Please Lord let this room still be free

Ok, so the more I talk to my potential housemate, the less I want to live with her :-( She just sounds like she has the most dead personality ever. Then today the owner sent me her bank account details in America and told me to deposit the whole lot of rent for six months into her bank account within the next few weeks. I said I was happy to pay rent in advance, but I didn't mean the whole lot for six months! Far out, and what if I move in and I don't even like the lady? In addition, the owner said there are fees attached to depositing money into her bank account and then there's likely to be fees on my end too :o(

I was doing my maths today and I could save $780 if I live in the other house that is closer to IHOP and cheaper, and it's the same deal more or less. Well there would be three of us living in the house, the owner who I looked up on FB and another girl and I. The owner is about 50 something and has her own bathroom, so I would just share the second bathroom with one person and have my own room.

This is the room - oh so pretty!

Potential house in KC

So I thought I had the other place to live in, then lost it.... well now I have been offered this! I was so frustrated by the guy who sent me an unsigned form and I am guessing he could sense it because he forwarded an email address to me with someone asking if there were any women requiring a room to rent. Well of course I replied straight away, but because the guy had waited a week to send the email to me, the room was taken by the time the lady read my email! ...by a German student. Grrrr, but then the lady ended up helping me find this beautiful place to stay and it just so happens to be the house owned by an American prayer and worship director I met years ago with mum at a prayer conference in Perth!

So if I live here, I will be sharing their house with just one other lady, who I am guessing is a lot older than me. The more I talk to her, the less enthusiastic I feel about meeting her, but that's ok. Maybe she just doesn't have a funny side. I dunno. She obviously doesn't like the idea of having lots of housemates and wants a quiet peaceful home to live in. The house costs $450 per month and is fully furnished and included utilities and Internet access.

Walking in God's will

Gosh, I just am so in love with my new job. I love the people I work with. I love the work I do. I love my office. I love where I am located. I love being able to wear nice clothes again.

Today we had a work meeting with our big gun director and medical doctor. He has been in France for the last few weeks on annual leave with his wife, four kids and two other families living in a cabin and going skiing. Because he left before I came on board, I had not had a meeting with him. He was just oozing with personality that captivated me. He is a really fascinating person. I like his sense of humor and the way he communicates. He is obviously extremely intelligent.

What really amused me is when we had finished the meeting, he asked me where I lived and then Sarah jumped in with the answer relating to my office accommodation. I said to him I thought he was asking me about where my house was located and that I thought he was getting a bit too personal with me. Hahahaha :-) As I left, I overheard Sarah saying how great it was that I was now on board and how I had really helped out a lot. God has really given me favor. It has been a long time since I have had a boss who sings my praises.

It was funny but when I was given the opportunity to speak about the work I had been doing, what came out of my mouth sounded great and even I was impressed. Gosh, sure hope I can keep this up. The thing is, I love the people I work with. They are all brilliant and hard-working and well-educated. I can communicate with them at their level and it's like I have been craving to be around people like this. I have not been able to have an intellectual conversation like the ones I am having now with my workmates for a very long time .... like years and years and years. I couldn't talk like this in YWAM or bible college or even in the last few jobs I had. It's like we are all at the same level of analytical abilities but in different specialty areas.

This is only my fourth week and yet I love it!!! My brain is not as overwhelmed as I thought it would be. It's amazing thinking I am walking in a fulfilled prophecy - God knew back in 2007 that I would be in this job so He told Kerry Kirkwood to let me know it was coming. Talk about a long detour - some three years later I finally get to walk into it.

Milestone week

Well what a milestone week. I was feeling really worked up about not having received my signed I-20 and having lost my accommodation and having unnecessary delays. The strangest thing is, I still felt to go to my visa interview yesterday, even though anyone in their right mind would not go because the website clearly said you needed everything they asked for and I didn't have that! I felt a bit nervous and the first lady I spoke to said she doubted my visa would be approved without the official signed copy of my I-20. However, the lady who assessed my application was absolutely lovely. She said she was happy to approve my application and gave me the request for paying my visa issuance fee and so I paid it. She just said to bring the form in when I could.

The funny thing is, after she had already said yes and I had paid my visa issuance fee, I looked down and noticed the piece of paper I had brought in to confirm my finances didn't even have my name on it and the term deposit account it referred to no longer existed, because it expired and I re-invested in a different account with a different bank!

So, what also happened is I got an email from this UK girl with two email addresses of staff at IHOP who might have a room for me to rent. The first one got back to me super quick and she said it was for a two bedroom place sharing with a mature Godly woman, 15 minutes walk away and $450/month. The 15 minutes away put me off and I didn't like the idea of sharing with just one person. She said she did not allow shoes or pets in the house. That is fine by me - must be a clean house. Anyway, I sent her back an email saying I felt uneasy about late night classes and walking home in the dark.

The other was from one of the older ladies I had searched out on FB and determined she looked ok out of the huge list of names on a contact list I stumbled across on the Internet. She sent me two photos of a beautiful pink furnished bedroom. She rents out the room for $320/month and I would share the bathroom with one other girl. She lives in the house and has her own bathroom - so in total, it would be three of us. The only down side is that she has two cats. i really don't like cats! haha, but other than that, all was good. The house is 7 minutes away and sounded much better.... so I impulsively said "yes!, please take me". However, on the way home, I just felt I was meant to take the other one..... despite being more expensive and further. So weird.

Anyway, the first lady sent me a reply email saying the area is actually really safe and many people have walked to and fro to this house because she has had a lot of IHOP students stay temporarily. She said the police patrol the area and it would be fine to talk in the dark. She said the lady I would be living with is a mature Godly lady and she just knew i would like her. So I sent an email back to her saying yes. Well she just happens to be Mike Brumback's wife. I met Mike years ago in Perth at a prayer conference and he was the one I gave a lump sum of cash to because I felt led to do so and he gave mum and I two of his CDs. Somehow, I just feel such peace about living in Linda's house instead.

Frustrating uneccesary delays

So I wait almost two months for this Manager of International Admissions to send me a revised form to apply for my visa, and I finally get it only to find he forgot to sign it!

.... so I print a copy of the form, hold it against the window in front of the form he signed last year and copy his signature, whilst feeling incredibly guilty. Then I stressfully gather all my documents together that I need for my visa interview this Thursday and start feeling really stressed and overwhelmed, so I do a bit of cleaning. Then not wanting to accidentally bring the wrong copy of my form to my interview, I tear the old copy to shreds ...only to find it wasn't the wrong copy, but the one I needed :-( :-( :-(

The thing is, I was feeling very uneasy about using a form I had forged a signature on anyway and given the fact that there is a 30 minute security preparation phase in which they take my fingerprints before my interview, they could probably discern it wasn't the right person who signed his signature anyway.... so probably a good thing it got destroyed, but I am just so peeved the guy in America has now wasted so much of my time.

Why oh why?

Love my niece

Angel and Bella got to play together today, and amazingly, they clicked instantly and really enjoyed playing with each other! They are only three months apart and both one quarter Asian. Bella taught Angel how to play the piano :-)

Week 2

Still loving my new job, but feels so weird being back in an office again. Yesterday two of my work colleagues stopped to buy a coffee. Both asked me if I wanted something. I said "no". I haven't been paid yet, so resources are running low, but even if I did have surplus money, i'm not sure I would want to waste it on a cup of coffee. Coming from a less than affluent season of my life, it all just seems so expensive! How can these people waste almost $5 on a cup of coffee that I can make for free upstairs. Funny how my mindset has changed. I wonder when, if ever, it will change back. I want to save up for America, even though this job is a gift from God to me. If it wasn't for God, I would be still earning buggerall and killing time.

I will never take employment for granted and every day I will not waste time doing non-work-related activities like I used to to in the past. I have much better work ethics now. Praise God.

Another thing I noticed that has changed about myself is I cannot seem to stop talking about God and what He has done in my life. Yesterday, I told Andrew and Roslyn how God miraculously healed my mum. I also told Andrew about how Ps Barb shared on Sunday how she was born to two alcoholic parents who left her on the roof as a toddler and she rolled off and cracked her skull and fractured her spine, and then how later she injured her back further, but then was also miraculously healed just like my mum. I also told them both and my boss how I took my little niece to kiddies church and how I really believe in God. I find myself constantly saying "praise the Lord" or "thank God for that" or some other Christian phrase. I just can't seem to help myself. On the way to work and on the way home, my heart is rejoicing and I find myself humming praise and worship songs. I am just so unbelievably grateful to Jesus for bringing me into this beautiful season of employment, getting me ready for America.

Gosh, I am so sorry I took my previous jobs for granted and never stopped to praise God for the blessings of finances He poured into my life. I can see without a doubt every good and perfect gift comes from Him. I am so in love with the Lover of my soul, my best friend and creator. Thank you Jesus for loving me and blessing me. I don't deserve it. I guess that's what His grace is all about.

Oh what a night

Yesterday, my beautiful little niece arrived at my house early morning and we went to her grandma's house to feed the peacocks some cherry tomatoes Julz gave me the previous week, as well as some squashy bananas Grunde gave me yesterday and some of mum's own home grown tomatoes. We all had fun. Then we went to the shops and bought Angel some icy poles and chicken, before I headed home. As usual, she fell asleep in the car home, but unlike usual, she woke up when we got home! We had some fun together, before I decided she should go to sleep around 8.30pm. Well, after a bit of a crying fit, she finally fell asleep with her dummy in her mouth and I prayed for her before tucking myself in.

All through the night, every time I heard her stir, I sang our favourite warfare song, over and over and over again. Amazingly, she did not get up at all during the night and each time, just fell back to sleep. I prayed God would speak to her and show her how great His army was so she would not be afraid. I could sense a deep peace and calmness in the atmosphere.

In the early morning, I had a dream in which I saw Julz' kids grown up to about primary school age. They were both gorgeous kids and both wearing skivy-neck tops and jackets. I didn't know Lars by that name. He had fairer hair and it was cut short and he had a handsome face. He was in a navy blue skivy while Angel was in a red or dark pink-coloured skivy. All was well with their souls. I sensed peace in their spirits. They were sleeping over at my house for some reason, not sure why, and they both loved me dearly and I knew they were ok.

One day I will see the breakthrough I have been praying for. I thank God for the vision of these beautiful children to hold on to.

Angel practicing her VICTORY pose

Slight set-back

Oh, not such a good start to the day. Apparently the girl who broke her lease to vacate the room I was set to move into, has also broken the rules and moved one of her friends into the house and despite not being allowed to do this, the home manager is going to honour her actions and let the girl stay :-( Meaning I no longer have a house to stay in, in KC. Oh booooo hoooo. I guess it wasn't the right house for me after all. Well I did think some of the others were prettier, but it would have been nice to confirm where I'm living on the visa forms.

There is, however, someone considering moving out in March, so the lady said she will let me know closer to this date. Can't help feeling a bit miffed :o(

Praise God

New job is great. Love my office. Love my boss. Love my team. The work is really interesting and so much has changed since I worked there ten years ago. I can see myself settling back into the health sector. I guess only time will tell what God wants me to do. Hard to believe I was so opposed to ever returning back to this area of work. Definitely one of the devil's strongholds broken down through prayer!

Having not worked a real job for three years and earning crap pay (if any) each week since I left the workforce in 2007, I will NEVER take work for granted. I am going to give it my best shot every day, as though I am working for the Lord. Love Him so much. He gave me incredible favor to get this job. Thank you Jesus. Thank you thank you thank you. Can't thank you enough. Gosh, if people would only take time to spend with the lover of their souls every day, they would receive incredible breakthrough in their lives.

New house

Absolutely stoked - got a message to say there is a vacant room in April 2011 in one of the beautiful houses in Kansas City that offers furnished rooms for ~$340/month (average cost). I have paid my deposit now, just waiting on an email back to tell me which house it is. Apparently, it is in walking distance to IHOP. Perfect! I have been praying for the right rental property. They look the best out of all options. Mind you, I haven't actually seen all the options. I just know that I would feel better sharing a house in an unfamiliar city and country, than living alone in a one-bedroom furnished apartment that costs double the amount of this option.

My nephew 9mths

Love this little guy - so handsome!

Spiritual war

Yesterday, Grunde dropped Angel off just before 9.00am and then went off to buy me some second hand tyres with better tread, seeing my front tyres apparently were almost totally worn out. Then he returned and I looked after both Lars and Angel in my lounge room while he put them on my car. When he went to leave with Lars, Angel got so upset, he was forced to take her with him for just over an hour. Fine by me!

In the meantime, I spoke to mum on the phone and boy, did she have some news to tell! It turns out that at 4.30am Saturday morning, she felt as though the Holy Spirit spoke to her. I always take everything mum says with caution because she doesn't go to church, read her bible, or fellowship with any Christian group, so she's not connected to the vine and the words of her mouth are often full of bitterness and negatively. Anyway, but what she did say actually sounded as though it could have been from God. She said she was reminded of a song her mother used to sing before she died. It went like this:

In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus

Demons you are bound

In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus

Yaweh is protecting me

In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus

Demons will have to flee

In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus

We have the victory

She said she had not remembered all the lyrics until then and felt as though God wanted Angel to be taught the song to protect her from all the demonic things surrounding her. Well, looking at the lyrics, I couldn't see anything harmful in that suggestion, and the tune is very simple and catchy. Angel sings "twinkle twinkle little star" every time I see her, which is comparable in its simplicity.

So when Grunde dropped her back at my house, I started singing it to her over and over and over. She just grinned at me and listened quietly. Funny, because earlier that day, every time I tried to sing "twinkle twinkle little star" with her, or any other song for that matter, she kept asking me to STOP! This time, she just listened. Then we went to mum's house and mum repeated the song. Then we came back to my house and Angel had fallen asleep in the car already, so I put her into bed.

During the night she woke a few times and each time, I sang the song gently and sweetly and it caused her to go back to sleep. From 11.00pm to 1.00am, however, she got up and I read her one of her toddler's bibles and about a quarter of another bible story book. She kept asking for a "Jesus story book". Then we went back to bed. Again a couple of times I sang that song as I heard her wake up.

In the early hours of the morning, I had two spiritual dreams. The first was of me in my car. It had broken down because Grunde had not fixed the wheels on properly and as I got out of the car, I saw a young blonde guy watching me. He was a suspicious character and I had the impression he was thinking about preying on me. I called out to him that i'd be ok. Inside, I didn't feel confident.

The second dream was of me standing next to a very tall stocky caucasian lady with very long straight brown hair. We were chatting about church-related stuff, when suddenly she looked at me and I could sense something demonic in her eyes. Her eyes flared at me and she was suddenly about a metre in front of me. Immediately, I said "In the name of Jesus I bind you devil" and strangely, with her eyes eerily wide open, she fell backwards with her body completely straight like a tin soldier and lay motionless on the ground with her eyes wide open. I realised the power of the name of Jesus in my dream and my authority to bind demons in His name.

Somehow, I know mum is right. Angel needs to learn that song. I am not sure if someone is thinking inappropriate thoughts towards her, or whether another person is deliberately trying to intimidate her or whether it is purely demons (well come to think of it, demons are spirits and have no body, so they come to inhabit people and work through them), but I do know that her sleep is not peaceful and somethings have made her afraid.

This morning in church she clung to me. She wouldn't allow me to put her down during praise and worship and then at SuperKids she cried and clung on to me. When she stopped, after about ten minutes, I sneaked out. One of the workers, also named Michelle, said she found her crying beside the doll's house, but then she was ok. When I picked her up, she kept kissing me and hugging me. Funny kid. The workers all said they could see how much she loved me.

I told Julz, but she is so sleep deprived and not 100%. However, I wrote the words down on paper for her.

Jehovah Jireh - our provider

God is so good. I have been feeling very frustrated at my sister because she keeps rocking up with food that I don't enjoy eating and would never buy myself and in such huge quantities that I feel extremely grieved over the waste of money, which could be much better spent on something else. She just doesn't understand I would much prefer the money, not the extravagant food! Anyway, this morning in my quiet time I was praying and complaining about it to my best friend, aka Jesus. Suddenly, I felt the Holy Spirit leading me to pray for John and Gill - this lovely couple I met in Bible college with two young boys. Then I felt God tell me to give them the food! Wow - why didn't I think of that earlier.

With a new found joy and excitement, I filled an old nappy box with a box of cappuccino sachets, camomile tea, a box of ten sachets of oats porridge, two boxes with two sachets of cup-a-noodle soup, two cans of pink salmon, a packet of lavish bread, a block of philadelphia cheese, three packets of sliced cheese, a box of fruit strings and a packet of apricot bites for the kids, ten packets of two minute noodles, a packet of cheese & chive-flavoured corn crisps and a box of chicken drumstick biscuits. I also threw in $40 cash, a small teddy bear, two laminated charts (one of a soldier wearing the armor of God with a description of each piece, and the other with the names of God) and my unworn bible college shirt with their names on it among the list of other graduates (cos I haven't used it and no longer want it).

I wrote them a card saying I felt strongly that God wanted to tell them how much He loved them and how special they were to Him. I felt so amazingly blessed to give it to them this morning.

John told me he had not been paid and were really short on food, so it was a really blessing to them. Gill and Eli were still asleep when I dropped it off at 8.00am this morning, before racing home again. Angelina is due over any minute.

Gosh, now I know why God gives Julz these crazy desires to go out and excessively spend money to buy me stuff. I am merely a channel for God to bless other people through. Glory to God!!!

Last week I gave a huge bag of food to Annette for her mother and daughter - it was comprised of all sorts of canned vegetables and things. Can't remember exactly what was in them or what else there was.

How hunky is my nephew!!!

My nephew and niece take the cake for the most attractive kids on the planet! This is my gorgeous little nine month old nephew.

Thankful

I am so thankful to God. He is so faithful to His promises. My heart is rejoicing still over the job He enabled me to get.

God is amazing getting me a job back in the area of health. Yesterday i went in to meet my new project team and see where I will be working. I will actually be sitting in a beautiful office in a heritage-listed building that used to be the nurses quarters about 100 years ago. To get between my office and the director's office, i have to walk through many wards and corridors full of sick patients. It suddenly hit me last night, that I will likely have opportunities to stop and pray for them and my time in Mexico has given me confidence in stepping out in faith.

I told myself years ago i would never return to this area of work in the health sector because of all that happened there - my boss taking me aside and telling me to just accept my mum would die, then her suddenly getting stomach cancer and dying four months later, and the fact that everyone seemed to be doing everything they could to help patients get better, except turning to Jesus - who can heal them in an instant with no funding required! I was discouraged being round these unbelieving people, but now, so many years later, God has established firm foundations in my heart with His Word and after seeing so many miracles and personal victories through Him answering my prayers, I am ready to accept the challenge and carry His presence and His anointing into this place.

Last night i met up with my old friend Dee for coffee in a shop nearby - it's actually in between where we live. I arrived all prayed up and prepared to sow seeds into her heart. I brought along my little prayer confessions book and testified about how God had answered my prayer, against all odds to get me an amazing job. Every morning for many weeks i have prayed these words: "I now dissolve and put aside all negative, limiting beliefs about where I will work and what kind of job is available to me. I open myself to all of God’s possibilities. I call for a perfect, satisfying, well paying job to manifest in my life. I am always in the right place at the right time for the Spirit of God directs my steps".

I have had so many people throw discouraging words at me and tell me it is not possible to re-enter the workforce after being out for so long and get a job suited to my work experience and qualifications. As time has ticked away, i have clung on to God's promises .... and He has proved faithful. He really is a God of the impossible.

This morning in my quiet time, He overwhelmed me again with His sweet encouragements and promises. He spoke to me out of the book of Job about how He restored double-fold what Job had lost. Job lived a long fruitful life, he was prosperous, successful and his daughters were the most beautiful among all the women - all because he put his trust in the Most High God and despite extreme trials and hardships, never turned away from His Lord. God is not a respector of persons and what he did for Job, He is going to do for me. Amen.

Dee listened with obvious interest, i could sense God's truth being absorbed into her heart. I shared about Mexico and our outreach times and told her again how God had miraculously healed my mum and my niece and then gotten me this amazing job, exactly up to the time I leave for America.

In the time i will be working (13 weeks) i will earn enough money to cover all my airfares, insurance, university fees, rental costs and living expenses for the six months i am unable to work in America. God is just totally amazing. I am just in awe of the amazing God i serve.

If only other people could catch on to the secret of breakthrough - you just need to make time for God every day, develop a deeply personal and intimate relationship with Him and He will make everything work out. How I love the lover of my soul, the one who made me and knows the great future He has planned for my life.

Got a perfect, satisfying, well-paying job today

God is faithful to His promises and the final part of the prophecy that Kerry Kirkwood gave to me was fulfilled today. God provided that on ramp onto the express way for me. The job is the one I mentioned earlier - working for a medical doctor who is also the state director of medical imaging. I had given up on that one. Well Sarah went and arranged it for me today. Oh praise the Lord. It is for Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, starting Wednesday next week.

Icy pops and dancing

This is my beautiful little niece, Angelina, with her 6 yr old friend Gabby.

New swivel chair and cow hopper

So here they are and Angelina loves them both!