og livet fortsætter fremefter

danish for "and life continues onward"

:)

so this post will be a little more pictures,

a little less conversational.

(but we will see). 

keith green! my new hero.

a searcher of truth.

a finder of the truth.

a man of incredible musical talent.

he fought against compromised beliefs, religious celebrity lifestyles,

and dysfunctional, dusty religous institutions.

he loved God with all his heart, mind and soul

and threw himself into proclaiming the truth of  it all through his music.

he lost popularity and eventually his life,

but his legacy lives on and i admire it all so much. 

so that's my train rides home.

and so perth continues to teach me!

my bike rides get longer and more interesting.

that's the lake that i often ride past after work to chill at if i've got nothing planned for the eveneing.

i reply to messages, sit, think, pray.
make videos.

it's lovely :)

 my bike tyre popped last week.

i was looking too far ahead of me and not watching where i was cycling.

i thought of that proverb (4.25) that warns:

let your eyes look straight ahead;

fix your gaze directly before you. 

give careful thought to the paths for your feet

and be steadfast in all your ways.

do not turn to the right or the left,

keep your foot from evil.

i think that generally in life, when we take our eyes off the path before us to look too far into the future, we can often run into trouble.

dr kate

i was reminded not to worry about next year.

(do i get a job here or there, do i do a masters here or there, do i start a new life here or there..??)

rather, i'll just be faithful to do "the next thing" right now in front of me

and trust that God will weave all  the other dreams into fruition.

it's a philosophy many haven't understood when i've shared it,

but it's worked out amazingly for me so far. 

peace and joy in the now, a future held by the sovereign hands of God.
win win!

so that is what i will do. 

stay tuned for what happens!

:)) 

prac is continuing to go really well.

apart from a slight inactivity dip in the second and third weeks,

i'm slowly learning how to swing the vines in the jungle of children's counselling.

i must admit,

i feel like i may be practising the best job in the world.

so many adults who really harm themselves and the world today

are just little children who were never able to play out their traumatic experiences.

play which would have helped them untangle and express all their emotions,

play which would have helped them develop emotional regulation,

play which would have developed a healthy sense of relationships,

play which would have developed positive self esteem and self image. 

it's the best form of preventative work; building into a future society.

 you really get to love on children in a safe way,

children who may have never felt that sense of love and safety go hand in hand before.

it's just a shame that the government doesn't see that as something worth funding,

but that's another conversation kept for my social work class ;) 

i mentioned in my last post that during my 20 minute cycle enroute the train station, i was yet to get rained on.

well i've upped-the-anty to a 30 minute route, 

and despite the downpour as i'm getting ready, i'm still yet to get wet enroute prac!

on the way home, though -  well that's another story.


i went grocery shopping in this state too!
love it.

but few things bring me more joy than being able to go to the beach after work and watch the storm clouds come rolling in.

i don't think our lives were meant to be all blue skies,
we'd never see the glory of the sun shining through the storm clouds otherwise!

i think God paints amazing glories onto the canvas of our lives in our winter seasons.
why would we ever shy from that.

each weekend, i have a diy list i'm slowly making my way through.

 

 

i blurted out to my sister the other night:

"i need a new best friend!!

it sucks having all my best friends living so darn far away!!"

it is fun though.

i've been getting into talking via video with friends. 

 

today helene checked in with me as she rode home from her friends place.

i was in the kitchen at work, but i may as well been in aarhus.

those tall red brick apartments, the grey sky .. even the construction they were doing near her block.

i was RIGHT THERE with her!

we would have shared a macaroon or cookie we'd just baked.

until the video finished and i looked up and saw the fishtank

 and i was right back in the prac kitchen :/

but OH GOLLY!

my heart.

but it is great to see and converse with my best friends so easily.

this week, i've actually really missed my international life.

the community living, really.

i felt the melancholic thoughts coming, 

so i bought some danish favourites and quickly rode to the seaside.

 

there's something special and life-giving about living in community with others.

you literally do life with eachother, 

you're not alone.

don't get me wrong-
i have wonderful friends and family in perth, 

And i have unswerving peace, unswerving joy anchored deep down into my heart through my faith.

 but sometimes i miss eating gluten and carbohydrate riddled sweets
while
 laughing about ridiculous things with girlfriends till our tummies hurt.
and then bike-riding home after it all.
and having this every day. 

i don't really like the word "miss", because i think it implies that you aren't happy with what you have

and i don't think it's ever wise to say "why were those days better than these" (Ecc 7.10).

so i do acknowledge that i need to be careful in this.

but i do think that God often gives me a wonderful sense of community overseas
which i find contrasts to what i experience in perth.
 perhaps it's because we all have such separate lives in the urban sprawl of perth,
it makes it a bit tougher to just "drop by" to your friends house and "do life" with them.

 i find myself really missing that way of life. 

it's one thing i noticed danish christians were very intentional about in denmark:
living close together not only so they could do life together,
but also so that they could bless and help others who were around them.
particuarly those who might have been "marginalised" in society.

i think i'm really gaining a sense of the type of life i want to lead.
perhaps this is God's way of shaping and moulding me to lead a certain lifestyle when i move out.

but in other ways, i am still definately blessed with awesome friendships in perth!
for example:  great seasoned high school friendships.
 our reunions are annual, and always warm and hearty.

since being home,
i have also connected with perth christian family.
and it is very good.

it's such a blessing to have brothers and sisters all over the world. 

i can be working at a summer camp in america,

taking a scary accident-ridden greyhound bus-ride in canada,

living danish on semester exchange

or galavanting throughout europe - 

they're everywhere!

my worldwide christian family can be found all over the world!

with faith our common platform,

(ideally),
we have a quick connection over a shared understanding of the world. 

and there's this profound ability to just encourage and speak life into eachother.
cross culturally, cross country, cross anything!

it's WONDERFUL!!!

christian community is just wonderful.

so i had that last night. but perth style. 

 i love love love it.

so despite anything i may lack,
i thank God for all i have.

 the author of life, the creator of the universe and shepherd of my soul has given me this,
(whatever this is)

so it must be the very best for me.

preparing and shaping me for an eternal purpose. 

..
in  other news.

i wear something danish almost every day.like these danish earings.

 birthday present from my danish school friends.

tak vens!

and everybody in the international cluster from church got this little keychain from jasmine.

holland, australia, brazil and singapore.

like sisterhood of the travelling pants, except keychain of the..

i tried baking apple and cinnamon muffins!

and i am perfecting a raw brownie slice recipe.

so that's all folks!

golly so much for a non-conversational blog! 

:))

working full time, i've got a lot to say and not much time to write it all out !!

working full time, i realise:

i'm just not sure i'm your average cookie cut graduate. 

who has time to work full time?!

who would desire to live under such a narrow focus and put their body under that much pressure?

how is this normal!!!

obviously i've been a travelling student for much of my life ;) 

i have this steady to-do list, ALWAYS!

tonight i was cheeky in slotting the blog in to the top of the list!

sometimes, the funnest things can come first. 

like sipping hot chocolate and eating raw slice brownie while cooking dinner. 

i'm sure a psych somewhere could analyse that.

(i also LOVE that i work with three psychs. so many questions for them.

but then i wonder if they analyse me and my habits too). 

but that being said!

i've a bunch of things to reply to, register for and to get some sleep!

so,

god nat kære venner!

(Good night dear friends!)

...

"Darlin it was good, 

never lookin down. 

right there where we stood, 

was holy ground." 

nevertheless, 

"you give and take away
my heart will choose to say

lord, blessed be Your name."