So Much To Be Thankful For!

Well, once again it's been a few days since our last update. Lots has happened, as seems to be the case these days for us because everything is new and everything is changing quickly! Phew, it's hard to keep up sometimes....

 Before I give any updates I have to say that I was overwhelmed with love following my last post when I mentioned that I was feeling lonely. More than anything, the response from beautiful friends all over the world reminded me that we are not the first people who have done this, and certainly won't be the last. Right now there are friends everywhere who have left family and home and who may feel lonely and afraid...and we all need to pray for each other! Also, so many people had good advice for me, and I really was struck by the fact that if we are inspired to reach out to someone, in whatever way, to follow through on that inspiration because chances are it is just what the other person needs. I think sometimes we are afraid of "imposing" but the love felt behind a few caring words can change someone's day so, be courageous!

A few wonderful things have happened:

1. We are buying a car!! A priest from the John Paul II Institute has finished his degree and is moving back. So, we are buying a 1997 Mazda 131, manual (wrong side of the car, mind you), and with only 74,000 kms on it. How BLESSED are we? Without it being a priest who wants to  sell his car for a low price to a young Catholic couple we would be totally unable to afford a car. Yet, here we are...in a few weeks we will be mobile, even though I need to learn how to drive manual...and we can stop ruining our shoes with all of our walking :)

2. I've started volunteering at a primary school nearby. It is wonderful! I am there all day, working with the "prep" children who are 5 and 6 years old. It is getting towards the end of the year here and so the teachers are desperate for help. It is an absolute balm for my heart to spend all day with these sweet little people. Also, it is very cute seeing them all outside playing in their matching hats. It seems that all children (until year 12) are REQUIRED to wear hats at recess. They all look like little safari kids!

3. I was hired by Demand Media as a freelance writer. It is an American company but I get to write articles for places such as livestrong.com and ehow.com. It gives me something to do and a way to earn a little extra income. As of yet, I've not submitted my first article but truly, it gives me a sense of purpose here, as of late, which I think is a relief for Joe.

4. Joe and I went on our very first dinner date out since we've arrived here. When we first came to Australia we were watching our budget so seriously that we just bought groceries and ate hotel picnics, etc...and i'm not complaining, I love picnics! But, on Sunday we went to 6 pm mass because Joe worked all day, and then we went for a beautiful Italian dinner. Oh, it was just GLORIOUS, I felt reconnected with my husband, I felt young and loved, and it was so nice to be just the two of us. Also, wine was too expensive at the restaurant SO we picked up a cheap bottle after and (please don't judge) drank it as we walked the 4 kms home. We had so much fun! The laughs, the dreaming, the remembering. It was just what we needed. Not only that, but it is large rubbish week here in Australia, which means that everybody puts their large "junk" out and people can just pick up what they want until it is picked up by the city at the end of the week. Now, we've seen washers, dryers, fridges, etc..none of which we can pick up because we don't have a car. However, on our walk home we found a tv with a remote and a really nice side table. It was too good to pass up!! So, there we were in our church clothes walking home carrying a tv and a side table. The TV works and we are very proud of our effort :)

Anyhow my dear loved ones, we celebrated Thanksgiving today (because it is Thursday the 25th here). Tomorrow I'll write about that. Until then, thank you for your prayers and love..we truly feel so blessed. We miss you, we love you, and we always pray for you. xoxoxo

These are a few of my favorite things! (and least favorite)

It is a beautiful Saturday here in Melbourne. I have taken a few days to write another post because I've been in a foul and negative mood, my poor husband, and there is no use complaining about things that are only made more dramatic by my perspective. So, I took a few days to breath and everything does seem to be brighter! I've not had really any reason to be in a foul mood, all things considered we are so blessed and things are going well for us, but I must admit I'm desperately lonely. Lonely days are not easy days. I'm hoping to meet some friends soon!

Anyhow, moving forward let me start with my least favorite thing about Australia so far. Australians are coffee snobs. They do not believe in perculated coffee, you know, the good old coffee machine that you put the filter and the grounds in, press start, and soon have the comforting sound of the drip, drip, drip, and the comforting smell of the deliciously hot mug of java? That's right, they don't believe in it. However, most Australians are either too lazy or don't want to invest the money into an espresso machine, so instead they drink, get ready to die of horror, INSTANT COFFEE!!! Not only that, but the decadently delicious flavored creamer we are so spoiled with in North America, doesn't exist here. So, you stumble out of bed exhausted, only to sip into a thick and bitter cup of coffee with skinny milk. Bleh. :) Poor Australians, they do not know what they are missing! I know, most of you are probably thinking "if thats the worst things are going well!" and it is true, if that is the worst we oughtta see just how lucky we are. But STILL......cooooooffffeeeeeee!

Joe and I have discovered a favorite thing about Melbourne, and that is the plethora of walk-up Sushi stands. They don't sell the rolls like in North America, sliced into small rolls of bite sized sushi. Instead, you can just order a roll and it is long, seaweed covered, rice and fish filled, meal on the go. They are only ever about 2 dollars a piece and two seems to be enough to satiate Joe so, we have taken quite a liking to them. Case in point...YUMMY!

Another of my favorite things is seeing how well my husband is making his mark on the basketball community here.  Joe is truly thriving. He is working very hard, taking every shift possible upon himself to earn a little extra money, getting up at 5 or 6 in the morning to train kids for basketball or to train clients. He has been asked to sit in on several meetings for the basketball corporation here in Melbourne to contibute a marketing perspective, and just the other day he recieved an email from the secretary of the CEO of basketball Victoria (the state we are living in) asking if Joe had time to meet with him. Who knew? I am amazed at how confident, tenacious, and dedicated Joe has been, he is putting me to shame with his determination. I have so much to learn! Today, he marched in a local parade with a few teammates and some of the little kids from the community. The kids just ADORE Joe, so much so that one little boy has been asking his parents every day if he could please bring Joe to show-and-tell. How cute is that? Anyhow, I took a few pictures of Joe today marching...the little one on his shoulders is Ben, the show-and-tell buddy, and the cutie whose face is in the "c" is Kristie, the girl whose family we are living with.

Anyhow, that's all for now. Tomorrow we will have been here a full month, I can hardly believe how the time is flying. I am grateful for everything we've experienced so far, good and bad, because as my friend said in the letter from my last post, in the bigger picture it seems that the good and bad are both part of the greatest good. So, we persevere, we find so much joy in the little things and in being with each other. What more could someone ask for?

We miss you, we love you, please pray for us and we continue to pray for you! xoxo

We are a Pilgrim People

Well, my sweet husband and I have been married 4 months today! Actually, in real-time I suppose it is 4 months minus one day because we are a day ahead here. I truly cannot believe that it has only been 4 months, it seems like longer! I can remember my life without my husband, but at the same time it seems so far away because I can't imagine not having him now. I received many warnings about "reality setting in" or getting to know the "real Joe". But, I have to say that has not happened. I know the real Joe, and reality is only better than what I anticipated. I am a lucky woman that my vocation is to love this man. I'm not saying that everything is perfect, far from it, but I am saying that when I try to look at my marriage to Joe as a vocation, a call to holiness, I can only strive to love him more and better every day. I am one blessed lady.

Anyhow, I received a letter from a dear dear friend the other day, which I am going to quote below (without her permission), but we always spoke about blogging together so I'm really hoping she doesn't mind. Anyhow, in the letter she was speaking to me about the struggles of those close to her, all beautiful couples, open to life, who really have encountered major sufferings in their lives. She also spoke, without self pity, about her own struggles and the fact that life's imperfections mean a constant temptation to thinking "things will be better when...". It made me contemplate the fact that we are pilgrims on a journey, that this life is fleeting and we aren't made for it alone. I know CS Lewis speaks of the yearning for heaven that each person experiences and I would venture to say that the struggle to find "home" on this earth is part of that yearning. We seek to find the place that will fulfill us the most but for whatever reason there is always something missing. It is truly a consolation for me, here in Melbourne, and a reason to avoid self-pity at all costs. It is motivation to see the gift that each day is and avoid living for tomorrow when things "will be better." It is inspiration for me to battle for the things that matter most (which are almost always the things we can't see or touch), as opposed to focusing on the material which will only pass away. I am so grateful for my darling friend's providential words that remind me to be content and joyful in the blessings that sorround Joe and I each day here in our new home.

Anyhow, her words are truly beautiful...I am posting them below with names removed and substitutes put in parenthesis:

"Isn't it interesting, and quite amazing that the Lord gives us what we need and takes things away too when we need for them to be taken away? 

I may not have family or many friends for that matter nearby to help me, and I have a husband who works quite a bit, and we may be on a tight budget (we only have $73 for the rest of the month for groceries, we shall hope it lasts!) but we do have a home, each other and our health not to mention our faith, and Jesus right next door!!!! 

No matter who we are, it is often easy to look at our lives and think, "things will be better when..." and forget that all we get is here and now.  We don't have tomorrow yet, and we may not have it at all.  I'm sorry I am really not trying to be pessimistic, I'm just quite struck at the goodness of God in our lives today and how to best accept happiness today however it comes to us. 

I pray for (all my friends) and I don't feel bad for you all in that I think your lives are more difficult than mine, nor do I think that your lives are easy and you have no reason to struggle.  Not at all.  I think you all are fine and wonderful people and seeing the blessings and the difficulties that each of you has right now at this point in your lives just makes me think of how God loves you each so very much.  From where I stand I can see the good and the bad and I can see how the good and the bad are both good in the grand scheme of things. 

And it helps me to see that the seemingly bad in my life today is also good in the great scheme of things.  It makes me rejoice in the suffering of not having a grandma to play with (my little girl) when I am soooo tired because I can't sleep well and can't nap and don't get enough rest at this late  in the pregnancy.  It makes me rejoice in the suffering of having hormonal imbalances that can be so emotionally painful and that come with holding life so close.  It makes be rejoice in the suffering of not having so many of my dear friends closer.  It makes me rejoice in the suffering of not being able to buy what we want to eat because we have to literally count our pennies when we go to the store and buy only the necessary items.  It makes me rejoice in my wonderful husband being gone so much because this and all other sufferings, of mine and of others, are producing a fruit so much greater than any of us can see or imagine.  The glory to be revealed in us is far greater than the sufferings of the present, as St Paul says.  And we believe it and we live it in our lives!  To see that God really does work everything for the good of those who love Him.  It is so beautiful and so profound and it only strikes us at some times in our lives.  I suffer and I rejoice with my dear friends, because I see that their sufferings are temporary and they are not without great rewards.  These sufferings of (all of us families) are not in vain!!! 

Truly things may be better or worse at different times in our lives, but it will not be perfect until Heaven.  I may live close to my dear in-laws at some point, but I will never live in a perfect country community next to you, (all my dear friends), my parents and sisters and my in laws in the mountains, at the farm and Brazil!  That all right there is perfectly impossible!!! I will always miss Brazil and Brazilian things, or if I were to move there, I'd miss the Farm and American things, and of course, by living at the beautiful farm I don't get Jesus in the Eucharist within walking distance, or the mountains which I love so much, and to be sure, it is just about impossible for you and everyone else we love to want to move to a little commune somewhere perfect, like Montana (though the we and the Packards may live close in Montana someday, we won't get everything else wonderful, like Brazil and the farm!)  Alas, this life in imperfect.  But it is not meaningless or unhappy.  It is very happy.  And the sufferings and imperfections make us long for the perfect and they will take us there some day.

Sorry this is so long, and I hope it somewhat makes sense.  I love you, and with all my heart I pray for you and Joe.  And I am truly so grateful for your friendship and witness, and I am very proud of both of you and of knowing you. 

And I am grateful for your openness to life.  I truly believe that people may regret not being open to life in hindsight, but I doubt anyone can regret being open to life in hindsight!  I am not praying for you to get pregnant, though I have no doubt that would be a most amazing blessing for you two.  I am praying for God's timing, because His timing is perfect.  I can attest to how God does provide and He send us little blessings in the womb with much provisions!  It is miraculous and beautiful.  So, no fear!

God is leading you!"

I really can't add anything to my sweet and wonderful friend's beautiful words. I share them because I think she has insights for all of us to glean, and I couldn't just keep them to myself. I am the most blessed friend to have the witness and encouragement of a dear friend such as this.

I will post an update on our progress later, for now this is the most important thing.

We love you and we pray for you!