Christmas Spectacular

Since we arrived in Sydney, Tom and I have been attending the Hillsong church just a few blocks from our home. One of the things we have loved about Hillsong is the people we have met, but what is quite amazing is the number of extremely talented musicians there are at the church.

Hillsong has a college that started a few years ago focusing primarily on those with an interest in music. Since Hillsong is known worldwide by their music, they have been able to draw in hundreds of students from all over the world. As you can imagine this allows them to put on quite a performance when needed.

Christmas is one of those times.  Two weekend ago we attended their annual Christmas Spectacular. Every year they take a well known story and put a "Christmas" and "Christian" twist on it. This year the story was The Christmas Carol, and they did an amazing job. (This was the only picture I could find, but at least it will give you a small glimpse)

We also have recently bought the Hillsong Christmas CD (which has been playing in our home on repeat most days of the week). Tom said that "Born is the King is the coolest Christmas song I have ever heard). So if you haven't heard it, you should check it out.

Shark Island

We had the pleasure of being our roommates' date to his company christmas party held at Shark Island. Shark Island is a small exclusive island in the middle of the Sydney Harbour. It is not open to pubic, you can only "rent" out the island to get onshore, and this is in fact what Austral Bricks (our roommate Mark's company) did.

Being the token Americans we made sure to stop by the local Starbucks to begin our day in the Harbour. This might sound unnecessary, but considering Starbucks shut down 70% of their Starbucks a few years ago Starbucks has become a luxury commodity. Only 3 remain in all of Sydney. To add insult to injury, the bill for 2 drinks totalled over $15. Wow.

Arriving at the Harbour we were in paradise. On one side was a MASSIVE cruise liner getting ready to head to sea; on the other side was the famed Sydney Opera House; on the other the Harbour bridge; right in front of us stood our tall ship. 45 minutes later the pirate ship arrived at shark island to get created by leis, mimosas, 75 degrees and sunshine. On all sides the harbour was littered by hundreds, maybe thousands of sailboats.

Mark's company provided great company. They had endured a tough year as building slowed considerably but everyone was happy to celebrate the good work they put in and get ready for a good year. We didn't meet a person who didn't love Mark. We are blessed to call him our roommate. Needless to say, the day was perfect. A chance to escape the city, enjoy the sun and spend time with each other.