Goodbye Koorong - the next step taken!

Well, that’s it, another monumental step taken. On Friday I did my last shift as an “Assistant Customer Service Manager” at Koorong. Goodbye fulltime work! I am not sure how happy I am about that… There certainly was a large amount of sadness in saying goodbye to many friends who I have made over the years, I will still be working there as a casual for some time, but that will mean that for the most part I will be working at nights, so I wont get to see many of the full-time workers or many of the regular customers that I have made friendships with.

There is also a certain amount of fear accompanying a move like this – in one sense I have given up a lot of financial security, I no longer have a set income and will have to rely on casual shifts at Koorong, and any other casual work I can pick up to survive. Certainly, we are cutting back on our standard of living, getting rid of the second car – working hard to eliminate as much debt as possible, curbing impulse spending etc, but it will still be hard!

Then there is a great deal of excitement! – I have taken another step on our journey – we are progressing! I am now free to pursue getting involved in the work of UNOH & Rainbow Church, and familiarizing myself with the neighborhood that will be home for at least a year and a half!

Already, the sense of involvement and belonging is beginning to set in, just through involvement in Rainbow and the food bank on Tuesdays. Of course Naomi’s involvement over the last 2 weeks, getting to know people, has helped immensely too, her natural ability to attract people is a real advantage. And in many ways we already feel accepted.

We are now living in a 3 bedroom unit with 4 other adults and a baby. Last night was our first night, though most of them had moved out for the night. Mondays in general are used as a sort of Sabbath for the UNOH workers. As much as possible, they try and get out of the neighborhood, to rest and relax for the day. We are looking forward to getting to know those we are staying with, as we did with Ileana, Gavin, Mohammad & Tejaan (sorry, I don’t know how to spell his name), over the last 2 weeks.

People look on our current housing situation like it is a burden for us, but in truth, while it may not be ideal, there are many advantages to this situation, and as a result we are really enjoying it all, and using the opportunity to learn as much about UNOH and those we will be working beside as possible.

I have probably gone on enough for now – hopefully I will have time to post again soon, life is beginning to settle into some sort of a routine. Hopefully I’ll be able to get Naomi to post again soon too – it has been ages.

Peter.

P.S. Please post a comment, just to let us know that you are reading this, and that it is not a waste of time.

P.P.S. What do you think of the new header?