So midyear break officially ends today. I am excited about going back to the "NET grind" but also a bit homesick. My parents flew into Cairns about two weeks ago and I flew up to meet them. We had the best time. We spent three days in Cairns where I scubaed the Great Barrier Reef and actually saw a baby shark. Dad and I also snorkeled and saw a stingray (move over Steve Irwin). We road this skyrail up a mountain through the rain forest and then a scenic train ride on the way back down.
We then took off and rode through some of the semi-outbackish area to give mom and dad an idea of the differences in terrain. It was hilarious. A one lane road for about 500km. We had to pull off when the road trains came through. Dad was kinda freaking out because we couldn't find a petrol station. It was heaps of fun.
We stopped in several small towns along the way and had lots of fun adventures. We went to the Capricorn Caves where the bats were so loud they sounded like a waterfall. Apparently they normal are out of the caves during the day but because it was raining, they were there by the thousands. We went shopping on a mountain top town and looked at the beautiful views. We saw the beaches and went to an incredible aquarium full of reef fish. We also went to a wildlife sanctuary where mom and I petted the kangaroos. She LOVED the koalas. She talked to it like she does our cat at home. Both mom and dad had a chance to drive on the opposite side of the road and did bang up good jobs.
It was a LOT of driving. 2656 kms to be exact. But the nice thing about it was that it gave us a lot of time to catch up. Being the oldest and always going on vacation as a family, this is the first time since my sister was born 23 years ago that I have had that much alone time with my parents. It was good to get to chat and learn more about each other. I am so blessed to have these two amazing people as my parents. Praise God!
I was so thrilled they came to visit me. For those of you who haven't been to Oz, its about a 40 hour trip. And bless their hearts, they had a 52 hour trip back due to delays, etc. I am so proud of them for leaving the country and taking such an adventure. And it was SOOO good to see them. Of course now I am missing home like crazy, and I am praying the feeling goes away so that I don't have a tough time with the next six months.
Anyway, I posted some pictures from our adventure and a few from the team. I also wanted to let you guys know that the reason I never post pictures our daily ministry is that we are not allowed to post pictures of the kids due to child protection laws. I also don't share too much of the day-to-day experiences from ministry on here because we promise the kids that what they share during the Encounter Days (this is what the retreats are called) is confidential and will not be repeated. But I will try to post more stories on here about ministry when I can. Thank you all for your continued prayers. Please pray for me. I realize being on break that I am a bit more stressed than I realized. Please pray that I can relax a bit more and not be as stressed in the next six months.
PS- I wanted to say a special thank you to my sister, Kari and everyone who helped take care of my grandmother while my mom and dad were visiting me. I can't list all of you here, but you know who you are. May God bless you abundantly. You are in my heart more than you know.
Have a great week and will write more soon!
Here are some random shots of the team from the first half of the year:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2444808&l=2d45c&id=5214104
Here are some pictures of my gorgeous parents:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2444810&l=7a613&id=5214104
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