The past week has been really interesting. Our team filled in as House parents at Woolaning School. We were responsible for 7 teenaged boys—feeding them, doing their laundry, cleaning up, and spending time with them. It was a lot of fun. People had made some comments to us that made me nervous—how hard it was, how difficult the kids tended to be, and that we would have to discipline a lot. Thankfully, the Lord gave us favor and while there were some ups and downs, we were mostly able to just love on the guys and share God’s love with them. We watched movies, played games and went to the most awesome natural swimming parks.
I got to go to Buley Rock Hole. It was incredible—God is so much more clever than the people who planned out Waterworld. We had massages from the water cascading down the rock, waterslides down the river, and diving boards made of rocks that we could leap off of into the cool pool below. It was beautiful. The water was the perfect temperature—probably around 80 degrees. Cool enough to feel good, but warm enough to be cozy-kind of like a lukewarm hot tub. It was so marvelous-I definitely had a thought—Wow God you did this best, for sure.
I was a little timid at first. I didn’t quite know how to get into the water. I’ve never been a jumper—always more of a wader. Figure out what is going on, decide how deep to go, and take my time doing it. Yesterday the jumping just looked like so much fun, and honestly was much easier than trying to do it my way.
So as I stood at the edge (mind you, I was probably only two feet above the water, jumping into a pool at least 8-10 feet deep), I thought, the journey of a million miles begins with a single step. This year, I really want to continue breaking free of my fears that have held me back. Fears of failure, fears of hurt, fears of disappointment. So one way to break free of these fears was to just do it—jump. So I did. And it was over so fast I didn’t even have time to enjoy it. This motivated me to want to try something bigger.
So we went back up the hill to ledges that were slightly higher-probably 4-5 feet above the water. Once again, I stood on the edge of the cliff, deciding the best way to jump into the pool—feet first? Cannonball? Run and leap, just step off?
Everyone egged me on—what are you waiting for? Just do it. I heard a voice in my head-what are you afraid of? Nothing, I realized. This was not a big deal—I just needed to do it. So with that, I leapt off into the water. Again, it was over so fast, but the adrenaline still pumped. I went back and did it again, and again, and again.
I wasn’t as brave as Megan though. She wanted to try a flip. I asked her two questions: 1) Did she have the sports rider package on the insurance? Yes. 2) Does she love Jesus? Yes. Then I said Go for it. What do we really have to fear? I know we are afraid of pain, but God promises to be there in the pain. Being willing to accept pain and hurt can be liberating. Yes, life involves risk, but wouldn’t we rather risk it and enjoy life, then stay at home and be safe?
Our time at Woolaning went quickly, but it was awesome. I also got to help out in BJ’s Level 2 class, and worked with the kids on reading, writing and maths. Woolaning is an alternative school with the goal of preparing its students with a trade or for uni. Many of the students have had poor attendance in the past—education is fairly countercultural and there are a lot of other issues surrounding it in the aboriginal communities—so a lot of what they are learning is pretty basic, especially since they are already teenagers. I think it is a cool ministry, however. Your life doesn’t have to be over at age 14 because you dropped out of school—instead, you have an alternative to be educated and do something more with your life.
It was so cool to be allowed into this ministry last week to serve and love. The staff at Woolaning was awesome, and I really enjoyed working with them and the students.
Thanks for an amazing time!!
