Hiking Cedar Creek

So I went Hiking Monday up a creek, Cedar Creek to be precise. It was a great day of relaxation fellowship and exercise, I have needed something like that. It's been years since I have done something like it, no trails, just slippery rocks and trees. There were no other people near (except the few people I was hiking with). The total trek was about 4-5 hard miles.
At one point during the journey I a couple of logs on a rock that had recently been a fire. There were still some coals and I was able to get it burning. so we had a (very) small fire while eating lunch. We also went up a tributary and then cut cross-country back to the small tributary (it was supposed to be back to main stream but due to the lay of the land, we ended up back at the smaller one), through some thick underbrush. Fires, rock climbing, scrambling cross country and a bit of a challenging hike, all the things I like to do when out for a day in the woods. What a great day!
I have more pictures of the Cedar Creek on my Picasa web album.

Loose ends

So, I finally finished our storage closet, all painted, the equipment put in, and the electrics all wired up, yea! I'll put some photos up later. Plus, the school is getting a new camera and that should arrive tomorrow and it makes me happy. Also tomorrow I am going on a hike up Cedar Creek with some friends which should be a lot of fun. And once I get some photos I'll put them up. That's about it for now

Yea for completeing things!

Rerecording dialogue for "Pie Shop"

So, I just finished the two-week training course I was taking to learn how to better gauge student's progress. I also just finished the second part of the 18 month course I am taking as part of what I'm doing here to learn how to be a better leader. I was an amazingly freeing experience to turn in all my homework that had been a source of stress and worry every time I thought about it for the last 3 months. I now have a three day weekend, and I'm going to spend most of the first day of it working, but it is finishing some cabinets and shelving I have been building in our storage closet. I have been working on this project for a long time (my original blueprints are dated August 28, 2007), and it's almost finished. Yea! It's a great feeling finishing things isn't it?

We need prayer!

Me on the set of "Pie Shop" which was shot while my parents were here

These past two weeks have been some of the most intense of my life. I am just about to finish a training course in Australian assessment requirements (it gives you the tools to tell if a student is learning). In addition to the course I still have things I needed to get and do for the school. This is not what has put me on edge. It has been the fighting for my school. I can't remember praying this hard or with this much intensity for anything before. But it seems to be having little effect outside of me, we have had three students who had been completely accepted to the school drop out for various reasons, and it feels like a kick in the chest. I know God is working but even though I haven't met those students (except through some Skype conferences) I am deeply concerned for them missing out on this opportunity. And that is the effect of the intense prayers on me. It has caused me to invest into the lives of these students, and to truly care and feel for what happens to them, and I love it. It's not often we get to see growth in ourselves, but this was an amazing example of it for me. When I think about where I was two years ago when I first came to Australia (it shocked me when I realized how long it has been). I begin to see some of God's reasons for bringing me here.

From my blog title this should come as no surprise. The SDF team here is in need of much prayer. Please pray for me often. We are all exhausted and have had all manner of problems that I can only call spiritual warfare. There is a full gamut of heath and visa and finance issues for both staff and students, students losing passion for doing the school. I don't understand it except that we know God is behind us, so Satan is against us. God must be planning something big.
Specific requests:
Passion in the students for the school
Health and Rest for the staff team.