Where too?

I never thought I’d go to Malaysia or Indonesia.  But this past month, I found myself in both!  To be honest, amongst the countries on my “to-go” list, Aisa was not listed, but when I received an email from Hillsong College asking me if I’d like to go on a College trip to those places, I think it took me all of 5 seconds to reply with an emphatic, all-caps, “YES!”  What a cool 26th birthday present! 😉

A team of 15 of us went to 5 different locations within the 2 countries to do information sessions about Hillsong College as well as worship services at various Churches.  It was a an incredibly sweet time for me personally.  Yes, there were early mornings – like meeting in the hotel foyer at 3:00am to head to the airport for a flight – and late nights – apparently dinner at 11:30pm is normal thing in Malaysia, haha!  But oh-my-lanta, I had the BEST time!

I knew I loved travel, but this trip confirmed it once again to me.  My heart tends to fill up simply by observing a new place and experiencing new landscapes.  A lot of times my nose was glued to the window of our bus or plane, which is how I snapped these photos on my Sony:

I had coffee with a friend a week after returning from my trip, and she said “Karen, you look refreshed and inspired!”  And that is exactly how I felt.  It was like someone had blown a gust of fresh wind into my sails.  Even through long hours, and having a few sniffles after arriving home and battling jet lag, I felt “enlarged” somehow, and most certainly creatively inspired (I took hundreds of photos on the trip on my Sony!).  I guess I feel like elements of my calling were actually confirmed on this trip.  I gained confidence in my people skills, technical ability and my creativity.

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And so, with the uncertain future on the horizon (I graduate in 1.5 months and have no plan…aha!) if God can make a trip like this pop out of nowhere for me, what else does he have up his sleeve?  All in all, what a way to mark the 2 years and 9 months I’ve been on this Aussie adventure!

Taken from a sweet boat ride in Pontianak!