Meredith Rounsley

Here We Go…

I’ve thought a lot about how to start off my first blog on this new site format. One of my friends told me that he absolutely detests the “welcome to my blog!” entry. I have a bio page for all of that goodness so I suppose I’ll spare him and just dive into a real, honest to goodness, blog entry.

My move to Australia is now imminent. There are suitcases to be filled, travel documents to be photocopied, and people to see before I leave my homeland. I am listening to old Bethany Dillon songs as I begin to throw away trash in my room (don’t want anything to mold while I’m gone) and gather things that need to go with me. I never realize how much stuff I tote around until I pack for a trip. Now that I’m paring down to the necessities I find the whole ordeal slightly comical. To buy SPF 50 in Australia or to bring it with me…that is the question!

Something in me has always desired to be adventurous. I’ve left the country on a mission trip before and I have dragged my parents along with me on car and plane rides to places like Nashville or Colorado. This time, however, is a very different deal. No one boards the plane with me. I will spend almost a day with the acquaintances (hopefully friendly and believers in deodorant) that sit to my right or left. My decisions go from “What time should we all meet for dinner?” to “How am I going to get to the grocery store without a car?” Scary as that may seem, I’ve never been more excited!

Though I have seen a few different places in my lifetime, I know that I will never have seen them like this. Australia is going to become home. There will be a barrage of new traditions and cultures. Hillsong College is flooded with international students that I am excited to meet and share a common goal with. I will be seeing my Uncle Kevin for the first time in years and meeting his Australian wife, my Aunt Jo, and getting to know a side of my family that I may not have known existed. My life is going to flip upside down. And not just because of the hemisphere differences.

God has been so faithful in bringing me to this point. I’ve had some big dreams during these nineteen years, some of which seemed downright impossible. And now I’m about to see the biggest one of them all come to fruition. Some nights I can barely get to sleep. I’m too psyched about all of the incredible things that I will experience this next year. I am absolutely humbled by the kindness of those who have helped me pay for tuition, sent me encouraging letters, given me travel advice, given me a place to sleep when I get to the country, and prayed for me as I prepared for this journey. There are things that I didn’t even know I needed…and you all have been there to lend a helping hand. You are incredible, wise, and honorable people. Thank you so much!

So this is it. I’m going to Australia.