Words & Phrases- Part 2

I've been living in Sydney, Australia for 6 weeks now.  Therefore, I have aquired more lingo to share with you.  I know how exciting accents and language can be to Americans.  Here you go...(Aussie in black. American in red)


Where's Wally- Where's Waldo
Wanker- An idiot
Mobile phone- Cell phone
Bub- Baby
Cram- Stroller
Cuppa- Cup of tea
Swimmer, Cozzie- Bathing suit
Toilet- Bathroom
Have a go- Try
Jumper- Hooded sweat shirt
Lift- Elevator
Nappy- Diaper
Rego- Registration
Takeaway- Fast food
Capsicum- Peppers
Cheers- Thanks
Mum- Mom
Oovie- Red Box
Chicken burger- Chicken sandwich
Timetable- Schedule
SMS- Text (Example: I'll SMS you when I'm on my way)
Schoolies- Spring break (Americans go to Miami Beach, Australians go to Fiji)
'Hey-ch'- 'A-ch' (Pronouncing the letter 'H')

*Shout out to Andy Pat for his birthday this week! Good on ya mate!
*Remember to read John and pray for those who are downhearted or afflicted.
*Love you guys!

She is One, She is Many.

"Starbucks without coffee is as rediculous as the church not marked by the glory of God."  The church being one body of believers.

I got to go to Colour Conference 2012 in Sydney last weekend.  As an avid follower of Hillsong Church over the years, I have heard about this conference every year and I knew if I didn't go this year, I may never get the chance again.  I'm thankful to have gotten the opportunity.  For those of you who are not familiar, Colour Sisterhood is a women's humanitarian movement.  This is all women using what is in their hand to make a difference.  It is about raising awareness, standing in the gap and finding solution for those who have no voice, or for those who need a helping hand.  As a company of women, we believe that prayer can displace darkness, open the heavens and cause His love to prevail.

Ya know, together there really in no limitation to what God can do through us.  Our days are numbered and we shouldn't waste them spending time away from His purpose.  There is justice to be served and souls to be won!  We should pray for justice, point people to Jesus, and be obedient to God's call.

It's all about Jesus.  And Jesus is all about people.
"Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow." --Isaiah 1:17

In the meantime, we're currently still finishing up Romans.  But then we're jumping back to the gospel of John.  This would be my older brother Zickle's genius choice.  Jump on board!

Romans.

My family and I are currently reading the book of Romans together. Obviously we are not all living in the same house, but via the internet we are able to keep each other updated on our reading. So Romans was my book choice. I chose it because it is my personal favorite book in the Bible. It’s just 16 short chapters and I’ve read it many times. The amazing thing about reading scripture is, you can read the same book over and over again and God will reveal new things to you every time. It’s so much fun!

We have been shooting emails back and forth about what we’re reading and the wisdom God has given us. It’s about been a week since we began Romans and I’m only in chapter 8. I prayed for God to overwhelm me with wisdom as I study His word and boy is He pouring it out! I can’t write fast enough to keep up with Him. It took me one sitting just to get half way through chapter one. Two things: 1) Pray big prayers that you know only God can make happen and 2) If you pray for it, be ready to receive it.

I like what my mommy said about the first half of Romans. So very wisely she summed it up as this: “We are all sinners and we should try to live as Jesus did and that is not easy but we need to work at it every day so that we can fulfill our purpose that He has for all of us. Romans 3:23-24 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." He paid the price for our sinful ways so that we could focus on what was important....to live a godly life and to live our lives to His purpose.”

I also really like what my older brother Zickle said about God’s love. He said this: “Romans 4 verse 25 was the one that stuck out to me the most. It says, "He (Jesus) was delivered to death for our sins and was raised for our justification.” It just blew me away because it shows the love that God has for us. God delivered, He gave, He said here you go death take my son so that all my children that I love so very much will not have to suffer for their sins. Then what really blew me away about the lengths God takes so that He can have relationships with us is, He did the impossible, He rose Jesus from the grave for our justification. I wish I could love as He loves! Also in chapter 4 it says a variation of, "righteousness comes by faith," six times. You can be righteous in the eyes of the creator of the Earth by having faith. God loves us so and wants nothing more than to have a relationship with us and He does every possible and impossible to make that happen.”

For me, I could rewrite my whole notebook, but trust me…that would be way too long for a blog post. I’ll just keep it short and sweet. Adam sinned, all of humanity is condemned to death. Jesus died, all of humanity can live and be made righteous. That’s chapter 5. But do you know what else? Chapter 6 is really good as well because it’s convicting but also explains our freedom in Christ. My sinful self died over 2 thousand years ago with Jesus on the cross. I’m no longer a slave to my sin. Though I deserve death, Jesus already conquered my death. It doesn’t need to be conquered again. It’s like the ACC Tournament right? Florida State(Me covered in Jesus’ blood) conquered Miami(my sin) on Friday. No matter how much Miami still wants to beat Florida State in this years tournament, it’s not going to happen. It’s single elimination and this battle has already been finished!

We’re free, is what I’m trying to say. We’re slaves to righteousness now. And that’s something to boast about in Jesus because our righteousness isn’t anything we did to earn. It’s everything Jesus did in obedience to God.

I’ll leave you with a glimpse of what I did this weekend…(Bondi Beach)

P.S. I used Miami and Florida State, because I figured no one would be too offended by that game.

Words & Phrases.

I keep getting asked by other international students if I have a hard time understanding the Australian accent.  I get told that my accent is really easy to understand, but I think that's because I feel like I have to annunciate when I'm talking to someone from Asia.  I don't know why.  I also find that occasionally I have to ask the meaning of some words and phrases when talking with my Aussie friends.  So I started writing down some of the more common ones.  The translation is in blue.

-Mate  (friend)
-Thongs  (flipflops)
-No worries  (that's ok)
-Arvo  (afternoon)
-Macca's  (McDonald's)
-I Reckon  (I think)
-Footy  (Rugby)
-Heaps  (a lot/so)
-Dodgy  (sketchy)
-How ya goin?  (how are you?)
-Bikkie  (biscuit/cracker)
-Fairy floss  (cotton candy)
-Lollies  (suckers)
-Jelly  (jello)
-Rubbish bin  (trash can)
-Uni  (college)
-Walkabout  (adventure)
-Frothing  (getting really excited)
-Just there  (right there/over there)
-Keen  (excited for/interested)
-Fair enough  (Oh ok)
-You're alright  (You're welcome)
-Good on ya  (well done)
-Beetroot  (beets) (they put them on their burgers, gross)
-Cringe worthy  (intense)

So that's what I have so far.  More to come in the later weeks and months.

Meet The House

First of all, I would just like to say.. I’m very thankful for the house God placed me into. We all get along really great. For those of you who don’t know, there are 4 bedrooms in my house and we share a backyard with our neighbors who also have 4 bedrooms. There are 8 of us in total. Although the 8 of us are so uniquely placed together, we’re all incredibly accepting of one another and it’s a beautiful camaraderie.

 This is my very first Australian friend. When I opened the door to the house for the first time, Dylan greeted me with the phrase ‘Yes! A friend!’ I was so comforted by that. He’s one of the most generous people I’ve ever met and gets overly excited about everything. He’s a first year university student studying computer science. Part of his family is from South Africa. He’s a magician, artist, video game creator, bird call expert, skateboarder/surfer and has had cancer. But his spelling is terrible. Example: Scissors = Sizers





 From the capital of Australia, Canberra, comes Lukas. This is also his first year at the university although he took a year off traveling Europe. He’s studying Art: Film Studies. He’s incredibly down to earth and genuinely kind hearted. He’s a snowboarder, loves Spongebob Squarepants and is a mix of Aussie and Kiwi.

 My only female housemate comes from New Zealand.  Which I think is awesome! New Zealanders are called Kiwis. And it is a privilege to live with a kiwi. Like Lukas, Lilly also took a year off to travel. She was an au pair in France, but go to travel around quite a bit. This is her first year and she is studying linguistics. She has a wonderful sense of humor, is into drama, and shares my love of maps!

 

 

Our neighbors consist of Elise, David, Winny, and Tony. Basically a house full of very intelligent people. Elise is studying space engineering. David is studying philosophy for his honors. Winny is doing her 4^th year of music. She plays percussions, which is awesome. Tony is from China and is studying engineering as well I believe.

So there you have it. That’s my home life for the semester. While they aren’t my church family that I pray to receive, they are a family that I’m going to grow to love and spend loads of fun times with. We mostly spend our time laughing at Dylan. Not with him…at him. All in love.

Exotic Animals Gone Wild!

As promised I present to you exotic animals gone wild, although this is only part one and you shouldn’t use all your zeal on this post. I haven’t reached the climax of wildlife here in Australia just yet. I’m saving that experience for a later date.

This is the Australian Magpie- It sounds like R2D2 from Star Wars.  And it's a little bit dodgy.

This is a White Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo- It sounds like a screaming and yelling child most times. And it doesn’t care if it’s midnight or 6am. It will continue to rant and rave at all hours of the day and night. Just look at him sitting up there.. ‘Listen to me! No one gives me attention! Only international people give me attention because they can’t believe a bird could be so obnoxious!’

This is an Australian White Ibis- They are EVERYWHERE on campus. And they aren’t very afraid of people, so I get a little uncomfortable when they are in pecks reach of me.

I hope you find those enjoyable.  I do have a couple of shout outs if you don't mind.  I'd like to wish a happy 21st birthday to my ever lovely Irish friend Vicki while it's still March 1st in part of the world!  Also, it is 12 midnight here on this side of earth. Therefore it is officially one of the most special days of the year, March 2nd.  Happy 14th birthday to my little brother Wes!  God is too good to put both Wesley and Victoria into my life.

Stay tuned to meet my house mates!