I started off going to Sisterhood (the Hillsong women's service). I have been chatting with this amazing lady, who has inspired me so much in my devotion. Every time I talk to her, I reevaluate my level of commitment to the cause, to the House (A.K.A. the Church). I met her a few weeks ago. While most of the other women were mingling in the foyers with raisin toast and coffee, she was sitting by herself inside the auditorium long before the start of the service. I sat down and had a chat with her until service started. Then I grabbed her number afterwards and have been in touch. She lives about 2 hours away from the church. Her and her husband used to drive down every Sunday, rising at 2 or 3AM to make it to the early service, then sometimes staying until the night service and driving back in the wee hours of the night. This is not a "young adult" couple either, they have children in their late 20's. It breaks my heart, because she said she and husband just can't continue driving down constantly because of gas. It just burns their money. So today was the last time she was going to be at church, and today we sat together at Sisterhood. What an honor to sit next to such a dedicated sister in Christ.
Here's where things get really good. :) We were just chatting long before service was starting, and Pastor Bobbie came in and stopped and chatted with us. For those of you who don't know who Pastor Bobbie is, she and Pastor Brian are the senior pastors of the church - Pastor Brian and Bobbie Houston. Pastor Bobbie has a huge heart for women, and the vision of Sisterhood was rooted in her spirit before it became a reality. Colour Conference, which I mentioned in the last blog post, also came from Bobbie's vision for the Sisterhood. Anyways, all that being said, she just came up, with no agenda, and chatted with us for a few minutes. It was lovely, because she was in no rush and just listened to what was on this lady's heart that I was with. I told Bobbie about how amazing this lady was to travel so much to get to church. We all chatted for a bit and then Bobbie went on her way. It was awesome to see that even the "big-time" (the way they are perceived by the world) pastors at Hillsong are very personable and do truly preach what they practice.
Geez, I'm not even finished with Sisterhood yet...this is just the morning time. Haha!! :) We had a clothes swap, where I brought some clothes that I didn't want anymore, and in exchange, got to pick out a bunch of free clothes!! SO EXCITING! Seriously, there's not much more exciting than free clothes. Okay, maybe there is....
And this brings me to the next part of my day. After Sisterhood, I went to the travel agent down the road with my friend, and guess what? I'M GOING TO PARIS IN MAY!!! THANK YOU DAD! Seriously, I am so incredibly blessed BEYOND WORDS. How many people get the opportunity to say when they are in their 30s, "Yeah, well I moved to Australia when I was 18. When I was 19 I visited New Zealand, and when I was 20 I visited Paris. Oh, and then I returned to Australia, because I still was living there." ----> CRAZINESS!!! I am forever grateful to my family (especially my dad for the expenses he pays!!) for making this all happen, for being so releasing, for being so loving, for being so supportive, and for praying for me throughout every step of the journey.
So May 4th, I will be flying out to Paris. The ONLY thing that will not be so fun is that it takes about the same amount of time to get there as it does to fly home. But at least I will have a friend with me! :) I arrive back in Sydney on the 20th. Along the way, we may take the train to London and Rome. The perk about Europe, as opposed to America, is that you can travel SUPER cheap! And every place we go, we have FREE accommodation! Also a perk of attending an international college!
After all that excitement, I went into my job to sort out all the technical stuff, like bank account stuff and signing all the liability forms. Okay, odd as it seems, after that meeting, I actually got really excited about the job. And I want to start. Now. :) But in reality, my first shift is on March 15th, from 9am-2pm, and then that night there is a get together to meet all the staff (they just hired a bunch of new people). Anyways, I was honestly pretty nervous at first about the job, but I feel confident now about it.
Tonight I went to make calls for Powerhouse. I love doing that for some reason. Basically we have lists of people who need Connect Groups or are new to church or are new Christians, and we call them accordingly. I love it because I have the opportunity to bring joy to someone's day. I'm beginning to understand more about this cause that I live for. I live for something much, much bigger than myself.
Sometimes I'm a bit wary and unsure of the future, but I know I don't need to be. I don't need to have it all, or even any of it, figured out. I just need to be faithful with what's in my hand right now, and allow God to cultivate me for what lies ahead.
Mom sent me an email recently about destiny. I pulled this quote from it:
"A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it."
- Jean de La Fontaine, a French (oh, the irony) poet
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