Have you seen any kangaroos yet?

To answer the burning question I have been hearing from all of you Americans, I can now say with serious confidence, YES! I have not only seen a kangaroo, I have seen hundreds, and I have kissed them and pet them and fed them and run around in a big field with hundreds of them. 

Our trip to Morisset today may have been the most surreal thing I've ever seen. We went to this random field next to an asylum where there are literally hundreds of kangaroos just hanging out. It's not a zoo or a nature preserve or anything. It's just a field. With wild kangaroos. Is this real life?

I reckon I'm keen on Australia, and I'm going to have a heaps good time, mate.

I’ve been in Australia for about 3 days now. In some ways, I feel like it’s been a lot longer, and in some ways, I feel like I just got here. I have met so many amazing people already, and I am excited to see what YWAM Newcastle and this wonderful country have in store for me in the next 2 months.

Let me just tell you that the rumors are true – Australia is indeed absolutely beautiful. And I haven’t even seen much of it yet. Last night, I had my first experience with the Australian ocean…and we got up close and personal, let me tell you. I ventured out with a clan of new friends to the break wall, which is basically a really long pier with huge rocks on it that giant waves crash into. We were all laying on the highest rocks, listening to the waves, star-gazing, singing along to a ukulele...in Australia - yeah, that happened. None of the waves came anywhere close to us the whole time we were laying there until we were blindsided by a tsunami that came up over the rocks and completely drenched us and our electronics. Think splash mountain times ten plus salt water. It was a long, cold, wet walk back to the cars, and it may take a few days for my shoes to dry…but at least, it’s a good story, right?

Australia is heaps awesome, and I reckon I’m going to have a great summer/winter here. I miss home, my fam, my friends, and I love you all…but don’t worry – I think I’ll be fine here without you J

-(x-)Ray

Father, Let My Heart Be After You

Well, here I am at the Denver airport waiting for the next leg of my journey to depart. Now that the trip is underway, I am feeling much more at ease. I have my guitar in hand. My first flight didn’t crash. And there’s no turning back now.

It was a long morning as I sat at home with nothing to do but wait, feeling sick to my stomach from the first of countless times I woke up throughout the night until I parked my butt on a seat at gate B1 in the Gerald R. Ford International Airport. I said my last goodbyes to Mom & Dad, and now there’s nothing between me and Newcastle but a couple more flights and a two-hour shuttle ride.

It’s a strange feeling. I have been planning this trip for months and months, and it has been one of those things that has seemed just a few steps beyond reality. I keep trying to wrap my mind around it. Two months. Nine and a half weeks. Ten thousand miles from home. I know no one. Putting every last ounce of faith I have in God. But I am far past the point of giving up the reigns. This trip is in God’s hands, and I’m just along for the ride.

I have prayed for so many things throughout the process of preparing for this trip. The fact that I’m sitting here in Denver right now is the result of so many answered prayers already. And so far today, God cleared the skies after weather forecasts of thunderstorms all day…forecasted up until a couple hours before heading to the airport. Now, there’s nothing but sunshine across the U.S.

The strenuous traveling has been occupying my mind for the past few days, but sometimes I forget what is behind this 26 hour trip. Two months of experiencing God in the place I have fantasized about ever since Mary-Kate & Ashley ended up there in Our Lips Are Sealed. A week in Newark changed the entire course of my life. I can only imagine what miracles God is going to work in the next two months. And believe me, this tired spirit could use a little rejuvenation.

Here goes nothing. So long, America. See ya in August.

-(hoo)Ray