gettin outta herrr.

Tomorrow we are heading down to...Healesville? I can't remember the name of the town, somewhere near Melbourne is all I know. There is a church retreat called Revive this weekend. I am really excited! It is like a 10 hour car ride which will be great! I hope to be fed some spiritual food and come away with a renewed heart and maybe a couple new friends, if I'm lucky.
I bought a new sleeping bag yesterday which was quite an experience. I am a horrible shopper and can never make up my mind. Especially about something like a sleeping bag, I mean, I have to sleep in the thing, it is a serious decision! I don't even know how long I spent standing there reading the descriptions, pulling them out, holding them up and seriously contemplating snuggling in them on the floor of Big W. Twice I walked half way to the check out with one only to turn back and get a different one. I am feeling really good about my choice. I think it will be very nice.
Also yesterday we got bank accounts set up and money deposited. I am very thankful to now have access to my funds! I was down to only change so it is good to have some bills again.
This week has been really good!
Saturday was my first softball game. I didn't play very well but I got to meet my team and I have full confidence that I will improve. After every game they have what is called Kangaroo Court. We sit in a circle and people propose fines for other people to raise money for the end of the season party. I was fined $1.50! It is 50 cents a fine and I got two for striking out and one for not proposing any fines for anyone else. You'd think they'd let it slide my first game. Nope. The team seems really friendly and great, God is good to me.
Sunday we got out internet up and running on our own laptops. I am writing this on good old lappy! It is a great feeling. And it's nice because I can sit in bed and do it, that's my favorite part. Sunday night was Youth and Young at Heart. I really enjoyed getting to know the other Christian's in this area. Afterward a few of us went to Mackers (McDonalds) for ice cream. It was so great to be out with people around my age just hanging out. Plus I love ice cream so all in all it was a real good night. Monday Bob and Lynne took us out to eat and I had what was probably the most delicious chicken I have ever tasted. It was SO good!! Then we had ice cream again. I had a scoop of macadamia and a scoop of midnight cookie, both divine. Tuesday was a long day of babysitting in the morning, which I thoroughly enjoy, and banking and shopping in the afternoon. Then we had mid-week services that evening which I enjoy more and more each week. We average about 8 people on Tuesday nights and I really like the small group setting.
This morning was playgroup and the weather was gorgeous! We won't have playgroup for two weeks because it is school holidays but after that Sammie and I are running the show. We could use your prayers for sure. Tonight the Chinese girls came over again for dinner and Bible Study. They are so fun and ask such deep questions. It is really interesting studying with them and I learn something every time. They are now on school holiday and next week they are taking us to China town so show us around and tell us where the hot spots are. I am SO excited. But I will be making it very clear I do not want any seafood!
I hope you all survive without me for a few days! I'm sure you'll be okay.

prayers:
Visas (good things are happening)
safe trip to Revive
good experience for all at the retreat
as always, FUNDRAISING

Thanks for all your love and support!

I ate seafood! (and didn't die)

So most of you probably know (since mainly the family reads this) that I hate seafood. The only exception is tuna and that is only on a sandwich loaded with mayonnaise and pickles. Well anyway, we had our Bible study with the Japanese students last night and they cooked for us! It was a very kind gesture but I'll admit I was dreading it all day long. With good reason too because I knew they were going to cook things I didn't like. I'm not a picky eater, really I'm not, but I just can't handle anything that used to live in water (or mushrooms and tomatoes but that's really it). So they got here and were SO excited about what they were making. It is called okonomiyaki and chirashisushi. The thought of both of them kind of made me want to die. Okonomiyaki is kind of like a pancake. Which I thought sounded fine but what they do is put a ton of cabbage, shrimp and calamari in the batter. Which I thought didn't sound fine at all. Then I saw some bacon and got really excited because I love bacon but it went directly on the thick mushy seafood filled pancakes and got contaminated. I did have one tiny piece that still tasted like bacon. Thank goodness they put this sauce on it that tastes very similar to barbecue sauce. I doused mine in it. At first I was just trying to swallow it down quickly but then I realized I was finishing way faster than everyone else and I needed to slow down so I cut it into tiny pieces and waited a few minutes between bites. They also put mayonnaise on it, which really surprised me and I just had a little bit of that with it. Going into the meal I figured I'd be fine because I knew we'd have rice. However, to be fancy, they cooked it ahead of time and made chirashisushi which is baked salmon and thinly sliced cucumber mixed in with the rice. Usually made for special occasions. I honestly appreciate the effort and it was so kind of them to do that but my stomach hated me the whole night. To top it off we watched a movie in Japanese. It was a film on Jesus' life so I was able to follow along but mainly I thought about what was sitting in my stomach and felt more and more ill as the night went on. Two hours of thinking about seafood. I will say by the end of the night I had lost any desire to ever visit an Asian nation. After the movie we ate green tea ice cream which was pretty good but I still had to eat a piece of toast after they all left, not because of hunger but because my body needed something familiar. It made me thankful I am here in Australia where those meals will be few and far between instead of teaching English in Japan where those meals might be hard to avoid. Being with the Japanese people is a lot of fun and I really enjoy studying with them. I will probably be teaching the Japanese class on Sunday's when Bob and Lynne go to the states in October. I am nervous but thankful I have a couple weeks to observe before I teach. Prayers would be appreciated.
In other news...there is a softball team that wants me! Yay! It is a B-grade team, which makes me a little nervous because I was wanting to just play C but I really think it will be great. Pam, the lady at church who did the dirty work for me, says not to worry because it is just a "social team." Haha, I can't wait to find out what that means! They play tomorrow afternoon and I have been instructed to come ready to play but I might not be able to register same day so it might be a week or two before I actually get to play. I will at least get to meet the team and watch them play.
Tomorrow morning we have a bike ride organized by Bruce, Pam's husband. He is in a mountain biking club and has arranged for the church to do what is considered an introductory ride for beginners. We will be following a fire trail in Kuringai National Park and have a devo up there and a snack. I am really looking forward to getting out in the bush (or at least out of the city for the morning). It is great learning new areas around here!
We are about to head to church for my first experience with Funky Friday. It is kind of like a mini VBS the church does once a month for elementary aged kids in the community. That's what I hear anyway, as I said, this is my first time. All I know for sure is that we are having a sausage sizzle and I do like the sausage here.
Thanks for all your love and support! I love you all just for caring enough to read this.

Prayer requests:
Visas (we're moving forward but not there yet)
good first meeting with the softball team (the Gators!)
good preperation to teach the Japanese students on Sunday mornings starting in October
a safe bike ride Saturday morning
MONEY for me and especially for Sammie at this point. We believe God is faithful and will deliver but it is YOU He will be using to keep us here! Please help Sammie if you can, I want us both to be here the full two years.

THANKS!

Wow, God moves fast!

Yesterday we got really good news! The church has been approved as a sponsor for religious workers! (There is a much more technical name for it but I don't have any idea what it is and I don't really care to find out this minute.) This means that after a little bit of paperwork we will be able to get our Religious Worker Visas very soon! This is great because it means we can do a few things like breathe easier and get more involved in the community than we have been able to so far. Today we went and watched some softball teams to see if it is something we'd like to do. I am going to do what I can to get on a team in the C league. It is the league most similar to what I've played in recent years. I'm not sure what will end up happening though because all the teams might be full already. Getting involved in this brings an interesting feeling of permanency that I haven't felt so far. Joining a team would make me feel more like I live here and I'm not just visiting. Which I think it would be a really healthy thing. Also, the main reason I want to join is to be surrounded by Australian people. Hopefully it can be an open door for showing people who God is. Please pray that if I get on a team I find people with open hearts. If it doesn't work out this year I have faith that God has something different in mind for me.
Anyway, we are officially living at the Marks' now. I am very grateful there are people so willing and open to house us for a while. It will be great to be able to stay here while they go to the states too. Hopefully I can get pictures up of the view we have here. It is amazing. Sammie and I went down to the beach for a bit after lunch and read and played a bit of frisbee. It was gorgeous here, in the mid 70's, and the best part is that it is only getting warmer! I also remembered to put on sunscreen today because I have noticed my cheeks getting a little rosier than I'd like them to be. That will be a daily routine around here for sure.
Last night we rode the ferry into Sydney which was really fun. We didn't have anything to do so we just walked to the opera house and took pictures, then walked through the botanical gardens a bit. There are these incredible trees here that look like they have saggy skin. Again, I hope to get pictures up soon because they are so great! It got dark and we walked over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The lights of the city were really pretty. I caught myself thinking, "One day I would really like to live near the ocean." Hello! What am I even doing here? Haha! It will sink in eventually I'm sure!

Prayers:
Visas
fundraising
softball situation
positive transition

Thanks!

First Post....Driving

Hello Everyone!

I have been down here in Australia for about 12 days now and life is gooooood. My apologies for not posting anything yet. It's not that things haven't been interesting...I just haven't had the motivation to put something up. Today, however, that changed. I had my first experience driving on the left (not wrong, as I often catch myself saying) side of the road. Now I have been practicing by trying to jog on the left side of the path over the last few weeks and I am getting really good at remembering after almost getting plowed over by a gentleman much much older than me going about three times as fast as me. Behind the wheel is just a bit different from jogging though. First of all you can't imagine how awkward it feels to shift (just an automatic mind you) with your left hand. Not to mention how many times I started to turn on the windshield wipers instead of my turn signal. All in all I believe it was a success. I didn't hit anything at least. Sitting on the right side of the car is a good constant reminder that I need to be on the left side of the road. It will be quite a while until I am completely comfortable driving.

Besides driving (which now we did yesterday, because it is now Tuesday and I just didn't post that yesterday) we have been doing some other great things.
My flights were so great! I was on three and I had my own row for each one so I was able to spread out and lay down and I ended up sleeping for most of every flight. Which was really great because I got in at 6:30am and had to stay up the whole day to get used to the time difference. I was shooting for 10pm but fell asleep at about 7:30pm during a Bible study that we do every Thursday with some Japanese students. The first night I stayed with Bob and Lynne Marks, the full time workers here. They have a gorgeous apartment that overlooks the beach. Sammie arrived the next day and we moved to a different house where we have been since. This home has been so great! Jeannette is our house mother, she is a member of the church, and she and her husband usually keep foreign students studying English here. She makes the most delicious dinners and I was thinking yesterday about how long it has been since I lived somewhere someone made me dinner every night. I really like it :) Sadly, we are moving out this Thursday and back in with the Marks. Which will be good but I will miss Jeanette's meals.
Anyway, so far we have mainly been participating in things already going on with the church. Which, for being a church of just 20-30 members is quite a few things! We attended service on Sunday and instead of having class we spent some time introducing ourselves. Then they presented us with a laundry basket with a few staples in it: a stuffed koala bear, some Vegemite, a package of Anzac cookies, a box of Weet-Bix, some Cherry Ripe, and some Time Outs. If you don't know what some of that is you'll just have to come visit to find out. Sunday night was Youth and Young at Heart, it was great to meet some of the youth in the area! Mondays will eventually be our day off but we got last Tuesday off instead and spent a chilly day at the beach having a picnic. Then, later on Tuesday we had mid-week service which was a small group of about 8 but it was good to be together. Wednesday was playgroup in the morning for kids up to age four. After playgroup we went back to the church in the afternoon and cleaned up the playgroup closet so Sammie and I could know what is in there when we take over in October. Wednesday evening we had dinner and a Bible study with some Chinese girls, which we do every Wednesday. They are great and speak English very well so we have a lot of fun! Thursday Sammie and I cooked dinner for the Bible study with the Japanese students. We made spaghetti (my favorite) and it was a big hit! We finished the study early and played a few rounds of chicken scratch (basically chicken foot). I love games so I really enjoyed that! Friday we spent the afternoon making attempts to clean out the church office. We got some of the main stuff cleaned out but it will take more before I am comfortable working in there. Saturday was a bus trip to Canberra, the capital of Australia. That was a lot of fun! We had about 50 people on a charter bus. It was a four hour drive down. While we were there we visited the War Memorial Museum, the Parliament house, had a picnic lunch and drove up Mt. Ansley to see the whole town. It was very pretty! It was a pretty relaxing trip for me, I enjoy sitting on a bus. Sunday was another great Lord's day, and it was also Father's Day here! Monday we visited two elderly ladies at their different homes and had our first driving experience. And today was going to be our day off but we helped at a Ladies group this morning by watching the kids. Which was a lot of fun! Then had a picnic on the beach. But it was cold and we only stayed out about an hour.
Our schedule will fill in as time goes on. There are a lot of exciting things coming up. We are waiting on a few things, like volunteering in the schools etc, until our Religious Worker Visas go through. Apparently it looks funny or something if people here on Visitor Visas volunteer. So we don't want to do anything that looks funny until we have permission to stay for two years. Pray for our visas to come quickly!
This Thursday Sammie and I are moving back in with the Marks. We will stay there about six weeks because they are going to the states for the month of October. After that we will start looking for our own apartment.
Thank you all for your prayers, love and support for me here!

Prayer list:
Religious Worker Visas
continued positive transition
good choices as we begin to fill our schedules
FUNDRAISING!

speaking of fundraising...if you happen to find yourself ahead this month, or ever, feel free to send any amount to:
Memorial Road Church of Christ
Attn: HIM Program
2221 E Memorial Road
Edmond, OK 73013
(and note that it's for me)

OR. if that isn't convenient enough, you can donate using paypal! my email address for that is xjamiex@msn.com

Thanks so much! Hopefully my posts will be more frequent from now on :)