Week 3 with YWAM

Hello again! Last week got off to a bit of a rocky start for me. Being in Australia I have been experiencing a lot of new and different ways of doing things. Some of these things had just really taken a toll on me and were building up frustration in me. The differences in the way some things are carried out was really distracting to me and I don’t know how else to put it but that I was just feeling far from the Lord and questioning whether or not my relationship with Him was genuine or if I was just making Him out to be the God I wanted Him to be. I talked a lot of this over with one of my leaders and she helped me to realize that the ways people go about doing things are different and that it is ok. God doesn’t just look for one special way or the best way to come before Him. Whether we are silently praying by ourselves or screaming your prayer while spinning in circles, I think God just wants us to come to Him. I realized I needed to be secure in my relationship with the Lord and not feel condemned that it wasn’t the same as some others.  

Our lecture topic was on “Fatherheart of God” which pretty much talked about how we relate to God as our father. And how when we relate to God as a Father, it opens up a whole new level of trust because we know He has our best interest in mind at all times. He will be our Comforter and Protector. Not to mention that He has an unimaginable unconditional love for His children! This definitely brought about several areas of my life that I have not fully been trusting God with. After 3 days of lectures we all finally figured out why they nicknamed that week “Openness and Brokenness”.  We all had a chance to go up before everyone in our class and share what we were/are struggling with. By the end of the afternoon I don’t think there was a dry eye in the room! It was the craziest thing. Bottom line: we all come from junk and our God is really BIG and Amazing! My heart broke for so many of my friends here. Being so open and vulnerable really brought us all so much closer. It is so wonderful to see how the Lord has worked and is working in all of their lives. As for me, I found much healing in that day. It was good.

On a side note, it rained for 4 days straight last week! And not just a light rain-it poured! Saturday was YouthStreet! One of the girls on our dance team comes from a family of native Australians and taught us what they call “aboriginal dancing”. It was really cool, but super hilarious. Part of it was dancing like animals native to Australia-picture dancing like a kangaroo or emu…it was quite comical! Then yesterday (Sunday) my friends Filippa, Marika, Danielle, and I took a trip to Sydney! It was a 2 and a half hour train ride and we left the station at about 6:45am. Once we got to Sydney we first went to Hillsong Church!! It was such a great experience. There were so many people there. It was really neat. Then we spent the day touring in Sydney which consisted of the Opera House, Sydney Harbor Bridge, and Botanic Gardens. We had such a great day! I was exhausted by the end of it that is for sure!

Thank you all once again for the prayers, support, and encouragement! God is Good.