yes, i live in the sunshine state.

Getting back onto base was really nice, but a little chaotic. Since we got back our base has been completely full. We have had my school (55 people), Frontiers DTS (25), Beach 2 Bush who just got back from outreach (25), regular staff (15), new staff for the upcoming schools (10). That's up to 130 relatively. haha Our base was not made for this many people, but it's ok, we made due. The rain seemed to have taken it's toll on our room. Due to the humidity and constant moisture our walls started to grow mold, so we bleached them and tried to clean it out. Ants have also taken a liking to the base. It seems that everywhere you go you can find a line of ants. After 3-4 girls in my room finding piles of them under their mattresses, we had a deep cleaning of our room. It seems to have helped.

Tuesday, after we got back from the outreach weeks, were when the floods really started to hit and effect Queensland (the state that I live in). There was a lot of tragedy from all the water. Quite a few people died, so many houses destroyed and an enormous amount of lives are now frantically being rearranged. Brisbane was hit relatively badly. I live in a suburb of Brisbane, called Mitchelton, which is up on a hill and we were not flooded luckily. A lot of the city was though. The sharks got out of the Brisbane river and were literally just swimming along on the streets of the city. It was very difficult to see all the devastation. The following Saturday we were able to do some flood relief work. I went to a house where the water reached the door handle of the second story. Needless to say, almost everything was absolutely destroyed. We helped him haul all of his belongings to the curb and then cleaned a lot of the debris out of the yard. We even found a small fish in his backyard! haha It was extremely muddy and very smelly, but it's ok, clothes wash. :) It was so cool to see how the community came together. When we were working there were people walking all over the streets giving people who were cleaning up food and drinks. Everyone was wanting and offering to help one another. 15,000 volunteers showed up at the Brisbane City Council doors on Saturday offering their services. They had to turn some away because they simply didn't know where to send them.

That first week back we had lectures on destiny by our school leader, Jason. God has spoken a lot into my future since being here. I struggled so much with my decision to come here, but God has been SO faithful in directing me where I should go after this season of my life is over. Jason did an excellent job and really challenged me. Last week's lectures were on worship. One of our staff members, Hannah Lenz, taught us. One thing that really stuck with me from her is learning to be aware of the power that words have. It's interesting to think about what you are saying and realizing whether or not you are speaking life or death over someone. Thursday into Friday we had a 24 hour worship session. It was so cool. I feel like I am always asking for stuff from God. I loved being able to just GIVE BACK to Him for those 24 hours. This week Joy Allen is speaking on fear of the Lord. I'm so excited to see what I learn from this topic.

I have been thinking a lot about how much I have been complicating my relationship with God. I've been spending the last few days just allowing the simplicity of my relationship with Him to truly soak in. It's been a very peaceful couple of days. :) I love that knowing God never truly ends. God is a mystery that we cannot comprehend. I love that about Him.

Beach to Bush graduated last Friday, so it's been sad to say bye to all of my friends from that school. Hopefully, I will be able to see some of them again this summer. My friend, Emily's, birthday was on Saturday so we went to this place in Brisbane called the Pancake Cafe. It was delicious. It was nice to be able to just go out with a couple of friends to dinner too. I love her a lot and can't wait to go to India with her. India feels so close... a little less than 3 weeks now! I cannot wait!! :) :)

I miss home a lot, but am still so happy here. I guess I just appreciate my family and friends more now. It will be such a bittersweet day when I do leave Australia. But, I'll cross that bridge when I get there. For now, I have so much to look forward to.... I mean, India! Come on!!! :)

The smashing of the rubix cube.

Christmas went rather well. :) It was such a fun time around our base. On Christmas Eve, I went into the city with some friends and saw the new Narnia movie. I haven't laughed so much in a long time. The whole train ride was spent singing Christmas carols! That night we all snuggled up and listened to a recording of my grandpa reading the story of the birth of Jesus. It made me a little sad, but more so joyful that I was able to share that tradition with my dear friends from all over the world. Christmas was a blast! I woke up early and skyped the family. I felt SO blessed from all the cards and Christmas greetings from back home. It was so helpful and encouraging. :) The whole day the school felt so giddy. haha We had a big Christmas brunch and then opened up stockings. The rest of the day was spent watching Christmas movies and playing games. I got to partake in this British Christmas tradition called Christmas crackers. haha It was ridiculous.

Our school was split in half for the following two weeks with about 25 people in each group. The other group has actually yet to get back. I didn't realize how much I love these people and being apart from them has been a heart wrencher. I know the reunion will be sweet. The first week I spent in Hervey Bay. It is still a very beautiful place. The small group made for a very homey feel. We had lectures on Biblical Worldview. I learned a lot about the gospel of the Kingdom, not just the gospel of Salvation. I learned heaps and loads. New Years was amazing. We spent the night worshipping on the beach. Reflecting on the past year, God has worked and done SO much. I can't even begin to explain.

The second week was spent in Byron Bay doing outreach. We were involved in this thing called Impact Summer. Byron Bay is a big backpacking, tourist town with a huge hippy influence. It was a beautiful place. The best beach I have to by far. I learned a lot about what it means to live like Jesus did. As a follower of Christ, I'm called to love and give of myself to the sick and the broken. That's what this week was. We brought the body of Christ to the people. We had huge free bbq's and pancake/chai nights. It was all about just listening and sharing with the people that showed up. We had people dancing, singing, performing dramas, and giving testimonies during these times in the park. I thought for sure that people didn't want to listen or watch any of it, but I don't think I could have been more wrong. People crave fulfillment and purpose. People want to have someone to listen, someone to love and accept them. It was amazing how many people we were able to share the love of Christ with. We had one day where we set up a huge volleyball tournament and then had a free bbq after. The thing was, we weren't trying to force anything, we were simply providing opportunity for God to work and move. Boy howdy, did he. During that week, my outreach team for India also grew a lot closer. It was amazing how much we have learned to rely on and love on one another. Through this whole experience God has taught me so much about His character and how my life can be a reflection of that.

I am so excited for the year 2011. Seriously, I feel like God is going to do some awesome things in and through me. I'm so passionate and ready to be open to all that He has in store. I read the book Blue Like Jazz over the two weeks as well. It's excellent read, very down to earth and authentic. Read it if you get the chance. :) All of a sudden my time in Australia seems very short. A lot is going on within our base this next month with different people and schools coming and going. I know I'm going to blink and I'll be in India. Eek! I can't wait. I am SO very thankful for my friends here. It is blowing my mind how much I love the people here. In a DTS, being friends with a person for a month is the equivalent to a year because we live in community 24/7. Therefore, I've known these people here for years! :) haha I'm absolutely exhausted. We woke up this morning in Byron and went and watched the sunrise at the lighthouse, which is the most eastern point in Australia.

"No matter how the wind may blow, it cannot shake the sun." - JJ Heller, Back Home

Christmas is not about the beaches.

I live on tea. I seriously feel like I drink four glasses a day, minimum. It's still been pretty rainy here. Sunday was probably the coldest day we've had. I hope that the weather is just like that on Christmas. It will make me feel more at home. We're doing Secret Santa right now and whoever picked my name is so awesome. They've been sneaking me Mad Libs :) Every time I get a new one, two of my English friends (Kezi and Emma) get together and laugh through the whole entire thing. I forgot what fun simple kid games, like Mad Libs, can be.

Mark Parker. Enough said. haha Two weeks ago, for lectures we had a guy from New Zealand come and talk to us. He was pretty blunt and harsh, but dang he had the love of God in him. He taught on the topic of Lordship. He kept talking about how Jesus is already Lord, but we need to decide daily to make Him Lord of our lives. A lot of the week had to do with surrendering and learning to walk in the freedom that Christ brings. And man, is that freedom empowering or what? We learned all about the structure of the Tent of Meeting in the Old Testament. Then, Mark took that structure and put it into practical New Testament terms and ways. Many of our lectures went on for hours after they were scheduled, but Mark didn't care. Frankly, neither did any of us. He was speaking so many absolute truths that it was all we could do to make ourselves get up and leave the classroom once he was done. At the end of the week, we took what Mark had talked about the Tent of Meeting and actually did it. This consisted of 4 hours of praise and worship Friday night and then 15 hours of praise, worship, prayer, intercession, confession, consecration, tears, laughter, dancing, communion and a lot of freedom on Saturday. To say the least, it was a little bit nuts. God did a lot in my heart throughout that week, including breaking off some ties that I still felt connected to from my past. One of the greatest parts of Mark was his constant looking towards God. People so often focus on their sin. "I need to fix this. I need to get better at that. I need to get control of this. I need to. I need to. I need to." Instead the sin seems to fall away and because much less burdensome when you simply keep your focus and eyes on Christ. When you praise God for who He is and what He is, has and will do, you find that many of your struggles seem petty. I serve a God is excited for breakthrough and excited for wisdom and understanding to come on His children.

Last week, Pastor Grant Windle, from a local church, came and spoke on the Holy Spirit. Even though it was tough to follow up Mark Parker, Grant did an excellent job. God knew exactly what He was doing when He gave us Grant for the following week. When Mark spoke, you listened. When Grant spoke, you had to be hungry for God. It was such a good way for us to continue to devote ourselves to God. I learned that when you allow the Holy Spirit to come in and overflow in your life, God's incomprehensible peace comes in tidal waves.

Friday and Saturday of last week we did "faith days". After they told us we were doing that, I quickly realized that it was simply "As We Go" days. :) It was nice to do something familiar. God worked through these days like crazy. A lot of serving and blessing others went on. Last night, I taught my outreach team how to play Telepictionary (only the best game ever.). It was so fun to play with people who don't speak English as their first language. haha We laughed and laughed and laughed. I was asked if we could play it on the long train ride into Darjeeling. :)

We leave for two weeks of outreach next Monday. We're doing this thing called Impact Summer on Byron Bay. It should be very cool. I don't exactly know what all will be going on (which I never do here haha), but we should be finding out more pretty soon. I'll be excited to come back and share all about it.

Christmas is on Saturday. That's less than five days away from now for me! So weird to be here, while the Holidays are going on back at home. This will definitely be a different Christmas for me, to say the least. I'm excited though. There's been a lot of baking going on around the base. We'll probably spend the day playing games, eating, laughing and enjoying each others company (there's even rumors of a beach trip on Christmas Eve). Even though I miss my family terribly, I'm so happy that I have a new family here to celebrate with.

Merry Christmas!

when it rain, it pours.

My feet clean during the week :) note: the lovely keen tan

our chai tent

my favorite place in australia so far: hervey bay :)

Schoolies was intense. like literally. It was a seventeen hour drive there. We stopped and stay in this place called Hervey Bay. It was the first time I'd seen the ocean in a couple of years. haha You should have seen me. My friend, Erica, just kept laughing at me and my giddiness. I woke up around 4:15 the next morning and went to the beach to watch the sunrise. It was absolutely gorgeous. One of the best mornings I've had in a long time. I sat and just worshipped and praised God for a couple of hours. I wish I was better with my words so I could give Him a small portion of the justice He deserves. haha I should probably actually be apologizing for my whole entire blog. Writing is not my strongest suit and this whole entire experience and everything that God is doing in my life can't be described through my mediocre writing. So, I'm sorry, but hey, something is better than nothing, right? :)

Saturday through Wednesday night we had the Chai Tent set up in Airlie Beach. The Schoolies would come in from 8pm-1am and get free chai and slushies. Our main ministry was just being a place of peace and of the Holy Spirit. You could feel a physical difference inside and outside the tent. I was on the tent floor four of the nights. I was able to create a really good relationship with these Schoolies, Brittany, Sam and Hannah, mainly Brittany though. She came back every night and we hung out for hours. God was so evidently working in her life. Now, she's my friend on facebook and we've continued to talk since I've been back. :) What a blessing. During the week, a lot of people talked to different kids who really broke down about their emptiness and brokenness. So many of the Schoolies talked about how immediately when they walked into the tent they could feel themselves sobering up due to the complete change in atmosphere. haha I drank a lot of the chai. :)

Other than the tent, we had a 24 hour prayer and worship going on back at the house we stayed at. People were always there doing all sorts of prayer and worship. During the hours of the tent, we had constant communication with the prayer room and had a white board at both places, sharing prayer requests and encouragement. The power of the 24 hour prayer and worship blew us all away! It was amazing how much God was leading the whole ordeal. Everyone's sleep schedule was all over the place, but God definitely provided. We also had to have 24 security at the tent and did Sport in the Park every afternoon for the Schoolies. It was a week full of lots of spiritual warfare, exhaustion, but also full of the Spirit moving in ways I had never seen. It rained almost the whole time we were in Airlie Beach. We all got used to living with mud just covering our feet almost up to our shins. We also didn't really shower much. haha We slept in tents and all of our clothes smelled like mold by the time we went home. But man, none of that really matter! God was so good and worked in so many lives!

The Airlie Beach base house that we stayed in was incredible. I felt like we were living in a jungle. There were SO many bugs and different types of wildlife! I loved it so much. It was something I had never even remotely experienced. I loved waking up every morning and going and having breakfast on the huge wrap around deck, spending time with God, and watching the rain just POUR down. Words can't express how much I love rain. God used the rain in really fascinating ways throughout the week. There was no doubt about it that He sent it. :)

Thanksgiving was a definitely different, considering they don't celebrate it. haha But my friends were really good about the whole thing. Last week truly was a week of thanksgiving in my life. Looking back through my journals, I feel like I spent the whole week just thanking God for what He has and is doing in my life. Thanksgiving still remains my favorite holiday, even if I didn't get to celebrate it this year!

I'm starting to think that God is going to do a lot in my heart involving discipline while I'm here. I know that sounds negative or unpleasant, but He is doing in a way that is making me passionate and just excited to create these habits! It's taking a lot of failure and time, but I know that this is truly changing the way that I will live the rest of my life. This week's topic is relationships. We're doing through a video series by Dean Sherman, the guy who started YWAM in Australia. He's SO animated and a little ridiculous, but man, he speaking straight truth. Here are some idea's that he's caused me to think about this week:

True forgiveness is relating according to value, not behavior.

Perfection is when you are committed enough to the truth that when you screw up you acknowledge and apologize.

Humility is the knowledge and understanding of TRUTH.

People have value. This knowledge brings a responsibility of LOVING.

Grace not only relates us to God, but to one another. It washes away not only our sin between us and God, but the sin between each of us.

Acts 20:35

I'm very passionate about all of these things right now, so if you'd like to talk to me more about any of it, let me know. :)

I've learned a new game, called Bang! I love it :) :) haha It's the best!

Drumroll please.

We leave for Schoolies on Wednesday. We'll be gone for about nine or ten days roughly. Schoolies is basically an Australian version of American spring break. All the kids in Australia when they finish school rent hotels for a week on the beach and just party fiercely with all of their friends. A lot of kids that do this have fun for the first couple of days, but the rest of the trip because horrible. They start regretting things they've allowed themselves to do, go into severe depressions and feel utterly broken and alone. We go and set up this thing called a Chai Tent. We will serve free chai tea (mmm, delicious :)) and have entertainment for them (bands, dances, etc.). There is a lot of prayer ministry and evangelism that goes on. Apparently, we will sleep very little and complete exhaust ourselves. We'll take kids who are too drunk to find their way home back to their hotels and just try our best to keep them safe. I'm very excited because I know God is going to do a lot in this next week. Kind of a bummer because it's over Thanksgiving which means I won't get to talk to my family at all, but hey, God will take care of it. (Family: make sure to eat lots of mashed potatoes for me!) I can't wait to come back and be able to blog about all that He does up at Airlie Beach!!

Another school got back to base. Beach to Bush was on a month long road trip and just finally made it back. There are SO many people here. haha Meal times are crazy, but it's fun. I'm enjoying meeting new people and creating even more friendships. I've spent A LOT of time playing games and just getting to know people around here. Lots of Dutch Blitz, Bananagrams, Steal a Word, Farkle, etc. :) I've been working out with this guy Trevor and that's been a lot of fun. I've spent a lot of time with God and processing all I've been learning. haha Oh yes, and I've laughed a lot. :)

The rest of my week with Ken was wonderful. He didn't exactly lecture, but instead was just an example for us. He spent a lot of the class time speaking to us one by one. He prayed over our pictures two weeks before arriving and then just listened to God to see what we needed to hear. It was so cool watching him encourage, love and challenge everyone. He left the base, but his vibes of passion for purity and desperation for Christ stayed here. Last week, Jason Solari, our school leader for MAD, spoke on "Hearing the Voice of God". I learned so much about communication. Only 7% of what is being communicated is verbal. It makes you wonder where the other 93% is coming from. I've been a lot more aware of things around me. We fill our lives with so much noise that I've found it difficult to still my mind. I definitely will continue to work on learning to hear the voice of God. It's funny because in all actuality, our Father wants to talk to us way more than we want to listen to Him. We just need to give Him the chance. We say "God, tell me what to do! Why is this happening?", but how much time to we spend clearing our minds and simply giving God the chance to speak to us!

I heard God speak in a pretty big way this week. On Tuesday, we found out the outreach locations for our school. We had six to chose from: Peru, Canada, Japan, Australia/New Zealand, India, and Germany/Czech Republic. We were told not to discuss where we thought we might go with our friends or really with anyone and to simply listen to God and see where He wanted us. I spent a lot of time over the next few days by myself. I would spend hours on walks, etc. just trying to listen and hear God's direction for where I should go for my outreach. It was difficult to not get caught up in my own selfish desires. There were certain places that I knew would be 'cooler' than others and places I knew I would struggle with a lot. On Friday, we had to turn in a piece of paper to Jason saying where we felt God was leading us and why. Saturday night, we all gathered and ended up waiting for FOREVER to be let into our classroom. We were all very anxious because we knew we'd be finding out our destination and team. (Just a side note: because I'm in a school that is based on music, art and dance a lot of the way we do things is creative haha) We were let into the room and found ourselves in Hogwarts. :) A lot of the staff had dressed up and we all sat on the floor, waiting to be 'sorted'. haha If you know me at all, you know that this was one of the most exciting moments in my life. I was ecstatic. Like couldn't contain myself. I love Harry Potter. So, all of the first years were sorted into their houses. haha One at a time we would walk up to the front where this floating hat and voice (this guy, Nick, behind a curtain) would tell us what house we were put in. :) It was wonderful. I couldn't stop smiling! And... by the grace of God, I was placed into the house of India.

I will be spending two months in Darjeeling, India. My team is made up of twelve people and one leader. (Kezi, Kody, Emily, Sarah, Katherin, Brandon, Bec, Lauren, Chelsie, Brittany, Jonatan, me and our leader Steven) I'm sure I will tell you more about outreach and everything that it will entail at a later time. :) Just know that I'm VERY excited, yet VERY nervous. God is going to do a lot of cool things in Darjeeling!

Done. Ok, I'll be back with another update after Schoolies :)

Four rows back.

I forgot to blog about this originally, but it kept coming up in my mind, so I figured I should write about it! On my flight to Australia, God did something awesome. For some reason Lauren and I ended up not sitting together on our flight from Denver to San Fran. I'm not going to lie, I was a little upset. I had just left everything that I had known in my life and now the one person I was relying on was taken away from me (well, like four seats behind me...haha and yes, that was kind of exaggerating). Little did I know, God was working in huge ways already and I hadn't even left the country. I sat next to this lady named Ruth-Anne, but she told me I could call her Rat. haha She was headed home.

We ended up talking the whole entire three hours of the flight. At one point she told me she felt bad for continually talking and told me I could do something else. The time that we weren't talking lasted maybe five minutes before we headed straight into our conversation again. If I had to guess, she was probably in her mid-sixties. She had a lot of connections with YWAM in her life and was very excited for all of the adventures that God had in store for me. She kept talking about how her calling was to help others figure out their spiritual gifts and encourage people to use them. She worked very closely with her church and was very, very involved.

We talked a lot about her family too. Her love for her family was so evident in the way she spoke about them. It was beautiful. I could so clearly see how much God was just poured into every inch of their family. haha At one point, she was trying to remember a certain worship song. She knew the words "amazing love" were in it. We ended up singing almost the whole song together... on the plane. God knew exactly what He was doing by sitting me by her. "Amazing love, how can it be? That you my King would die for me. Amazing love and I know it's true. It's my joy to honor You. In all I do, let me honor You."

She talked a lot about her grandkids. She reminded me a lot of my Grandma Bud. :) You could tell she loved and lived for these kids. After a while, I talked to her about my G'ma Bud. She reassured me that she would be so proud of me and all that I'm doing to dedicate my life to Christ. It was exactly what I needed to hear.

God truly provides in unexpected ways. :)

Bike rides make life sweeter.

I'm in a band. haha Kind of a crazy idea... never would have pictured myself here, but it's pretty awesome! I feel pretty lame because I'm still going to bed really early here! It's almost ten pm now and it's pushing it! But I don't remember the last day I was up after seven am. I've gotten lost in Brisbane by myself twice already. I always thought I had a good sense of direction in the States. Well, apparently not here. One of the times, I was on a run and all the sudden something hit me HARD on the head. I looked up only in time to see it coming back at me and it hit me again. The magpies in Australia are apparently rather territorial and therefore had flown down and hit me on the head. One of the strangest experiences I've had the pleasure of calling mine. The most awkward part was that I was by myself and therefore I didn't know what to do, but just keep running. haha Don't worry, no blood, just a good headache for the morning. :)

My first weekend at the base was pretty enjoyable! I hung out a lot and tried to get some time by myself. Living on a base with around one hundred other people and in a room with eleven makes it a little bit harder to just be by yourself. I've realized how much I have taken for granted my time by myself in the morning just getting ready or things of that sort. But it's fun. There's always a friend around to talk to. This morning this guy Brandon from Korea came and sat next to me at breakfast and just started talking (we hadn't talked previously) and before I knew it I got to try this delicious Korean tea he went and got me. I love the kindness and selflessness of everyone here. I'm supposed to learn guitar from one of my other friends, hopefully that will happen soon! Monday, I was able to go on a bike ride with three other girls. Except one couldn't ride a bike, so we stuck her on the back. haha It was the most ridiculous experience! We just laughed and laughed and laughed. :) I checked off one of my items on my bucket list Monday. I'd definitely consider it a good day.

What a loser am I? I love lectures. So much. haha Last week the director of the YWAM base, Dave, spoke on the topic of "The Character and Nature of God". I learned SO much. He talked a lot about how the glory of God is simply the goodness of God (or His character) manifested in different things in life. It was such a different approach because we focused on how we can be that representation of who God is. And no, we don't do a very good job of it, but it sure changed my perspective of God's character. We also discussed how different fields in our society are made to represent different parts of who God is when functioning as God set it up to. This week a man named Ken from North Carolina is here and talking about "The Father Heart of God". Ken is an excellent father. :) I've never met someone who is so intent on listening to and being in intimate relation with God. He has been quite the inspiration.

I am obsessed with being in a room full of people praying in different languages. I hope everyone gets to do that at some point in their life. This morning during worship I went and opened the door and sat on the ledge and worshipped there. It was pouring rain all morning. Amazing worship time, let me tell you!

We leave in about two weeks for this thing called Schoolies... I'll explain more about what that is at a later date.

Continue the prayers my friends! God is good.