There's no place like home...

We’ve been home now for two months. We’ve slowly settled in to our normal routine. Things are back to the way they were, and yet, they’re different. We are different. Our time away together has changed us all.

Kind friends ask, ‘are you glad to be home?’ and, our answer is, ‘yes, we are’. We’re glad to be back with family, our church family, friends, routines, our home and school . We’re glad for small comforts like a washing machine, a kettle, a bedside table and our own bathroom. Dorothy was right :’there’s no place like home.’

And yet, it’s not perfect. It was not perfect being away and it’s not perfect being home. We took our problems and annoying habits and idiosyncrasies around the world with us and they returned with us. It has been a good reminder for me. I longed to be on holidays before I went and I longed to be home when I was there. There is a restlessness in me (and, I suspect, in us all) which is explained by this verse from the bible

‘God has placed eternity in the hearts of people’ Ecclesiastes 3:10

God has made our lives so much more than just here on this earth. We are made to live eternally with Him. This world doesn’t quite fit because heaven is my home. Augustine wrote in the 4th Century AD

‘The only ultimate disaster that can befall us…is to feel ourselves to be at home on earth. As long as we are aliens, we cannot forget our true homeland.’

In this life, God gives us glimpses of our life to come. We have good times – our trip was one of these good times – and so was coming home again. These good times are God’s generous gifts to us. Max Lucado says

‘…. we have our moments. The newborn on our breast, the bride on our arm, the sunshine on our back. But even these moments are simply slivers of light breaking through heaven’s window. God flirts with us. He tantalizes us. He romances us. Those moments are appetizers for the dish that is to come.’

It would be a tragedy if all we took away from our holiday was the photos, memories and a desire to keep travelling the world. We do have those things but we also have much, much more. We have a deep thankfulness to God for the opportunity and family times we had. We are amazed about God and His wonderful world. These things are the appetizers. But we also know that we struggled. Things didn’t live up to our expectations. And they don’t now we’re home, either.

Our odyssey has reminded us again that there’s no place like home: and we look forward to the day when we are at home with God, forever.





Karen

Arriving Home

We were so warmly welcomed home! Thank you all!

We appreciated the flowers, phone calls, food, sign, gifts, hugs, clean house and enthusiastic greetings. It's great to be back.

the church bulletin on our first week back







mum and dad booked a limo for us to bring us home - we needed a trailer on the back for all our luggage!

part of the magnificent job our parish council did to have our home all ready - I wish I could show you the osso bucco, wine, home baked bread, full fridge & fruit bowl, flowers, pasta bake - but we've eaten and enjoyed them all!

Mother's Day, 2011

Verdun, France. Lots of secret activity. The result: a Mother’s Day to remember!

I have had a great day, today, on my 14th Mother’s Day. I was woken up by the church bells nearby and then receive somed pressies, (including slippers and chocolates – Mother’s Day staples!) and had a breakfast of croissants and cereal. My card (which Michael had brought with him from Australia and carried all this way – impressive!) was particularly touching, especially the picture Aidan drew of us all at a mother’s day disco, complete with mirror ball!



We went into the village and wandered around – the city was a major Gallic, Roman and Medieval centre. We then went towards the battlefields. Lunch was a picnic at a picnic spot by the side of the road. We sat down to eat (a very yummy lunch I might add) and noticed we were surrounded by grassy trenches – leftover from the war. The boys had fun playing there after lunch!




We then went and saw some of the sights of Verdun. A major battle of World War 1 was fought here. The statistics are devastating. In the 10 month battle, 700 000 men were killed, wounded or missing. We went to the ossuary which has the bones of 130 000 unidentified soldiers, and saw a short movie about the war. We also went to the museum which had information about the battle here and also the war in general. In France, Verdun has the same mythical status as Gallipoli has for us.



It’s very sobering, and moving. So many women sent all their sons to war and never saw them again. Whole generations were killed and wounded. On this Mother’s Day I was especially thankful to God for my four sons.

Karen

Beautiful Day

We had expected to limp over the line this week. We have been so keen to get home that we just thought we’d drive, pack, clean, tolerate each other and collapse happily inside the door of 18 Wallis Close on Friday morning.

So, to the last day. It could have begun badly. The day before we had decided to drive to Trier. We pulled up at the van park there in the afternoon and it was like a scene from West Side Story meets The Terminator. Concrete everywhere, and the site was nestled between a freeway and an underpass which was decorated with graffiti and filled with burnt out cars. The ground was covered in broken glass.

A quick decision was made – to move on. Who knew whether the next van park would be better? But it couldn’t be worse.

And so it was that we woke up on our last morning on an island in the Mosel River. Green grass, great playground, outdoor table by the river. Steep, green hillsides all around, some covered with grape vines. We sat out there to have breakfast and were joined by a family of two ducks with their six ducklings who climbed up out of the river. After brekkie the boys played, Mike washed up and I sat by the river and read my bible.

We then left and drove up out of the valley – winding roads and beautiful scenery. We listened to the ‘Sons and Daughters’ CD by Sovereign Grace which was great too. We had run out of food so found a McDonalds for lunch and as we went in we found the local vouchers for massive discounts. And, the boys met a family from Coffs Harbour in the playground!

After lunch we kept driving (and I kept cross stitching) to the RV depot to pick up our bags so we could pack them during the afternoon. Mike asked the man there where we could stay the night. He suggested a truck stop 2km away as the nearest van park was 30km. Despite that, we decided on the Laubach van park.

It was gorgeous. Helpful, English speaking Saskia who ran the place loaned us a vacuum cleaner, gave us a shady site right next to the playground and when we asked for a family friendly dinner location, she said, ‘the schloss is a great place to eat. Not too expensive and kids are welcome.’ Dredging through my year 8 German… schloss… ‘isn’t that a castle?’ ‘yes, it’s the castle in town’. Me, trying to sound calm, ‘that sounds lovely’. A German castle!!! For dinner!!!

The boys spent all afternoon playing in the playground with a fantastic old fashioned water pump which flowed to a series of troughs and dams. There was also an Olympic sized trampoline which had a workout from Luke! And Michael and I packed and cleaned and managed to get it all done.

So, then, out to dinner. It was everything we had imagined. We ate out in the courtyard next to a statue and, as the dusk fell, retold our whole odyssey, with everyone chiming in with favourite parts and funny stories. Despite the lack of English from the waitress we managed to order schnitzel, wedges and salad for all the boys and by miming various animals worked out what most menu items were! Moselle for me and German beir for Michael complemented the meal. We then sampled one of each of the three desserts on the menu. It was fantastic.

The only glitch came when we went to pay… they didn’t take visa… so the waitress led Michael back out into the marketplace to an atm. Phew… we’d still be there washing up otherwise!

What could have been a very ordinary day was a Beautiful Day. We are so thankful to God for His kindness and generosity. What a way to end our odyssey.

Karen

Happy Families

We’ve had some feedback on our blog – from readers who find it a depressing account of the perfect Williamson family happily tripping around the world, Michael and Karen gazing into each other’s eyes as we see the sights and our boys blissfully soaking up every cultural experience we can offer them and angelically reading the bible each night.

Of course, we have told the truth in our blogs about our holiday. We just haven’t told you about all the everyday, boring, frustrating times. Frankly, we didn’t think you’d want to read about that. But maybe you do.

So, if you want to know the whole truth about our odyssey, read on. If not… we’re glad about that too.

Here are some other facts about our holiday…
- we have had long, boring drives in our campervan lasting many hours.

- during those long, boring drives, one of our children talked incessantly about all sorts of nonsense. It gets wearing.

- one of our other children talked nearly as much, and twice as loudly.

- yet another of our children has a tendency to wet his pants when his brothers make him laugh.

- one of our children is a teenager. Enough said.

- two of our children are very grumpy when tired. So is their mother.

- one of our children is overly cheerful when tired. So is his father.

- getting our children to do homework was like pulling teeth.

- we usually travelled with our washing flapping on a line around our heads. Not ideal.

- one of the adults constantly hit her head/foot/leg/etc in the small space of the van. After 10 weeks of van travel, that’s a lot of bruises.

- the other adult tried patiently to cope with his spouse who didn’t seem to remember where she hurt herself the day before, and the day before that, and the one before that.

- there is no privacy in a campervan. We have all seen enough of each other in various stages of undress to last a lifetime.

- our children seemed to enjoy playgrounds more than the amazing sights we were trying to show them.

- our children grew to endure, not enjoy, art galleries and palaces.

- we grew to endure, not enjoy, dinosaur skeletons and toy stores.

- we have eaten way too much spaghetti bolognaise.

- camping ground showers range from the sublime to the ones where you need to push the button every 5 seconds to keep the water running, it’s lukewarm and all your clothes end up soaking wet.

- our London flat had a constant smell of stale smoke.

- one of our children refused to try any new foods. Hence, vast quantities of spaghetti bolognaise and nutella were consumed.

- we had to convince our children that every rock they found didn’t need to come home with us. Nor did McDonald’s toys, cardboard creations or empty chip packets.

- toilets in Europe leave much to be desired. No seats, no toilet paper and often no toilet. Just a hole in the ground.

- we were cold – really cold – for much of our time in the USA, despite wearing every piece of clothing we owned, all at once.

I could go on. But you really don’t want to hear the rest. Suffice to say, we are just like we are at home, and just like you.

Karen

Warwick Castle by Ethan

Wednesday 13th April, 2011.

First we woke up, had breakfast and left for Warwick Castle. We drove for an hour then arrived at Warwick castle. Next we hopped out of the car, walked for a bit then we entered the castle.


First we watched a 5 minute movie called ‘Dream of Battle’. It told us about preparing for a real battle which happened a long time ago. It told us to go next to ‘The Kingmaker’. So we did.

In The Kingmaker we walked down under the castle and saw wax figures which were showing us about the preparations for battle. There I got to hold a long bow and a cross bow.
Next we went 5to a show called ‘Flight of the Eagle’. In it we saw a man (called a falconer) who had trained a dad bald eagle, a baby bald eagle, a chestnut vulture and a sea eagle. It was amazing.


Then we went to story time with the dragon slayer. It was in the courtyard of the castle. He told us a story about how Guy of Warwick once slayed a dragon. It wasn’t true though.


Next we went to the Sword in the Stone show. It had an actual sword and a kid pulled it out. He was given a wooden sword instead of the actual sword.

Next we went to the raising of the portcullis. A man told us how to open and close the gate and also that there were little holes called murder holes where people poured boiling sand and urine on their enemies.

Lastly we went to ‘The Mighty Trebuchet’. A trebuchet is a type of catapult. They shot out a fire ball. It was awesome! Then we went out of the castle through the shop. In the shop I bought a quill. Then we went home, had dinner and went to bed.

London 17/4/2011 - by Luke

We woke up today, had brekky and got dressed. We had to get to church by 11:00am, so we set out as soon as we could.

Firstly, we walked a while until we got to the train station, and caught the train. From there we got on a double decker bus, and we got off a little while later. We then went into a church called St. John’s.

The people in there were really friendly, even though we came in halfway through the service. It was an extremely small church, with a population of about 30-40. But they all had passion and longing to become better followers of Jesus, which was great. The sermon was on Jesus’ trial, and how even though it seemed like he was being beaten he was actually in control the entire time. After the service finished they invited us to the church lunch, which we decided to go to. We had potatoes with different fillings in them, which was nice. At about 1:30pm we said goodbye, and started walking to the Royal Albert Hall, where we were going to see a show at 3:00pm.

We walked through a very rich area of London, and the reason we could tell this was because of the cars. I saw about 5 Aston Martins, 4 Jaguars, so many Porsches I lost count (Including a bright orange 911), 3 Masaratis, heaps of Mercedes, Audi and BMW and 3 awesome Ferraris. Almost every second car though, was a Mini Cooper. We spent a while looking at cars, but eventually we started to walk along the Kensington Gardens, and we reached the Royal Albert Hall.

After we got our tickets we went in, and I was gobbsmacked. The hall was HUGE!!!!!! The organ at the back was the largest dad had ever seen in his life, and there was row after row of seats. Above, on the roof, was heaps of strange light thingys, and I noticed a massive net filled with red and white balloons. The show then started.

The concert we had gone to was a St George’s Day concert, to celebrate England’s saint by putting on a big show with heaps of English songs in it. A full orchestra was there, along with a choir. They performed songs like “There’ll Always Be An England” where everyone waved English flags enthusiastically, and “Zadok The Priest”, which is the song they play at every king or queen’s coronation. To finish off though, “Rule Britannia” was played with gusto, and during “Pomp And Circumstance No.1” all the red and white balloons fell from the ceiling and landed on the audience. It was an atmosphere and event I’ll never forget.


Back outside, to finish off out flashy car day, we saw a black Lamborghini Gallardo, which roared through the streets, attracting everyone’s attention. We walked back past the Thames again, and by the time we got back home it was dinner time, and after dinner we got into our PJ’s and went to bed.