Pool Fun and Swimming Lessons...

We have the bonus of a pool here at the caravan park in HOT Cloncurry, we are very glad about this. It is so HOT here at the moment, more often than not it's in the high 30's slowly getting to the early 40's, so we use the pool nearly every day!
Most weeks we give the girls swimming lessons a few times a week. The girls had been doing swimming lessons back in Sunbury, Victoria for the last few years, and we've tried to continue them as best we can, teaching what we can, when possible. It has been good for them and they've improved in there swimming and become much stronger swimmers!

Another HOT day at the Pool :-)

Miss. Elissa...

Miss. Serena...

JUMP! Love these two xoxox

Refreshingly Cool...

Mr. Spunk ;-) Love this Guy xo

OK, it's my turn to jump in :-)

LOVE them...

Had a refreshing dip, zooper dooper time now :-)

That was Fun!
Now we are off for another refreshing dip :-)
I Hope all is well in your world...Take care xo
Dimi

This I Believe...

When having a chat with people and I tell them I'm a Christian, I at times get asked what that means.
We have some resources that are in line with the bible that we hand out to those that are interested and want to know, it really explains Christianity and God simply, these have been hugely helpful when chatting with people, so has sharing our testimonies (the stories of how we came to know God amongst many other testimonies we have). I've also come across this song and lyrics, so simple and beautiful are the lyrics I wanted to share them on here xo

Listen to the song and sing along with me :-D...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNiYUPsHgls 

 

This I Believe (The Creed)

Hillsong

 

Our Father everlasting
The all creating One
God Almighty

Through Your Holy Spirit
Conceiving Christ the Son
Jesus our Savior

I believe in God our Father
I believe in Christ the Son
I believe in the Holy Spirit
Our God is three in one
I believe in the resurrection
That we will rise again
For I believe in the name of Jesus

Our Judge and our Defender
Suffered and crucified
Forgiveness is in You

Descended into darkness
You rose in glorious life
Forever seated high

I believe in God our Father
I believe in Christ the Son
I believe in the Holy Spirit
Our God is three in one
I believe in the resurrection
That we will rise again
For I believe in the name of Jesus

I believe in You
I believe You rose again
I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord
[x2]

I believe in God our Father
I…

For I believe in the name of Jesus
For I believe in the name of Jesus

I believe in life eternal
I believe in the virgin birth
I believe in the saints' communion
And in Your holy Church
I believe in the resurrection
When Jesus comes again
For I believe, in the name of Jesus

I believe in God our Father
I believe in Christ the Son
I believe in the Holy Spirit
Our God is three in one
I believe in the resurrection
That we will rise again
For I believe in the name of Jesus
[x2]

For I believe in the name of Jesus

 

Songwriters: Ben Fielding / Matt Crocker

This I Believe (The Creed) lyrics © Capitol Christian Music Group

 

I believe in the name of JESUS xo

I Hope everyone is having a blessed week xo

Take Care,

Dimi

The Beautiful Colours of the Outback...

The BEAUTIFUL colours of the outback!
The burnt orange, more often than not the clear blue sky, and the golden, green surrounding bush...it is Beautiful. 
It is so HOT here, the sun beams down all day long, it's amazing that you see any green at all...it is Beautiful!

Large Rocky hills along each side of the road...

The Beautiful Outback Landscape...

This is our home...So very different to so many other parts of Australia, and still beautiful in it's own unique way :-)
Take Care and God Bless you xo
Dimi xo

What We've Been Up To...

We've now been here in the Cloncurry outback for about 6 weeks. In that 6 weeks we have been able to minister to quite a few people here, mainly at the caravan park. We've ministered to many casual travellers that have stayed here for just 1 night to a few nights. We've been able to have a chat and minister to some travelling families that have spent a few weeks here, resting from the constant travelling (and allowing time for our children to hang out together), we have ministered to back packers and the caravan park cleaners and we are ministering to the permanents here at the caravan park. We've invited a few people to church, none have come so far (but some will I'm sure) and over the last few weeks Shane has been asked to preach at the Cloncurry christian Church twice, we are sure that this arrangement will be an ongoing arrangement for as long as we stay here in Cloncurry.

The Pastor at the Cloncurry Christian church wants us to get more involved at church and in the community, so as always we will do all we can to help within the church and within this community...It is our pleasure to serve, and to be a helping hand here in Cloncurry and wherever we go!

Shane has been working in the early mornings cleaning Woolworths over the last few weeks, he will also be taking on shelf stocking at Woolworths for possibly a few weeks (could be ongoing) until November. We've applied for another cleaning job, so either I will do this job or Shane will leave Woolworths (which they are aware that he is only temporarily at Woolworths until a better paid job comes up) if the money and hours are better for us and we will both take the new job on together. So basically we will either have 2 or 3 jobs between the both of us, while homeschooling, ministering, preaching, family life...well it sounds like a whole lot of work but WE CAN DO IT, we are a Great team :-D It has been great, over the last few weeks we have had quite a few different job offers, so really the difficult part has been which job to say no to and which to take on that suits us best, both savings wise and hours of work.

We have become known to the locals and already feel part of the small town of just under 2,800 people. I've really warmed to this area, and even though it's in the outback and there is nothing much to do, we've actually found ourselves to be quite busy now that we are settling here for a while!

The girls are good, enjoying the pool here on most days (the weather here at the moment is HOT, usually in the high 30's everyday and it's only going to get hotter, well into the 40's and possibly 50's as the months go on) and doing a heap of extra homeschooling. The library as always is a big hit with them, and we go at least once or twice a week, usually spending a couple of hours there when we can. As usual, the girls take everything in their stride, they are little champions, always fun and full of life climbing trees, riding their scooters, usually reading a novel everyday or 2, making friends when there are other children around...I love our girls, they are very adaptable, confident, adventurous, they know that life is what you make it..I'm very proud of them xo

We are loving the beautiful sunsets here, even though it is very hot here, we enjoy a splash in the pool with the girls. We are getting used to the many green frogs we encounter in the toilets every day, but we are not getting used to the bugs, spitfires, midges, moths, mosquito...the bugs are difficult to get used to, we have been bitten many, many times. One of the times both my legs were infected with about 25 Midge bites, it was horrible. We've had to learn to apply horrible bug repellent on a daily basis to control the amount of bites we've had, even though I hate using bug repellent on both the girls and us, it is the only thing that seems to work.

Nothing much else to update on. The vehicle seems to be driving fine, and so it should be with all the $$$$$ we've spent on it. We've now driven to Mt Isa twice, just to check out and explore a different area and to purchase a few goodies for Elissa's birthday which is coming up fast!

Other than all that, life continues to move on and unfold before us and we continue to make the most of it :-)

I'm hoping all is well with everyone xo
 May God bless and direct your path xo
Have a good one xo 

Dimi

What we've Decided...

The Beautiful Colours of the Outback...

What has happened with our vehicle has forced us to re evaluate our plans. Most of our journey we have gone with the flow, not planning much ahead of time and it has worked out well for us.
When it was coming closer to the time we were heading down the red centre of Australia, we decided to put some plans in place for that trip, so that we were well prepared for the different conditions we would find in the outback and down the middle. We had planned and prepared well for this part of the trip, we had planned many overnight stops at some free camps, planned some caravan park stops (only ones with pools) so we all could have a dip in the pool after a long drive in the heat of the day.
We planned to go down the middle and back up and stop at Darwin for about 1 week, were Shane was going to have the opportunity to share his testimony with an Aboriginal community there. We then planned to purchase a generator (mainly for the use of our air conditioner since it was going to be VERY HOT) and free camp hop (basically go from one free camp to another and only visit a caravan park when we needed more water, needed to empty the porta loo, and wanted an extra long, good clean shower ;-)) in most of Western Australia. There are quite a few spots by the beach we looked forward to stopping at in WA, and we had decided after we did some exploring in WA we would stop in Perth to relax from our constant travelling and get some work and top up our budget.
(So when we were in Cairns we felt that we wanted an extra long stop so that we could all settle for a bit and have a break from constantly moving around, and we also wanted to top up our budget. We had done well with our budget, but since we had planned on a 12 to 14 month trip, we had needed to top it up because the way we were travelling we were going to take much longer than that. Before we left Sunbury we knew we might need to work, so this wasn't anything new for us).
We decided we would go down the middle of Australia first and then decide if we would return to Cairns to settle and work for up to 6 months, or go down to Perth to settle and work for up to 6 months.

So that was our plan!!

Well, I'm sure most would know that plan hasn't quite worked out, well not yet anyway. We still plan to do all the things I mentioned above, but...BRACE YOURSELF...Haha, we now have decided to stay right where we are, in the Cloncurry Outback!

So we are not going back to beautiful Cairns for rest and work, we are not going to beautiful Perth for those reasons either (well not yet anyway), we are staying in the Outback, Hahaha...I think we've been sitting in the HOT Cloncurry sun for too long and we've gone a little bit mad, Hahaha :-D

I'll give another update in a later post on what we've been up to here :-)

Side note: I just want to add, our journey continues but our travels have been put on pause for a little while, our posts will be fewer than usual..instead of up to 7 posts each week, I will post possibly 3 or 4 posts a week and update and journal what we have been up to. It also gives me an opportunity to write some posts I've been meaning to get around to.

So I'm hoping all is well in your world, and everyone is enjoying their week.
Till next time...Take Care xo
Dimi

Our Vehicle...

Our drive to Mt Isa...

Our vehicle has become a big topic the last 5 1/2 weeks we have been here in Cloncurry. It has become a bit of a joke here at our van park with the other travellers and permanents. We've become locals, and most people are aware about our vehicle situation, it's quite funny really...word really gets around quite quickly here, Haha!

What happened with the vehicle after the initial problems (which we were told wasn't caused by anything, these things just happen) was that the mechanic had put the drive plate on backwards, so he had to refit it the correct way. Now before everyone starts calling the mechanic names, he felt horrible and he was very honest and upfront with us, which we appreciated. The mechanic could have covered it up but he didn't! 
So the drive plate was corrected, and then another issue was found, for some reason the car wouldn't start in park, no idea why, but that too was corrected. All up we spent nearly $5,000 repairing and replacing parts for our vehicle, ARGGHHH! 

As I type our vehicle is parked in front of our caravan. We took our vehicle for a long 1 1/2 hour drive to Mt Isa and back (it was so lovely to be somewhere different) and Shane seems to think it is driving well. Really time will tell.
I have no trust in the vehicle and feel a bit anxious in it, especially because we are in the outback, not much is around us, each town outside of Cloncurry is hours away with no mobile coverage/or very little coverage in between towns, so that's a little nerve wracking, however, the anxiousness will pass I'm sure and we will move on as we have done in the past. We hope and PRAY HARD that we have no more vehicle (or caravan) troubles, but whatever happens, happens, we will cross each bridge when we get to it, no point in worrying yourself sick!

So that's the vehicle update...I'll catch everyone up on our travelling/journey update in a later post.

I'm Hoping Everyone is Well xo We are all well, Shane and Myself and Our Gorgeous Girls are doing very well xo
Take Care,
Dimi xo

Matthew 16:24...

We've been spending quite some time seeking God and loving it. Thankfully where we are situated in the caravan park, we usually (not always) are able to pump the worship music without disturbing anyone else, it's awesome. If you know us, you know we LOVE worship/prayer time with God and it's a big part of our life!
So while in prayer and worship time I felt God tell us, " Take up your cross and follow me," Our response to Him was...ALWAYS, we will ALWAYS take up our cross and follow You LORD, WOOOHOOOOOOO xo I LOVE HIM xoxox

Matthew 16:24...
Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone wants to follow me, he must deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow me continuously.

You know GOD is GOOD all the time, all the time GOD is GOOD!
If you are at all worried/concerned about me and my family, turn that concern into prayer for us, and don't worry, we are in MARVELLOUS hands. We trust God with every part of us, we are happy, we are healthy, we are loving life, one thing this family knows how to do well, is when life throws us lemons, we make the best lemonade you have ever tasted...if you know what I mean, Haha :-D

We LOVE GOD, We LOVE our Life, Life is GREAT, and when we have GOD, LIFE is MARVELLOUS xox
I hope everyone is well and enjoying life, life is what you make it after all :-)
Love,
Dimi xo