Funtastical Day!

I had such a good day today! I didn't know how the day, or the weekend, was going to go, as half of our team is gone to Sheffield on mini-outreach. However, if today is any indication, the rest of the weekend is going to go super fantastic! Not that I don't miss those who are to the north.

This morning, I woke up to a very quiet house. Normally, people would say I live in the quiet house, but if that's quiet, then this morning was a tomb. Makayla is apart of the group gone to Sheffield, Romy wasn't feeling well and Rebecca's day starts later and ends later than ours. Makayla normally turns on the light at about 7 (though we're usually up at 6:30), so as she was gone and did not turn on the light, I just got ready in the dark. Then I ventured down to the kitchen and ate my breakfast completely by myself. It wasn't until after quiet time that I even saw anyone! Oh my. Work duties were different, since it was only Mats, Nate and I here to clean, but it was still fun. Probably due in large part to the two fun-loving guys that I was working with. It's hard to wake up in a bad mood when one of them generally greets you with a good-natured joke.

Intercession was once again good and the debrief at the other house then turned into another session of worship and prayer. It was so good! Afterward, we prepared for evangelism this afternoon, which meant baking! My mom would be jealous, as we made sugar cookies to give out with promises attached to them. I was thinking of my mom today, definitely!

I'm not sure why I thought it would be a bad idea to take my umbrella with me for evangelism. Quite the opposite, actually. By the time our cookies were all gone, I was pretty drenched, but quite happy about all that had occurred!

For dinner, Erika blessed us by providing the ingredients and then making a nacho bar for us! It was absolutely delicious! I hadn't had nachos in such a long time! Here's a fun fact for you: In the states it's "Sour" Cream, but here in London, it's "Soured" Cream. That brightens my day. :)

After dinner, we all settled in to watch a movie and enjoy some down time. It was so nice! Then after I got home, I discovered that a package from my Mom had arrived for me! I love these SO much! A new signing book, two new scarves, warm gloves, a cuddledud ANNNNND a shirt from my Dad! Oh happy day!

Thank you Jesus for funtastical days!

Feed The Soul

Today, we found out where are the possibilities for our outreach. And a drum roll please... They are: Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, Spain, pooooossibly Portugal and the best one, Israel! Israel is a little more out there, but my heart longs for Israel. So please invest with me in some serious prayer over this. As much as I long to do an outreach in Israel, my greatest desire is to go wherever God wants me to go. I will say though, when Israel was announced, the room was dead silent, except for my *GASP!* haha. We will be split up into two teams, so that will be interesting. Pray that the teams are divided in the exact way God desires.

In the next couple of weeks, our team, once again split in two, will be doing mini-outreaches. This weekend half of us will head to the north to work in Sheffield. The next weekend, I will head out with the rest of the team to another location. I'm not sure exactly what these mini-outreaches will look like, but I'm so excited!

This afternoon, we had art at the Arts House, which also happens to be my house. I got to write! It was so incredibly good! Then afterward, I stayed home and decided to cook. Several of the others in my house stayed behind and they ate with me. I've got to say, it made my heart so happy to cook for people and then for them to gather around the table and enjoy some food. I loved it so much.

Make Christ known. If Necessary, Use Words.

This paraphrase of St. Francis of Assissi's words has been running through my head quite a lot here. That's kind of what we're doing in our intercession walks. The majority of our DTS are also picking up trash while walking. Those of us from the other house make it our mission to cover them in prayer. But in picking up trash, we are walking in the opposite spirit and making a difference in the community. You can see visible changes. Shopkeepers, who four weeks ago, would not have greeted you, are now greeting you with a smile. They're not only greeting those of us who pick up trash, but also those who are simply walking and praying, even though they don't know we're even connected! I'm so excited about that! This walking in the opposite spirit, making Jesus known through our actions, should extend to our every moment, not just in the moments that are called "Intercession" on the timetable. Jesus, make me walk in the opposite spirit always. Let me show Your light in my face at all times.

Last night, we went to a community prayer and worship meeting. It was so good to see unity in the body! Songs of praise were sung with joyful hearts and earnest prayers were lifted up for London. Then I walked home with Nathan, Ezra, Mats (those 3 being BLS students), Rebecca (on staff with the Arts Ministry) and Christian (the head of the Arts Ministry). It was a long walk and I wore the wrong shoes. In the end, God was so good and my blisters did not return! Though this morning I woke up and my feet felt completely disjointed. Lol. But last night, I remember commenting to Rebecca that I might seriously pray for rain this morning so that my feet could have a rest, because then Joselo (DTS director) would give us a ride. Well, lo and behold, I woke up this morning to a decent rainfall. You might say, "Oh it's London, doesn't it do that all the time?" Let me tell you, in the last 5 weeks, the majority of the days have been gorgeously sunny and not overly cold. Rain this morning was my kiss from heaven. :)

Well, I need to finish my reading for the morning and head out the door. Thank you all so much for your prayers and support!!

Such a Busy Bee!

The past 5 weeks have been so crazy and I feel horrible for not blogging more. To be perfectly honest, I'll sit with a blogpost open for days at a time, but every time I sit down to write, I get overwhelmed with the sheer massive amount of things I want to say.

This past week was plumbline week, in which we dealt with our past and strove for inner healing. Healing and forgiveness really aren't something that happens instantaneously, but the process is well under way.

Our days are jam-packed and every night I fall into bed exhausted, only to start my day at 6:30 again. It's so good for me. :) I'll tell you what has quickly become my favorite part of the day and that is our intercession walks. It never fails that I feel the presence of God each morning and know that our prayers are reaching heaven. It's just a fantastic time. Each day God speaks something new or reveals something we haven't noticed before or encourages us. I feel so blessed to be in this position of constantly receiving from God.

We had our first exam and book report last week. Both felt intense to me. I made them too intense and stressed myself out needlessly, but it was still a good growing moment for me. I made a good grade on my book report too. :) I haven't heard back on my exam yet, but I feel good about what I've learned thus far.

Next weekend we have a mini-outreach to South London. I'm not sure yet what we'll be doing there, but I KNOW it will be exciting and good!

My breathing has improved and I feel better able to keep up. Now I just need to find a pair of shoes that doesn't give me blisters. :)

Hopefully, I'll be better at updating now. Until next time!

Intensity

That is what the past three weeks has been full of... absolute intensity. New revelations from God, letting go of our "stuff" and receiving good gifts from Him. There's been this theme of Him tearing down our old walls, breaking the old pottery, taking apart the old paintings and then restoring them to something far better, far more beautiful, something to bring Him glory. Sometimes I feel like I barely have time to breathe before He begins to work on a new area. Sometimes it is during a lecture or during worship that He works on me, but other times it is in my quiet times or in the walks I take. It's like now that I'm here, He finally has me where He wants me and my heart is open and willing to receive what He has for me. I'm not sure what the difference is, all I know is... I cherish my walks with Him. :)

Last night was a new experience for me. Last year, God spoke through a man who came to our church in Texas, that He was sending me to a new place where He was going to place people in my life to help me with my music and that He would use me in music. I automatically assumed that this new place was Ohio, however, obviously that wasn't the case. Now, I'm convinced that place is here. Last week, we were asked who wanted to be on the worship team and my hand involuntarily went up. Well, I did cause it to go up, but not without some serious fear and trepidation. You see, I've never sung on a worship team before. Ever. My experience with music was 4 months of piano and a stint on 2 choirs, one of them being when I was about 6. Last night was my first night on worship and it was awesome! Not because I did all that particularly well at singing (we're our own worst critic right?), but because God used me in some way and it involved music. I'm excited for my next turn!

We are getting ready to go into the 4th week and we've been told that if we can make it through the 4th week, we'll make it to the end. I'm pretty excited to make it to Saturday! We'll be having what is called a Love Feast. I'm still not exactly certain what it is, but I'm looking forward to the celebration! :)

Well, it's time for me to sign off. Thank you for your continued to support! I appreciate it so much!

I Had A Revelation

Tonight, I was walking home from the base, as my house is about a 25 minute walk from where we eat and have class, I can see a new "trouser" size in my future. :-P Anyway, I was briskly walking home with some of my friends and suddenly just looked up and slowed down. I told my friends to head on without me. I have discovered that I have this tendency to walk so quickly, headed towards my objective, that I completely miss what's happening around me. All I see is the pavement in front of me. I miss the kids playing futball in the park, the way the leaves are rustling in the trees, the cute dog that passes with it's owners and all the life happening. The most important thing I miss, is to really see the people and to keep a steady stream of prayer flowing for the area. I don't want to miss opportunities, so I slow down.

This past week has been really good. Some definite growing moments, which translates to hard moments, but some really amazing moments in God. :) I'm really enjoying my team. These are some really amazing people! I'm growing closer to them daily. My roommates are so wonderful. We have so much fun together. The guys that live in my house make me laugh so much (and we all know how much I love to laugh). The staff is great. The team in general is fantastic! This week, our lecturer was the director of a base in South America and his teaching was so good. It made me think so much and stretched me. We talked a lot about the cross and what Christ did for us and the deceit that we allow into our lives. God is in the process of tearing us down to rebuild something even better. It's so exciting! But at the same time, I'm already exhausted. :)

Please continue to pray for finances. Not all of the team has their funds yet. Please pray for health, as sickness is making the rounds. Especially be praying for me, my cold has left me with difficulty breathing. I'm not sure though that it's strictly the congestion. As a child, I had asthma and some of this feels like an asthma onset, and with the pollution in the air here... Anyway, with as much walking as I'm doing, breathing would be nice! :) And be praying for our hearts to be ready for this next week and all the teaching. I appreciate all your support!

In London

I arrived safe and sound early Friday morning and have quickly been swept up into a whirlwind of activity and conversation and walking. Tonight officially begins our DTS and I'm excited to get going. Though I will admit, I am already tired and the idea of 7am every morning doesn't exactly excite me. :) But it will be a great time of learning and serving! I am so excited!

Today we got to tour London some and see the major sights. I have now seen Big Ben and The Eye and various other things. I even got to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace! It's been an amazing day full of adventures. I'll try to keep you regularly updated. Please, the most important thing still is prayer covering. I need a strength and to be well. Following a walk in the rain without an umbrella (I forgot mine at home that night), I developed a bit of a cold. Please be praying that my team and myself would be well and open to what God has to teach us. Thanks guys!