Mysterious as the dark side of the moon…

So I am coming up on my third week in Australia, it is crazy how fast it seems to be going, but encouraging to know that I still have a good amount of time left. These past few weeks I have done a lot of thinking and I think I have learned a lot.

Last week I went to a Compassion event/concert (compassion.org) and heard some great music (holy cow, Melissa and the Ottos are so great) and a passionate message about sponsoring a child from one of the 20 countries that Compassion serves. It truly was an inspiring night and I felt the urgency to find a child of my own to sponsor monthly. With these kind of events I can tend to be sort of a cynic and see through the speakers words of just trying to guilt trip everyone into giving money for their own later praise. But tonight was slightly different, I felt the cynicism creaping through my mind but it was forced out by something stronger. I haven’t quite put my finger on what the exact difference was (beside being the holy spirit, but I like to think the HS works in ways to teach us something)but it was enough for me to know that I had no choice on whether or not to sponsor a child. Despite my hold on what I think is mine, my anxious, eagerness to be so tight fisted with my money, when it is not mine to own, all stood no chance against this conviction.  So the event was beautiful and I am so thankful that I was able to be apart of it. Oh and the best part is I now sponsor a girl from Rwanda named Uwineza and the thought that I get to be a part of her life brings joy and purpose onto mine.

If my experience thus far had a theme I feel it would be the theme of development. Since I have been here I have attended a world poverty seminar in Brisbane, a catalyst meeting where people advocate for ending human trafficking and slave labor  by putting pressure on major corporations to prove their fair labor policies, the mentioned above compassion event, signed up for tutoring high school refugee girls, watched bits and pieces of Slumdog Millionaire, and am in the process of reading a book called Not For Sale.

In the book it goes through different parts of the world where people are still being forced into acts of slavery. The book is very intriguing and devastating, on the back cover an author declares that every american should read this book, and I agree completely. There are people still being forced into slavery, it did not end in 1800s, even in America people are still locked into slavery chains. We live in a dark world. Once I finish the book I intend to elaborate more on my findings…

So why did I name this post “mysterious as the dark side of the moon”? Well I haven’t quite figured that out yet, when I decided to start writing this blog this morning I had that song stuck in my head… But I have been thinking about moons lately, (the sky in Australia is brilliant at night) and I always silently wonder what is going on, on the side of the moon not facing toward the sun. Now there are numerous metaphors regarding light, moons, sun/son and such but those are not the ones I am leaning toward. Basically Mulan rocks enough said! But… it is interesting to ponder how when we look at the moon, “our orbiting companion” we never see the whole thing our idea of a full moon is still only half. When I was little I used to think the moon was a giant pringle… But besides the moon being a snack food perhaps this can relate to something with more depth… Perhaps it resembles  our interactions with people by the way we only see half of them. We are only able to communicate with what they choose to utter from their mouths not their inner dialogue. We think we fully know someone but we don’t know their inner thoughts. Thank the Lord my inner thoughts are private, if so I would most likely not have any friends… Sometimes I feel that my inner clashes with what I choose to escape my mouth. in both bad and good ways… Also as a people pleaser I am always working hard to win the favor of both the full and hidden side of a person, how exhausting and a waste of time. Good thing grace covers everything and is sufficient and I serve a wonderful God whose love is unfathomable and is on my side and knows my every need  the end.

P.S. I know that was sort of a stretch and not fully “developed” haha I’m still in the works… Again basically Mulan rocks!

Australia an Acronym

I officially am living in New South Wales Australia in a city called Newcastle. I have been traveling non stop since San Francisco and have just returned from a Wedding in Brisbane. Now I am trying to get settled and live out my quest of experiencing life as an Aussie.

I am really trying to make an effort to keep up with my blog while in Australia, so here I go in attempt to keep a promise.

Here is what I have learned about Australia the past week in the design of an acronym!

A is for amazing crystal, clear beaches with huge waves that I have yet to not almost drown from… or lose my top from. Must fix this!

U is for Utes are cars that have truck beds attached to them, every time I see one I want to laugh because it looks so silly seeing a car have a truck bed… Lizzie’s          Dad has one, must drive in it at least once!

Sandals are called Thongs here… that has taken time to get used to…

Talking is always away for me to stand out, I was a told by a person that they didn’t like the American accent, I was slightly offended, they later apologized.

Right sided steering wheels are so weird, even after almost 6 months in England, I still can’t get used to them. When I sit in the passenger seat I feel like I should be driving the car. And when I look behind a car with no one in the passenger seat, I freak out inside because it looks like no one is driving the car.

Apocalypse (zombie) a dust storm took over the Australian skies that had some of the population convinced that the end of the world had come and they were left behind. it even made CNN check it out….

Lizzie has been a great host, and I am enjoying meeting her friends and family. She is such a good friend and loving person; I cannot believe that God has blessed us with such a tight bond after such a short while.

iphones are so much cheaper here in Australia it is just not fair. To buy an iphone you pay 50 dollars a month where in America you have to pay at least 200 bucks for the device and like 80 dollars a month for service. No Fair!

Aid. My new friends have such caring hearts for the world’s impoverished people. It is so inspiring. They live out a great example on how to love the world and fight boldly on making poverty history.

to be continued…

The “Post Grad”

Warning if you read this post I might ruin the movie The Post Grad for you. so Spoiler Alert!

So I ventured out tonight with my parents to see the  Gilmore girl “Rory’s” new movie Post Grad. I thought that it seemed appropriate since I am too a post grad. The movie is about how “Rory’s character” doesn’t get the job of her dreams and is forced to move back into her out of the ordinarily, crazy parents house after graduating college. Of course there is an, in my opinion, handsome young sutor trying to confess his love for her, which makes the movie a little too sappy for me. If only we all had a hott Columbia law student/love song composing musicians begging us to love him. So basically I came out of the movie sort of in a down mood even though it ends in happily ever after (which is so freaking unrealistic… sure move to NYC with no job or place to live…) I feel like her in many ways despite the boys and the over the top family. I make plans but are they my plans or are they Gods.

Today I was Wikipediaing (yes a verb) Dietrich Bonhoeffner and he had left Germany when the Nazis were oppressing him from speaking out on his disapproval of the cowardly german church and, of course, of the holocaust. He accepted a job in NYC but soon realized that he could not stay in NYC and had to return to his people and fight the fight… (from Wikipedia)

He wrote to Reinhold Niebuhr: “I have come to the conclusion that I made a mistake in coming to America. I must live through this difficult period in our national history with the people of Germany. I will have no right to participate in the recon struction of Christian life in Germany after the war if I do not share the trials of this time with my people…Christians in Germany will have to face the terrible alternative of either willing the defeat of their nation in order that Christian civilization may survive or willing the victory of their nation and thereby destroying civilization. I know which of these alternatives I must choose but I cannot make that choice from security. He most likely would have lived if he stayed in the states… I wonder if he felt that God had called him out of Germany in the first place. Or is it the opposite, did he not wait on the Lord and just flee without feeling the peace of obedience? I guess I can ask him in Heaven Ha!

I fear that I will mistake my plans for what are not Gods and miss out on being a huge contribution to the Kingdom…

Back to my issues…

I really don’t have much to complain about, I really haven’t even started searching for a job because of my wonderful scheduled work holiday to Australia. But I feel almost guilty that I don’t have some job and have my life figured out. I am envious of people who are settled. Why must I always compare myself to others? There is a quote that I think rings so true to me, it’s by Nicole Nordeman who is a singer she says, ” Comparison is the enemy of Contentment” that is so true, I can not be content where God has me because I keep comparing myself to Rory and her made up story of what it looks like one should do after they graduate. I also compare myself to my friends who are going back to school for graduate degrees. That is a question that keeps floating in and out of my head. Go to grad school or don’t go to grad school… How to pay for grad school? that is the question… Go to grad school abroad… Go abroad and work… Stay in the states… But there are just so many of them which state do I choose…. All I can say is that graduating High school was a hell of a lot easier and more fun than this graduating college business. It’s not all what it is cracked up to be….

And PS all you post grads out there…  I overall didn’t think the Post Grad was worth it. So I don’t recommend it even if it draws you in with its relevancy!

Prayer Request: I need prayer for contentment where God has me. I need Jesus to take the reigns on this adventure that I am about to embark on and I need His wisdom or clarity on figuring out what the trip will teach me about myself and what direction I should take a step in after my return…

Hello world!

Hiya. I can not believe that I am actually starting a blog… I can’t imagine having anything to say that would be worth reading, but we are in a different age of information, where people some how think that whatever they are doing at the moment should be broadcast to the world. Litterally the world. Which, in part, is why I’m doing this. I feel that I have connections with people all over the world and this a FREE (no strings attached) outlet to connect with people I have met. So yeah!

My aussie friend is here, Elizabeth (Liz) Robinson. She has been here (Denton, Texas USA) a little less than a week and it has been amazing. Liz and I met overseas in England as international students at the University of Leeds. We became instant friends and were so heart broken when our time in Europe came to an end. We have done extremely well at keeping in contact with oneanother. Shout out to Skype!!! So well, that we arranged this whole adventure to eachother’s countries, hence the reason she is in america right now

A lot of credit for our ability to stay in contact  goes to an Australian soap opera that we watch called Home and Away. Great show, love it, would be so sad if 7seven took it off the air I think I have latched on to this show because it is something that makes me feel closer and more connected to Liz, even if the storylines are “off their trolley” (check) It has always been something that we can talk about whenever we have our skype dates or chat on facebook.

all in all I am very thankful that the Internet exists.

Thank you for reading…

love,

lauren