My amazement… November 30, 2008

The other night, Shawn and I were making

one of our weekly night trips home from the beach we like to go and sit at. There is a main stretch of road

we have to trek down and it has several cute cafes as well as some pubs and clubs. Any weekend night you are sure to find herds of people walking from place to place, some very obviously drunk. My mind started to wander that night, looking at all these people. Honestly, I see more people out in Newcastle late at night on the weekend than I do on a normal business day. It’s crazy.

I commented on how much money people must be spending if they are getting that intoxicated. That got us on a roll…

We estimated that on that street alone there were probably around 300 people. And lets say that one drink costs about $7. (It’s Australia, things are expensive) And the average person has around 3 drinks. Thats $21 that one person spends in one night, and I think thats being a bit conservative. And let’s say there’s about 2,000 people out on a typical Saturday night in Newcastle.

So 2,000 people out, spending $21 equals $42,000 being spent in ONE night.

In ONE city of 300,000.

Let’s round that total amount spent to $50,000 to make things easy.

Lately, I’ve had South Africa on my mind alot. I loved that trip and everything we got to do. I miss the kids so much. And remember that soup kitchen I wrote about? Where we fed 150 kids on about $20? Yeah, well that’s what I was thinking about the other night when I was apalled with the thought of how much money was being spent in one small town, in one night.

So I did some more math. Curiousity killed the cat.

We could take that $50,000 and feed those 150 kids in South Africa for SIX AND A HALF YEARS. Even better, with the prices World Vision gets for food and supplies, we figured that you could use that money and feed ONE kid

every SINGLE DAY,
3 TIMES a day,

from the time it’s born until it’s TWENTY.

And this is just from one, tiny, surf town, in one night. Imagine what could be done with the money from 2 towns, heck, 10! I really feel like God has got me on to something. This is where some real damage could be done.

Stay tuned for more of my thoughts and ideas on what to do with this….

Home Sweet Home. August 29, 2008

On July 2, Shawn (my boyfriend of 6 months now!) and I headed out of Australia to enjoy some time at home, meeting each others close friends and family and taking a bit of a break from base life and enjoying some time of resting, relaxing, and getting to know each other better and really taking the time to focus on our relationship. I had such a fantastic time while I was in the states, especially being with my family and reconnecting with friends.

We started out with a week in Ventura, California (just outside of LA) which is Shawn’s home town. I met ALOT of his friends, since they are probably the most influential people in his life. It was so good for me to get to see where he’s come from and meet the people that have known him and helped shaped him into the man that he is today. We enjoyed a ton of Mexican food to make up for the lack of it here in Australia and it was amazing! I also got to have my first Disneyland experience on our final day there. Overall, it was a really fun time.

Next, we headed out east to Pittsburgh. We were there for a day before we packed up in a mini-van with my parents, brother, and sister and set out on a 600-mile trip to North Carolina for an amazing family vacation. We spent a week just relaxing on the beach and catching up. It was a new experience for Shawn because he had never been on a family vacation before. It was so great for me to be able to fully relax and have no agenda except being on the beach and catching up with my family. We got to spend a day with Grandma Martha and Grandad Jack as well which was awesome! And on the drive back from the beach we met up with the Boeskool clan and Shawn also got to meet Grandma Jewell and some more family from my dad’s side. Talk about overwhelming! (but in a completely good sense) One thing that I have come to realize more and more over the last month and a half is how much I value my family and the amazing people that they are. God has truly blessed me so much with great parents that fully support me and believe in what I do. I couldn’t ask for anything better. Shawn got a glimpse of where and who I came from and that was great for me and him.

Upon arriving back in Pittsburgh, Shawn stuck around for another day and then went back to California. I stayed back home for another 2 weeks and got to re-connect with other close friends. My time in the states went far too fast. I felt like I barely had any time. I am super greatful for it however, and thanks so much to those of you that helped me get there! It’s so great for me to get to share and show others what I have been doing here and as well as my time I spent in South Africa.

God is doing so much in me. I miss my family a ton right now, but fully walking in the knowledge that this is where I’m supposed to be for now. I spent my first birthday away from home and as of August 15 I am no longer a teenager! I had a huge realization last week that I’m now considered an adult. No more getting away with things because of my “youthfulness”. It was a scary thought, but I’m excited for this next decade of my life. Right along with getting older, God is giving me more open responsibilities here on base. I am in charge of getting kids signed up for an upcoming camp we have at the end of September and am also a part of our Youthstreet events and marketing team. I’ve been working on transitioning out of our new cafe and preparing to help out on the planning process and design of our new one. I also am preparing to start up a second dance team, beginning the first week of December. So many things are going on here! I love what I do and I love getting to go out into the community more with my work with the schools here. I am truly greatful for the opportunities God continues to give me and the ways He blesses me. Shawn and I have been together for just over 6 months now and he has been one of the biggest blessings (aside from my family). He treats me so well and I love continually getting to seek God with him and grow in our relationship. Doesn’t mean things are always easy. With these things God gives me there are always challenges, but I can gladly say that I learn so much from them too!!

That’s all for now since this is getting to be long, but stay tuned for another update! I really am going to keep this updated more!!! I promise!

Thanks again to all you who have kept track with me over the last year and a half! It means alot to know that people are interested about the things God is doing in other parts of the world!!!

Soup Kitchen April 29, 2008

Thursday, April 24 2008

 

 

We ventured over to the mall to buy food for what we were going to be doing. All we had been told was that we needed to buy rice, lentils, tomatoes, and oil and that we would be cooking this food at a lady’s house (who lived in the same community we went to last Sunday) and then we’d be feeding children. Like a soup kitchen for kids. I had no idea what to expect, but man was I blown away. So we bought 6 kilos of rice, 5 kilos of lentils, 6 kilos of tomatoes, and some oil. It ended up costing us just under $25 USD. 

 

We arrived at Antalasia’s house on one of the more pleasant streets I’ve been on in one of these communities so far. It just had a whole different feel to it than most of the places we’ve been. It still had a dirt road and tiny homes, and the streets surrounding it were just as rough as the other places, with homes made of plastic and tin, but the atmosphere was way better than any I had been in so far. This lady had an incredible story. She felt that God told her she needed to start feeding the children around her home one day a week. She herself, didn’t have all the necessary financial means to do so, so she would ask for donations of food and money. Sometimes she would be able to buy the food herself. She was feeding any where from 50-100 kids a week. In some cases, she hadn’t had any donations come in, so she wasn’t able to feed them at all. That was the worst thing for her. Having to tell the children that there wouldn’t be any food that week. She knew for some of those kids, that it was one of the only meals they would get for that week. Today would have been one of those days where she wouldn’t have had any food if we hadn’t shown up. It was such an incredible time. We helped her assemble everything and while it was cooking, we hung out with these kids. They all started showing up around the same time in her yard and the one across the street and for about two hours I sat in the grass and played with the kids. It was amazing. I held one little girl who was about 2 and was only wearing a tank top and underwear. She hadn’t seemed to have had a bath for days and she barely spoke a word or cracked a smile. But I just wanted to hold her. To let her know that I cared about her and that she was loved. While I was sitting there with her in my lap she fell asleep, like the little boy from last Sunday. It was absolutely heart breaking. A bunch of the other girls that were around me started playing with my hair and before I knew it there were about 10 sets of hands going to town on different parts of my hair. It was hilarious! My scalp hurt afterwards, but I know they loved it. Words cannot explain the sights that I saw with those kids though. I mean, they were so beautiful and so eager for food and attention. I was so glad that we were able to be there to play games with them and sing songs. Once the food was ready the kids all lined up at the front door with their own container of some sort that they had brought. Some had bowls, some had tupperware, one even had a pencil box. Whatever they could find in their home, they brought as their dish. 

 

We served 85 kids today.

 

After feeding them we just hung out with them some more. Some wandered home. Others played rugby in the street. We were there for about 5 hours.  

 

It was when we were leaving this community that I really stopped to think about the sight before me. Houses that were the size of my room at Lewis House (my house in Australia), the walls made out of cinderblock if lucky, otherwise, maybe just some wood or plastic of some sort, with a piece of tin laying across the top. 

 

A box basically. 

 

Dirt roads everywhere. Trash, the smell is indescribable. A mix between leaking sewage and rotting garbage. Broken glass is everywhere and kids run around without shoes all the time. Occassionally a little one will suddenly stop and limp because a piece of glass as lodged itself in their foot. So they halt, pull it out, and continue on their journey. But this stuff, none of it phases their happiness when I see them. They come running towards us, full force, just to hold our hand or touch my hair or ask my name. Or simply to stand and smile up at me, begging for attention. 

 

 

                            

 

 

A peak into my first day in South Africa… April 21, 2008

 

 

(Friday, April 19)

Today we went to this housing project basically, to do some prayer walking because it’s where we’re going to go to for evangelism on Friday night. The area we were used to be completely controlled by like three or four different gangs during the apartheid. One lady devoted herself to seeing that change. And after four years of her hard work, she finally started seeing the people of the gangs uniting. They built relationships with each other and started living in unity. This was like 15 years ago. 

 

So there’s a Christian daycare and basically like a community center, just outside of these “projects“, though the living area isn’t government run. It’s completely privately owned. We started out just visitng the kids in the daycare and it was just so great. As soon as we walked into the playground area they just swarmed us. I sat down on the ground and out of no where this little girl just leaps onto my lap and she just sat there the whole time. Occasionally hugging me or playing with my hair. It was so cute. But the kids were just all around us. It was amazing. 

 

Then we walked into the housing area. It basically looked like an apartment complex, except it’s sorta in the middle of nowhere, and run down. Glass everywhere, trash, kids just running around barefoot. But we split into groups of like three and four and just walked all through it, praying over the ground, the people, the strongholds, everything. There’s a strong generational curse over the people there because of the past history of gangs. We also just said hi to the people there and yeah, walked around. Eventually, we were just walking and these three little girls ran up to us. (some of the kids speak english some dont) This one girl in particular, was incredibly outgoing and wanted to know all of our names and she introduced herself and told us how old she was. Her name was Niela, she was 9. Next thing I know, there are like 10 kids around us, and for about 25 minutes we just hung out with these little girls. Three of them were sisters (Niela had two younger sisters that were 5 and 2). But Niela attached herself to me from the beginning. She just held my hand or talked to me, whatever she could do to make sure I was paying attention to her, she did. And she stole my heart. She commented on my jewelry, especially my “promise ring“ that I wear on my left ring finger, and said I was so beautiful and then she pulled me down again, and had to remind herself of my name, and then she was like “I love you“. Back tracking a bit…I could tell from the time we were with the kids in the daycare, that these kids just want attention and love, and to know that they’re special. So with Niela, I knew that’s what she needed. I was continually just telling her how beautiful she was and how much I loved her and how much God loved her. She was precious. She was constantly saying “I love you so much, so much“. I really felt like God was wanting me give her my ring, but at the same time, I was trying to rationalize, and then I was like what the heck am I thinking?? How much would it mean to this little girl? And so right before we left, I gave her my ring. I told her I wanted her to keep it for me. The look on her face was so touching. SHe just wrapped her arms around my neck and held on to me for like 2 or 3 minutes. I cried a bit. It was one of those moments, where I just knew, this is what life is about. It doesn’t matter how much money you make or where you live or what kind of car you have or where you went to school, there are people out there just like this little girl, that need to know they are important. Niela’s youngest sister, Stacey was 2 and the whole time we were with them she was being reeeeally shy, but at one point I caught her just watching all the other girls being picked up and played with, so I squatted down and held my arms out to her and she came running to me and just latched on. She put her head on my shoulder and my heart melted. It just makes me wonder how much that little girl gets held, or her back rubbed, or told that she is loved. You know? It was such an amazing time. I’m really hoping we keep going back in there. 

 

So Friday night, we were supposed to go back into the neighborhood we went to in the afternoon, to do evangelism. We met at 645 because we were supposed to leave at 7 to go, however, our coordinator couldn’t find the keys to the vans and so was rushing around everywhere looking for them. We ended up not leaving until 730. The plan was to go to this neighborhood, check to make sure it would be safe enough for us (because between our team and the Texas team, the girl to boy ratio is about 4 to 1) Fola (our coordinator) didn’t want to go in with so many girls, if it wasn’t safe enough. So we get to the place and he just had us wait by the vans while he took a quick walk through and chat with the people to see how the night was going. He comes back about 15 minutes later and he first quoted the verse in the Bible that talks about God’s perfect timing to those who love the Lord. You know what one I’m talking about? I can’t think of the exact wording. Anyways, he said that in that time we had been waiting back at the base while he was looking for keys, there had been two shootings there between two of the gangs. If we had been there when we had planned to get there, we would have been caught in the middle of that. How crazy?? God’s perfect plan. Sometimes we don’t always see the big picture and it can be frustrating at times, but this is one of those times that will make me trust even more that God has got it all under control even if it frustrates us. A bit scary too, but it just put things really into perspective for me.

 

Lost in the Crowd. April 14, 2008

 

 

These are some things that everyone needs to know. It’s so easy to read about it and let it go in one side and out the other, but what do these things mean to you?

 

-27 million people today in slavery, thats more than there ever has been in the history of the world

-1.1 billion children live in poverty

-30,000 die every day from preventable diseases

-There are 10.6 million who died before the age of 5 in 2003

-1 in 5 have no access to clean water

-Only 13% of children in Afghanistan have access to clean water

-46% of children in South Asia are underweight and 1 in 3 are malnourished

-510,000 kids die from AIDS every year

-1 child becomes an orphan from AIDS every 14 seconds

-1.5 million children have been killed from conflict in the last 10 years

-1.2 million children are trafficked into slavery and prostitution per year (200,000 from West Africa alone), there are 1.2 million children in Australia

-There are 2 million children currently working in the commercial sex trade, some as young as the age of 5

-121 million primary aged children do not attend school…

Lack of education reinforces the cycle of poverty and exploitation.

 

“Only as we move closer to realizing the rights of all children, will countries move closer to their goals of development and peace.” Kofi Annan

 

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” Proverbs 31:8-9

 

“Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin; pour out your heart like water in the presences of the Lord. Lift up your hands to Him, for the lives of your children, who faint from hunger at the head of every street.” Lamentations 2:19

I Believe in a Thing Called Love, pt. 1 March 27, 2008

It’s hard sometimes, when I tell people about what  it is exactly I do. Sure I work with a non-profit organization that helps people and that’s all good and lovely. But then when I say, “Yep, I’m a Christian, I serve God, that’s really what I do”, you can forget about whatever conversation was about to take place, because that loses their interest. Or when friends who get my update emails are offended by them and I get called a religious zealot. What’s up with that?

 

I’ve been thinking a lot these past few days. About people who don’t know God’s love for them, but they aren’t open to hearing about it. What is it that’s caused them to be so hard hearted? Obviously there’s something in their past relating to God that has hurt them in some way or another. 

 

So, I’ve been reading Sex God by Rob Bell and I’m loving it! It’s such a great book. And I’m at this part in the book where it’s talking about love.  This four letter word that has so much power and in some ways has been given a definition so far from what it actually is, it astounds me. On the flip side of love is heartbreak. It’s this universal thing that everyone has probably felt at some point or another. Maybe not in a romantic way, but in any sort of human to human relationship. But you know what’s interesting about this? 

 

God feels heart break too. 

 

God gave us the freedom to choose. Choose whether we wanted to love Him or not. But from the beginning of time people where consistently choosing not to. In Genesis 6:6 it says that God “regretted that He had made human beings on the earth, and His heart was deeply troubled”. 

 

God!

 

The ruler of the universe, the most powerful being, feeling hurt! Who would have thought? I mean sure, I’ve heard people say “God’s heart breaks for this or for that” but sometimes I wonder if I really know what that means.

 

How many of us have thought of God as a lover, who wants to woo us into His presence? Who wants to be in a simple loving relationship with Him because He created us? He took a giant leap of faith with us. 

 

Just like I take leaps of faith in putting myself out there for others, loving them, supporting them. No one ever said they had to love me back. But does that really not affect me? If I love someone fully, and they don’t love me back, am I really going to be ok with that? Am I going to keep loving them? These are things that I’m being challenged with day in and day out.

 

See, because, God…He loves, and continues to love,

 

even when people kill,

 

sleep around,

 

do drugs,

 

hate Him

 

and yet, He doesn’t try to take our freedom away. He doesn’t try to override our choices. 

 

Yet people are repulsed by Him. It blows me away sometimes. All you need is love… 

Africa Bound! February 18, 2008

I can’t really remember when I first had the itching to travel to Africa one day. I do know that it’s been quite some time though. I’ve always been so intrigued by every picture I see or article I read in the paper or books or magazines. Something about it just sticks out to me. Part of it is the culture, the landscape, the environment, and another part of it is the people, specifically the children. 

 

Anytime I see pictures of kids there, my heart just…lurches. Something inside of me turns and that desire grows a little bit stronger. 

 

When I got back to Australia from South America in June of last year, before coming home, a guy named Live, who is leading the DTS that I’m staffing right now, had approached me randomly and mentioned something about Africa possibly being an outreach location for this DTS. During that time I had been asking God what exactly He wanted me to do on staff here. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to staff the DTS or do something else. But when Live had told me about Africa I took it as a confirmation from God that it was what I was supposed to do. 

 

I didn’t stop there though.

 

I told God that if He wanted me to staff the DTS then He had to have Live approach me and ask me specifically about staffing the school. Sure enough, two days later, on the day of my DTS “graduation”, Live came to me and said he had been praying for all the students that were returning on staff and said he had gotten some words for me. He proceeded to share that with me and then ask if I would pray about staffing the DTS. I couldn’t help but laugh at how amazing God was in the situation and He made His will for me so perfectly clear. 

 

In the meantime, I went home, worked, etc. I still had a desire for Africa, but I didn’t really know any specifics on what that could look like. Once I returned to Australia, I started working on preparation for the school with Africa in the back of my mind. In mid-December Live met with us school staff to tells us the locations that he was going to propose to our base director for our outreaches. Africa was in the list. He said it was the least likely one to be approved. All of the sudden everything in me that wanted to go there came rushing back. I was just reminded of my heart for the nation and I started praying right away that it would be approved.

 

The weeks went on and I was always hearing things at church or online or in books I was reading about Africa. And I just knew that God was speaking something to me. But here’s the interesting thing… 

 

From last April until about December, God had been taking me on this journey that involved me seeking Him out for an area of my life that I hadn’t ever done before. The area of relationship. Who God wanted me to be with. It was such a very challenging time for me. I was at a point in my life where I wanted to do things right, I wanted what God wanted for me. I still do. But without going too far off track, God had been speaking to me and teaching me to step out in faith to see the impossible happen and I was really believing it. But then, the opposite of what I thought was going to happen, happened. And it was hard. But I got so much out of that. 

 

I had to look at the situation as an opportunity to learn something, even if that wasn’t what God had wanted, and man’s free will had interfered, God still had something for me in that. It wasn’t a let-down from God nor was it a disappointment. Sure, things didn’t turn out MY way or what I thought was best, but ultimately God is the one who is the true judge of what’s best for each of us.  And while it was by no means easy, by having that mindset, God was able to move in huge ways in my life. I’ll talk about my relationship viewpoints some other time…I have to get back on track with Africa…

 

Several weeks after my world came “crashing down” on me, God confronted me in base day. I was forced to face the realization that while my emotions were handling just fine, the effects of this situation were taking their toll on my spiritual life. I had started shrinking back from God. It was affecting my attitude towards the NEW things that God was speaking to me. Not only about my relationship life, but Africa included. I had been getting all these “signs” if you will, but I wasn’t seeking God out about any of it because I was too scared of what He would or wouldn’t  say about it. I was “over” the previous situation and ready to move on to new things, but because I had had a knock in my confidence, I was having trouble being willing to stick my neck out there again. 

 

So here I was in worship and the guy leading this DTS got up and shared a word from 2 Kings 11 about letting the Lord be your support in times of trouble. And that’s when God faced me with those realizations. 

 

Do you rely on the Lord in times of trouble and suffering? Or do you try to do it all on your own? Let me tell you, if you fall into the latter category, don’t keep trying to do it on your own, its not worth it, whatsoever. 

 

Later in the evening on this same day, I went over to our base director’s house just to process out a bit more of what God had been doing in me. They really helped me “get back up on the horse” and it was during that conversation that they asked what I would say if they asked me to lead an outreach to Africa. They knew that Africa was something that God had been laying on my heart but that I wasn’t really seeking God about it. And this was also before it was even approved as a location. They helped me put things into perspective and to get that desire back to be seeking God’s will out for my life, even if it meant sticking my neck back out there again. I felt a renewed strength, restoration of confidence, and excitement for what God had for me.

 

The DTS started and my life became hectic and Africa got pushed to the bottom of the prayer list. In the second week of the school we found out what the approved outreaches were. Much to my surprise, the first thing that was approved was Africa! My heart stopped and I’m pretty sure my jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe it. I felt one step closer to actually seeing a dream come true. The school leader said that he would be approaching each of us to pray about going to certain places. It didn’t mean we couldn’t pray about it before we talked to him, but he would be seeking God out on our behalves as well. In a way it took a load off my shoulders. I would still be praying about it, but I completely trusted his word of the Lord. I asked God to clearly tell Live where I was supposed to go. Through the next two weeks I would keep it in my mind as a prayer point, but I only spent a few times REALLY pressing into God for words and even when I would get words, it was super general. About two weeks went by and I hadn’t heard anything from Live. I was starting to worry. So one day I just told him the things I had been feeling from God. The small confirmations. And the only thing he said to me was “Ok, great, I’ll store that away in my head” and he walked away!!! I was SO frustrated! I was hoping to hear something more along the lines of “Ok, that’s awesome cause that’s totally what God’s been telling me for you too!” But nope, nothing. About a week later, we took the students to a park so they could spend some quality time really seeking God out about where He wanted them to go on outreach. It was during that time that God really called some things to my attention. This is a bit of what I wrote in my journal that day:

 

“I’m having a hard time distinguishing my thoughts and desires from God’s. I keep falling into this mindset that God wouldn’t want me going to Africa because everyone else talks about God’s timing, etc, implying that my dreams and desires are for the future. That may be the case but I feel God is really pressing upon me ‘Why wouldn’t I give this to you?’ It’s so easy to fall into thinking that God doesn’t want to give us things we prayerfully ask Him for, but that’s so uncharacteristic of Him. It’s this whole issue of delayed satisfaction. Sure theres the issue of God’s timing but He’ll reveal that to me…As I was going through that process with God in my mind, I kept having the verse about ‘delighting yourself in the Lord and Him giving me the desires of my heart’, but then God put Psalm 37 in my head and as I was turning to it in my Bible I realized that’s where that verse was from. Not only did that verse speak straight to me, but so did all the other verses in that chapter…”

 

Our time in the park was interrupted by rain so we headed on to Youthstreet. I was waiting around for my dance team girls to show up and I felt like my mind was going at 100mph. I felt like I was on the brink of something. I knew that I would know by the end of the day what team I would be leading, but for whatever reason, I was doubting everything God was telling me. I was trying to change my mindset from what it had been, and trust that God would give me that desire, but I just didn’t know because I hadn’t had any sort of “outside” confirmation. That made it hard. It was new for me. Up until this point, I had been able to ask God to give me a confirmation through something around me and now He was forcing me to rely solely on Him and His words. That’s HARD. Especially for me. Trusting something I can’t see!?! 

 

I mean sure, you can talk about it like it’s no big deal, but when push comes to shove, how much do you really TRUST?

 

And then it happened! The moment of truth…Live pulled us all aside and told us each where we’d be leading teams to. I was going to be leading the team to Africa! I was speechless. I was so incredibly happy. I had been hearing God right and not only that, every other staff member on my school said that God told them that I would be going there as well. I was so full of joy. 

 

This is the first time that I’ve really seen God provide big time for me. Sure, I’ve seen Him come through with finances and calling, etc and all of those are super important things that I desire to know. But I had a dream and a burning desire and God ENTRUSTED me with it. I feel so incredibly blessed to have this opportunity. I want to do everything to the best of my ability and I want to be completely faithful with this because God’s been faithful to me. I am so excited to be leading this outreach team and I can’t wait to see what else God is going to reveal through all of this. 

We got a property!! February 7, 2008

Hey guys, So for the last 13 years, God has been speaking to our base leaders to buy a property in the city. After a long time of searching and praying, God has finally done some amazing things for us! Click the link below to read more about it! http://ywamnow.com/articles.aspx?id=24611 

The Camping Trip February 3, 2008

 Well, like I said in the previous post, we spent a week up at a place called Mungo Brush, camping and getting closer to God. The picture is of the beach that was on one side of our campsite. After a little hike through the woods and a slight hike up a sand dune, this is the glorious creation you find before your eyes.  Pretty breathtaking if you ask me. Anyways, I also had my first shark “experience” if you will. Saw a 16ft great white out in that ocean. Pretty crazy! But God also sent dolphins to protect the only student of ours that was in the water where the shark was heading towards. That was on the first day! All in all though, camping was a super good week. We had amazing weather and it was a great chance for everyone to really bond together and become more like a family. The students are doing so well and this upcoming week they have “Boundaries and Identity”. I’m so blessed to be in the position of leadership I am in and I thank God for it daily. I also thank Him for you all. Without you, none of this would be possible. So just know that everything you guys do is a HUGE blessing, not only to me, but to God as well. Thanks guys! I hope everyone is doing great! I miss you all! 

A True Father… February 3, 2008

This past week, the DTS had their Summer Plus week. It’s a new thing we’re doing around here with the October and January DTS’s as a chance for them to get outside of Newcastle and see some of the Australian bush and really be in the center of God’s creation as they dig into  getting to know God as their spiritual and heavenly Father. We spent a week at a place called Myall Lakes. The campsite we were at is right in between a gorgeous lake and an absolutely stunning beach. It looks like something right out of Lost. You take a trail through the woods, hike up a sand dune, and you come out on top and you just see miles and miles of deserted beach and islands off in the distance. What better way to draw close to God!

 

While this was an opportunity for the students, I myself also had many huge revelations and God is doing a ton in my life. It’s all so exciting I don’t even know where to start!

 

Our speaker for the week was our base director. He is such an awesome man of God and does a really great job of walking students through on how to view God as their Father. It’s harder for some than others because some students are coming from a background of broken homes and sometimes no father at all, so they have nothing to go on. One of the things that really stood out to me was the fact that when we really know what the Father means to you and what His nature is, we just want to put our lives even more into His hands. 

 

Think about Abraham and Isaac. God told Abraham to sacrifice his only SON. A son that he had been waiting forever to have, yet Abraham was more than willing to do as God asked. Makes you think, huh??

 

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in HIs name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”      John 1:12-13

 

We are officially adopted by Christ. It doesn’t matter what our background is like, we have a Father. God wants our dignity. We are boys and girls that want our Dad’s favor!

 

When God is coaching us, discipling us, it’s really easy for us to fall into this pass/fail mentality. But as He disciples us, He walks with us. So we really begin to get an understanding of our status in His eyes. It’s not always easy to be discipled by God. It is by no means, constantly easy.  It’s flat out, stinkin hard sometimes. But it’s in those times that we draw even close to the Father and find true identity and value in Him. 

 

What He thinks of us. Our value. Our identity. Have you ever stopped and asked God about those things? 

 

When we begin to understand those things, it makes us want to live well and “walk worthy of your call”.

 

In Genesis 37:3-4 we find the story of Joseph and the favor he found with his dad.  God loves YOU more. It’s super hard to think that way sometimes. That God loves me more than the next person. But that that is how He is with everyone. Crazy!!  Sometimes we shy away from the “coat” that God has to offer us, the way Joseph did with the coat his father offered him but he grasped it anyways. 

 

What coat are you shying away from that God is trying to offer you? That you’re a legend in His eyes? A princess? Strong? Beautiful? Wear it! Walk in it! Joseph was a believer and believed what his father was saying about him. Do you believe what God thinks of you?  

 

All these things really challenged me to push into God more as my Father. It’s so hard sometimes because I grew up with such an amazing dad and so that makes it really hard to get my mind and heart around the concept that God has way more love than my earthly dad could ever offer. It’s easy to slip into thinking that we’re “dissing” our earthly dads if we start to think about God that way. But no!!! God has given our wonderful dad’s the characteristics that they have so that we can get a glimpse of what God’s nature is like as a Father.

 

So, that’s the first half of some things I had revelations on this past week. The second half is on authority. This was the biggest thing for me.

 

In Luke 15:11-32 you will find the story of the prodigal son. The son goes off to do his own thing because he thinks that he is better off that way. But then he finds himself stuck. So he returns home to his FATHER and asks for forgiveness. 

 

What does the father represent in the story? (I had never looked at this story this way, so it was a HUGE revelation for me)

 

The father represents authority in our lives. Not just our parents, but God’s as well. 

 

The son stepped out from under his father’s umbrella of authority, therefore subjecting him to a field of temptation which leads to sin. When we’re wandering aimlessly we are in an extremely dangerous situation. You’re walking without purpose.  

 

So when you remove yourself from that “umbrella” of protection that your parent’s offer you, you’re also removing yourself from the protection that God has given us. And all that does is open up the door for Satan to attack. I think that when we’re younger, sometimes it seems like our parents are trying to hold us back from doing things, when really, they just see the bigger picture of things and know whats best for us. I say that from experience and I’m sure you’re probably laughing right now, mom and dad…but yes, it’s true, I’ve finally, FINALLY gotten it! 

 

Anyways, once we get older, we start viewing God that way, if we haven’t gotten it right with our parents. We just see God trying to “hold us back” when really, He just knows what’s best for us. He sees the bigger picture. And when we don’t trust in Him with that and try to do it on our own, we basically are telling God that He’s not good enough and what He has for us isn’t as good as what we can offer ourselves. 

 

WRONG!

 

Where do you need to submit to or fix the authority issues in your life??? I challenge you to think about it…

 

The biggest revelations I had through this part of it all was that I need to seek forgiveness. There were so many times during middle school and highschool and even up until right before I came to Australia last year, that I flat out rebelled against my parents and dishonored them. Where I said to them, “no, I will not submit to you” (except in different words, but you get the point) and while my relationship with them has gotten better and we had “worked out” those kinks, God CLEARLY told me last week, that I need to return to my parents and seek forgiveness, mostly because they deserve honor. 

 

So that’s just what I did…