Shadowfeet.

"Walking, stumbling on these shadowfeet
towards home, a land that i've never seen
I am changing; less and less asleep
made of different stuff than when i began
And I've sensed it all along
fast approaching is the day"

These are words from a song written by Brooke Fraser..It talks a lot about facing difficult times, or situations where we can't seem to find our next steps forward. 

I should explain how this relates to the last month or so of my life here. 

THINGS ARE GOOD. I couldn't be more grateful to be where I am..learning all that I am and growing more than I would have ever dreamed.

I've been working on a few projects. Doing odd jobs around the base where I am needed. I have pursued getting my license to drive YWAM's vehicles, so there's been a new driver on the left side of the road in this neck of the woods. I think the safety of Australian's dropped a little bit. Just kidding! But I do have to be more cautious when I drive over here. I recently also got the privilege of working in a ministry called ARMS, which stands for Australian Relief and Mercy Services. It is a ministry that  our base runs and what we do is go into different homes around the city of Perth and we help the families. Usually they are families in crisis, that are in the middle of some messy situations and need a bit of help. I went on around 9 cases throughout those two weeks. I did a variety of things ranging from yard work, cleaning bathrooms, de-cluttering houses, and so on. It's a really sweet way to reach out to people because they really do need the help and it shows them selfless love. We worked at a house with a pregnant mom who didn't have a husband there to help her, and she was due soon, and the baby had a pretty intense heart condition. Being there for her meant so much, so that was really cool to see. I also was able to watch an older woman's heart get a bit softer as we helped her throw away junk that she was storing, and deep clean her little apartment. I could see God was touching her, especially when we would pray with her. 

I've also had the opportunity to drive up north 4 hours to a town called Geraldton and work at a service camp for 8th graders. What a week that was!

I had forgotten what it was like to be 13 again until we pulled up with our bus Monday morning for brekky (that's aussie for "breakfast") with the students. It didn't take long to fully emerse myself into their world of "pre-teenage" life...There was lots of laughter, tears, loud singing, story-telling and memory making. They were great! I worked with a group of 6 girls. Together, we raked up a cemetery, exercised with old people, cleaned the outside of a fitness center, helped sort out a disaster relief organization, painted a church, and other projects around the city to help out. It was really cool to watch the girls responding to the act of service. I don't actually know how many of them had done anything like that before to help our their community, so it was good for them to be on this end of serving! At first they were a bit rambunctious and it took awhile to really get them to focus and work. But towards the end of the week, they were really enjoying themselves and they found serving to be fun. We would have a little night teaching every night for them, where our group would do a skit, and then share stories from our lives, and then teach a little bit. This part was so important for them to really latch on to because it's where they would get the understanding they're searching for. I had the opportunity to share a little bit about how I have struggled with comparing myself with other people throughout my life, and I remember really specifically doing it during their age. I was able to speak about how God has created each one of them uniquely with something DIFFERENT to contribute, and how it's beautiful to embrace that. Each night was a different theme and at the mid mark of the week we shared the gospel.. it was presented very well with a non-pushy way. Many of them had questions regarding Jesus, and one of the girls in my group actually opened up a LOT that night. She flat out just said: "I WANT to be a christian, but I just don't know HOW!" She had already been telling me about her struggles with anger and how it's so hard for her to be nice when she feels so mad about the smallest things that people can say to her. And so I was able to gently explain how God doesn't want her to have to experience anger all the time or feel like she needs to be perfect in order to be in a relationship with God. In the end, I prayed with her and lead her to the Lord! Praise God! Her name is Emily, and she is an amazing girl :) That was probably my highlight for the week, among many other crazy encounters with these nutty 13 year olds. 

[CHORUS:]

when the world has fallen out from under me
I'll be found in you, still standing
When the sky rolls up and the mountains fall on their knees
when time and space are through
I'll be found in you

I wanna quickly share about this bit of the chorus here.. 

I have gained a lot of revelation from it after reflecting on the things I am battling personally at the moment. Sometimes we are thrown circumstances that we don't have fully understanding of. Or we're dealing with things that we don't always know how to get through, or life is just really difficult and it seems like making it through the day is a victory in itself. No matter how big or small, we all have battles that we're facing...and in the middle of fighting a battle, one might have trouble finding which step to take next. This can be a quite a scary zone to be caught in...however we haven't been given a spirit of fear. Our God is able. Our God over comes..our God already HAS the victory. These three statements have been lines I have been repeating in my head over and over, and from them, I am able to place my confidence in my God, which then gives me confidence in who I am..and I can again see the victory as something possible. 

That is seriously the prayer that's on my heart at this time. I do face hard days over here. Life is great, but it's not easy. However, I have found no greater joy and peace than when I run into the arms of my Father and stand on the ground that He placed in front of me. I don't wanna be found anywhere else, but in Him, the One who knows all and sees all...the One who is more involved in the battle than we are.. and the One who know exactly what He's doing.

There's distraction buzzing in my head
saying in the shadows it's easier to stay
but I've heard rumors of true reality
whispers of a well-lit way

A couple things to pray for as I close:


-That I would know greater closeness with God at this time
-That I would understand the steps He is instructing me to take as I wait on Him
-Patience
-Financial Provision and breakthrough
-Refreshment & fullness of all God has




I'm coming home on Wednesday... and I can't wait to see everyone!!