Grandpa Red's Visit

It was amazing to me how easily Cameron's Dad, Jerry adjusted to the weather here in Townsville. It remained quite warm and humid for the entirety of his two-week visit but he said he'd been well prepared by the hot tempts back home in El Cajon. Nonetheless, I figured the humidity would effect him more. We had a great time hanging out and really enjoyed introducing him to our new life here in Australia. After a few tough plane trips, he arrived around noon and climbed his weary body into our chitty chitty bang bang van to be toured through the waterfront and downtown area eventually, making back to our home in the West End. The first day was pretty mellow to allow him to adjust to the new environment and get some rest from all the traveling. The rest was short lived though with so much to see, so many people to meet, and so much Grandpa and Dad time to be enjoyed. The next day I went to work at the YWAM base finishing my duties in Community Life in order to be fully focused on staffing the October Discipleship Training School (DTS). Cameron and her Dad showed up at the base after a while and got a chance to see all the departments, the people, and functions of the ministry. I was really blessed by Jerry's interest about YWAM and our involvement in it. It seemed he received a real peace about it and had his perspective broadened greatly. I know many of our family and friends have had a degree of understanding from our blogs and communications but I think Jerry would agree that coming, seeing, and experiencing everything personally makes a huge difference in having peace about our step into missions. But since not everyone can make the trip, we will certainly continue to stay in touch and describe to the best of our abilities our adventures with God.
Jerry got to taste some of the local food, though with the cost of everything so high we enjoyed most of our meals at home. We had a lovely BBQ at River Way Park just a few kilometers from the house and enjoyed the refreshing public pools which built a wonderfully ravenous hunger in each of us to fully enjoy the steak and veggies that were just about ready by the time we got dried off and changed. He got to see much of the surrounding area as we walked around the waterfront, Strand area of the city, made our way north of town to Bushland Beach to watch the boys (Ryan and me) skate a local park with the rest of the Youth Street Team. We even went inland a few miles into the bush to visit the oldest building in North Queensland which has been transformed into a country tea house. We passed on the $50 coffee they offered, Kopi Luwak (the same mentioned in the movie, "The Bucket List") but enjoyed a late breakfast and some tasty meat pies. It wasn't the Sydney Opera House or Ayer's Rock but he got to see some pretty neat sights, even some things that were new to us as well.
It was quite sad to see him go, we wish we could have all of our friends and family from the States jump on a flight and move in next door but for now we're content with where God has us and feel very excited for the ministry that He's called us to. We are also very thankful for the many friends and church family that God has surrounded us with since we arrived. It is truly miraculous how smoothly and relatively easy things have gone in making this great transition. We've certainly had our share of challenges but I thank God for His faithfulness in sustaining us in every way. PSALM 95