The Holiday Sessions

Hello, old friends. So, here we are, on the last post.

I fully understand that it is long past time for me to close out my beloved Walkabout Sheila, and I apologize for the (very extensive) wait! I'm not sure what happened that made me put off this final post for three months after my Australian adventure ended, but it probably had something to do with the few weeks after I got back, which turned out to be pretty darn busy, reconnecting with friends and family, and so on. But nevertheless, we made it. As I turn the page on this portion of my life and race headlong toward the next chapter, I feel more than a little sentimentality settle into my heart. I learned and grown so much in the past year, both in my faith and in the way I see the world.

God has done fantastic things in me. I feel able to accomplish anything that I set my mind to, and more importantly, anything God has planned for me! I can do all things through Him who gives me strength. (Phillipians 4:13). And he certainly has done that. I don't think I would have been able to get through this whole amazing, challenging experience with my sanity and emotions in tact if not for Jesus Christ.
I am brave. I can stand up for myself and my decisions, sometimes not able to argue my point very well, but able to know that God is on my side, and if I am following Him, He will take care of and provide for me, no matter what. I have developed the strength to wait for His timing, because His timing is perfect in every sense of the word. Wait for the Lord. Be strong, take heart, and wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:14). I may not know what tomorrow may bring, but I know that I will not fail anything that God has set out for me to do, and I know that anything He has set out for me to do will never fail. I am officially worry-free. Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? (Matthew 6:26-27). I am excited for what my future will bring! Next week, I am following my heart and my Savior and starting Massage Therapy school! I have never been more pumped up!
I learned in 2014 so much about people that I wondered how I even was a functioning member of society before this year. There are so many people in the world, and they all have hopes and dreams and fears and demons, things that build them up and things that tear them down. They all have different things that are important to them, and ideas about where they fit into their world. Being in a city as diverse as Perth, I was wonderfully astonished at how people from so many different countries and cultures could be so alike. We are all in this world together, because we all have one very important fact in common. Jesus died for every single one of us, no matter what background we come from, no matter what we have done in the past, no matter if we have rejected him completely throughout our whole lives. And He would do it again for any one person on the earth, just to give that person a fighting chance at love and everlasting peace. I heard John 3:16 from the Message version of the Bible at church on Christmas Sunday, and goodness gracious that verse spoke to me with more power than the thousands of times I had heard it all throughout my life. This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him. (John 3:16 MSG)

I hope this post blesses you and encourages you beyond what you would think possible, as it has done for me. It's amazing how having nothing to say can supernaturally explode. I had no idea what I was going to write about when I sat down at my computer this morning. And yet, there it is, God's profound statement of love toward anyone who will listen!
Happy 2015 to this marvelous world! May every person on earth be filled with the Holy Spirit and feel the presence of Jesus Christ!

Amen.

Life is Beautiful

Life is beautiful

A Father's love
A wedding dance
New Year's dreams
A toast with friends
A soldier coming home from war
The faith the hope of so much more
A brand new life, a mother's prayer
Shooting stars, ocean air
A lover's kiss, and hard goodbyes
Fireworks, Christmas lights

These are things that make us feel alive
These are the times that make us realize

Life is beautiful

-The Afters

The Final Days (Not the Apocalypse)

I can't begin to explain the strange feeling concerning how time has passed for me here in Perth. With just a week left living in this wonderful city, it seems like I just arrived, jet-lagged and discombobulated, a few weeks ago. But then again, I feel I know this city and it's inhabitants so well that I have lived here for years! I am proud to say I feel like a true Perth local.
My last weekend with my Aussie friends starts tomorrow, and is going to be packed with parties and goodbyes. Did I mention that I don't like goodbyes? Well, I don't. Why can't everyone I know in California move over here to Australia, is my question. But then, I would miss the mountains, Yosemite, and all our awesome California lakes. Oh, why can't my two worlds be mushed together like pb&j?
Anyways, that's obviously not going to happen. But I will remember this city, and the people here, and my lovely host family forever. I can't begin to describe the impact each person I have become close with has had on my life. They have encouraged me and befriended me and taught me many things about myself. Being in Australia is fun. It's a beautiful country and the weather has been awesome the last few weeks. But what makes this place special isn't the kangaroos. The people are just so beautifully welcoming and friendly that you can't help but fall in love with them all! Oh my heart, you are going to be a little torn when I head for home.
On the other hand, I am so pumped for my coming adventures. The next few weeks are going to be a dream. Literally, I feel am going to be so exhausted, what with the constant traveling and sightseeing and hiking. It'll be worth every tired muscle. A road-trip up to mid-north-western Australia, followed by two weeks touring all over New Zealand, yes, I am sure I will be ready to be home after that amazing experience. I am also excited for the adventures that are awaiting me back in California! Life will continue, but it will never be the same. Changes will take place, some pretty drastic, some pretty exciting. New schools, new towns, new career paths... I can't wait for life! It's just so much fun! I'm so thankful to the Lord for giving me this amazing opportunity to grow in my faith and personally, and that I've learned to live in the moment more than ever. You never know which day will be your last. Why not make them all spectacular? 

38 Days and Counting!

Thus begins a countdown very similar to the one that took place a mere seven-ish months ago... except in reverse. Although the title of this entry is "38 Days and Counting!" I feel that things are going to be wrapping up much more quickly that that. There are 23 more days until my replacement Au Pair arrives from Germany. That week of showing her the job will fly by, to be sure! Approximately 31 days from now, I will set out on a road trip with three wonderful friends. Then, at long last, on the 3rd of October, I will leave my now-beloved Perth and set off for a new fortnight-long adventure with the parents in New Zealand! Oh, how the time will fly, and does fly currently, and has flown! You get the picture. My time in Australia has gone whooshing by, and it is set to come to a screeching halt in a very short while.
I have learned heaps, to say the least. Heaps about myself, heaps about other people, and heaps about God. And heaps about new terminology. I never used the word "heaps" in my younger years (granted, I don't say it as much as I just typed it, but I was making a point there). Or "boot" (not the shoes), or "petrol". I'm sure there are others, but I can't think of them off the top of my head.
The feelings are quite strange and bittersweet. For a while there at the beginning, I couldn't wait to go back home. Then, in the middle-months, I thought about home often, but was very involved with so much exciting things that I was never homesick. Lately, I've been feeling so excited and anticipating being back in California that it almost was like the start, with the added melancholy sensation of preparing my heart to bid farewell to all my great friends here! Everyone I have met has, in a sense, become part of my extended family, and I feel that I have been welcomed into theirs with opened arms.

Now, coming to what I have been up to lately... where to begin? I don't feel that I've been overly busy, but I also haven't typed up a post for quite a while (oops). Well, imagine this: sleep-overs, pancakes, girls' shopping days out, pillow fights, hiking (aka bushwalking), Bible studies, awesome worship, friends going, friends coming, raining days, sunny days, thunder and lightening days, lunch dates, movie nights, vacation weekend with the host-fam...
I'm sure I've left a few things out, but that probably about covers it.
To spotlight that last one, this last weekend I went on a holiday trip with my host family to Margaret River, a gorgeous, green area in Australia's southwest. We stayed 2 nights in a lovely rental holiday home, ate at yummy restaurants, visited wineries, stopped for samples at the chocolate factory, wave-watched at beaches, and saw a multitude of the great Australian kangaroo. I have come to the conclusion that kangaroos are kind of a parallel of the mule deer of California. Not in the city, for the most part, but drive out in the country of the less populated areas and you're likely to see them grazing in cow-empty pastures. Be sure to watch out for them on the road, though.

 This is me bombarding you with a sudden collage of photos taken on my Margaret River expedition! It was so gorgeous and green, and reminded me very much of Carmel. Seriously, everything I saw, I kept thinking, "wow, that's just like the Aussie version of Carmel!"
← This is the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse! It's the tallest lighthouse in Western Australia, and is 39 meters. It also marks the point where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean (which is the one underneath Australia, and reaches to Antarctica)   

Down below are some delicious scones we ate at The Berry Farm restaurant. :)
             
And more lovely, dramatic pics of the ocean! I wish I had a camera connected to my eyeball. Everything looks so much more magical and amazing in person than it can ever look on a computer screen.

 

 

So, there you have it! I hope that everyone back home is having a nice, relaxing summer (ya know, besides the drought, and the earthquake...) and looking forward to seeing you all soon! xox

What's Happenin'

It's been a while since my last post! Whoops, sorry about that! I just realized about an hour ago that I hadn't written anything on my blog for several weeks... that either happens when I'm really excitedly busy and don't have time (or am too exhausted) to sit down at my computer and put words together, or when I'm good and bored, and have not much to write about. It's probably a combination of the two, this time. Anyways... what have I been up to?
I just went ice-skating with friends tonight! That was awesome! I didn't expect that to be something I would be doing in Australia, but they were actually some pretty decent skaters out there. Not to mention me! Umm, yeah... I totally biffed it, but only once. And because I only fell once, I did better than I thought I would! We were going around the rink pretty darn fast there at the end of the two hours of skating. Big achievement night! I think my feet might be a bit sore tomorrow, but it'll be worth it!
Sarah had her 2nd birthday party a couple weeks back. It was amazing, with a GIANT (literally, giant. It was like 20 kilos) "Frozen" cake! Frozen the movie, not a frozen ice cream cake or something. The party was at an indoor playground and consisted of HEAPS of food and bunches of adorable toddlers running around. Completely awesome party!
I've joined a new (second) Bible study. Well, actually, it's a home group, but same difference. We're just getting going, but I already feel like it's going to be a great time! So, looking forward to that to pick up.
The rest of my previous activities are pretty straight-forward, but while they were great fun, there's not much to tell about them... I went and had fish n' chips with the host-fam, went to lunch with friends on Sunday after church, then went to a South African-ish church later that evening, and today, I also went to the cinema to see Rio 2! (The one with the birds) (It was great!)
As of last week, both my ticket to New Zealand and my ticket home are booked and paid for. This is definitely giving me mixed feelings! Don't get me wrong, I am beyond excited to be home and see everyone and everything I've missed for the past 5 months. But I keep finding myself trying to think of excuses to come back to Perth. Maybe romance? No? Okay. Drat. I love my job, but I'd love to see what it was like to live in this place while having my own life and making my own schedule. Not that I don't have a life, now. In truth, I'm probably about 10x more social than I was back in California (Sorry, Californian peoples! I'll do better when I get back, promise!). Every week just about I'm going out for food or tea or coffee or just hanging out with friends, and it's wonderful! There is just something about chatting one-on-one or two-on-one with people over food or drink that makes me able to talk deeply about things. That's something I've never been particularly good at or comfortable doing in the past, but now I cherish those moments.
Anyhow, that's about all that's gone on as of late! There's my exciting but now normal life! Two and a half more months until it's turned around again!

USA DAY and Friends! And other deep stuff.

Thus commenced my first strictly American holiday outside of America. As I am not a hugely patriotic person, I wasn't expecting to really miss Independence Day. But as the 4th grew closer, I started feeling a little down in the dumps about missing out on the traditional barbeques, fireworks, and wonderful family get-togethers. Lucky for me, I have awesome friends!

 

What's more American than freshly baked apple pie? Anything? No, I thought not! And it was even better than it would have been back in the States because we weren't eating it in 100 degree heat! So ha! In fact, apple pie is best on rainy, winter evenings, watching movies! I know this now from experience. 

Besides this delicious pie, on Saturday I went to a BBQ (hosted by some other Americans. Go us!) with genuine American hot dogs and buns, chili, sparklers, and not one, but two USA flag cakes! Aaaand we sang "Happy Birthday" to America. Yup. I'm sure the other people at the park thought we were weird. But oh well.

Today (Sunday), the weekend finished strong with a friend's birthday party, dozens of new faces to become acquainted with, and, wouldn't you know it, MORE YUMMY CAKE! Wow. I'm only realizing this now, how much sugary stuff I ate this weekend. I think I'm going to have to diet next week. But it was worth it! Anyhow, I sat at a table in this bar (never been in a real bar, but have to say, I think Aussie ones are a lot nicer than American ones. It was pretty much a restaurant that just served more drinks than food.) and talked with a few different people for a good fours hours. The time flew by, and I listened and chatted and delved into several deep-ish topics of future careers, spiritual warfare, God's will, and faith in general. Super conversations with super people. I have come to realize that the friends I have made here have only known me, what, 3-4 months, and they already know me better than probably most of the people back home. I just connect so easily, and find it so easy to talk about myself and my feelings and fears and hopes and dreams. It could be (well, I pretty much know it is) because I basically forced myself to leave behind everyone and everything familiar, and in the chasm of my empty social life, my Aussie friends have filled the gap. I'm going to be so very sad to say goodbye in a mere three months, but am excited to go home and actually start taking advantage of the wonderful relationships I left behind. I have recently realized that I hardly put any value on relationships in the past. That is going to change, people back home! We are going to be so freakin' social you all won't know what time of day it is! 

There you go, my weekend in a nutshell! And a bit more from my soul. :) Hope you all had a wonderful Fourth, and that summer is not to terrible... 

... yeah, like that could happen. 

Loves! xoxo