SYMPHONOUSIN

"After all our discord, clash, and clamor, we will one day worship in the presence of the One who orchestrated the perfect symphony of two different testaments and more impressively, of a host of clay instruments"  Beth Moore

I love music!  I love to listen, sing, dance to all sorts of music.  My boss gave me about 20 cds she found in storage of all different types of Christian music, some from the 80s and 90s too.  I've had fun the last couple of days listening to them and thinking on their lyrics.  Bre and I did a Bible study in our L.A.C.E (Ladies After Christ's Example) group about daily living: music.  We played a fun game of "Name that tune" listening to segments of secular and Christian music.  We talked about the songs of our life if they sing to the Lord or not and saw how songs of Moses, David and Mary are a few examples in scripture of their life and were songs of honor to God no matter what the circumstance- good or bad.  Earworms is a German term for when we get parts of songs stuck in our head without trying, showing how much an impact listening to music effects what is in our thoughts.

"The words of the prophets are in agreement with this..."  Acts 15:15

I just finished an amazing study thru the book of James. I've learned so much of the life of James both before and after the letter he wrote and thru the words he penned.  It's been an incredible journey learning the history of James and applying it to everyday life as well.  From seeing James be changed from a doubting little brother of Jesus to a prominent leader of Jewish believers in Christ after Jesus' resurrection, he has challenged and inspired me in my life, faith, knowledge and walk with the Lord.  What does the Greek word symphonousin look like in English?  That's right symphony.  The word "in agreement" in the above verse is this Greek word.  James showed how much the Old and New Testament are interwoven and just as important. He showed ultimately how great a symphony the Lord composed scripture and so to our lives!

The last few months have been full of holiday times, travels, new people, new challenges and so much in-between.  My brother Mark visited the Canyon during Thanksgiving.  I hadnt seen him for over a year so I was over filled with joy getting to be with him.  We did all sorts of things like playing flag football, going on the giant swing, serving espresso on Black Friday at the camp coffee shack, had Thanksgiving meals with other families in the canyon, shot guns at the range, vegged out and talked at my house for hours and took a trip to Portland.  Oh I cant believe how much I missed hanging out with him.

Shortly after that visit I had a work trip to two Young Life camps, one in southern California and the other in Arizona.  We were gone for a week.  It was a great time of training and getting to hang out with a few co-workers and meet other people in the mission.  One of the new housekeeping supervisors at the camp doesn't speak English fluently yet (although I think she does amazingly) so I help translate a bit for her and talked to her about some of my favorite Spanish Christian artist who turned out to be her favorites as well. Such a blessing to meet such a wonderful sister.

After the Cali/Arizona trip I had a week to come home, work, and pack for Australia.  I don't even know how to sum up Australia.  After 30 hours of traveling I made it to Perth and was over joyed to see Michelle and my mom and dad.  Two weeks were filled with a new adventure every day.  It was hard to understand Australian English because of unique vocab and strong accents that most of the time mom, dad, and I would just nod our head and wait for Michelle to translate. We started every day with a morning Tim Tam slam (an Australia biscuit to be eaten with coffee).  Michelle and Jake live 5 minutes from the Indian Ocean so we spent many days there for a quick riding of the waves, watching sunsets, and walking along the beach.  Some of our daily excursions included visiting a macadamia nut farm, kayaking in an ocean bay, visiting national parks, walking on a sand bar for 20 minutes to reach Penguin Island, going to two zoos (one which I think animal rights needs to visit) where we go to pet koala bears, kangaroos, wallabies, and other typical Australian animals--the flood must have caused some of these creatures to only be found here, one of my favorites is the platypus.  We also got to visit the gold mine where Michelle and Jake work and saw a gold pour where we held a brick of gold costing around $500,000, got a tour inside the mine and go for a run in the bush.  We spent Christmas on the beach, which felt weird as I'm use to snow during that season, and then had a big Christmas dinner with our family and their neighbors from South Africa.  Mom and I found a Christian church near by to attend a service in honor of why we celebrate.  My favorite day was when we went to Rottenness Island where we took a 40 minute ferry and then biked around the whole island stopping at various coves and beaches to swim and snorkel.  The island is named so because when it was first discovered the animals they found on the island looked like giant rats so originally was called Rat Nest Island.  They're not really rats but called quocas.  Michelle taught us poi so we'd play with that, got into some intense games of Balderdash, and sat on their porch reading, eating, and talking every morning and night.  The night I left Jake prepared kangaroo for dinner, which was really delicious.   The flight home was rough and I had jet leg for almost two weeks when I got back, but it was worth it.

January has been lower key, hanging around the ranch and enjoying the snow and community.  I went cross country skiing with a friend around our sports field and again at one of the mountains outside Sister, OR.  A bunch of the interns and a few other staff and I went snowboarding on tightwad Tuesday.  I continue to be apart of a morning Bible study that meets at my house every Wednesday at 6am.  We just finished the James study I mentioned.  Something I don't want to mistake being touched with being changed.  The L.A.C.E group meets every Wednesday night and has been so wonderful!  It's been a challenge and a joy to lead and pour into the teen girls and even hang out throughout the week going hiking, shooting bow and arrow, baking cookies, singing, dancing, etc.  I also got a new roommate who moved in a few days ago.  She's the same as me and from Ohio.  I'm excited to get to know her more.  I also had one of my old roommates out for a visit and help planning her wedding in April.  It's interesting to continue to see the people that come in and out of our lives some for short periods and some longer and the effect we have on each other for Christ's glory.

Now a day of rest...