2014 So Far...In Geraldton!

Before I left Sydney I made a promise – I would use this blog to keep people updated on my life over here in WA. My aim was to write an update every term.

Well, over 10 months after leaving, here is my first blog. Part of my silence has been business and tiredness, for which I apologise – this has meant that many of you who are praying for and supporting me have not been kept up-to-date. The other reason for my delay has been more of a struggle – I have been scared to write this. I’ve been able to keep going over here by keeping busy and just getting through each day, and in the process I have been able to ignore things that I found hard or knew I had to leave till later to deal with. Don’t be too terrified of what will follow – I am loving life over here and would not wish to be anywhere else. It’s just that I’ve needed to keep going rather than giving things the time to process that they require, just because there is so much to process this year.

To help manage these 10 months into a coherent update I’m going to sort things into categories. It is certainly not the most creative way to write things but otherwise I’ll forget something and not know where I’m up to. Also, I have a feeling this is going to be loooooong, so feel free to skip down to things that you are more interested in!

So, with coffee, chocolate and tissues at hand, here I go.

THE MOVE

The last few months in Sydney (Nov-Jan 2013/14) were, to say the least, crazy. The moment college finished and goodbyes were said the packing and moving began. All my college things got moved back home (to the family home) and I moved in with dad, mum, Erin (my sister) and Gran. I was very rarely home because there were just so many wonderful friends to say goodbye to. Thank you to all those who gave their time to me in these months, I can’t explain how wonderful it was to say goodbye to people properly.

It was pretty tricky packing everything – it all had to fit into my sedan and a trailer. I was able to leave some stuff at mum and dad’s place, but anything I needed over here had to fit. I had a final church service at my beloved home church, a final dinner with my family, and then, on the morning of the 9^th of January my dad and I set off for a bit of a drive. Across Australia. From Sydney to Geraldton. (Before I left I got to show Gran what a selfie was and we took an awesome one out the front right before she waved me goodbye.)

I should mention that for a number of months I had been trying to rent a place in Geraldton, but because of finances and being so far away things just had not worked out. TWO DAYS before I left Sydney I suddenly had a house. One of the ministers at the Cathedral here had a cycling friend who had just bought the property behind their own block, as they wanted to extend their yard, and it had a house on it they wanted to rent out. To me. It would be ready by the time I arrived. Crazy! God had it sorted the whole time and I had been so stressed about this.

The trip over was long but fairly uneventful – one flat, and the timing of it was as perfect as those things can be. We got to stay with some relatives in Adelaide, which was really lovely, and then in Perth we stayed with an awesome girl Rowena who introduced me to some other fantastic Perth girls.

My uncle from Perth had done an amazing job at sourcing second hand furniture and kitchen things for me. We left Perth with his car and another whole trailer load of stuff, including beds, a washing machine, book shelves and so much more.

On arriving in Geraldton we drove straight up to my new house, where the family who own it were waiting. They were a bit nervous that I wouldn’t like it, because, well, it’s a bit crazy. So of course I loved it! It is hot pink, bright blue, turquoise, orange, green…every colour, with rooms and doors and random windows everywhere. It is four bedrooms with separate kitchen, dining and living, and a good sized back yard. The lady who owns it had put flowers and candles in the house and made me some home-made muesli. Basically if I could imagine my dream house, this is it. I loved it at first sight and haven’t stopped yet! It is ideal for having groups of people over and having visitors (HINT HINT!).

The first week dad worked really hard, and we sorted out furniture I needed to buy and pretty much unpacked the whole house. By the time dad left everything was sorted. He also helped me with being able to afford some things I needed, like a fridge and some lounges, which was so kind. I would not have been able to settle nearly as quickly without his help.

In my first week I also had meetings with Bishop Gary and John, the acting principal at Grammar, sorting out my jobs at both places, getting keys etc. I admit I had no idea I would be starting so soon, but hey, nothing like landing on your feet.

Dad left at the end of the week, and he was my last link to back home. After thinking about coming over here for almost two years I was finally here. And I was so excited! I think it was less scary because I knew I would be flying home for graduation in a couple of months, so it wasn’t really a final farewell. And after living three years at college I finally had a house! It was the best feeling in the world.

My first Sunday here in Geraldton I started work. So I guess here is a good place to start talking about Church!

GERALDTON ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL (2 Days/Week)

For those of you who don’t know much about my church, here is some quick info.

We have 4 Sunday Services – 6:45am, 8:15am, 10am and 5pm. Each service has a meal/coffee time afterwards. The first two are more traditional services, the 10am is a contemporary family service and the 5pm is a casual service with dinner after. Each service has it’s own unique flavour and congregation. I am expected to help at the 10am and the 5pm. This involves things like Bible reading, weekly music, leading, praying etc.

The people at church have been wonderful. I felt at home from my first week there. Many of them have adopted me and look out for me, which has helped me feel like I belong not just to the church but also to Geraldton. It has been wonderful sharing people’s lives with them. The beginning of the year was a little unsettled; due to the transience of Geraldton, January-February is the time when people new to the town go church shopping. There were constantly new faces, and because I was new it was a struggle to figure out who usually attended and who was new. It has been very exciting to see new people joining our church, particularly new families and young adults.

As part of my role at the Cathedral I coordinate women’s ministry. This has meant organising monthly morning teas, which I struggle to wrap my head around because there is just not enough time to organise things and it always seems like it is time for another one. They are, however, very encouraging times because the women love to be there and to build each other up.

We also had our first Geraldton Women’s Convention in September. This was an absolutely huge amount of work but it was entirely worth it. Clare Deeves, a lecturer at Trinity Theological College, came and spoke. We promoted the event to women at various churches throughout Geraldton and we had over 50 women attend! Which is just a miracle and exceeded my expectations. I walked away from the day completely overwhelmed. Every woman who was there was there to learn about God. Their joy in the day and wonder that such an event was being held in Geraldton was one of the must humbling things I have ever been part of. They were women craving to be fed, and having a biblically-focused local women’s convention was, to many of them, the most wonderful thing ever. They were so grateful and were asking when the next one was and they-have-so-many-other-people-the-want-to-invite-please-have-another-one. None of this was aimed at big-noting the event, it was simply wanting to be taught the Bible. I found it also quite confronting. There isn’t a month that goes by in Sydney where you can’t go to a women’s event and be taught well from the Bible. And here are women crying out for such a thing. God is amazing. And, of course, we will have another one! This time with a committee, better advanced advertising and a demographically wider promotion.

Some other things that I am involved in each week at the Cathedral are the music team, Friday night Youth Group, Sunday afternoon Youth Bible Study and a Thursday night Bible study. I have to say I find the Youth Group a real struggle; people that know me will know I never even liked Youth Group as a kid, so going as a leader on a Friday night after a week of school with teenagers is a killer. I do love most of the kids that go, and the Sunday Bible study with them has been great. Going on the camp with them was fun, and it is exciting watching them grow and take on God for themselves.

I have also started attending the 6:45am service as a member of the congregation, and I have been loving it. I hadn’t realised how much I missed just going to church and not having to think about what was coming up next and what I was doing, I could just sit and learn and worship. The people at this service are really sweet. They look out for each other and love each other. I’ve been adopted by a few of them and have even received some plants for my garden! I think they feel a bit sorry for me and think I need a bit of tlc, to which I’m not opposed! I have about 50 grandmas over here!

One thing I still find difficult is a lack of adults at my age/stage at church. Or maybe I should say I am used to having a whole bunch of single working friends at church or at college. And that just isn’t the case here. People leave to go to uni and either don’t come back or they come back with a family. While it hasn’t impacted on me as much as it could have because I have been busy, I can see that it might get me down in the future. I have a whole lot of respect for people who stick it out rather than leaving. It also causes problems with a lack of leaders. There are just not enough lay-leaders to cover things. It means that there are people being over-worked or doing ministries that they don’t necessarily have an interest in or passion for simply because we need people. Unfortunately it is impossible to train up younger people because once they are old enough to become leaders they leave for study, and the cycle continues.

I absolutely love working for church. The staff are brilliant and support and help each other so much. The women are eager to learn about God and encourage each other. I am getting to know people better and I certainly feel like I have friends there. Sundays are long days, but they are good days. Very good days.

In 2015 my role will continue at the Cathedral. I am very excited to have more time next year to do some mentoring and general follow-up with the women; this will make a big difference. Unfortunately I can’t see that I’ll be allowed to drop anything due to a lack of manpower (womanpower?), but we’ll have to see how things pan out.

Some things to pray for would be:

·      thank God for my new church family!

·      thank God for the joy of fellowshipping, caring for and living life with a wonderful group of people

·      the women’s morning teas to settle into a rhythm for 2015 and have more direction

·      planning for the 2015 Geraldton Women’s convention

·      my attitude towards Youth Group

·      the ongoing growth of the Cathedral, both in numbers and their love and knowledge of God

·      a new generation of leaders and workers – and more young adults and workers!

GERALDTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL (4-5 Days/Week)

I am employed at Grammar as the chaplain and an English teacher. When I first signed a contract I was employed for 4 days a week. Between that time and the beginning of the year, however, the school moved to a 6-day rolling timetable (so the timetable goes from day 1-6, then starts again, not taking into account the actual day of the week). This has meant that I get day 3 off, and this day changes each week. It also means I work 5 days out of 6 rather than 4 days out of 5, some weeks I don’t get a day off school if there is no Day 3 in the week, and I still have to go in on my day off (Day 3) if it is a Monday because Chapel is every Monday morning. This has led to a whole bunch of problems with me and my church work, and has meant I can’t have a fixed week day for church work. It has also meant some weeks I work 7 days as not every week I get a day off school. I didn’t find any of this out before moving here so have kind of had to just go with it.

I have loved the English teaching way more than I anticipated. The kids at Grammar are brilliant – very good behaviour but still with enough spunk to make things interesting. I have a Year 8 and a Year 9 class, and I get on with them very well. I’m still not used to silent reading actually being silent, and having kids actually do the work and the homework. It is quite novel really!

Chaplaincy has been…interesting. The only face-to-face time I have with the students is a 15minute Chapel service on Monday mornings. This 15minutes must include prayer, any songs, readings and the talk. There are no other Christian Ed or RE classes in the high school at all (the primary has RE and it is brilliant, but it stops after primary). The rest of my role is pretty much the pastoral/spiritual care of the kids, teachers and parents. It has been a hard slog getting to know people, and some of the issues the kids come and talk about are pretty full-on. The Chapels are difficult because of the time limit and because there is just no follow-up. There are also weeks where we don’t have Chapel, so sometimes it can be 3 weeks between services, and ongoing series are difficult.

The 3 topics we have done in Chapel are ‘Strange Things Jesus Did’, ‘Strange Things Jesus Said’, and now we are part-way through a Bible overview. The kids really love the lego powerpoints, and we have had a couple of interactive talks which work well. It has been interesting watching the students expectations of Chapel change throughout the year, and I love chatting with them about what is being taught.

This term, Term 4, I have been given an RE lesson with every Year 7-10 class. Woohoo! I have done about 5 so far and have loved every second of them. Interestingly the kids have been so involved and have so many questions I usually get through about a third of what I have actually planned. It is amazing watching them from the beginning of the lesson where they are obviously thinking (and sometimes saying) ‘Oh no, here we go, an RE lesson’ and then ending the lesson by having to cut the questions off because the class has finished. Kids have a natural curiosity about religion and life outside themselves and their reason for being here, and it doesn’t take more than them being given permission to talk and ask questions for them to have their hands flying and their eyes like big saucers. It is the best feeling to finally have this opportunity, and then to have them follow up conversations with me in their own time.

I am super excited about 2015 at Grammar. I am dropping English entirely and will be employed for 2 days a week as the Chaplain. AND I GET TO TEACH RE! TO HIGH SCHOOL! I will have two set days (Monday with Chapel plus one other day), and the student’s timetable will continue to roll. While RE will not be on the timetable I will have a timetable whereby I get to take certain classes for the period instead of their usual scheduled lesson. It will mean that each day I work the timetable will be different, but hopefully it means all the kids from 7-10 get RE. This is a huge answer to prayer.

As far as the environment at Grammar, I guess it would be safe to say it is interesting. Apart from me I can think of 4 other practicing Christian teachers. The primary RE teacher, Joyce, is an absolute gem. She works so hard with those primary kids and she is pretty much my second mum. We sometimes have meetings. At cafes. Where we don’t work. We just café. It is awesome. The rest of the staff generally like the idea of the school having an Anglican tradition and are more than willing to help out, they are also lots of fun and know how to have a good laugh. They are a kind and caring bunch of people, and it is a lovely work environment. The Christianity does at this stage feel token and is more focused on the nice ideals that Christianity has rather than the Gospel, but things are looking up!

As far as prayer points go, here are a few:

·      thank God for the RE lessons this term! And the promise of more next year!

·      thank God that I love working here; I really wasn’t looking forward to going back into the school system but it has been a lovely surprise

·      thank God for a great bunch of colleagues to work with

·      pray for the kids; that they can have a clear understanding of the Gospel and what Christianity really is

·      pray for the ongoing building of relationships, particularly as kids, staff and students talk about life-stuff with me

·      pray for the new principal starting next year, that he might settle in well and that his fresh eyes and new ideas might build the school up

LIFE IN GENERAL

Ok, this is the part I haven’t wanted to write. So here goes.

I was lucky enough to be able to go back home for College Graduation in March. It. Was. Amazing. To be amongst college people I love so much, to hear the singing of Christians en mass, to hear about what everyone was doing and where they were going, and to say goodbye well to people was wonderful. It gave a real sense of closure. It was a bit confronting seeing most of my year group still at college and having shared experiences that I had no idea about, but it was ok because I knew I didn’t want to be at college any more. My time was done, there was no way I could have done another year. And God had provided a wonderful place for me to go to. So saying goodbye was right. And I was happy to come back home, to Geraldton. I was so chuffed that all my siblings and my mum and dad and my uncle could be at graduation, as well as some old college friends from years past and some church people – thanks guys! It meant a lot to share that with you.

A few weeks after returning to Geraldton we had Easter holidays.

On the Wednesday of the second week of these holidays I got a phone call in the morning saying that Gran had been taken into hospital. Now this wasn’t unusual for Gran, so no-one was worried, mum just wanted to let me know. Then Gran got worse. They weren’t sure what was happening, and mum and my uncle were debating whether I needed to go over. It was a pretty awful couple of hours, not knowing what was going on. Then I got a phone call – Gran was gone. She had had a massive stroke and hadn’t made it. Mum said I didn’t have to come home straight away, there was nothing I could do anyway. But I couldn’t not be with my family. Qantas was brilliant – I was on a plane in a matter of hours and was in Sydney the next morning. I stayed till the following Thursday morning. While it was a sad time, it was a time of remembering Gran and being grateful for her time with us. It was a precious time with my family.

Unfortunately coming back to Geraldton was much harder this time. I hadn’t, and still haven’t, processed that Gran is gone, because I am not there to see her not there. It is still like she is in Sydney, and I still catch myself thinking I have to call her because I haven’t spoken to her for so long. It has also been like losing Grandpa all over again. For those that don’t know, my Gran and Grandpa lived with us (on our block in a granny flat) for the past 23 years. They were pretty much second parents. So them not being there is beyond my understanding. Every time I think about it properly I find it very confronting and overwhelming. I know they are in a better place and it was their time to go; living would not have been kind. But my brain can’t process them not being there because I am not there in their house to see it empty.

A couple of weeks after gran passed away our family was rocked again. My mum and dad had decided to separate, sell the family home and go their different ways. While this decision was not at all surprising to us kids and had been years in the making it was pretty awful now it was a reality. Us kids have all dealt with it and are dealing with it in our own ways, and it has been wonderful to be able to love and support each other at this time. Not knowing what our family looks like now is hard. We don’t know where mum and dad will end up; we won’t have the family home with Gran and Grandpa’s house any more. We don’t have a centre, a core. It is very disorienting. Us kids do have each other, and we would do anything for each other. We are in very regular contact as we try to muddle through and navigate this new stage together.

The family home is on the market; for now mum and dad are waiting to see what happens with that before they can decide what happens next. It is difficult to know how to love and support them, as we are still the kids but we are adult kids. I guess none of us knows what ‘now’ is meant to look like, and none of us knows what the next few years will look like, so it is hard to set new patterns of behaviour and relating to each other. There is certainly a great sense of relief because we no longer have to pretend everything is ok at home, and we can talk about things that need to be addressed. Family and friends are being kind and supportive but tend to be baffled by the situation, and everyone is treading carefully.

As far as me living in Geraldton (change of tone!), I love it here. It is a wonderful place to live. I haven’t had much of a chance to get out and enjoy Geraldton but I’m hanging out for next year when I get more time off. The people are friendly and it is a beautiful place. I feel very at home here and don’t miss Sydney at all.

I do, however, miss family and friends. God has been kind in that I very rarely get home-sick (I did for about 5 minutes one time…that’s about it!), and while I miss people I think that is different to feeling homesick. While family stuff can weigh on me I don’t feel like I have prolonged feelings of sadness about being so far away. Of course I can’t wait to see everyone soon! But life, work, people, house, ocean…all these things in Gero are amazing. I LOVE IT!

FUTURE

So over Christmas I am coming home – woohoo! As in over East home. Woohoo! I can’t tell you all how excited I am about that. I am completely exhausted – physically, emotionally, everything-ly. I need hugs and smiles from friends I love so much and who I wish lived over here. You guys are not replaceable, and you are so far away! God has been so kind to give me friends like you.

I am a bit anxious because the trip is getting more and more booked up and I am scared it will be quite stressful, but I am going to have to learn that group-catch-ups are ok and that my family has to come first. I am also a bit scared to go back to Sydney if the family home is sold and gone. I desperately want to see Gran and Grandpa’s house again and know it is the last time I’ll be there; I just want to say goodbye. Without this it will be like we have moved but Gran and Grandpa are still there. But I need to learn, somehow, that it is just a house and I might not get to see it again. And that has to be ok. Christmas will look different, and Sydney will feel less like home than it ever has. But I am lucky enough to have two homes now.

I am super excited for 2015. With less school days I can do more actual women’s work at church rather than just filling in gaps. I am also looking forward to studying again next year to complete a Counselling Diploma. This will help in both my Chaplaincy work and my church work. And I’ll get time to enjoy Geraldton! And have people over for meals! And be more hospitable! I am starting to get a bit anxious about money for next year, as I’m losing 2.5 days income from school, but I can’t keep working this current work load, and I will be able to do both jobs better with less going on. And God has it sorted. He always does.

THANKS

I want to say a HUGE thank you to all the people who have been praying for me, sending me messages, encouraging me and loving me, whether here in Geraldton or from over east. Often your messages, emails or phone calls arrive at just the right time. Thank you also for you patience; I know you have often had to wait for replies and updates. I could not be over here doing this work without your support. Please do keep praying and staying in contact. The work over here is so important, and God is doing great things in North West Australia.

Right. My coffee is cold, three rows of chocolate are gone, and two tissues have been used. And I need to sign off.

Hopefully the next update will be much sooner…and therefore shorter!

Thanks everyone!

xxx