Tuesday, April 15, 2008

New Beginnings

Beginning of HIP-HOP try-out
The End of HIP HOP try-outs -ha ha ha
My friend Catlin and I in the backseat of the car that broke down...Sweet!

New way to take a pic...shake your head madly and see what happens...ha ha ha
headed to the beach with a sweet headband! ; )
Beach Volleyball- Sunburn!
Winning team
starting from the left: Gir, Leif, Micah, Me, Rachel
The car we drove to the top of the mountain...it didnt start and than overheated...its cool though we were safe. SO FUN!
Left: Potter --> Dave...finally got the car started!

I dont even know where to start.
So many prayers were answered this week.
So many memories and past regrets had to be dealt with and are still daily being thought and prayed through.
So many people I met.
And more than enough Godly wisdom to last me a lifetime.
Lets start with prayers:
- Before I came, I prayed that I would find some great friendships here or at least good ones that helped me understand community and the importance of relationships in our world. When I arrived I found out that my particular DTS is 90% female....honestly a very difficult fact for me to accept considering my good friends are guys. So I started praying that while I am in Hawaii at least, a couple good guy FRIENDS would come along= and so they have. I have guy friends that help me keep my sanity sometimes but also some good down-to-earth girls that i can chill with in my DTS. Praise the Lord.
- I had been praying for a guitar since I got here...guess what? God provided. This guy walked up to me with a guitar and said "here use it for a while." I was floored. Thank you Lord! It feels good to have a guitar in my hands-even though I'm not very good at it thus far. But that will change.
- Some huge personal prayers are activally being answered...I wont go into too much detail here just because I don't feel the need to share them. But if you know me well and know what I struggle with please keep praying that the Lord will continuiously shine His light in the dark places of my soul, so those places can become light.

The topic of the week this week was: "Hearing Gods Voice." It has been one of the most amazing weeks of my life. Obviously, we learned about God's voice but it was an in depth study and so much detail was shed on the subject. It was AWESOME!!! There were several times God spoke to me clearly this last week and it was good to hear His voice:) We also learned about Intercessory Prayer and how powerful it is! Again, I'm floored at how little I know about all of this.

There are so many great stories to choose from that happened this past week that are worth mentioning but seriously every moment becomes my favorite...Its hard for me to store it all.

A couple stories I guess will do...1)A couple friends and I were able to have a 45 min conversations about Christ in a McDonalds with a former morman girl named Ally. She was taken intrigued but mostly because we were passionate. No commit was made or anything but it was obvious to see the Lord has a call on her life. Please pray for Ally. 2) I was able to test my sand volleyball skills this past weekend but unfortuantly forgot my sunscreen- i am fried!!! The tan line will be awesome but holy cow I'm in pain right now. 3) We talked about different ways God speaks to us and one of the ways God speaks is: dreams. (Look at many major characters in the Bible and you have your proof of that way). I have had several dreams recently but one last night was totally crazy that woke me up and had me thinking critically at six in the morning. I wrote it down and thought about the theological ramifications of the dream...and in the lecture today, the pastor used my dream as an example...without me having told anyone about this crazy dream. It was almost eerie but I'm starting to not be so freaked out by how real God is and how He chooses to speak. I'm not at all saying, I can dream or have visions or anything- although that would be cool- but to have my dream seconded like that...was insane! The dream was about Satans strategy to kill us all. I wont go much deeper, maybe the dream was from past books I read all crammed into one...I don't know but it was rad!

I had my first hint of homesickness today but I know I must continue on. Please pray for me on that...

A few main lessons I've learned this week:
- My best is good enough for God
- God is truely the lover of my soul and all I want is to seek His heart. I do love what He has created but oh how much more I love His characeter and faithfulness...
- the development of a relationship involves talking and listening- same as in developing a relationshi with the Lord.
-There is no truth UNLESS there is a God!

OUTREACH UPDATE:
We have decided to only go to Europe and Africa (thus far) instead of China because the cost is too expensive. I need to raise $3000 more dollars for my outreach in the next four weeks. I found out that it can be tax-deductable...praise the Lord...if sent directly to YWAM. I will again be sending out support letters here shortly to update you even more. Please pray if you would like to be apart of this opportunity too.

Thank you so much, each one of you for the various roles you have played in my life and growth. I do apologize for mispelled words or confusing sentences...im extremely tired right now. I pray for each of you and I love you. Drop me a note for that always encourages me.

Peace from Hawaii!

3 comments:

Pam said...

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! KONA GIRL.
I LOVE AND MISS YOU. DAD.

Patrick and Ashley said...

i love you too daddio! xoxoxo!

Micah, Kaylea, little Miss Lucy and her pony Moses said...

I finally had a chance to sit down and read your blog. sounds like you're in your element! I really miss you and think of you often. Keep chasing Jesus!