Big Weekend

This past week, Ryan and Kristin Kirk (an adorable married couple from Canada who are our school directors), led lectures on relationships.  I loved their approach to the topic because it was not your typical Christian talk on boy-girl relationships.  They talked on our relationship with God, our relationships with others, and our relationships with the opposite sex.  Throughout the week, I really realized how stoked God is on relationships.  First off, Jesus is all about relationship and about us having the ability to be in relationship with God, which is amazing and so unique to Christianity.  We also learned about the different "levels" of relationships with others.  Relationships begin with acknowledgement and then are followed by social interaction, friendship, companionship, commitment, intimacy and lastly, marriage.  Ryan and Kristin stressed that at any point in relationships, both people need to be at the same place or the relationship is destined to be very difficult or destined to fail.  I learned a lot of really cool, practical things about relationships. 

This weekend, we were given three days to relax, travel or do whatever we wanted. It all started on Thursday night when the staff treated us to a lovely home-cooked meal.  We all got dressed up and arrived at our church where the staff had set up fancy tables and had cooked a delicious meal for us.  We ended that night with an all-out dance party (mostly techno music) which was sooooo fun!  Lauren, Lyndzie and I had big plans to travel up to Frasier Island for the weekend (the biggest sand island in the world) but with the buses on strike and the outrageous cost of renting a 4wd SUV, we ditched that plan and decided to stay here on the Sunshine Coast.  

Sheer Rock!

We were a little worried that we would not find much to do...but boy were we surprised.  Friday night we had a barbeque at the beach where we grilled kebabs with some other YWAMers.  Then on Saturday we went to Glasshouse Mountain.  We had heard that this was not your average hike, but I never expected it to be so intense.  As you can see from the pictures, we basically scaled solid rock cliffs.  It was super fun (and somewhat scary at times).  The view from the top was absolutely breathtaking.  

Me, Andrew, Lyndzie, Mandy and Isaac at the top!

That night Mandy, Lauren, Lyndzie and I went out to dinner and this cute, rink-a-dink Thai place called Island Breeze and then took a cab over to a funky music lounge called Solbar.  The opening band was a great Reggae group, but the main band, called the Beards, was not our favorite.  All of their songs were about beards and so, as you can imagine, we got over it pretty quick.

On Sunday, we woke up early to head over to Cottontree with the girls.  We walked around the local craft market and grabbed tea at the most amazing tea place I have ever been to in my life (not exaggerating).  It was called Silva Spoon.  They had tons of loose leaf tea and I was totally in my element.  It was so special and such a blessing to have some legit, quality tea.

Best Tea Ever

  You all know how obsessed I am with tea, so this was a real treat.  Then we had lunch at a place called Raw Energy which reminded me so much of Santa Cruz.  It had all kinds of vegan and vegetarian foods with a super funky, hippy vibe.  

Raw Energy

All in all, this weekend was so relaxing and a great time to rejuvenate.  It came at the perfect time to just get refreshed and filled up by the Lord.  Next week, we are having lectures for the whole week down in Byron Bay, which is six hours south of here.  I can't wait to spend the entire week in a new place.  I hear that it is pretty hippy-dippy..so of course...I am stoked.

Aussie phrase of the week: "Good on you" = Good job!

Aussie word of the week: "hey?" = what?

Hi Hi Hi

Hey everyone!!

The weather is getting super nice here and I am no longer freezing at night yay!  I have been getting some reeally encouraging comments from people lately about my blog so I just wanted to thank all of you for being such consistent followers!

God is continuing to teach me so many new things that I am always excited to share with you.  On Sunday at church, the pastor said something that really impacted me.  He said "It isn't about seeing God do, it's about seeing God for who He is." So often in our faith, we find ourselves waiting to see God do the next great and amazing thing.  But when we focus so much on the next big miracle or the next gnarly answer to prayer, we get ourselves into a dangerous position.  We begin to focus too much on the miracle or prayer itself and lose sight of God himself.  What if God chooses not to perform that miracle that day or answer that prayer in the timing that you would expect?  God is God no matter what is happening at a given time in our lives, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).  How sick is that?  So no matter what is going on in our lives, our relationship with God must be consistent because He is God and He is good.

We took a group trip down to Brisbane this past weekend.  I don't really like citites all that much, and they tend to look the same.  But we went around to some cool markets, I got to take fun pics and hang ou.  We are embarking on some big adventures this weekend and next week that I can't wait to share with you all.

 Brisbane street corner

 Cool botanical garden with Jono, Lauren and Lyndzie

Healed People Heal People

Sorry that I didn't get a blog post on time...It is crazy to think that I have already been here for over 4 weeks.  I am getting more are more excited for Thailand and Cambodia, especially since we have been having a lot of planning meetings.  Last week, we had an awesome speaker who taught on "The Father Heart of God."  My favorite thing that he said was "Hurt people hurt people. Healed people heal people."  I just thought that was such an impactful word and I find it to be so true!

One of my favorite events so far happened last Friday night...the Burn!  The Burn is an international prayer ministry and there is one here in Sunshine Coast.  Once a month they have a 24-hour prayer and worship night for anyone in the community.  Some of the YWAM staff were asked to lead a 2-hour worship set and they asked me to play violin at it.  I was super stoked because I have been wanting to play violin so badly since I have been here.  The 2-hour slot went by so fast...it was crazy.  I stayed for a while afterward to listen to more worship music.  They also had a bunch of couches all over the room and a variety of stations where you could make art.  I loved it and I can't wait for the next one in August.

This weekend we also went to Monteville and went on a hike to Kalilla Falls.  I wanted to give you guys some cool pictures too....isn't that waterfall sick!??!?!?!?  This weekend we are going to Brisbane (Brissie) so check back for a post on that.

Aussie word of the week: spitting = raining (love it)

Thailand and Cambodia...here I come!

Hey everyone! 

This week Jason Solari came up from the YWAM Brisbane base to talk on Hearing God's voice.  It was a great set of lectures that challenged us all in many ways.  He encouraged us to dig deep into ourselves and into what things in our lives are "noise" that might make it difficult for us to hear God's voice  This was amazing because God brought out a lot of issues from the past in our team that helped us to grow with and support one another.   

But the coolest thing about this week was that we found out our outreach locations!  We all met on Friday morning and one of the staff got up to reveal the locations to our team.  He made a PowerPoint with the options which (to our secret disappointment) were Darwin, Australia and Vancouver, Canada.  He instructed us that we would have 15 minutes to pray about where God was calling each one of us to go.  Then as he went up to whiteboard to write out the locations he wrote "Thailand and India" or "Thailand and Cambodia." Darwin and Vancouver ended up being a trick that they played on us, but I totally fell for it.  I went off and prayed and God told me that I would be going to Thailand and Cambodia.  On this outreach we will be working in a bunch of different kinds of ministries including sex trafficking outreaches, orphanages, and teaching.  I had a feeling that Lyndzie and I would be going on separate outreaches and in the end, she chose the other outreach to India and Northern Thailand.  I am so excited to start planning for our outreach!!!


I went surfing this week and the water is so warm (even though it is winter) and I can seriously stay out there for hours in my wetsuit.  On Friday night, we did a local outreach in Mooloolaba which is a part of Sunshine Coast with lots of restaurants and cafes.  We had a time of musical worship and then just got to talk with some of the locals.  On Saturday, we finally saw some kangaroos!  We drove over to the university in Sunshine Coast.  There were two mama kangaroos that had joeys in their pouches.  We were able to get pretty close to them and I saw a joey poke his head out of the pouch...it was sick.   We also went to one of the staff's house to make jewelery which ended up being a fun, bonding time for us girls.

Seriously guys, God is teaching me so much here about myself and about Him.  Thank you for keeping up with my blog.  I am continuing to raise support-especially now that outreach is coming up in just a couple of months.  If you would like to support me financially...I can't even express how much I would appreciate it. (There is more info on how to this on the right hand column)  Thank you so much for your support and prayers.

Aussie word of the week: heaps = lots

Verse of the week: "Even youths grow tired and weary and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up on wings like eagles; they shall run and not grow weary; they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:29-31

Love,

B

How you going?  (That is how the Aussies say how ya doin' here which is kinds funny...I like it)

I forgot to mention one thing about last week.  One night we had a ministry event where we got to sit and talk with people from this community who are involved in a variety of ministries here.  There were a few guys who were involved in skate and surf ministries.  They hold surf events, contests, own a skate shop and a variety of things to have a positive impact on that culture here in Sunshine Coast.  It reminded me so much of Santa Cruz, and I was thinking about how awesome it would be if we had things like that there. 

This past Saturday, we went to a skate competition that was organized by a Christian group of skaters.  They had pro skaters there who were competing and it was a pretty big deal.  It was so cool to see all of these people getting together at a Christian sponsored event to compete at what they love.  It opened up so many doors to talk to the people there about what they believed and what they thought about God.

After the skate competition we spent Saturday in Noosa where some of us went on a beautiful, long hike.  We wanted to see a kangaroo or a koala, but (just my luck) we never saw one.  We did see three kangaroos, but they were like a mile away...so I don't think it really counts.

This week, we had a guest speaker come and lecture on the character and nature of God.  He is from Tazmania, which is a little island off of Australia.  We got to hear from him everyday, sometimes twice a day and through his lectures God really showed me how if we want to know Him, we have to spend time with Him.  It seems like a simple concept; but even as I am here in ministry, it is so easy to learn so much ABOUT God, but to never really take the time to go off by myself and to spend time with Him and listen to His voice.  God was really just saying to me...if you want to know Me deeper and hear My voice...you gotta spend time with Me.

Lyndzie has been helping us on our line dancing skills and we have been busting them out at night...I think I am starting to get it.  The girls in my house are really starting to connect and grow with one another and God has been answering a lot of our prayers.  Last night we went to go watch the Watoto children's choir.  It is a choir made up of children from Uganda who have been lifted out of child slavery and other dire situations.  They were so cute and I got to talk with a group of little boys before the show...they were so excited to be in Australia.  It was so special to listen to them singing about Jesus and how much Jesus loves them.

I went to the doctor about my head and he said that everything was looking good.  Thought that I was going to be able to get in the water this weekend, but it's pouring rain... :-/

Aussie word of the week: togs = swimsuit

Verse of the week: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." -Jesus (John 10:27)

My first post from Sunshine Coast, Australia

Well, I was not planning on doing a blog, but now I think it will be fun for you all to come check in on what I have been up to, to hear about what God is doing here and to see some pictures I've been taking.

I got here on June 29th after a long long long plane ride.  The flight went pretty smoothly until I got to the airport in Brisbane and realized that I was not going to be able to exchange money.  I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to pay the cab driver to take me to my hotel, but luckily he took credit cards. However, he way overcharged me... but by that time, I was so over it.

I stayed at a cool backpackers place/hostel the following night and met people from all of the world.  It was located in a part of Maroochydore called Cottontree which was adorable.  I wandered around for the whole day and discovered a couple little spots that I loved, especially this place called "So Delicious" which had great veggie pastries (I know it sounds weird). 

There are 12 girls in the discipleship training school (DTS) and 2 guys lol.  It is really fun getting to know everyone and I am rooming with three girls, Stephanie from Santa Barbara, Ali from Michigan and Cassie from Brisbane Australia.  This week has mostly been lectures and orientation.  Yesterday, we had a speaker come and lecture on the cost of discipleship...it was amazing and I was super blessed.  We will find out next week where our options are for outreach, but until outreach, we will mostly be listening to speakers, getting ready for outreach, and doing local outreaches.

One last thing...a couple of days ago, Lyndzie and I went to the beach with a couple other friends.  We were going to surf, but we ended up just playing in the waves (which were huge by the way).  The other girls went into the beach, but Lyndzie and I stayed out for a bit in the waves.  Going under the final wave, I dove deep and bashed my head on a sharp rock.  Luckily I didn't hit it too hard though.  As I got out of the water, I told Lyndzie that I hit my head, and we didn't think much of it.  Then I was like "hey, am I bleeding?"  When she looked at the other side of my face, there was blood running all down it.  A really cute lifeguard took care of me (patched me up) and now I am good to go...no stitches..thank God.

More to come, love you all!

Aussie word of the week: fringe = bangs (hair bangs)

Verse of the week: "I am the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing" -Jesus  (John 15:5)