Of airplanes and Odysseys

So it's happening again. The third time this year, but this is different, sooo different.

1. It's longer

2. I'm getting left behind

3. It's winter

4. Keaton and Hollie are coming

5. I'm going for a wedding

Remember Odysseys?

- Charity and I both starting our at the same time on the plane so that we can listen together

- Listening to the Novacam series on the train ride from L.A.

- Listening to them whilst packing Dad and Benji

- Staying up late with T last night whilst listening to one last night

- Listening to some on the plane ride home last year because my TV didn't work.

- And many more times when Odysseys were involved with Airplanes.

Unto the hills I lift my longing eyes whence comes my aid

My help is from the Lord the one who heav'n and earth has made

Your foot from stumbling he will never keep

He who preserves your life will never sleep

He who keeps Israel slumbers not nor sleeps by night or day

The Lord keeps you a shade on your right hand the Lord will stay

Throughout the day the sun shall never smite

Nor moon shall harm you in the hours of night

The Lord himself will your protector be from every ill

from every evil He will keep your soul securly still

Your daily going out and in your door

The Lord will keep both now and ever more

Psalm 121

Safe travels my family, see you in a month

My latest Australian job

It just happens to be the same as my first Australian job - babysitting the Glover kidos.

Differences:

- this time there are 4 kids (and it's Charley sleeping, not Josh)

- There were no fire plans shown to me (maybe Bethany doesn't know them in her renovated house :) )

- their bed times are later

- The parentals stayed out later (I think they are a bit more used to me now)

- There were hardly any instructions (it's nice to be familiar enough with them for the parents to feel comfortable enough to leave the children without much instruction)

Similarities:

- They went to bed without a fuss

- We played games then watched some of a movie

There have been plenty of times in between, but it's been awhile since the last time I babysat them. It was nice to do it once again. Those Glover kids are pretty grand. So...I'm looking forward to next week. :)

I love technology...

...always and forever

I'll never cease to be amazed:

I can send a message with the click of a button to the other side of the word, and they'll receive it in a matter of minutes.

I can talk on the phone to my family and friends that live in america

I can listen to a sermon in Australia on Monday, that was preached in Scotland on Sunday

...not as much as you you see, but I still love technology

always and forever!

Debi

I once met a girl named Elli,

From Germany did she come

she stayed and played, we ran all over town

and sure had a lot of fun

but then one day this Elli

To Germany did she go back

and I have missed her dearly

oh friend I hope you come back

-----------

Then one day a few years later

another girl did come

her name, this girl, is Debi

and Germany she is from

The second time I saw her

she with a hug did greet

it was so warm and friendly

an unexpected treat

So why I ask can't we

be more friendly like that

why do we have to take so long

until we can hug back

we have a mutual friend

This girl Debi and I

A family called the Wetzels

that I babysit from time time

7 months she will be here

and I hope to spend a lot of time

getting to know dear Debi

(and now I've finished the rhyme)

5 things that made my day

1. Reading 'The little mouse, the red ripe strawaberry, and the big hungry bear' at school

2. Playing leapfrog with the Wetzel boys

3. Naomi calling me cute for playing leapfrog with the Wetzels

4. Youth Bible Study

5. Chats with the Eckert boys on the car ride home

What has God been teaching me...?

What a wonderful question, one that should be asked much more among our Christians friends and family. How encouraging to hear how God is working in someones life, what new things God has been teaching them from His word, His preaching, His praise...

Anyways, maybe someone out there is wondering what God has been teaching me, or maybe it is just something I should write down, something I really should write down more often, to really think about, to be able to look back on, to thank. 

Joy: such a wonderful bless, a gift really, from God. Just knowing that it is well with my soul is enough to cause such great joy to me. Just being in the wonderful church that I am here in Frankston South is enough to cause such great joy. Just having the opportunity to spend time with fellow Christians several times a week is enough to cause great joy. 

And something that has been and needs to continue to be pounded into me is the great joy of heaven. In out Tuesday night meeting we have been listening to Ted Donnelly's sermon series on Heaven  (which I would GREATLY encourage you to listen to) for the second time. And it has been such a blessing to reread my notes, my applications, write new applications, and get things reinforced into my little brain. One point that really stood out to me (from the second sermon) is the fact that Heaven is being with Jesus, and we have the opportunity here on earth to spend time with Jesus, to spend time in a little bit of Heaven. If we don't spend time in heaven now, how can we after death? I was really challenged that I need to be spending time in heaven each and every day. It should be my #1 priority, first on the list. My day should not be complete without it, and I realise that, and I realise the great blessings I do receive when I do spend time in prayer and in God's word, in my little bit of heaven. Such a simple task, spend time with Jesus each day, such a great, GREAT blessing, such an amazing thing that God has granted for us to be able to spend time in heaven even when we are still here on earth. 

But learning isn't enough, it's one of those things that I need kept accountable to. So feel free to ask me: have you spent time in heaven today? It should be something that I have to almost be dragged away from because I can't imagine anything more to make my joy complete than to spend time each day with God.

Great joy - spend time in heaven

So what has God been teaching you?

Randomness

Inspired by the '25 random things about yourself' going around facebook, I decided to write my own list. I was never tagged, and I don't know if I would do it if I was tagged, plus I most likely have more than 25 random facts. 

I like randomeness. I love learning random facts about people and remembering the ones that count. I also like asking people random facts. I love having a conversation with a good friend and learning all those random things that either I should know about them and don't ( ie their favourite colour) or just learing the random stuff ( ie their ideal place to life)

So, random facts about Maria JoAnn Blackwood

1. I love middle names and wish they were used more often
2. I love reading, and buying books that I like, and giving books to people that I think they would like...I like books ( I read 100 last year and am hoping to beat that record by 1 this year) 
3. I enjoy blogging (writing on my own and reading others) and wish it was done more often
4.  I love strong coffee and while I prefer the real stuff over the instant when I am drinking it hot, I would rather use the instant than real for iced coffee.
5. I love snow and would prefer cold weather over hot most any day 
6. I've been teaching Sunday school for the past three years, and and glad to me learning so much about the bible - sometimes more than the kids I think
7. I recently started listening to several sermons a week via downloads on my zune from sermon audio 
8. I do a paper round - and I really enjoy it
9. I don't like sleep - it takes too much time (give me 6 hours and I'm good) 
10. I love star gazing, I LOVE STAR GAZING, I LOVE STAR GAZING!!! Especially out in the country where many shooting stars can be seen....and with a friend...and on a trampoline makes it all the better
11. I find life much easier with a routine/ schedule - if I can stick to it
12. I love horseback ridding, but rarely get to do it these days - how I miss living close to my grandparents and riding horses there. 
13. I have never broken a bone 
    
14. but I have many many scars on my knees and elbows 
15. I have been wanting to learn Japanese for sooo long and am finally getting the opportunity to 
16. In 6th grade I did a school report on Australia - not know at the time I would one day be living here
17. In December I am going to be in my first ever wedding - also the first of my siblings married!
18. I love singing psalms - so very much and often it brings me to tears of joy and/or sadness
19. I can play 3 musical instruments (the piano, guitar, and harmonica) and none of them very well. I wish I could play any and all of them better 
20. I love taking bike rides - especially early in the morning or late in the evening
21. I and 1/3 owner of a maroon '89Toyota Camry 
22. I love driving - cars, bikes, lawn mowers... etc
23. my favourite household chores are vacuuming, sweeping outdoors, and moping 
24. I love swimming in the oceans - especially when there are waves ( something that sometimes gets me in trouble) and no matter the season (winter never stopped a Blackwood from swiming) 
25. Dixons Creek is one of my most favourite places to go 
26. I love climbing trees/cliffs and jumping from high places ( especially when there is water below) and doing adventurous stuff - yet I am utterly terrified of roller coasters 
27. I love listening to music - especially in the car with all the windows down and loudly singing along with my siblings 
28. I love hearing people's testimonies
29. I cry when I am angry - a fact that is a great annoyance to me
30. I am very sentimental  
31. I would rather sleep on a couch, chair, or the floor than a bed. 
32. When I was in jr high I went to the cinemas twice wearing pajamas - right down to the fuzzy slippers and a teddy bear (only one of the two times) 
33.  I love cooking with children
34. I love long road trips
35. My least favourite food in the whole wide world is Velveeta cheese - it doesn't even deserve to be called cheese. I am very picky about my cheese 
36. I really don't like chocolate - unless it is 70% or darker and if it has coffee in it 
37. my favourite desert is trampoline chai tie latte ice cream. My favourite food is bagels any kind. And I had to go 2 years of my life without eating them because I had braces, and they are kind of hard to come by in Australia, so I hardly get them anymore, but every chance I have leaves me VERY excited! 
38. I love exploring with my siblings (especially Allen)
39. I once ate a chocolate covered cricket 
40. I love snakes and spiders fascinate me 
41. Most of my childhood nights were spent sleeping in my parents closet (only to be sent to my room half way through the night. Many sleepwalking incidents occurred at that time - including picking up barrettes and thinking the bathroom was my bedroom. My parents and older brothers liked to laugh at my sleeping/walking/talking habits. )
42. When I was younger most of my life was lived outside
43. I have probably had close to 50 pet cats in my lifetime (and could tell you the names of most every one of them)
44. I love stuffed animals and always have. Most of my childhood stuffed animals were named because of a word or part of a word found on their tags. I still have some of them. 
45. Tamara and I once tried to climb down a cliff only to get majorly stuck and finally get helped down by randoms 
46. To my great pleasure I once saw at least one member of the Jonathan Blakston family for more than 50 days in a row (and mostly without even trying)
47. My favourite job on a summer missions trip to Florida was taking the seeds out of rotten mangos. It was hot, and they were smelly, and there were tons of maggots in the barrels, and they were MAJORLY rotten. I did it with Addie and Oee, and what started out as disgusting turned into a supper fun (and still rather disgusting) rotten mango fight. 
48. Benjamin and I once spent nearly an hour collecting and lining up trolleys in a Wall-Mart car park
49. I eat the entire apple and all of the watermelon 
50. I am very glad to have moved to Australia

so there you have it 50 pieces of randomness about me. I could go on, but I better stop there , mostly likely it won't even get read all the way through as long as it is, but that's alright, I had fun writing it anways. :) 

The past several weeks, our family has had a wonderful thing - togetherness! Charity, Zachary, and Eleni came over here from America for about a month. Today is there last day, but the past several have been anything but boring. I've put links for a few photos, enjoy a look. 

They arrive 

Here are just a few things I've noticed that have been different since they have been here:

 We spend more time after meals just talking. 

There are always lots of people cleaning up the kitchen together

Our house is louder

Our room is messier 

We watch less movies and play more games

We go to the beach more often 

The beauty of a sunset 

Point Leo 

We travel a lot!

It has been a wonderful 4 weeks, and I praise God that he allowed us to be together for Christmas and several weeks as well. It's lovely!

But I know today will end, and tomorrow will come, and they will be gone. I do not look forward to the end of today. I love you dear siblings and almost sibling! And I will miss you incredible. I can't wait to see how God continues to use you all at Purdue. Keep in touch. See you later DV.

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In other news: I got into the Early Childhood Education course at Tafe. I am doing it with a friend from church Hollie Cloherty. I am quite nervous about it, but it will be great to have a good Christian friend doing it with me.