G'Day Mates!

G'DAY MATES! How ya goin'? We arrived at 6 am yesterday (Sunday) as scheduled, drove to our inner-city apartment, showered, and were able to get to "our" church by 9:30. It was wonderful to see old Aussie friends again. Christ Community is a PCA church plant and is walking distance from our unit. Amazing, as this is a city of 2 million! The service is very "evangelism-friendly", as they break for a 30 min "Morning Tea Time" after a very worshipful time of prayer, praise, and sometimes testimonies and then regroup for the sermon. There was a general meeting after worship and the church attendance has gone from averaging 87 last Aug to 135. They meet at a Seventh Day Adventist church but are out-growing it and praying for direction.
It didn't take long to get the apt. settled this time because we already knew where to put everything. (The picture is from our balcony with all of the downtown skyscrapers--if you want to see our apt. go to www.springhillmews.com) We managed to stay up until 7 pm with no naps, and pretty well slept through the night. I'm hoping we can stay up until 8 pm tonight (that will be 6 am at home).
Well, next to family and friends, the one thing I've missed the most the last two years in Brisbane is Christian radio. I have WRAF on most days at home and REALLY missed the music and programming. Well, God is SO good!!! I "happened" to hear their announcement about internet listening, so Gene bought speakers for our lap top and I can now listen to either straight music or the regular daily programming. Check either or both out on this webpage-- www.tfc.edu/Radio/listen_online.htm
Gene went in to work this am--he's teaching Pathology Registrars (residents) this week. Well, good on you, mates! Later!

Time

We fly out of Nashville for Australia this evening (Fri) at 5:30 pm and get into Brisbane at 6:30 am Sunday (22 hrs). I've crossed the International Date Line 9 times in my life. When we fly Down Under we cross it and lose a day. When we come home we gain a day. One time we flew home on Gene's birthday (Oct 22) and so he had two birthdays that year. I'm not sure if he will be 64 or 65 this year--maybe he can qualify for Medicare early! Last year while we were in AU, an American friend delivered a baby in Brisbane. The little girl was born Sept 20 in Brisbane, but when Rachel called her mother, it was Sept 19 in TX and, since the whole family came back to America to live, grandmother was fairly certain her birthday should be Sept. 19. I don't worry too much about how all this affects us as long as we always return to the States after flying Down Under because I figure the days cancel each other out. But what if we STAY Down Under? Applying "Lord, teach us to number our days..." could get difficult!