One Week.

Welp,

The time is fast approaching for us to go on outreach.  It is so crazy to think that we are in week 11 of lecture phase and just next week we will all be leaving this oval which has become home.  I feel like every day I ask myself, how in the world did I get here?  How did I get to this place?  How crazy is it that God has brought all of us here to this exact place at this exact time with each other?  God definitely knows what He is doing.

So as lecture phase is coming to an end, I'm finding myself wondering - what have I learned?  I think a better question is what haven't I learned?  Each week has brought on a new topic and a new set of challenges and new things to think about, new things to learn.  Each week has been so different for so many reasons.  If I were to write down everything that I have learned, this would be the longest blog post ever.  So I will leave you with some bullet points that will not do it justice but that's alright...

• I have learned so much about who I am and who God is.  So simple but so true.  
• God knows exactly what I need and He knows exactly how to provide it for me in a way that is absolutely perfect for me.  
• God is a gentlemen.
• God loves me more than I could ever know.  He wants me just to BE.  It is out of my becoming that I will do all the stuff.
• I like running.
• When I ask questions, God answers.
• God just wants me to know how much He loves me. 
• Everything I have has been given to me by God.  It is about taking everything that I am blessed with and turning it around and turn it into a blessing for someone else.
• I can rest contented in His love
• I can trust the process and find beauty in it.

There is so much more but it is hard to condense it all into this.  So that's just a little taste...

Here is just a bit of information about what is coming up in the next week.  We are in our last week of lectures which is about Stewardship - taking care of something that belongs to someone else.  Next week we will begin having more of a focus on outreach prep.  My group has been accidently split into 2 different groups - the first group of just 5 people will be leaving on Tuesday April 5 and the rest of us will be leaving on Wednesday April 6.  We will be flying down to Cape Town then get on another plane to Durban which we will be at for the first 3 weeks or so.  (Hopefully by the time I get there I will be able to fill you in more on what we will be doing and all that).  It is coming up so soon, it's hard to get my head around it.

Things to pray for:

• A safe trip for both of the groups - to get there safely with all of our stuff.
• That we would be such a strong team and such a strong support for each other.  Without that support between all of us, we won't be able to do what God wants for us to do.
• Finances - that each person would be able to come up with the right amount of money to pay off all of the fees and flights.
• That we would be able to put all trust and faith in God during this time.  This is such a big thing and we most definitely need God in it all.  Please pray that we would completely rely on God because none of us are perfect and we can do nothing on our own strength.  It is in our weakness that He sends us out.
• Please also keep in mind the other half of my DTS who will be going to Tanzania and Kenya.
• The people on my team:
• Leaders -
• Gareth
• Cindy
• Louise
• Kaylan 
• Laura
• Teresa
• Helena
• Karina 
• Sarah
• Maria Augusta 
• Kellie
• Caleb
• Colby 
• Duane

Thank you so much for your love and support during this time.  I am definitely excited to see what God is going to do with all of us in the coming weeks.  Please continue to pray for us as we head out from the safety of the Oval.  Pray that we would be such a strong team and would really be able to put into practice everything that we have learned during our time here so far.

Thanks so much!

   

5.6 Miles

The Lord your God is with you

He is mighty to save

He will take great delight in you

He will quiet you with His love

He will rejoice over you with singing.

~Zephaniah 3:17

I like running.  I like England.  I like running in England.

Last Saturday a good friend, Catherine, and I decided to go for a bit of a run together.  So this is where we went.  As you can see from the above picture - It was quite the run.  It was quite the beautiful run as well.  The sun was shining beautifully and we just were running through the open fields and through the woods and it was just really great.  5.6 miles.  Let me just say that again - 5.6 MILES.  Yep, that happened.  That's a lot for me.  I may have been hurting a bit the next day but it was totally worth it.

There was one point during our run that I felt that I needed to stop and walk for a second.  But Catherine looked over and said - Really?  Are you sure? - Then I thought, you know what?  No, I don't need to stop, let's keep running.  So we did and I was fine.  Just one of the many reasons why it is so much better to run with someone else.  It's so much better to have someone there that will push you and encourage you to know that you can do it no matter how difficult it may be and no matter how much it may hurt.  I ran without stopping so much more that day then I ever thought I could.

It is our certainty of knowing His unrelenting love for us, even in the midst of our weakness and failure that leads to the fullness of His life. ~He Loves Me

This is something that I have been learning a lot this past week.  Learning how be secure in His presence knowing and trusting that He loves me so much.  That is all that He asks of us.  His deepest desire is not all of the stuff that we can do, but it is just for us to be, for us to be in a deeper relationship with Him, for us to be loved by Him and love Him in return.  It is in our becoming that we will do all the stuff and we will do it with the confidence that is found in Him.

There are so many times that I feel like I can't do something because it’s hard or I’m tired but I know that I will have God running right next to me saying - Really?  Are you sure you want to stop?  I can look over at Him and realize that it is because of His love and the confidence that I can find in His love that I will be able to push through no matter what it is.  I'd say that's pretty great. 

Such confidence we have through Christ before God.  Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.

~2 Corinthians 3:4-5

   

Peanut Butter Popcorn

I've been cooking/baking a lot since I've been here.  From delicious flapjacks to Pick-a-berry Boo cookies and more.  This weekend brought on a new snack -

Peanut Butter Popcorn

SOOOOO GOOD.

PMA

PMA PMA!

OOOO I FEEL GOOD, EH!

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!

EH THAT'S OK THAT'S OK THAT'S OK!

PMA - Positive Mental Attitude

Here's how the song works - one person is the leader and shouts out one line incredibly loud while doing a little dance with it and the rest of the group echos.  One day, I had the privilege of being the one to lead this fantastic thing in the middle of Harpenden.  Which was quite a shock to the residents of the town because someone complained to the police that we were being loud - or rather that we were being happy very loudly.  Pretty funny.

I've been here on the oval for over 7 weeks now.  Crazy.  It has gone by so fast.  But I am absolutely loving it here.  I am learning so much about so many things and I am just so excited for what God is doing in my heart right now and what He is going to continue to do with the rest of my time here.  Which is only one month! I am leaving for South Africa in just one month!!!  How did this happen?

Speaking of South Africa - here is a little update for you on what's going on with that.  My team has booked our flights already so it's set!  We will be leaving for South Africa on April 6.  That is so soon I can't even believe it.  We will be going to 3 different cities there - First we will be in Durban for almost 3 weeks helping out at a place called Hope Farm.  This is a place for kids who have no where else to go can go and find shelter and a loving environment.  Then we will be going to Worchester.  Then we will spend a bit of time in Cape Town then come back to the UK for the UK outreach portion which will be about 4 weeks.  We are still trying to figure out where we are going for the UK part of it.  So that's pretty exciting.

GOD LOVES YOU AS YOU ARE BUT TOO MUCH TO KEEP YOU THAT WAY.

It's hard for me to summarize all of the things that have been going with me over here.  I feel that every day brings something new and exciting and challenging.  

God knows what is good and perfect for me.  He will provide whatever it is that I need in the perfect way that He has planned out just for me.  And He is so excited for those plans and so am I, whatever they may be.