Australia!!

On 28th November we flew from Frankfurt to Sydney and then onto Cairns!! The flight wasn't great for Emma as something she ate made her sick bigtime... but she's okay again now.

Australia is such a beautiful place and we're so thankful to be here. Even in Sydney Em was struck by the beauty of the sky - so blue!! And Cairns is even more beautiful - trees, flowers, birds, mountains, beach and ocean are all breathtaking here.

Emma's Mum is taking really good care of us and spending time with us and taking us to see some of the sights. We're staying in a caravan park for a week. Such a blessing!

On Friday 7th December we will fly down to Brisbane and stay at Em's brother Otto's place in a small town called Laidley. God has blessed us so much since we arrived - we a truly blown away.

The inner work of waiting

"There are no idle hours in My Kingdon. Waiting may seem a time of inactivity, as far as the outer world is concerned, but it can, and should, be a time of great activity in the inner life, and the surrounding material plane." - GodCalling, a dalily devotional, edited by A.J. Russel

This quote pretty much sums up our time in Wehrendorf. We had no idea how long God wanted us to stay here, we only knew that He wanted us here and that He would move us on when it was time. It's hard to put in words what God has done in us here, we just know that we are leaving this place having been deeply changed.

Already in the first couple of weeks God put something before us - we were invited to go to the Tabita House to pray, as they were in need of prayer support. This was a great opportunity as it meant that we had a place to go to be completely alone with God - like a prayer room all to ourselves. We also got involved with helping out at Tabita - sorting, packing, weighing second hand clothes and goods. They are receiving so much at the moment that it piles up into a mountain in the corner! [Tabita is a ministry which receives second clothes and goods (generally not furniture) and sends it to people in need in Romania, Ukraine, India, Brazil, as well as locally.] It has been a blessing for us to be part of this 'service' to others.

On the 30th of October we celebrated Ulf's 28th birthday! It was really nice for us to be able to celebrate another birthday with Ulf's family before we headed off to Australia.

Another blessing came out of the blue when Emma was asked to help a day-care Mum with her day-care kids (a paid job). After the first week, Ulf turned up as well and ended up being the one watching over the kids while Emma helped out around the house. We really enjoyed spending time with the kids, even though it wasn't always easy.

Baking Christmas cookies, cooking the occasional meal for the family, helping in the garden to get it ready for winter, spending time with Oma and Opa [see photo above], sharing with Mama (Ulf's mum), playing games with the family, long walks along the canal with God (Em), spending time by the fire with Belle [see photo, right], family birthdays, autumn colours, and getting up while it's still dark have all been part of our days in Wehrendorf.

We are all wretched, but we are also beautiful.

"Some of us have been told our whole lives that we are wretched, but the gospel reminds us that we are beautiful. Others of us have been told our whole lives that we are beautiful, but the gospel reminds us that we are also wretched. The church is a place where we can stand up and say we are wretched, and everyone will nod and agree and remind us that we are beautiful." - Shane Claibourne, 'The Irresistable Revolution.'