there were birds everywhere!
This weekend, my sister, mom, and I met up in Horseshoe Bay (funny title, huh?). We didn't really realize until we got there that it was right at a four hour trip for each of us, which worked out really well. We wanted to take a chance to just hang out with each other without spouses and children around. We needed some girl time!
The resort we went to was the Horseshoe Bay Marriott Resort, and it was beautiful. The different pools and restaurants of the resort were spread out among a few miles, so golf carts and passenger vans took us everywhere we needed to go. On Friday night we ate dinner at a great restaurant overlooking Lake LBJ, then we sat in the Caprock Pool for about an hour chatting. When we got back to the hotel we walked around the grounds for a while...and they were amazing! The art and landscaping that surrounds the hotel were amazing in the dark, we could not wait to see it all during the day!
On Saturday my mom got a massage for her birthday, a treat from her daughters. Anita and I ate breakfast and got ready to go while she was gone. Then we went and sat on the man made beach for...well, most of the day! I love the beach, but I hate the salt water. 
Switch out said saltwater with lake water and I'm a happy girl! I got to spend a little time reading more of one of the many books that have been assigned to our team (thanks Gary!), it's called The Case for Christ. It's about a journalist who set out to debunk the existence/purpose/history of Christ. I was reading in the chapter where he interviewed a Jewish Christian, and it was by far the most interesting chapter so far. The book is getting better the more I read!
Saturday night we got dressed up and ate at one of the fancier restaurants at the resort, I had great slow cooked short ribs with polenta and seasonal vegetables...and orange truffle cheesecake with ganache for dessert. Have I ever mentioned that ganache is one of my favorite things in the world? You could put it on top of just about anything and make it taste like a million bucks!
Saturday night I walked around the hotel and took some pictures of all the cool stuff I saw on Friday night, but the camera (probably actually the photographer!) was not at the top of its game. I didn't get the best shots, but I still got some good ones.
Saturday night we watched some movies and then hit the hay.
Sunday we ate breakfast at a golf course that had been skunked the night before. I don't know exactly how it happened, but they said a skunk got under the floor and did its magic (wording my own, who really talks like that besides me?) Anyway, we ate our breakfast outside to avoid the smell, and the food was great. After that we went back to the hotel and played golf...well, miniature golf. It was like putt putt, but with actual putting greens and no clowns opening and closing their mouths. It was really neat, I felt like Tiger Woods (but poorer and much less talented). After that? You guessed it, we went down to the beach again and sat around! 
It was wonderful, I really loved it down there. That night we ate dinner together and then my sister Anita had to leave. Her little boy started kindergarten today, and she needed to be there with him. How exciting, and a little scary, for all of them. Mom and I watched a few more movies (well, I watched them and she fell asleep!) and then hit the hay again. This morning she and I ate breakfast and then said our goodbyes as well. I came home to a husband who has been doing many much needed and much appreciated odd jobs like getting our closet light to work (thanks also to Aaron, sorry I was so bossy about you coming as soon as possible. I was tired of taking a flashlight into the closet to see my clothes!) I also came home to a dog who has had projectile diarrhea for the past three days. We think the combo of having other dogs in our home for the past two weeks and me being gone for three days might have had some stressful effects on him! Usually when I'm gone Matt is too, so he's kind of used to how all of that works. When I just up and left though, we think he got a little confused and worried! Who knows, I just hope he doesn't get sick again (like I can complain, Matt's been cleaning up after him!)
My sister, mom, and I had a great time. We talked about growing up, marriage, divorce, the future, our friends, our family, money, etc. It was great to share our hearts with one another in a slow paced, relaxed environment. I'm grateful to my mom for treating my sister and I to such a wonderful weekend.
the fountain near one of the pools 
the view from our room
Last weekend we had an amazing time in College Station. No, we weren't running around in our A&M t-shirts...we were participating in our second to last module through Halbert. Last weekend was a family/supporter weekend. Our team, a team moving to Thailand in about a month, our financial supporters, and our parents all gathered in College Station for a weekend of catching up. We got to College Station on Friday evening, and then the Thailand team and our team gave our presentations to the crowd. It was a good opportunity for our parents to see what we show to churches when we visit them, and to just get a better idea of what we're planning to do in Australia. We talk about it here and there with them, but they don't get to hear our day in and day out conversations about it.
The tears started Friday night. I didn't cry, but my eyes watered. Me, the girl who doesn't cry! I got emotional telling my story...partly because it's been a stinking seven year process and partly because I'm so excited! The possibilities are endless in Ipswich, and my brain can't wrap itself around them all. I'm super excited. The tears started again on Saturday morning. We have Gary to thank for those! He was going through a powerpoint that showed the adjustment process that we will experience, and telling the families and supporters the best way to help us deal with those adjustments. It was an emotional time because he was in essence saying, "your kids are about to leave, and when they come back they're going to be a lot different than when they left", and that was hard for parents to take! There was a lot more to what Gary said...I don't want him to think that's all anyone got out of it! That was just kind of the snapping point for a few people. I also don't want it to sound like I don't think it was valid for parents to get upset at that, because it totally was. Before I dig myself into a bigger hole, I'll continue! The toughness of that conversation led to a time when all of us team members had to leave the room, and the parents just got to debrief a little. Apparently it was an amazing time when they all got to be honest, I hope they all got a lot out of it.
Crying station number three was our time alone with our parents to share how they've blessed our lives. You can imagine how that went! I've always felt encouraged by my family, but we've never been a, "hey, way to go" kind of group. All I can say is that those thirty or so minutes with Matt, Leonie, and my dad was one of the most amazing times of sharing I've ever experienced...in my life. I will never forget it. The evening ended in some amazing chicken fajitas and Snickers ice cream bars, mmmmmm.
Thanks so much to my dad for coming to College Station. Thanks to A&M COC for feeding us and hosting us. Thanks to Mr. Hogan for letting us stay at his house and spending time in conversation with us. Thanks to Jenica's family, Gregory's family, and Leonie for coming to support each of us. Thanks to Halbert for investing so much time and love into our teams. Thanks to the Thailand team for being so fun! Thanks to God for continuing to make it clear that we are on the right path, because sometimes satan makes us wonder.
Matt, Jenica, and I went to Colorado this weekend. We left Friday at 6am for Brighton, Colorado and returned back in Abilene at 2am Monday morning. What can I say, we're young and crazy! We went to visit Gregory, who has been doing an internship there for the past two months. He has been interning with a guy named Hobby who is launching, organic, home based churches in Brighton. Organic is such a fancy shmancy word these days...all I mean is that they're trying to keep it simple. There were other people that Gregory was working with and being mentored by, but Hobby was kind of the go to guy. The funny thing is that Matt and I knew Hobby before Gregory did. We met him and his wife in 2004 in Searcy, Arkansas. They were in the beginning stages of forming a team to move to New Zealand, and Matt and I visited with them to see if the team was a good fit for us. They were amazing people, but Matt and I were not quite ready for that kind of commitment. Long story short, Hobby and his wife Jerry ended up feeling like God had different plans for them and went to Colorado instead. They are amazing people that God has really bestowed wisdom and encouragement on. Hobby is the kind of guy that makes you feel really important to God and to others, it's quite a gift.
On Friday we got to meet a few people in the leadership group that Gregory really hung out with this summer, and got to tell them God's story in leading us to Ipswich. They in turn gave us many words of encouragement. It was an awesome start to the weekend! On Saturday morning we drove around and Gregory showed us different spots where he spent most of his time this summer: Funshine Daycare, the city pool, the park where the church met, etc. It was great getting to share in the things that he invested his time and energy into. After that we went to Boulder and hiked a mountain. We were all huffing and puffing...I'd like to blame it on the altitude! It was a really beautiful hike, and the view from the little summit we ended on was amazing. The four of us also got to talk honestly about our team, since we have not been together since Gregory left for Colorado. We talked about the things that we think are lacking in our team, like encouragement and the ability to dream creatively. It was a good time together, we were able to be a lot more honest than we have been in the past! We still have a really long way to go, but it was refreshing to be together and talk about what was on our hearts. That night we walked down Pearl street, ate dinner, and enjoyed the outdoor mall scene. It reminded us all of the mall near Southbank in Brisbane that we went to last summer, Queen Street Mall. It was nice to reminisce!
Sunday morning we got to participate with the church in the launching of their house church. It was amazing to meet all the people who were doing church in a house for the first time, people were kind of nervous but really excited! What was really amazing was to get to participate in a house church other than the one we are part of in Abilene, to see what they did and how they did it. Everyone on our team felt like God showed us a lot that morning. After that we drove home...and boy was it a long drive! I'm really sick of fast food now and am pretty exhausted from getting so little sleep last night (or this morning rather), but man was it worth it!
Last Wednesday the team had our second interview, this time for two of the local television stations in Abilene. Jenica and Gary did the interview, and they did a great job. The finished product on television showed Jenica only. The stories were really good, and we appreciate that the local stations decided to talk about us.
Yesterday I met with Jenica for our weekly Tuesday night meeting. We had a great time, our get-togethers have been a little sporadic lately. We talked about all sorts of things; sacrifice, relationships, working out, jobs, etc. It was really nice talking about big things and little things, we have moments when we break through and really get honest with each other. We have a long way to go, but we've made a lot of headway!
I also came to a realization last night. I haven't stared at the stars in a long time. I used to know all about the constellations; where they are, the stories behind them, what they look like, all sorts of stuff. However, I've lost the desire to keep up with all of that. When you work out until 9pm, have to empty the dishwasher, fold laundry, take a shower, and still get to bed at a decent time, you lose interest in the little things that used to bring you great joy. I am crazy about getting things done around the house...but where does that get me? The clothes will still be waiting to be folded tomorrow night, and it's not going to hurt anyone to see them. I've said in the past that I want to be better at not getting worked up about things that are not done, but I've really been doing a better job of it lately. Matt might not say so, but he can't read my mind to see how it's stopped going a million miles an hour! Anyway, I'm going to lay a blanket out in the backyard and watch the stars more, even if it means that I leave the dishes until tomorrow. What have you been leaving undone that you used to enjoy? Can anything else wait until tomorrow so you can enjoy that one thing now?
About a month ago I received an email from a journalist in Australia. He does freelance writing for the Ipswich Queensland Times, the local newspaper in the town we're moving to. I read the paper online almost everyday to get an idea of what's going on in Ipswich. In his email he said that he'd been reading my blog and wanted to know if he could interview our team for an article in the paper. We were totally excited about the possibility, but nervous at the same time. What would he ask? After us submitting our questions, would he twist our words? No offense, but with us moving over there to share the Gospel and being so physically far removed from Australia at this point, he could really bash us and we wouldn't have much opportunity to do anything about it! However, the more we thought and prayed about it the more we thought it would be a good idea. The way we saw it, if even one person read our story and got excited about us coming and sharing the love of God with them, the article would be worth it. Even if everyone hated it, we were pretty confident that people would forget about us and the article by the time we got there!
The article posted last week, here's the link: http://www.qt.com.au/story/2009/07/09/americans-team-god-church/
Overall, we think it was a good article. He kept most of our comments true to what we said and the context, so we can't complain! As of today there is only one negative comment on the article, so we can't complain about that either! I joke, but this really was a big deal to us. We're well aware of what a lot of people will think when we go to Australia. Many will think that we are self righteous, proud, or think we are better than those around us because we are Christians. What's sad is that Christians have done some things to make a really bad name for ourselves, so when people hear the word "Christian" they no longer think about what's important about it--Christ. We're not going to Ipswich because we have it all together and are going to stick it to everyone. We're going because God loves the people of Ipswich (just like Abilene, Africa, Alaska...you get my point). Just like so many people throughout the history of the Bible, God has called us to embark on a journey that we don't fully understand. All we're trying to do is be faithful to what He's asking us to do, and that leads us four to Ipswich. Personally, I think He's going to do some awesome stuff in people's lives, and I'm excited about being able to be a part of it.
Wow, that's enough of that! I could go all night, but I have to get on with my story. The day our article came out in the Australian paper, someone in Abilene read it. I have no idea how all of that happened! Either way, one of the local television stations wants to do a story on our team and what we'll be doing in Australia, so we will be doing that interview on Wednesday. As if those two things weren't enough, there is a person from ACU who wants to put our story on the school's website. Wow! God has connected all of these things in a matter of days! We don't know where it will all lead, but here are a few things I'm praying about regarding all of this craziness:
-I'm praying that this is one of the ways our supporters find us. We have had a tough time raising funds, and I really believe that someone is going to see our story or read our article and hear the call of God to help us out.
-The more important thing I'm praying about is this, that people will hear about us and find hope. These stories are not about us and all the stuff we're doing. There are plenty of people around the world doing the same exact thing right now, and we just happened to get noticed. These stories are about what God is doing, and about Him calling out to the people of this world to turn to Him and find a new life in Jesus. We want people who don't know God to get excited about the thought of who He is. We want them to imagine the possibilities of what life looks like when they follow after Him. We want people to pray for us to get to Ipswich so we can share this message of eternal hope with them.
It seems like I want a lot...and I guess I do. I just know that God is capable of all these things and more, so I'm not going to stop asking because I know He is not going to stop listening!
Last week our team hosted a garage sale...but none of the stuff was ours. Husband and wife CT and Carol Kelly said that if our team was willing to set up and man their garage sale, they would give us all of the money for our move. I had last Friday off, so it seemed like the perfect weekend to do it. Wednesday night our team (minus Gregory who is doing an internship in Colorado) plus a few other brave, kind friends went to their house to start getting things ready. We took four large sized tables, but they were not near enough! The Kelly's said they had never done a garage sale, and they had plenty of things to get rid of. There was furniture, clothing, sheets, kitchenware, toys, stuffed animals galore, trinkets, crafts, a grill, books, audio tapes, the list goes on and on. Wednesday night and Thursday night were spent trying to organize boxes and set up tables. Friday morning Matt and I got up at 4:45am to get ready and get to their house for the first day's sale at 6am. We had a pretty good turn out, and stayed for nine hours that day. It was overcast and sprinkled every once in a while, so the heat did not seem so bad. However there seems to be a big difference between working outside and just sitting outside for nine hours, because we were exhausted by the end of the day! We definitely took a nap after getting home that afternoon. Saturday was the same thing, getting up early and working the garage sale. There was a great turnout Saturday, but this time the wind was about twenty miles an hour all day. A few small glass items flew off tables and broke, and the sheet sets were constantly gaining air and floating away like kites. Our lawn chairs would fly away when we weren't sitting in them, no joke! I'm just glad we didn't lose any money. After it was all said and done on Saturday afternoon, we had sold half the stuff and made just over one thousand dollars. We were so tired, but it was worth the time and effort. We were very grateful to the Kelly family for offering us the opportunity to do the garage sale, and the money will be very helpful to our team as we make our move.
Perhaps the coolest thing about the garage sale was the fact that we didn't really know the Kelly family. We've been to their home once, but it was in a large crowd and I don't think they'd remember that. They offered us this opportunity not because we were great friends, but because we are all believers in Jesus and they wanted to help us with what we are going to do in Australia. That's the cool thing about the body of Christ, we work together in all sorts of different ways so that God's love can be spread around the world.
So Matt and I have this thing, you know a couple will make it if you can put their names together and the combined name sounds good. Our friends Chris and Emily got married this weekend, and Chremily is a great name! Matt was the best man, and I was a maid of honor. I have to share the journey of this weekend, because it's just too good not to.
Matt and I were taking care of my in-laws' dog, and our plan was to have someone come and let the dogs out a few times over the weekend. We had it all worked out, and then late Friday morning Matt called me and said that our air conditioner was out (keep in mind that the temp the past week has broken 100 probably every day). First plan foiled, the dogs had to go to the kennel. I got off work at 12, took the dogs to the kennel, and then finished getting ready in a 93 degree house. Matt, Jenica, and I left the house a little after 3pm, and had to be at the rehearsal at 5pm. We made it there about 5:10pm, but we wouldn't be Harrises if we weren't late. The rehearsal was fun, and the rehearsal dinner (feast really) was amazing. It was at this beautiful house, and the food was homecooked and amazing!
That night a storm started to roll in, and it looked amazing. Little did we know that it was bringing with it horrible hail. Both Chris and Emily's car windows were broken out (along with about five other people's windows), everyone got huge dents on their cars, and it looked like someone shot at the church that Chris and Emily were to get married in. I have to say though, they both took the evening's events like a couple of champs!
The wedding was beautiful (and not too long). Emily looked absolutely beautiful, and Chris looked at her all day like she was the only person on earth. Matt was surprisingly weepy all day...it was kind of cute! I don't think we realize how much people mean to us until they experience something life altering and we get to participate in it with them. There's just something about it that is important and meaningful.
Matt and I are now staying with my in-laws for the week, because it will be at least Thursday until our air conditioner gets replaced. I'm sitting on the couch watching tv with the family, life is good!
there were birds everywhere!
Switch out said saltwater with lake water and I'm a happy girl! I got to spend a little time reading more of one of the many books that have been assigned to our team (thanks Gary!), it's called The Case for Christ. It's about a journalist who set out to debunk the existence/purpose/history of Christ. I was reading in the chapter where he interviewed a Jewish Christian, and it was by far the most interesting chapter so far. The book is getting better the more I read!
Saturday night we watched some movies and then hit the hay.
It was wonderful, I really loved it down there. That night we ate dinner together and then my sister Anita had to leave. Her little boy started kindergarten today, and she needed to be there with him. How exciting, and a little scary, for all of them. Mom and I watched a few more movies (well, I watched them and she fell asleep!) and then hit the hay again. This morning she and I ate breakfast and then said our goodbyes as well. I came home to a husband who has been doing many much needed and much appreciated odd jobs like getting our closet light to work (thanks also to Aaron, sorry I was so bossy about you coming as soon as possible. I was tired of taking a flashlight into the closet to see my clothes!) I also came home to a dog who has had projectile diarrhea for the past three days. We think the combo of having other dogs in our home for the past two weeks and me being gone for three days might have had some stressful effects on him! Usually when I'm gone Matt is too, so he's kind of used to how all of that works. When I just up and left though, we think he got a little confused and worried! Who knows, I just hope he doesn't get sick again (like I can complain, Matt's been cleaning up after him!)
