School Holidays!

Oh dear Lord, I know I haven't updated for 5 weeks now and Im so so sorry you all have had to wait for what must have seemed like an eternity to hear from me :D It's just that a whole lot of stuff has been on, and our internet has been really slow so updating pictures has been quite impossible :/ However the internet bill is now paid and uploading happens smoothly – so it's time to pour out the events of the past weeks! I've devided the updates into categories since otherwise I'd myself get all confused – in the end, 5 weeks is a long time and a lot has happened :)

So we had school holidays in the beginning of May, for a whole ten days!! Most of my time ”off” however was spend working on the assessments that were due after the holidays, so I must admit I felt more stressed than ever througout the holidays. I did got to have a few days off however, and we certainly made the most of the time on those days! :)

I visited the Reeds Residency for a few days and got to see the boys again – it's been quite a while since I last saw them and I am realizing how little I actually have time to visit them even though I am in the same city with them! So it was nice to be around, and I had the whole big house for myself during the days when kids were at school and Gretha at work! :)

We also organized a Pyjama Party with Rachelle (Jill and Lisette both went to America for the holidays) and it was the best ever! :) We dragged all the mattresses out of our beds and laid them on the livingroom floor so that it made one HUGE bed where we all slept! We had yummy dinner, games, giggles, words of encouragement and a fair amount of sleep, and in the morning we all shared a massive brunch with omelette's, wide selection of fruits and sweet stuffed crapes before everyone went off their ways!

Me and Rachelle had A BIG DAY OUT in the Royal National Park, which happens to be Australia's second largest National Park! Of course we set off with the thirst for adventure, and once arriving to the park information centre after a brief hike the truth dawned on us – the country's second largest park was obviously MASSIVE and way too big to walk around! We had picked our favourite hiking track and everything online without realizing that we entered the park from the other side and so it would have took us DAYS to hike down to the start of our track! :D

So instead of a massive 5hour hike, we chose to rent a canoe and explore the still waters of the park. It was such a restoration of our souls to paddle down in the quiet and beauty of the untouched nature.

We paddled to end of the stream and camped out for a picnic. We had some great times observing some stubborn antz trying to drag away massive pieces of food, and after a good nibble we hiked up the hill to a cave that's opening was shaped like a heart! We made friends with the birds of the park and admired the majestic scenery caving us in. Words are not enough to discribe the peace in our hearts!

Afterwards we got caught up in the rain waiting for the bus – it was great as we discovered that the forecast for the rain had been stormy and wet, but the skies were clear and blue and the sun kept shining down on us throughout the trip until we were out of the park. I figured it was just God reminding us that He truly does hear even the silliest little requests of our hearts :)
Of course He had to have a little show off at the end of the day just to remind to whom the glory belongs..

Once we got home it was time to throw a party, and so we ended up baking: churros dipped in chocolate fondue and sweet stuffed crapes – it was AMAZING after all the fresh air and walking! I had finally invested a whole $15 for an electric mixer so we didn't have to whip the cream manually.. I have started to view the old day's baking mothers from a whole new angle because of this!! :)

We' ve been also investing into our RDG girls with Jenn by taking them out one by one, and having a blast with them outside the church environment to reassure our genuine love and care for them!We took Felicity to a chocolateria for some churros and Jessie for funny dress-ups shopping.. It has been the best!

My days and thoughts are filled up with Fuel and our RDG girls, and I am growing to love them more and more each week! We had a big youth event a few weeks ago called groundswell where thousands of younster between 12 and 17 gathered together and the next day smaller group of core kids from our youth ministries got specific training a IMPACT to equip them to live radically for God! My heart skipped a beat as I was watching the next generation, our future leaders, worshipping God. Now this is why I love what I do – I get to take part in equipping these future leaders to change the world!