Beach Mission '09

Here we go: Beach Mission '09. I can't sum it up quickly; it was probably the best and most bittersweet, longest yet quickest, and most different mission I've ever done.

Section 12:
So it all started post-mission 2008, when Craig was talking to me about section 12 and I knew where the conversation headed, what he was going to ask me, and what I was going to reply. He asked me to be on the section 12 core team, and though I didn't much want to leave section 6, the thought of helping to start something new was exciting, and it was one of those things that you just know you are meant to do.
I still did wrestle a lot with the idea. I had done seven beach missions at section 6; I know the people, I know the team, I have spent nearly half of my summers there.


Hub:
This year I was part of the core team, or 'hub' as some call it. The area that I looked after was team life, and I like to think that I was successful. Because our team life was pretty swell.
Being a hub member involved pre-mission meetings, getting up earlier on mission for more meetings, delegating tasks (the best bit), trying to be role-model-ishly responsible, making announcements, and crazy dancing.
I only had really one day with a full siesta while on section 12, just because there were always things to do and organise. Next year though I plan on being more prepared and having my siesta thankyouverymuch.


Highlights:
Going on both sections:
I definitely loved getting the best of both worlds. I hadn't been planning on joining section 6, but I'm glad things worked out the way they did because I had much fun and got to see the section 6 program.

Matt Waters Owns Josh:
A group of us are standing around one night and Josh makes a comment about 'guy' who likes 'girl', and 'girl' has boyfriend, so 'guy' should back off.
Matt says:
"Josh, last year you were trying to pick up my sister and she had a boyfriend. You're a tool."
Oh, it was pure gold.

Section 12's team life:
I don't think I've ever worked with such a unified team. There were next to no conflicts, and everyone got along with everyone else, it was brilliant.

Section 6 Beach Party:
I danced to the Backstreet Boys, whilst wearing socks with my sandals, what more can I say?

Dave B gets his gansta on:
On section 12 one day it was Dave Burt, Boots, and me on the Memory Verse, and we did a gangster rap. Oh the hilarity, becausewearethethreemostganstapeopleonmission. Not.

Lowlights:
Failing:
Going home to fail my license test was a bummer. But I'm still a pretty wicked driver. But I think it may be the very first thing I've failed in my life that I actually tried at. Short of trying and failing to catch a ball, which hardly counts.
I had been planning on not telling anyone when my test was, in case I failed it, so I was going to change the day to not-the-day-after-mission. But people were all 'no do your test!' so that worked out well after not driving for two weeks and being super tired. Not.

Section 12 Cooks:
Probably the only low point from section 12. It wasn't really the cooks that were the lowlight, more the fact that I'm used to my mum being the cook and the kitchen tent being like a second home. Our cooks were not only not my mother but also very strict and uptight compared to what I was used to, which was just weird.


Comparison - Section 6 & 12:
I lurved getting to go on both sections; they were both awesome but in totally different ways.
Section 12 was fantastic, we had a really great team and the atmosphere was always fun and relaxed. The program, though, was lacking and scattered. It was good, but there were a lot of new people, plus the mission has only been running again for two years now so we don't have as much resources or materials that a lot of us are used to. (aka section 6 doesn't share. OUCH. kidding)

Section 6 had a schmrilliant program I thought! It was very very good and there were soooo many people who came along. The quality of what I saw was just great. The atmosphere was different to section 12 though. It wasn't bad or negative, it was just such a massive contrast to go from a team on such a high to one that was not as high. On drugs. (N).
People seemed more tired at section 6, which is understandable because of the length, and it may just be my way of adding drama to everything, but the atmosphere sometimes even felt a little tense. Although I did hear about quite a lot of tension between different team members.

It looks like I'm on for section 12 in 2010 again, which is still bittersweet. But I'm looking forward to gettin' some meetin'*s on.

*that apostrophe is not misplaced.

Beach Mission '09 - The Prelude

Not quite ready to blog about mission yet. It was all such a quick blur that I am still sorting things out in my head.

But here is a short poem while we wait:

Black Booger, Black Booger,
Sitting in my nose.
Black Booger, Black Booger,
Tissues are your foes.

Black Booger, Black Booger,
So satisfying to pick,
Black Booger, Black Booger,
But not quite so to lick.*

Black Booger, Black Booger,
It's bitter-sweet to say goodbye.
But Black Booger, Black Booger,
To say I miss you would be a lie.
-

*Not that I've tried... but I can't imagine it being very tasty.

PSUFM Blog

Just to let you know,
A Peninsula SUFM blog has been set up at http://psufm.blogspot.com/

The blog will let you know everything that's going on, with some pictures and prayer requests as well.

Go have a look, subscribe via email, and don't forget to tell your friends about the blog and visitor's day!

Such Love...

I don't really have anything to blog about... I just felt like blogging.
It's been ages since I've written anything blog-worthy...

A lot has happened since my last 'real' blog post, here are some of those happenings in list-form:


-I live with my sister Holly now! It's exciting and challenging and different. Sometimes I hate it, sometimes I love it.
It's good because I am learning and growing, bad because it's inconvenient travel-wise and because it's hard to break old lifestyle habits.

-I turned sweet (and sour?) 18! A fact I am (usually) proud of.

-I have done many barely mentionable things like making a giant cuddly tea bag, going to the show, being awesome, being not-so-awesome, having a school formal, various birthdays & such...

-I have a new phone number but I don't know what it is... so don't ring/message me.

-I have a car! (No license yet) It's an old, boxy Corolla, metallic/olive green. I have named it Jpeg, on account of it's square nature.

-I submitted all my VTAC/Uni stuff... how exciting.


There endeth the list.

The title of this blog has nothing to do with the blog really, it's just a song I have stuck in my head.

Such love
Such love
Such love is this for me...

This is Jesus
In his glory
King of Heaven
Dying for me
It is finished
He has done it
Death is beaten
Heaven beckons me


Well, I suppose now that the title does relate to the blog.

I've been thinking a lot lately, that I wish Vetamorphus went for two years...
I miss my group and I miss the weekly meetings. I don't have any substitute for those. Not even a church small group because everything's all changing at the moment and the only small group I'm involved in is one I'll be leading.
Which doesn't mean I can't learn and grow still, but it's different...

Beach mission stuff is finally getting started. I'm on the Rosebud/Section 12 team this year which is different, I'm going to miss McCrae like all heck, I've spent nearly half of my summers there.

Sigh. Yawn.

Psalm Number Emily.

This is the Psalm I wrote when Ben Wilson ran TNT at Beach Mission this year. I've been meaning to post it for a while, but I kept putting it off because I wasn't sure if I wanted to... actually now I'm thinking that I don't want to again.

Okay, I will post it.
Some of it might only make sense to me/some of it is very metaphorical.


Oh Lover, it's been years.
That time so long ago,
I drowned in you.

Oh Lord, how long has it been,
Since I saw your face shining down on me?

I wonder, if you wouldn't like to take my hand;
We'd walk, we'd sing, we'd dance.

Oh God, something rests heavy on my soul.
What weighs heavy is the want, the need to feel you.

I want to dry their tears, Lord;
I wonder if you wouldn't stop me drowning in my own.
I want to see them dance, Lord,
and I wonder, if just this time,
You wouldn't like to hold my hand;
We'd walk, we'd sing, we'd dance.

-

Peninsula SUFM 2008

I never know how to start a blog, so this is my introduction to my blog about beach mission.
Okay, got that out of the way.


Beach mission this year was... good. This was the first year I didn't have my mum on team, and I was surprised that the only difference it made is that I didn't have anyone to scam money off.
This year is also the first time I was an 'official' leader because the other years I was too young, even though I did all the same things.
It felt strange to realise that I was a proper leader, I guess I still sort of feel like a team kid sometimes.

I had a lot more fun this year than other years I think, because of the people on team. There were loads of quality people this year, so that was fun, but the relationships with some team members were also what made my mission really bad.
I'm usually fairly easy going, but there were some people on team who I had to avoid so that I didn't crack it. But I won't really go in to that.

One of the things that really kept me going was time alone with God. If we didn't have that half an hour I don't think I would survive. I can get so frustrated being around so many people all the time, so TAWG was a life saver, and it's something that I want to keep doing in my daily life.

I was in the little teens group this year, which I love, but they're so annoying sometimes.
They were so easily excited and loud, it was hard to run any sort of planned program just because of the way they act, we also never expected to have such big numbers of them.
But they're fun to be around, and although whenever we tried to do something central to God they just made jokes or avoided it, I think we built some good relationships and foundations for later years.

What I love about mission, besides the relationships with the team and families, is the way we live. I love the simplicity of it, and I love that I don't need many things to live. I remember at one point getting dressed in the morning and looking at all the clothes I brought, I didn't even wear some of them, I didn't need half the stuff that I took on mission with me.
I would love to live like that every day. Sure, it's nice to have some luxuries now and then, but we don't need them.
I can't really get out what I'm trying to say properly, so if you understand then tell me so.

This simplicity is one of the reasons I didn't want to come home, back to a complicated life where I'll probably just get addicted to luxuries again. I also didn't want to listen to people complain about stupid trivial things which they seem to do a lot in this society.

And my asthma on mission was non-existent.
Now I'm home I can't breathe.

Post Mission Blues -
This year, there aren't really any PMB. I'm not exactly sure why this is, I thought maybe it was because of Matt's goodbye party--we got to see people so soon after. But even now the PMB still haven't really come.
Last year I nearly cried on the way home, this year was just 'meh'.


Overall, it was a good mission. One of my best and worst at the same time.

Post Mission Blues.

Well, I might have figured it out.
The reason I got Post Mission Blues so bad this year is because I had nothing to go home to.
Sure there was youth, but that's once a week, and school is a downside, not an upside.
When I think about the changes in my life recently, the only reason I didn't want to leave beach mission so much, besides all the great people and kids/teens/families, is because I didn't want to go back home.

I really hate being at home, more than anything right now.
So much so that sometimes I refer to it as 'house' rather than 'home'.
I dread being at home.
It wouldn't be so bad if I could go somewhere to escape, but there's nowhere to go. My bedroom is the size of a box, and I have the privacy of a flea...as unrelated as fleas are...I just wanted to write flea...can we all move on? Good.
I can't drive either. Well, I can, but not by myself.

Anyway, I feel slightly better, to have figured out the deep, dark root of my PMB, but also feel slightly worse to face the fact that I hate it here.

Begin to hope...