We jetset soon...

We will miss you all! XOXO

"where in the world is Carmen Sandiego"...

and Shane & Kim...

I better make this quick cause i have 1001 things to do... and right now I'm not doing any of them... so here it is MEGA quick!

THAILAND
(29 May Tue - DEPART PERTH 16:50
29 May Tue - ARRIVE BKK 22:50
30May Wed - FLY TO CR)

• I got to see my amazing financee again! WOW! she surprised my socks off! She was there waiting for me in the airport in BKK! (thats a story in itself... one day it will see the light of day) ;-) for now... lets just say we were so excited that we didn't stop kissing for a long... long... long... long time...! Wait... we never have stopped! :-D
  
• We visited the Teak (the place where our wedding and reception will be held)... it is all working out great
• I arranged Suits for the boys... we will look smashing... don't worry about that :-)
• WE FOUND A HOUSE! God has blessed us with an awesome Newly painted & tiled house! We will live there for the 12 months approx. after we are married!
• Got to hang with the great crew in Thailand again! Love you all :-)

NORWAY
(11 Jun Mon - DEPART BKK 23:55
12 Jun Tue - ARRIVE Frankfurt 6:05
12 Jun Tue - DEPART Frankfurt 10:15
12 Jun Tue - ARRIVE Stavanger 12:00)

• Met Kim's family for the first time... in real life... so cool!
• Met Kim's friends... we had a lot of good times together... there are some cool Vikings over there ;-)
  
• GAVE KIM HER ENGAGEMENT RING @ HER HOME TOWN BEACH IN BRUSAND! (I'll fill you all in later on that too!)
• Went fishing... I almost caught one... it got away ;-)
• at Dolly Dimples Pizza... GREAT PIZZA... only problem... costs AU $50 for 1 family size Pizza!
• Went to Berit & Gunnars WEDDING!
  

PERTH
(04 Jul Wed - DEPART Stavanger 12:45
04 Jul Wed - ARRIVE Frankfurt 14:40
04 Jul Wed - DEPART Frankfurt 17:45
05 Jul Thu - ARRIVE Hong Kong 10:30
05 Jul Thu - DEPART Hong Kong 23:35
06 Jul Fri - ARRIVE Perth 07:20)

• Got to see my sister BRUCE (Camille) for the first time in 6 months! It's so good to have her home! We are one BIG family (living in the same place) again :-)
• Hanging with my awesome family.
  
• I'm working again... rocking the world of the Geek. The company website is the go at present.
• Helping Berit and Gunnar to settle in here in Australia (they are starting at UWA)
• Kim is planning our WEDDING :-) !!!!!! And hanging out with the crew!
• We are catching up with you great Perth crew... missed you guys too.
  

Now i better get back to the work... about 3 weeks left in Australia... and there already isn't enough time! I will miss you guys like crazy!

Love!

'the elysian orchestration'

A Poem by Shehan Abrahams:
Date Composed: 16/07/07 @ 1:00PM

Shane and Kim sitting on a limb

he kissed her, she kissed him
they then married and away were carried
all over the globe in their ywam space probe
so in love with their eyes on the One above...
their union felt as right as a smooth suede glove

Family Man

Family Man

from "Love & Thunder"
Words and music by Andrew Peterson

Lyrics:

I am a family man
I traded in my mustang for a minivan
This is not what I was headed for when I began
This was not my plan
I am a family man

But everything I had to lose
Came back a thousand times in you
And you fill me up with love
Fill me up with love
And you help me stand
'cause I am a family man

And life is good
That's something I always knew
But I just never understood
If you'd asked me then you know I'd say I never would
Settle down in a neighborhood
I never thought I could

But I don't remember anymore
Who I even was before
You filled me up with love
Filled me up with love
And you help me stand

So come on with the thunder clouds
Let the cold wind rail against us, let the rain come down
We can build a roof above us with the love we've found
We can stand our ground
So let the rain come down

Because love binds up what breaks in two
So keep my heart so close to you
And I'll fill you up with love
Fill you up with love
And I'll help you stand
'Cause I am a family man

I'm saving my vacation time
For Disneyland
This is not what I was headed for when I began
This was not my plan
It's so much better than

© 2006 Andrew Peterson. All Rights Reserved

11 MONTHS & mostly OCEANS

"Tonight, I'm here on my bed, but my heart and my head...!
They are gone, they are far, they are where You are!

My heart is over there... ACROSS THAT OCEAN! I yell.
Is it lost?... somebody say.
No, Its found across there! But the one who holds it is so far. So far away! SO FAR FROM HERE!

Too far to feel? I MISS HER TOUCH!
Where is Her embrase? Right now there's not enough!
But I can hear her heart when I listen!

I HEAR IT LOUD ACROSS THIS OCEAN... almost like the waves of God have carried it here. It beats with mine! It says my name. She says, We'll make it, you can be sure. We will always make it, I'M SURE!

But this OCEAN in between... i don't know how to swim. But I'll try... yes I'll try... like my heart has longed so many time! But the OCEAN is so far... CAN I SWIM?

Soon you will take me... God soon you will take me...
right now teach me and make me... make us more what you want us to be....
until you take me... you'll take me there..."

Today is 11 months since Kim and I have been 'together', but hearts hurt when they are apart! These have been 11 AMAZING MONTHS! And WE know with all OUR heart that WE would both do it all over again if we had too! In those 11 months... we have only spent 2 months and a week in the same country! ALL THE REST IN BETWEEN... there has been OCEANS! Some people say that we are doing the 'IMPOSSIBLE' and WE agree! But GOD has made it POSSIBLE! This is over soon my love! 43 days... and this is done! I MISS YOU! I LOVE YOU! THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH FOR HOLDING ON!!!! XOXO :-)

YOUR hand, MY ring & OUR love!

(watch again)

It is an amazing journey with you my financee! To find one so loving... One with a heart like Your's is more than a dream come true! For God knows our hearts desires. Now we have seen that he truly has given us more that we could ever have dreamed about... more than we ever dared to ask! HE GAVE ME YOU! XOXO

YESTERDAY
Yesterday I made the final payment for Kim's engagement ring! It is such a blessing to be able to give her a ring that shows her and the the world my complete commitment to her! She has my life... it belongs to her XOXO! :-) I can't wait for you to wear my ring my wife! My lover is mine and I am her's and this ring on your finger is love!


TODAY
Today is FOUR MONTHS since i proposed to my amazing girl! There are moments in my life that i will never forget... and that day was full on them! I will never forget when i asked Kim's dad for permission to marry his daughter. Before I called NORWAY I prayed and committed our future to God! I read over the scripture verses that God gave me before WE were US. I let the faith of the past and faith for the future rise in my heart once again. What would God have ahead. I was not sure... but i knew in my heart... deeper than anything else... SURELY HE WILL BE FAITHFUL! And I realized... that is enough to build a life on! ON OUR ROCK... WE ARE BUILDING OUR LIVES!

There is No way that I will ever forget the moment that Kim said YES!!!!! I cried... you could hear my heart beating a forever away... and i felt that my life... it was changing forever... changing for good... in that moment CHANGING FOR THE GLORY OF GOD! I love you my Kim Kristina Bjørk!

THE FUTURE
We see a horizon... we see a distant land... and we don't quite know the way... but Kim take my hand... I will take God's... He'll lead.

Invites need Envelopes and Envelopes need addresses...

... and stamps... and Australia Post.

Right now I'm awake, well kinda awake, but not really awake... my eyes are still open, but only just enough.
I'm putting addresses on Kim & My WEDDING INVITATIONS!!!! Some will be jumping into that postage service! :-) Others will come soon ;-)

This is something that Me and My AMAZING WIFE-TO-BE will do once in our lives!!!!
My AMAZING WIFE!... XOXO MMWAAHH!!!
I LOVE YOU!
I'M FOREVER YOURS MY KIM!

Love...

I have a desire
I want to love
To love with Your love
That changes worlds

I have a desire
I want to be a man
To be a man that loves his wife
With love, with pure hands

Here i am
I'm trying
Here i am and im crying
Crying out to You
Please show me how to
To do the thing You desire
Make me love like You

Your love
Makes wounds clean
Your love
Washes everything
Make me new please
Please make me new

I need You
To bless my future
Bless HER now God
Bless HER well

FOR I WILL LOVE HER
TIL WE ARE OUT OF
OUT OF THIS WORLD
INTO YOURS....

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

For The Love Of God

For The Love of God

from "The Far Country" - Andrew Peterson
Listen: go here + click on open player > then select "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD"

Lyrics:

(Ephesians 5:25, Hebrews 12:26-29, John 13:34)

Yesterday we drove all night to Pittsburgh
Jamie laid her head down in the back
My little boys asleep beside their sister
They’re the best I have

I brought an old recording of your father
He was teaching men and women how to love
He carried on about his sons and daughters
Growing up

As we drove across Ohio
At the dawning of the day
I could hear the tune of truth was in his voice
And it felt just like I knew him
Though I never saw his face
Maybe that’s because I know his boys
Who live their lives

For the love of God
In the name of Jesus
The groom who gave his life
To love his bride

I know you thought you’d never find a woman
I never thought I’d have to write this song
But here I am and there you are together
After all

You felt like you were buried
In a city underground
All broken bits and pieces of the past
And somewhere she was searching
On the surface of the mound
She was digging for a treasure that would last
Now she’s giving you her heart

For the love of God
In the name of Jesus
The groom who gave his life
To love his bride

Now, love is not a feeling in your chest
It is bending down to wash another’s feet
It is faithful when the sun is in the west
And in the east

It can hurt you as it holds you
In its overwhelming flood
Till only the unshakeable is left
“This new command I give you,” He said,
“Love as I have loved”
So brother, love her better than yourself
And give her your heart

For the love of God
In the name of Jesus
The groom who gave his life
To love his bride

©Andrew Peterson

Take Off My Shoes

I’ll take off my shoes, I’m coming in,
Untie this rope, I’m staying with him,
Love of my life, I’ll live and die,
Just for the moments for my king and I.

Why did you call, why did you wait,
For someone so guilty, someone so fake.
There are no words for my beautiful song,
Now I’m in the arms of my beautiful one.

Hold me, blow all the pride from my bones,
With your fire.
Hold me, breathe on this heart made of stone,
Keep it pure.
Hold me, saviour of heaven and earth,
King forever.
Hold me, love of my life lead me on,
Through the fire, lead me on...

I’ll take off this crown and fall at your feet,
The secret of joy are the moments we meet.
How could a man with all of your fame,
Pull me from darkness and call me by name.

So hold me today, as I carry your cross,
Into the desert to find who is lost.
Look at my hands, they’re still full of faith,
God keep them clean till we finish the race.

Written by Delirious? ©2005 Curious? Music UK

a month with you | AFFIANCED

On the 6th of December 2006 Kim and I decided to tell the world that we will spend the rest of our lives together! Today marks 1 month since that moment... It has been an incredible month! We have planned alot since that day... and have grown even more in our love for eachother! I thank God for everyday that he gives to us... we dont want to take even one for granted.

Tonight as we read Jeremiah Chapter 17 together... we stumbled across two significant verses for us as a couple. We fell over them without knowing, but God knew right where He put them ;-)


Jeremiah 17:7-8

"But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they go right on producing delicious fruit.


During our DTS, kim gave these verses to me... little did she know that i was seeking God about how and if i should tell her of my feelings for her! God encouraged me amazingly through the verses and in the same action showed me that this is a Godly woman that is pursuing his heart for her!

We are ever thankful to God for these verses!
Right from the start He knew the plan He had for us!

I love you my amazing girl
XOXO
YOURS ALWAYS

TODAY | 7 months of the rest of our lives....

on the December 6th 2006 at 3AM
I asked Kim Kristina Bjørk to be my wife
SHE SAID "YES!!!"

They call me 'Boo Bie'

I know it sounds bad when you read it quick in English... its sounds like something girls have and guys don't have so much. But i guess now im stuck with it :D Some thai friends here in Chiang Rai decided that a fitting name for me is 'Nong Boo Bie'... 'Nong' (what you say to someone younger than you) & 'Boo Bie' (something out shape... meaning that im crazy!)

But even though the words make perfect sense in Thai... Kim & Grayce think it is unbelievably (wet your pants) funny... i think they will have a smirk on their face everytime they hear it! :-) To quote Grayce, "Basically You're an out of shape boobie... HEHE!"

But on a more MANLY note... i'm getting better at making Smoothies everyday! Tonight will be my last night working at the Smoothie Bar called 'Bun Lak' = 'Blend Anything'. I've been there cleaning the shop most days, getting it ready to open & then working there for about 5 hours. It's been awesome to help out Pi Mae, Pi Nan, Pi Uab & Pi Jesse... give them 2 extra hands. Speaking of those hands... i better go jump on some transportation and travel 10 minutes down the crazy super highway (with as many U-turns on that one road as there are on all the roads in Australia)... try not to go past the shop again, like i did the other day... and get to fixing (Southern American lingo for making) some smooties!

BRUNEI

Right now we are in the transit area at Brunei airport... WE MADE IT! :)

We got in at 9 this morning and will depart Brunei at 7.20 tonight.
WE ARE TAKING IT SLOW CAUSE WE ARE CRAZY TIRED... but we are gunna go outside and and EXPLORE! Maybe sleep abit here first? SO here we go...

You know what they say... "Another day, another country"
or is it "Another day, another BRUNEI dollar"

take it to them....

LEAVERS CHAPLAINCY 06

leaving on a jetplane...

UNBELIEVALBE sums its up... I thought it would be at least 2yrs (and I'm not even joking!) until this would happen... "am i only dreaming or is this" jetplane bring KIM to AUSTRALIA!

KIM KRISTINA BJØRK (my amazing NORWEGIAN girlfriend) is heading back to YWAM Chiang Rai Thailand to join the staff of DTS 07... but before she goes... She will come here to Perth! I can't wait to see her (IT HAS BEEN AGES... 3 MONTHS & 22 DAYS actually!)... To show her WA... and to introduce her to everyone here...

She arrives at the PERTH International Airport on the 20th SEP @18:40... If you can... COME AND GIVE HER A BIG AUSSIE LITTLE V-E-G-E-M-I-T-E "G'day Mate!"



Seriously can't wait to see you again babe!
XOXO
Shane

A Child of God

VERSE 1:
With every breath, with every thought
From what is seen to the deepest part
I offer all that I've come to be
To know your love fathering me

CHORUS:
Father You're all I need
My soul's sufficiency
My strength when I am weak
That love that carries me
Your arms enfold me, till I am only
A child of God

VERSE 2:
With every step on this journey's walk
And wisdom's songs that the soul has sought
I give myself unreservedly
To know Your love fathering me

3 since words flew...

This is more than i had EVER hoped for... more than i had ever dared to ask! Today is 3 months since this ALL started. 3 months since i received HER love. 3 months since WE spoke the same feelings that took hold of OUR hearts. 3 months of FAITH (Heb 11:1 "What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see"). 3 months of trusting GOD. 3 months believing that he gives us the desire of OUR hearts... and HE gives them for a reason (Ps 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart")!

JEG ELSKER DEG KIM!
ThankYOU for giving me YOUR HEART! ThankYOU for PURSUING GOD with me!
Your's...

Back in Australia... just now with family dispersed around the world

my DTS school graduated

WOW... i'm back! I HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN HERE FOR 10 days 19h 24m 07s and counting! It is such an AWESOME thing to be back here in Australia again... to see people that had missed (and so far everyday has been jam packed with that)... NOW try to catch up on 6 months... hard going but we are trying... "when the going gets tough... PUNISH!"

At the same time it's weird to miss a whole new group of people (my family disperesed) now that i'm here and not there... my DTS family... I LOVE YOU GUYS!!! MISS YOU LIKE CRAZY!!! May the God who was SO faithful before... continue to be faithful to you... OUR UNCHANGING FATHER! You will always be in my prayers and in my heart! I thank my God every time I remember you! And I remember you ALOT!

THIS ROCK listen here
Every time I come back to this rock
You’ve reminded me that I am not alone
That I will never been alone
When I turn to see that the tides have changed
The people change and I am not the same
No I will never be the same

Hey did you know that you fed my soul
The day that you opened up to me
I just couldn’t be still and tie down my will
I just wanted to run with you

I thank my God every time I remember you

When I start to think about you and me and how we came to be
I start to think about time and how we made it through fine
And then I turn to see that the times have changed
The people change and I am not the same
No I will never be the same

Hey did you know that you fed my soul
The day that you opened up to me
I just couldn’t be still and tie down my will
I just wanted to run with you

I thank my God every time I remember you

Ever since you stepped foot on this rock
You know it doesn’t really matter how you came
We will never be the same

THIS ROCK by Brandon Heath
www.brandonheath.net/