Spending time in Australia and balancing the life I have here with the life I am still connected to back home has taught me one extremely important lesson: God is in everything. His breath is the air I inhale both in Australia and America. His love is reflected in the eyes of all the diverse and beautiful people that walk past me on the streets. His smile is spread across the sparkling stars of the night's sky. His arms are the mountains and valleys that give shape to the Earth. His voice is the wind, the rain, the chirping of the birds, the chaos of the city, and the whisper of the distant ocean. He is everywhere, in all that we see.

I have been blessed to befriend some truly wonderful people on my journey to Australia that have proven this lesson to me. Each and every person carries their own complicated, beautiful story. Every story reveals the unique work of God's hands, and as I listen to the sorrows and joys my friends have experienced, I see God more clearly. I see that he is so good all the time. Even when hearts break, fears become realities, and tragedies sweep in like a summer storm, God is doing something so good. Even when life appears irreparable, his promises stand true. This brings hope and joy and peace in such an overwhelming and inexplicable way.

I have been personally invited by God to go on an unknown, messy, thrilling, beautiful journey through Australia. He brought me here through a series of events I could not have even fathomed at the time. He took me out of undesirable situations and planted me in a new place; a place full of hope and exciting opportunities. He led me through waves of different emotions, allowing me to be put through difficult events one day at a time. And he continues to prepare me to travel down the overgrown and windy path ahead.

Australia is a country of unique experiences. I think God especially designed this earth to be full of complexity and trials so that his creation could toil through the past and move on to a brighter future. Consider Australia's history. The first western settlers were a mob of rowdy convicts. They came with hearts full of bitterness and irreverence, desiring equal treatment and the freedom to live a nice, uncomplicated life. The Australian Earth provided plenty of difficulties that they eventually overcame, at least enough to survive. Australian animals were persistent threats and the ocean was full of deathly dangers. Aborigines posed a "problem" to the settlers, which was unfortunately dealt with in shameful and inhumane ways. The history of the white settlers is by no means graceful or tidy. Honestly, Australia was one big mess. But they have crawled out of that mess, picked themselves up, and moved on to become a fascinating, creative, and prosperous country.

I am likewise a mess. My history is in no way graceful or tidy. I have dealt with problems in unfortunately shameful ways. My heart came to Australia full of bitterness and irreverence. I am a convict, escaping the past and moving on to a brighter future. I am a pilgrim, seeking to process a new culture and evaluate my own. And as I continue down the overgrown path that God has invited me on, I walk by faith that he is planning something good around every turn. I trust that his promises form the ground I am walking on. I believe that He is in everything I see.

This lesson has proved to be an important one so far. The more I see God, the more beautiful he becomes. The more I talk to his people, the more I understand his purposes. The more adventures I go on, the more he reveals himself to be an awesome, powerful, inspiring God. The more he teaches me about history, the more I can trust that he is good and he is at work. The more I write these posts, the more in love I fall with my God.

He's in every blade of grass. 
He's in everyone we meet. 
He's in all that we see.

On saturday a group of us went to Featherdale Wildlife Park. They have all sorts of native Australian animals and we were lucky enough to pet and feed some of them. There were wombats, pelicans, wallabies, kangaroos, goannas, koalas, crocodiles, kookaburras, snakes, emus, biblies, and so many other cool animals. I absolutely love animals so I had a super fun time hanging out with the kangaroos!

Four weeks. I have been on this foreign island, thousands of miles away from home, for four weeks. It is strange how familiar yet how alien I feel in this land. I recognize many buildings, have a routine for getting around to school and church, and spend many nights out enjoying the city. I know many of the people around me and I have began to build relationships with people at my home and at school. I have attended the same church five times and it is starting to feel familiar. Yet at the same time I feel so utterly estranged from this country. This is not my home. These people are not my family. I am merely a pilgrim here.

I have been here long enough that the initial glory has worn out just a bit and the excitement has begun to fade. Don't get me wrong, the excitement is definitely still there and I am so grateful to be in Australia, but I am entering into the phase of homesickness that I have been expecting and preparing for since before I even left.

I miss my parents. I miss my kitchen. I miss driving down familiar roads. I miss Providence Church. I miss eating dinners in the screened-in porch and playing games or talking with my family for hours afterwards. I miss the warmth and humidity of Pennsylvanian air. I even my university. I miss walking down the halls of my dorm. I miss being able to walk to the library to research and study. I miss chapels. I miss home.

The purpose of this journal entry is not to complaining about the things I miss. It is not even close to that. This entry is my way of processing what "home" means and what "family" is in my heart. I have realized that no matter where I am, no matter how far I travel, no matter what job I am working or what social events I am attending, the most crucial things to have is family, for family is home. I can't imagine moving to a new country, or even a new state, and setting up life long term without a sense of family around me. I could go anywhere and do anything so long as I have a family I can call my own. In Pennsylvania I have my real family around me. At school I have sisters that have been with me through the many twists and turns of life. At camp I had the closest thing to a heavenly family that I have ever experienced. And in the future I will have a new family that will go with me wherever I go.

In Australia I am family-less. That is why I feel so alien here. I don't have people that I can call sister or brother, mother or father. There are so many strangers surrounding me all the time and when I spend time with the people I have met and befriended, I am overwhelmed with the tension of "knowing" them yet feeling so distant because of the many cultural differences that lie between us.

I am home-less here.

Then I remember that I do have a constant home that I can take with me everywhere I go. I have a friend who never leaves. A father who is always listening. A mother who constantly cares and watches over me. A master who leads me every step of the way. A savior who has not stopped showing me love since the moment I was formed. I have my God, who is all these things and more.

I am so grateful for the way the Lord is speaking to me in the land down under. He has chosen to whisper softly. He patiently waits for me to feel his gentle tug and he is understanding when I have to ask for him to repeat what he has said. He is even quick to forgive me when I take a little too long to respond to his call. He's so gracious. He's so giving. He's so comforting. And he is my home.

I desperately long for a more material taste of home. I yearn for a family I can see and touch. I miss the presence of my earthly mother and father. But I am not completely without a home. God has been kind to me to put me through all these experiences. He knows what he is doing when he allows my heart to hurt and my spirits to be down. He knows how good it is for me to be taken away from the comforts of all that I know and be placed in such a strange and foreign land that is full of lessons that I need to learn. He has taught me so much about the importance of family and the value of home. He has cleared my vision and reminded me that I don't have to keep running all over the world to find what I am looking for. I can still run and explore, but every time I go out looking I will always come back to my center and see that home is in my soul and that my surroundings don't matter as long as I hold dearly in my heart a sense of family.

So for now I pray and patiently wait to see what family will be for me in the future. I will always run. I will always explore. But now I know that I can only do this happily if I seek out family wherever I go. Hopefully the Lord will bless me with a constant family--a husband and children--who will go on this journey of life with me. But if he doesn't, it's okay. For He is and always will be my only true home.

Week three in Australia has been wonderful. I am really beginning to settle down and feel at home in my new surroundings. School is going well, friendships are forming, the food is delicious, and the weather is fair considering it's Winter. Sydney is a really remarkable place, and anyone who has the chance to visit really should jump at the opportunity.

I am taking six classes. One is the called the View from Australia and it discusses Australian culture and History, especially since it's colonization in 1788. Then there is Indigenous History, which explores Aboriginal culture, philosophy, lifestyle, and history. I really love that class and I think my worldview will be impacted most by the films, books, and places I study there. I am also taking a small class on New Zealand culture and history, but most of the learning will come at the end of the program when I spend a week adventuring through the Auckland area. There's also my Galatians class, which is super fun and seems like a challenge spiritually as well as intellectually. I am doing an independent study on the Sabbath in the Old and New Testament and especially focusing on place and purpose God has within the covenant of rest. I am also taking psychosomatic education, which is broken into two sessions. The first is about the mind and body and is more of a science class. The second is a Pilates class. Overall, my schedule is fairly relaxed but I can already tell that I will be learning in all sorts of dimensions that I had not expected.

The family I am living with is Greek-Australian. My "grandparents" came from Greece in their twenties and had my parents here in Australia. My parents have three children who are between the ages of sixteen and twenty. They are very sweet people and I have enjoyed getting to know them and laugh with them over very enjoyable dinners. My mom cooks really amazing food and she inspires me to be healthier, although I still treat myself to frozen yogurt and tim-tams frequently :)

I live with two other girls from my program (ASC) and we are getting along very well! I love everybody at ASC and I am beginning to build some great relationships. It is slower-going with the Aussie students, but I have been able to connect with a few of them and soon we will be having game nights and doing other fun things throughout the city together. I hope to learn more about Australian spirituality and philosophy through my interactions with them. I also hope to simply enjoy great friendships :)

I have been going to Hillsong City campus consistently and just signed up for a connect group, so I should be able to get more plugged in soon. I love the services there! The preaching is really great and the music is wonderful, of course. Everyone is super friendly and welcoming and I feel right at home there. I am also doing service hours with a few other ASC students at a mission in Newtown each Thursday night. We help set up tables and prepare food, and then we attend a service for about an hour before dinner starts. Then we serve the food and socialize with the many people who come for a free meal. The first week we went I volunteered to give a testimony, which was really intimidating at first but I am glad I pushed myself to do it. Afterwards I was told that I impacted a couple of the people in the service and many others thanked me for sharing. Next week we are leading worship and I am grateful for the opportunity we have to serve in various ways each week. God is so present there! He is teaching me so much about life and relationships. I am loving every second of it!

Other than that, I am not doing too much. Lot's of sight-seeing and mini-trips to the city. We went to the Barracks near Hyde Park yesterday and learned more about the lives of the early convicts. We also visited Clark Island for a tour and learned traditional aboriginal dances. I've seen the Royal Botanical Gardens, the Opera House, the Rocks, Luna Park, Town Hall Center, the State Library, and many other fun things along the way. There is so much more to explore and I look forward to doing just that! :)

If you'd like to pray for me, you can pray that I will increase in confidence, maturity, and compassion. I seek to become God's woman and no one else's. I want to speak with grace and humility and be wise in my decisions in every area of my life. I praise God for brining me here and using me in small ways already. I pray that as times progresses He will use me in even greater ways! Pray also for my continued health and protection. God is good, so just pray to Him lot's :)