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Get yourself friends who add to the dinosaurs on your bed in your 30s. I have a wild life, and among my beauty this week was a double hangout with my friend Jasmine who got me a triceratops as a housewarming gift.

This week was a wild mess of closing tabs and planning things and getting ready for a real break. My week felt a bit disjointed as I still settle in from my move, adapt a new routine, pause to recognize my Traumaversary, plan my leader planning meeting for the launch of the youth group year, execute said plan, and pack for my Aussie adventure. It’s been a ride. I have a few miscellaneous highlights from the week for you. 

First of all, Sunday was a good day. I woke up to a message from a friend acknowledging the day and saw her at church and got an impromptu catch up with her before another friend picked me up for a high tea at the Tannery. Este had said she’d be up for anything with me, but this was something I enjoy and hadn’t yet done on my Traumaversary. 

Monday afternoon I had some lovely visitors from America fly in who I got to show around my city for a bit. Rich and Julia are a couple who overlapped with me in Germany for just a month but have been following my story and praying for me ever since my accident. When I moved down under, they told me they’d hoped to visit and bless me with a weekend in Sydney. Well, as their itinerary took shape, they had a day and a half in Christchurch with me at the start of the week before a brief see you later for the generous gift of a week with them in Melbourne and Sydney. 

I’m typing this out on my phone in the Melbourne airport while I wait for them to arrive from Queenstown, so please forgive my typos and formatting errors. 

I can never complain about this wild life God has gifted me where I get a chance to work with young people on an incredible team who met with me last night to envision how we can love and disciple the youth entrusted to us PLUS I get all expenses paid adventures with others who share my heart for the nations. This is unreal. Tiny Laura could never have imagined. Yet here I am living the adventure of a lifetime all life long. 

On of my leaders drove me home last night, and I was celebrating what a legend she is (Donna, you are next level incredible). One of the things we talked about in the short car ride was how I pray that she will always choose Jesus and never do some of the dumb stuff her peers have done as they try out the things of the world that all fall short. I know so many of my peers and youth have been duped to try what the world says is fun because they are scared the Christian life is not fun. What a heartbreaking lie. My life – hard as it can be – is an absolute blast. I still wouldn’t change my yes to Jesus for anything. I might be in a wheelchair, but the highlight reel of last year alone is worth it to be obedient to Jesus. 

To the untrained eye, my travel record looks like I’ve had lots of breaks in the past year, but this is something totally different.  Zero complaints about a job that requires me to travel internationally and gives me opportunities to do life on life with young people in multiple countries, but it’s also some hard work that I do. This trip and time off is just for me to replenish. When I got my last tattoo of a wintering tree in the waves, I told Pastor Brandon and Pastor Derrick it was going to be my reminder that I need seasons of replenish. I can laugh about how I watch Derrick and Cheri enforce rest in Brandon’s life as I hear his voice echo in my head affirming the wisdom of my statement that I needed replenishing in 2026. 

I’m so, so grateful for the opportunity to rest and the encouragement of my loved ones to make sure I’m sustainable in ministry.