Far out, I just wanted to say that Jesus is so rad. Today's been a cool day. I'm extremely tired, but it's been so cool to hang out with my roomies and have an awesome time with them. It's really weird to me that I'm living with my friends. Last year was so not like this. Church this morning was really awesome as well. Apparently the church I go to here sent some people to Hillsong Conference and they had some people get up this morning and talk about it. That was definitely very distracting and sentimental to me.

Just a note to say I got here safe and things are going well. The house is slowly coming together. More later.

Last night I wasn't tired so I decided to read through some of my old journals. It proved a bit difficult. I have a bad habit of getting halfway (or less) through a journal then starting another one. I'm not sure why it happens, but it always seems to. I read four different journals, but the amount of writing in those journals was hardly enough to fill two. It was really interesting to read things from my freshman and sophomore years of high school. In some ways it doesn't seem that long ago, but really some of that stuff was almost five years old. It's crazy to see where I've been and how I've changed and grown. I am literally a different person then I was five years ago. Of course a 20 year old is going to be different than a 15 year old, but I'm still amazed at what God has done. It was a kick to read through some of my old prayers and see the issues that I had then and how some of them are so different than now, but some of them are still exactly the same. This sounds bad, but I also couldn't believe my maturity. I found myself wondering if I was just really good at the Christianese or if I was actually that mature in my faith at 15 and 16. Maybe I combination of both. It's interesting though to now be second guessing my own sincerity four to five years ago. God knows though, and I'm so grateful for all the work He did in my life during those years and all He's continued to do.

Yesterday was my last day at work, and today was filled with packing. Well, I wouldn't say it was filled with packing, but that was the main activity of the day. I hate packing so much. Besides things which involve pain or extreme discomfort, packing is my least favourite activity in the world. Unpacking is fine; not my favorite, but it's a million times better than packing. Tomorrow's the big moving day. We're actually not leaving as early as originally intended which will be nice on the sleep tonight. Still, it's going to be a long haul tomorrow. I think I'll have a good time though, busting some tunes with my mom.

I am shocked at how good I feel right now. I'm not upset at all. I'm not nostalgic at all. Heck, I'm practically excited. This year stands in stark contrast to last year. I think mainly it's because there's so many less unknowns. I know who I'm living with, I know how things at the school work, I know the area fairly well, I have a kitchen and a living room, and I have friends. Adjusting will be so much easier this year. That's not to say I won't be challenged. I'm really hoping for the challenge actually; eager for a chance to be changed and worked on by God. Since things have gotten back to normal after Australia things between He and I have gotten a bit lax again (definitely on my part, not His). I'm stoked to have the change of scenery and change of schedule. I'm stoked to go to chapel and worship Jesus four times a week. Far out man, I can't believe I'm excited for school. God is good.

Can I just say that C.S. Lewis was/is a genius? This book is so amazing. This portion really struck me as I read it last night, and instantly I knew I wanted to put it up here. In this part of the story, a busload of people from hell have taken a bus trip to the edge of heaven, and each of the "ghost people" (from hell) talk to a "solid person" (from heaven) and the solid person tries to help the ghost go into the mountains where they will eventually become solid and enter into heaven like they did. The book contains many discussions between the ghosts and the solid people, which the narrator (the main character) listens to from a distance. The following is his conversation with his solid person after listening to a discussion in which the ghost's problem was that her "love" for her dead son had completely consumed her and squelched out any desire she had for God and knowing his love.

'Is there any hope for her, Sir?'
'Aye, there's some. What she calls her love for her son has turned into a poor, prickly, astringent sort of thing. But there's still a wee spark of something that's not just herself in it. That might be blown into a flame.'
'Then some natural feelings are really better than others - I mean, are a better starting-point for the real thing?'
'Better and worse. There's something in natural affection which will lead it on to eternal love more easily than natural appetite could be led on. But there's also something in it which makes it easier to stop at the natural level and mistake it for the heavenly. Brass is mistaken for gold more easily than clay is. And if it finally refuses conversion its corruption will be worse than the corruption of what ye call the lower passions. It is a stronger angel, and therefore, when it falls, a fiercer devil.'

So just after I've gotten off the phone with Mel and told her how I'm over the whole blogging deal I've decided to blog something. Weird, but I figured I would try it. It's not as though stuff hasn't been happening and it's not as though I haven't had things on my mind. I think when it comes down to it I'm just fed up with the fact that this is all electronic. There was a time that I really liked the convenience of mass updates but now I'm somewhat fed up with it. It serves some cool purposes i.e. being able to recount my whole trip to Australia. (btw Joan that was sweet that you liked it that much, I'm glad.) I think I'm over the idea of putting my thoughts out there and just letting them be "out there," rather than sharing them with someone personally. That's enough about that.

I think along with that I haven't been updating because I don't want the Australia bit to die and go to the next page. There is a part of me that's still really holding on to the trip, and as I wrap each detail up and things get more back to normal it frightens me. It frightens me because I don't want to forget. I don't want the things I learned to slip away just like the blogs will eventually slide off the front page. I got some photos back today from the trip that I got enlarged, and I'm stoked to have them but another part of me is disappointed. Getting the pictures back is just another reminder that it's over. Soon they'll be no more organizing those things, no more stories to tell, no more Tim Tams to eat (I only brought back one package. What was I thinking?). This is getting depressing.

In other news, it's been a really full last couple of days. I've done some school shopping, been back in the studio, TPed my pastor's house, worked a lot of hours, and got my hair cut (yay!). I bought three books yesterday. Two by C.S. Lewis, and one by John Eldredge. I'm reading one of the C.S. Lewis ones right now - The Great Divorce. I'm about a quarter of the way through it and it's really good so far. Lewis is seriously a genius, the way he makes you think is astounding. The story is fiction so there's a bunch of symbolism; it's sort of grown-up The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

I've been rocking out to Hillsong a lot in my car recently (I'll be mailing the CD this week Leah). So much so that I'm sure I look like a complete idiot to anyone who's driving around me. We're talking all out air guitar and drums, complete with head and upper body movement. I can't wait to freak my roommate out in a couple weeks when I put the CD on in our room and just start going off.

Speaking of roommates, I'm moving on Friday. This is a fact that definitely has not hit me yet. How do I know, you ask. Let me tell you. If it had really hit me that I was moving, I think I'd be freaking out. I'd be getting nostalgic over really stupid things. Instead I'm just oblivious. I just realized half an hour ago that I'm going to have to say a bunch of goodbyes tomorrow at church. Lame. I hate leaving.

I'd say that's enough for now. Or for a long time, who knows. We'll see how I feel about blogging tomorrow.

still Saturday, August 8
The drive out was gorgeous and I didn't mind its length because there was cool scenery to look at. Finally we got there and had a look around and figured out what we could do. It was about 10 till five, and the 5:00 tour just happened to be the cave we had joked about - The Temple of Baal. This led to many more jokes and much fun. The tour was $22, but was amazing and totally worth it. Weird as it sounds, we had a great time down in the cave and got to see and learn about something that you don't normally see or even get to think about.

The tour was excellet and our tour guide great. After and hour and a half we were back on the surface and getting in the car to leave. It took us hardly any time to get out of the park, which none of us really gave a second thought to. But after about 15 minutes of driving we ended up on a dirt road, and nothing and no direction seemed right. After a couple minutes I remembered a bunch of stuff that we passed on our way in but hadn't passed on our way out. So we headed back to the park, then drove through the correct exit. I swear Jesus made those dirt roads appear, and if they hadn't been there we could have been lost for hours and hours. From there it was smooth sailing for a few hours, until we got slightly lost trying to find Chili's "texas grill."

Leah and Mel were so stoked, it was hilarious. We got chips and salsa (which were pretty dodgey, even after ordering a new basket) and all got Mexican food. The service was pretty nuts because this waitress was covering like 10 tables. She stuffed our order a bit so we ended up getting a free dessert out of it. I ordered a drink but it was nasty, so Mel took it and drank about half. Everyone had a bit of alcohol...hmm nevermind that sentance sounds bad ;o) It was a good evening with lots of fun, food, and Spanish pronounciation lessons. We finally got home around 11:30 and bummed around a little before going to bed. I was glad that we decided to get up early-ish and hang out in the morning rather than stay up really late at night (which is what usually happens).

So Leah and I went to bed and I guess I might have slept for a little while, but then I woke up and could not fall back to sleep... Thus began the hours where Krystle could not fall asleep and Leah didn't because she's nice...

Finally though I feel asleep until Leah woke up about half an hour before our alarm was to go off. Mel came down about 7:30 to say good morning and get up. Eventually we all got ready and we headed out to Manly beach. After going to other beaches, Manly was not what I expected. It's a city beach, right next to the downtown area. We grabbed a bite to eat then walked along the beach and up around it a ways. It was nice to stay busy and not be moping around the house. Eventually it came time to leave, and I said my goodbyes to Al. Then Mel and Leah and I hoped in her car and were off to the airport. We got there heaps early and my check-in was a breeze, so Mel and Leah hung out with me for about an hour. We didn't really say much but it wasn't really sad either which was good. I had cried for about half the ride in, but was over it for the moment. Finally 1:00 came and I headed toward my gate. The goodbyes were hard as usual, but good as well...

Thus far (with about an hour to go!) the flight has been excellent, especially in camparison to my flight over. I've only watched one movie (compared to three on my way over) but the time has gone so much faster. Sitting next to me are a mother and daughter (both adults) who are on their way to the Carribbean to look after and bring home their brother/son. They're both really nice, and I've been able to talk to them a bit without pressure to talk heaps - it's been a good balance...

still Thursday, August 7
Once we got home I talked with Al a while about the govt. here (Oz) and how they handle drugs i.e methedone treatment, teaching safe drug usage, and "safe" cocaine houses... We all sat and talked a bit, and Leah made us focattia with ham, swiss and avocado. It was really good. We headed off to bed around 11:15. Leah and I talked a little, but not much...

Saturday, August 9
Well, I'm on the plane on my way back to the states. And since I have WAY too much time to kill I might as well catch this thing up with the rest of the trip.

Thursday Leah had to work heaps which was a bummer, but it still turned out to be a really cool day. Leah went to work in the morning so I waited for Al to come home after her Scripture class. Once she got back we met up with Leah for lunch somewhere by the water. I had a hamburger with beetroot - it tastes fine with other things. We talked and ate and hung out a while, then Leah left for her second shift at work.

Al took me out to west head for the afternoon to watch the sunset. We hiked a trail to America Bay, which Al thought would be appropriate. THe hike was about 15 minutes, and the bay was gorgeous. There was a waterfall there as well, but it was pretty scare due to the drought I'm sure. We hung there a while climbing the rocks and getting different views of the bay. After we hiked back Al drove around for a while in search of a place that would have a great sunset picture. We eventually found a spot, and ended up standing on Al's car to get the picture. I also got to see the view out from West Head. You could see the lighthouse and Palm Beach - places we had already been and seen West Head from.

After the sunset we drove straight to Cremourne and parked at Leah's house. I led Al down the trail to the ferry, which was good work on my part to remember the way. Once in the city we walked up George St looking for Soup Plus where we were to meet Leah for dinner. We didn't see it and were a bit early, so we hit a Starbucks. There I got my THIRD crappy Aussie Starbucks. It was somewhat humorous, but mostly annoying. Leah was a bit late due to an accident with a bus and taxi she saw happen in front of her. Once she got there we headed down George, unfortunately the wrong way. After a lot of walking we finally got there after a phone call to Al and Leah's friend Susan.

The club was cool, though not at all what I expected. The meals were home-cooked style, and we sat at long wood tables and ordered our meals at the far end of the place. Leah bought me a drink after I tried hers and I liked it - curacao and oj. There was a quartet (jazz) playing that night - vocals, guitar, upright bass, and keys. I normally don't like jazz singing much, but this woman had a great sound and was really into it without overdoing it. The guitar player rocked and was fun to watch as well. We talked and laughed, and it was a great, relaxing evening. That night we got back and went to bed relatively quickly because we wanted to get up to watch the sunrise that morning....

We got up the next morning a bit after six with good intentions, but in the end decided it would be better just to head straight to the Blue Mountains before morning traffic (which apparently is worst about 8). So we headed tp Al's to shower, and I called Mel and told her we'd be there about 45 minutes earlier than planned. Eventually we got off, picked up Mel and began the drive out to the mountains, but not before a stop for breaky at Mackas. Apparently you can't order milk there; they got me some anyway though.

After a couple more hours we made it to our final destination. We went down the giant staircase and saw the three sisters, then went on a 2.5 km hike to the tram that would take us back up the mountain. The tram was crazy and went up the hill at a 75 degree angle or something ridiculous like that. We made it up alive though, and eventually got back to Leah's car.

From there we went on a quest to find this great lolly shop Leah remembered, but yet against it could not be found. We asked a guy for directions and got there without much more trouble. It was a cool shop and had a section of rare American candy that isn't normally sold in Australia - Butterfingers, Jr Mints, Hot Tamales etc. After hanging there we went to lunch at an overpriced cafe. After lunch we took off for our long drive to Jenolan caves.

Wednesday, August 6
RIght now I'm sitting at Leah's house waiting for her to get off her hour shift of work. I'm almost caught up, so I'll write about yesterday.

Leah and Al both had to work early, so I slept until 10 (which was later than I intended) and got to lounge a bit. Al got home around 11:30, so we hung around and talked a little. Then Linda asked me to play a song of mine so I did. I played Clinging first, then they asked for more so I played my newest and What is Life. It was funny because I had to put a disclaimer on every song.

Eventually Leah got home and had some lunch and we headed off to see some beaches. They took me to their High School and Avalon beach. We went to the Bible gardens, which is basically a house with an amazing view and a plaque about the Bible. We went to some cliffs as well where there was an AMAZING view, and after we got high enough you could see the city off in the distance. I was totally taken with the view and could have stayed there for ages just starring at it. We had to go though so we made the trek down the hill. Leah and I ran about 2/3 of it which was great fun.

Once we got home Leah cooked some stir fry that was absolutely amazing. It was so nice to have something home cooked. After dinner we all watched The Princess Bride ("truely you have a dizzying intellect"). Al and I talked politics after the movie while Leah showered. It was interesting to get an Aussie perspective. We all stayed up and talked a bit more until about 12, then went to bed. I wasn't tired at all because of sleeping in, and Leah was in pretty good shape so we stayed up talking for quite a while...

Thursday, August 7
After about 2 hours of sleep (maybe more but it felt like about 2) Leah and I got up to go to her house. She dropped me off there and set up the net for me then went to work for an hour training. She got back about 15 minutes early, so we grabbed our stuff and walked down to the ferry. The ferry ride was gorgeous (again) and I got some sweet photos of the harbour. Leah took me around the harbour to the Opera House and to the Botanical Gardens which are past it. They must be unbelievable during the spring and summer, because it was still really nice even without all the flowers in bloom.

After walking around there for a while she took me to a place to eat at the harbour. We ate ouside, and I had a clear view of the bridge from my seat. Leah had the weirdest salad ever. There were massive chunks of pumpkin, beetroot, potato, eggplant, and bell pepper. Aussies are totally into pumpkin, it's weird. After lunch we walked across the quay (pron. "key") to Starbucks for a Chai. Once again I got the crappiest drink ever, but didn't realize it until we had walked a good distance from the place. In America...

Leah had to leave for work after lunch, so she walked me down by the opera house and showed me where Al would pick me up in an hour. I walked her back to the ferry, then set out across the quay into the city to explore and kill time. Obviously I have no idea how to get anywhere in Sydney, so my exploration was pretty uneventful. Mainly I tried to keep track of which direction the quay was from my current location...

The time passed quickly and I got back to the quay and met up with Al. She took me to The Rocks, which is the oldest section of Sydney and has a lot of historical buildings. Unfortunately every single one of them is a shop now. We were expecting to find some sort of museum that talked about convicts, but there was none. So we walked around a bit but by that time I was pretty tired from walking so we headed back toward the car park. We watched most of the sunset behind the bridge from the Opera House, then took off to get a few things from her work before grabbing a bite to eat and heading to Hills city church.

Al works at a homeless hostel in a not so great section of Sydney. After hearing so much about the place it was cool to go there and see it for myself... It was really cool to see Al in her work environment and see her interactions with the people there. I'm pretty sure her main job there is to find housing for people trying to leave the hostel... After Al finished up some business there she gave me a small tour, then we walked a couple blocks and got a salad so we wouldn't starve at Hills... After we finished we drove out to Hills and waiting for Leah and Mel to show up. They got there just before 7:30, and Darlene started things off shortly after.

Darlene has the best speaking voice ever. It's gentle, but doesn't make you want to fall asleep. It makes you think "I'll listen to whatever you say. Will you be my friend?" (Joan suggested that she's the anti-Christ. I disagree.) She was fully down to earth as well, which I remembered Mel saying on many occasions. After Darlene talked a few people told stories about conference, then Robert Ferguson got up to give his message. It was AMAZING. Totally convicting and heavy and thought provoking...

Leah and I talked a bit on the way home, but not much since we (though mostly I) were in thinking moods. I popped in Passion One Day and tried to let the words sink in...

still Tuesday, August 5
Sunday was a close second to Saturday. Mel decided to ditch choir (more incriminating circumstances) and stayed the night with us again. We got up not so early and the 4 of us went to Palm beach. They were having a longboard competition so we hung around and watched them surf while we ate the lunches we had packed and talked. At one point a bunch of dolphins came up to the beach and started surfing in the waves. It was so rad to see. We also went out climbing on the rocks for a bit which was fun and reminiscent of home. We toof off in the early afternoon, hung around the house a bit then headed off to church for rehearsal at four...

Things at the rehearsal went well and having someone on piano helped fill us in. I had decided that morning that I was going to sing Remember Surrender by Sara Groves at church that night because Leah had asked me to sing something... Worship went well; the congregation wasn't going off but we weren't getting blank stares either. After worship Fiona started her message on wisdom and preached for a bit. Midway through she asked if anyone wanted to give an offering, and I ended p starting things off with the song... After that a girl got up and shared some prayer requests, one of which was for her non-Christian mom. A couple people prayed with her, then Fiona asked if anyone else wanted prayer for their family. Hand after hand went up, eventually including mine... Mel, Leah, and I prayed together which was so rad, and such a cool and powerful reminder of God's faithfulness and persistence in chasing people...

After a lot of praying, Brian (keyboard player) shared a song, then Fiona gave the second half of her message. It eventually worked its way into trust and discipline, and was such a cool message. Then we did a couple more worship songs again - I See the Lord and Trading My Sorrows. This time they went off... Eventually we all headed out to get Thai for dinner. Everyone from the house went, and we had a good time and some more laughs and the food was seriously good.

After we came home the four of us watched Moulin Rouge for my sake because I was the only one that hadn't seen it. Leah fell asleep midway through or was at least very close... After the movie we all went to bed because it was about 12:30. I switched beds with Al because she has sleep apnia and would keep Leah up and my legs were too long for the couch. I slept pretty poorly that night anyway...
The next morning we got a really decent (early) start guitar shopping. We drove out pretty far to the place where Leah and Al bought Al's guitar. Everything there seemed too expensive though and anything that was nice was way out of her price range. So we drove to another place in the city that was even more expensive and had crap guitars. So then we decided as a last resort to go to this place in the city that I saw with them on Saturday. It was a nice place but the employees were serious jerks. We walked in and right off the guy who helped us was being a complete idiot and not taking us seriously at all... After trying three guitars Leah ended up with an Epiphone Les Paul anniversary model, black with gold hardware. She also got a sweet Marshall amp with four different FXs on clean and overdrive (I don't know if anyone cares about this beside me. Oh well.)...

Eventually Leah had to leave for work, so Al took off with Mel and I. Unfortunately what should have been a 2 hour trip turned into a 5 hour ordeal. First of all, Mel had left her stuff in Leah's boot (trunk) so we had to track her down where she was working which took for-ev-er. Then Al wanted to go to Penrith to get Krispy Kremes. It took forever to get there as well. We had some cool conversations in the car, but they stopped once we needed directions off the map to get places.

Finally we got back to Mels, and I was pretty glad to get on our way back. Too much time in the car. It was a really pleasant ride. We didn't get lost, and we had a seriously cool conversation about all sorts of things... I love it when you first meet someone and you feel comfortable enough to share a pretty substantial amount of information with them, and they'll do the same. I love hearing people's stories and finding point where I can relate and learning from the points where I can't.

When we got home Leah was really tired and went to bed pretty quick. Al and I stayed up and made a bit of dinner then headed for bed.

Well it has been brought to my attention that I completely forgot to mention Banjo the platypus in my journaling. Banjo is a very friendly platypus who was kind enough to let me pose with him for a photo when we were at Darling Harbour. Mel has written a song about Banjo and his entire life journey, and I'm sure she would sing it for you (or at least send you the words) if you'd like to hear it. And as if a whole blog in honour of banjo wasn't enough, here is a picture of him.



Oh, and you can look at other pictures from my trip here. I only have about half of them up right now though.

Tuesday, August 5
There's a lot to catch up on. Friday, Leah came about 11:30 and we went to the store (Coles) and bought groceries to bring back to where she's staying. We had lunch together at the shopping center - more Middle Eastern food. That stuff is seriously good. After that we bummed around until Mel got off at 3, picked her up, then were off to the place where Leah's staying. We got settled, got some dinner, then headed to Leah's church to practice for Sunday... After that we pretty much went straight to bed. But not before being called a freak and a key snob (thanks mates) ;o)

Saturday was the best day of the trip thus far. We went to the city and Leah's friend Al came with us. We walked along Darling Harbour and also some of the downtown areas. The best part of the day though was hanging out with the three of them and all the laughs we had... We saw this 1/2 aboriginal guy play the dijeridoo and it was really cool, and also made for many jokes. The best joke though was coming back to the parking structure and seeing an add on the wall that said "What out! Pedestrians around" with a chalk figure underneath it. There was also another sign that said "How wold you feel if you hit a pedestrian?" Leah inquired how the pedestrian might feel. From there we had another joke about running people over and "how would you feel if..."

We left in the early evening to leave for Hills to go to church, but ended up there a half hour late (just enough time to miss the music). After that none of us were really into it or paid attention (hmm this is a bit incriminating)... We delevoped more jokes with Al there, paying out the people who are speaking out without even paying attention to what's being said. "That's good! That's very good!"

After church we went to Hog's Breath Cafe for dinner. The jokes from the day continued, along with a new one from Mel - "If we were in America..." Leah bought me my first ever drink there, a Mudslide, which tasted like a milkshake (reeeal potent). We had a great time talking and laughing (mostly laughing). We had a pretty substantial ride home, so we talked and laughed a bit more, but started to settle down. We listened to Jennifer Knapp Lay it Down, which was sweet (and is the best album she's ever made...MEL). Credit (however slight) is due to JK for our meeting, so it was completely appropriate to play that album. After getting home we pretty much went to bed because it was getting pretty late. Mel and I stayed up sitting by the heater and talking for about half an hour, then went to bed.

still Monday, July 28
The three of us went to the 10:45 service that morning. Leah and I were both pretty tired, but I tried to stay alert. Things were loud, so it made it easier. Hillsong is very different than any other church I've been to... The message was on territory... After church we picked up some stuff at Coles then Mel made us Mexican food back at her place. We hung out and talked a bit until Leah had to leave, then Mel and I bummed around until night church... The service was good. The place was packed out and the people were stoked to be there... paraphrase Mel and I hung out that night, watched a movie with her roommies then talked a bit before bed. It was rad.

Today we got up and took the bus to the mall where I got this journal (I had forgotten mine at home) and some postcards. We ate Middle Eastern food and talked.

Tuesday, July 29
Today Mel ditched school and we caught a bus to Parramatta, then caught a train to Penrith to go to "mini America." A Krispy Kreme had just opened there, and there was a Taco Bell/KFC, McDonalds, and a couple other American places... Since we were a ways out from the city I got asked about my accent and talked with a Krispy Kreme worker for a bit about California. Tomorrow we have to get up at dawn to go the city with Hills.

Thursday, July 31
The past two days I've gone to "Practical Ministry Week" with Mel. Basically it's like going to a conference. Yesterday we were bused out to the city campus and had our sessions there... We got back from the city about 4. I took a nap then we bummed around until 6:30 or so when we headed to WACA (worship and creative arts) practice. Still no Darlene... Today we were at Hills. There were two "normal" sessions of teaching, and the first one (Katrina Henderson) was awesome. She reminded me a lot of Leah, and Mel said the exact same thing...

Ok so maybe I'm more jet lagged than I thought. Getting up this morning was like force-feeding myself a sharp stick...and also took an hour and ten minutes. Now that I am up, it seems that getting myself to work will be just as difficult. Maybe I should just stuff it for a while and go in the afternoon.

In my depressed non-tiredness last night I was reading Ecclesiastes (cheery I know) and I came across these verses.

Whoever digs a pit may fall into it;
whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.
Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them;
whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.
Ecc 10:8-9

Such good verses for me right now. And rather than typing out why they are and everything I think about them, why don't you think about them and find the meaning that God has for you right now. That would be a lot more useful.

I'm going to start posting a bit of my journaling from the trip so people can get a general idea of what I did while I was there. There's going to be a lot of cutting though because I have over 50 pages of journaling from there and I can't be bothered to type it all out, just as I'm sure no one would be bothered to read it all. So here's the first edition, cut to bits I'm sure, but at least it's something.

Monday, July 28
Thursday/Friday was the longest day of my life. 3-4 hours of sleep, up at 5:15 and off to the airport at 5:45. My flight to LAX was flawless, as well as my transfer to the Intl terminal... A person can only watch so many movies, play so many games and eat so much food. The first ten hours went really well. The last three sucked. But I made it, eventually got my passport stamped, grabbed my luggage and went through the red line at customs... There were probably close to 100 people waiting where we exited, but I spotted Mel at the end when she jumped up and down. Leah drove us through the city and over the Harbour bridge before we headed for Mel's. We hung out a bit but I went to bed pretty quickly because I was so exhausted. Unfortunately I only got 4-5 hours of sleep. Jet lag was killing me.

Friday Mel and I bummed around the area. She showed me Hills and we got some exotic lunch at a local shopping center. Leah and I went to Powerhouse, Hillsong's College group, that night... It was cool but definitely different... I got a lot more sleep that night, though still not great.

The next day (sat) was Leah's birthday. Mel and I hung out in the morning and Leah came out about 1:30. We went to Leah's first where I met her Mum for the first time. Then we walked down this path by her house to a place where the ferry would pick us up. Coming into Sydney was incredible. I just starred at the Opera house in disbelief. Leah laughed. I couldn't believe I was there...We got back to Leah's house where I met her sister for the first time... I also met some of her friends and her Dad.

We went to dinner at 7:30, and it was a VERY long night. We ordered late, and the restaurant was slow in general. The waiter teased me about asking for water and not having wine ("what, do you want to do the washing?")...

Leah drove us home that night and ended up staying the night at Mel's. We hung around and talked a lot. We sung a bit as well. I'd had the song "I see the Lord" stuck in my head since that morning, so we sung that. It's been so cool to worship alongside my friends. I am amazed by their love for God, and the connection we have through him. The night ended a bit less serious though, as we sung Shout to the Lord "like Darlene" with a dramatic key change (into B!) at the end.

So I'm back home in the US of A. Can't say it's the first place in the world that I'd like to be at the moment, but it is nice to see my family and friends here. My flight home wasn't too bad as compared to the flight there which made things heaps easier. I'm still a bit lagged and out of it (I've seen things a couple times today) but for the most part I'm feeling pretty good. I got a solid 12+ hours of sleep last night which helped a ton. I think throughout the week I'll post bits from my journaling while I was there, but it will definitely be the edited version since I have about 1/3 of a journal completely from the trip. I'm going to take my pictures in tomorrow or the day after as well, so I should be able to scan and start posting them later on this week. That's all for now.