The time has come ...

It is absolutely surreal to think that the time has come to say that we will be back on U.S. soil in just a week's time.

There really isn't any way to describe how it feels to be looking ahead and looking back with such fondness for both.

Guess we'll have to take a vote on whether to keep up this blog once we have cell phones again ... but for at least this last week we'll be sequestered away from the internet as we take deep and ponderous breaths.

It has been GREAT to share this journey with you. Cheers.

Puzzle Pieces

I've been thinking about puzzle pieces all day ... the way things fit just right. The pieces might look odd alone, but together they make sense.

We've been in a lot of different styles and formats and sizes of fellowship these past eight months. From five of us sitting in an apartment with praise on our lips, to crowded grass-roofed clay buildings with an old gas-can serving as the tambourine, to programs where entrance is based on your passport, to standing among thousands while singing along to a well-polished praise band, to a side-street mission that hosts a fascinating blend of young artists and the down-and-out. All different pieces to the same puzzle. Each looks and feels different, and sometimes might not even make a lot of sense, until you step back and look at how they all fit. We know because WE fit in each one. We might not have always looked or felt like we did, but nonetheless each was home when the name of the Son was lifted up.

We've also been in and out of so many types of homes and families it can make the head spin. Each fascinatingly shaped and crafted to fit into one amazing trip this year. This particular puzzle is nearly complete - almost every piece has now been fit together and we can look back on a beautiful piece of work that didn't always make sense if we were looking at just one piece or another.

But the other puzzle - the one that all us oddly shaped pieces make up as believers - that one's not complete yet. Maybe soon. Maybe Someone is looking at a nearly completed picture. Maybe there are still a lot of missing pieces. We've seen only the tiniest corner, but it's beautiful ...

B-E-A-utiful

The other day I heard a quote that photo albums (substitute blogs) are made up of one pretty snapshot to another. The normal days are what get you between snapshots. Well, lest anyone be confused, life is still full of normal days when you're travelling the world, but those snapshot days are pretty incredible.

Yesterday was a snapshot day. Our trigger-happy fingers snapped plenty of shots, actually, and we'll post them soon. Sydney is B-E-A-utiful! Seriously, one of the prettiest cities I've ever been in.

The Royal Botanic Gardens near the Opera House highlighted our day yesterday. Wild Cockatoos are in the trees (have we mentioned Australia's amazing birdlife!? Rainbow Lorikeets EVERYWHERE). Fruit bats - hundreds of them - decorated one corner of the gardens. Creepy and fascinating at the same time. Not too used to seeing bats in the daylight. But remember, this is still in a CITY, not a wildlife preserve or something.

The water of the Harbour is just as clear as the see-through waters of the Islands that we've become so fond of.

And the Opera House ... well, it really is an odd building, isn't it? But it works - it caught our eye all day, reminding us "we're in SYDNEY - yay".

It's definitely colder here down South, but despite rain forecasts, the sun has befriended us and is now beckoning us to a second day of exploring this beautiful city.

42 Wallaby Way Sydney

Well we leave today for major Road Trip #2. Where are we going? I'll tell you where we're going - P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney.

The closer we get to coming home and talking about all this in person, the more difficult I find it to write and tell you about it. But one thing should be made clear. If you ever get a chance to come to Australia, make it a priority. It really is an amazing place to visit...

When we finish this week long road trip and return to our comfortable castle in Brisbane, the family we are staying with will be gone on a trip of their own. It will be interesting to have a few days here on our own. They have become dear friends, and we will miss our nightly conversations. It is truly amazing how God orchestrates our lives, who we will meet, and how long we will have with them. The house and the car they have let us borrow has certainly been a blessing, but we have been far more blessed by their companionship these past few weeks...

So here is a strange thing. As we travel south it gets colder. Welcome to living upside down. And for those of you wondering, yes when you flush the toilet the water does spin the other way...

Looking forward to seeing all of you soon!

Grammar

Ideal. Adjective. Camping along the Eastern Australian Coast, awaking to sunrise on the Pacific each morning.

Awe. Noun. A feeling of wonder at pausing in the middle of the ocean and being told to jump into the coral wonderland below.

Wonder. Verb. The force that works against keeping your jaw closed around the snorkel while floating above coral gardens of vibrant colors.

Vibrant. Adjective. Colors of coral and fish that make Nemo’s anemone look like a common apartment.

Unbeatable. Adjective. Taking a boat two hours off shore to ‘Bait Reef’ with five other people, strapping on an oxygen tank, and scuba diving with Turtles and Sharks.

Surreal. Adjective. Holding the hand of the one you love as you swim through and above the awesome, wonder-inspiring, vibrant and unbeatable environment that is the Great Barrier Reef.

Humility. Noun. The only response possible to the One creative enough to confound the mind and heart with the wonders the eyes can take in.