Aussies and Yanks Connect

Aussies and Yanks Connect

Mid year update

Housing:
Sadly, contrary to my last letter, the housing situation is no longer as permanent as we’d hoped/been informed. Unfortunately the people that own the house we are living in have decided to sell it this year. Naturally this means we have to find somewhere else to live. We thought this would be quite hard, because we weren’t going to find a rental place as nice as this, nor as cheap. However, God, once again, has shown His power and provided for us another home. We decided to look at vacant vicarages (seeing as I work at the head office of the church) and after only a short amount of time, we have found a house. We will be moving back to my suburb of over 5 years ago, Camberwell. It’s a beautiful area and we’re really looking forward to the move. The house is close to public transport (within walking distance) as well as close to cafes, shops etc. This house will be available sometime in August/September… so once again, begins the task of packing!

Work:
Nothing much has changed for me, except that I am much, busier now than when I first started (a year ago this month!). I am also now working 4 days (Tues – Fri). I could have worked 5, as they offered it to me, but I am very happy having Monday’s off. This means I have a long weekend every week so when we visit Hamilton, we get to spend a longer time there.

Vaughn has stopped working at Light FM. He felt it was time and we really wanted our weekends back as we never got to go anywhere/do anything together. He was there for about a year and that was certainly long enough for us. He still fills in for them, when they need, but at least our weekends are flexible now and he has the opportunity to say no.

The business is going really well. The clients are really happy with Vaughn and the orders keep growing. God is certainly blessing us with Third Dimensions.

Vaughn is still working one day a week at Deep Creek Anglican Church. He has continued his role as small groups pastor and that has really grown and keeps him busy. I play a small part in the church now as well. I am the administrator for Heartbeat, which is a Spiritual Gifts course that our pastor wrote, to identify your Spiritual Gifts. We are also leading a small group. Well, Vaughn is… I really just look after the admin side of things (of course!). We absolutely love the small group we are in. We’re a close group and so supportive of one another.

Study:
God certainly is moving in our lives! Vaughn is going back to full time study again next semester, but this time with a slightly different focus. After much prompting from God and therefore a lot of prayer, Vaughn had decided to be ordained to be an Anglican pastor. Whew! What a big step! Vaughn is currently ‘going through the motions’ i.e. attending interviews etc… to see if he is a suitable candidate. They may not accept him, but I have a strong feeling that they will! He will be joining the Year of Discernment. This is where he will attend information seminars on what being a priest means financially, emotionally, for the family etc… He will also be in contact with a mentor. If this all goes well, he will then join Selection Conference, which is to confirm whether or not he will be an ordinand candidate. He will be studying at Ridley College, which is the Anglican theological college in Melbourne. So, again, we will need your prayers during this time!

Church:
Vaughn recently headed off on a mission trip with the church, up to Robinvale, which is in North West Victoria. He was up there for a week and got involved with the indigenous Australians, camping for a night and working bees at the local church.

Vaughn preaches more often at church now and always receives great, encouraging feedback from the congregation.

Sport:
After a long and difficult think about it, I decided not to play hockey this season. It was a very difficult decision to make and I do miss playing, but believe it was for the best. Especially when we’re out and drive past an oval at night, where people are practicing and it’s cold, foggy and raining, I know I made the right decision, thinking that could be me out there freezing my you-know-what off!

Unfortunately I’m not playing any sport at the moment. The church basketball team that I was playing for earlier had to fold because we didn’t have enough players for the next season. I was bitterly disappointed as I really enjoyed playing. Oh well, perhaps in the future we’ll be able to round up enough girls for a team!

I’m hoping to start swimming again, with a friend. She’s a stay at home mum, so we are both available on Monday’s, so we’d like to begin regular catch ups over laps. I’m really looking forward to it, if it works out! Where we will be moving, will be up the road from them, so I’m sure this will provide many more opportunities!

Family news:
Ben (my younger brother) had a knee reconstruction earlier in the year. He has recovered well, but needs to be careful with any activity he does that requires twisting etc. He still remains in the Army Reserve but has had restricted activities. Luckily for him as he was promoted last year (to Lance Corporal), he is able to training other soldiers and therefore stays active with the Reserves. He has gone back to full time study as he is now keen to finish his computing course and receive his qualification.

Philip (my older brother) still works for Kmart in their photo department, which he enjoys. It’s great to see him in permanent work for a long period of time. He is still keen to complete his novel that he started many years ago and works on that in his spare time.

My dad is celebrating his 60th birthday this year (in November), so I have offered to organise the event. I love doing that sort of thing and look forward to the date drawing nearer so I can actually do something to arrange the day!

My mum is still much the same! She’s loving her work in the Library at Horsham College. She does travel there daily, but stays the night when the weather is bad or she has meeting after school. She’s hit a number of kangaroos during her travels and although the car has had a number of dents, has escaped without injury or major damage. I can’t believe that she has been there for 3 years now… time certainly flys!

My Nana (Dad’s mum, Doreen) hadn’t been well for some time and developed fluid on her lungs earlier this year. Unfortunately at the beginning of June her health slowly declined and she passed away on 5th June. It has been a very sad time for our family, but we are all very thankful that she had her faith in God right up until He called her home. So, although we were upset with her passing, we were also able to celebrate that she is now happy, spending eternity with her LORD. Her faith up until the end, has certainly strengthened my faith.

On that sad note, I bid you farewell! God bless you now and always. With love to you all.

Janelle and Vaughn