So. Much. To take in.

Guess what?
I'm wearing jeans and a long-sleeve tee shirt! It's 21 degrees today under constant cloud cover.


I've been told that I'll never have a grip on the Australian weather... In less days than I can count on one hand, I was hanging out anywhere with air conditioning to escape the 40 degree heat! This sudden drop in temperature is certainly a surprise, but we all agree here in the house that it's a refreshing break to the heat wave (and even to our air conditioning fund). Thank you, Jesus! We're enjoying it while it lasts, but the temperature is sure to rise at least by next weekend.


Friday was another beach day! Man, I'll never get bored of heading out to the beach. It was a perfect (hot) day to spend on the coast. We applied and reapplied sunscreen often, but still some of us were left with some nice rosy red patches of burnt skin after being out in the sun and waves for just over 2 hours. It's hard to stay protected from the sun; if you're in the water, you wash away all of the sunscreen, or if you're on the shore, you sweat it out in the sun. All in all, it was an awesome day packed tight with great friends and country music. Yes, you read correctly!... On both trips to and from the beach, we blasted out the Keith Urban, Toby Keith, Rascal Flatts, Jason Aldean and Kenny Chesney hits singing loudly with the windows rolled down. The sound felt so familiar and reminded me of home. Good times.


This weekend I've spent a very large portion of my time on Skype catching up with family and friends from all across Ontario. I love you guys! I'm still blown away with how great and useful a tool Skype really is. Thanks everyone for taking time to wave and say hello :) I'm sending you all cyber hugs as we speak.


VISION SUNDAY 2011.
The pinnacle of the Hillsong Church movement. It's one of the busiest days of the year here in the Hills district and guess who was on serving on car park? Hahaha, yes... I was decked out in an orange vest and walkie-talkie directing traffic into the overflows of the Hillsong Parking, smiling, squinting and waving. Scary? Yes. But I had so much fun and I was really happy to get a chance to contribute to Vision Sunday in some way. This year, the video of Vision Sunday Video won't be released on DVD, so I was worried that I wouldn't get a chance to see the service at all, but to my relief, the Sunday night service covered everything that I missed that morning. The video presentation was amazing and the film itself was shot in Israel. How cool is that?! It was stunning and so beautiful in capturing the heart and message of the Church. Pastor Brian unpacked some of what we saw, saving the rest for the Leadership Vision night tomorrow night. It's going to be a great year of keeping our hearts stretched up and our hands stretched out.

Lisa and I rocking our car park gear.

Today being SuperBowl Monday (Sunday to the rest of North America), we spent the morning in the house watching the first half of the game quite unenthusiastically... the commercials were all Australian! We hoped to be able to watch the expensive (and usually hilarious) American commercials... I have heard that you can watch them online though. My housemate Kylie is actually the only one who's really into football and the rest of us have no loyalty to either the Packers or the Steelers. We wandered off to the kitchen and started a mad game of baseball with grapes... also good times.


Because there are SO many American students here at HILC, the Church aired the game in the Hub (where we've had most of our college lectures so far) on the big screens. Knowing that they were serving lunch at half-time, we went over to the church for hot dogs and cookies just in time to take some pictures, chat with some other students, and catch the 3rd quarter. We came home just in time to see the Packers to their victory.

Steelers vs. Packers! Hanging out in the Hub.

It's been an awesome weekend, but I'm especially looking forward to diving back into intensives tomorrow through Thursday! It's going to be another amazing 3 days of class. So. Much. To take in.


Much love!
-Brittany

This Love Feels Like Home

My Hillsong college attendance/ID card! Exciting, right?
It's on printed paper until I get the real thing. 

You know it’s hot when you tag along to the supermarket to steal air conditioned air.

Not even joking, I just got back from Woolworths. I would have stayed longer if I could, but I’m home, sitting on the tile floor in the entrance; it’s the coolest place in the house. It’s hot today in Australia, and the heat is currently the only thing on my mind. Not helpful. I know.

But it’s AUSTRALIA! And it’s a beautiful country; I’m so blessed to be here. When I think about the cold weather I’m escaping from home, I’m certainly not complaining. I do, in fact, love it here. Praise Jesus.

No seriously. Praise the Lord, he is so good! All the time.

Today was the first day of school! The fun begins and I am so excited to finally be at school using brain power again. It actually feels amazing, and I’ve been so blessed by my college experiences so far. 

For the next two weeks, all of the college is undergoing sessions called intensives that help us answer the question ‘What is Church’ and we’re unpacking tons of amazing scriptures. Most of what we learned today had to do with being committed to building the church and reaching the world, dovetailing what Jesus is doing. The first day of intensives really blew my mind. So good. We were actually advised to bring our laptops to class assuming that we can type faster than we can write in notebooks and today I wrote 5+ pages of notes. Let’s just say that there’s a lot of amazing information to digest! Also, the college is wonderfully air conditioned; In this heat, air conditioning is reason enough to hang out in church all day.

I’m sure you’re all relieved to hear that I’ve made friends here (YAY)! This place is absolutely filled with amazing people and budding friendships. And still I have so many people to meet. I’ve shaken many hands, forgotten many names, but I know that 3 months from now, life at college for the first-years will really feel like homeroom. So much love.

Speaking of so much love, I really have to thank everyone at home for all of the l.o.v.e., encouragement, and blessings you have all poured on me. It incredible to know that people are covering this year in prayer and coming along for the journey. That love feels like home.

-Brittany