Crazy God Thing!
Okay so yeah i need to share this crazy God thing that happened to me today - i woke up around 7am - was supposed to go to the beach with a few people - Man God is good - he has everything planned out - we didn't end up going to the beach - and i had this crazy desire to read this book "it's time to be bold" by Michael W. Smith and i meanread without stopping - like i read 110 pages today! i worked out as well and did some other stuff, i think i crocheted a bit today - i was reading this book and it was really challenging me to be bold and to get into the word so i started reading Colossians and decided to start memorizing it as well to get the word into my heart and as i was reading this book there was a section where he talked about starting this new youth ministry and how they would have a coffee club, a dance club and maybe evena skate park and something in my heart ached - because my heart and passion (besides dancing) is for youth - i had originally applied for youth ministries and then wasn't feeling like that's what i was supposed to take and then through dance and our dance cell going through the book "Are there any dancers in the house" by Michelle Leaney i really wanted to take dance - anyways - so today after reading this i had this feeling i needed to tell Franny - so i said to her "i think God is telling me to be involvedwith the youth" and then i was confused because i'm like but i'm taking dance and she says to me "i think you know what you need to do" and i was thinking "no i don't" anyways so i kinda disregarded the comment a little bit but then was praying "okay God orientation is tomorrow i need someone to say something to confirm it if that's what you are telling me to do" so before bed i asked her what that comment was about and she told me that she has been sensing since we got here that i was to do youth ministriesi kept talking about youth i guess, then i got here and went on the wildlife (youth) camp to help out and then i said it again today - and she was feeling that God was showing her that but she was praying that God would reveal it to me - and He did!!! crazy - we were both floored - because when i said that to her she couldn't believe it - and for me i was praying someone would confirm it - we both had no idea at all - and the other crazy thing looking back was that when i originally switched from youth to dance, there is an extra fee involved for dance and when i switched they just said i could pay when i got here - coincidence, i think not! also there was a guy who shared his testimony lastwednesday night before we left for summer camp and he said something about wanting to give the youth what he didn't have when he was a youth and i was thinking "me too! that's what i want to do" and i wrote in my journal last week already maybe i should be studying youth ministries instead of dance but i just read that tonight and i don't rememberwriting that but anyways - so God has been working in me since i got here to take it i guess - i'm kinda sad in a way because my heart was set on dancing, but i can still audition to dance with the team and really reading the course descriptions i want to dance but i don't think i necessarily care about analyzing dances and how to choreograph them etc, i would just rather someone show me the dance and i want to dance it! so i think my heart overall is really for the youth and i'm ready and wanting to pour out intothem - i was prophesied over last wednesday as well that i would rise up quickly into leadership as well and when i heard that i couldn't really see it in dance, but youth maybe - franny said the same thing as well - so confirmation for sure!! anyways just thought i would share that - it's totally crazy and i'm nervous because i know i'm trustingGod that He knows what he is doing and my focus was so much on dance and this just seems so last minute to change but really i'm probably still enrolled in this anyways!!
well hope you all enjoy it as much as i did - i love God - isn't he Amazing??? you walk towards him and he will come towards you - you just need to leap out and trust that he's got you in his hands!!!
PowerHouse Camp!
Hello again
so i returned from Powerhouse summer camp and it was great! i must admit though it was one of those things - those of you from Windsor Christian Fellowship understand the Encounter Weekend and how everyone tells you - it's going to change your life - you will love it and you go in with such great expectations some times and not that God doesn't meet you where you are at he totally does - but for some reason i got there thursday night and was expecting so much and i didn't feel like i got much that night - i felt like i was just going through the emotions of loving it and i wasn't. The worship was amazing and the speaker that night Judah Smith was so great as well - he spoke a message called "Taste and See"- it was so great - he said that many times people judge Christianity by observing and even alot of Christians do as well - but they never really TASTE Christ - he gave the example of how when you get a nice juicy steak at a restaurant and a fancy restaurant will bring it out and by its presentation you will be like - what a great looking steak - but you only know that because you have once tasted it to know that beyond the looks of it - it tastes absolutely delicious - so the presentation just adds to the greatness of it! so that was really neat application i thought - we were staying in this tourist town that had a beach so the hotels actually had their own kitchen etc so we could cook our own meals but we weren't told about this ahead of time so i didn't have any groceries to cook but i got some people to pick me up some stuff so that was good - it saved me from eating out every meal - friday morning was cool - Judah Smith did another session called Forest Fire - he said that a Forest Fire requires 3 elements - if any of the three are missing the fire ceases to exist - you need heat, oxygen and fuel - heat represents life circumstances - you can't get rid of these - but they are temporary and God's purpose still remains - then there is oxygen - it represents personal confession (words you use) "i'm stupid, dumb " etc you are taking away from your future/destiny by saying those words - we should take compliments people give us and agree with them - be comfortable in your own skin with the gifts and talents God has given us - if you are always asking other people to pray for you then you are riding on their faith and not your own - the third element is fuel - and fuel represents the friends you keep - friends are either fuel or fertilizer to your forest - everyone needs your forest - make friends with the eagle and not the turkey - then we had a session where the guys and the girls split up and this woman Andie i think her name was did this session on being an Attractive Woman - which i really got a lot of - for once she didn't just tell us you know to wait and just focus on God etc - well she did but she actually told us how to be attractive both to God and to guys and that a GOOD man, let me emphasize good will be looking for all these qualities in a woman - so she told us to Honor Jesus - for who he is in your life, for what he has done for us - don't trade in our identity that he has given us - also she said Waste Yourself on Jesus - gave the story how Mary annointed Jesus feet with her expensive perfume - she wasted it on Jesus and then took her hair down to wipe his feet (taking the hair down represents her humility) - so she said to love God more than any guy or any other person - third thing she said was to Expect Attack - attack many times comes from people you don't understand - use the word of God and the gates of hell will not prevail! if you are getting attacked you are heading in the right direction! Fourth element - Jesus will always stick up for you! THen she gave us some tips that her husband said attracts guys to girls: 1. enjoy life 2. live uncomplicated - say what you mean and be decisive 3. walk in confidence 4. have purpose and vision - a good man does not want a woman who needs a man to bring purpose to her life 5. Don't settle! listen to the HOly Spirit
so yeah that is some sessions that i really got a lot out of - they were all good, the worship was awesome - they gave opportunities for people to get right with God - there were people giving their life to Christ throughout the weekend it was so amazing and then people go the chance to get right with God - like one was if you have been speaking negatively and bringing others down instead of building people up etc - i know i've been like that every once in a while so i dealt with that there - they had one about speaking in tongues - if you don't have your heavenly language you were given the opportunity to get that as well
Phil Duley (i don't know how to spell his last name - so bad i know!) preached on being Brave - i had already heard the message because he did the same one at Wildlife camp but it was still great to hear again
there was a message by April called "How Far Will You Go (In Your Walk With God)?" 1. YOu need to be desperate - some things are worth fighting for2. Willingness - God only uses what you have3. Take it To Our World
Another great message was by Danielle about "Fight for your Life" - it was mostly saying that we need to fight for our time with God - our alone time 1. Prayer is the Principle Thing - it's our communication with God - prayer partnered with obedience produces great things in your life - pray and believe like it's 100% up to God, then pray and work like it's 100% up to you - be committed to progressively knowing God2. Need to Persevere thru the Challenges - don't give up on the things you are believing for - it's like being on the treadmill - you have it set on 20 mins and you are at the 18th minute - if you don't keep going you won't get that feeling of accomplishment - you may be on the 18th minute - you need to persevere until it's 20 minutes! 3. Fight Yourself - deny our flesh - you feel so much better after
so most of the weekend i was feeling like i was just going through motions and i wasn't really changing or getting much out of it - but i went willing to get everything from it i could and get whatever i needed to right with God - and saturday night was awesome - the worship was amazing and i really felt like i wanted to be there and didn't want to leave - it wasn't until sunday morning that it really hit me what had happening - i was sitting in church and all of a sudden i had this big realization that "it's not about me" that i was to be a willing servant and really deny myself this year and be there for other people - i want to be willing and available for the people/appointments that God is going to use me to meet - those interruptions in my day i want to learn to know that they are appointments planned by God to use me to reach someone for him etc - and i really want to get into the word more - i'm reading this book by Michael W. Smith called "time to be bold" and he was talking about this friend of his who had Colossians memorized and it wasn't until his friend quoted the whole book to him that he realized the power of God's word when spoken and how important it is for us to get the word of God in us - he said "the bible. read it. memorize it. trust it. believe it. consume it. eat it, drink it, sleep it. and watch how your life will be radically changed" amazing if you ask me and so true - i feel so awesome after i've spent some time in it and hanging out withGod talking to him - if you are reading this and you don't think you know how to pray just pretend that you are talking to a friend - just try talking to God like a friend - he knows you, he understands you - he wants to fellowship with you - he wants to get to know his beautiful creation - just come back to him and if you want to give your life to Christ and you don't know how to do that and wantto feel free to email me and i can help you with that - golf_is_life_81@yahoo.ca
if you need prayer email me as well
look forward to writing more soon and to connecting with friends and family - thank you for your prayers - i wouldn't be here without them
luv y'all and God bless
just a couple of prayer requests - could you pray for us - they have decided to cancel the shuttle bus which was a free bus for us college students to get from our placeto the college since we live like 15 min drive away - pray either they would continue running it for a small fee, or there would be a bus pass we could buy or that we would be blessed with a car
oh yeah and in reading this book by Michael W. Smith i've been challenged to get more scripture memorized and i've really wanted to do this in the past but you can all keep me accountable - i'm going to try to memorize the book of Colossians! so keep asking me how i'm doing with it
The Latest before Powerhouse Summer Camp
Okay - it’s been quite a while since I’ve updated my blog - I’ve been busy and haven’t been able to get to the computer to update it - I have responded to a few emails though thankfully - anyways so since I last wrote a TON of stuff has happened - this will be a long blog I think - I may break it up into two parts because I’m leaving for summer camp today as well and there will be more I’m sure to add after this weekend - God is going to do radical things in our lives
so I went to help with a youth summer camp that was 5 days in length - they mentioned it to us when we first got here but I wasn’t sure at that point because I had just arrived and all - so anyways I had been thinking about it and at Sunday night church on the 14th I had wanted to go see if they still needed help and when I went to ask the lady told me to call the church office in the morning, so I was going to, but no need, someone showed up at our door to ask us if we wanted to go - so I was listening all about it and was really thinking I wanted to go and help out - I had been feeling a little bored with nothing going on and I thought it would be a great thing to do - go and serve youth and help out and they said we would get free food (seriously, how could I turn that down!!) - the food was excellent by the way - I ate seconds at every meal!! And we would get some free time to spend on the beach and such - so I went - I didn’t know anyone going or anything but everyone was from our apartment buildings (the helpers) so they were really awesome and welcomed me and made me feel comfortable around them etc - so the week was absolutely amazing! We got to help prep food in the kitchen and then do all the dishes afterward, we got to clean the bathrooms and we got to do security - what happens is that this camp is held at a scout camp and in the past kids have had things stolen by the local kids who come in by the beach etc so they had us just patrol the area everytime the kids were in meals and meetings etc and while they were sleeping - so it was pretty much round the clock - but it was so fun because if your shift was during the day at all you got to be out in the sun - it was awesome - I got lots of sun!! I was exhausted by the end of the week, but I really learned how to depend on God for my strength and energy and keep going and serving joyfully despite being so tired - so a great week - I came back just feeling so awesome - I went with the expectation of serving others and God totally met me where I was at and was answering some prayers that I had - I am really trying to be real with him this year and let him in on every detail of my life - I got to go to two of the rallies that the kids had at night - and the first one especially was a divine appointment - I had been wondering about whether to tithe or not since I really have no income coming in at all and when I showed up on the Wednesday night for that one - I walked in and they were just starting to talk about giving to God and really sowing into his kingdom and I knew what I needed to do - God’s perfect timing because the kids leave at 6:30 pm to get there for 7 and we didn’t get to leave until 8:30 because of our cleaning shift, so I totally showed up at his time - the funny thing is - I hadn’t even thought of going - someone came up to me and was like - if you want to go to the meeting tonight you can - you have a ride - and I didn’t think anything of it - was like alright let’s go!
So the camp was Tuesday Jan 16th till Saturday Jan 20th - we got home about 8 pm Saturday night my time here and then Joyce Meyer was here Sunday morning and evening!!! Wow I have never seen her before other than on TV - it was so cool - I took a picture of her although you are not supposed to take pictures in the church! OOPS! The picture isn’t that clear though so that sucks - but she really challenged us to get out of the Give Me mindset and start giving - she told a story of someone who came to every seminar of hers and was receiving - and then all of a sudden she said she wasn’t getting anything out of her meetings any more - and basically what was happening was that she was receiving more and more and more but now she was full - she wasn’t pouring it out on anyone else - so we can get so caught up in wanting more for ourselves etc but not looking to give out to those whose needs around us need to be met - and at night she was talking about our prayer lives and how many times things down change in our lives because we are praying wrong - she said that God spoke to her and told her to compare her prayer life to that of Paul’s - he never prayed for anything for himself or the church in the natural - he always prayed for increased spiritual wisdom or strength through trials etc - so that was definitely challenging - so if we are feeling down and out or like we are not getting things out of messages we are to bake cookies and give them away!! On top of Joyce being there Sunday night, low and behold the people who sit in front of my at church were the people who catered the food at wildlife summer camp - and I got talking to the lady and she said that if we ever wanted to see the blue mountain area they would be glad to be our tour guides!!! I mean this is just fantastic - so we exchanged emails etc to keep in touch.
Monday this week (Jan 22) we got to go into Sydney - we took a bus from Castle Hill here to Paramatta where we walked down to catch a Ferry that took us right by the Sydney Opera House - we got some pictures by it etc - then we took another Ferry over to Manly beach where we hung out for a bit - then we went for a walk up this cliff - what a beautiful view from up there - we saw some poisonous spiders on route - they are big and ugly!!! then we headed back and went to Darling Harbour and got home really late and were really tired - my feet were killing me - what a great day though - everyone here is just so loving and caring and wanting us to see everything we want to see here and get everything out of this year here that we can!
Tuesday I ran some errands, I bought some yarn!!!!! so I started to make a blanket! Then at night there was a get together for all the people going to Powerhouse Summer Camp this weekend - so that was really cool - this girl Julie came and picked us up so we could go - and she introduced us to lots of people and a girl who is holding a cell group (they call them connect groups here) so we have one to go to which is right close to our apartments, which is great
Wednesday we were supposed to go to Bondi beach and Tuesday night I had wanted to go but I was kinda feeling like I maybe just wanted to stay home and relax and prepare for summer camp - I wanted to feel ready spiritually to go - so thankfully it poured rain Wednesday morning! I’m telling you - God is just amazing - there was a rehearsal Wednesday night for worship and creative arts (WACA) that we were going to check out but I didn’t really feel like going so I didn’t end up going - thankfully - because come to find out later there was going to be a prayer meeting happening in our apartment area and after being there I knew I was supposed to be there - divine appointments I’m telling you!
So today (Thursday) I’m heading to summercamp - if you check this and want to be praying for me this is how you can be praying for me:I’m believing for the following:-> the manifestation of tongues - I’ve been baptized in the Holy Ghost but the actual release of tongues has not come yet> an increased measure of faith-> that God would reveal to me areas of my life that I need to surrender to him and trust him with in order for me to be closer to him and able to be a better servant
Camp
okay so i had written a really long update that i was going to put on here but of course on my computer i only have wordperfect and i'm trying to copy and paste it here using my roommates computer and her's can't open this file so i'm emailing it to everyone instead but it's taking a long time to attach it
briefly - i went away to a youth camp to help out for 5 days from jan 16-21 and then today i leave for our retreat for 3 days so i will be back saturday and hopefully will be able to write more
went into the city of sydney on monday and saw the opera house, went to manly beach and darling harbour - long day but definitely well worth it!
I Can't Believe I'm Here!
Okay so today was our first time to visit HILLSONG CHURCH!!!!!!!!!!! AMAZING!!!!! like we were actually there - like really there! wow, still hard to believe - no more our worship bands playing Hillsong Music, but actually being there were the hillsong band is playing their music - so exciting and tonight is the summer surf night so we go back to church for 6 pm - some guy in the visitors lounge at church when we went there today after service said he lived in our area and offered us a lift home and then he offered us a lift back to service tonight so i think we are getting a ride there so that is exciting!
Franny did my hair this morning! she did it the way she did hers, with special conditioning mouse and stuff, wow, it's beautiful! the curls are so defined and staying defined despite the humidity - it's nice and sunny outside today! and warm, the intense sun heat is great!
we get our fridge and washing machine tomorrow and then we can go grocery shopping! yay!!! so excited!
i don't know what else to say at the moment - apparently there aren't any cell phones that you can buy here that allow you to call with a calling card even if there is a toll free number, it still uses all the local minutes here so they advise to use a landline or payphone, but it's $300 to get a landline in - so that really sucks, but if someone calls me long distance i don't get charged for it, so i might have to do that i guess
anyways i'm out - have to update on the service tonight after we get back sometime from it
Australia
Alright so it's been a while since i've used this - everyone has already pretty much received an update of my travels here but i have some time to kill so i will add one anyways
The flight didn't really seem as long as i thought it was going to be - the flight from Detroit to Chicago seemed super rough, i was holding the barf bag when we landed - although the flight itself wasn't really rocky or anything i think i was just nervous, hadn't eaten much that day, so i already didn't feel well and i didn't take any gravol - chicago to los angeles i slept the whole way! 4.5 hours - then we had 3 hour layover there but there was no time to think about anything, we had to get our luggage, then find the air pacific departure area where we then stood in line to check our luggage and then had to go in another line where our luggage was scanned and then had to go through security and they were already boarding our plane - our seats were already assigned though so there was no worries there - so the flight from los angeles was 10.5 hours - we were served both supper (imagine supper at 1:30am canadian time?? what is that!) and then we were served breakfast probably about 7-8 hours later - i slept for about 8 hours of that track and then listened to some music - so much for reading books and doing sudoku puzzles, not a chance - i had no energy nor did i have the brain power for them - when we landed in fiji it was 5:30am their time and was so beautiful, the weather was warm and we got off the plane and were outside - i took a couple pictures - then inside the airport there were 3 men playing their banjos/guitars etc and singing quite good they were and then we went through security there and got some food - imagine eating what we felt like was lunchtime at 7am - so i had a chicken burger and fries at 7am! but on my canadian watch it was already like 2pm! interesting - the flight from fiji to Sydney was about 5 hours travelling over the pacific ocean the whole time - i slept for about half of that time - we landed in sydney safe and sound and were picked up by the hillsong shuttle bus and they brought us to the college - i got all my luggage safely and to my knowledge am not missing anything - at the college we signed our housing agreement and then we were taken to the bank to open an Australian account - we got some groceries at the Coles and then were taken to our apartment - there is no fridge yet though so we could only buy things that would keep - kinda hard but we are surviving - it is coming on monday! only have to make it through the weekend! the team here have been so helpful in showing us where to go and what to do etc so that is good - i have a phone card that has many minutes to call home but no phone to call from - a pay phone costs 50 cents for the local dialing and only gives me 15 minutes but it works for now - there is a library about 5 minutes walk from our apartment where we can bring our own laptops or use computers available there to email etc - so weird without phone or email i feel disconnected from the world - how sad is that? anyways there are 4 of us in our apartment - the fourth girl has not arrived yet though - apparently she is Canadian too - so there will be 4 canadian and 1 from England - everyone here is from all over - people from Australia, Canada, Germany, England, Netherlands - cool to see how different people talk etc
anyways the shopping mall is near by as well and there is a shuttle that runs through the college to bring us to class and back for free - it is currently not running though because it's holidays and no classes going on - haven't found any beaches nearby yet :-(
flying in - when we say the australia land, it was so beautiful the water and the beaches, gorgeous!! what a beautiful place it is here - i love the accents - can't always understand everyone if i don't pay close attention - but it's fun trying!!!
well this is pretty much the same as the email update but hopefully i will keep this updated and everyone can check it
take care and God bless,
miss everyone
