glory in the grind

today, a friend asked me what life in aus has been like.

i wrote back intending just a few words on friends, cycling, coffee shops, new social activities...
before it turned into a massive life essay.
i sometimes envy those who are almost mysterious in their writing.
they give only a little away.
i'm just not like that.

ie: this blog. 

ha!
i can begin with just a few sentences and WHAM a whole essay later
i'm signing off.

apparently, it's because i'm an introvert.
janaye sent me an article on introverts
it explained that i actually have an inner monologue which comes out through writing.
i had one of those
"i knew it" moments.

anyway.
so writing an essay at lunch had my thoughts going,
and i decided it was time for a blog.

i can also tell when i need to blog -
i become somewhat pensive, withdrawn and exrta observant.
 i can be seen typing random one liners into my iPhone
or scribbling something on a random piece of paper.
keeps for later.

i got so used to venting all (most) my thoughts into a blog over the past 6 months,
i can't just stop it!
i was trying to decide whether i should keep posting it to fb...
and i'm still undecided.

the thing is in EU i was doing it for my family and friends i'd left behind,
and now i want to do it for the family and friends i left behind in EU.
and those who have my heart elsewhere in america, asia and south america.

so for now.
i will post it again to facebook.

ANYWAY KATE!
back to this fortnight's post.  

i love the beach in winter.

 

after work,

some people have their 4wd's and loud music,

some people have their drinks with their mates..

but just give me my bike, the beach and a quiet heart.

 ah.

if ever i wondered whether God wanted to help me settle into perth,

he provided me chocolate covered rice cakes in woolworths.

i remember finding these months ago DK and writing into a blog 

"THIS is why i belong here. THIS IS ME IN A NUTSHELL!"

and then i found them in lil' ol' perth. 

ok. i think i can settle here again.

i've been baking

disasterously.

but i've been finding baking therapeutic in a way,

so it's fun.

put the headphones in,

pull out all the drawers and sprawl a mess all over the kitchen ...

sends mum and dad running.

and then i get to snack on fat free stodgy banana bread all week

which actually goes down quite nicely with a cup of tea. 

it's also fun sharing recipes with friends from accross the world

i have little reminders all around my room

hints of a slightly different life.

like stones from the greek islands

 a stopwatch from spain set to aarhus time


and a map of my previous home town right next to me as i wake up

since i love to write,

i'm very close to those who also love to write.

this translates our friendship into snail mail.

coolest. thing. ever. 

with love from denmark,

with love from lebanon

and with love from zurich

if you are wondering what the point is
 when you can just write an email,

if you don't have enough time,

or if you'd rather just hang out..

you may just not be a writer

for us writers, 

there's nothing more exciting than snail mail.

:) 

but back to life in aus!

i'm keepin on keeping on.. 

i'm just about done with my third week of placement,
only 9 weeks to go, haha.

but seriously.

9 weeks and i'm a social worker.

HELLO. 

i don't know how to be a social worker! 

don't take me from the womb!

but i am enjoying trialling and erroring all the coffee shops 'round near my placement

placement's going well,

but i have to be careful i don't compare my experiences with my student colleagues 

who are in much bigger organisations with roles that are alot more diverse!

you sometimes really need to discipline your mind to 

"be where you are"

and be grateful for where you are. 

i am often humbly reminded of those kind of thoughts

on my early bikerides to the station. 

i have to admit,

it's winter in perth yet i have never gotten saturated on my way to work.

i've packed my straightener and makeup just in case,

but it's never rained on me once!

i've been packing my shoulder bag and it's been pouring,

but the time i've gotten out onto the roads it's cleared up!

then i'll get on the train and it starts again.

:)

i take that as God's little blessing to me.

speaking of which,

i am used to cycling in flats, flip flops and small heels,

but these babies -

these left my thighs sore for two days!
i'm not sure whether it was the running to catch the train

or the 20 minute pedal each way on the tip of my toes.

either way, my legs felt it!

to keep the days interesting,
i often wake up and see these kind of messages.

random little snippets of the life i was once part of 

and that friends so dearly keep me in the loop of.

then i send them pictures of my new life here in perth.

not nearly as pretty and interesting as our favourite kaffe shops where we'd study with a kaffe overlooking the canal.

but that's all part of the journey! letting go and moving on.

i've been continuing to danify dad - we go bikeridng most saturday mornings for coffee and cake.

i made chicken stoganoff this week,
angie's recipe that became my staple standard dinner in dk.

but yet again, i forgot to take the chicken out the freezer.

and accidentally half cooked it on defrost. 

i'll learn eventually.

last night i went to see sam childers speak.

he was represented by gerard butler in the movie "machine gun preacher"

it was really cool.

he opened the floor up to questions about his work in africa, finances, his personal life,

there was nothing we couldn't ask him.

from a social work perspective,

this was really interesting. 

he also talked alot about how he had nothing -

no education, a bad reputation and nothing to live for.

and then he met God

and his life is now filled with passionate, unending purpose.

from a christian perspective,

this was inspiring.

of course i had to take a sneaky shot of him.

and this is millie.

 

this morning on the train, i was getting a little sad.

usually by this time last semester, a few weeks into studying, 

bridget and i were already planning our next european getaway.

where shall we flutter to next? italy? norway? 

 the world was our oyster.

and here i was, standing at glendalough train station

waiting for my connecting train to take me to another day of prac.

i'm not going anywhere but to work.

for the next 3 months, AT LEAST.

the novelty wears off after a while -

you no longer "just got back from europe"

you're just "kate."

"kate" the prac student who'se a bit browner and has interesting european winter clothes.  

 another annoying cyclist on the roads

and has a diet more weird than ever.

naturally,

there comes a point when you need to stop looking back 

and stop inviting others to look back with you.

life goes on, 

tans fade and people have jobs to do.

so standing at the glendalough train station 

eyes still adjusting to the early morning,

i pondered what this meant in terms of action.

do i sadly let it go?

do i sweep it under the rug and do things to distract myself to be happy?

i thought about this for a while.

no, i decided, neither option would suffice.

i was reminded in my heart that

as a christian,

my security, my hope, my joy, my peace, my sense of adventure

is not in the external circumstances.

it's in God.

life in relationship with Him - life begins again new every morning.
it's a new day to unpack valuable lessons which can only be taught through the daily grind.
mysteriously,
your days turn into days of humilty, awe and wonder.

with Him as my foundation,

i am peaceful and secure.
there is nothing he does not know,
there is nowhere i can go where His hand is not sovereignly guiding my steps.
 

learning every day threough the bible about his glorious and mysterious character,

i am full of joy and adventure.

he is the orchastrator of all my opportunities,
and He orchastrates only the best accross my path.
even if it doesn't "look" or "feel" like it.

while i only have hints of ideas of what next year will bring me,

i cannot say where the next season will take me.

but he has graciously led me on the MOST amazing journey so far,

his grace will lead me on.

so as i walked into prac this morning,
and then later cycled home down the ocean road -
i pensively concluded:

"i am sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; 

poor, yet making many rich;

i have nothing, and yet

 possessing everything"

  (2 cor 6.10)

"higher than the mountains that I face
stronger than the power of the grave
constant through the trial and the change
one thing remains
God your love never fails, never gives up
never runs out on me."