Love this cheeky little monkey

Consequences of sin

After I emailed Julz about how eating Halal foods is an act of disobedience to the Most High God, she came back with a really ignorant email reply saying she didn't think it was a problem and asking where it says in the New Testament that it brings curses on those who consume them.

I thought and prayed for a while before typing up this reply:

Curses are referred to throughout the bible.

In James 4:17, we are told simply that sin is simply when we know to do good, but we don’t do it and Romans 6:26 says the wages of sin is death (i.e. curses).

We show God we love Him by obeying His commandments (1 John 5:3) and we hide His Word in our hearts to avoid sinning against Him (Psalm 119:11). One of the things His Word clearly says is to stay away from food offered up to idols (1 Corinthians 10:28, Acts 15:20 and Acts 21:25).

Deuteronomy 30:19 provides more clarification: “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live”.

We choose life by obeying what the Word of God says to do. Deuteronomy 28 provides more information on the extent of blessing or cursing we can choose to experience. As Christians, the Word of God is our frame of reference, a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. It’s where we get guidance and direction from, and wisdom to choose ways that are in accordance with God’s will.

Romans 3:26 says all have sinned and fallen short of God’s standards, yet if we simply confess our sins, He is quick to forgive and cleanse us of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

Hosea 4:6 – God’s people are destroyed through lack of knowledge.

Halal

Really disappointed today. Julz gave me about half a dozen really lovely-looking packages from WA to take overseas to South Korea to hand out as gifts. They were filled with gormet nuts coated with chocolate and caramel and other things. Anyway, the reason why I cannot take them overseas is because they are Halal-certified. I looked up on the Internet what this means. In order for any product to be Halal-certified, it must be prepared according to Islamic guidelines, with prayers said to God (Allah) during the process. This means it is food offered to an idol, which the bible forbids us partaking. Urrrgggh!

Here I am wanting to bless the Christians who bless me, yet I would in effect be cursing them. I am not quite sure what to do with them now - maybe i'll take them to church to the community services branch.

Love this piccy

Contract signed and delivered to South Korea :-)

Well today I FINALLY got the employment contract from Handong Global University. As requested, I printed it, signed it, scanned the signed copy and emailed it back to Ana, the English Language Teacher Coordinator. My degree and National Police Clearance arrived today from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with their fancy expensive apostille stamps attached. I mailed off everything, including my bank cheque and passport by registered mail. Wow, what a sigh of relief finally getting everything together.

After talking to Jun-Mo and Ps Judy yesterday, I decided to go for the cheap and nasty reputation airlines, because Jun-Mo pointed out that it would be the shortest possible flight - going direct to Indonesia and then on to Seoul. Ps Judy told me about how Ps Barb had taken a Quantas flight to the east coast and all the passengers heard a loud bang and the plane had to turn around and go back! It turns out some birds had flown into the engine or some part of the plane. The point being that even the more expensive flights can be dodgy and that when God is in control, He can make any flight get you to where you need to be safely!

However, when I went to book my flight with Garuda Airlines, the strangest thing happened. The flight was apparently no longer available! Then I did a quick Internet search and up popped a few other options all around the same cheap price. The first two I tried didn't work, for some weird reason, but then the third one did. It turned out to be Malaysian Airlines, which sounded MUCH better all along, because it was even quicker. If I fly out 4.30pm Chrissy day, then I arrive in Seoul at 6.30am the next morning! I just looked on my bank website though and less than $2 has been taken off my Mastercard..... hmmm, what is going on? The strange thing is the exact same flight itinerary is available through other websites at a cost of about $600 more!

How bizarre that it would just suddenly appear out of nowhere!

I'm praying it all goes through ok. It still appears to be available a few hours later.

Lots to do before South Korea

My head is feeling very overwhelmed at all the things I have to do before I leave for South Korea. For the visa, I need:

• National Police Clearance ($55.50) with apostille ($60.00) from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)
• Certified copy of UWA transcript in sealed envelope ($10.00) and spare copy ($0.50)
• Certified copy of degree ($0.50) and spare copies ($1.00) with apostille ($60.00) from the DFAT
• New passport photos (~$15) from the Post Office
• Bank cheque for visa application ($80)
• Visa application form
• Work contract from the korean university
• Rego details from the korean university
• My passport

I also need to learn how to be a good teacher, do some research on global jobs and learn as much Korean as possible! Aggggghhh

Minister of Reconciliation

The piccy with the book really made me laugh - she kept saying "Aunty, this book is too big" - hahaha ... well it is half her height! Gosh

Michelle going to S Korea!!!

Well I got the job, so looks like i'm heading to South Korea in December!!! Far out :-)

Thursday

Well today I rose and had a nice prayer time. Then I got dressed and drove to Officeworks in Innaloo to buy some CDs so I can burn some IHOP music for Ps Alan.

Then I went to the Crawley unit to meet mum. She had just finished sweeping the front of the unit and was ready to return home. To our frustration, some silly student had parked his car inside the covered carport despite us leaving a note on his car yesterday asking him not to park there anymore as he did not have permission to do so. So I drove home, rang the council (who was useless because they said they cannot do anything about a car within a person's fence line!) and then UWA Administration and then UWA parking and security. I emailed the police too.

Finally a guy named Jeremy from the UWA security managed to look up the guy's number plate (because he had a yellow parking permit sticker from UWA on his windscreen) and contact him and tell him to move his car! He told the Jeremy that he was a friend of the previous tenant and the real estate company had told him he could continue parking there. Jeremy told him he should talk to the owner, NOT the real estate company as the owner had just called him to complain. He said he would go and move his car. As mum and I drove down to check, he was only just moving it - a young blonde guy in a t-shirt and shorts. Praise the Lord.

I got home and decided it was time to deactivate my FB account and have a break from it. It is really such a time waster! I burnt the music on to CDs and ate some food and had a rest.

I feel like it has been an unproductive day!

My piccies of mum's unit for rent

So here are the piccies I snapped today of mum's unit in Crawley after a gardener had fixed up the garden and the tenant's gear was gone... oh my goodness, SO much nicer!

Wednesday

Slept in today. Then had some breaky and went to see Ps Alan again at church. He was a bit out of it today with John Payne doing something on his laptop, which meant I had to wait for half an hour before he was ready to talk. I ended up reading my Bible and praying in tongues and he kept thanking me for my prayers, which I thought was funny.

Funny he was ready and came and sat next to me in one of his visitors chairs while John continued to do stuff on his laptop. How crazy! I guess we weren't discussing anything personal. He said he listened to the CD I loaned him called Standing on the Wall and he said his wife and him could both sense the anointing. He said something really interesting to me, which I hadn't considered before. He said that when a person has been sanctified or consecrated as the IHOP'ers say, then the prayers they offer up are more powerful and anointed, then the prayers of someone who still have one foot in the world. I told him I grew really close to some of the guys at IHOP and my friendships with them were deep and much better quality than any male friendships I have in Perth. He said that it was because the guys at IHOP have been sanctified. Gosh, so true. I hadn't thought about that.

He said Angie really wants to go to IHOP and he said he does too, but they have ministry commitments here that are tying them up. What a bummer. I realised how privileged I have been to attend IHOP for six months because God freed me from things that tie me to Perth. They watched the promotional DVD I also let Ps Alan borrow. Today I brought them a Limited Edition CD, but kind of regretted it when I realised I wasn't getting my first CD and DVD back! Oh well .... another day I guess.

I left in a bit of a hurry because mum wanted me to go to her Crawley unit to snap some piccies for the real estate company. The current advert does the unit no justice. They have made it look ugly and very unappealing. Even the description is dry and unappealing.

This is what they wrote and the piccies they uploaded - urgh!!! I shudder looking at them:

1/15 PRINCESS ROAD , CRAWLEY, WA, 6009 - UNIT FOR RENT

Unit in close proximity to UWA

Price guide: $430+

Unit in small strata complex, located in close proximity to UWA and river, carport parking to front of property. Large open plan living which can double as both a lounge and dinning area. Kitchen is cosy with good built in oven and cuboard storage space. Three good sized bedrooms with built in robes, ensuite and separate bathroom with bath compliment this property. External paved patio area to rear garden consisting of mandarin trees, rose bushes and foliage.

This property is unfurnished.

This property is available from Mid October, call now to secure an individual appointment.

Tuesday

Well today was a good day. I slept in and then had a shower and uploaded some of my music CD's onto my Macbook. Then Julz brought the kiddies over and we did some craft and colouring-in. I cut Lars' nails and washed his feet and hands, gel'd his hair and changed his nappy. I also snapped some piccies of him. He and I had fun together. Angel spent time with Julz and her beloved grandma, who seems to be getting fonder of her every day.

After they left I put my blades up on the Quokka for sale and did some more research for my potential visa application to South Korea. I discovered that I can actually get an apostille (i.e. a proof that an Australian document is genuine) in Perth at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It costs $60 per single sided document and I know I require one for my degree, and then maybe also for my police clearance if it doesn't come from a Government department. That's great news because I thought I had to send my original degree over to Canberra to get an apostille and the thought of doing this stressed me out!

I also discovered this awesome website that provides a large list of games you can play with children to teach them English. Gosh, what an incredibly useful thing to have. If i get this job, i will spend time preparing some resources to take with me.

Then mum and I hung out and chatted about the kids and I have no idea what happened to the rest of my time! it is now 7.00pm.

Monday

Had my Skype interview with Ana today - it was hilarious because she was sitting in a room with her back facing a bright light so this caused her to be a silhouette from my perspective. All I could see was a dark outline. I could just make out she was wearing black rimmed glasses and her hair was tied up. She was super sweet and I really enjoyed talking to her. She told me her mum would love me and was previously part of the leadership team at Pastor Yongii Cho's church and that her parents want to go to IHOP.

The only thing that concerns me is that there is no set lesson plan - she said the teachers will collectively prepare it together! Yikes... I expected a bit more organisation than that. She said she will let me know the outcome within a couple of days, hopefully. I thought she was going to let me know straight after. Shame!

Afterwards, I went to the Post office and mailed Martha two packets of TimTams (one milk chocolate, one dark chocolate) and a thank you card for being so sweet. This is a piccy of her and her daughter and hubby.

Then I went to UWA and ordered a copy of my UWA transcript in a sealed envelope, as is required for my C-4 visa application. It cost $10 and 50c for a photocopy (I figured I had best keep in mind how dodgy my university record appears due to them recording EVERY subject I enrolled in then withdrew from because I changed my mind so many times! Doh. I have to collect it on Wednesday.

South Korea

On Thursday last week, I had my first proper skype date with Jessica, my South African friend from IHOP. It was a lot of fun seeing her through video camera! Technology is so clever. Just before we ended our conversation, she suggested I apply to teach at a winter camp in a Christian university in South Korea. I kind of dismissed it, but after we ended our call and i checked it out, my heart leapt with enthusiasm. If you get accepted, they pay for your return airfare, meals and accommodation as well as give you some spending money! I have been aching to get to South Korea, particularly to Yongi Cho's prayer mountain and I was even just asking pastors last week about a potential trip the church was planning for two weeks over to his church. The church trip was cancelled.

Last Wednesday, I met up with Ps Alan and he told me how God had told him to go over the easter of 2009. He and his wife went for 9 days and he said something amazing was deposited in his heart over the short time he was there. Subsequently, he said he prayed in tongues every day for long periods of time and it was like his Spirit got revived. WOW! After talking to him, it stirred an even greater desire in me to go.

I wonder whether this could be my in-road. I whipped up the application that night and I have a Skype interview on Monday at 9.00am. Then I would need to get a C4 visa and a few other things sorted out. I am so excited at the prospect of doing it.

Teaching my little niece about the Armor of God

Ephesians 6:11-17

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,^[a] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
¹⁴ Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. ¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

Someone's humor

Good advice

Dreams

Last night a man came to me in my dream. He had black hair and looked like a tribal man from an island like Samoa or Fiji or Vanuatu?!?!?! I could sense he was deeply sensitive to things of the Spirit. He told me I had a beautiful heart. That was random!

This week, I felt the Lord tell me that I have a lot of soul wounds, which have been caused by sin (James 4:17 – when we know to do good but don’t do it) I’ve done myself, and then others have done to me and then through circumstances I have been through. One by one, through dreams, He’s been revealing how they came about and so I’ve begun a process of working through them.

The first one He showed me was caused during the 7.5 months I looked after my mum in hospital (some ten years ago!). I saw myself in a dream, like a young kid, walking around the hospital my mum was in. Now I’m having flashbacks of all the challenges associated with that ordeal!

The way we get over them is we repent, forgive whoever was involved, and then invite the glory light of Jesus to cover those wounds. To invite the glory light in, we meditate on scriptures about the light of Jesus (e.g. Matthew 17:1-2,5 and Matthew 4:16), repeatedly decree light over these wounds and listen to worship music about the glory of Jesus.

God knows how much time we need to deal with each one before He reveals the next one to soak in His glory light. I am going to talk to my boss and tell her I need more time out before I start work (if I even go back to that job). I feel God's wants me to focus on healing my soul wounds that i didn't even realise i had before this week! How ignorant, am I?!?!?

We are all designed to be temples filled with the Holy Spirit, but I felt the Lord say that I was like the temple in Haggai in ruins. However, when I am restored and built-up, He will fill me with His glory. Pretty awesome, hey! ….so I am actively trying to get to that state.

An arvo with my favourites

Love these beautiful children. They are such bright little lights

La oración de la boda

Dios nuestro, que al crear el género humano estableciste la union
entre el hombre y la mujer, une en la fidelidad del amor a estos hijos tuyos 
que van a contraer matrimonio, para que siempre sean testigos del amor divino 
que hoy los trae en tu presencia. 
Por Jesucristo nuestro Seor. Amen.


God is faithful to fulfill His promises

This morning I felt the Lord leading me to attend the 8.30am service at VLC, so I obediently went. Ps Margaret told us to go and find a picture of the thing we are trusting God for and meditate on the picture, thanking God for it every day. In her case, she used to suffer from a heart problem, so she went and found a picture of a healthy heart and used it in her prayers for God to heal her heart. Consequently, she now is completely healed and restored to the original healthy condition God intended for her to be! Praise Jesus.

Well that inspired me to get a picture of my future husband and wedding. Because God first spoke to me in a dream with a beautiful white dove, it touched my heart to find this piccy with a couple releasing beautiful white doves. The girl has long brown hair like mine and the guy vaguely resembles the guy God showed me I would marry - only my guy had his head shaven..... but this is what I imagine his hair would look like when he grows it.

Of course, I had to include God's promise in Scripture to back up the promise He will fulfill :-) I know He is faithful and His Word is the truth. His timing is not my timing, but it is perfect. Thank you Jesus that You are a miracle-working God, that it is not too late for me! You are Elohim, Almighty Creator of the world and NOTHING is impossible for You, despite what all the doubtful, critical unhelpful people around me may choose to believe! I choose to believe in God.

Catching up with Trish

Caught up with Trish tonight and her black dog, Jackson. We went to King's Park and had a picnic. She has also felt led to go somewhere other than VLC ... interesting! We realised we haven't seen each other since before I left for Mexico!

Tax return completed!

Finally completed my tax return today because it suddenly dawned on me that I should be getting a refund this time round and I need that money!

Damo and his three Eurasian daughters

Gift of Tim Tams

Today I mailed some Tim Tams from Perth, Western Australia to Kansas City, Missouri. They were addressed to:

• Ken & Glenda Mitchell;
• Jim & Andrea Saxion; and
• my KC housemates.

Tim Tams are a popular Australian chocolate biscuit that everyone loves to have with a cuppa! :-)

I also mailed an Australian postcard showing the City of Fremantle to Ken and Glenda. It wasn't cheap, but the Lord touched my heart to do it and I knew it would touch their hearts. I guess that's what we are to do in the Body of Christ. All up with four packets of biccies, padded envelopes and international postage, it cost almost $60! Ouch.

New jacket for the nations

Last week while I was still in America, I remembered someone telling me that all the expensive top quality jackets go on sale in the hiking stores in Perth after winter. While winter was just beginning over there, winter was coming to an end in Australia, so I decided in my heart to look around for a good deal when I got home.

Yesterday I picked up a brochure for Kathmandu (a rather groovy hiking store) and spied a rather gorgeous super lightweight sporty jacket made entirely of nylon. I would previously never spend so much money on a jacket, but with international travel and weight restrictions you begin to realise that you simply cannot pack a lot. I gave away more than half my wardrobe in America and still got charged $200US for merely having 4kg over the suitcase limit! With ridiculous fees like that, I realise it is better to buy a more expensive super lightweight high quality jacket that will keep you warm and that can travel with you. That way you do not have to waste money buying clothes in foreign countries, which you then have to give away before you leave.

So that said, I just bought this amazingly gorgeous jacket that I saw in the Kathmandu catalogue on sale. It was so weird, I heard the Holy Spirit tell me to go to the Peppermint Grove store ... but I was arguing with Him saying it would be much better if I went to the Harbortown store, cos chances are these jackets would likely be even more discounted (being a warehouse place offering higher discounts than suburban stores) and there was also NIKE warehouse next door that probably had just as great deals. However, it was such a strong leading by the Spirit to go to the Peppermint Grove store that I eventually gave in and went with the Spirit's leading.

Well it turns out, this is the only store in the whole of Australia that had one size 8 jacket available. The sales guy behind the counter checked every store for me, because the only remaining jacket in my size was emerald green and I would have preferred black because it is much easier to accommodate and less obvious when you wear it frequently than something that is bright green! I felt really special with the realisation that the Holy Spirit really does know best and had led me there. So here are the specs (note that the piccy is of the black jacket, not the green one):

Women's windproof active jacket.

• Zip front with chin guard and stormflap for wind protection
• Draw cord hem for ideal fit and extra protection from wind
• Elastic cuffs with thumb loops
• No side seams and raglan sleeves keep seams away from pressure points to reduce chaffing and allows extra movement
• Front zipped mesh pocket with music/phone cord eyelet
• Lower back zipped mesh pocket with key clip, jacket can be folded into this pocket for easy storage/transportation.
• Reflective print detail
• Incredibly lightweight
• Windstopper Active Shell fabric, only 58gsm.
• Fabric is 100% windproof and highly breathable, aimed at the light and fast athlete

The pack&GO series is a range of ingenious travel solutions designed to make life easier while circling the globe. Carefully created for optimal space saving and convenience, you'll travel smarter with pack&GO. Try the Packaway Pocket to stuff or fold things into - designed to reduce bulk and keep you light on your feet.

• Fold garment into rectangle
• Fold into its own pocket
• Secure with zip
• Reduces bulk
• Easy to use

Pack & Go - Pack Pocket
Gore^TM Windstopper® Active Shell

Fabric 100% Nylon

Prayer warriors in Fremantle!

Last night I attended a live session in the prayer room. Oh my goodness, what a difference a live session makes! The room was full and I actually made some friends. It was by far the most amazing meeting I have been to. They started by playing IHOP worship songs. As we began singing "my soul longs for you", I felt the overwhelming presence of God and I had tears rushing down my face. The sweetness of His presence and His bright countenance surrounded me. It satisfied the longing in my heart for Him. I sang loudly and passionately - unafraid to let everyone know we were singing about the love of my life!

Then Jason led the room in a prayer for believers to feel God's love, as referred to in Philippians 1:9-11.

Philippians 1:9-11 - New King James Version (NKJV)

⁹ And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰ that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, ¹¹ being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Then he asked that we break into groups of three and pray for each other to feel God's love. I prayed with Heather (who looks like a splitting image of my friend Natalie from Bible college and YWAM) and Johannes (the guy who I have seen every morning in the prayer room - one of the very few people present).

Subsequently, Johannes led the room in a prayer based on 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13, also about the love of God. It was a powerful spirit-filled prayer and I was surprised at the richness of his content and how he brought a magnitude of scriptures together all in the same prayer. It had to be one of the best prayers I have ever heard - even better than the guys at IHOP who lead intercession!

1 Thessalonians 3:11-13 - New King James Version (NKJV)

¹¹ Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you. ¹² And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, ¹³ so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.

Then a guy called Damien led the room in a prayer based on Haggai 2:4-8. He chose to pray for the removal of hindrances preventing the house of prayer being established 24/7 in Fremantle. Wow, what a prayer warrior. Then he prayed another prayer based on Isaiah 56:7 to contend for laborers to assist with the establishment of 24/7 prayer in Fremantle. Then he asked us to break into groups of three people again and pray against hindrances for establishing the 24/7 prayer. This time I prayed with Heather again and then another girl called Emma.

After we prayed for unsaved family members - the church members had all written their names on little cards and we were each given at least one card to pray specifically for the people on the card. A girl called Lauren joined our little team and we each prayed as we felt led, for the names on our card.

Update

Feel pretty flat today. Julz gave me a new phone yesterday and I am trying to get my head around it. I had to take out my SIM card and put it back into my old phone because none of the phone numbers in it came across. While I was going through the contact list, I found Sunny, Bev, Karen and Trish who I invited to catch up with me. Made me smile remembering them all. I really want to see Sunny the most out of them all, because I remember her complaining about her new hubby making her get up every morning to pray in tongues for two hours..... now here I am doing it, so many years later! I'm wondering where all the people are that embrace this lifestyle.

Prayer room early morning has been a little bit dry because no one else seems to like praying in the Spirit except me. I am going to go tonight because I am so curious to see if the population attending is greater than two older men! Surely, there have got to be some like-minded people in this city that I can be friends with.... oh Lord, where are the prayer warriors and intercessors?!?!

Been running around doing stuff today. This morning I went to the prayer room for two hours, then home for a cuppa before heading to the bank to check interest I need to declare in my tax return form, which is yet to be completed! Then I went to HBF to show them my boarding pass to reactivate my membership. Then I bought a to-go coffee mug before heading home to burn some music on a CD for my car.

Feeling a bit dazed still. It's just so weird being back. Mum has been great and all, surprisingly, and it's been great seeing the dogs again and having a car, but I feel lonely. I feel like I've been living on another planet. All the people I was in close fellowship with for six months and shared amazing times with, are all gone. They are so far away and I am left feeling shattered.