SPACE

i have had a lot of down time recently, and it isnt something i have particularly enjoyed but im starting to realize that in God’s eyes it was totally necessary!  I have had time to slow down, and realized that is something im not very good at.
 i have had a lot of time alone, again something i rarely do. God wanted me to still my soul and rest in him. i have been reading a lot, praying a lot and trying to listen a lot.
yes having all this time without too many pressures has been a great luxury, but a necessary one i think, and something i definitely dont want to take for granted!
there is a reason for everything and sometimes God just wants to give space. when theres space we can hear from him so much more easily and clearly and learn to tune into his voice, so that in the times of business and noise its easier to pick it out! 

no church for YOU tonight.....

so tonight an interesting thing happened to me....i got turned away from church.....why you may ask???

church was full....yep that's right FULL...too many people.

Now i don't know about your experiences with church lately, but certainly hasn't been one of so many people that we need to turn some away!!! rather the opposite in fact!

Now i would point out that this was no ordinary night at church...Jesus Culture were leading the service and they aren't in Australia all the time so i can understand the many people showing up!

BUT....

it did get me thinking....

I am sure there are places all around the world were there are just too many people to fit in the building....but it doesn't happen often near me. But what we started praying for that....really praying for that? That the streets would be lined with people hungry to know God, and be in his presence together.

I mean people queue for fireworks, concerts, sports games, sales for crying out loud!....why not church.?

what would the world look like if our churches were full to capacity. It would just HAVE to overflow to the streets!

im not getting into big discussions about what makes a good church or if numbers really matter blah blah blah....im just thinking what it would look like if that became a normal thing!?.......

25...ish

A good friend posted me an article today that made me feel better about the decisions i make in life.
sometimes we are in such a rush to figure everything out...and sometimes i get so frustrated that i dont have everything figured out.

When you’re 25-ish, you’re old enough to know what kind of music you love, regardless of what your last boyfriend or roommate always used to play. You know how to walk in heels, how to tie a necktie, how to give a good toast at a wedding and how to make something for dinner. You don’t have to think much about skin care, home ownership or your retirement plan. Your life can look a lot of different ways when you’re 25: single, dating, engaged, married. You are working in dream jobs, pay-the-bills jobs and downright horrible jobs. You are young enough to believe that anything is possible, and you are old enough to make that belief a reality.

Don't get stuck

This is the thing: when you start to hit 28 or 30, everything starts to divide, and you can see very clearly two kinds of people: on one side, people who have used their 20s to learn and grow, to find God and themselves and their deep dreams, people who know what works and what doesn’t, who have pushed through to become real live adults. And then there’s the other kind, who are hanging onto college, or high school even, with all their might. They’ve stayed in jobs they hate, because they’re too scared to get another one. They’ve stayed with men or women who are good but not great, because they don’t want to be lonely. They mean to find a church, they mean to develop honest, intimate friendships, they mean to stop drinking like life is one big frat party. But they don’t do those things, so they live in kind of an extended adolescence, no closer to adulthood than they were when they graduated college.

Don’t be like that. Don’t get stuck. Move, travel, take a class, take a risk. Walk away, try something new. There is a season for wildness and a season for settledness, and this is neither. This season is about becoming. Don’t lose yourself at happy hour, but don’t lose yourself on the corporate ladder either. Stop every once in a while and go out to coffee or climb in bed with your journal. Ask yourself some good questions like: “Am I proud of the life I’m living? What have I tried this month? What have I learned about God this year? What parts of my childhood faith am I leaving behind, and what parts am I choosing to keep with me for this leg of the journey? Do the people I’m spending time with give me life, or make me feel small? Is there any brokenness in my life that’s keeping me from moving forward?”

Now is your time. Become, believe, try. Walk closely with people you love, and with other people who believe that God is very good and life is a grand adventure. Don’t spend time with people who make you feel like less than you are. Don’t get stuck in the past, and don’t try to fast-forward yourself into a future you haven’t yet earned. Give today all the love and intensity and courage you can, and keep traveling honestly along life’s path.

Taken from Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist Copyright © 2010. 

it just makes me feel a little better :)

finally....i know what's next

So i have made the decision to do a dts! this is what is next!

its nice to finally have some direction and excitement after a frustrating couple of months.

in exactly 3 weeks i start the lecture phase of dts. I will be in taurnaga, New Zealand for 3 months doing the impact and intimacy dts.....this is the combined IWT and Prayer Room school.
I just look back at all the connections that have led to this decision and to me it can only be God. When i left home in august my plan was to your and then make my way to Australia for my brothers wedding, via visiting friends in Milwaukee! and in Australia i planned to work and live for a while...an opportunity not to be missed...right???

But then i went to New Zealand in November.... and EVERYTHING changed!

I spent every morning the prayer room there, which was exactly what i needed...time with God. I think that week, will be a significant week in my life, for the rest of my life, even more so than i will ever realize.

And it was then i found out about the dts. I have been praying about it since then and the more i pray the more convinced I am that this is the next step!

Definitely not the plan I had in mind but a good plan i think!
http://t3.gstatic.com

frustrating times

Sometimes we just don't know why things happen the way they do!
Right now I am frustrated! so frustrated! i have been trying so so hard to find a job and praying the God will open a door somewhere and nothing seems to be happening. It's hard because I fully trust that God is in control but i don't understand why im not working right now! I want to work and to be honest i could really use some pennies....

It can be a pretty disheartening thing to deal with and it isn't something i have ever dealt with before. I have never had much trouble finding a job, in fact it has always been pretty easy for me. But constantly applying for jobs and hearing nothing back does not make for an encouraging time. Don't get me wrong, I in no way find my worth and identity in my ability to work but I am not a lazy person and I ENJOY working!!

It just doesn't make sense to me that I am not able to get a job when there are so many available in Melbourne! I just have to trust that God knows what he is doing and He will meet my needs whether I am working or not.

still.....frustrating...