sunday, may 27 did not exist

I met up with the rest of my group in Los Angeles minutes before our flight boarded. There are a total of five (5) of us--two from Louisiana (me and Taylor), Maggie from Oklahoma, Ashton from Georgia, and Mac from Tennessee/North Carolina. We instantly became friends; it was one of those rare moments where you meet someone and you feel like you've known them for years. Taylor is going to Sydenham (near Melbourne); Maggie and Ashton are going to Packenham (also near Melbourne); Mac is going to Perth (in Western Australia); and I'm headed to Adelaide (in South Australia).

As we got on our plane, we kinda gawked like tourists at the flashy interior of the really cool vehicle. It had the purple running lights that changed colors, the nifty drink bars in first class, the chairs that recline into a full bed (gotta say, it was tough not to envy those people!), the individual video screens for each person...it is just one neato machine.

Our flight was 14 hours long from Los Angeles to Sydney. Honestly, it didn't feel like that long at all. Most of us slept for over 7 hours--Mac and I slept right through dinner and woke up without any knowledge that it was ever even served. The flight attendants were super-nice and peppy, and the seats were some of the most sleep-able seats I've ever seen. After a long nap, I watched part of a movie, fell asleep, watched a full movie, took a nap, got some water, watched part of a movie, slept for a bit, watched Modern Family, slept, ate breakfast, and hey cool we're there! It truly didn't feel like 14 hours.

Immigrations was a really long line, and to top it off my big suitcase got left in Los Angeles. Somehow the people transferring my bag decided it belonged in L.A. and not in Sydney with me. And somehow I suspected that would happen, so I had packed a change of clothes and my toiletries in my smaller rollaboard bag. Customs was easy, Taylor and I had the cutest little K9 dog sniffing our bags.

We met our Aussie contacts, Mrs. Karen Ray and her husband Mark and one of their compatriots from Brisbane, Mrs. Mandy. The five of us immediately started asking questions about the Australian culture, people, society, manners, customs, etc. and we started getting a feel for where we are going individually. For example, we learned that Melbourne is a hugely diverse city with some small pockets of Aboriginal communities. Perth is a huge outdoors-recreational community, and Adelaide is a coffee community that prides itself on being a "small country city."

As we drove to our conference center, we came through some beautiful countryside. We learned about kangaroos and the range of wild koalas; how Australia got the biggest wild camel community in the world; and what are the differences between gum trees and eucalyptus trees (there are none). At our center, we actually got to walk up to a mob of about a dozen wild grey kangaroos! Day 1 and we've already seen wild kangaroos!

We struggled to stay awake through dinner of Australian burgers (which is basically a small meat burger with cheese, lettuce, tomato, grilled onions, a slice of pineapple and a slab of beet--surprisingly it's really tasty). Our first few orientation sessions kindof became a blur, and we all collapsed in bed at 7:45 pm.

I was warned about jetlag and how your body tries to stay awake during "normal" hours from home. I didn't experience that at all. I woke up for about ten minutes and fell back asleep. All in all, most of us slept between ten and eleven hours last night and we're all chipper and refreshed this morning. We're going through alot of culture orientation and learning about the people and the ministry of the International Mission Board in Australia. And I'm afraid I may never want to leave.

leavings

To anyone and everyone who gave me the best farewell week ever...thank you.

It started last weekend at the theater when co-workers actually realized I was truly leaving for the summer. They were incredibly good at acting sad that I wasn't going to be around constantly. ;)

Then Youth Sunday. I am heavily involved in my home youth group, and last Sunday was our special youth-run service. Halfway through the rehearsal for the band, it hit me that I won't be around for a while. I won't see these kids that I've grown so used to being around. I'm really going to miss them, I'm going to miss out on experiences and mission trips and Student Life for the second year in a row. And it didn't really make an impact until I realized on Sunday morning that I am missing out on that. I haven't cried so much in church in years. My youth pastor was absolutely precious when he told me that he's mad at me for leaving.

Then Sunday night, my last youth group. I spoke on Monuments and how they're viewed in the Bible. (Basically, I found 4 biblical purposes for monuments: to remember good times; to remember hard times; to remember the actions of God/people; to remember your heritage.) The kids responded well and started using the word, "monumental." (Point for me!) They all gathered around and prayed for me, for safe travels, for the impact I'm going to make, for the people I'm staying with, for my ministry in the youth group to continue.

All week I was saying goodbye to friends as the occasions happened. A few of them were hard to say goodbye; a few of them were so darn excited for me that it was difficult to feel loneliness.

On Thursday evening, my family invited several of my close friends and our neighbors over for dinner and a movie. We played Apples to Apples for hours; ate until we felt sick; watched "The Rescuers." Life is good.

Then last night, I realized I am really leaving my family for the entire summer. I'm so used to being around them all the time that it's going to be difficult to not have them around. The Michael Jackson Dance Experience Wii game will gather dust this summer because I won't be pushing them to play with me. They'll go see movies without me and vice versa. They'll have experiences in church and with friends that I'm completely missing out on.

I'll be honest: I completely LOVED these past few months. No UNO. Preparing for Louisiana Tech. Having a smartphone. Working two jobs--one at the movie theater which I LOVE and will miss deeply, and one at my church as the media intern which I also loved. Watching movies. Being with friends. Being at home with my family. Developing friendships with certain people. I'm leaving a chapter of my life that I will never be able to return to.

As tough as that is, I also noticed that I'm going to be okay on my own. I'm doing something that is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and it involves some sacrifices. I know I'm heading into a life adventure that will change the way I view foreign missions, Australia, and community churches. It's making my summer worthwhile (not that working and watching movies isn't, but you know what I mean). And it's a springboard into whatever comes next. Life is good. God is good.

All I gotta do is find a way to survive this 13 hour layover in Los Angeles and the 15 hour flight to Sydney...