the aussie abbotts

Finally back in Sydney today with a little time to spend here on the blog and some emailing too. There are “gamers” here in the cafe making a lot of noise over their virtual lives…I think I might throw something at them soon…

Things are beginning to feel familiar now and the reality of where we are (so far away but in a really great city) is beginning to set in. It’s been way too long since we’ve really been able to connect with home and that is pretty hard. I asked about our phone last night and it seems they’ve told the owners of our house that the work has all been done….but still, no dial tone. So they are checking into it again. I’m not counting on anything. BUT when we do get a phone I expect lots of phone cards to be purchased, and lots of ringing to be happening at all hours.

These last couple weeks have been particularly busy for me with Easter and the end of the school term coming up. I’m preparing for the Easter assemblies that will happen at each of the elementary schools in the area (6 in all) and on Sunday there is a service at St.Paul’s called “unite” where all of the kids come to a family-oriented service with their parents. Kind of like FM LIVE at Grace. After that the kids have one more week of school and then they’ll be on break for two weeks. That means I get a break from my Sunday program too, so that will be great. I might even get to take a day or two off – maybe Presto and I will go and track down some kangaroos.

(Did I mention I have an administrator now? Holy crap. That is amazing. She does everything I hate to do like excel sheets and stuff. She is amazing. Make me very happy.)

Speaking of Preston, he has continued to make connections for his writing. He’s been to a bunch of lectures, met area writers, connected with people at church who are or know writers, he even entered some pieces in a contest last weekend and read them in front of a roomful of other writers. He didn’t win, but of course, that wasn’t the point. He seemed really excited about the people he met there and the advice some of them had for him. John Gray has asked to see some of the poems Preston wrote for Easter services at Grace and some others at church have been bringing writing for him to read and comment on. On top of all this, he has been doing a lot of landscaping where we live, swimming most days, and lots of teaching and work with the kids. I came home the other day to he and a volunteer from the kids program at church practicing kids worship songs in the living room.

While Presto was at the writer’s contest over the weekend, I went to….drum roll…..”Evangelism Explosion.” Yes, it was a 2-day class on evangelism. (Pause here for the various reactions….) It was…fascinating. They have this new approach that is supposed to be focused on “generation x”. You start out by asking someone “On a scale of 1-10, how fulfilling is your life?” This is the new generation x question. The question from the old version was something like, “How certain are you that you’re going to heaven?” Yeah. I’d love to elaborate in the future to anyone who’s curious. Needless to say, I was exhausted after the emotional energy that went into a class like that. I’m also taking (at the request of John and Ian) an Old Testament class – correspondance through a seminary in Sydney…plus lots of church…and small group each week…so…I’m kind of overwhelmed with thinking. That’s about all I think I’ll say about that for now.

Through conversations with various people, I’m learning a lot about what the goals for the children’s ministry and the church as a whole are. I hope I can play a part in preparing someone to come into my position after I leave that can commit for a long time. That’s really what St. Pauls needs. A lot of good things can happen in this ministry, but I think I will need to make some decisions about what to focus on while I’m here – otherwise those “good things” will probably become a little too overwhelming.

Everyone we’ve met has been so kind and welcoming. We’ve been invited into lots of homes for dinners and taken out to coffee and asked often if we need anything…the people are really great. The woman who was the Children’s Director here before (Linda) and her husband Mark are the kind of people we would want to hang out with wherever we met them, and that feels like a blessing. I have a lot to learn from Linda and I have to admit, I’m glad that I happen to genuinely like her! It makes things easier. The volunteers for the Sunday kids ministry are really great – pretty self-sufficient and also really enjoyable people. Preston seems to know everyone already – I’m always waiting after church for…hours and hours. So don’t worry too much about us being taken care of – it’s just that no one can replace everyone that we’re homesick for. And I guess that’s a good thing…if we weren’t sad at all what would that say about home?

Thanks sincerely for your comments on here and for your emails. It’s still surreal that we’re really here and that you’re all still there, with normal life going on all the time. Keep us updated – it’s really nice to know what’s going on.

Much Love!!