Life Down Under

The winds are still blowing......

The title to my previous post was not only figurative, but quite literal as well. The wind has been blowing all day yesterday, all night last night, all of today, and is forecasted to not stop for another 24 hours or so. I don't think it's been this windy since we moved here.

Well, seeing as how that was completely useless information, how 'bout something slightly more relevant? Yesterday in the mail I received my acceptance letter for my residence visa - "in principle", to quote the words of the immigration office. I need to send them my passport and more money, and then at that time, they will put my resident visa in my passport, which is valid for 2 years. At that point, I need to send them more money, fill out another short form (basically to prove to them that I still live here, am paying taxes, and all that important stuff), at which point......well, who knows what happens after that. Maybe at that point the paperwork and fees will come to and end and I can stay here indefinitely. Who knows. But anyways, it's nice to know that my application was accepted with no hiccups, and that I am free to stay here for at least another 2 years without having to think about immigration. Yet another milestone has been reached.

So, between that and the internship graduation, yesterday was quite a big day! Speaking of the graduation, it was an awesome night in which we got to celebrate and honor the 9 interns who have journeyed with us here for these last 5 months. It was good to have a night with our little community outside the walls of the prayer room to enjoy being together and celebrating and having fun. I think that anyone who has spent any amount of time in an intense, praying community will attest to the fact that feasting and celebrating together is just as important as fasting and praying together.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a much-needed restful day, and then it all goes into high gear on Monday, beginning the process of getting ready for this next group of interns who come in just over a month. Never a dull moment around here!