Spring Break

Well, it amazes me how fast the weeks fly by between school breaks here!  Term 3 is officially over and tomorrow is the beginning of Term 4 for the boys.  We can hardly believe that in just over three weeks we will have been here in Australia for a whole year!  In some ways we feel like we were in Canada yesterday and in other ways it seems much longer.  

The highlight for Nelson this term was his missions trip to Tasmania.  As a missions-based school, MST sends all their full-time students away for a week in September every year to do outreach work in different areas.  I found the idea of him being away from us for eight days more than a little intimidating, but many were praying for us and we got through the week smoothly.  I will get him to do a blog one of these days to give you all the details, but suffice it to say, he thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity and fell in love with the beautiful state of Tasi!  I look forward to the chance to visit there one day..

Braeden got to go on his class trip in September also - quite a leap of faith for Nelson and I to send him, but his EA accompanied him with the class to a lovely camp about 1 1/2 hours north of here, where they spent 3 days and 2 nights.  He did really well, after many reassurances of "it's okay Mommy, you'll be fine while I'm gone"! and packing and repacking his suitcase for a month before leaving!  We all really missed him as it had been his first time away without us and the house was extraordinarily quiet without him.  He has a lovely class though, who really try to include him in everything and treat him like part of the gang.  Such a blessing!

The boys have been home for their two week spring break and we have spent a lot of time just around home, but did get out for a couple of outings, north to Ballarat, our favourite historical town, and due east to Golden Beach on the east coast of Victoria.  Our favourite thing to do here is just to head out in the car and explore a new place we haven't seen before.  Everything is new to us and the beaches are amazing!  We went to Golden Beach with the intention of playing in the sand and maybe getting our feet wet, as it is still cool weather, but the draw of the ocean was just a little too strong and before we knew it Jonathan and Brady were soaked!  Next time we will go prepared!  

Church at Grace Community is going well.  I have recently joined the worship team - a long-time dream of mine!  Nelson is busy with the pack-up/set-up team and being involved in evangelism.  He has really missed preaching and loved the opportunity to preach in Tasmania twice, but we know that God has a plan and will use us in His time.  For me, I am so thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to just soak up and learn more of God's word through Bible Study Fellowship, great teaching at Grace and our home group study, The Truth Project.  

Well, I don't think there is much more news to share.  We think of you all often and miss you more than you know.  Skype is great and a life-saver in so many ways, but it's not the same as a hug!  Till next time....

Wilson's Promontory...

Hard to believe it's been almost two months since our last post.  Life has settled into a routine of work, church & school and somehow I don't get as much time to take photos or get out exploring.  I have become used to the accents and the scenery, but every once in a while I stop and smile when I see something I would not see in Canada.  We headed out on an adventure this week while the kids were out of school on their winter break and we had a beautiful winter's day to enjoy, and I had a few of those surreal moments...

We drove about two hours south to a national park called Wilson's Promontory.  The southern part of the park was closed due to flood damage from earlier this year, but we enjoyed exploring an area in the northern section of the park where the kangaroos and emus roam free in the wild.  I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing a kangaroo hopping around in front of me on the grass or lazing in the sun....

Looking for kangaroos..

A shy emu

Checking out the humans!

Views in Wilson's Prom

  

Snoozing in the sun!

After an hour of watching kangaroos and emus, we headed to another area of the park for a walk through a lovely section of forest where the fires had been through in 2009.  It's amazing to see the charred tree trunks from what must have been a horrific fire and the new growth coming up..

Evidence of the fires

Signs of rebirth

The kids have just finished their second two-week holiday of the year, with the second semester starting next week.  The week before holidays Jonathan spent his mandatory Grade 10 week doing work experience for a Christian friend of ours who owns a pie shop.  Getting him there for 5:00 am every day was a challenge for Nelson and I, but the experience was a great one for him.  There is a lot of pressure put on kids in Grade 10 to sort out their career path and he has felt a bit overwhelmed by it all, but we are just praying that the Lord will give him a clear sense of direction.  Cameron continues in Grade 7 and seems to be doing well, having skipped Grade 6.  He was chosen as one of two in his grade to compete in a district spelling bee in August, so that was quite an accomplishment!  Brady is doing really well in Grade 4 and loves his class.  The Lord has given him a wonderful teacher and teacher's aide, who have him "figured out" and challenge him every day.  The school finally got a response to their funding request for him, which unfortunately was much less than he needs, but thankfully they have not changed anything for this year and will re-apply at the end of the year for more aide time for next year.  We are so grateful for such a great school and a vice principal who is a very caring person.

Aussie architecture - love it!

It's been a quiet two weeks for them, mostly at home with me working, but they enjoyed a day out with Dad this week, taking a train ride into Melbourne and exploring the Melbourne library and the museum, and taking a tram ride around the city.  We all went to see Cars 2 last night for Brady, who enjoyed it immensely!  It will be good to be back to routine tomorrow however, with a little space between the kids!  

Waiting for the tram in the middle of the street in Melbourne!

Our journey has taken another turn and we start a new chapter this week, with Nelson going to school full time at Melbourne School of Theology (MST).  For so many of our years of marriage we have felt the Lord leading us towards ministry on a bigger scale and Nelson's dream has always been to study theology and use the gifts the Lord has given him.  Financially it has always seemed like an impossible dream, but the Lord has been closing doors and opening new ones during our time here.  The injuries to Nelson's elbow have proven to be more long-term than we first expected and they have made carpentry work very difficult and painful, with more damage being caused the longer he continues to work.  Although university education is no longer free for Aussie citizens, the government has made it much more affordable and accessible than it was in Canada.  We have been blessed to meet an amazing Christian financial planner here, who is working along side us to give us guidance as we work through all the details.  We truly see the Lord's hand in it all and we are trusting Him as we go forward.  It will take three years of full-time studies for Nelson to get his Honours Bachelor of Theology, at which point he hopes to start teaching undergrads while continuing his studies.  We are open to whatever path the Lord leads us to, but at this point that is the direction we are heading.  The studies are a joy for Nelson, but re-educating at 41 and the changes to us as a family will have it's challenges.  We covet  your prayers as we start the journey!  

Who knew???! - wish I'd seen the sign sooner....!

I continue to keep busy with transcription work here at home.  I am very blessed to have steady work from an online company, enabling me to work my own hours and be available for the kids here at home.  The distractions of home can be challenging however, so I appreciate your prayers as I try to get more disciplined with my time!  Ideally I would like to just be working during school hours so that I can be a mom and wife the rest of the time, so have to get more organised!  

Thank you all for your prayers for us last weekend, as we missed being in Canada for my family reunion.  It was so hard not to be with our loved ones there, but they had a wonderful time celebrating my parents' 60th wedding anniversary.  We had a chance to have a Skype visit with them all and were once again so grateful for the wonders of Skype!  Somehow it makes life a little more bearable when you can actually see family!

Well, that's about all the news for now.  We miss you all and think of you often! xo

What lies beyond the hill is unknown, but He holds it all in His hand and there is no place we'd rather be!

Back by Popular Demand...

Well, it's with much fear and trepidation that I have decided to try this again...  I had thought I wouldn't do any more blogging, but I have had a number of you ask me to reconsider, so here goes.  I will only be sending this address to you each specifically and it will not be linked to Facebook or any other web page.  I am also determined, with the Lord's help, to keep it positive so that there will never be any cause for concern about who reads it!  The Lord had to teach me a hard lesson in sharing my personal feelings over cyberspace and it has been a painful few weeks of trying to make amends with people who I have come to love and would never have wanted to hurt in any way.  I'm so thankful for a merciful, gracious Father, who forgives me and picks me back up when I fall flat! 

The cold weather has really descended upon us here, amazing all the local inhabitants yet again!  We certainly seem to have brought Vancouver temperatures with us and most days it's colder here in Berwick than it is in Vancouver.  There has been a lot of rain and with the rain comes the invasion of ants and mice!  We fell into bed exhausted last Friday night, only to realise that we had company in our bedroom!  At 11:30 pm I was at the local grocery store buying mouse traps and we ended up having a rather uncomfortable sleep on couches, with the mouse barricaded in our room, surrounded by four mouse traps!  By morning he was caught and my husband, my hero, had removed him from the house.  That same night I had left some pots to soak in the kitchen sink, only to return a few hours later to find my entired counter top, sink and nearby cabinets covered in ants.  The thought of running for the next plane without looking back was tempting, but I managed to rally around and get a grip! 

We were once told that the 6-week and 6-month markers after moving here would be the roughest.  Well, I have to say that our 6th month has certainly been that, yet through it all we have seen God's hand and His blessings too.  We came here with such set ideas of what we were "going to do for God" and how it would all unfold, but I have been constantly reminded that writing our plans in ink is pointless and usually God has different, better ideas in mind!  Our hearts are open to whatever God wants for us to do here, but His will is not clear at the moment and we are just learning to wait on Him and learn all that He wants us to learn on the journey.  The challenges and struggles of this life are many, but I have been so encouraged in the last few weeks by 2 Corinthians 16-18, "So we do not lose heart.......for this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison...!"  We are both learning so much through our separate studies, Nelson at seminary and myself at BSF.  We have been attending a new church in the last few weeks and have also had such blessing from wonderful teaching there.   The older boys have started going to the youth group and Brady to Sunday School, and they are all enjoying getting to know new friends. 

Work for Nelson has turned a corner and has begun to pick up, for which we are very grateful, but would value your continued prayers for his arm, as he has his good days and really bad days, with lots of ibuprofen!  We are praying about other career paths, but for now we are just so blessed to have a more steady income coming in.  We have had to make the very difficult decision not to return in July for my family reunion, but in many ways it felt to soon emotionally for all of us, as we have yet to feel truly at home and established here.  We will be saving up our pennies (actually there are no pennies in Oz, just nickels, so we'll save those!) to come back for a visit as soon as we can.  We miss our families and friends so much, but are so grateful for Skype!

Well, there is no more news to relay at this point, but I will keep you posted!  Thanks for those of you who have sent me loving messages of support and prayer.  It means so much to know there are so many at home who love us and continue to pray! 



The sun breaks through the clouds near Phillip Island