a full day ahead

at 4 a.m. we were both awake with the weight of the day and a lengthy to do list floating between us.  we celebrate that the house is full of sleeping bodies that have arrived from africa and the u.s. 

narelle and her girls, rachel and megan, came in last night from johannesburg, as sandy returned north from sydney to papua new guinea.  brad flew in from l.a. in the morning and passed through his beloved melbourne before arriving home.  he hasn't been here in four years.  the maddock family hasn't all been together on australian soil in a decade.  it was seven years ago that they were last together for our wedding, may 2000, in marietta, georgia.  it is quite a family reunion.

today, we have alot going on.  because we are overdue to write our monthly newsletter to our families, friends, supporters, we're awake with foggy heads doing our best to reflect on the fullness of this past month - so much to say...  in addition, we are scrambling, ill-prepared, for a talk we're giving today at a seminary in melbourne - kingsley college.  we will travel with daz to have lunch with students and share with them about the learning process of "planting and growing a missional community."  in the afternoon, we have a meeting with the head of the mission dept at whitley to discuss forge accreditation.  we hope to get some reading in during the late afternoon (directed theological study from mary fisher), then join forge friends (and lots of people we don't know) at a pub near vic market to celebrate and say good-bye to alan and deb hirsch.  they leave for the states in about three weeks.  each day we are grateful, though sometimes weary, for this time together in australia and the rich, character-forming experience that it is.