Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Yeeehaaaaw, I'm in Nashville Tennassee!

Nashville is just how you think it would be.
Boots, boots boots, and hats and boots.

There is music everywhere you look, its almost overwhelming at times when you have about 10 different types of music playing at the same time in the are of about 50mts.

I like it here.

I have been to see live music, the broadway show "wicked" (which I highly recommend. I loved it so much. Why I didn't get into broadway/theatre baffles me), beautiful parks, helped a lady loose her keys down a storm drain...woops, went to a 'cool aid' party, watched 2 soccer games, and just hung out with Dan, Kelsey, Brooke and others.

I leave here on Wednesday with Brooke and fly to Vegas for 3 nights. Woot woot. That should be a crazy time.

It has been so good spending time with people that I love and have missed so much. God is really blessing me with great connections and even better friends. I only have 2 weeks left here and am kinda freakin out. I'm just really trying to enjoy the time I have left as it will be all over soon. I'm still not sure what I will do with all this trip has brought into my life and I'm not sure how God will play it into my future and bring it all together but, I am certainly excited for the future and all the doors that God is opening and going to open.

All I know is that I want to do something different. I want to do something so big that I can't do it in my strength as then I will, and others will know that it is, and always was always God.

This is the video of the ladies keys in the drain. HAhahahahaha, so funny, I only got the end of it though. This was after so many people, laughs (awkward laughs) and phone calls. Oh good times.

Well thats all for now,

Peace

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Down time

I am in Cincinnati for a few days with Grant and his girlfriend Jacky.


We had a sweet labour day weekend and now they are back at work which is giving me a chance to process through the last couple of months.

Grant, Jacky, Sarah (a girl from England working for BAE with Grant and Jacky) and I all went down into the city to see the Labour day fireworks. It was spectaculour.


I spent a wonderful couple of weeks with the Mazellan family in Marion, Indiana as well as Steph being there. Stephenie is going over to NZ for 2 years to be the youth Pastor at My families church. It was amazing to meet her and for us to be able to connect before she headed over. She is an amzing person and a great example that even scatter brain sanguins can apply themselves, get motivated and get amazing things done for God.

Busy doing haircuts.
Stephs haircut

Evy, Jill and I

These next few days are going to be a time for processing through my time here and my time when i get back. I am looking forward to it.


If you do not have facebook you can check out photos on here as well as videos on youtube.


Peace.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Part 2 of the USA Journey

I have now just got to the second part of my journey in the USA. The internship has finished and I have now started to travel.
The internship was great. I learnt alot from both the leaders and the interns and recognised alot of things that I have been letting slip by. It was so good to be with great leaders that are so good at what they do and love it.
A small part of KCC where I have been the last 3 months.
The interns and Pastor Jeff. Last day at KCC.
It was hard to say bye to them all. I will miss my new found American family alot but am so glad that God has given me this opportunity and has blessed me with new connections and friends. I do miss everyone back home but I also don't feel ready to come back. Please pray that God will help me prepare over the next few weeks to come back to the land of OZ.

One of the highlights of this trip was a SLD road trip that I went on. I was kinda asked last minute to be a leader/driver on a Student leadership Development road/missionary trip. My first missionary trip ever. I t was amazing. I acnnot even explain what God opened my eyes to there. The people that were on the trip were leaders and youth from different parts of the USA, and let me tell you, they were seriously quality people.

Habitat for Humanity.
Surviver camp site. (Below)
Toronto


The road trip went from Indianapolis to Northern Michigan, to Toronto Canada, then to Niagara falls to Buffalo, NY, to Cleveland back to Indianapolis.

Niagara Falls

We started with a surviver camp in Michigan. It was amazing fun. That is where the bond begun. It is amazing how close you get to people when you have to smell their stinky armpits and see them try and just make it through a night without the basic comforts of life to get by. Not only that but we spent the next week in RV's together and doing ministry together. These people have impacted my life forever.
Next we went to Toronto. We went to a homeless shelter there and this was probably the highlight for me. To see these people day in and day out feeding, clothing, and loving the needed without all the glamour, without all the hype, without all the fame was seeing Jesus to me. I couldn't help but think, this is where Jesus would be if He were here today. I could say so much on this one place but have so much other stuff to catch you up on. I was also proposed too and we had to evacuate our builing that we were on the 14 floor of, in the middle of the night because of a fire. It stunk. I thought I would die off the smell.
We also went to a Yankees vs Blue Jays baseball game. That was so much fun. My first baseball game, oh and the Yankees won...GO THE YANKEES! Then we went to Niagara falls. This blew me away. I could not believe I was there under the falls. God was all over the place and I felt a small part of the splender and power of the God I serve.
Next we headed to Buffalo where we worked at a food bank. This was a lot of fun. The rest of the trip we had broken up into teams but this time we were all together and man did we have fun...well, I did. We also help to redo a whole house for habitat for Humanity. An organisation that buys houses ready to be demolished and does them up for a family that has no other way to live.

We then headed to a hip hop church in Cleveland. Oh my goodness. To hear the pastor there (who was very young) speak about his church and the passion he had for the poeple he works with impacted me alot. It was such a blessing to be around paople that are chasing that dream and passion God has placed in their hearts. His church is right in the middle of the a really tough area...I mean really tough. When we went to hand out pamphlets he had to give us the run down of what to do and what not to do if we get held up...and this is in the day time. I loved that church and loved being apart of a team of people out there getting their hands dirty.
Then we headed back to Indi. Wow, seriously, trip of a lifetime. If that is all I came over for, I'm done.
Other things that have happened...
I came close to death...and when I say that, I dont say it lightly. Like I mean millimeters away from being decapitated. I have the scars to prove it. Yet another tubing accident. Stupid tubing. The rope came straight for my neck but luckily (I dont know how) I got my hands up to my neck first, it wrapped around my body and sent me spinning across the water like a skipping stone. I thought I lostmy head. Everyone was screaming and seriously expected for my body to rise to the surface without my head on. When I realized my head was still attached I checked the rest of my body because I thought for sure something had come off. Oh the pain. My back felt like it folded in half, I thought I had broken both my thums and I was bleeding and bruised instantly. Good times. The funniest bit was when the pastor asked if I wanted to hop back on.
Me and my friend Steph (love you girl) got scammed from a fake bus company and lost my bus ticket, my NY City tour, my hotel but managed to make it for my flight. After about 8 hours of calling banks and mastercard and all sorts of people in OZ I managed to get them on an investigation and closed my account and got a new card sent. Lost a bit of money there which really sux, but I'm working through it...hahaha. It's fine, I'm used to it now. Oh thats right. I borrowed my host families car to visit Brent Dongell and in the span of 4 hrs the window was smashed and my camera and ipod was stolen. Yes more stuff of Tash's was stolen. That was my 3rd Ipod. Oh man.


I went to a drive in movie in Buffalo, NY. That was awesome fun. I then went to Niagara falls again with two of my most special friends i have made over here. FFL (friends for life).

Me, Lauren, and Steph at Niagara falls.
I made it to NYC for a few hours before I had to catch a plane. Oh, and I did it by myself. Woot woot. I saw the Empire State Building, Madison Square garden and the Statue of Liberty. I ran it, but I did it.

Me infront of the Statue of Liberty
On the phone to my B.E.A.utiful sis Hailz, infront of the Empire State Building.

I am now in Marion, Indiana with the Mazellan family again for a week and a half and then I go to Grants for like 5 days, woooohoooooo. I then head to Nashville for a week with Dan Eggenschwiler, then fly to Las Vegas with a friend Brooke for 3 days, and we then head down to California for a week before I fly home on the 26th.
I got spend afew days at the Mazellans with a good fiend Heidi that I met in NZ and so Evy, Nathan, Heidi and I went to Chicago for 2 days. I loved that city. I would love to live there.

I am so pumped for these next few weeks but also recognise it as a time of saying goodbye to a bunch of people I dont wont to say goodbye too...like really dont want to. God willing though, I will be back for longer.

God is really challenging me to press into Him and seek His will for my life. Like really looking in deep to my passions, gifts, talents, strenths, and past experiences to find out where to go next. He is being so patient with me.

I should really write more often so that each blog is not so long.

If you are not on facebook, join. Even if it is only to see my photos...kidding, but really. I have all my photos up there.

Peace.