Aaaaand, we're back.

No more quiet birds.  No more desert.  We're back to Vegemite in the pantry and the good old beachy beach views from the house.  SG and I are back to the Land Down Under.  Weirdly enough, I can hear our host mom singing the American national anthem from the kitchen.  (That's not a normal Australian thing, you just have to know our host mom.)

We're taking a second go round where host homes are concerned.  We're back to the couple we started with, then house sitting for their neighbors again (the ones with Attila the dog), then maybe back with Ian and Joan.  It's a peachy spot, with a ten minute walk to the beach, and not a bad walk down the hill to church and work. 

Christmas break was wonderful.  I mean, wonderful.  There was time with the brothers, the parents, the besties.  I got to go dancing, there was Christmas, it was great.  It was so great, in fact, that I considered not getting back on the plane.  I really did.  I thought, well, I could just not get on the plane and drop off the face of the earth.  It's not as though Pastor John is going to fly to America to come get me. 

As that was complete stuff and nonsense, I marched my American behind onto that plane to finish what we started.  Australia has its perks, after all.  There are Ian and Ilma and other Ian and other Ian (there are lots of Ians here).  There are the friends like Chez and Sammy and Eliza and Catty and Jake and Cath and TJ (who loves it when he gets a blog shoutout) and Joel and Will and the rest, who are so cool and seem to like us for some reason.  There are all the church people who have adopted us as their grandgirls.  There are the adventures I get to have with SG, like going to the cricket in Melbourne and getting slightly pinkish at the beach from too much reading in the sand. 

It was hard to leave home, but it's good to be back.  Being a church intern isn't easy.  Sure, you have low living expenses and you live by the beach, but sometimes it gets complicated.  Sometimes I think it's way beyond my scope of ability to think through foundational doctrines and then figure out applying them to how church works.  

But hey, it's not like we're trying to do this alone.  God is walking close beside us, teaching us all kinds of things along the way.  Positions like these expose your weaknesses in an annoyingly edifying way.  All of a sudden I have a whole lot of respect for ministers who do this as their life's calling. 

Thank you for your cards, your hugs, your continuing prayers and support.  Keep right on praying that God turns Australia to Him, as He is more than worth the attention of a continent.  Keep right on praying that SG and I would be a team that trusts God to work in dark places and also in our own hearts as we walk with Him. 

Love you so much,

Little Miss Sunshine