Change of Plans

Clarification on my last post:

I want to be here. I love it here in Sydney. I love being at Hillsong. I hope no one got the impression that I don't want to be here, and that's why I'm just so ready to come home for Christmas. That's definitely not true. While (or if you're an Aussie, "Whilst") I am a little worn out from all the stuff we do here, I really do love it, and I still plan to stay at least 2 years, with the possibility of 3. I just will have to feel that one out when it gets closer to making that decision. I am, however, really ready to come home! I think partially because...yes, I am ready for a break...but also just because I know that I'm coming home, so it seems like these past couple weeks have been dragging out, and at the same time, flying by. Makes no sense, I know. I don't know how to describe it. But I am really excited to see the family!

One problem lies within that last sentence, though. I may not be able to see you all on December 5th, as my flight plans have changed. I've never really had this happen before, but I know it can. Sometimes the airlines will just change your flight plans for you. I am looking into this right now to see if there is something that can be done, but basically I won't arrive in Charleston now til 11:54pm on December 5th. Please know that I TOTALLY understand if that's too late for y'all to come to the airport. I am fine with seeing all of you the next day, or even Sunday for family dinner. I will see what I can do to change this flight to an earlier arrival, but if not, I will just see you all sometime that weekend. I'll keep you updated. No worries!

Well, some of you know that I was having really bad allergies the past week or two. My eyes were really bothering me - they were constantly itching. I would sit there sometimes and rub them for like an hour because they itched so badly. Finally I went to the doctor and we concluded that it was pink eye (conjunctivitus). I've never had that before, so I just didn't think about it being an eye infection. Well, I got some antibiotics for my eyes and for my allergies, and they are much better. I still feel like my eyes are really swollen, and a little red, but you can't really tell. I think I'm going to get back into the swing of things tomorrow. I don't think it will be contagious anymore. I'll still continue taking my eyedrops (they said take them from 3-5 days) for the next few days, but I should be fine.

Actually, yesterday I did go out to the city with some friends. I didn't feel at my best, but I really really wanted to go because it was my tutorial class' party to finish off the year, and I really love my class, so I decided to go. It was so much fun! One of the girls in my class made up the whole "surprise" day. We all knew we were going to the city, but we had no idea what we were going to be doing there. We ended up doing our version of The Amazing Race, but we called it The Amazing Tutorial Race. It was awesome! I got to see parts of downtown Sydney I had never seen before. I never realized how many beautiful places there are! We got clues at each destination, and would try to find the next destination. Haha, we looked like crazy foreigners running around Sydney, probably. Each place we went, we had to ask someone to take a picture of our team to prove that we had been there. We split up into two different teams - The Europeans, and The North Americans. Hehe. Well, The Europeans won, but that was only because they ran the whole way! Haha! Also, we had a few set-backs. One of them was that I fell on the concrete and scraped my knees up. Why did I have to go and do something typical of me when we were in a hurry? Ha! :) Oh well, the whole day was fun! Our last destination where we all met up in the city was at the Opera House. We all met on the steps, and they were rehearsing for Australian Idol (you know, like American Idol, except...well, the Australian version). The stage for the finale show was all set up outside of the Opera House, and we got to watch the contestants practice. It was really cool, though I honestly think Australian Idol is really lame...American Idol is much better...can't beat Simon Cowell. Still, it was cool, because it was the finale of the idol show in Australia. They were practicing with their huge crane cameras. The band was all out there, and the contestants were practicing onstage as well. Cool stuff! Anyways, then we went to Bondi Beach to finish off the day. It was SO COLD! But it was alot of fun! I have put some pictures on my slideshow on this page, so check them out!

Love you all! :)

P.S. I haven't talked to my friend who had surgery yet, but as soon as I do, I'll update everyone. Don't forget to keep her in your prayers please!

SEE YOU IN 13 DAYS!!!!

Time to Apply

Lately I have been really worn out, and this has caused me to become a little lazy. I think you need those lazy days sometimes, but I have had a few in the past week/weekend. :) I think I'm starting to get to the point where I know I'm getting on a plane in a couple weeks, and I'm just ready to be on that plane now. I always do this, though. I always wish time away. I really don't want to anymore though. God's exposing to me this pattern in my life. For example, I was going to attend this thing tomorrow night called "Leadership Vision Night", but instead, I got rostered on to watch kids. AHHH! Okay, everyone knows that I worked with kids constantly back home, so there should be no problem, right? WRONG. Haha, I don't know what it is, but I really don't enjoy Australian kids. They are (brace yourself, I never thought this could be possible either) 20 times more rowdy, loud, and obnoxious than American kids. I haven't actually watched kids here yet (other than on Thursdays I watch babies for Sisterhood, but they don't count), so I really don't want to. I have actually been dreading it, since tomorrow I have to watch babies in the morning, go to class, then walk back in a couple hours to serve again in kids.

This morning, though, God really showed me something. Today we had Chapel, and the whole thing was just worship. I kind of felt like God was just saying that if I want to be in ministry that I had better get used to it. But I told God, "I don't know if I can be in the ministry then." Haha. Just being real with God. I'm like, "How do people do it...and still have a good attitude?" God just kept reminding me that His strength can be my strength. I am realizing today that I am wasting alot of time here, if I'm not spending time with God. I haven't been spending time with God lately, to tell you the truth. I think I'm hiding from Him...maybe from responsibility..I don't know. But why am I here if I'm not spending time with God? I came here for God, directed to come here by God...so what the heck am I here for, other than a few laughs, good relationships, and good times, if I'm not getting to know the One who holds my future in His hands. I'm really here in vain. I'm wasting time. I'm doing nothing. I'm being unproductive (is that a word?). Today I decided that no matter how hard it gets, or how much I get worn out, I am just going to tell God how I feel, and press in. My heart really does crave to learn. I am learning guitar, and I'm intrigued by it. I always want to learn how to do more with it. I have about 10 books on my bookshelf that I "plan to read", many of them I've already started reading. Haha. Seriously, I think it's time for some discipline in my life. God teaches you so much about yourself when you're on your own. I'm ready to apply what I'm learning.

P.S. My computer is fixed now for those who knew it was messed up. Turns out the antivirus that I had been prompted by what looked like Windows to buy was actually the virus itself. Ha. Watch out for "Windows AntivirusPro 2009". It's a fake! This has happened to alot of people lately.

***IMPORTANT!: My friend that I talked about having cancer a couple blogs back is going in for surgery this Thursday, Nov 20 at 7:30AM. That's Illinois time, so if you are in SC, her surgery is at 8:30am. If you're here in Sydney, it will be 12:30AM Friday, 21 Nov. Please keep her in your prayers! If we could all join in prayer (not necessarily at each other's sides, but how powerful would our simple prayer be, if lots of other people around the world and country were praying simple prayers as well!?) at her time of surgery, that would be really great! Seriously, God's gonna move so much...let's make sure we all at least lift up a prayer at the time of her surgery. If you're going to be asleep, just pray for her before you go to bed, whether that's the night before or 2 hours before (depending on which side of the world you live). This is part of the email she sent me: "please please please pray because i am sooo scared"

I can't urge you enough to be praying for her! YOUR prayer matters alot! Thanks so much everyone!

Love y'all! :)

20 days!

A few exciting things have happened here in OZ (Australia) since my last blog.

Hillsong had its 25th Anniversary as a church! We all celebrated in the city at Darling Harbour! There was a stage that floated on the water, and they had some old worship songs like, "Shout to the Lord". What an opportunity I had to be able to see Darlene Zscech lead Hillsong church in this song, after so many years of not singing it - and at Darling Harbour, at that. They showed footage from when they first started out as a church...it was so weird! I got to see Pastor Brian's funny haircuts and mustache from years ago. I quickly came to the realization that Hillsong had small beginnings. What started out as an "ordinary" church, now impacts the world! God has really had His hand on Hillsong. This is what results from faithful people. What a historic event that night was! To top the night off, there were fireworks straight after the celebration service. It was awesome! I have some pictures on my slideshow of the service. I also re-ordered the pictures, so you should be able to see some of the newer ones first in the slideshow(I added more pictures - not just from the 25th Anniversary). P.S., the picture of me with a flower is actually a flower that I got from my tutorial class for my birthday..bright pink daisies!

I FINALLY went to the beach the other day! It's ridiculous, I know. I have lived here for 4 and 1/2 months now, and I just went to the beach last week. Oh well. I went on Monday to Bondi Beach (pronounced Bond-I, not Bond-ee), which is probably the most famous beach in Australia. It was beautiful. Everyone says there are nicer beaches than Bondi (such as Manly Beach), but I really liked Bondi. I guess maybe because it was just so much nicer than our beaches back in Charleston. The water is blue and when I went out pretty deep, it was clear - I could actually see what was beneath me.

So by the time me and my friend got out there, it was like 3:30pm. We had to take a bus and two trains (I think, or maybe just one), and then another bus. It took so long. Haha. That's public transport for ya. We then met up with our two other friends. We'd been in class earlier, so by the time I got there, I was beat. I just laid out and fell asleep. Yes, I put on sunscreen...I don't want to get burnt here. The sun is really powerful. And I didn't get burnt - just a nice sunkissed look! :)

After I laid out, I went in the water, and me and my friend body-surfed a couple of times before the lifeguard called everyone in. He's supposed to do this before he goes home by law, but you can go back in if you want. We didn't know this, so I only got to swim a little. The water was freezing, though, when I first got in. It seriously felt like mountain water. I went to the beach with some guys, and so they were all like "Oh the water feels soooo good.", and they meant it too. Me and my female self did not agree with that statement so much, but it's okay...I actually got used to it after a little while and I couldn't tell it was cold anymore.

When we got done at the beach, we decided to go walk this path up a cliff. It's cool, because at Bondi (and I think most of the beaches here...not sure) they have cliffs surrounding the beach. You can see one of the cliffs in the first picture on my slideshow. So we walked up this path to the cliff. It was beautiful. It was such an adventure. I realized during that walk that my spirit REALLY craves adventure! And I REALLY wished I had my camera with me at the time, but I didn't. I was itching the whole time for my camera. The best thing I had was my phone camera. I took a couple pictures of Bondi on it, which you can see here on my slideshow as well.

Well, I come home in 20 days! I am so excited! Dad has already made ski reservations! I am excited to celebrate Christmas with my family! It's getting so hot here, and it's really hard to think that Christmas is coming up, so I have been trying to convince myself it is by just buying little Christmas decorations for my room (i.e. a mini Christmas tree, and lights), but I will admit, it's not the same as back home. I know it doesn't even get very cold (if at all, really) on Christmas day in Charleston, but there is just something magical about Christmas with my family, something very special! It's a feeling that I couldn't find outside of family. I can't wait to see you all!

Reminder: I come home December 5th. I'll send out an email when it gets a little closer to the time! AHHH, I CAN'T WAIT! :)

Love you all! :)

Your Love is Everything

I forgot to mention in my last blog that I went to the Passion Sydney World Tour. I think this was Passion's first world tour. Passion is a group, started by Louie Giglio (a Christian speaker), that goes around and hosts conferences. Passion conferences are known for their music (well-known Christian artists tour with them, such as Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, Christy Nockels, etc.), but they include so much more than that. I had SUCH a good time! What an inspiring night! It opened up my eyes to the world even more! They went to some 17 cities (I think), and at each city, they would take up an offering to fund the next city (because tickets are free), and that city would pray for the next one as well. I was blown away when Louie Giglio told us that one of the poorest places in Africa gave several thousand dollars to one of the richest places in the world - Paris, France. They were pretty sure no one had ever asked these Africans to give anything, since they don't have much, but they were so willing. Imagine the trust they had to place in God! Amazing people, I tell ya!

Speaking of trusting in God, I am having opportunity after opportunity to do this myself. I found out just a couple hours ago that one of my really close friends back in the States has cancer. When I hung up with her, I immediately went to her picture (I just decorated my room last night with tons of pictures, and cute stuff!) on my wall, and laid hands on that picture of her, and just prayed and spoke life into her body. Can I just say that my God is above cancer? It's so true! Testimony after testimony has proved His Word true - "O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me." (Psalm 30:2)

To my friend - if you read this, hold onto this verse. You may not have much trust left inside of you for God, but just test Him in this, okay? I love you! :) You're constantly in my prayers!

To the other readers - if there is one person you could pray for, it would be this friend. You don't need to know her name, or anything else but that she is struggling with cancer, and also needs financial provision!

Thank you so much!

While I was praying over my friend, I felt like love and healing went hand in hand. I thought, "God, can love heal someone?". As I was listening to a great song called "Your Love is Everything" by Jesus Culture, I realized I found the answer to that question. Check out the lyrics:

When I'm dry and thirsty Lord,
And I'm crying out for more,
I know I can trust in your love.
In the darkness in the night
When I'm starving for the light
I know I can trust in Your love.

You keep no records of my sin,
You don't remember all my shame.

Your love heals every disease
Your love fulfills my every need
Your love is everything to me
Your love is everything

I will not forget
I wont forget your promises
I will not forget
I wont forget your love.

I will not forget
I wont forget nothing is impossible
I will not forget
I wont forget your love.