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For Dave Love's sake: we stopped at a gas station today in the outback (after nearly being flooded out of our tent last night) and got online to enjoy our annual day after Thanksgiving ritual: watching the Huskers destroy Dave's Colorado Buffaloes. Yes, Dave, we were hooting and hollering in a gas station in our Husker gear. There is nothing quite like "watching" a 57-yard field goal from the other side of the world. Go Big Red!

I Took the Road Less Traveled

In Robert Frost's famous poem, he wrote of the fork in the road and choosing to take the road less traveled. Last night, we faced one of those proverbial forks in the road and we opted to take . . . the road less traveled.

Venturing off into the bush from the main road (actually it was only a two-lane road in the boonies) we drove in the pitch black night through a tree and bush-lined one-lane road hoping to find a remote campground (at least the map said it existed). As bush after bush wacked the rental car (why didn't I buy that extra insurance!!!!) and the brush growing in the middle of the road grew higher and higher, I remembered my mom's last comment to me, "Don't do anything foolish." (Sorry, Mom, this qualified!) We had been driving for about an hour when we saw a huge spider (nearly as big as a tarantula) hanging in the middle of the road, Susan said, "No one has been out here in forever." As the massive spider crashed into the window, my only hope was that the massive spider, which was now on my side of the car, would not be there to greet me when we arrived.

After 90 minutes of driving, it was clear that we would be doing a u-turn if we ever reached the end of the road. Then, dread of all dreads, we saw something that we could not believe: there was a closed gate in the middle of the road. "How would we turn around?", I thought. Would we have to back out the entire way--like we had to do on that Tahitian mountain when we tried to see a waterfall in a car that was no bigger than one of those cars that kids drive outside of grocery stores. But then the road bent and we realized that the gate belonged to someone's private driveway. Great, now we also had to worry about the crazy person who lived out in the middle of nowhere.

On we went for 5 more kilometers until we saw the sign for Bustard Beach. "How many people can say they have been to Bustard Beach?" I asked Susan. Before long I saw the sign for the vacant campground and to our great surprise there was a group of "schoolies." "Schoolies" are kids who just graduated from high school. They had a huge bonfire going. And to our greater surprise, they were happy to see us! There were 11 of them, but they said that they were lonely. (That's teen lingo for "scared.") After greeting one another, they promised not to be too loud. We assured them that they could be as loud as they wanted to be, for it was spooky out there and the noise helped relieve the spookiness of it all.

In the morning, we spend some more time getting to know them and gave them all See's suckers. And one of them gave his heart to the Lord. The road less traveled was well worth it, spiders and all.

Count to Five

One of the things that is frustrating in Australia is the speed limit. It changes about every quarter mile. At any rate, on Friday morning we started to head out of town and as we came up over a slight hill at just over 60 kmph (that's about 32 mph), I could see a police officer standing in the middle of the road up ahead with what appeared to be a speed gun. Now, mind you, I have never had a moving violation in my life (who says life never changes?), so I was a bit perturbed at my streak coming to an end. The officer motioned for me to pull to the side of the road. And, to my surprise, did not come to my door for an explanation as to why I was driving 62 kmph in a 60 kmph. I was ready with my "I'm an American" excuse, but I never got a chance. He started writing and I figured that I was doomed. Finally, the officer walked up to my door and asked me if I had been drinking. It was 10 in the morning; I had barely had a Coke (yes, some things never change). "No," I responded. "Count to five," he commanded me and he jammed a microphone in my face. I resisted the urge to count in Spanish (sorry, Miss Spence! (that's my former Spanish teacher for all of you who may not have been in the class with me), and proceeded to count to five. I apparently passed the quiz, for I was permitted to go. Yes, I'm still without a moving violation, but the pop (or was that booze) quiz let me thinking: when life ends abruptly one day, will I be ready?

He's Got You By a Centimeter!

After the Wednesday night home bible study in Newcastle, Tyler and I stood back-to-back. For over 13 years, I had towered above him, but, now, in this foreign land, he was giving me a run for my money. As two young Australian men watched Susan measure us, one of them shouted out, "He's got you by a centimeter!" Yes, that dreaded day had come: I'm now the shortest in my family.

On the Road Again

For the third time in less than three weeks, we're moving again. This time, we are headed for the northeastern coast of Australia, where we will encounter the equivalent of Spring Break in Brisbaine. We may not have internet access for some time, so be patient with this site!

The Sun Sets in the West

The sun sets in the west, even in Australia. Now the toilets flush in a reverse manner, but the sun still goes down in the right direction.

If You Had One Question . . .

If you could ask God one question, and you were guaranteed an answer, then what would your question be?

Have You Ever Touched a Python?

"Come out, Daddy!" shouted Amy. "You have to see the python." Since I had never seen a python before, I made a beeline for the door. Sure enough, there in the bush next to the house was a long python. Yes, that type of python. Our host tells us that it is good to have a python around your house in Australia, for they keep the bad snakes away. Since the python was so long, I decided to touch him, figuring that there was no way that he could react fast enough to bite me. So I reached out and touched him. And, guess what? He jumped. And, needless to say, I jumped. But then I jumped for joy, because I touched a python! And then, much to Susan’s dismay, Tyler touched the python too! And later Amy touched him, too. Sorry, Mom, but we couldn’t resist.

Wacky Wednesday

As we walked up to the counter to check in for our flight from Tahiti to Sydney, which was scheduled to leave at 2 a.m., on Wednesday, November 13th, the clerk said that there was one little problem: there was no indication that I had a visa for Australia (even though I had it in my hand). As such, they would have to check with the Australian Consulate to see if I could enter the country. "Lord," I silently prayed, "if you don’t want me to go to Australia, then that’s fine. But, if you do, then will you please clear this up." Thankfully, we had arrived five hours early for the flight (that’s about 4 hours and 30 minutes earlier than normal for me), so I presumed that the matter could be cleared up in time for us to board our flight. And, thankfully, it wasn’t long before I was granted a new visa to enter the country, so we boarded our flight.

When we landed in Sydney after our eight-hour flight, we made it to the rental car counter, where we learned that they had no cars for rent and they did not have a car reserved for us (even though I had the reservation in my hand). After a few minutes, they figured out the problem: I had reserved the car for Wednesday, November 13th. While we had left at 2 a.m. on Wednesday, November 13th, and had traveled for only eight hours, we had crossed the international date line. As such, we lost a day (I still can’t figure that one out!). Thankfully, they found a car for us and we were on our way.

As we made it to the town north of Sydney where we are spending our first week, we noticed some huge, exotic parrots (much to Amy’s delight), so we stopped to admire them. While we were admiring them, we met a man, Jack, who was 74 years old and recovering from open heart surgery. He unabashedly showed me the big scar on his chest, which was only ten days old, and told us of his double bypass and aortic valve replacement. After chit chatting with Jack about this and that, we asked him if we could pray for him and he gladly bowed his head and we prayed for a speedy recovery and a long life to enjoy his daughter’s recently born triplets. Day 1 in Australia turned out to be an absolute blessing, even though we had to drive on the wrong side of the road.

Around the Moon

When the astronauts used to go around the moon, they would lose all contact with planet earth (at least that’s what I recall Tom Hanks saying in "Apollo 13"). At any rate, we’ve just experienced our own version of being on the backside of the moon. We have been days without any internet connection and it was rather weird. At the same time, it was rather refreshing. We got to enjoy visiting with the members of Calvary Chapel Tahiti, see the sights of Tahiti, and just relax.

A Slice of Heaven

Although only Susan had been to Tahiti before, we knew that we were in for a slice of heaven when we landed in Tahiti. The only thing that we didn’t realize, though, was that it wasn’t the beautiful blue water or the coral reefs or the sunsets or the hanging palm and coconut trees, but, rather, it was the people. More particularly, it was Girard and Tarita Tehotu. Girard is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Tahiti. They picked us up and drove us about 30 miles to a bungalo that was rented for us by the church. (For some unknown reason, they treat us like royalty. I know, I know, a lot of you are saying, "Amen" to that statement.) One of the members of the church had picked fresh pineapples for us. Another had picked fresh mangoes and bananas for us. And still another member of the congregation had baked us a cake. You talk about tangibly feeling the love of God, we were blown away.

Days Go By

One of my favorite lines in a song comes from Lifehouse's song "Days Go By." The line is simply: "Sit down, sit back, and watch the days go by. Are you ever going to live before you die?" We leave for Australia in three days. There are hundreds of reasons why we shouldn't go, but, you know what, we're not going to "sit down, sit back, and watch the days go by." Rather, we're going to step out in faith and live. And while we are on the subject, let me encourage you to start really living. For as a good friend of mine told me, "We only get one shot at life and so many people grow old and say, 'If only I'd struck out and done something adventurous.'"