Countdown

Two weeks from NOW, Lord willing, I will be on my way to Paradise--Surfer's Paradise, Australia. It's one of those trips in which one day vanishes from life and another (on the return) lasts almost two--and still lands you back home a couple hours before you left! Amazing.

We depart on Wednesday, May 20, and arrive Brisbane on Friday, May 22, to begin the 17th Come before Winter Renewal on the May 25th. That renewal will end on Friday, May 29. Then on Saturday, May 30, eight of the 12 team members will go on to Madang, Papau New Guinea, to meet two other team members, and begin the 18th CbW renewal on Monday, June 1.

The notebooks and song books are finished, the name tags are being laminated, the gifts purchased and packed, the tote bags monogramed, and the luggage tags distributed. The two large print notebooks are finished, as well, and most of the costs at both hotels will soon be paid. The pretreat (the training retreat shared by both teams) remains but a fond memory from weeks ago. We are praying and fasting and waiting to witness the Lord's work in almost 80 women who live on the other side of the world.

Preparations have consumed the past two months and will extend forward through these last days before departure. There are still hundreds of details yet to be handled--cards to print--blessing cards, sharing cards, placecards--forms, name labels for materials, and many other more "trivial" supplies. Team members are seeing doctors for shot updates, investigating the best mosquito repellant and malaria meds, and going through our closets, searching for clothing appropriate for the more conservative mores of PNG. We are printing out our itineraries and contact information for loved ones, and some of us are writing cards and notes and making plans for last-minute trips to see the grandchildren. I am.

According to some who know, Surfer's Paradise is a party spot, not unlike Cancun, Mexico. That gives me pause as I prepare a program of spiritual disciplines for the 39 women from Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji who will attend. To be fair, it is winter in Surfer's Paradise (or almost); the beach will not be hopping, but still.... It does sound odd. I am trusting the recommendations of women in ministry "on the ground" on that side of the world. And to be honest, the hotel staff has been a complete dream with which to work. I am looking forward to seeing this world-reknown beach, even if wearing a sweater, and to meeting those who have become my email companions over the past year and a half.

Today, just because I could, and had time, and needed a diversion, I shopped for flippers, snorkel and mask--NOT for Surfer's Paradise, Australia, but for Madang, Papua New Guinea--on the off chance that I might squeeze in one swim in those waters, known by divers around the world as some of the prettiest anywhere (and its always summer on the equator).