by Clondarf on the way), and hung out in downtown Sydney. More details below:

Sunday - Hillsong
On Sunday we visited Hillsong. To be completely honest... I didn't really enjoy it that much. It was a good experience and I'm glad I visited, but I don't think I could do it every week. There were some good things that I learned and some things that I didn't appreciate quite as much. I think I was one of the only ones from our group that didn't get too excited about it.

Monday - Canberra
Monday morning, we went to the Canberra War Memorial. Australia was founded as a nation in 1901 – not so long ago. So the only wars they have been involved in were the two World Wars. We didn’t do a whole lot more in Canberra, which I was kind of disappointed about. I feel like there is still a lot of Australian history that I don’t know a whole lot about... but there will definitely be more opportunities to learn about it in the future.

Monday was also declared “Boost Brent’s Ego Day." It was definitely a lot of fun. We made comments all day like, “Brent, you’re such a good driver,” “Brent, you do such an excellent job eating candy bars,” “Brent, you do such a good job taking care of us,” "Brent, I don't know anyone else who can finish off a Solo can like you" (Solo is a really good carbonated lemonade drink they have here). There were definitely a lot more of those types of comments, but I can’t remember very many of them. Although the whole day was kind of a joke, I really do appreciate Brent’s leadership. We’re really going to miss him when he leaves us in China. He really does take care of us well.

Collaroy Highlights (Tuesday & Wednesday)
You all might get a little upset with me. In my journal I found myself writing: "Here I sit in the beautiful sunshine by the ocean complaining because I have two days to do nothing but relax by the beach. This is definitely ridiculous." I'm ashamed to admit it... but that's honestly how I was feeling. There wasn't a whole lot to do in Collaroy besides go to the beach. And since I’m not much of a beach girl, I was kind of disappointed. I only spent probably a total of one or two hours on the beach. But I ended up having a good time (even though our hostel kind of grossed me out at times... I don't think you would have liked it, Mom).

The good things that happened:

• Katie and I went to see the movieKite Runner. It was intense, but so worth seeing. What an incredible picture of what Jesus Christ did for me. Just as Amir scorned Hassan and mistreated him… and Hassan took Amir’s beatings (shed blood for him) – my Jesus has done for me. I am so unworthy of His incredible lovingkindness.
• On Wednesday morning, Katie and I made pancakes for everyone. It was so much fun! I loved being able to greet our team members with a cheery “Good morning!” as they walked into the kitchen. I’ve been craving chocolate chip pancakes (with peanut butter) for the longest time. A longing fulfilled is indeed sweet. :)
• Wednesday afternoon, about seven of us went to one of the Australian national parks and hiked around for about 2 hours. We were actually in the Australian Bush, which is kind of exciting to say. We caught a glimpse of a wallaby (no kangaroos, unfortunately) and saw more spiders than I ever care to see again. These spiders were humongous – most of them as big as the palm of my hand… and very poisonous (I think that’s what bright colors mean). There were a few times we almost walked into their webs. It was at those times that I was incredibly thankful for my short stature and others leading the way. All of us returned to the van unscathed and had the opportunity to drink in some beautiful mountainous forest scenery. I preferred this much more than the beach.
• On Wednesday evening, I met a girl from Corsica. I can’t remember her name… I think it was something like Acheela. She speaks French and is your classical postmodern European. We had so much fun together, though. We talked for hours (literally) and spent a lot of that time laughing together. We got kind of bored of sitting, so we walked through the halls of the hostel – which took all of five minutes. It was fun to share our stories with one another.

Our Last day in Sydney...

Today was our last official day in Australia. I can’t believe how quickly the time has flown by! We left the hostel around 10:00 and spent the majority of the day in downtown Sydney. We originally were planning to visit the Botanical Gardens. However, it was almost a torrential downpour for a good part of the day. So, Katie, Kari and I ended up finding a cozy place to sit at Starbucks with some warm coffee and sweet conversation. I like those girls a lot.

I don’t feel too nostalgic about leaving Australia. This is probably in due part to our short amount of time here. I do wish that I would have been exposed to more of the history and culture of Australia. Although, there were some aspects of the culture that I would have been just fine without being exposed to. Our time here has been good for my heart. Many of my dreams have been revived here and I am excited about what the future holds.

I am also super-excited about going to China! We leave tomorrow morning around 10:35 a.m. It’s going to be another LONG day of traveling. I’ve got plenty of things to keep me occupied on the plane, though. I’m not too excited about returning to cold weather, but I am excited about a slight change of wardrobe choices. It’s been stretching to live with only a few outfits for weeks on end – but a good kind of stretching I think. It’s amazing how much we can do without.

Okay... I will update again when I get to China. And hopefully I'll be able to give you all some pics then. :) I'm looking forward to being somewhat settled again. :)

Psalm 40:5