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schmeegan1
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Name: Megan
Country: United States
State: Georgia
Metro: Savannah
Birthday: 5/20/1983
Gender: Female
Interests: In no particular order: music... reading... spending time in the outdoors... riding down the road with my windows rolled down, singing at the top of my lungs... anything related to children = )... Enjoying a cuppa with Lauren or anyone else who wants to join... And most definitely, watching a thunderstorm come into shore on the beach. Aah...
Expertise: Expertise? definitely, procrastination...
Occupation: Teacher and Medical Filing
Message: message me
AIM:  megan520
Member Since:
10/14/2004
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| Once again it has been about 500 years since I've made any sort of entry in here. It's so bad that I even got a polite little email from the xanga people last week asking me to come back because I'd been gone so long! But here I am...
The last time I wrote anything here I was in Australia. And wow, there's plenty to tell about that. Obviously trying to give every detail here might be a bit difficult, but I will say that it was one of the most challenging and amazing experiences of my life.
There are a lot of details to explain of the hows and whys, but basically because I was in this other country not knowing a soul upon arrival, I was very homesick for about the first half of my trip. For awhile I was even questioning why I had come there because I just wasn't feeling like I was getting into the groove of things and I was encountering a lot of cultural stuff that was difficult to deal with as well. I was lonely because it wasn't always convenient to call friends in the States to talk, and I hadn't built up relationships yet with people in Australia to where I felt like I could just unload everything on them. So... I had no one else to turn to but God. I can remember sitting in my room about four weeks into my trip and just crying out to Him as I wrote in my journal... I knew if anyone would understand how I felt He would. Gosh. He knows us better than we know ourselves. And that was so comforting to me. Even though I knew I had a long way to go before I felt somewhat comfortable there, I felt at peace with the fact that He had me there for a purpose.
But it wasn't until July--halfway through my time there--that I think I really did feel like I was getting into the groove of things. That's the same time that I moved into a hostel right in the middle of Fremantle. Fremantle is the suburb of Perth where the Linkstons (MTW missionaries) and several other Aussie families are planting a church. It's an amazing place :) The best part of living there was that I could walk to just about everywhere I needed to go. There were coffee shops, restaurants, the river, the beach, markets, parks, the bus station, etc. all nearby... And there was always something to see in Freo. (photos are on facebook) There were street performers and hippies and old Italian men playing the accordion... Ha. I loved it.
The best part of being in the hostel, though, was just having the opportunity to build relationships with people and seeing God work in people's hearts--even in the smallest ways. That was a definite reminder to me of how much God has the power to change people's hearts--and can do it in miraculous ways.
So I have already written way more than I thought I would. But I guess it's difficult to summarize six months in just a paragraph!
Otherwise life is pretty good right now. Today was absolutely beautiful, so instead of doing my usual--take a nap after lunch on Sundays--I just drove around with the windows rolled down listening to Ms. Joss Stone. I would have to say her and Regina Spektor are two of my favorites right now. I got a few stares because, well... I'm guessing it was because I was really getting into the music, but listen to one of her songs and tell me if you can't help but dance along ;)
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| Alright, I really need to write in here. But I don't have time at the moment! I have been absolutely horrible about updating this thing lately. Anyway, faithful xanga-ers... I apologize. I will say that I'm loving it here in Australia right now. Partly because the weather is beautiful and sunny (who knows what it'll be like tomorrow?) But really, I love where i'm living, and God is doing some awesome stuff. Read my blog on blogspot if you wanna know more! I promise to try to update soon :) | | |
| Okay, so I haven't written in here in ages... There's lots to tell I suppose. Mainly, anyone who reads this knows I'm in Australia by now and so the past two weeks have been interesting. It's been quite an adjustment period for me. My first time coming to Australia wasn't easy by any means, but I think the cultural changes were easier because I had friends around, etc, but this time I'm going it alone, in a way, and truthfully, the only thing I have to lean on is God. It's great being able to communicate with all of you over email, etc, and even talk to you on the phone every once in awhile, but there's something about having someone stand beside you and go through things with you... sympathizing with your struggles or even laugh about the stupid things you did. I am so reassured knowing that He can do that. I have been homesick a few times since I've been here, though. Until yesterday, I was living with an American family--the church planters here--and they have really gone out of their way to just make me feel like I'm apart of their family. They have five kids. And all except for one of them is living at home right now, so there's always something going on around their house. Every one of the kids is adorable--I love them. Last night, I moved in with an Aussie family from our church, and as I was leaving the Linkstons (the Americans), I got kind of sad. Being there for these past two weeks had become so comfortable to me... it was almost like leaving home again. But I know the Lord wants me here for now. It will hopefully give me a better perspective on things and allow me to build relationships with this family as well as some other people. Ministry here so far has definitely been different from what I could ever have imagined it to be because what I thought my main job would be really isn't, and really, I spend most of my time building relationships with the college age/single people in the church, i.e. hanging out. That's hard for people to understand here and often at home as well because they think when you're a missionary you should be painting houses or feeding the hungry or something--DOING something--but this is actually a really huge need for sharing the gospel with people. I mean, Australia's not exactly a third world country, so there really isn't a huge need for all that stuff--even though there is still a huge need for people to know and hear the gospel. But just in case anybody's getting their panties in a wad, I am working at a thing called Super Club at the school down the street on Mondays, as well as volunteering a couple days a week at another one of the schools here. I seem to be getting way more involved in the school than I ever thought I'd be when I came to Australia. The principal at the school wants to try to convince me that teaching isn't so bad after all :) Who knows? I know there's lots more I probably need to tell and write, but I can't think of it all right now. When it comes to me I will hopefully be able to write it all down! For all of you weasels out there I love you and miss you dearly ;) | | |
| Wow, so... I'm leaving next week for Australia. I don't really have time to write a heartfelt entry right now, even though I'd like to. But I did want everyone to know I've started a blog on blogspot, so I'll probably be writing in there and on here. Here's the link: http://faithmyeyes2.blogspot.com/
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| Last weekend, when I was in Rome for Michael and Kelly's wedding (which was amazing, by the way), it really began hitting me that I'm leaving the country. I guess that's just going to happen more and more. For some reason, this week I've been... homesick? And I haven't even left home yet. I think I've just been getting nostalgic and thinking about all that I'm going to miss while I'm gone. But I really don't need to think like that, I suppose, because at any point I choose to leave there will always be something to miss out on and I'm believing lies if I think that God is going to somehow allow me to "miss out" on something. He knows exactly what I need, and when I need it. I hate that I sometimes view Him as this killjoy who just can't wait to take away anything that I enjoy. I know that's not true, but getting it to my heart is often difficult.
I definitely need to pray about taking joy in this time. This really wasn't a problem until a day or so ago, and then things really hit me. Until now leaving was just off in the distance, but now it's real! And that's really cool, and really hard at the same time. I'm such a rollercoaster of emotions right now, which I guess in a way is to be expected. I'm completely excited about leaving one minute and then sad the next. It's definitely bittersweet... I'm just not used to it. Please pray for me.
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