Visiting

We are just back from saying hello and goodbye to some friends and family from where Trudie grew up. Everyone was so lovely and the most common question was about the bug life we will encounter in PNG! Tru's response was:"There are no bugs in PNG!" Denial is working well so far...

Being serious for a moment, it really was great to see people we love. We will miss you so much! Everyone should consider holidays in Papua New Guinea. Seriously. We hear it's brilliant...

In other news Duncan is trying to whip Trudie into shape in preparation for Pacific Orientation Camp. We are doing a mix of aerobics, running and even went for a swim this morning. Well done us! Not sure if it will make any difference in such serious heat, so good thing God will be with us.

Now we are back to paperwork, packing and panicking followed by praying. Tru's new description of our feelings is reverent terror. Not long to go now!

The picture is of Tru with her lovely mum and Aunty Joyce : )  

Paperwork and People

It would seem that moving abroad involves a great deal of paperwork. We knew that before, but now we KNOW that! We are getting there, but much more slowly than we would like. Things keep distracting us. For example: burst pipes, cars that won't start because the air-conditioning pump has stopped working and agas that won't stay alight for more than a few hours. We could go on, but it's boring.



He is trying to smile...

We have also managed to break away from the laptops and spend some time with people. Going to our church again was wonderful and we have also had the chance to speak to our house group, youth group and church friends about our experiences in America.

Overall, time feels short and it's a bit overwhelming. The goodbyes have started and so has the sadness. We are truly in the land of the inbetween and it's disorientating when that place is home.

Thanksgiving

We are home and feeling full of thanksgiving for an amazing trip to the U.S.A. It really has been brilliant.

We will always remember (in no particular order):

Swing-dancing, listening to Blue Grass music, attending an auction, laughing A LOT, meeting new people all the time, swimming in a lake, dancing in the rain, writing on stones, reflecting, eating Southern food, discovering 'moose tracks' ice-cream, engine-off landings, autumn colours, flying down the longest runway in the world (together), seeing manatees and porpoises, meeting Mickey, driving in Dallas and L.A., the Blue Ridge mountains, going to a rodeo and seeing REAL cowboys, meeting up with old friends, going to an American football game, flying with an under-slung motorcycle, Moriah's smile, off-roading, tour guiding, singing new songs, e-mails, meeting Chuck Swindoll, experiencing constant hospitality, Egyptian Ratscrew (card game), the Bunn mobile, Josh's English accent, white-water rafting, sharing our story with 190 young men recovering from drug and alcohol addiction, arriving at church in the helicopter, learning to change a nappy, skype, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, apple pie, lying on a bed of nails, packing, contra-dancing, blue jelly/jello, Chimney Rock, flying across 4 states in the Helio, learning some Pidgin, aviation wives, Jeff's prayers, art galleries, sleeping in the hangar, Darcy's videos, seeing fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, eating scrapple, a few tears, new friends who touched our hearts, people thinking 'Duncan' is spelt 'Dunkin' (as in Doughnuts!), ordering blue shirts, getting THE helmet, flying in the mountains, seeing family, going out for breakfast, the satnav 'recalculating', Starbucks, Rodeo Drive, the PNG bugs' case, JAARS day, Missions at the Airport trip, the 'A' rock, meeting MKs, Jonathan's stories, 'jazz' in Charleston, Trudie's Minnie Mouse hairband, farkle, goodbyes, Crowell 3, doughnuts, the sound of crickets and the not so crystal lake.

We could go on and on, but there is something we havent mentioned - the reason we went to America was not to eat ice-cream or visit tourist sites. We went to prepare for the next step. We thought Duncan was going to learn jungle flying skills and Trudie would learn about missionary kids and how to serve them - we did those things, but something else happened too. God poured His love into our hearts through the words and actions of strangers. We saw Him work amazingly in our lives and in the lives of others around us. As our new friend, Carrie would say: God has really shown off and THAT is truly awesome.



The JAARS helicopter




Arty shot of the Helio - can you spot it?




Every couple needs matching JAARS caps!




Wings with Josh (left) and Jonathan (right)



The Crystal Lake at JAARS



Us with Mickey and Duncan's sister, Katrina