Well it has been a super crazy 6 months. In June I managed to land a job with Australia Post working in Security Risk Management. Thing is the job was in Melbourne. So over the past 6 months I have flown each month to Melbourne to work full time for about 1.5-2 weeks at a time. The idea was that it would lead to a full time position next year here (Melbourne) provided everyone was happy. So essentially I had to try and complete my final semester at uni whilst living out of a hotel in Melbourne for a significant portion of the semester, managed the job in Melbourne, and also a 2nd job at ECU in a laboratory. Things have been crazy as you can imagine, and at times I have really been a busy little bee. Looking back on it, I probably had way too much on my plate but I think I have come out the other side unscathed.
Moving on now, I have finished uni and just the other day my superiors made the formal offer. I will now be moving to Melbourne next year to start work full time in February.
Living away from home has been a real learning experience. Not only have I kind of learnt to cook and iron, but I have been challenged in such a personal level. I came in to it not knowing a single person in Melbourne, which meant that at times I was very lonely. But I have always looked to God in these moments and always received comfort. After about my second trip, I decided to find a church to attend. I had held off from doing this for a while as I was not 100% sure that I would be returning next year, but in the end I recognised the need to get that bit of Christian interaction and develop a friend pool in Melbourne. I started off going to Planetshakers City Church, but decided that AOG really wasn’t my thing. Then on my September trip I hired a car and drove to Crossway Baptist Church. The church in many ways is a lot like Morley Baptist, just much bigger and the great music that comes with it. But where it counts, the theology, they are very similar. As I didn’t go to Melbourne in October it stalled things a little, but I did make some contacts. This trip I again returned and since then have met quite a few people around my age. I have been made to feel very welcome and can really see myself making some really good friends here. Still early days but it is all going really well. But I have come to understand this is one of the roles that the Church fulfils. A family where you can make friends and a place to generally just feel a part of. It has been amazing though that since I started attending churches, especially Crossway; Melbourne doesn’t feel as empty and lonely as it first once did.
So I guess I should inform you readers what the road is from here. For starters I will be in Melbourne for another week then return to Perth for Christmas. In January I will be a leader on Glen Echo camp again which I am really looking forward to. This year’s camp proved to be very rewarding and I can only pray that this camp will be just as rewarding. But the main part of January will be to pack and say my goodbyes to all my Perth friends. I don’t really want to dwell on it to much at the moment as I know it is going to be so hard then, but I guess I will take it all in a stride. I also need to try and finalise my accommodation for next year. I have had a couple of “sleep on my couch” offers if I find myself without a house, but I am hoping to avoid this. I am searching for a rental house near Crossway Baptist in Burwood East (incl surrounding suburbs) and the only question really is whether I join an existing share house or create a new one. It no doubt isn’t going to be easy, but I am committing it to prayer and trusting that God will provide me another small miracle. Then in the last week of January, I will move everything to Melbourne and start a new life with new Church and new job in a new city.
