Who...Where...What

I was recently challenged to consider the following questions...

Who am I?
Where am I?
What am I doing?

Although this seems simple enough at first glance, these questions have challenged me.

Who am I? Not "who do I what people to believe that I am", or "who do I wish I was" or "who will I one day become". What defines who we are?
Where am I? Not geographically, but in life, with regards to progression and growth. How do you measure where you are?
What am I doing? Who am I influencing, where is my energy spent, how am I making a difference?

Tonight we saw the new Hillsong movie "We're all in this together" and through the images and stories of a world in need I kept thinking of those three questions. We watched images of people hurting, struggling, fighting to survive. We heard stories of slavery, sexual exploitation and violent oppression. We saw the damage of hatred and the power of love.

As I begin to process the message of social injustice from the movie my thoughts have naturally turned to what I can do, where I could go and where I could start to make a difference. I can't help but consider how that affects my answers to those three questions...

Who am I?
Where am I?
What am I doing?

So...visiting the colonies

I am currently in Australia enjoying golden beaches, warm ocean and avoiding all the hugely deadly creatures that this enormous island has to offer.

I have been to Australia before but prior to this visit I have lived in America for nearly two years which has given me a slightly different perspective on my trip. Australia is much more British in nature than I realized...

• They use a lot of coins rather than banknotes (we do this in Britain too and think nothing of it but, when you're used to Dollar bills, carrying around large quantities of wagGon-wheel-sized pieces of gold bullion gets a little tiresome)
• Eating out or even buying coffee forces you to ponder your financial buoyancy and makes you consider whether or not you ought to sell a kidney in order to enjoy a tasty treat (much like eating out in Britian). It's still worth noting that I have visited every coffee shop in this beach town and am recognized by the proprietors of at least 2 of them from my frequent visits.
• They drive on the left (as they should)
• They serve "chips" instead of "fries" and to enjoy them with a condiment such as tomato ketchup you will need to reach for more gold bullion
• A soda is not refillable and ice is rationed in a way similar to eggs during World War 2 (Britain also has a habit of serving soft drinks in small glasses with a single ice cube but Australia has a hot climate so much less of an excuse)

However unlike Britain...

• The ocean is warm
• The beach is clean
• The roads are NOT packed bumper to bumper with cars desperately trying to find a route to work that avoids "the trouble spot around the M25"

Overall this has been an awesome trip and there's still a few days to go...perhaps I'll head out to buy another coffee.

So...this was odd

I was looking through Amazon.com today for a cash box to use at an event we have coming up.

I realize that many local stores sell cash boxes but we already own 5 and it goes against everything I believe in to buy ones that don't match. In fact one of the 5 we have doesn't match but I was going to use that one in a different area, so it has a different purpose and therefore is allowed to not match...it all makes sense really...sort of.

Anyway, amazon told me this piece of retail trivia to help me with my decision...
So if I understand this correctly, people "frequently" buy a cash box along with a Black Satin sheet set! Does that seem a little awkward to anyone else?!?

So...back in the Motherland

My first thought as I arrived back into London was how strange everyone's accent seemed, have I really been gone that long? I'm guessing so, nobody can understand what I'm saying! I'm used to getting that faintly confused look form Americans but not Londoners!

To my relief, however, many things seem much the same.

Brits are still obsessed by the weather either commenting on current weather, predicting future weather or discussing in great detail the weather pattern over this summer compared to previous years. I have been in the country for about 3 days and have counted 5 conversations regarding some element of meterology.

Brits are still genuinely excited by the concept of a bland cookie* and a beige colored milky hot drink.

Gas** is still ridiculously expensive

This year we have opted to follow the cricket coverage on the radio rather than the television. This is more like people merely having chat after a dose of NyQuil than it is about sport commentary. Here's a few moments that I listened to today
"here comes Trot, short cover, extra cover, mid shot on the short side and he's just scored 4. Great shot but marginal change of feel, 189 for 4. He goes again bowls on a full leg and just spooned of the outside edge, not the normal drive much more like short extra. They just can't hang balls on the off stump. Here comes Clark outside the off stump, it's a dire battle at the moment."
I'm sure being British I should be able to follow all this but it makes no sense to me whatsoever.

*british readers read "biscuit"
**british readers read "petrol"

So...Mystery Mobile Mission

Today we took over 40 Junior High students on a Mystery Mobile Mission. It's pretty much exactly what it sounds like. We go to a few mystery locations and serve the community.
Today we spent some time serving the elderly
being a registered nurse working with the elderly isn;t particulalry daunting to me (though it has been a while) but to a Junior High student it takes a little more work.

My favoUrite observations...

A group of students were playing cards with some of the elderly residents and I asked what game they were playing...the students replied that they started playing "21" but one of their opponents fell asleep mid-game so they started playing "war". The sleeping opponent never noticed.

Apparently old people enjoy guinea pigs...apparently guinea pigs enjoy peeing on students.

One team of students were given the "opportunity" to sing while an elderly lady accompanied them on the piano...she was a strict taskmaster and they did not meet the standard nor the dedication she was apparently looking for...even after she made them spit out their gum...but at least they now know the words to the "Sound of Music" soundtrack.

One lady told me she needed to be served corn bread about as much as she needed a hole in the head.

After playing chequers with a student for nearly an hour an elderly man asked the student if this is what he would normally play for fun...the student replied no...thank goodness the man said, I hate this game!

It's funny when old people cuss at each other...that's all I'm gonna say.

So...awkwardness

I do enjoy the odd awkward moment or picture so couldn't resist this one that Ryanne pointed out last weekend.

As part of Mother's Day we offered free family portrait pictures at various locations around the church campus. There was one in front of the waterfall, one by the baptismal, one in front of the palm trees and then there was this one... We have a multi-million dollar building on a landscaped campus and this was the best backdrop we could up with? An awkward pose just seemed appropriate!

So...another car post.

This week my car reached a milestone...it has driven over 250000 miles! It was such a poignant moment I had to pull over and take a picture! and just in case it was hard to read from that distance here's another...
I think this is pretty impressive, especially as it one point I wasn't sure that it would get that far!