Maybe no rain...

Hello friends!! It's been a while since I blogged! You'll be sad to hear that all my excitement about the rain has come to nothing-there hasn't been a drop for weeks!! It seems the weather is teasing us up here!

Here are some of the things that have been happening in Darwin-

-On Saturday night, myself and Kathi were having a competition to see who ould do the most arm culrs with a 5kg weight. I thought we would go for a few seconds, but it quickly turned into a full 5 minute effort. I must have put too much energy into it though, because even today I still can't stretch my right arm straight-all my muscles in my arm have cramped up! I've learnt something new about myslef, that I can be a little competetive! So can Kathi (we decided to finish together in the end because we were both in so much pain!!!!)

-Yesterday one of the younger girls who is boarding here got taken away due to constant bad behaviour. Pretty much neither the school or the dorms could control her anymore. I got really upset about the whole thing last night, because she is a FACS (Family and Children Services) kid, and has had a pretty hard life of being moved around a lot from place to place. I don't think she's had a lot of stability in her life in terms of family and relationships, which I think has probably efefcted her deeply (and who wouldn't be effected by something like that?). I was in the dorm when the FACS people came to take her away, and I could hear her crying and screaming in what I thought sounded a lot like fear and anger. I can only imagine that she would have been feeling very betrayed about the school kicking her out. I later found out that she is only on a two weeks suspension, so I am really thankful that the school is giving her another chance. I hope that if you have the time to think about it, you might be able to say a little prayer for her. I'm really worried about her.

-Lately I've been thinking a lot about how amazing God's love is for us, how the Creator of the universe, so perfect and Holy and HUGE, could possibly take the time to care about me and who actually wants to be involved in my life. Even though I hurt Him and sin all the time (I'll never learn will I??) He still keeps coming back and forgiving and loving me. And then, we're caleld to respond to this by passing it on EVERYONE around us, no conditions, no exceptions. We should be showing God's love to those around us, and there's no room for judgemetn against each other anymore, becuase Jesus dealt with all of that stuff on the Cross. It can be hard loving some people, but the point is God doesn't jsut put up with us, he loves us. So we can do the same for others.

Please comment and email and write to me and txt me! I miss you all and I think about you guys everyday! I'll see you all soon!

Rain!

Yes, it has actually started raining up here in NT!! It is an amazing time of year right now, the build up to the wet season is starting to break, and last night was a true downpour! Within 5 minutes the weather had changed from one extreme to another. One second it was hot, humid and sticky with the sun blaring down, and the next minute there were dark, grey swirling clouds covering the sky and sheets of rain pouring down. There was awesome lightning and thunder! Up here, the storms are so much more electric due to the heat. The power of the weather is incredible! Locals have told me that when the true wet season begins, you can get 20cm of rain in 10 minutes!

But something else really cool and exciting happened yesterday. See, there's this one girl in year 11 who I get along with really well who hadn't returned to school yet, whereas most of the other boarders had flown into Darwin the week earlier. When I asked after her whereabouts one of the Houseparents told me quietly that they suspected that she wasn't coming back. So I was pretty upset about it; I hadn't had the chance to say goodbye to her, and it sounded as though I might not see her again. I didn't even have a contact number. A few nights ago I prayed that she would come back, or at least go to another school. Because often when the students don't come back it means that they won't go to school and they'll get lost in the welfare system. And my friend was so close to finishing high school.

Then, as I'm standing outside the dining room, I see this bright, smiling face before me; it took me a few seconds to register that it was my long lost friend! All in the same moment it was a great surprise and relief, and I felt so overjoyed, ecstatic even, to see this person whom I had believed I would not see again! I literally jumped on her in my happiness to give her the biggest hug!

Unexpected surprises are definitely the best kind, especially when they involve seeing someone who you thought wasn't coming back! And I am really thankful to God for all that He's done!