Character Before Calling

Time flies when you're having fun & boy am I having fun!!  It feels like I've been here for months even though the days are already blending together.  This past week was orientation & it was odd trying to comprehend that we weren't heading home after a week of "church camp".  However, this is nothing close to any of my past experiences & luckily it lasts for over 4 more months!

Every morning my buddy Dayne & I have hit up the surf around 5:30am to watch the incredible sunrise over God's creation out on the ocean.  Thanks to jet leg, this time was somewhat reasonable.  We'd then have morning worship & a short lecture at our base, which is held at a local church.  After lunch we'd enjoy free time either back at the beach as a group or cruise around town looking at different shops or getting ice-cream at McDonald's for 50 cents. Everything is horribly expensive & the ice-cream cones are the only real "deal" compared to the states.  Your typical snickers bar here is $3 at the gas station so you can imagine how much it is to eat out.  We'd then have dinner & clean up duties, leaving plenty of time for evening activities around town.  Australia is known for its large skateboarding community, so sometimes we'll go to the local skate park & watch the locals do there thing.

On Friday night we went to a neighboring city called Maloolooba (yes it's that fun to say) & hung out at the beach for a barbecue & volleyball.  On Saturday we went to Noosa & enjoyed a day of community & surfing essentially all day.  I was able to ride a wave in for the first time so that was encouraging & now I can't seem to get enough of the surf!

It's been in the mid 90s all week & I have quickly acquired a mighty sunburn.  There are ants & geckos all over the place & it is fairly common to see wild turkeys when walking down the street.  Transportation is so tricky/freaky with steering wheels on the right, cars driving on the left & passing people on the left when walking.  There are 33 kids on DTS from 18-24yrs & over half are from Europe & Canada.  Often I find myself combining everyone's accents & mannerisms into one which keeps things lively!

This Friday I find out where I will be stationed for my 2 months of outreach. It's crazy to think about buy I'm getting excited to see who will be in my group.  If you could please pray for where God will lead me & that I will continue to seek humility & patients in God.

Cheers mates & I will let you know more about what I'm learning in lectures in my next posts, along with pictures.

1 John 2:6 "Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did."

Start of Something Bigger

Ay mates! I've finally arrived in Sunshine Coast Australia as of yesterday morning and I can already tell I'm gonna love it here!

"Oh Australia, how I wish I could be there. But Los Angeles isn't so bad after all. This has got to be some of the craziest past few days ever!" This comes straight from my journal Saturday as I waited to catch a flight to Australia for the 2nd time. Recap... Just this past week I woke up with strep throat, something I haven't had in years. Friday we hit the road to Chicago and just so happens, a winter storm decided to do the same. My flight was delayed 1 1/2 hrs because of the weather, causing me to barely miss my connecting flight & I actually got to watch it fly off.  Bloody Plane! aka "Bummer dude!!" So instead of my 14hr flight to Brisbane, I had 24hrs in LA with nothing holding me back. Somehow God gave me peace about my unexpected stay and I was able to enjoy a great transition day from the craziness of Michigan & the chaos in Australia.

I just arrived safely yesterday and everyone here is so incredibly nice, which is making me even more pumped to see what God has in store for the next 5 month!  This week is orientation and we don't really have a set schedule yet. We all have weekly chores & I've been assigned dinner cleanup, which is a great way to connect with other students.  The weather is a lot like Florida (hot & humid) but the beach reminds me of North Carolina.

Overall, Satan has really been at work with lost support letters, strep throat, & missing my flight.  Unfortunately for him, I've still managed to arrive in Australia & God hasn't even gotten started!  Cheers for all the support and prayers!

Also, I don't have my phone so sorry if you've tried texting/calling.

Signing off from the Land Down Under!

The Time Has Come

Wow, I can't believe this is all going to really take place in just a few days! I woke up with a sense of urgency today and had to just sit and think about how surreal everything is becoming. It's still so hard to comprehend how long I'm actually going to be gone, especially with never taking a trip to this extent, but that should be the last of my concerns. I wish I could see everyone one last time but goodbyes are never fun.

I fly out of Chicago (where I'll visit my wonderful sister:) Friday night to LA, where I'll take off for a straight shot to Brisbane Australia, losing my entire Saturday with the time change. :(  The flight from LA to Brisbane is 14hrs long so I'll have plenty of time to sleep and freak out about the horrible mistake I have made! Haha, I can't wait to share all of my experiences and I want to thank EVERYONE for there support through prayer and financials!  I truly can't stress how blessed I am to have such a strong support system.

I hope to post regularly every week and I hope you'll enjoy following me! Please comment and keep me up-to-date with your lives as I will try to do the same! Here you can learn more about my trip with YWAM:
http://www.ywamsunshinecoast.com/train/waves/

Signing off for the first & last time from Holland, MI.