50 First Days

Well folks, it's been 50 days since I last saw your beautiful faces. Fifty days... can you believe it?

Where has the time gone? Well, broken down you can look at it this way- It's either 1,200 hours, 72,00 minutes, or 4,320,000 seconds…I like to looks at the hours, because the seconds seem too vast. 

The first 50 days have been trying in every way possible. I've grown somewhat accustomed to the culture. The "no worries" motto that is so quick off the tongue of Aussies has been quite bothersome at times. I like to know details. I like to know the plan… “I can go with the flow if I know which flow to go…” But everyone is super friendly and unassuming, so that's refreshing!

I’ve made wonderful friends. I’m a part of a wonderful tutorial and connect group. It’s almost like a family! (They even call me "momma.") I look around the room and see world changers. That’s an amazing feeling.

I’ve grown up in so many ways… If it needs to be done, I have to do it. No beating around the bush, no waiting for someone else to try it out... just me. It’s helped me become increasingly decisive. Example: Yesterday I walked almost 6 miles job searching. It was my third time going. All together I’ve gone to 23 places. Almost everywhere closes at 5pm which does not allow much availability during the week. I’m believing that Jesus knows exactly what I need. Please pray.

The two things that come to mind as some of the most difficult things I’ve had to face are the lack of physical contact and mom’s cooking! Mother, if you’re reading this, I want to thank you for all of the amazing meals you put on the table after you had a long day. You’re amazing. I look forward to coming home and cooking with you. I’ll peel the potatoes!

As for the physical contact part, don’t be freaked out… I’ll be fine. I guess when you come from an environment where you feel so safe and loved to one where you come home and no one’s there to greet you or ask about your day, it changes things.  It’s hard not hugging, cuddling, or simply sitting with family and friends. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not all alone all the time, and I do hug people, but it’s not the same…

I miss the way the kiddos at church would attack me with hugs and kisses. I miss the way I could sit there and pet Sadie. I love that I could sit on the couch snuggled up with a book and hot chocolate. Gone are the days of my walls being covered with art. Gone are the days of playing piano at any hour I desired. Gone are the days of being at my favorite park in 10 minutes. Gone are the days of the Dollar Store. Gone are the days of feeling the fresh Oregon air against my face. Gone, gone, gone, but not forever.

Already God is molding me and shaping me in ways that could only happen with me being 13,617. 35 miles from home.  So for that, I’m incredibly grateful.

I wish I could somehow capture and share the sunset I see each morning. I wish all of you could travel here to experience the church, the school, well, I guess EVERYTHING! I fear that I’ll come home with too many memories and not enough words to describe them. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it…

So anyways, please know that I long for the day when I can be with you face to face, but I am so excited and feel incredibly blessed that I have the opportunity to be here. Thank you for all of your prayer and support. It sure makes it easier knowing that people haven’t forgotten me.

Love from Down Under. 

-Lindsey Luu, Butterfly, Lindzer-Binzer, Pipes, or whatever you prefer to call me. :) 

Just Keep Flying

You know the saying "Life goes on as normal?" Well, I challenge that... Life goes on as AWESOME! 

Although I feel like I'm running a million miles an hour, at least there's movement, ay?! On my way to meet up with Joslyn for a jog, I was just thinking and praying about not knowing my plans for the future,  and I kept seeing a tiny shadow around me. I looked up and there was a butterfly. Most of you know that that is one of my nicknames. I heard God say, "just keep flying..." It was a very good little reminder. I don't have to have it all figured out... Part of 1 Corinthians 7:17 in the Message says... And don't be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God's place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there...

Isn't that phenomenal?! I really like that. 

Anyways, it's throwing me off a little bit that it's snowing in Salem and mid-70's here. That's so weird! I'm thinking of Jon and Dan and how much they must enjoy having school delayed. I miss my bros so much. By the time I get back they are going to be like 3 feet taller than me. 

I don't know what else to tell ya America... 

Be blessed. Hug the people you love, cuz like I've realized, you don't always get to when you need it most. Call your friend and giggle. Go on a drive and hold hands. Play games with your family. Enjoy the food you may be tired of. (Especially cereal... it's like $7 a box here.) Find time to be spontaneous: Write a letter to an old friend. Buy someone flowers. Go on a road trip. I don't know... LIVE your life. 

Random...

Life is in full swing! I meant to write for Valentine's day, but neglected to do so. Oopsies. Hope you had a good one!

I received my schedule and am so expectant and excited for the classes, fieldwork, and church life I have the opportunity to take part in! I'm finding more and more that I LOVE learning! In so many classes I sit at the end of my seat so pumped to try and capture all I can from that class. It's all about expectancy and vision.

Here's a run down of the courses...
*Worship Band
*Music Excellence
*Old Testament Introduction
*Personal Leadership
*Church and Ministry
*Communication in Ministry
So pumped!

I've dropped my resume at 15 places, so please pray for the perfect employment opportunity.
It's a little difficult trying to figure out when I'll be able to work...
We have classes all week, serve midweek and twice on the weekends. But God is faithful, and He knows exactly what I need!

I just got home from connect group (like a small group) and had a wonderful time. I'm so excited to live life together with these people! We have so much fun sharing stories, talking about Jesus, and just hanging out. I feel challenged, encouraged and uplifted. I looked around the room and saw world-changers. People of influence, people called to amazing things. I'm so thankful to be a part of it. What an incredible blessing. It's like my Australia family!

Let's see, what else is new?

My flatmate and I get along tremendously well. We are constantly giggling. This morning we woke up to someone weed-wacking right outside our window. Who does that at 7am?! Anyways...

The sound of the new Aftermath album is filling our room. AHHH, SO GOOD. Seriously, get the album. It's life-changing! Sometimes I still can't believe I'm here.

Well, I'm going to go catch some zzzzz's.
Tomorrow's going to be a wonderful day!

Blessed Beyond Measure

Wow, another amazing day has come and gone...
I was able to play piano for the first time in about a month last night. In a crowded room it felt like it was just me and the ebony and ivory keys. It was glorious.

This morning I went to a Super Bowl party at the church. There were about a hundred people there. Some people were realllly into it, and others sat on the outskirts simply there for the fellowship. Guess where I was? Yep, you guessed it... the back row. Don't worry, I was sporting my green and yellow for Green Bay. (just because they are Jon's favorite team. Love ya brother) The only bummer was the lack of American commercials. So disappointed!

When I got home I relaxed for a little while and then started cleaning. (Our house has it's first inspection on Wednesday.) As I was wiping the top of the kitchen cupboards I glanced to my right and there were two cockroach traps. Of course I panicked... SO gross. I'm not exaggerating when I say there were probably around a hundred or more dead cockroaches. I refused to touch them. No way. No how. I draw the line! Needless to say, I chose a new area to clean.

As we were cleaning out the garage we came across three bags of clothes left by previous students. Blake and I took them to our room and went through them. Oh my goodness... perfect fit; on almost everything. And they are all really nice. A pair of Marc Jacobs pants, Express jeans, Gap shirts, etc. Blake estimates that it's probably $900 worth of clothes. JESUS LOVES ME. I'm so thankful. And whoever they belonged to previously, you have no idea how much you just blessed me. I wish I could hug you. (Wearing your sweater of course!) haha
I miss home so much it hurts sometimes. But the Aussie "no worries" attitude is making it's way into my heart... and my vocabulary. At random times I think, "what did I just say?!" It's quite silly.

Anyways, be blessed and remember that you are loved, chosen, important, and unique. Take a look at your fingerprint... Let it be a reminder of how cool God is, and how amazing He made you.
*Hugs and kisses from Sydney*

Priceless Memories, Precious Moments

Only in college will you get hand-be-down sheets that have an 80’s surfer pattern on them.

Pretty sweet, aye?! (Don't worry... I washed them!)

I spent the afternoon cleaning, organizing and giggling with my roommate. We listened to a lot of N*sync and TSwift. I tried to dance, and she just laughed at me. She’s in the dance stream, so I’m going to convince her to teach me. Haha

Then I collaged one of my notebooks for school! It was fun to be crafty again. I miss all of my supplies at home. But nothing like good ol’ magazine cut outs and tape!

I also got to talk to my daddy! Just hearing his voice makes everything better.

It’s 40 degrees celcious (104 farenheit) with about 100% humidity. It’s quite ridiculous! The sun is much different here. It’s brutal. I’ve been religious about putting on sunscreen (thanks mom, you taught me well!) You can’t go anywhere without sweating bullets. It’s disgusting. But I've lost 10 lbs. So let’s weigh the benefits. (Pun intended...) 

After finishing our room I walked downstairs and thought to myself... "this is becoming home." The thought scared me. But I guess it's good. I guess it's healthy. There's home-home, and then there is thiisss home. And if I don't let it become home, I will never fully allow myself to experience everything I should while I'm here. 

In the past few days I've had wonderful "God conversations" with people. Ya know what I mean? We're sharing life together. Most of the people I talk to are in the same boat I am... We have no idea what our futures hold, so we trust Jesus to direct us. It's awesome. 

There are around 60 different countries represented at Hillsong International Leadership College. I'm learning about so many different cultures. I feel like I was so ignorant before. I didn't know anything about other cultures. It's so wonderful to come to a place and have my eyes opened to the differences of the world. It truly is a small world after all...

Example: My friend Caroline goes to Seattle Pacific University. She's decided to go to India this summer to teach. I was talking to my friend Antonio here at Hillsong, and where Caroline's going is Antonio's hometown. Umm, isn't that crazy?!

Well, that was a bunch of random-ness, but I just wanted to keep you informed about what's going on. 

Love and miss you. 

-Butterfly

First Day of School

First day of school, first day of school! Picture me saying that just like Nemo... Because I totally did this morning. :)


Not going to lie, yesterday was difficult. My friends were going to see Tangled and although I had already seen it twice before, I was convinced to tag along. When we got to the theater they refused to give us the student discount so it cost 15 bucks. Lame, right?! It's a delightful movie, but all I could think about was home. I had seen it in America with my mom and my sisters on my birthday, and then I saw it with the Fehlen family as well. When I got home, I cried for probably an hour. 


It would be the first day of school where my parents weren't there to circle around to pray for me. It would be the first day of school where I didn't line up with Jon and Dan to take a pic. A very melancholy feeling, ay? 
You betcha. 


But when I woke up, I felt excited. It's finally here. My friends and I found seats, pulled out our notepads, pens (of all different colors of course!) and Bibles and took probably 7 pages of notes. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I felt very educationally and spiritually motivated. At one point I was overwhelmed by the amount of information seeping into my brain, but it's stuff I've always wanted to know! My classes are pretty much like church. EVERY DAY. That's legit. 


So here's a smile and a tear from Australia. Keep pressing on loved ones.