Adopted little sister

Last week I met this beautiful Chinese girl who is now sleeping in the bunk above me in YWAM. She has just returned from three months in Mexico City. I just love her - I know God has put her across my path as a divine connection just for a brief moment in time - we have two weeks overlap before she heads home and I head to Mexico City for three months. So far I have prayed for her three times and I bought her a copy of a wonderful prayer confession book that has really helped me. She is an only child, due to the single child policy in China and her dad is not a Christian, which makes things tough. I am teaching her spiritual warfare. I feel like she is a little sister to me.

Answered prayer

God is so good. Yesterday I went to my niece's 2nd b'day and one of the couples at the party go to Without Walls - like MY CHURCH!!! It turns out the lady is a patient of Julz. That was an answer to a prayer, having asked God to bring divine friendships into her life. Praise the Lord.

Last weekend, I went to the shops at Broadway Fair with Angelina and heard the sound of praise and worship, so we went up to the top floor and it turned out to be a small charismatic/pentacostal Asian church which sings songs I am familiar with. As we walked in 15 minutes late, I felt like crying - the warmth of the Holy Spirit and His sweet anointing overwhelmed me. I held back tears and we sat at the back. The worship time was excellent, but I didn't stay for the service. I told mum about it and yesterday, I asked her if she would like to come with me next time and she said YES (to my great surprise). So today, I picked up Angelina early and then picked up mum and we went. What was truly amazing is Angelina very happily went off with a young man called Singh and joined the kid's program.

I asked the guy if she could go with the handful of kids and he said "will she not cry?" and I said "no" and then he asked if she would mind being away from me, and I said "no". As he took her in his arms, she smiled and I watched him carry her down the three flights of stairs. When he got to the bottom, I was amazed at how happy she seemed and he looked up at me and half grinned. During the service, I was kind of expecting someone to come and get me or to see Angel's face enter the door, but 1.5hrs passed and no one came into the service. Finally, I saw her little face - it turns out she had a great time. Another guy, Ben, said he was amazed how at ease she was with a bunch of complete strangers and he said she had to be the most obedient child he has ever seen. He said they taught the kids about how Jesus takes on their burdens and illustrated it with a bag that they put heavy things into. She apparently sat still the whole time and watched in amazement.

After the service, mum, Angelina and I stayed and ate lunch together. It was just so lovely to have some fellowship. I was really amazed at how mum stayed around to chat. The people were all very friendly and knew about spiritual warfare and prosperity. The pastor's wife told us that her daughter did a DTS at YWAM and the outreach was to China and she decided to stay in China a few more years and ended up marrying an American guy and they now have a 6mth old Eurasian boy who looks more Caucasian. Very interesting.

After I dropped off mum, I prayed all the way home through tears. I was reminded of my prayers and just knew deep in my heart that God had answered my prayers about my family. Somehow it is all going to be ok. Not sure how, but it will be.

Bday at YWAM

Mark just sent me the piccies from my bday - really blessed me. So these are the special seven friends that celebrated my bday with me at YWAM.

Bday party for me

After the Friday night meeting, Paddy came up to me and said that he felt God told him to come and pray for me, so he waited on the Lord, then had a vision of me doing some prophetic dancing and he said He felt God wanted to release the gift of prophetic dancing in me! ...and that it would break spiritual pride off people. He also prayed that I personally would see 250 salvations in Mexico. How interesting.

Kristin threw a party for me last night which was really cool and Isaac, James, Jill, Andrew and Nika joined us....also two other girls from YWAM who I have never really spoken to. There were quite a few people. I was very touched that Kristin went out of her way to buy nice food and a fancy caramel mudcake for me. Praise the Lord. We had a great time. We only got home around 1.00am and I went to bed about 2.00am.

My bday yesterday

So yesterday was my birthday and for the first time in a long time, I had a really great day. Funny, I was previously nervous about celebrating my birthday in YWAM style (i.e. communal, with seven friends on your table, with the traditional YWAM bday song being sung over you and the requirement to give a speech), but I had the deepest peace inside me all day and I just felt so at ease.

I decided that I would honor each of my guests (Mark, Tammy, Sarah, Andrew, Karen, Bev and Wendy) by introducing them and telling everyone a little bit about them..... so this is roughly what I said:

"Good evening everyone. Thanks for celebrating my birthday with me. I can't say I have every had a birthday quite like this one, being communal-style and it being my first YWAM birthday! I want to thank everyone on my DTS and the associated schools for making my time here more enjoyable....and I also want to thank my seven special guests who made the extra effort to come in and celebrate my birthday. They represent a wider group of amazing friends that God has blessed me with. Because they made the effort to come in today, I want to honor each one of them by telling you a little bit about each one. So starting with Mark (who was holding video camera):

• Mark had gotta be one of the most easy-going, friendliest, sociable people I know. He is part of many different social group and part of a group of friends we have called the "down south crew" who like to head down south to various country locations and have these amazing praise and worship and fellowship times. I really appreciate Mark's friendship;
• Tammy and I met at Bible college and worked in a church bookshop for over two years. Tammy is young and yet she has spiritual maturity and wisdom well beyond her years. She is one of the most loyal, faithful and sweetest friends I have;
• Sarah is currently renting the place I was living in just before I started my DTS. She has been through comparable trials and challenges than I have and so she can empathise with what I've gone through. She is an overcomer and more than a conqueror through God and she is someone I talk to what I'm going through issues - she always knows exactly what to say and what to pray. She's a powerful prayer warrior and I really appreciate her;
• Andrew is someone who many people view as a spiritual father. He is a great leader too and has an incredible ability to analyse problems, break them down and come up with solutions. He is an amazing role model and mighty man of God;
• Karen, his beautiful wife, and Bev are two mighty women of God. They are both powerful women of God. We used to be part of an intercessory prayer team through Bible College who would get together on a weekly basis and pray for students who were struggling. The way I pray today is a reflection of what I have learnt from them both. They are powerful prayer warriors who have moved many mountains and obstacles in the spiritual realm;
• Finally Wendy is one of my favorite role models and mentors. Wendy has also been through similar trials to me and has overcome them. She has a great marriage and three Godly children and I have had the privilege of sitting in her home so many times and seeing how she resolves conflicts and lives a great life with her family. When I get to that stage in my life, I want to be just like her.

The thing that I like about all these people sitting on my table is they all have the gift of encouragement on their lives. They are the sort of people who make you feel great in their presence. They build you up, comfort you, edify you and speak words of life to you. Some time ago, many years ago, i went through a really lonely time in my life and someone taught me to pray Romans 4:17 over my life. It says to call those things that be not as though they are - and I have used this Scripture to call divine friendships, words of encouragement, finances, resources, waring angels to fight the battle for me and protect me. The friendships I have in my life today are a testimony of God's goodness and His faithfulness to is promises.

...and just in regard to wisdom, I just want to say don't let age, race, gender, culture, social status or language barriers be a hindrance to making friendships because you can learn a lot from every person you meet. They all have so much to teach you.

Thanks for making my birthday so special" :-)

Seven weeks down, five weeks to go

So now I have made it through the first seven weeks and have five more to go before I finish lecture phase. The last couple of weeks have been tough and I have felt the pressure rising. I am not feeling that great about Mexico any more and especially since my favorite dorm buddy, Myrriah, has decided to head off with the surfers to Indonesia and Australia after just a short time in Mexico, so she'll be on a different team altogether :-( There are a couple of people I would prefer not to be in a team with. I am praying I get put with a couple of the guys who pray in the Spirit and that I feel are great little brothers to me.... oh why does God want me to go to Mexico?

I have been so blessed by Sarah's friendship. I really don't know what I would do without her. She always knows exactly what to say and how to pray to comfort me. Last Tuesday, I felt like everything was falling apart and found myself bawling my eyes out almost all day. Then when I went to her house the next day, she said she could feel my heart was broken and she prayed for me and sang in tongues over me. God's presence overwhelmed me with joy as she did that and when I went to prayer with her to VLC, I just soaked up the anointing so much. Deb said she kept getting this word about being like a dry creek bed and God was saying to call out to Him and she felt that maybe it was for YWAM, but I actually feel it was for me. I need to retain fellowship with Spirit-filled Christians who pray in the Spirit and understand the power of confessing the Word of God. I just crave it so much.

Baby nephew and niece

God's flowers to me

Today I found out that Terry didn't actually pick my name, but rather felt God wanted him to wash my feet anyway! So he told me this morning that I would get called up again! .... so I did. Luke got my name and bought me some beautiful flowers and gave me a note saying how much God loved me. Really sweet. He said that God also told him to buy Emily flowers too ... so when we got home, we took some piccies of us with the flowers. About five minutes later, he walked in with another bunch of flowers! ...too late cos we had already taken these piccies.

Father heart of God

Well today I woke up feeling a little downcast, so I called some words of encouragement into my life. When I got to class, James told me I looked nice in what I was wearing, which was really sweet, especially cos I've been feeling so old around these younger ones, even though everyone thinks I look just as young as them all.

Then I get to class. We've been studying the father heart of God all week and yesterday we had to choose a name out of a container and ask God how He wanted to show His father heart to that person, a fellow classmate. Well I went home and asked some of the girls for their advice and they said that my young guy likes coffee and one suggested I buy him some cake. I thought they were great ideas and was going to do both and top it up with some nice encouraging words written on a piece of paper. Then I had a quick nap and when I woke up, I felt God say to take a piece of paper, write Ansen's name on it and stand up the front of the class and get everyone to say whatever they liked about him and for me to write down all their comments. Well the class was very enthusiastic and the page was rapidly covered in all sorts of very uplifting comments. I know that would have been really touching. I really liked the way out school leader Anders felt led to sit beside Ansen and ask him if he could be like an older brother to him and sit and listen to all the encouragement he received. So sweet :o) That really blessed me being used by God to bless someone else.

So then all of a sudden it was my turn and Terry, the Surfer's DTS leader, wrote my name on the board.... and he washed my feet!!! I was only just telling some of the guys over dinner last night how I would absolutely die of embarrassment if someone did that to me and then I find myself in the hot seat having it done to me! Ha ...and Terry kept telling me I was precious. I did feel embarrassed, but thankfully made it through. When I sat down, I could feel God's presence all around me. It was just so sweet. There was definitely a really sweet anointing on what he did. I knew that was from God.

Then in the afternoon after work duties, Andrew, a big tall American guy who is 26 told me he was just going to say I was 24 because he just could not accept my real age. That actually really touched me, boy I wish everyone had that attitude. Then I wouldn't feel so insecure about my age.

The nerd party I missed

Because I escaped to mum's house, I missed this nerd party that the girls in my dorm put on for the base. I wasn't really keen on dressing up as a nerd anyway, so glad I missed it!!! They all look so cute. I stole these piccies off Facebook this morning :o)

Repentance and Forgiveness

We have just finished a very intense week at YWAM in which we studied the subject of repentance and forgiveness. It was a great topic that I think would be an asset to Bible College, so I sent the guys at college at update. The week included a thorough study of sin as it is presented in the Bible and we began by looking at the story of the prodigal son. Our base leader gave some amazing testimonies from his own life as well as recalling some experiences that other people had dealt with and then presented us with a very clear overview of about 75 different types of sin, such as unforgiveness, pornography, sexual immorality, gossip, lying, stealing, breaking the law, etc…

Each student was encouraged during the week to spend time in prayer asking God if there was any area of sin they felt was relevant to them and which they needed to repent of publicly at the end of the week, and to write them on a piece of paper.

Then on Friday, the staff set up three chairs at the front of the room and students were given free choice to sit in the middle with one staff member on either side of them, and read out their list of anything they felt convicted of repenting for. I was amazed at how genuine everyone was. We were all brought to tears as we read out and repented for many things. I think the most surprising thing to me was hearing so many students repent of having sex or being sexually immoral with so many people, especially given how young they are!!! - each one named the people as well. I was dumbfounded. Emily, Joe, Adam, Carolyn, Brittany, Noel, Luke, Cody, Josie, even Katelyn had all given away their virginity. I am just so grateful I never gave that precious gift away despite the turmoil in my life before I found Jesus.

Although I previously hadn’t felt like participating, I felt the Lord prompt me to go up the front. To my surprise, I was emotional from the moment the confessions began and I found myself saying "Lord, I repent of unforgiveness towards the violent, abusive and cruel father who helped bring me into this world and all the guys who have abused my sister and led to the loss of so many innocent lives". I mumbled about how I had issues with trusting guys and letting them get close to me and how I look at the quality of my family's lives and cannot help but think about why they are like that and I also repented of gossip, slander and unwholesome talk relating to them. I think my confession brought a lot of shock to those who listened. I guess some people were probably wondering about my sex life, but I just didn't feel like I needed to deal with anything.

Apparently a few people cried through my confession. Anders said he saw a vision for me and said I have been in the cold dark winter and had had a taste of spring, but summer was yet to come - a time of great happiness and joy. Ansen wrote me a note that really touched me too saying God knows every tear I've cried. Daniel quoted that Scripture to me about having beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning and the garment of praise for a spirit of heaviness.

The staff members then prayed over each person before they took their piece of paper to a huge wooden cross at the back of the room and nailed it to the cross. It was just an amazingly liberating time in which weightiness lifted off our shoulders and closer bonds were formed in our group. We actually spent the entire day doing this – from about 9am to 7.30pm with meal breaks included. What an amazing day. I felt pretty gutted afterwards, but have crashed at mum's house Friday and Saturday night to get away and recover, so am feeling heaps better. I am so blessed to have been able to escape.

My little nephew one week old

Gosh I love this little guy with the unfortunate name of Lars. I went to see him on Sunday.

New accomodation

This is me and my new bunk mate, Britney. She is 17 and from Gladstone, which is somewhere in QLD. I am guessing it's a country area cos she lives on a 10 acre property with a huge lot of relatives and friends! We get along surprisingly well - in fact I think she would be my first choice for bunk partners cos she is so obviously a sanguine and we have the same funny sense of humor and fun. She rolls around a lot though and makes it hard for me to sleep! Oh well, we got the best spots in the dorm (of 10 bunk beds available), tucked away in the corner of the room.

Gladstone

Well thanks to the hailstorm, the accommodation we were meant to move into is damaged and we get to stay in a lovely modern air-conditioned funky little place in Gladstone Rd. I only have to share a room with 19 girls and the rest of the house has lotsa other people in other rooms, but there is a really nice kitchen, lounge and upstairs area to hangout in. I was doing a Google search and found this blog from a girl who used to be staying in the same place! :o)

I find it really amazing because the road I live on now is called Turnstone Rd and it is so appropriately named because moving into this place was like a big turning point for me - turning over a new stone..... and also God is like a stone for me - He is my foundations and He has really laid great foundations in my life through Bible College over the last two years. The road I am moving into is called Gladstone Rd and I just know that it will be symbolic of my life - I will be glad, I will rejoice.... because BIG gates are opening for me and I am moving into incredible blessings. I just know it deep down in my heart. God is so good. Here I was thinking it was such a crappy place and it turns out to be the total opposite! Oh, so typical of God.

I went and claimed my bed today - a lovely bottom bunk in the corner of the room. I am really happy with it. Glory to God.

Just looked up the meaning of the word "glad" in the dictionary and this is what it said:

1. feeling joy or pleasure; delighted; pleased: glad about the good news; glad that you are here.

2. accompanied by or causing joy or pleasure: a glad occasion; glad tidings.

3. characterized by or showing cheerfulness, joy, or pleasure, as looks or utterances.

4. very willing: I'll be glad to give him your message.

Baby Nephew Born Today!

Angelina couldn't stop giggling over her little baby brother :-) He is completely healthy. His name is Lars Alexander.

Rythmic Gymnastics

Today I took Angelina to the final rythmic gymnastics class for the term. It will probably be the last one I ever go to with her so I took some piccies. I really enjoyed meeting the other toddlers and mums:

• Monique (~2.5 yrs) and Sheryl;
• Jack (~2.5 yrs) and Bree;
• Lachlan (~3yrs) and Jo;
• Riley and Meesha (ages?) with Grandma;
• Addison (~2 yrs) and Nicole; and
• Chelsea (~2yrs) and Adele.

Funny thinking I hung out with these people for nine weeks - friends for a moment in time that I will probably never see again. Hopefully Grunde and Kylie can keep taking Angelina to the classes.

Why?

What is it about me that results in me getting so frustrated or bored or disgusted with people that makes me want to remove them from my friends' list in Facebook? Why can't I just ignore them, leave them on there and get on with my life? I have removed so many people and regretted it afterwards because I've seen them and sometimes spoken to them and felt really bad about taking them off. I really wish I had never even gotten into Facebook in the first place. It is addictive and a total waste of time. I find myself writing stupid things and uploading pictures of people and places in my life that I really don't think people give a hoot about!

haha

One last walk

Today I took mum's two dogs for a walk, then we drove up to Kongs and got some Nasi Lemuk and shrimp (yuck - I dunno how she eats that stuff!) and then I raked up the sticks and leaves on her verge that had dropped as a result of the hailstorm on Monday. I know mum's love language is acts of service, so she would have been touched. Anyway, I took some piccies of the dogs because I think this will be the last walk I give them for a long time.... bit sad.

Stirling gardens

Gosh I totally love this little munchkin :-) ...