Ok so ive done a bit more reflecting since i wrote my last post...... needless to say im still tired, im actually getting tired of just thinking... so sad really :P But then i guess stayin up till midnite every day since ive gotten back from Cowra hasnt really helped much either.... im seriously asking for punishment!!

Anyway funnier/ memorable moments in Cowra....
In no particular order....

Getting a straw up my nose was interesting to say the least, thats because some dude rode over a BIG bump as i was about to take a slurp of my frozen coke!! MMMMMMMMMMMMM frozen coke! MY FAVE!! But yea boy was my nose sore for a bit :P

hmmm playing sleeping tigers and scaring Levina big time when i silently crept up to her, bent down near her face and said ...... BOO!! Heehee was hilarious (sorry Lev if i gave u a heart attack)

OOO best thing?!?!? floating down the river from the old railway bridge all the way into town!! That Lachlan River is way cool man!! Like really it gave me goosebumps.... derrr how lame... But yea it was fantastic just lying there watching the world go by, ahhh so relaxing.... Not quite so nice when u realise ure all dirty :P Haha but i nearly drowned myself... was jokingly teasing someone how i could float and they couldnt so i went to stand up in the river only unbeknownst to me id gotten to a "hole" and so went under and got a mouth full of water..... er yea!

OH OH being served in a mock yum cha restaurant in the pavilion by Concert Timers!! You guys were hilarious man!! I dont think ive ever laughed so hard at a mealtime!! A great insight into erm bad(?) service at these types of restaurants!! Oh and you guys were equally amusing the next day serving lunch... CT Subway!! Favourite item on the menu would have to be Fly and random insect Sub!! :P

Hmm wat else?? Yea i thought it was really bizarre how during girls talk someone exclaims "It's raining!!" And like puppets on string us girls ran outside and frollicked like a bunch of hippies!! Rain was a welcome respite from the heat though :)

Ok this next one might not be so funny but.... swatting flies to keep them at bay from our dinner.... wat can i say im good at getting them and so ended up with a fly swat that was covered in fly guts.. no joke!! Disco ruined the fun by telling me to get rid of it and put it away.... It was fun while it lasted :D

Again not so funny.... nearly witnessing an accident as a large person nearly fell backwards on some poor defenceless kid... not good at all, at least no one was hurt!!

Hmm and the kid who had an accident in the toilet... all i can say is at least it was in the boys toilets...

Oooh fun moment... trying to play basketball ( i cant play really) but fully running into people as my way of tackling then the guys yelling we want jenny on our team!! Pass it to Jenny pass it to Jenny!! :P Alas i didnt even score a goal :(

Watching a bunch of girls running through the sprinklers at midnite.... priceless. I so wanted to do it but grr didnt have the energy!

Hmmm realising how dirty the toilet seats were!! We were cleaning them out and soemone wiped a seat adn the sponge was black.. thats how much dirt goes on those seats.. WE SIT ON THEM MAN!! EEEEEEEEW!!

Trying to stay awake during the sermon on the last day and feeling so guilty until i realised that one of the musos was actually already asleep! HAHAHA

Ooo funny actions for our memory verse.... theres not a whole lot of options for the word "much".... for those who saw it youl prolly understand! :P

Oh and i felt so bad when we gave out pressies to section... we gave someone some toy/rubber snakes, turns out they are afraid of them big time so his reaction upon seeing them was yea frightening.. jumped back quick smart!! Seriously had to stiffle my laugh though ...

Hmm there are probably more but i cant think of any right now...

Even though ive made my decision not to go back to Cowra i must admit i will miss the place... hopefully il be there the yr after next but who knows?!?!

Next time :D

If only...

If only i had known the past week would have been like it was, i probably wouldnt have gone....
But then having said that, its a very selfish thought to have and so in some warped way im really thankful my Lord gave me one of my biggest challenges yet.

How i got through the last week remains a bit of a mystery. Though i must say i couldnt have done it without constant prayer and as usual those special people (you know who you are) to listen, support and comfort me whenever you could.

Mission seems to always be such an emotional experience for heaps of people.. It never used to be like that for me, but last week topped it! And so lately i think 'well, whats changed?!'
Perhaps its part of the process of growing up and im more aware of things, perhaps its because so much stuff has happened in the past year that im just worn out or perhaps im just over analysing every little thing that happens in my life... believe me the latter is definitely quite possible!

There is so much stuff to say it'l probably spread over a couple of entries (well i do have a habit of rambling).

As a leader it was definitely challenging! However working with a group of people who are willing to share the gospel is always fantastic. One of the talks we had during the week however reminded me that we all have different gifts and theyl be used in different ways. Its a shame then (i think) that some of us werent given the opporunity to use these gifts in the area where they could have been better utilised. BUT having said that i guess it also makes us realise that God makes our plans for us and that we dont always get what we want!!

I feel like i should have done so much more, not so much the material stuff like preparing work and all, but simply getting out there and supporting and encouraging those who most needed it. Not having done this ive realised just how selfish i am! I know ive said this numerous times but its a bit of a hard slap when you realise just how true it is. And its so hard when you know youve made mistakes and try to rectify the problem only to realise youve made matters worse or youve just stuffed it all completely and not much is going to change. Argh the hassles of human life!!

To those who know me really well, i apologise if i come across as quite bold and blunt. If i had a penny for everytime where ive gone and said or done something without seriously thinking it through then i reckon id be a billionaire...... so so sad. Funny how a simple act as inviting someone to play a game such as Take two can remind you just how lasting first impressions are, especially when theyre not so great. What scares me most is why im like this. Its actually quite pathetic thinking you can barely control your actions and words. Makes you realise how weak humans are.

On with mission stuff.... kids section was stressful but i guess it ended on a high note. Hey we survived!! It was disappointing not having the usual number of kids, but still we shared the gospel with 40 kids. And thats heaps better than none! The kiddies were a bit quiet at the start of the week but by wed i think they had warmed to their leaders and so yelling memory verse on Friday was definitely a moment to remember!! Haha too bad they yelled/sang it so loud it was so out of tune! Still they knew the words and actions so our work was not in vain. Sadly though we only had a handful of kids at the Bash to belt out the tune *sigh*

KIds are like sponges. They can wriggle around and seem distracted by other stuff happening around them and u think gee theyre not paying attention, but later on you ask them why theyre doing the craft, what it represents and what they learnt and u realise just how much they really did listen to you!

It was heaps tiring running around playing games, singing songs with BIG actions and quickly handing out craft stuff with a million little reminders running through your mind. The heat definitely didnt help but thats what you do. You go out into the wild world and challenge yourself to spread Gods word! You remind yourself that there are people in worse situations than yourself! People who remain in the dark and probably will do so for eternity that you push on ahead and strive to do the best you can with God holding you up, and working in you and around you.

Strange how my career requires me to get up and stand in front of a group of people and dish out lessons and all and yet i balk at the idea of having to perform a skit or give a talk etc. I panicked big time before last sundays skit in church. I was sure to stuff up and my erm evil cackle?!?!( i was representing a witch) well i hadnt really done it before so i had no real idea as to how it would turn out. Not having learnt the lines off by heart didnt help either. Thankfully things seemed to go well, ive had a few responses from various people and they said it was great, i was suited to the job.... well im not so sure about that but at least we got the message through that was our main aim! Hehe, my relos who were there said "we were slightly worried, we thought you had crossed over to the dark side!" But they thought it was fantastic, so that lifted my spirits up somewhat.

I got to meet the new batch of people to begin at Cornerstone this year (Cornerstone in Canowindra) so that was encouraging, seeing them support Breakout by driving out to Cowra and attend our combined service.

I went on a pretty cool visitation. Its amazing how CSB has been happening for the last 10 years and yet some people dont seem to know what its all about. These kids we visited hadnt been going, only one of them had been. After just playing with the kids and chatting with them they were convinced that coming to breakout was the thing to do. It was so great to see them come for the rest of the week, and also to see them at the bash. I think Scoubies were a bit of a drawcard though :P

I had a pretty kewl lunch with a family whom ive seen grow up the past five years from a distance and finally i met them! Food was yummy!! Home made lasagne with salad and rolls and desert was sorbet/ice cream and pavlova!! Mayz PAVLOVA man!! You missed out :P Ahh but it was filling, thats not to say the food during the week was bad at all though!! No way! In terms of cooking i think this years team did an awesome job. I didnt go hungry and there were very few things that didnt sit well with me, unlike some other memories i have from the past...

Anyway i think il end it here for now, perhaps therel be another entry later this week involving the funnier side of mission like..... haha im gonna make you guys wait! :P