Overwhelmed by His Beauty

After the “I’m Sorry” outreach on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday included sharing out on campus as usual. On Wednesday, the guys played “gridiron” (American football) against each other, Aussies vs. Americans. It wasn’t much of a surprise that our guys beat the Aussies 35-0, but payback is on it’s way since this week they are facing off in “footy” (Aussie rules football).  Wednesday night after we enjoyed a late afternoon at a local park watching the guys, the girls took a tram out to the suburbs to “The Lemon House”, which is where 4 of the STINTers live. We had such a great time chatting, watching Friends, eating a delicious dinner and sharing our hearts with each other.

Friday was our free day and with that came a nice relaxing manicure with some girls on the team and a much-needed run. There’s a park about a block from our hostel that is absolutely gorgeous. Friday’s weather was perfect for running…60 degrees, sunny, with a slight breeze. (Sorry to those back home who are barely able to step outside in the 110 degree weather). I just had great time with the Lord while running and it was a great time to recap and think about my time in Melbourne.  All I could think about was how blessed I am. The fact that I was running in Australia just overwhelmed me. I was in Melbourne, for the Lord, experiencing things that I never would’ve thought I would. Then the thoughts rolled over to the blessings I have been given back home: family who love and support me, a church family that was a HUGE part in making this experience possible, friends who are always encouraging me in my faith, and a future that is a blank canvas with God holding the paintbrush. It brought so much joy to me that I couldn’t stop smiling the entire time I was running. I’m pretty sure the people I passed in the park were a little weirded out, but I’m ok with that.

While on the topic of running, I would like to lift up Bobby Jones. He is an amazing man, father and husband who is part of my church family. He was on vacation last week with his family and had a surfing accident and ended up breaking his neck. Praise God that surgery wasn’t necessary and that there was no paralysis or long term damage because of it, but I ask that you lift him and his family up in your prayers. He encourages me so much as a runner and I have gotten a lot closer to him in the past two years. He is a wonderful man with a selfless heart and I just pray that he heals quickly and is always seeking the Lord in his time of anger or sadness because of this.

To finish up the week, we spent all day Saturday traveling the Great Ocean Road. It’s a windy road that stretches across the bottom southeast shore of Australia. The view was incredible. The immensity of the ocean and the cliffs were remarkable and pictures don’t even do this journey justice.

The end of the road was my favorite. We ended at what is known as the “Twelve Apostles.” They are 12 rock formations that sit just off the shore. It was so beautiful!! Our last two stops were right up the road from that and were called “The Gorge” and “Thunder Cave.” The Gorge was my favorite place of the day. It reminded me of a mermaid cove. It was surrounded by giant walls of rock cliffs and filled with water just a clear and blue as you could imagine. I could’ve literally stayed there for hours looking at awe in its’ beauty.

our view for 2 hours

“You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and al that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.” –Nehemiah 9:6

“For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.” –Psalm 95:3-5

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of me; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” –Ecclesiastes 3:11

“Your eyes will see the king in his beauty and view a land that stretches afar…” –Isaiah 33:17

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” –Romans 1:20

These verses couldn’t describe more perfectly what my eyes were seeing. All I could think about how it mirrored the beauty of my Lord and what He is capable of creating.

And today was just a cherry on top of a perfect weekend. The JMU ladies had a girls day in St. Kilda (a 20 minute tram ride to the coast). The beautiful and wonderful Katherine Ross treated Erin, Shannon and I to a lovely lunch and then we spent the afternoon strolling along the boardwalk and shopping at the outside markets. The best way I could describe St. Kilda would be to say California. There were palm trees, beaches, parks, cute little venues, a pier, and so many beautiful people. 

This is our last week in Melbourne. A part of me is sad, but another is really joyful looking back at all the the Lord has done in the past 4 weeks. It has really been incredible.  So looking at this last week, I'm hopeful. I'm not expecting anything magical or crazy, but I don't put anything past God. 

Pray for our last week, that it is full of fun, joy, and evident presence of our Father :)