G'Day from Down Under - Day 1

We started our journey at DIA enjoying the moving sidewalks - that is letting the sidewalk take us past our gate as we posed for pictures!

2 hours and a 45 minute adjustment to the plane later we land in LA. We had completed 3K of our marathon. With passports in hand we board the 13.5 hour flight from LA to Sydney. Lydia, Dominique and I are on the right of the plan and mom and dad shared the seats in the middle of the plane with an older gentleman (poor guy - dad did not let him sleep much during the flight...too much to talk about!) As the plane took off Dad got a little hungry and decided to grab just about everything that he had stuffed his bag with from our fridge...he pulled out the ham, he pulled out the bread, he pulled out the apple, and he pulled out the carrot! Other than dad whipping out the ingredients for a ham sandwich the plane ride was relatively uneventful and we were thankful for that.

When we arrived in Sydney we had to disembark the plane, go through immigration and then head back onto the plane for the last leg of our trip to Melbourne. After immigration we took a mini detour on our way back to the gate and stopped in the SYD Tax and Duty Free shop. Since we all stunk of plane we enjoyed the isles of perfume sampling (Channel Spring Chance won our vote) and the Bailey’s sample woman treated Lydia to her first legal Australian drink – Bailey’s with a hint of mint chocolate. Our detour included Lydia getting to purchase her first alcoholic beverage as the drinking age in Australia is 18.

Finally back on the plane and 1 hour later we were at our final destination – Melbourne, Victoria. We figured out we had missed a day with the time change and had also spent a little more than 24 hours of total travel time (more than half of which was spent on planes). Pop (our grandfather on mom’s side), Nick (Mom’s brother and our uncle) and Teresa (Mom’s best friend and my Godmother) greeted us at the airport with huge hugs and kisses. Mom didn’t even recognize her father it has been so long since we have seen this side of the family.

Once in Glenroy (the town/suburb that Pop lives in), the streets and sights began to look familiar. Pop’s house had not changed a bit – every photo we saw on our last visit was in the exact same place – it was such a comfortable atmosphere to see pictures of my mom as a little Catholic school girl and our parents as a happy newlywed couple.

We were at the house at about 1pm and like magic I told my uncle I was starving and my mom’s confirmation sponsor and family friend walked in with pans of food – lasagna, chicken legs, stuffed mushrooms, tiramisu cake, and plenty to drink including Pop’s homemade black wine – the strong stuff! There was so much food we ended up spending the rest of the afternoon and evening eating with and entertaining old friends…by 9pm we had seen Teresa and her family (Flavio, her husband, Stefano, her 10-year-old-son, and Alessandra, her 14-year-old daughter), our uncle Nick, aunt Kathy and new cousin Nathan (Nathan is 7, but this was the first time that we have met him), Franca and her daughter Isabella (family friends and also Teresa’s sister and niece), and Maria (Mom’s friend from gradeschool). Not to mention that it’s now 3AM Colorado time. Goodnight for today!

If God is for us, who can be against us?

Words from a wise angel:

'Never borrow from the future. If you worry about what may happen tomorrow and it doesn't happen, you have worried in vain. Even if it does happen, you have to worry twice.'

1. Pray
2. Go to bed on time.
3. Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.
4. Say No to projects that won't fit into your time schedule, or that will compromise your mental health.
5. Delegate tasks to capable others.
6. Simplify and unclutter your life.
7. Less is more. (Although one is often not enough, two are often too many.)
8. Allow extra time to do things and to get to places.
9. Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time; don't lump the hard things all together.
10. Take one day at a time.
11. Separate worries from concerns . If a situation is a concern, find out what God would have you do and let go of the anxiety . If you can't do anything about a situation, forget it.
12. Live within your budget; don't use credit cards for ordinary purchases.
13. Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key buried in the garden, extra stamps, etc.
14. K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut). This single piece of advice can prevent an enormous amount of trouble.
15. Do something for the Kid in You everyday.
16. Carry a Bible with you to read while waiting in line.
17. Get enough rest.
18. Eat right.
19 Get organized so everything has its place.
20. Listen to a tape while driving that can help improve your quality of life.
21. Write down thoughts and inspirations.
22. Every day, find time to be alone.
23. Having problems? Talk to God on the spot. Try to nip small problems in the bud. Don't wait until it's time to go to bed to try and pray.
24. Make friends with Godly people.
25. Keep a folder of favorite scriptures on hand.
26. Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is often a good 'Thank you Jesus .'
27. Laugh.
28. Laugh some more!
29. Take your work seriously, but not yourself at all.
30. Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can).
31. Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it the most).
32. Sit on your ego.
33 Talk less; listen more.
34. Slow down.
35. Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe.
36. Every night before bed, think of one thing you're grateful for that you've never been grateful for before. GOD HAS A WAY OF TURNING THINGS AROUND FOR YOU.

This is a start to narrow down my New Year's resolution...I LOVE all of them!

Dawn of a Conflagration

CONFLAGRATION: A raging, destructive fire. Often used to describe a fire burning under extreme fire weather. The term is also used when a wildland fire burns into a wildland/urban interface, destroying many structures.

Dawn of a conflagration ... it's the theme for the Light of the World youth group, but after the disappointing news of the 2008 Presidential election and my pregnancy center training this morning, it just seemed fitting that maybe I am in the dawn of a raging, destructive, all consuming fire.

The youth group uses the saying as an analogy to the love that we should have for God - a love that burns anything in its way - holding nothing back from God's love and the power that love can have in our lives. And like any wild fire that burns the land, it is always from the death of the land that comes new life - bigger and better trees, brighter flowers, more foliage. But I'm a little stuck at the moment on the negative connotations of a fire...the destruction, the death, the evil, the power, the control of the fire and the fear of onlookers.

Today during training we were talking about STDs and STIs (sexually transmitted infections) and the epidemic that runs silently along side teens. An epidemic or FIRE that is pure evil that came from a misuse of something purely good. I feel as though I am working at the pregnancy center to put out a fire that continues to burn...Not to mention the state of the economy, the issue of life, and the tremendous disappointment and heartfelt concern many citizens felt when John McCain was not slated as President-Elect.

These fires are only the external fires that I am facing. Tonight at ENCOUNTER I got some reminder that though we might have a new president come 2009 we are still under the Kingdom of God and that alone should give me HOPE! We are a people of hope - regardless of these conflagrations, Christ has already proven that GOOD will prevail in the end. The fire that burns will only bring about the new and better life in all of us. It is this hope that I will take into my weekend. We can never underestimate the power of the small work that we are doing.

Father John Bullock would agree with me:
"If we really want something, we find a way… period. It’s very easy to complain about the evils in society, but that does little good. While prayer is the most important means to combat evil, it is also true that God wants us to roll up our sleeves and get to work. Other groups are willing to make great sacrifices to see their religious, social and political programs become a reality. We must be willing to do the same. As he did with the apostles, Christ also sends us out to evangelize the world. As he told them, he tells us, “Take courage; I have conquered the world” (John 16:33)."

My attitude of being lazy and hopeless is doing even LESS to put out these fires out. Here's to putting on my firefighting gear and getting in the middle of the heat. And the GOOD news is when the fire is over, the new life begins!