being left behind...

When i was in 6th grade, we sold popcorn and cookies every week after school to raise money for class swim lessons. It was a cool event to look forward to. And the swim lessons were a special treat.

Oddly, i don't remember much about the actual lessons. I remember the locker room (we used to sing at the top of our lungs) and one major event.

After one lesson, the class was gathered out waiting to leave. My teacher (Mr. Clawson, if you wanna know) asked me to check the girls' locker room to make sure it was empty. So i did. Walked there, hollered in, and walked back to the lobby.

Noone was there!!! And as i glanced out the glass doors, but bus was pulling away. My class was leaving without me. I was being left behind.

~~~~~~
I'm feeling a bit like that these days.

As the AussieMission Team prepares to leave, as we wait on our visas... it seems that the Griffiths will be the last to go... our teammates will most likely be leaving in January.

i am filled with excitement for the beginning of our vision, of God's mission. i'm ready to do a happy dance to see the Whaleys and Mullinses off at the airport!

and yet, i feel like i'm stuck watching the school bus pull away
and i'm suppose to be on it.

fun with friends

... well, some little ones...

Here are Darian and Brenna w/ some preschool friends on a day they came to help and play. The little ones love it when Brenna and 'the big guy' come to play.

readin' stories

more stories...and a bigger lap!

"swing me!"

We caught him!

Time on a tric!

more swingin'... but something looks odd...

goin' for a ride...

It's amazing to watch my kids adapt their play to bring joy and fun to some small friends. I am often impressed and shocked (in good ways) by the choices/actions of my kids. It's neat to watch their gentle spirits and kind hearts as they interact with younger kids. God is good.

Rejuvinating Weekend!

This weekend the Aussie Team got to be together for the first time in several months! After months filled with discouraging news and disheartening wait, having the team together refocused and re-energized my spirit and reminded me how much i love these people and want to serve God along side them.

We were blessed in so many ways over the weekend.

Corey and Emily loving on Ella, our newest team member. Don't they look great with a baby!

The guys talkin' strategy. You can't really see it, but Corey is diagramming something on a notebook he's holding in his hand.


Time with our Kairos church planting coach, Amos Allen, and his wonderful wife Anne. Thanks so much for coming down to see us!

Gathering to sing a bedtime lullaby, "Jesus Loves Me", to Ella. Jerry and Cindy Southern, Jason's aunt and uncle, and their liason from Round Rock, blessed us with their presence this weekend as well! So glad you were here!

Enjoying a lunch and wonderful fellowship with our team and some of our Skyline family.

Shawn presenting at Skyline's Interactive Prayer for Missions evening. It was such a joy for me to have our whole team at this event.

Overlooking a small section of the auditorium after the closing prayer. There was an amazing group of people there. What a wonderful event.

Chocolate Pizza!

Thanks to everyone who helped in anyway this weekend! I hope you know who you are and how appreciated you are! My heart is touched by the love, support, and giving spirit that was displayed in making this weekend wonderful!

pine apples

On our first trip to Australia, our meet-the-country trip, we each picked some place fun/touristy that we'd like to visit. My choice... The Big Pineapple, a pineapple plantation and tourist center. Cool stuff.

I loved our day there! but i was surprised at how pineapples grow.

For some reason, i had always thought that pineapples grew on trees. Don't think anyone ever told me that, but then again, not sure anyone told me they didn't.

When a friend blogged about being suprised by the pineapple, i began to ponder my reasons for putting pineapples on trees.

Well, i believe it was explained to me by a three year-old at preschool the other day. ...

We were sitting under a pine tree. She was looking up at it. She began telling me about the tree. It was a pine tree. It had pine cones on it. AND (pay attention now)... soon they would turn into... PINEAPPLES!!!

it makes sense, well, at least to me and my young friend... we have pine trees. we have apple trees. so, shouldn't we have PineApple trees??

Yes, we should.
but i'm not in charge, so we don't.

what did Moses think?

I've been wondering a bit about Moses. There's a lot to wonder about him, when you think about it. well, at least to me.

He was told to lead his people out of Egypt. And he did. It wasn't an easy task, but he did it. That's pretty cool. But that's not what i was thinkin' about.

Moses had a goal. He knew (mostly) where he was suppose to be going, the promised land. But sadly, it took a long time to get there.(... 40 years of wandering is a long time.) So, Moses wandered around the desert for a long time. He knew where he was suppose to go, but it was taking a long time, a very long time.

What was Moses thinking here?
... he seems to be goin' in circles, aimlessly waiting... how does he feel about that? does he ever wonder if he's on the right track? maybe he misunderstood his purpose? does he ever, even for a moment, doubt? question?

i know, i know... Moses got to talk to God, he even got to be in God's presence, His actual presence. But, he was still a man.

so, i'm left with my own wonderings...
what did Moses think about all that waiting and wandering?

a bit of fall...

some shots from our day at Chickasaw State Park...

the Un-camping Day

Well, we were suppose to go camping with some friends. I was super-excited to go camping. I even made a trip to Memphis to get the sleeping bags out of storage (eek!). But Jackson weather was not cooperating...

... the forecast was rain on Friday... and cold... i don't do so well when it's cold and rainy and i'm sleeping in a tent... (actually, i get quite cranky when i'm cold and wet and stuck in a soggy tent, i tried it before.)

So, we cancelled the tent part and went camping... without the tent and sleeping part... just for Saturday. It turned out to be a lovely day. A georgeous day!! Spent w/ delightful friends! good times.

here's some shots....

Darian and Brenna throwing some rocking into the lake... (sadly, this encouraged one of the little ones to throw rocks and fall in... not the best day for a swim... but it all worked out)

a sweet daddy-daughter moment... (these are friends... not my family... teehee)

on our walk... D's climbing up the hill, and B's watching one of the younger ones... i love it!!

trying to start the fire for lunch... it just didn't want to happen... but the men won in the end and we had yummy hot dogs! and chips. and grapes. and choc. cake.

heading out for an after lunch hike...

he's just too cute. (and loves it when i take his pic)

ending the hike.. B's back in charge of the younger ones. :-)