Australia Day....

As i sit here typing a new post on this Australia Day, 2009 listening to Dan and his mum chatting downstairs and laughing together, i am reminded of why i love my country so much. In some countries, sweet memories such as that don't even exist.... for the most part, the freedom to enjoy your family and create such memories doesnt exist....

With all of the uncertainty and turmoil going on in the world today it is nice to have a place to call "home"... and to know that wherever you may roam, you can always truly know the meaning of the saying.. "There is no place like home...." Its nice to be able to go to sleep at night not having to worry about the possibility of being invaded, or bombed. It's nice to know that your loved ones are safe and sound. So many things! Im not saying that our nation is perfect, for it is far from it... but from where i am standing there are many other places in the world that i could be right now that definately dont have the freedom that we have today. Sometimes words are just not enough to explain how you feel.... today is one of those moments. 

So today, Australia day 2009... I thank my Heavenly Father for allowing me to live in such a great country... for there is truly no other country that i would rather live. :) 

If i were to list all of the things that i love about my country, and the reasons why it is so deeply buried  in my heart i would be here all day... so for times sake, this poem below explains it best how i feel. :) Everytime i read it, it brings tears to my eyes.

I love a Sunburnt Country

The love of field and coppice,

Of green and shaded lanes,

Of ordered woods and gardens

Is running in your veins.

Strong love of grey-blue distance,

Brown streams and soft, dim skies -

I know but cannot share it,

My love is otherwise.

I love a sunburnt country,

A land of sweeping plains,

Of ragged mountain ranges,

Of droughts and flooding rains.

I love her far horizons,

I love her jewel-sea,

Her beauty and her terror – 

The wide brown land for me!

The stark white ring-barked forests,

All tragic to the moon,

The sapphire-misted mountains,

The hot gold hush of noon,

Green tangle of the brushes

Where lithe lianas coil,

And orchids deck the tree-tops,

And ferns the warm dark soil.

Core of my heart, my country!

Her pitiless blue sky,

When, sick at heart, around us

We see the cattle die –

But then the grey clouds gather,

And we can bless again

The drumming of an army,

The steady soaking rain.

Core of my heart, my country!

Land of the rainbow gold,

For flood and fire and famine

She pays us back threefold.

Over the thirsty paddocks,

Watch, after many days,

The filmy veil of greenness

That thickens as we gaze.

An opal-hearted country,

A wilful, lavish land –

All you who have not loved her,

You will not understand –

Though earth holds many splendours,

Wherever I may die,

I know to what brown country

My homing thoughts will fly

For my fellow Australians, i hope you also realise how blessed we are. :) And take a few moments today, to thank God for the freedom we enjoy and know... and love. We certainly do take alot for granted, dont we? 

Love

Melissa