Onto the next thing ...

I have had the absolute best last few days.

For the last 8-9 years, the Christmas season has always been very difficult. My immediate family and I celebrate at different times. And, without knowing it, I longed for big family gatherings, with lots of generations and with kids. I miss the times of gathering at my grand parent's house. They've been gone many years now. Every year I dread and ignore the arrival of Christmas. It is quite depressing.

And, every year I pray that the following year be different.

This year was awesome. Christmas was spent in Sydney visiting my friend's in laws, her homegroup and with her good friends. And, I got presents. I'm incredibly excited about getting presents, because I'm usually the present buyer AND, I totally did NOT expect anything from any of these people. Most I had only met once, and then Christmas day.

We spent Boxing Day watching movies with a quick side trip to the local Christian book store.

And, this morning before leaving Sydney we had the most tasty Thai food I've ever had.

Oh....its been the most fabulous few days. I could not have guessed last year that this year I'd be spending such a beautiful time in Australia. Only God could arrange for such a treat, because only God knows what I want and need - even better than I know it myself.

This evening I'll be arriving in Kansas City. I'm attending the One Thing '08 conference/concert. I cannot wait to see what God has planned.

Port Noumea Caledonia - Nov 18

Noumea was our first stop on the cruise. It was a buzy port. We were met by the Governor and his wife - a very french European looking couple.

Our stay in Noumea was buzy. We had booked two tours with the ship. First there was a Kayak down the river, and next a Tree to Tree adventure. Both were very, very cool...

First, the kayak. The ship has two pools, but I wanted to swim in something bigger - pools just didn't interest me. It was a two man kayak and we zig zagged down the river trying to coordinate our paddling. After that hard work we jumped into the river for a cool off. Very nice, very relaxing and very nature-ish.

Second, the tree to tree adventure. Hmmm...what can I say ? Its fun climbing trees, and zipping down ziplines. Our women's group at church had a tree walk adventure and I loved it, so I talked my roommate and co-vacationer into it.

Christmas Eve @ Hillsong

We attended Christmas Eve service at Hillsong a few hours ago. The music and worship was fabulous. But, what was really cool is that they told and played out the Christmas story. That is common enough, but they actually brought Mary in on a live donkey, and the shepherds came in holding sheep. But, the absolute show stopper .... the wise men came in with real camels. Now how cool is that ?

Magnetic Island

Its my last weekend before I leave Australia. And, its a little bittersweet. I'm looking forward to going home after a side trip to One Thing '08. I miss my family, church family, my cat, friends and Futsal. I'm not really sure what is next for me. A chat with a good friend reminded me that often, all we get is light for the next step. And, my next step is to go home. I, of course, would love to have the next 8 months planned out....but, such is not God's way. All of which has nothing to do with Magnetic Island. So, onto that....

I arrived on Dec 18th. And, spent the night at Base Backpackers. An ok place if I wanted to party, drink and stay up, but I was wiped - I was out at 8pm despite the loud noise and party going on outside. The next three nights are being spent at Bungalow Bay, Koala Village. Now, this is a cool place. We slept in a two person twin bungalow. Right within the resort was nature reserve featuring Koalas, crocodiles, cool birds and funky lizards.

The first night we walked up on what's called the Forts Walk. It has the remnants of an old military post (WW II, I think) that was used to guard the East Coast of Australia. We saw a Koala on the way up. Very, very neat....I'd only seen them in captivity. On this walk, I kept thinking about how these soldiers must have felt living in this beautiful place, but always at risk. It seemed like such a vast contrast.

The next day was spent on a sailboat called Jazza. We put on stinger suits (its that time of year on Magnetic Island) and snorkeled for hours. Stinger suits are cool. They protect you from sting rays, jelly fish and you don't have to worry about sunscreen. I'm not sure how hip they are, but they are really handy. The guy on the boat quoted to us Jer 29:11 and had Christian music going - how neat is that ?

The following day was less filled but also fun. We had a lovely buffet breakfast Auzzie style. Relaxed and enjoyed the island. We spent the afternoon riding a horse. I've never ridden a horse - it is quite the experience. I kept trying to tell the horse what to do and I swear I could hear him say, leave me alone I do this trail two times a day, seven days a week. He bucked and tried to kick another horse. And, finally I fell off into the soft sand. My vacation buddy was quite amused and I'm just bruised.

Not much else went on....it was a relaxing 4 days.

Dravuni Island - Nov 20

We visited Dravuni Island on Nov 20, the 6th day of our cruise. Dravuni was beautiful compared to Noumea. The ship anchored off the island and we were tendered in. I like docking on the islands more, it gives us the freedom to come and go, but the more beautiful islands and the ones I enjoyed most were too small to have ports big enough for the ship. We spent the morning on the beach and the afternoon climbing to the top of a hill to view the island. Here's some pics:

Dravuni Island from the Ship


Approaching the dock by tender

The Beach

The View from the top of the Hill...

Daniel's Detox Diet

My dear and most lovely friend and Australian hostess convinced me to do a 10 detox program with her called Daniel's Diet. It is based on Daniel 1:8-16 where Daniel and his three friends chose not to eat from the King's table but ate only vegetables. So, on this detox we eat only fruit, veggies, legumes, and nuts. No meat, no eggs, no dairy, no oils, no sugar (even honey), no salt. Some of the allowed stuff is limited. But, quantity of food isn't. It sounds pretty restrictive doesn't it ? And, especially to me, I am queen of the steak; savour the bacon and pile on the salt. It seems kind of insane.

Well, I must be honest and come clean - my friend didn't convince me to do it all. She only said she was planning on doing it after the cruise and I jumped right in and said I would do it too. Why you may ask, since I am a carnivore ? Why the insanity ? Not surprisingly - it is a God thing. God led me to start a study on Daniel before I left Canada. God highlighted many cool things in that study even though I haven't managed to finish it yet. I came upon the Daniel Diet book in a Christian bookstore during my first couple of days in Sydney - put it down, picked it up, put it down, picked it up, flipped through it, oh look very useful thoughts on why we eat and the effects of food on us, put it down and finally gave in the little voice inside me that said get this book. Of course, when I bought it, I thought I don't need to do the detox, I can just learn all the neat things he has to say, because I might starve if I cut meat out of my diet. God just kept highlighting Daniel. And, when my friend said she was going to do it, I found myself saying - cool, I'll do it too !! Yikes !

It is my fourth day on the diet. Clearly, I'm still alive. So far - no serious cravings. Though my mind does occasionally wander to steak.

It is also a fast of sorts, to help me figure out where I'm going next and what I'm doing. I still have 8 months of leave to figure out.

Daniel 1:17 says - "To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds."

And, there is always that to hope for - I can do with more knowledge and understanding.