Is my time in Australia seriously half way completed?! Time has flown by, but these past few months have been the most growing, character building, exploring new things, having SO much fun, and falling in love with Jesus months that I have ever experienced! Did that last sentence even make sense??… :)
I am officially flying home on November 30th and right now plan to stay until the middle of Jan, after one of my very best friends gets married! woohoo!:)
God has put all the pieces together and has blessed me above and beyond what I could have ever thought since July and has especially had favor of my life with working out the small, and at times annoying, details of coming home.
But like I said in my last post it is a leap of faith that I am taking by coming home because of not having all the finances that I need to be able to return back here to Australia to finish out the school year. BUT… I am believing God and trusting that He will provide the $$$.
I can’t even begin to tell you the countless times I’ve talked to my parents about debating on whether to come home for break or stay in Australia, the days spent staying after class to get advice from the trainers here at school and the tears cried with my housemates. But when looking back over this past semester I can see that not once did God ever fail me. God ALWAYS showed up, He always made a way. I don’t know that I have ever been pushed this much, or my faith been tested as hard as it’s been this semester but God has called me here, all the way to the other side of the world to learn more about Him.
As Jan mentioned in the facebook message that was sent out there are still a few things that I need for getting back to school after break and next semester.
The first thing that I NEED is prayer! Prayer for wisdom and provision. Here at school we are constantly given opportunities, more opportunities and even more opportunities. Because most of us here are called to full time ministry we want to get involved with as many things that we can, all with the right intentions. But what can easily happen is we get worn out. I really need wisdom for direction and to know when to say no. One of my trainers puts it best… “Learn to say no, so that it can bless your yes.”
The second thing that I need prayer for is money for a plan ticket to get back to Australia in the middle of Jan. I have been so blessed by some very close friends back home with money to go towards my ticket, but I am still not all the way there yet. I know God’s timing is perfect and I am believing and speaking that the money will be provided at the MOST PERFECT time:)!
And lastly I need prayer for my time while I am back in the states. That I will be able to stay focused and that I will keep growing in this season of my life and not backslide in the progress that I have made while being here. I really want to be able to put in practice what I have learned here so far!!
Thank you all for your love, prayer, and support! As I always say.. I can feel it all the way on the other side of the world! Looking forward to seeing you all SOON!:)
Wow…. I can hardly believe that in 40 days I will be home! This semester has flown by and I can’t believe that I have exams next week and in just a few short weeks school will be over and everyone will be packing up to go home for the holidays…. what!?!
As I’ve posted in my blogs since I’ve been here, I’ve talked about the ways that God has provided and showed up in the coolest ways. The past few weeks I have been looking for a new house for next semester, mainly so that I could save money. Call me naive but I thought finding a house to rent was going to be A LOT easier. As I started looking into it, I realized that not only did I need to apply to rent the different houses, I also needed to come up with $500 for a bond, not to mention finding time to go look at the houses and fill out all the applications. Easier said than done.
After talking to my mom on the phone one night, I went to bed knowing that God would have to really direct me in the right way and show me what I was supposed to do so that I could afford to stay here next semester. Later that week, a girl from my tutorial group told me that she had a couple open spots in the house she was going to be renting from next semester.
Ok, I’m about to be really open with my finances… but I don’t even care because ya’ll have to see what a huge blessing this house is…
Right now I pay $130 a week for rent
When I first came to Australia I paid a $450 bond
with this new house, I will be paying…..
$75 a week
and I paid a $150 bond…..
GOD, YOU ARE SO GOOD:) !!!!!!
I practically didn’t have to do anything to get this house and I can move in as soon as I get back from holidays in the states. I am so thankful for this and can’t believe how much God is providing for me next semester… also, I think I forgot to mention that this new house is SUPER close to the house that I will be nannying for next semester:)
Knowing that “home” is just around the corner is one of the best feelings in the world, but to be honest going home is going to require me taking a big leap of faith.
God has blessed me with about $600 in the past couple weeks but I am still in need of $700 in order to get my plane ticket to come back to Australia after break. I know He can do this and like Jan Hicks always says… “it’s just pocket change to Jesus”:)
Thank you all for praying and believing with me! Can’t wait to see everyone in 40 days!!!! :):):):):):)
In my last post I asked everyone from back home to be praying hard for me —- and I have some very good news:)…
ready?
In the past week God has provided $700 for me towards my plane ticket to be able to come home for christmas! Now I am just $500 away - OVER HALF WAY THERE!!!:)
The thing is… did I really expect God not to show up and provide for me? I have been praying for weeks that God would send money my way, because I knew that I was supposed to come home for the holidays as well as one of my best friends wedding. I asked for money, did I really expect God not to give it to me?
I am overwhelmed with how much God loves me and the plans that He has for me here at Hillsong, and He has confirmed that AGAIN for me by providing… AGAIN:)
On a different note, I am on break right now and it has been so relaxing (I got the chance to go with one of my best buds, Bec, to the northern beaches and stay with some of her family friends in their cottage- I will post about that later:)
Anyways.. the break has been so refreshing and has been such a good time to reflect over the past few months and see how much God has changed me. Also, I will be on US soil in just a short 49 days!:):):):):):):)… I couldn’t be more excited about it!
Please keep praying for provision and for God to keep providing the last chunk of money! Thank you everyone and I will see you soon!:
First of all thank you to everyone who has taken a few moments to read this letter, it means so much to know that I have an amazing support team back home! - both in Ohio and Alabama:)
As I have shared with many of you, God has been so faithful to me and has provided in ways that are truly only done by Him! I really want to give Him all the glory for me even being here and being part of this amazing thing called Hillsong. A place where it has been confirmed over and over and over and OVER again that this is right where He wants me to be.
I’m gonna go ahead and just dive into it, and tell you some things that I desperately need your prayers for.
The first thing is for finances. The main thing being that right now I have a plane ticket to go home over break this Dec but as of now I still need roughly $1200 for a ticket to come back to Australia at the end of Jan to be able to complete my first year here. Although some students stay here over break and have an Australian Christmas and are embraced by the lovely families in our church, there are several reasons why it is really important for me to go home for Christmas and the holidays this year. This first one being that the opportunity to stay a second year at college has been opened up. God has planted the idea in my head, and it could be really good for me to develop and grow so much since I know that I have been called into full time ministry. Because of this possibility this would mean that after this break it would be at least a year before I would be given the chance to go home again. The second reason is that some of my best friends, Morgan & Emmett are getting married over break. I have the honor of being in their wedding, and to be quite frank I can’t imagine missing this day. I watch daily as God shows up for students here at college, as plane tickets are provided and fees are paid for- and right now I am believing that God is going to do the same for me!
The second thing I need is prayer for is wisdom, as I make decisions as to stay a second year or to return back home. My desire is to walk in whatever footsteps the Lord has for me, and at this point in my life I would literally go anywhere!
And last but not least, after this semester ends at the end of November some of my housemates and I have decided to move out of our amazing, huge, over the top college house. We are officially on the hunt for our own house! It’s something that none of us have ever done before, especially in another country! By moving into a house that is not owned by college we will be able to save A LOT of money$$! We need prayer that we will find a house that is walking distance to college and has room for at least 5 girls.
Thank you all so much for joining me in this season and partnering with me in prayer. The way I see it is, if hundreds of people are praying for a plane ticket, wisdom and a house why wouldn’t God provide those things!??!;)
Hello my wonderful friends!
I wish so badly that I could talk face to face with every single one of you! But since I am countries and an ocean away, I am thankful for the internet and blogs:)
It’s been awhile since I last updated, but God is up to BIG BIG BIG B - I - G things! I am learning so much and could honestly go on for hours with stories of all the ways God has showed up in classes and church services. This semester the classes I am taking are Christian Doctrine, Personal Evangelism, Spirit Filled Living, New Testament and Church History. My foundation is truly being established, and after being here for only several months I can’t imagine not going through Bible College. The leadership is incredible, as I have said in my last posts, the instructors and leaders of the Church and college really see the potential in you and pour into you and challenge you to grow and be all that God has called us as individuals to be, so that then we can come together as a team and do this thing called “the church”.
The last few weeks, God has really been showing me and teaching me about what the church is supposed to look like. About getting back to the basics of what the church was like when it was first starting, how the disciples acted and how the leadership was. Before I came here, I think I had a mindset that the church was a place that was for believers to come to get “re-filled”, a pleasant place to bring your friends if you will, and a place to connect with those living a similar life to you. But I was so wrong about that. Yes, the church is an amazing place to grow in your walk with the Lord but there is SO much more to it than that.
We who have already met Christ are called to build up the church, but what so many of us do is raise up the church for ourselves. We build this place that is almost a “get away” for ourselves to go mid-week or on Sundays, we make it look great and pour into it. But honestly, what’s the point if we aren’t doing what we are supposed to be doing? God has called us to create a sense of community. A place that we can bring the people off the streets, the people who smell bad, the women who are beaten and abused, the men who have spent the night before in bars, the children who create problems in the schools and raise the negative statistics, the families that are broken. These are the people that need the church. But are we really doing that? Are we really stepping out of comfort zones to meet these people and let them know that they are loved, that they are wanted? And not just wanted and loved because “that’s what Jesus would do” but because we truly want to love them and build a relationship with them so that we can introduce them to the most amazing person that ever walked this earth… Jesus.
It’s time that we step into the calling that God has for us as believers, who are already walking with Him. Lets go above and beyond what the “normal” church does. Lets really go full on with this and love thy neighbor. Love them the way that Jesus would love them if He were here. Cause right now, in this season we are called to be like Jesus to people who may seem unreachable, but in reality they are just a invitation away. As Bobbie Houston said in Hillsong Sisterhood this morning, “I don’t want to watch people enter Heaven and then be told ‘I’m so sorry but you cannot stay here’.” Let’s start building relationships with people, without any intentions. Lets build relationships with people because it’s what we are called to do. Lets be Jesus to people who want nothing to do with Him, and if we do this right-people who hate the idea of church will soon be our new brothers and sisters in Christ!!
So church, let’s do this thing:)