Byron Bay and Jazz

Well....I havn't blogged in a while, and I apologize, but life has been super fun and exciting :)

I will start with last Monday. On Monday I went with my friends Alex, Molly, Ashley, Drake, and Joe to Byron Bay. Byron Bay is a small beach town about an hour south of the Gold Coast. We rented out a beach house, that was literally a house on the beach, our backyard was the ocean. It was glorious.

After being there for less than 15 minutes, we were already on the beach in our togs (swim suits)and surfing. And let me tell you surfing is a blast. Seriously. I love it.

It took me a couple of tries to get up, but I finally got it down. And man it is addicting. First all your effort is just to catch a wave, then to stand, then to stand longer, and it is the time of your life. I felt like a kid again. Surfing. Feeling the saltiness of the water on my skin and the sand in my hair. beach hair is by far my favorite by the way.

Later that night we decided to go to the beach and look at the stars. It was beautiful. Seeing stars from the southern hemisphere is so different. It is like a whole new world. The coolness of the ocean breeze, the rushing waves, the stars, and glowing sand....Thats right. Little speaks of sand would glow when you stepped on them, like fairy dust, our nature guide told us it was from phospherous washing up in the tide from the ocean, but it is more fun to think that the beach holds a little magic.

On Tuesday we went on a tour of nature, and saw Koalas in their natural habitat, and ginormous lizards, and the second fastest bird in the world, a falcon of some sort. We saw it on an overlook of a waterfall that fell over 100 metres to a subtropical rainforest. I was the last one to get back on the bus. I stood there feeling so small, and yet with a world created with this much beauty and vastness, and Glory, God called me to be his Chosen One. Me, because he says I am worth it. it was a Psalm 139 moment.

Wow.

Then we rode home on the bus back through the hills, mountains, and rainforest that we drove up to get to the top of the waterfall. it was so beautiful. That afternoon we surfed, and again that night we went to the beach to sit, be still, and soak in beauty. Only the second night over the ocean there was a storm, and the lightening would illuminate the ocean. The storm was so far away, yet the lightening could bring light to the beach. wow

Then Wednesday we surfed and played on the beach from 8 am to 4 pm. Everyone else went in and I stayed on the beach, I ended up going for a prayer walk, and I felt God being as close and as real to me as the mist of the ocean on my face. It was spectacular.

Since I have been home from Byron bay life has been pretty chill. I have hung out with Kristen alot, yesterday we went to the beach, today we went for a watch to the bay to eat the best fish and chips of your life .......yummy yummy yummy fresh fish :), and I have been working on my school assignments. Life is good.

I am getting a little home sick though. I feel I have been here for a long time, and I am about ready for a Nav night, or church at the village, or to chill out at Camilles with my mom, or Espresso Art with Jesus. I am not ready to come home, my heart is just feeling this longing, to be in a safe place, to be known....if you could pray for that it would be rich.

I love Kristen but it is hard for me to connect on a deeper level with her. Molly ( a non-Christian girl from Ohio) is super sweet, and I feel close to her, and she makes me feel loved and safe. I am praying I could share Jesus with her, and see her life transformed. that is another good thing to pray.

Next Monday I leave for Melbourne, and there I will go to Fraser Island to see the penguin march, and I will go on a day trip on the Great Ocean Road to see the 12 Apostles, they are rock formations in the ocean, names after Jesus' 12 apostles. How sweet huh?

Thanks for reading. and praying, and loving me from so far away.

Slap, Spoons, Digity, and The Gospel of Matthew

Last night I got invited to one of the christian homes in the church for dinner and family bonding. It was fun. It was interesting.

It started with Ben (an Australian guy), kristen (my roommate), Anna (Ben's younger sister), Joel (Ben's brother), and I making dinner. Ben was in charge and decided to put every veggie in the fridge in the spagetti. Weird, but it worked. there was tomatoes, broccolli, carrots, onions, garlic, and corn and peas in with the meat, and spagetti sauce. It was.....good....in a strange way. (their mum and sister is out of town on missions and they take turns making dinner, I guess every night is an adventure).

Then we gathered around a table and played Zigity (a cranium game)....we played a few games and ...Then bens father busted out the bible and turned to Matthew 5.

To me it seemed out of no where, but it was completely normal to everyone else, I guess about every night they read in the word together. He led a discussion, challanged his children to look at Jesus, and gave applications on how to live as Christians in a fallen world. Wow. thats a dad. I cried, they called me a "softie," but it was so touching to see a christian dad, daily interacting with his children. Christianity is as natural as that, daily offering Christ, and the message of the Gospel.

Then we returned to playing games, spoons being one of them, and this painful game called slap (like slap jack but different). dont worry no one was seriously injured. Even though people wrestled to the ground for spoons, and slapped the bagezzees out of each others hands....

But what a night. What a time. What a gift to experience Christ, the body in a foreign country, with my family in Christ.

So yeah. Life. Jesus. Freedom.

Oh!!!! And yesterday I had an exam. and when we finished me and my Australian girl friends, Sam and Kylie went to Maccas (McDonalds) to celebrate and we got french fries and shakes. Then we decided why stop celebrating there? So we went to the grocery store, bought 20 dollars worth of junk food (chocolate, lollies, chips, popcorn, etc) and rented batman movies. then we spent the afternoon lounging, laughing, and relaxing. even though these next couple weeks contain the majority of the Uni work,

we stopped
we celebrated
we took the time to rest.

Praise the Lord.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-30

Camping Reflections

This weekend was a blast. I camped 100 metres away from the beach, up on a hill that over looked the ocean. I have never spent so many days so close to the ocean. I have never chilled out the way they do. The entire weekend I was thinking of how I would be camping with the Navs at Sedona, but God had me in Lennox Head, Australia, learning a different way to worship him.

The structure of camping was....none. There was no set times or things to do. Just people, Jesus, bibles, food, and the beach. the weekend consisted of, eating, going to the beach to lay out, exploring the "Flat Rocks", playing soccer, rugby, surfing, swimming, burrying people in the sand, and making a "boat" in the sand.

At the rocks we found all sorts of creatures. I loved it. I saw and held star fish, a SHARK (I pet it, sorry mum), crabs, schells, and all sorts of life that lives in the rocks. It was so so so cool. Then out in the ocean you could see whales, dolphins, and while we were swimming we saw blue bottle jellyfish. Man the ocean is cool!

Australians are hard to get to know on a deeper level though. I could feel this tension of being an outsider. I could tell these people all grew up in the church together, and while some were welcoming and friendly others didnt even ask my name. I brought stuff to make American Smores (they dont have graham crackers or hersheys chocolate here, and most people dont know what a smore is) and some people I gave the stuff to didnt even ask my name let alone say "thank you". It is so different to what the Navs ministry is like.

Also they are extremely sarcastic and blunt. When playing games they make fun of you the entire time, and are unafraid to say offensive jokes. It was hard to adjust to, and as I reflect on the time I am trying to assess what is a cultural difference and what is spiritual immaturity. Anywho, here are some pics!

this is Kristen and I walking to the beach

This is Kristen, me, Holly, and Denea up at 5:00 watching the sunrise

the sunrise....glorious

this is Holly and I sun baking

this is the view from the trial down to the beach

these are dolphins in the ocean. wow.

me playing in the rocks, finding starfish, hermit crabs, and squishie coral

a starfish

if you look below the rock you can see the shark, its tail curves up to the right in the picture

a view of the "flat rocks"

I am going Camping :)

Hey Friends,

I am going camping this weekend. I am going to New South Wales with the college ministry at the church i am now attending. the group seems great, and I am praying for relationships to develop, well i guess they will have to because I am about to spend the 3 day weekend with them :)

Oh and Kristen is coming too (my new roomie). She is all moved in. Pray that I would share some of my story with her, whether I feel comfortable or not. Because I am in Christ, that is where my identity lies, so Satan has no right to make me feel different or seperate.

Much love,

Coleen

oh and by the way, I met 2 more christian girls the other night, they are from California, and they are super sweet. They noticed my purity ring and we hit it off! I feel God puting it

God is so good.

Some Pictures for the Visual Learners :)

Me and some butterflies

this is me at the Tarango Zoo in Sydney

this is me petting a baby wallaby

alex and I at Darling Harbour

this is me on a ferry in front of the opera house :)

this is me on the ferry some more

So these were some random pictures from Oz, but more are posted on my webshots website, http://community.webshots.com/user/coleen315

so have fun, but you dont have to look at all of them

Oh my Holiday in Sydney!!!!!

what a trip.

So from Wednesday night to Sunday night I was in the wonderful place of Sydney. I was so scared going there. It was really my first planned vacation by myself (well and a friend), my first time in a Hostel, my first time seeing the Opera House, and the Syndey bridge, and everything else that people think of when they think "Sydney". I think our brains are so mad for new things. The feeling of walking in a city you have never been to is invigorating, and this feeling of life just stimulates ya. But to summarize the trip I will go by days.

Wednesday:

Got in to the Hostel. Made bed, met really nice French people, and couldn't sleep because I was not used to the noises of a city, and the feeling of sleeping in a room with 5 other people.

Thursday:

ADVENTURE. It was really cold in Sydney, and rainy, but it was so fun. Alex and I woke up at like 7:30 to get a head start of the city. We darted down the street to see the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We got there. Starred at it. Walked around it. And Starred some more. It is a world wide icon, very weird to be right in from of it. I kept feeling like I was in Finding Nemo, and I wanted to go meet a sea turtle or something. Then we got coffee and a lovely coffee shop of the harbour, and took in the beauty of it all. The boats, the birds, the water, the huge bridge, and opera house. MMMM it was gorgeous.Then we got on a ferry to go to Manly Island. It was such a fun dainty little city. The ferry ride gave a cool view of the harbour but it was super cold inthe rain and wind, but totally worth it. Manly Island the place itself felt like the city in Gilmore Girls to me. Lots of little homie shops, and close buildings with trees and parks between. And cute little doggies!!! wow fun stuff. The beach was beautiful too.

Then we went back to the Harbour to the Museum of Modern Art, mainly because itwas indoors and an escape from the pouring rain. It was a neat exhibit though and I felt this connection to the art, and the expression it is of our livesand the feeling of beauty. One of the pieces really spoke to me. It was called "breathe", and the artist took mirrors and used special ink on the mirror that is invisible and heat sensitive. So when a person gets close and breathes on the art, a face appears and then slowly disappears. our lives are but a breathe on this earth. I couldn't help but think of how my soul longs for eternity!

Ok Then....we.....ummm.....I am forgetting.....oh oh I know.... We went to the royal botanic gardens. It was BIG like really BIG. And pretty and serene. Walking through it I felt connected to the earth. I was thinking of Rob Bell and his sermons on "God is Green". In it he talks about how in this world we now are moving too quickly to experience God but if we slow down, and look at a flower, or a tree, or anything in creation we experience a part of God. I felt it. I LOVED it. I cried. It was beautiful. Then at the gardens we were walking down a path of flowers, lined by trees, and up in the trees were hundreds upon hundreds of bats. Hanging, silent.amazing. Nature rocks my socks off.That was pretty much it for the day. We chilled in the hostel that night, and went out to dinner and talked about life with all the people. I loved talking to people in the Hostels. people from everywhere. France, Wales, Britain, America, Italy,Germany, New Zealand, Canada. All backpackers just travelling the world. It was cool to hear their stories and adventures and even their political views. WOW what a day.

Friday

This was a more laid back day. We went to Darling Harbour, and ran around and had fun. We started with seeing the Real Wolrd House...I dont watch the read world, but Alex does and he wanted to see it and take pictures of it, so whateva. Then we went to the Aquarium and the Wild Animal World. It was super fun and all the animals were so fun and energetic. The Sharks were super big, and so were the sea turtles, they even had an entire section designated to Finding Nemo Creatures....pretty cute. At the Aquirium I pet a shark, and a starfish! Sweet. And at the Wild Animal place I pet a snake, and a blue tongued lizard. And saw all kinds of crazy things like the deadliest snakes of the world, and largest pythons....COOL!

Then we just walked the harbour looking at the boats, and we ate at a fancy restaurant, good stuff!

Saturday

We went to the Torango Zoo! I pet a wallaby, and the birds freaked me out they were so big and close. and again it was a beautiful view of the Harbour. Oh and I saw some koalas and kangeroos! They were super cute! This day we went around with an american girl who stayed in our room at the Hostel. She traveled to Australia all by herself, I thought that was crazy...but it is common I guess with backpackers!

After the zoo we went to The Rocks, which is the first trading post in Sydney. It was historic and neat. Fun little antique shops lined the streets. We bought tea, felt classy some more! Love it!

Sunday:

So I tried to go to Hillsong. But I got lost by myself on the train. It was fun, I read my bible while I found my way back, and soaked in Deuteronomy, thinking of how God doesnt always do things the way we plan...moses never made it to the promise land...I never made it to Hillsong. It is all good because the journey was worth it.

Later on we went to Bondi Beach. And literally, Literally sat on the beach all afternoon until my plane took me home....wow what a trip. oh and I had an exam this morning. And I totallly rocked it. I studied before I left. and when I got back. God is just renewing me and it is cool! FREEDOM! For reals.

There are alot more details but I got sick of writing...so I love ya and have a wonderful Day!

10.5 km is 6.5 Miles just so ya know

Today has been one of my favorite days in australia...it has been absolutely hilarious.

So I woke up, did my usual routine, drank coffee, read the bible, ate an english muffin. It has been raining the last couple of days, so I had to make a decision, to either take the bus to campus at 9:45 or to walk for my 11 :00 class. At 9:30 it appeared to be clearing up, so I decided to walk. By 10:05 it began to sprinkle. I thought, no worries, I can just walk in the rain.

So I began to walk at to campus. Only after 5 minutes it was pouring. But I was determined and I kept walking. Only after 5 more minutes I realized I was so wet someone would have thought I was in a swimming pool. So I turned around and went home....skipping class...who cares. I am here to learn about rest :)

Then I decided I will go for a run at the gym on the treadmill and then go to bible study at 12. So I get on the treadmill, popped in my IPOD, and set the runnie thingy to 5.5. It was so slow. I was confused thinking it was broken and couldnt speed up. I got off and got back on, hoping maybe it rebuted or something. Then I had an epiphany. They use the metric system. I was going 5.5 KM/HOUR. I am such a silly person. I cracked up, by myself in the workout room. I set it to 10.5 hoping that was a decent speed and giggled the entire time I ran....And I have been in a funny mood ever since.

oh australia, you light up my life......

and all day it has poured heaps and heaps of rain, which is good for the drought here, but bad news for me and my love affair with the beach. But it has been hilarious to be completely soaked with a ladybug purple umbrella inside out in the rain. :)