SYDNEY!

Hello again,

It's been a while since my last travel update so I figure it's time for another one, especially since tomorrow is my last full day in Oz and you probably won't get another one. :-)

I left Jess' sheep farm last Tuesday and arrived in Sydney on Wednesday morning (the 24th) after 8 hours on the bus, an hour stopover at 11PM, and another 8 hours on the train. It was crazy long and not very comfortable so I didn't get much sleep and so I hit the hay as soon as I arrived at my next host's house.

I've been staying with an Adventist family here, the Gilmores, that my old pastor Matthew Gamble hooked me up with. They are so amazing! I have my own room, my own key, and they've been feeding me every meal and even insisting on paying for some of my excursions. Irene, the mom of the house, is wonderful and has been telling me some incredible stories about her life and I have learned so much about "life" since I've been here.

I've also met a lot of cool people just traveling about on my own. Last week I did the tourist thing and went around the Sydney city center. I saw the famous Opera House, the Harbor Bridge, I took a ferry across the harbor to Manly Beach and saw people playing volleyball and surfing. I took a city tour around to all the other famous sites, I went up to the top of Sydney Tower (their version of the Space Needle), went on OzTrek, which is a virtual ride across Australia. Then on Friday night I went with all the Parramatta Adventist Church young adults to Canberra, Australia's capital city. One of the guys is a coach bus driver and so we got to ride in a comfy bus for the 3 hour trip. We slept in the church that night and the next day, Sabbath, we put on the entire service. I even preached for the first time and pray that the people there heard what God wanted them to hear. Then we went to a flower show in Canberra, followed by a quick tour of the city and a stop at the ANZAC Memorial. Sunday morning I went to airport to meet up with Matthew Gamble and Jesse Ferguson, who were flying out that day. It was so good to catch up with Matthew and also to see J-Ferg again. Sunday night I went to the famous Hillsong Church for their nightly service and the Christian rock band, Hillsong United, happened to be leading worship that night and they introduced some new songs, which were amazing!

Today I went to the #1 attraction (or so I'm told), the Sydney Aquarium, with the underground glass tunnels where sharks and manta rays swim overhead. After that I went to the Wildlife Park where I got to see koalas and kangaroos and wombats and wallabies, and every other Australian native animal you can think of. (By the way, last week on the sheep farm I actually saw two wild kangaroos hopping across the road!) It was cool because standing in line I heard an American accent and these two girls were behind me. It turns out they are both students at Hillsong College studying ministry and so we got to talking and spent the entire duration of our visit at the Wildlife Park together and hanging out. When I got home Irene drove me to the site of the 2000 Sydney Olympics and tonight we're going out to dinner at some Chinese restaurant.

So I pretty much have done all I ever thought of doing in Australia. I even saw the new movie "Eagle Eye" a day early and for free because my host's son is a manager at the local cinema. :-)

Tomorrow I'm meeting up with some of the Parramatta Church young adults for a last goodbye dinner thing, then on Wednesday I'm on my way home, including 4 stopovers (Manila, Seoul, San Francisco, then Seattle), which will be insane.

I miss you all and can't wait to be back home, as amazing as this experience as been.

I'll see you all soon.

With love and prayers,

Steph

Hello from Walpeup!

SEPTEMBER 20TH, 2008

Hey all,

Right now I am on my friend Jess' family's sheep farm about 6 hours northwest of Melbourne and 16 hours west of Sydney. It's in the middle of nowhere and her town, Walpeup, only has about 100 residents! I have been working on the farm with her family, which is amazing. It's lambing season and all the sheep are about ready to give birth. Some came early and are so adorable! I have some photos of myself holding little lambs. So cute!

It's amazing here and Jess says there are wild kangaroo around here and I should see on soon. There are also wild emus and the dirt is all very golden brown here. It's definitely The Bush!

I spent the past week in Melbourne doing the tourist thing and stayed with three awesome girls studying at the University of Melbourne. They live in a massive three-story townhouse and it was very nice living with them. They even gave me my own key so I could come and go as I pleased. Don't forget I was a stranger to these girls, as we only met on couchsurfing.com previously.

On Tuesday I'm off to Sydney, followed by Canberra, where I will speak on World Peace at an Adventist youth service there. Then I return to Sydney to talk about the Philippines mission trip and do some sightseeing.

I can't wait to get home where I can upload some photos and show you all what I've been up to.

I miss you all and will be back soon.

Love,

Steph

More from Melb!

Hello again!

Today is my third day in Melbourne and I am having a blast! I spent the first day wandering and exploring by myself. That night I moved to another couchsurfing house and it has been amazing fun. There are three girls, all students at the prestigious University of Melbourne, and they live in a huge and fancy townhouse near the city center. Three stories with a rooftop terrace/balcony! They gave me my own key so I can come and go as I please as well. They are very loud and fun and remind me a lot of my time in college.

Yesterday was lovely and warm. In the morning my friend Nita (who stayed with us in Seattle with her sister Rena) met me at the house and we took a tram to the city and hung out all day. We went to Luna Park for picture (a popular theme park/carnival), followed by St. Kilda beach, where she treated me to a piece of delicious chocolate hazelnut cake. Then we went to the National Gallery of Victora. a free international art gallery with many famous paintings I recognized from my Art History studies. There was even a famous self portrait of Rembrandt that I studied intensively my first year at UW. I asked a guard if I could take a photo with it, and I was able to snap a few pictures. Then we hung around the city some more, stopped at the University of Melbourne where I got a photo standing outside the Chemistry Building (because I'm cool like that), then we watched the season 2 premiere of Gossip Girl (gotta catch up still!), then had dinner on Lygon Street which is known as "Little Italy." All the restaurant owners stand outside and try to entice you to eat there and often offer free stuff. One place offered us free wine but Nita and Rena thought that wasn't good enough, so they gave us each free dessert as well!

Then we went back to the house and the French boys had arrived. They were cooking dinner and so I had two dinners last night. They are hilarious and great fun and it's hard to believe if they are telling the truth half the time! They kept messing with us. We stayed up until 1AM talking and playing games and dancing around the kitchen.

Today I am seeing whatever I missed in the city that I wanted to see. Tonight we are all going to a Mexican Independence day party with one of the girls' friends.

Then tomorrow I'm off to Walpeup and the sheep farm!

Everyone is amazingly kind and laid back and it reminds me a lot of Seattle here. Today is chilly and very blustery. I am wearing a scarf!

Anyway, hope you all are well.

Miss you and lots of love,

Steph

UPDATE FROM AUSTRALIA!

BELOW are the updates I've sent my friends via e-mail. In case I don't have your e-mail address or simply forgot to include you on my list, you can read about what I've been up to here:

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SEPTEMBER 5TH, 2008

Hey everyone,

I am in a cybercafe in a mall in Tarlac City in the Philippines. It is 15 hours ahead here and so right now it is just after 2pm Friday. We arrived around midnight Tuesday night and have spent the past few days working and sweating our butts off!

I talked to Vicki briefly on the phone and told her already, but I seriously have never sweat so much in my life. It is disgusting yet strangely refreshing. I soaked through my entire outfit while working the first day, including a jacket I was wearing! I didn't even feel that soaked but Brenda got photos to prove it. :-)

The nightly meetings started on Wednesday and continue through next week. Brenda, Rodney, and I are even singing a couple songs for special music tonight, including an entire song in Tagalog that two of the church members taught us this morning. Let's pray it goes well!

We're getting fed so well. Rodney's family cooks amazing food and we've been getting all of our food groups. For lunch today we even had rambutan, which is tropical fruit related to lychee. Rambutan means "the hairy thing" in Indonesian. Google it and you'll see why. :-)

Everyone here is so warm and friendly, even though I can't communicate verbally with most of them. Rodney's family lives in a rural town outside the city and are one of the more wealthy families. Everyone else lives in shacks, literally, with thatched roofs, bamboo walls, and dirt floors. There are goats and cows, chickens and wild dogs roaming around everywhere. There is green everywhere: hills and rice and fields as far as the eye can see.

Just wanted to give you all a brief update. I barely had to adjust to the time difference and have been sleeping amazingly well, getting up at 6am without an alarm clock and sleeping through the night without waking up at all. I'll be here until September 15th, then I'm off to Melbourne!

Hope you all are doing well. Please keep the group in your prayers.

Thanks and hopefully I'll write again soon.

Love,

Steph


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SEPTEMBER 16TH, 2008

Hello everyone!

I don't think I remembered to e-mail all of you my first overseas update from the Philippines, but hopefully I didn't miss anyone this time around. It is just past midnight here in Australia and my couchsurfing host is asleep. I'm typing on her laptop in the dark in the room next to hers because the light in my room would wake her if on. I fear my typing will wake her as well! She is very sweet, talkative, and went 30 mins out of her way to pick me up from the airport even though we had never met before. She owns a flower shop and must get up at 4:30am to buy flowers from the market. She has a cute albino bunny named Polly Jean. It's amazing how kind and giving people can be to complete strangers. That takes a lot of trust.

I left Manila Monday morning, flew 8 hours to Sydney, then another couple hours to Melbourne. I sat next to lady on first plane who was in the Philippines for her mother's funeral. I could tell something was on her mind and soon we got to talking and I think it really helped her to have someone willing to listen to her story. We exchanged contact information and I hope to keep in touch.

The Philippines mission trip was amazing! This last Sabbath we had 37 baptisms, a result of the 10-day evangelistic series held at the new church we built. The people there are all so hospitable and generous and seem content for the most part, even though they have so little. One of the pastors involved with the series has a 7-month old daughter that he can't even afford to buy milk for. His wife, a teacher, had to borrow money from the school she works at. And this was a pastor who is paid by the local conference. I can't even begin to imagine how much less others without steady work must have. It was such a humbling experience and all the villagers were so thrilled that we Americans could visit and help out where we could.

Please continue to pray for the new Adventist church at San Jose de Valdez, Tarlac, Philippines. With the evangelistic series over, there is a risk that the congregation might be negatively affected by the transition. There are many decisions that must still be made there.

Tomorrow I will start sight-seeing in Melbourne then meetup with a couple French boys staying at the same couchsurfing host I am. Then Friday I'm off to Walpeup in the middle of nowhere to help out on my friend's family's sheep farm. Next week I'm off to Sydney, followed by Canberra, where I will speak at an Adventist youth meeting.

I'll write more soon.

With love and prayers,

Steph

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SEPTEMBER 16TH, 2008

Yo!

This couch surfing thing is great! The lady who picked me up is about 30 and I am the first person she has hosted. She bought me coffee this morning and walked me to the train station that took me to the downtown/city center. I've been exploring on my own all day and came across an Indonesian restaurant in Chinatown that I ate at for lunch. I had rendang (spelling?). :-) I saw a young guy drinking bubble tea and asked where he got it and he was kind enough to walk me there so I could get some myself.

There are tons of tourists here! It reminds me of Seattle, too. This morning was sunny but a bit chilly. It is early spring here and everyone is wearing jackets, boots, and scarves. I feel right at home!

I'm at the Victoria State Library using their free Internet access at the moment. I've been taking lots of pictures of interesting words or things that remind me of home. I found the word Bellevue on a store sign and snapped a picture of it, also the word Redmond on a statue plaque. I took a pic of the library because it says Victoria all big and engraved.

Tonight my current host will drop me off a few miles from her house to another pair of couchsurfing hosts, two 22-year old college students who are also hosting two French boys. It will be fun because tomorrow I can sightsee with the French boys since we are all tourists. Then I'm having dinner tomorrow night with those two sisters who stayed with us in Seattle.

I was also asked to give a mini-sermon on Christian and World Peace when I go to Canberra next week with the Sydney Adventist church. It seems like I've come full-circle, since that essay on world peace is what won me the trip to England, which is where I met that Australian girl, which is partly why I'm here now to visit her. I will also speak about my mission trip. I am very excited.

Oh yeah, in the Philippines, we sang a lot of special music songs. Brenda, Rodney, and I were asked almost every evening to perform as a trip before the evangelistic meetings. One of the pastors started humming You Raise Me Up by Josh Groban one night, which I told him was my favorite song and so he asked me to sing it by myself before the sermon on the final night of the meeting. Brenda played piano and Rodney video recorded it. I wasn't nervous at all (praise God!) but I messed up a little on the lyrics of the second verse (since Josh doesn't sing that verse and so I had to learn it just that day), but no one noticed and everyone loved it. Apparently Josh Groban is very popular in the Philippines (and Asia in general) and many of them sang along with me. It was fantastic. Josh Groban was even playing in the Indonesian restaurant I had lunch in today! :-)

Vicki and Mel will enjoy the following information: Last night when I was waiting to transfer from Sydney to Melbourne at the airport, I saw a guy reading a thick novel. I have a habit of reading titles of people's books and initially thought it was Harry Potter, but it was the first Twilight book! Haha, he was this chubby Asian guy and he was so engrossed in the book that he dropped his carry on luggage. hehehe. I was amused. :D

Anyway, I should wrap this up and continue exploring the city.

I don't know what kind of telephone access I'll have here since my hosts may not have International calling on their cell phones. But at least I can check e-mail more often here.

Much, much love,

Steph

Must Have Done Something Right

I have heard this song so many times, but each time I hear it, I can't help but think how amazingly cool and fun it would be to sing this at my wedding with my future husband, a little duet with actual jerseys and everything. :D

RELIENT K | Must Have Done something Right

We should get jerseys ‘cause we make a good team
But yours would look better than mine, ‘cause you're out of my league
And I know that it's so cliché to tell you that everyday
I spend with you is the new best day of my life
Everyone watching us just turns away with disgust
It's Jealously, they can see that we've got it going on

And I'm racking my brain for a new improved way
To let you know your more to me than what I know how to say
You’re ok with the way this is going to be
This is going to be the best thing we've ever seen

If anyone can make me a better person you could
All I got to say is I must have done something good
I came along one day and you rearranged my life
All I got to say is I must have done something right
I must have done something right

Maybe I'm just lucky ‘cause it's hard to believe
Believe that somebody like you'd end up with someone like me
And I know that it's so cliché to talk about you this way
But I'll push all my inhibitions aside
It's so very obvious to everyone watching us
That we have got something real good going on

And I'm racking my brain for a new improved way
To let you know your more to me than what I know how to say
You’re ok with the way this is going to be
’Cause this is going to be the best thing we've ever seen

If anyone can make me a better person you could
All I got to say is I must have done something good
I came along one day and you rearranged my life
All I got to say is I must have done something right
I must have done something right

Be consistent.

My friend Nick shared something with me recently, a revelation he sort of came to. It's such a simple yet profound truth:

"If we want a consistent walk with God, we have to be consistent."

It's so true. We often think that maintaining a close relationship with Jesus is difficult and complicated. But all it takes is consistency, a regular habit of spending time with Him. Each time we skip a day or forget to talk to Him or read His word, that puts us *that* much farther from Him. He is always there, always close, but we've got to do our part to recognize His presence and to stay close to Him ourselves. If we put off one day of personal devotion, then it makes it only easier to put off a second day and a third day, etc. Before we know it, we don't even remember what it felt like to be walking hand in hand with Him, and the *desire* to know Him is decreased so we don't even realize how far away we are from Him. It's a dangerous slippery slope and Satan wants us to slip and fall, but only God can keep us standing.

Listening to God.

I met a guy on the street today that I am certain God led me to.

I was waiting on the street corner to meet a friend for dinner and there was a guy playing an old beat-up guitar and I kept feeling impressed to talk to him. But I kept telling myself, "Well, my friend will be here any minute. I don't have time to talk to him now." Then my friend called me and said she was running late and wouldn't be there for 5-10 minutes. I took that as an obvious sign that God really did want me to talk to this dude. So I went up to him and asked what song he was playing. He said it was called, "Satan Lies to the World." I asked if he was a Christian and he said he was, and then I noticed he was wearing a cross necklace. So I said, "Hey, me too." And he said he had noticed because I was holding my Bible. I asked what church he went to and where he lived and all that and I told him about 24-Seven, and he was like, "Seventh-day Adventist, huh? So you go to church on Saturday." I asked what he knew about Adventists and he said he had been reading The National Sunday Law, which he found at a bus stop. Crazy!

I was amazed that this random guy I approached wasn't only a Christian, but that he was also exploring the Sabbath. So we exchanged e-mail addresses and I hope to hear from him soon. I wish I told him where 24-Seven meets and when we have services, but it didn't cross my mind. He said he used to be homeless for 2.5 years (he was a young guy too, like early 20s) and I'm worried he doesn't have regular Internet access.

But I pray and trust that God will finish what He started.

Coincidence? I think not.

I own a blue, light-tension Gripmaster, purchased from Amazon.com 2 years ago to strengthen my fingers and also to build callouses for guitar-playing. (I bought these extra callous-builder things that clip onto the Gripmaster.)

So just now I'm sitting at work and glance down at my desk at the Gripmaster, reminded that I should use it during the day when my hands are free.

And then I glance at my computer screen at the next item I have to categorize for Amazon.com Marketplace and what do I see?

Yep. You guessed it.

"Gripmaster Hand Exerciser, Light Tension."

CRAAAZY.

Passion

Just got a voice message from my old high school youth leader. I saw her at camp meeting a couple weeks ago and she asked what I was up to, to which I replied I was no longer pursuing dentistry. She told me that for the past 5 years since I left for college, she's continued to pray for me and my decisions. I informed her that currently, I am uncertain about where God wants me.

In the voice message she said that this morning, she came across an old paper I had written on from back then, when we played the "honesty game." One question asked us what our greatest fear is.

She reminded me that I had answered, "My greatest fear is to live my earthly life doing something I am not passionate about."

Now I just need to determine what I am passionate about.

I'm a loser.

I have a horrible habit of losing things. Most of the time it's just my cell phone, which I've carelessly set down and which a friend must call in order for me to hear it and determine its location. Other times it's my keys, which happened a lot while I was living in the dorm at UW and which resulted in my holding the record for highest number of lockouts.

In January I lost my capo and, needing it to play a song i was learning on the guitar, I purchased a new capo. Then a couple months later I found it under my couch, which I swore I had checked numerous times.

In February it was my compact Bible, which I had only purchased in November and which, after a month of searching and calling various Lost & Found offices, I became certain it was left on the bus and some lucky individual had discovered it and been changed by it. I bought an identical replacement about a month ago.

In March I shelled out $100 to my condo manager for a spare building key to give my parents. I had taken off my own key from my key ring so that I could closely examine and compare the cuts. Then 15 minutes later as I was leaving my place, I couldn't find my key and so I used the new key for the time being, fully expecting to find my own key that night upon my return.

Then today, after moving my spare couch in the hopes of finding the key in the same way I found the capo, I found the Bible, but I have yet to locate the key.

Change the lives of others. Change yours.

Like others have already done, I want to encourage everyone to help out however they're able with disaster relief. China has been on our minds because it's the most recent natural disaster to hit the news, with estimated death tolls nearing 20,000 and 70,000 injured. Last week the Myanmar cyclone killed 30,000 and there are 30,000+ still missing. There are also thousands killed or displaced by the tornadoes that have ravaged the southern United States. These are events from just the past couple weeks. Don't forget about Katrina in 2005 or the December 2004 tsunami that killed 230,000 in a dozen countries.

Every time we hear about another natural disaster most of us get a little sad, we might say a quick prayer or two for the victims, but do we actually help?

Why is it that we have no problem dropping 5 bucks on Starbucks or Jamba Juice but we can't donate a few dollars to an aid organization? We care more about the latest episode of Gossip Girl or American Idol than we do about those who don't have shelter, food, access to a bathroom, or even water.

What if your mother died in a natural disaster? What about your husband or girlfriend or child? Or even just a friend or acquaintance or teacher? Would you not feel sadness and a desire to make a difference? Those who died in Myanmar and China were people. They were fathers and grandmothers and babies not yet born. They were brothers and sisters and boyfriends and pets. They were like us.

Entire families have been killed by the recent spurt of natural disasters, yet we are so far-removed in our cozy little homes with our iPods and MySpace and everything else that we've reduced our ability to care and feel compassion.

I am guilty of this myself.

If you don't believe in the power of prayer, then don't pray with me. But at least do some research in ways you can help.

As for me, I'm going to continue to pray that God will allow goodness to come from the destruction. We don't know when we're going to leave this earth. We are not freaking invincible. We are foolish if we believe we're going to live to 75 years old and die of natural causes.

Make the most of today. Make the most of your time with others. Live with a sense of urgency and please strive to change lives, including your own.

Steph

"Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help." (Isaiah 58:7 NLT)

update

this is a new blog. there ya go, brucie. :D

steph

In the morning when I rise, give me Jesus. I've been struggling to apply that to my life. He should be the first thing on our minds when we wake up, before we even think about getting out of bed, using the bathroom, whatever. It's a simple, beautiful reminder of Him. He's giving Himself to us, but we have to want Him, we must accept Him.

everything

This is an old song that I first heard a couple years ago when I was dating an atheist. He was a huge Lifehouse fan and got me more into their music. One day we were talking about love songs and he said he couldn't stand this particular song because it was one of the "cheesiest" songs he'd ever heard.

Back then my relationship with the Creator wasn't the greatest and I didn't immediately realize that this song might not even be about a significant other, but might instead be about God. The ex-boyfriend's opinion of the song tainted my own and I tended to skip it whenever it played on my iPod.

It seems so obvious now that it's about God. It is no wonder the ex couldn't understand it. If the lyrics are applied to a signicant other, then yes, one may say it's a bit much (but still very sweet). If applied to God, however, the lyrics aren't even an adequate description of His power.

The love of a significant other could never compare to the love of God.

EVERYTHING by Lifehouse

Find me here
And speak to me
I want to feel You
I need to hear You
You are the light
That's leading me
To the place
Where I find peace again

You are the strength
That keeps me walking
You are the hope
That keeps me trusting
You are the life
To my soul
You are my purpose
You're everything

And how can I stand here with You
And not be moved by You
Would You tell me how could it be
Any better than this

You calm the storms
And You give me rest
You hold me in your hands
You won't let me fall
You steal my heart
And You take my breath away
Would You take me in
Would You take me deeper, now

And how can I stand here with You
And not be moved by You
Would You tell me how could it be
Any better than this

Cause you're all I want
You're all I need
You're everything, everything

reunion

Sitting on the floor there
Shivering from the cold air
My thoughts wander everywhere

Peace and hope that is not borrowed
Remind me of endless tomorrows
My burdens you willingly bear

Through the open window there
I let in more of the cold air
But now the shivering is spared

Thoughts turn toward your pain
Through your death we may obtain
Love that is for all to share

I close the shutters over there
Refuse to let in the cold air
And then my heart I do prepare

Ears are deaf and eyes shut tight
Now it is time to reunite
As my thoughts turn into prayer

spring

In the spring I like to walk outside through the avenues lined with cherry blossoms. Sunglasses shield my sight from the brightness, but also mute the colors of the blossoms. Magenta becomes pale pink. Pink transforms into white. I hear voices, faded and incomprehensible, I see children running to and fro. But I cannot hear them, for in my head is a personal soundtrack of wonderful melodies that has increased in intensity. I glance around me at the silence, at the energy, but only hear the crescendos of my heart.

music

you are rich dynamism
colorful and funky
and full of exquisite music
multifaceted resonance

my ears ache with joy
even the deaf can hear you
please keep playing
softly, loudly, loudly

i want to share you
love encompasses sharing
but i am human and flawed
it is difficult to share
especially something this grand