Be Thou My Vision!

Disclaimer:  This is another Aussie experience.  I know I'm late posting this but it just goes to show that I am a slight procrastinator. 

One Sunday morning at East Freo Baptist we sang the song "Be Thou My Vision."  I know this song is a hymn and we don't really sing alot of those in my home church.  I'm not much for hymns, but this one quickly captured me.  I wanted this to be my plea!

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

Gospel in A Verse!

Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:

He was manifested in the flesh,

vindicated by the Spirit,

seen by angels,

proclaimed among the nations,

believed on in the world,

taken up in glory.  - 1 Timothy 3.16   *all emphisis my own

THANKFUL.

Even though I get stressed with school, I am thankful I get the opportunity to further my education.

Even though she has gotten on my nerves, I am thankful for a mom who has worked hard and never gave up.

It has not always been easy, but I am thankful for God’s blessings in summer missions while I have been in college.

Even though I gat stressed over my financial debt, I am thankful he paid a debt he didn’t owe!

Blog or not blog?

Should I start blogging on a regular basis?  Some part of me thinks nobody will read this. 

SWEET HOME ALABAMA!!

August 3, 2011 was, literally, one of the longest days of my life!  I am now back in the good ol' USA, driving on the right side of the road, and who can forget this weather.  Sweet tea has never tasted so good!

Please continue to keep us summer missionaries in your prayers and we go through so many transitions.  We like to think once we get home it will be May 22, but that is not the case.  Our lives have been changed for the better, but everyone around us has not had the same experinces we have.

I promise you there will be a complete update on the blog after I have more time to recover from jetlag.

THANKS HEAPS FOR ALL OF THE SUPPORT OVER THE SUMMER!!

Hello Sydney!

Well, we are back in Sydney. Monday began at 5.30am so we could board a flight to Sydney! I can now say I have seen the Sydney Opera House. And don't let it fool you, it's nothing but a big building.

Tomorrow we board a 14 hour flight to LA. Please keep us in your prayers for safety in travel. Please pray for our homecoming, as well. Going home can be the hardest part of the whole trip. We have so many changes ahead of us, one being the weather.

If all goes as planned I will be in Birmingham at 9.30pm Wenesday.

Packing :(

I am going to be as honest as I know how to be.  The only reason I am updating my blog is because I am avoiding the much dreaded packing.  I really wish there were somehow my bags could magically pack themselves. 

Tomorrow will be our last day with East Freo Baptist.  Monday we take off 7am for Sydney.   I can now say I am ready to leave Perth.  Two weeks ago I would not have said that.  God has been bringing me to the point where I am ready to come home.  Let me say, this is a good thing.  It makes coming home easier. 

8 Days!

 As I type this I have 8 days until I will be in America. That fact seems so unreal! It does not seem like it has been 9 weeks since I came to Australia.

My life would not be the same if I never came to Australia. Not every day has been easy but I have learned so much, tried new foods, and made new friends. I have grown in my relationship with God and He has been clear concerning His will for my life.

Australia will forever hold a place in my heart.  I have heard it said "You know when you are in the will of God when a place on the map becomes a place in your heart."  That has been proven true in my life, not only with Australia but with Peru and South Asia as well.

Please keep all of the summer missionaries in your prayers over the coming weeks.  Believe it or not, coming home is the worst and hardest part of the summer. 

Love Endures!

Sorry to leave all of you waiting!  This is a follow up to one of my previous posts concerning all the things I have learned.

Last summer I had a commissioning service with the Alabama Board of Missions. The main speaker said “When you become a Christian you give up your right to choose who you will ever love!” That was the only thing I remember. A few weeks go by and on the hardest days God kept bringing to my attention the 1 Cor. 13 verse “Love endures all things!”

Love endures all the hard days and all the good days. Love endures all the days you may not get alone with your teammates. Love endures sleeping on a concrete floor for 6 weeks. Love endures 8 days without a shower.

 

LOVE ENDURES ALL THINGS!

So I can't think of some creative blog tittle.  All I can think about is how I'm going to be in America in 19 days!!  That seems SO unreal!  It does not seem like I left America 7 weeks ago.  Going home is something that is not fun and easy, but I know it is something that has to be done. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to travel and meet so many wonderful people.  My heart aches knowing I will have to say good bye. Although, I know I will get to see them again, even if it is the other side of heaven.

Still Learning!!

I have heard most of my life "Jesus is a teacher."  Since I have been in Australia God has taught me things I never would have learned if I were not here.  This is my third year to do summer missions, and it is so easy to come in thinking you know all about missions.  The thing I remember most from orientation is my supervisor telling me as a missionary you are always learning. 

I love that God is teaching me new things!  One of my most common prayers is "God, please make me teachable and teach me new things!"  I am just amazed at the things God has been teaching me and how He teaches me.  It has taken me 3 years to learn some things, and I think that is crazy considering I should have learned some of these things early on. 

I decided to list a few things I have been learning and this is just a few of those things.  These are some things I have learned on the mission field, in random order:

- God can use any of your skills, even Special Ed. It is essential for one to be open and allow Him to do so.


- Some formal training (by that I mean seminary) is important for minister’s.

- Just because you have had one bad experience in ministry, do NOT let that set your whole mind set. Always give it a second chance.

- Being involved in ministry will have its bad days, but the good days make it worth it!

- When you are involved in ministry, the term “sleep-in” is not even in your vocabulary!

- Love endures ALL things!! (I will explain this one really soon.

- YOU ARE ALWAYS LEARNING!

Happy 4th of July!

Let me start of by saying, this is the sixth consecitive year I have been away from home on the forth of July.  Until today I never realized how much I have missed being apart of the traditional 4th of July celebrations, yet I love my time on the mission field. 

One thing about being away from America is you begin to LOVE the little things.  I mean who gets excited over ice, COLD sweet tea, hot showers, clothes dryers, and FREE refills?!  I am excited to say, we have spent the weekend celebrating America.  Friday, we had an "America Night" with our youth group.  We took this time to introduce them to some American food and test thier knowledge with some American trivia. Saturday, it was a blessing to serve with 3 other Americans from a local church to them prepare for another "America vs. Australia" game night.  Sunday, we introduced the young adults from our church to some southern favorites, like fried chicken and pumpkin pie.  I am somewhat sadened I do not have any pictures,but all of these socials have made a part of me miss the ways america celebrates the 4th of July. 

Weekend Recap!

Apart from church on Sunday, we spent got to do some sight seeing Saturday!  Thanks to some wonderful Aussie friends it was heaps of fun!  We are now a little past our halfway point.  That fact makes me a little sad.

1st Month!

As of today we have been in Perth for 1 month.  It's bittersweet moment.  Yesterday we hit what we call the "first month slup."  I think anybody that works in ministry will tell you the first month is fun and everybody is so welcoming, but then there becomes a time where it is not fun.  Although, I am still enjoying my time here.  This "1st month slup" makes me realize what ministry is all about.  There will be days that are not fun and hard.

God has done so much in my life in one month!  I already know my life will not be the same if He never sent me to Australia.  I have learned so much about the local church, being involved in the ministry, and God has revealed and confirmed His will for my life.

It's June 21!!

Going by our calendar it is June 21.  It was one month today since we left the States.  HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE!?  I have always heard time passes faster as you get older, now I think I have found that to be true.  Next week will be our halfway point.  It depresses me to even think about that.  I mean we have not been in Australia that long and it is not that much longer 'til we leave.  To date, this is one of the best summer missions experiences I have ever had.

One of the greatest challanges is trying to determine if this is summer or winter.  We are summer missionaries, but it is winter time in Australia.  At least they say winter time.