Learning about stillness/update from Australia

I was re-reading some of my old blog posts, just to see the journey that my mind has taken to get me where I am today. Or should I say, where God has taken me. I think I want to bring up a point that I wrote in August and expand on it. Here's what I said:

There is something about stillness. I'm not sure I can put my finger on it, but God created it for a reason and when God is given your stillness, He uses it and responds to our effort. When you ask God to quiet your mind and your heart, it allows Him to sink in. For Him to become reality, its like He reveals His kingdom not just to you, but in you. You start to become filled with His wisdom, start to live a life centered on the only one worth centering your life on. The inner transformation of your life is critical and important to God. It's where God makes His home and His Spirit advises. Stop worrying about what your going to do tomorrow, focus on turning your inside into something that IS God's.

I spent the last week in a small town of Roma, Austrlia. We stayed at a church, doing service projects, teaching Religious Education classes in the public schools for 3rd graders and leading a youth group. It was much more relaxing than the previous two weeks and we had a lot of time to spend with each other. Most mornings consisted of breakfast at 8am and then worship/prayer time from 9am-10:30. One morning we spent 15 minutes as a group in silence, just listening and waiting on the Lord. Here's what I realized in that 15 minutes devoted to silence: before I came to YWAM I was a little scared that the amount of time praying, worshiping and quiet time etc.. was going to be hard on my mind. I was afraid that I would get worn out emotionally, physically and spiritually.

HA, looking back on it I feel silly even thinking that, but I honestly think thats the way people view "religion". As an activity that takes something from them and then you just become tired and want to move onto something different in order to regain the energy you once had. This is NOT how Jesus intended it to be. He says over and over again how His burden is light and His yoke is easy (Matthew 11). And how He makes me lie down in green pastures, He wants to lead us beside quiet waters and restore our soul (Psalm 23). A quick note on the Psalm 23 passage: A lot of times people assume this means that they have to do something in order to lie down in green pastures. We insert "I" when it clearly says "HE". This week I encourage you to take some time for stillness, tell Father that you believe Him when He says HE will restore your soul and that you don't need to work for that "light burden" because He has already taken it. In essence, BELIEVE WHAT HE HAS ALREADY SAID. I think this process will start to shift our thinking and our religious mindsets as to what church/religion is really like. We should enjoy God because He enjoys being with us! =)

We also got to celebrate Thanksgiving American style in Australia! I am so thankful for the group of people I am with, I can't imagine doing this DTS with anyone else :)

 

And here's one of the beach we went to on the Great Barrier Reef :)

Update on Australia

First off: My friends Bobby and Anna are getting married today!!!! Congrats Guys! Wish I could be there!

Ahh, its been a MONTH since I have updated this blog, it's weird to think that I haven't updated the internet world on what's been happening in my life for that long. BUT, do not fear, I am alive and well and have been learning a lot. Here's a quick update:

We have been traveling around Australia to small country towns for the last three weeks. The first week we were in Tenterfield helping to complete "The Pass it on Tour". Our base traveled to 17 different towns, putting on after school events, working with local churches, teaching Scripture classes in public schools, doing service projects and having an event every night in a huge tent. The event usually consisted of worship, a talk on the Father Heart of God and lots of prayer. It was a crazy week of 70 YWAMers sleeping in a smallish room in a church, showering only once all week at a local public pool, being busy from 7am till 10pm at night, playing with children in a giant blow up soccer field and learning the local games of Australia. Although it was tiring, and it consisted of me getting sick on Friday and missing that day's activities, IT WAS SO WORTH IT. The friends we made, the impact we had and the lessons that I learned from a God that is jealous for His children was incredible. I learned to stand on God and now am starting to understand the verse "The joy of the Lord is my strength." Shout out to all the people in Tenterfield, you guys are amazing! Please know that you don't need us, God is with you all the time and is waiting for you to respond to His love. Everything that you give to Him is so worth it! :)

The next two weeks were a little less crazy, we went to Beaudesert and stayed on the floor of a Baptist church, took showers at a local primary school (1 at a time), did a lot of service projects, taught a couple  Scripture classes at a public school and then went to a couple different churches on Sunday to share a message and who we are as YWAM. This past week we went to a YWAM base in Toowoomba, AND GUESS WHAT! WE HAD BEDS AND SHOWERS! Haha, I know its not a big deal to you guys, but to us it was amazing. Waking up every day and taking a shower seemed like a new experience. Why do we need to shower every day anyways? ;)  It was a great week of lectures, our speaker (Pablo) runs a YWAM base in south Australia. His heart for people is incredible and I will be forever grateful of the time he took to teach us.

Well, that's about it, I have another blog post in the making which I will post before we leave again for 4 weeks next Saturday. Until then, may God bless you and keep you.