Church Thoughts

When I should be concentrating on cooking my Tex-Mex Burrito Bake and Butter Pineapple Cake, I find myself thinking about our new church.  Grace is a special place and has already found a spot in our hearts.  We didn't even consider trying out another church this Sunday.  We like the people and I like the fact that they are in the midst of complete upheaval as they are building a new sanctuary.  Weird I know, but it mirrors our life right now.  And I like the way they continue on and celebrate Christ each Sunday, even if they have a wall that shouldn't have been torn down but was, or a new odd structure to contain the Sacristy and other misc items.   They find humor in burning the palms in the midst of all this (de)construction of the old building - by simply cutting holes in the ceiling tiles to help the smoke filter out.  It's a special place I tell ya, with special people.  We too turned our world upside down for the hope of building something new and exciting. A new life, just like a new building to grow into.

I'm also baffled by the lack of youth that go to church here.  I don't want to say discouraged at this point because I feel like this is some unknown challenge that God is giving us.  When we mentioned SNUG to Father David this morning, his response that "this isn't America and that won't work here."  Perhaps not the exact same thing, but every fiber in me had to bite my tongue and say "why not?" and my mind raced forward with another silent question "have you tried?"  I don't expect everything to be the same and for the same things to work, because while we all speak English here, there are some real cultural differences in the people.  But really does it matter - you love Christ, you want your children to grow in Christ (and not stop going to church as they enter their teen years), and you want to be a part of something special...transformational in some way in your own Christ journey.  It has always been our experience, at least at all our years at Good Shepherd, that ALL ages can find something for them at church.  So again, I'm baffled.  There are a lot of little kids around Lainey's age that go to this church and a little boy, 5 months or so was baptized this morning....so HOW and WHY do the kids stop going with their parents???

If you don't engage the youth, then why would they come?  We all know these are the years when you have to compete for their attention, but to seem like you are not even trying?  Those of you who know us know that we like to dig in and be a part of our parish.  It's how we grow in our relationship with God and with each other.  I'm glad we found a place we want to call our church home while we are in Australia, but we sure have to figure out a way to roll out the proverbial Welcome Mat to the youth in this place.  God has an answer, I know he does, so I guess I'll sit back and listen for the answer.  Who knew this move would be all about patience? :-)  Or maybe it reiterates to me that Good Shepherd truly is a remarkable place that really is a sanctuary for ALL!

Please pray for us.

Cheers,
Wendy

Saturday Adventure

Started the weekend off last night with dinner in the park, the company was wonderful and yes I had more than one glass of wine.  (Side note - beer is super expensive here...a case of Dos Equis Amber is $42!) And no, the kids didn't sleep until 7.  We only made it to 6:30, but that's alright, Saturday started off right with pancakes!  We haven't had pancakes for breakfast in ages.  Believe it or not, they are not a big deal here.  To get them, you have to buy this mix, that normally is expensive that happened to be on sale this week at Woolworth's for 1/2 off.  They really have like 2 options for syrup as well and they don't even have frozen pancakes or waffles...no Leggo's here.   I need to come up with my own mix.  I'll let you know how this experiment turns out. :-)

This afternoon we headed to Yanchep National Park to finally see kangaroos and koalas!  It was so exciting and the kangaroos were everywhere!  And even though this park is only about 25 minutes from our house, we got more of a sense that we were in the "bush."  The park sits on a lake, but the lake had little water in it, but it is a very beautiful place.  We took a nature walk and the kids were too funny about it.  Harrison liked it, Lainey did not.  We saw grasshoppers, which Lainey freaked out about, spiders, and ants...really big ants.  Lainey didn't like these either and smooshed one with her shoe.  Not sure Lainey is going to be the outdoor type...she much prefers shopping, dance class and playgrounds...probably as outdoorsy as she is going to get. Ha!  Lindsey enjoyed the park too and we all decided that is definitely a place that Nawna will like too. We can't wait for her to come visit in July!  Koalas are just as cute as you think they would be and you just want to snuggle one.  Though looking at the size of their fingernails, perhaps a safe distance is good.

Hope you are all having a great weekend!  We are off to church tomorrow and maybe the beach.  Enjoy the pictures (and as usual, there are more on Facebook). 

Happy Friday

We are finishing out our 3rd official week here in Australia and it doesn't seem like we've been here that long.  It's been unbelievably busy!  I think being busy when you are living in a new place is good.  Doesn't give you time to get too homesick. :-)

Today was Lainey's first day of school at Ocean Reef Pre-Primary.  They start kindergarten (affectionately known as "Kindy" here) at age 4.  She will go two days a week...Tues & Fri.  Not Mon & Fri like I think I previously posted somewhere.  She is very excited and thinks her new teacher is "very sweet."  They have a 1/2 day the first 3 weeks of school to get the kids acclimated and then they will go from 8:30 to 3:00 P.M.  Today she painted with "bear claws" - "no flat hands allowed in the paint" she said.  She said she listened for the "sirens" to tell her when it was time to go play outside and eat a snack.  And she's right...I heard the sirens today...they definitely are not bell sounds. LOL!  She really hates loud noises, so I'm glad she tolerated these sirens without throwing a fit about them.

While she and Lindsey were at school today, Harrison had a rough day.  He was VERY upset that he didn't get to go to school with Lainey.  I did feel sorry for him.  He looked like a whipped puppy.  I thought spending time with two doting ladies (Jane's friends - Bernie & Mrs. Maurene) would be alright while Jane took me along to water aerobics at the gym.  I got a great work out in, but Harrison wasn't having any of it.  I thought to cheer him up we would do something special (feed the ducks) before we picked up Lainey, but when we got home to get the stuff he screamed and fussed and then wet his pants.  So that nixed that idea.  It was a rough start for Little Man today.  Things got better this afternoon when we picked up Lindsey from school and came home to swim.  He loves the water and so does Lainey!  We then decided to feed the ducks, which turned out to be a huge fiasco.  Those ducks are CRAZY!  It's not the little ones that are bad, but the big white looking geese things...with red beards, and sharp claws at the back of their webbed feet.  I had to divert those big birds away from the kids and they came after me!!!!  No matter how much bread I threw, they kept coming...flapping their wings.  I was running and screaming for the kids to head for the playground.  Mean ass birds!  OMG...traumatic!  Finally after turning around and flinging my arms around and kicking at them did they realize I was out of bread and leave me alone.  I'm sure, no I know, that the people in the park this afternoon had a GREAT Friday chuckle, as I'm sure you are right now.  Hey, that's what I'm here for! LOL!  I told you that I'm sure we'd have some adventures to laugh at.  Won't be feeding the ducks again...at least not when I see those big white geese things! 

 Lord help me!

 We LOVE to swim!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Cheers,

Wendy

Busy "First" Week

Well, we are in the new house (16 Shoalwater Parkway, Iluka, WA 6028) for those of you who are interested.  Moving in this weekend was a relief of sorts.  Speaking for myself and the rest of the Woolards, we really needed to be in a house that was ours.  It's hard staying in what feels like a "hotel" for 2 weeks...even if it was MUCH bigger than a hotel room.  We have enough items, thanks to Ikea, to get by until our shipping container gets her in mid-March.  I'm told it will feel like Christmas! HA!

Lindsey started school yesterday - had a GREAT first day and made new friends.  Imagine that! :-) I have to give that girl kuddos...she is the best teenager I have ever known.  She's got a wonderful sense of adventure and the independent spirit she has become over the last 6 years amazes me.  I like to think I had something to do with that! LOL! :-)  She's just a smart beautiful girl and she makes me proud every single day.  I hope that in the years to come, she has nothing but fond memories of this adventure we are on.

Lainey and Harrison are doing well...being little stinkers at time, but I'm trying to continue being patient with them as we settle into a routine.  Lainey starts school on Friday and will go two days a week to "kindy."  She has to wear her "unicorn" (yes she's still calling her uniform a unicorn) and she's quite excited about this, but ONLY if she can wear the pink glitter sneakers with it.  Some things never change.  So Monday & Friday will be Harrison's day with mom.  I'm going to try to figure out some fun things for us to do.

We go to the park quite often to play, to eat and to relax.  Again, it's hard to believe that's the lifestyle we are now living.   I haven't met our neighbors yet, but the people next to us appear to have kids the same age as Lainey and Harrison and there are teenagers everywhere.  Something...or someone should I say...for everyone.  The Perth Arts Festival is starting this weekend, so I've planned out a couple of cool things for us to do from now until March.  There are some really neat family events, kids events, international film viewings, and concerts, so I'm excited about that.  We plan on going to the beach this weekend, since we do live just around the corner now. LOL! We are hoping that this weekend won't be quite as hectic as the last. I've bought all the food to take with us, have the beach tent ready (along with the sunscreen), so all we need is Saturday to roll around.

I was messenging with my mom today, and I told her I was feeling a smidge homesick now.  I was expecting it to come, but it's funny because it's almost right on queue with a section in one of Sam's International Management books he used for a class this past fall.  The book says that after 2 weeks in the new location, homesickness sets in, and it goes on to give this whole cycle of emotions folks who relocated tend to feel for the first year.  LOL!  Always happy to know I'm on schedule!  For me, the hardest part is not being able to share my life, in person, with those I love most.  Skyping and typing will have to be the mode of sharing.  That's hard.  <sigh>

However I will not allow myself to wallow in any sadness.  God has put us in the beautiful place to experience it...to breath it all in.  I will lead my children by example and continue to focus on the wonderful blessings all around us and truly enjoy the experience.

Here are some much awaited pictures.  The rest are on Facebook.

 The kids at a Connect Perth event at Cottesloe Beach (this beach is stunning)

 Just in case you thought the water wasn't clear. :-)

Lindsey's 1st day at Ocean Reef High School - sporting her uniform

Love to you all,

Wendy