From the Unexpected

If you are not aware I am going back Australia to continue my mission with NET Ministries. So with that comes the problem of fundraising the money to go back. It's been hard and I still have a bit to pay off but I will get there ... one day.

It's in fundraising that I have seen beauty. Yesterday was the last Sunday that I will be home until November next year, so we stood there again asking for donations. Its been hard to fundraise as there are four from our parish going to NET next year, so everything we do has been divided by four. I was talking to a beautiful lady who has not long become a nun. During this conversation she stuffs every bit of money that she has into our donation box. I was stunned! All I could think of was 'I can't take this from you, that is all you have!'

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything - all she had. - Mark 12:43-44

I suppose I had never really seen generosity like that, I was blown away by how willing she was to give the money to us. I think I would have been shocked if anyone had done it, let alone a newly professed nun who lives under the vow of poverty. '...but she, out of her poverty, put in everything she had.' There isn't really much that I can say, I was just blown away by it all. God sends you what you need by unexpected means, He sent us somebody who vows to be poor and she gives us everything she has. God is an awesome and mysterious guy.

I suppose it's one of the ways God shows us that we can rely on Him for everything, I am this year, I have no choice in the matter, I can hardly afford to fly to Australia, thankfully I just have enough to get me there. It's liberating to be like this, not be tied down by the constraints of money but still do what I love by the blessing of God. Living free from the worries of the world.

I thank God for the blessings that He has sent, the ones I know He has sent and the ones He sends in disguise.

A coincidence is a miracle where God chose to remain anonymous - Heidi Quade

Safety Blankets

Well tonight is my last night at home until I return home in November. Again, I am jet setting off into the unknown, but a little more known then last time. I don't fly until the third January but I am going to stay with my trusty bestie Katie until I do fly. So I am packing (well procrastinating really) 

See look I've at least started, and this is only half the stuff I actually want to fit in my suitcase. Don't judge about the pj's I wearing them so that I don't have to dirty clothes that I want to take with me

I was listening to the radio the other day and it brought up the true meaning of Christmas, it was a Christian radio station (I wish it was a secular one :) ) and it spoke about the Christmas Charlie Brown. Now I never really watched Charlie Brown when I was younger but this intrigued me. It spoke about the real meaning of Christmas and how this little clip shows it. Well basically Linus, the character with the green hat, tells all about Christmas from the Gospel of Luke. Yeah that's cool but the best thing of all is when he says 'and the angels said unto them fear not ...' at the moment that he proclaims 'fear not' he drops his blanket. We all have our secruity blankets, now it may not be a physical blanket, mine however is a teddy. We all have that thing that we hold onto, we never quite leave it behind and give all to the Lord because we are scared we might lose something, but Jesus came to us so that we might not have fear, only fear and awe in Him and Him alone. We should  be able to take that step and drop the 'security blanket' and let God take control.

So anyway, my NET journey 2.0 starts tomorrow, kind of. I will be living with another NETer for a  few days. There are things that scare me, it's another chapter in life, I will be going back to something similar but find it very different, not all the same people will be there and my team will be totally different, I will end up in a different, or possible several different places. So there are the fears and worries in that. I am particularly sad that I won't be with my team, I would love to continue my journey with the, but this is not what it's about, I'm sacred about being put on a new team, I scared of the fact that my new team won't live up to my previous. I need to let go of the safety blanket feeling of my current brothers and sister and stand up and fight for my next team, I need to create a bigger heart to add love for my next team, but never leave or forget my other brothers and sisters. Lets just say that my biggest fear is my team, yes it was scary this year but I had no expectations, no experience of what it could have been like, but now I have. I need to put those expectations aside and come to understand that no two people are the same therefore making it impossible for two teams to be the same. The only safety blanket I need is Jesus.

This blog post is making it sound that I am rather scared and nervous about going back, as a matter of fact I am totally pumped and excited, ready to go (apart from the fact that I've not finished packing) This coming year is going to be awesome adventure and I pray that it goes as well as my time in Australia was this year. I get to proclaim that Jesus is Lord and help people let go of their safety blankets as I learn to let go of mine.

In it all I ask for your prayers during my time away, prayers for those whom I minister to for and my family that I leave behind. Know that I am praying for all you out there and the youth in thw world who have not yet encountered the love of Jesus.

Praise and Glory to God ... always

Jesus loves you always, His love never epires

Where has Christ gone?

So I am sure you are well aware that it is Christmas tomorrow, unless you are in the American region of the world :) So anyway, all I want to know is where has Jesus gone in the crazy escapade of Christmas? I've just been watching the news and all I saw were people doing their last minute shopping, getting presents, food, anything they need for this festive day just around the corner. Commercials showing all the last minute deals.  No mention of the real reason of Christmas. Not one. Te fact is that there would be no Christmas without Christ ... it would just be 'mas' or as I have seen increasingly often xmas.

Seeing xmas everywhere really annoys me. It is one small bit of proof that the world isn't needing God, or should I say not wanting God, the world definitely needs God. Xmas shows that people are removing God from their lives, literally, they replace the name of Christ with a simple 'x'. Not only are they removing God from their lives but are also showing super laziness, 'who would want to write a word with 9 letters when we can shorten it to 4?' Doesn't God deserve our very best, even those who believe in God write xmas, I write it. Shouldn't we show how proud and excited we are to write the name of Christ, we should put care and attention into it. We should honour Our God in everything we do, especially in the joy of writing His name.

I suppose if we look to a deeper meaning of xmas we can see the shape of the cross in the x. It can serve to remind us, even in these most blessed and joyous times that 'God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life' (John 3:16) and that the whole reason that Jesus came to earth was so that we can be united to Our Father in heaven.

I really want to make this Christmas one centered on Christ and not presents and food and all the other worldy things because it's not the point. The point, the very center of this season is Jesus.

I pray you all enjoy the true spirit of Christmas and have a blessed New Year. Jesus is the reason for the season.!

The Concept of Normal

So I have been thinking about this concept of what it is to 'be normal' for a while now. My conclusion: there is no universal 'normal'.

Since being back home I have been constantly bombarded with 'being normal'. To be honest, my life is normal, for me anyway. The fact that I am living (not forever) in Australia, preaching the Word of God to youth, praying, attending mass, writing schedules, running youth groups and RE classes has, in a way, become my normal. Currently though my 'normal' has been thrown out the window and I'm just sort of floating in this weird unknown of what others say my normal should be, being pulled in all directions. I suppose this started my musings into the norm. It was mentioned to me the other day 'Why don't you go and do something that a normal 19 year old would do?' I think the moral of this question was 'Why don't you go out to town and drink, take drugs and party to the wee hours of the morning?' Now I'm not saying that all late teens do this but this but lets say a large percentage take part in at least one or more of these. Trust me I'm still a teenager and sometimes I feel like all I want to do is go out and party, but I know it's not the right thing for me, personally, to do. I've been asked 'Why don't you go hang out with some of your 'non-church' friends' - most of my friends all attend church at least on Sunday; 'Why don't you let your hair down?' - funnily enough I let my hair down by being at church; 'Why do you always read Jesus books?' - I find them enjoying and inspiring: the list goes on. My 'normal' is not the worlds 'normal' for late teens: FACT.

'Someone please explain what it is to 'be normal', it sounds rather dull and boring. God didn't make us to be dull and boring, He made us to be extraordinary. Don't fall to the worlds standard of 'normal', go out there and be extraordinary for the Glory of God"

I find myself on occasions thinking that maybe I should just go and be 'normal' (in a secular sense) and that I am too 'over churchy' and I need to get a life, then I remember what my 'normal' has been for the past 12 months and both the struggles and triumphs that I have experienced and I realise that I am living the 'normal'. My 'normal' and most importantly God's 'normal'.

Shouldn't God's normal be everybody's normal? Oh how we can hope and pray that the world would find itself back in the hands of God's normal, can you imagine it?! It would be incredible. God created us, loves us, wrote our true 'normal', but it's up to us to take that 'normal' up but in a sad and realistic sense the world is too 'I need my instant gratification and I need it now' and God doesn't always give us that, He gives us what's not only best for our whole life, but for our eternity.

I hope that my ramblings made at least some sense ... I just needed to write it down somewhere. I pray that I continue to follow God's 'normal' that He wrote for me and I pray the same for you.

This Man right here became my 'normal' and I hope that He always stays my 'normal'