AUSTRALIA: HOME

Wow. What a trip! Its now Tuesday morning and Tim and I are recovering after the longest flight in history! OK. Maybe an exxageration. 40 HOURS!!! It seemed as if we had every obstacle under the sun trying to stop us getting home, but we finally did, praise God. 12 hours at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam after waiting in line for the tix we had to pick up...KLM decides to install totally new system on Good friday which had all of its operators in confusion, staring blankly at their screens.... 17 flights were cancelled, so queues were everywhere, and our plane flew off without us, while we waited! Then we had delay after delay as KLM tried to fix things that were wrong with the plane, asking for "just another 15 minutes of our patience" for 2 hours! Once on board they tried to shut the door but the seal came off (ok thats reassuring) as well as the exit light above the door (just a few more minutes of your patience please...) and then my seat wouldnt go back (Phoebe) but of course the guy in front of me had his seat right back the whole trip (ggrrr) and my headset wouldnt work so i couldnt use the entertainment unit...I was NOT a happy traveller! Poor Tim tried in vain to find a comfortable spot to stretch out his long legs, but alas...squeezing a 6 foot 3 man into a 5 foot 1 space is not easy. 11 hours later we were cramped and grumpy (but still managing a smile), tired and achy and arrived in Kuala Lumpur for 4 1/2 hours of waiting where the machine promptly stole tims bank card leaving us with no money to even buy a drink, and all the comfy seats were in the cafes where you had to buy stuff to sit down...so we drifted and occasionally sat there anyway until someone came along to move us on...felt like a vagabond!

Eventually it was time for the last leg of the journey and this was pure bliss in comparison!!! Malaysian Air was fantastic and made up for some of the tedium from before, with comfy seats, headsets that worked, giving us more space to stretch out (they gave us 4 seats to share-yay!) and cool movies to watch. I watched Pursuit of happyness-amaaaazing...totally recommend it, and Tim watched Happy Feet, which he said was cute.

Arrived in Sydney to be greeted by Melisa and Gaby with freshly picked roses in a basket (nicked from the neighbours which i think makes it even more special, dont you?) and their gorgeous faces and cuddles. I felt like Princess Diana being presented with a posy of flowers. Then it was on to Coogee Beach to reintroduce ourselves to that amazing Australian phenomenon, the SUN. Over milkshakes and lattes and earl grey tea, we watched the waves roll in and soaked up the warmth and let the breeze blow away the trip. We even got a little sunburnt, how about that?!? A short play in the water up to our knees (Gaby went in in her clothes and i had fun pushing her), we were driven to Ray and Lindas where we have been put up like royalty, and where i slept for 16 hours in a bed that felt like a cloud. Yesterday was Easter Monday and a public holiday so we sat around catching up with Ray and Linda from brekky to lunch and have been househunting since. it feels so good to wake up to Australian birds and the brightness of the sun, and Tim and I feel like we are exactly in the centre of God's will for us right now, in the very palm of His hand. Catching up with friends and family is on our agenda, and finding that somewhere special to live is too. Keep us in your prayers as we wait on God for further instructions, and also that it all goes well with the pregnancy and job interviews this week.

Bless you

Phoebe

Going back to Australia

After finishing the training course 2 weeks ago Phoebe and I took some time out to see a bit more of the UK before flying over to Holland to catch up with friends and family. Peter, one of the men on the course, was so kind to take us to his retreat in the middle of the Welsh mountains, before taking us to Treardur Bay on the west coast of Wales. The landscape was absolutely stunning.... and refreshing (1 degree Celsius). We even had some light snow! We only stayed a day at Peter's place, but we definitely plan to go back there for a longer period of time in the future.

The drive from his place to the coast through the mountains was amazing! We tried to capture some of the beauty with the camera, but it's something that needs to be seen in real life to experience the majesty and awe of what God created.

We felt very small compared to these majestic mountains, but our God felt very big, which is a good thing!

Our time in Treardur Bay with our friend Todd and his family was inspiring. They made us feel like we were part of their family, with such warmth and generosity. It was a beautiful time of sharing what God has done in all of our lives.

We would have loved to stay a bit longer in Wales, but we had to return to Pierrepont for a hospital appointment in Guildford for our 20 week scan.

The 20 week scan was even more breathtaking than the Welsh landscape, we thoroughly enjoyed a half hour scan looking at our baby's wonderful anatomy, the face, the eyes, the lips, the brains, the chambers of the heart, the hands and feet, and even the baby's stomach. Our beautiful and healthy little son or daughter.

The day after the scan we said our goodbyes-for-now to Pierrepont, our home for the last 6 months, and flew out to Amsterdam. It was a challenge for us to fit all our belongings into the baggage and sticking to all the restrictions of weight, size, and what you're allowed to take on the plane out of London- they got even stricter while we were there- but we prayed for God to cover us and made it through customs with an extra 7 kg of weight without extra charges...phew! And that was with leaving a lot behind! New and dear friends, Samar and Sarah Riaz dropped us off at the airport, and it was one of those bittersweet moments where you want to go and want to stay as well. Its been an amazing, life changing season at Ellel, and its hard to believe its over! While challenging at times, it has been a very rewarding 6 months, and we are better for it.


Ahead of us is the bigger challenge. We're leaving for Sydney on Friday and are looking for a temporary place to stay while hunting for jobs and a more permanent place of residence in the Hills area. If you can help us out in any way we would really appreciate it. A big thank you for those of you who have already offered to help us out so far.

We are looking forward to seeing all of our friends and family when we are back, we have missed you and would like to introduce you to little Bakker. Of course, we would like to meet him/her ourselves!!!