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!