Brooke's Australia Adventure Update - Autumn 2009, May 17, 2009

Brooke’s Australia Adventure Update – Autumn 2009, May 17, 2009

Dear friends,

I greet you all in love and thankfulness for your friendship over the years. There has been much happening here in Sydney and it seems that although this season was long anticipated, there is a fullness to it that seems hard to enjoy at times, like a bursting at the seams! I know from other friend’s engagement periods that it is a very hectic season, but to be in the midst of it is a different cup of tea entirely! I want to begin this update with a beautiful scripture that had been spoken over my life just prior to my moving to Australia. It speaks of new seasons in life and as I was leaving a fantastic place and moving to a new unknown, this scripture brought hope and this hope has been fulfilled and continues to offer hope in what lies ahead, now for Brendan and I together.

Song of Songs 2:10-12
“My lover spoke and said to me, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me. See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.”

Brendan has chosen a dove motif to be with us in our wedding and I feel this is an appropriate symbol, not only of lovebirds and partnership, but also representing the Holy Spirit that we both seek to live to be guided by under His wisdom. We need this wisdom and discernment so much as we navigate expectations of a wedding and our own differing thoughts about where to live and how to set up a home.

Mark 1:10-11
“As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

The wedding plans continue to march forward and we have chosen the date of the 15th of August to be the day of our wedding. We will wed in Newcastle in the same rotunda where Brendan proposed and celebrate with friends and family in his neighborhood Ex Services Club in Mayfield. We are planning also to have many of Brendan’s Macedonian traditions as a part of the wedding and celebration, including music and dancing. It has been quite a learning curve for me to see how much is involved, coming from a very different cultural background. Once our engagement was announced, Brendan’s Macedonian family members came out of the woodwork to bring over boxes of chocolate, cards and cash (for the bride!) to celebrate the engagement and his parents served as the perfect host and hostess to thank these guests. Since Brendan and I live in Sydney, we were only present for one of these encounters, but reaped the benefits as often as we visit his parents in Newcastle as inevitably there is a stack of chocolates to take with us! It has been amazing to see the love and excitement his family has lavished on us in this season.

We were also very blessed by the amazing family I stay with, the Saxton’s, who hosted for us a fantastic engagement party at the end of April to be able to celebrate with our Sydney community, along with many of Brendan’s family who journeyed down from Newcastle and the Central Coast. It was a wonderful gathering and a preview of how the wedding day will be – a whirlwind! It is fun to have all of these different friends and family converged together to share in our joy. At times, I have gotten a bit sad that my biological family and so many dear friends live so far away, but I know that truly God has provided a rich family in Christ here for me and is knitting me in a physical sense into Brendan’s family in this season.

Psalm 68:6
“God sets the lonely in families …”

Part of this extended family for me these past two months has meant going to the Colour Conference – a women’s conference that HIllsong Church puts on each year with some amazing women from my community here. It has also meant serving with Brendan yesterday as ushers at a wedding of two amazing 60-something year olds that God has given a second chance of love and marriage, a widow and a widower, perfectly matched in this season: Sally Anne and Ken. It looks like having an amazing home group at Dayspring Church that also threw a fantastic joint engagement party for us and another couple in the group, Brooke and David – another American/Aussie couple that are journeying alongside us in this season of cross-cultural wedding planning. God has been so faithful!

In the work side of life, the past few months have been quite a juggle and a time of challenge and growth as I seek to work with excellence at two different roles. Working two different jobs and wedding planning in my spare time (Ha!) is often like switching gears and I often do not get a chance to rest. I would sincerely ask for your prayers as I seek to navigate the different deadlines in all three areas and this sense that I have of always being task-oriented and driven. I am grateful for the cooler temps that keep me feeling it is good to be inside and doing work and less tempted to slack off. And of course I must say, I am very grateful for both roles.

The work with Young Life is such a blessing and it does truly fit me very well. I have loved getting involved so much in the lives of the volunteers that sacrifice so much to the calling of the ministry and to loving teenagers. Please pray for creativity as I seek to recruit more volunteer leaders and committee members for both the Ryde and Crows Nest areas. One huge praise report is that we had our annual National and Ryde area banquet on Friday night and for the first time ever; it was a packed, sold-out event. That is amazing during a time of economic downturn. To see people dig deep and choose to be generous and commit to financially partnering with the ministry is an incredible encouragement. I had the honour of MCing the event, and it is opportunities like this that Young Life has given me that really allow me to rise to the occasion, step out in my gifts and passion, and see God at work in and through my life. In the past two months working with Young Life, I have been able to train volunteer leaders, encourage people to study scriptures, put on a seminar at our Northern Region Leadership Retreat, twice give club talks to teenagers, attend committee meetings and meet and connect with countless donors. It is so much fun!

In regards to my work with Women’s Forum Australia, that too has been rewarding and enjoyable. We have our June fundraising appeal that I am busily working on at the moment and once Sarah, who I have been covering for while she is on maternity leave comes back, I’ll shift gears into the marketing and sales role more fully. I have been enjoying meeting and working beside women of intelligence, passion and incredible work ethic. Our goal is to continue to help create a woman-friendly culture in Australia. The jobs’ perk for me is when I am able to meet with a member or hear one of our directors, or ambassadors, like Melinda Tankard Reist speak. Since I work from home for WFA, and out in the community more for Young Life, it is a good mix of administration and people work. Please pray with me for creativity on how to impact and involve our members and subscribers with this next fundraising appeal. The work of non-profits will always have these fundraising approaches as part of them, and while it can be taxing to do, I know that it is necessary and I am continually trying to be optimistic and learn from them.

Matthew 10:9 &10
“Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.”

I know I must update you all on our stolen property situation. First, let me thank all of you for your faithful prayers and messages of hope and love you have sent when we let you know our news. We are still very much hoping for a miracle, but at this point, we have not recovered anything. I often wonder if I would have pressed in as much in prayer immediately following our engagement if the situation hadn’t occurred. And, having to share Brendan’s car has been teaching us both a lot about laying down our lives for each other. I think this engagement period is indeed a good lesson in that marriage in many ways will be a dying to ourselves, sometimes easy and fun because of the adrenaline being in love provides, but often a painful, honest process. I am very excited and grateful to be marrying a man with such integrity and faith and in only 13 weeks we’ll be joined. More than likely we’ll buy a new engagement ring with our wedding bands, but we still believe God is protecting our rings and hearts in this union.

John 15:13
“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
Thank you all for your friendship, prayers and love. Please keep in touch! Until next time… Brooke Gagnon