Getting into the Swing of Things

It has once again been quite awhile since I've posted. I think sometimes after e-mailing people back and taking some time to relax I dread having to post. It's not that I don't want to keep people updated, it just seems like I have been doing a lot of the same things, although today's job was a little different than the usual.

Today, being wednesday, I had the lovely privilege of mowing some of the grass and doing some trimming. Mowing grass in the hills sucks, a lot. I'm not really sure how to describe, let's just say it wasn't the most enjoyable experience I've had here so far. To top it all off, when I was almost done one of the more steep embankments I hit a tiny little rock and it cracked a window on one of the YWAM vans, lucky for me people are fairly forgiving around here. We're almost done the last of the retaining wall with a large stone staircase and we're starting to rebuild an old shed. It seems that we won't run out of anything to do on the base in the three and a half months that we'll be here for.

For those more interested in something else besides work: Graham and I, along with three of the girls from the base, went down to Glenelg on saturday. Glenelg is one of the biggest beaches in South Australia. The drive was about 40 minutes, but it was worth it. The beach goes on for quite a way and the beautiful condos, restaurants, and cafes that run along the sand are a site to see as well. It was quite a windy day and still not too warm so we stayed out of the water, for now. When the warmer weather comes along in December we'll have the opportunity to go surfing, kayaking, and most likely cliff jumping. (Don't tell my mom, but South Australia has a high population of great whites in some areas). Anyway, as I was saying, lot's of amazing opportunities to take advantage of.

Well, seeing as I entitled this post 'getting into the swing of things' I should probably give you an idea of what the schedule is like here at the base. Most days we're up at around 7-7:30. We don't have an alarm clock, so it depends on whether or not the sun wakes us up. We usually start the day off with some PD's (personal devotions) and than header down for breakfast at 8 ish. Breakfast isn't prepared for us so it's usually cereal and toast or something creative like that. So far that's the only part of our schedule that's consistent. Mondays and Thursdays we have prayer and worship meetings and so we only start work after morning tea, which is usually about 11:30. Otherwise we start our work day at 9, with everybody meeting in the sunroom for duty dish out. Lunch is at 12:30 and we start work again at 1:30 ish. Most days we end up working until 5, I guess depending on which jobs we're doing and how urgent they are. Dinner (don't say supper or you'll confuse the crap out of them) is served at six. Graham and I usually end up taking a shower and than playing a few games of ping pong or respond to some of our fan mail. The evenings are something else over here... actually, they're quite boring sometimes. A lot of people end up shutting themselves into their rooms so that they don't feel like they're still at work, but Graham and I have slowly worked some of them out of that routine and convinced them to be social once again. So... if you're ever having a bad night and can't sleep at say, 3:30 in the morning, I'm sure one of us will be on the computer ready to have a nice little chat.

But alas, I must be off for now. It's been a hard days work and my body is telling me it's time to turn in. Again, I appreciate your prayers and encouragement. Keep encouraged in serving Him and I'd love to hear from all of you.

In the name of Christ,
Zachary