The Voice of Adventure

Sorry I missed writing the blog last week as I anticipated, but Denielle and I have been very busy these past weeks. We have been spending the past weeks sorting out the question just what are we doing here in Australia? I know many of you are thinking it too. Just what are they doing there? We have been getting this questions from family, friends, and even the local Aussies. Many of you thought we made this decision out of imprudence or haste, but I can assure you it is decision made with careful consideration and thoughtfulness. In this respect, I’d like to share a quote from Max Lucado;

There is a rawness and a wonder to life... Your goal is not to live long; it's to live... Jesus says the options are clear. On one side there is the voice of safety. You can build a fire in the hearth, stay inside, and stay warm and dry and safe... Or you can hear the voice of adventure-God’s adventure. Instead of building a fire in your hearth, build a fire in your heart. Follow God’s impulses.

It is a remarkable thing to follow your heart. I can remember a time when my decisions in life were filled with fear and doubt. That if I could only have this career or that thing, my life would be complete. Complete in a sense without fears and doubts. It reminds me of a scene from that movie Jerry McGuire. When he finally finds that one person that completes him he goes rushing back to her and says that infamous line, “...you complete me”. He finally gets the career, the wife, and the money and the movie has a happy ending, because it’s just that-a movie. What did you expect? But what movies so often forget to recognize is that people will most likely fail you. People even as close as family members and friends will fail you. I have always wondered who I have let down in the past, perhaps even now. It is a difficult thing to be this far from family. So although it may be remarkable to follow your heart, it is difficult to let people down. I read something recently from Kierkegaard,

If anything threatens your identity you will not just be anxious but paralyzed with fear. If you lose your identity through the failings of someone else you will not be resentful, but locked into bitterness. If you lose it though your own failings, you will ...despise yourself as a failure as long as you live.

It was a bit harsh to read this. As it may not seem as extreme to some people, but to some it really is that severe. To be, “paralyzed with fear”. Isn’t that what a panic attack is about? When you’ve finally faced your failures or someone else failed you and now you’re lost. I don’t mean to sound bleak, it really is a message of hope. He goes on to say;

Only if your identity is built on God and his love... can you have a self that can venture anything, face anything.

This is fire in our hearts-God’s love. I don’t mean to sound cliche about this, but this is the one thing that is certain not to fail you and it certainly hasn’t failed us. If you get anything out of this weeks blog about Australia, I pray it is this hope. It is what stuck with me these past weeks as we continue to meet new friends and walk into new places and face new problems. I like to remember that while we all continue to face these failures, insecurities, and problems. It is to some great assurance that we can equip that kind of love-unfailing. This brings me to one more quote that has been with me this week. It may seem a bit out of context, but it is a great reminder about the kind of love that people have for one another and what hope that love can bring. It’s from Grace Lee Boggs a social worker helping to rebuild Detroit City,

We people are beginning to say the only way to survive is by taking care of one another...

It just brings to mind that Denielle and I could not survive purely on our own interests and efforts. As could others without our help. I always try to appreciate just how many people make our lives work. Right down to the person who bags our groceries or brings us our pizza. It is from the support and help from so many of you-those of you overseas and those of you here in Australia. It is because of you that we able to carry out the fire in our hearts. So keep us in your prayers and you know you are in ours.

This coming week: I will be applying to a University in hopes to get a work visa for both Denielle and I. As long as I remain enrolled in school we will be able to work here in Australia. I have already secured several jobs for myself. Davo from Voodoo Tattoo in Gosford is more than happy to have me work in his studio. Also, Image Motorsports in Wyoming was willing to hire me as well-as long as I have a work visa. I will be calling the U.S. Embassy General to try and score a grant to pay for the schooling, considering student loans don’t exist here. The enrollment begins in July and I will know more in the coming week.

Denielle will be filing applications for city funding of our “sausage sizzle” (or for you Americans “cook-out”). Every Saturday night we will be on the beach in Terrigal in hopes to reach peoples hearts. And there is no better way to a persons heart than through free food :) She is also working on writing the curriculum for the children's ministry which has been a bit of a challenge for her. The children will be all together for awhile till we grow, so she has to write for all age groups.