Abide

Abide.

What does this mean?

Original meaning of this word is to remain, to survive, to last, persist.

If you think about it in gardening terms, a Vine is the source, the root and beginning of the plant. The branches grow out from it and produce leaves and grapes.... or not.

Sometimes, for a various number of reasons, a branch doesn’t produce leaves or grapes. It withers and must be cut off.

Jesus gives us this analogy in John 15 so we can understand our relationship to Him. He is our supply, our nourishment, our equipping, our empowerment, our daily bread.

How would it be if a branch decided to cut itself off of the life source and tried to replant itself in another soil, denying that its deepest need is filled from its original source?

It would begin the process of dying the second it was severed from the Vine.

No life source= no life 

So what is fruit?

Fruit, in this story, is evidence. Just like in court how there’s evidence required to prove something, your life produces evidence of something. What does your life prove? What do your daily choices say about your heart?

Is the fruit of proof or evidence in your life the kind that says “I rest in the Lord each day for my nourishment and strength, like a branch receiving strength from a vine”

..... or....

Does your fruit look more like a withering branch, sour grapes, or no grapes, wilted leaves, or just dead because you’ve leaned into your own self, believed in self alone, and chosen to go it alone, apart from the vine?

What is the cause of this?

Things that keep us from producing good fruit can be distractions, or circumstances, or calculated choices. The bottom line is that they all originate with pride. We think we know best, we’ve got better ideas, or we think we can figure it out, or have to. That everything sits on our shoulders to work it out.

Abide in the shadow of the Most High (from Psalm 91) means stay close, His presence is of utmost importance to you, keep your thoughts centered on Him, ask God to show you what He’s doing. Tell Him you want to be used and to take part in what He’s doing. Ask Him for direction in your next steps and then actually wait for Him to guide you instead of then trying to work it out on your own, or preparing a backup plan in case God Himself doesn’t come through.

It’d be like the branch having a backup plan in case the Vine didn’t supply it water, life and sustaining power. 

Of course the Vine will provide.

The branch belongs to the Vine, it is part of the Vine's body. The Vine desires that the branch lives healthy and victoriously produces fruit.

He is your Vine. You are the Branch.

Stop choosing self, or the world, and Abide in your Vine, your giver of life and power to live.

What I have learned about Abiding

Abiding daily reminds me to rest in Him only, and not in my strength, to stop trying to be the Holy Spirit in my loved ones lives. That is my human heart's desire, is to be in control and impactful and able to steer them. In that state, I am completely forgetting the tremendous work that God was able to do in my own stubborn heart to overcome my sinfulness and produce a transformed person. 

My mind and heart need to abide in Him in a desperate and compulsive way that if I don’t, I’m going to surely be in sin. If I drift, I need to recapture that urgency, the thirst for my true nourishment. My Vine.

What a terrifying thought... to abide in me and not Him.

The choice seems clear.

Abide or Strive in Self

Life and Nourishment VS Dried up and Insufficient

Empowered to Grow VS Striving but Dying

Vibrant and Fruit Bearing VS Withered and Fruitless

Does Prayer Move God?

One of the most mysterious aspects of spirituality or religion is prayer. It’s difficult to define and can be experienced in a myriad of ways. Cambridge Dictionary describes it as “the act or ceremony of speaking to God or a god, esp. to express thanks or to ask for help, or the words used in this act."
In the Christian faith, it is believed that when one prays, God hears and acts. 

Adele Calhoun suggests that disciplines of prayer “open us to the divine dialogue through intentional encounter with the Trinity”.

It is a phenomenon that somehow while one prays, earnestly seeking God’s intervention, where some of heaven could meet earth, and where the one praying is changed or transformed as they deepen their relationship with God.

How Should We Pray?

Instructions on prayer include quiet reflections, meditations, formulaic style, memorized prayers, and as author Beth Moore puts it- Praying God’s Word. 

Moore says, "God has handed us two sticks of dynamite with which to demolish our strongholds: His Word and prayer. What is more powerful than two sticks of dynamite placed in separate locations? Two strapped together…taking our two primary sticks of dynamite—prayer and the Word—strapping them together and igniting them with faith in what God says He can do. ”

The concept of praying God’s word is that He has already spoken and inspired the Bible for us, it is already His spoken will. To pray scripture means to pray back to God His own words, which are inspired. In other words, asking God to fulfill His own promises is the fulfillment of John 15:7 “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” The caveat here is that we actually pray God’s will and not our own.

The Christian Broadcast Network has an article on the Basics of Prayer. They identify prayer and speak about the elements of it and how to have effective prayers . They refer to the Lord’s prayer, or rather the way that Jesus taught His disciples to pray, from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6. The basic understanding from this passage of scripture is that we humble ourselves and first worship God for who He is- the Creator and Sustainer of the entire universe. Second, agree with God that His will be done- not ours. Third, ask for our daily provision, then spend time in confession, repentance, and intercession for others. Finally, we ask for protection and once again acknowledge His sovereignty. (Matt. 6:9-13 NKJV)

The interesting portion of this article from CBN is the section on “How can I know that God will answer my prayers?” It reiterates Beth Moore’s views on praying God’s will and His Word. That would necessitate engagement in reading and understanding the Bible, in order to know how to pray what it says. This article suggests “God's will is best understood through a combination of different sources. Our chief source is the Bible. If you read the Bible daily and understand it clearly, you will know the will of God, because it contains His will for our lives .”

This article ends with a section on unanswered prayer, or the perception of unanswered prayers. Referring to Psalm 27:14 that says “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart be courageous. Wait for the Lord”, they remind the reader that our ideas of God’s timing are not His, nor are our ways His (Isa. 55:9). 

We project our interpretation 
of how things ought to be done onto God, 
as if He is made in our image, 
rather than us being made in His.

To sum up the basics of prayer, the point is to humbly communicate with God, praying in His will and surrendering to His sovereignty in the timing and method of the answer.

Prayer Examples Then

There are many interesting examples of prayer throughout the Bible. One of which is Jesus praying in John 17. He prays for Himself, for His disciples and for all believers. One thing that is repeated is statements of unity. Verses 9 and 10 says “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.” (CSB) Jesus is acknowledging that all humanity is created by God, and that He has given Jesus to us and given us to Jesus.

A conclusion could be drawn that since God loves us and desires the same unity within the Trinity to be with His created humans, that God’s ear would then be tuned to listening to His beloved’s prayers.

When we consider this, we can find some comfort that Revelation tells us that God keeps our prayers near His Throne. Revelation 5:8 says that there are bowls of incense that are the prayers of the saints. Chapter 8:3-4 says “Another angel, with a golden incense burner, came and stood at the altar. He was given a large amount of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up in the presence of God from the angel’s hand.” (CSB)

Make no mistake, that is our prayers being breathed in by God Himself.

We have established how to pray, that we are valuable to God, and that He certainly hears our prayers, in fact keeps them before His throne. Psalms 65:2 confirms that “All humanity will come to you, the One who hears prayer.” (CSB)

So, our response to this incredible reality is found in Ephesians 6:18- “Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints”. (CSB) 

It’s no coincidence this is in the Armour of God passage. After listing what our armour is, and admonishing us to stand firm, we are exhorted to pray. Always.

We are not God, nor can we understand His ways. 

The answer to our prayers may come within the same 24 hours we pray it or after our lifetime. The point is, it is not for us to grapple with and to think we can manipulate God’s timeliness as we prefer it. Nor should we waste our time wringing our hands in worry. Our confidence is to be placed in Him who is the beginning and ending, and exists outside of time, orchestrating His sovereign will while somehow still allowing us free will.

Biblical examples of God listening and reacting to prayer can be found with God and Abraham in Genesis 18:16-33 and God with Moses in Deuteronomy 9:13-14. In both instances, these men were, in a way, speaking “face to face” with God, which in our form we call prayer. Abraham and Moses were interceding on behalf of others caught in sin, petitioning God for a merciful outcome. They each had compassion on the people they were praying for, and also sought God’s glory to be displayed through it. God heard them and moved. They were righteous men interceding on behalf others who were fallen. 

Biblical accounts of Elijah praying for unusual things and God answering are awe inspiring. 

1 Kings 17 and 18 tell an incredible story of Elijah first asking God for a 3-year drought, God providing for Elijah through it, then a truly miraculous display of God’s power on a mountain top, where Elijah asks God to prove Himself by sending fire to burn up an offering on an altar. Afterwards, God answers Elijah’s prayer for rain to return. These are faith builder stories in the bible to help us realize God’s desire toward us, to hear us, and to answer us.

Prayer Now

Adele Calhoun describes beautifully how we surrender to pray in God’s will.

“God tells us to ask him for what we need, regardless of our own intuitive responses to requests. He wants us to know that he’s invested in us and concerned about our lives and world. The almighty One wants our prayers. In fact, God will change this world through them. But it is important to realize that we don’t always know what we or others need most. So, listening in our spirit to God’s desires for us and this world is an important part of intercession. God’s Spirit is always concerned with his glory and his kingdom. And his Spirit can lead us to pray in a different manner than we would pray on our own. ”

So as my title asks- Does Prayer Move God?

It’s a complicated yes and no.

As it’s been established, God confirms His own Sovereignty in scripture over and over. This is to say, He is almighty, and He alone knows the entire timeline of history through future.

However, an example of the complicated piece in this can be found in 2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (ESV) Also, in Psalm 91:15 “When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.” (ESV) 

Prayer matters to God. We matter to God. 

He desires to communicate with us. He desires to bless us. He desires to help us.

So we pray.

And God moves.

Costly Obedience

Some may say this last year I have had is truly peculiar and uncommon. If I were to give an unvarnished description, most would think me to be a little unhinged or a spiritual fanatic. What I’d like to do is describe what it is to have lived a life of costly obedience to God. To give a transparent accounting of the dissected anatomy of what it actually means to die to yourself and ruthlessly obey God, regardless of what is said.

I don’t come from a culture that abuses or puts to death Christians, but I do come from a culture that doesn’t typically see a follower of Christ loving Him with abandon, beyond all that is reasonable or able to be explained. That’s the very point. Unable to explain. It requires faith to understand.

When I felt the deep conviction of God calling me towards Australia, it wasn’t something I personally desired or wished to do. It was something I fought with God about for a while. He kept giving me sign after sign, proof after proof that He was indeed pushing me to obey Him. If you have never experienced this kind of burning conviction to obey God, you’ll have a hard time understanding the rest of this.

It was towards something, a life purpose to be later revealed. It has yet to be fully revealed but I have a clearer picture now.

When a person is faced with costly obedience, there’s a few things that seem to be common. These are my personal experiences and I know I have heard others say similar things.

I’m going to offer some descriptions and the scriptures that have accompanied my convictions.

• There is an actual death of self, personal life desires, personal life plans. You quite literally open your hands to God and say, “whatever You want”. Thy will, not my will. It is painful, but worth it. Once you get on the other side of selfish sorrow for your own plans, you can fully embrace the real purpose God intends. The hidden gem of fulfilled life calling and purpose is found within rigorous surrender. 

⭐Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

⭐Luke 9:23 and he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

⭐Matt 10:38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

⭐Colossians 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

• There is fear and anxiety when weighing safe self-plans for life vs. accepting the unknown God plans. You can live a lifetime paralyzed inside of the what ifs. It’s the enemy’s best plan at keeping you useless and side-lined, to hold you in fear of the unknown. The reality is, God is either the only real Creator and has the only real eternal plan for humanity, or He doesn’t. There isn’t any in between on this one. It requires a response. You either believe Him or not. And if you do, what then? Do you see how this forces a response when God directs your path towards something you aren’t comfy with?

⭐Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

⭐Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

⭐Psalm 37:23 The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way

• When I began to flex my faith muscle and walk towards obedience to this crazy direction, I began to count the costs of suffering. It is true that the provision of God has been ridiculous. Only God can make a way that is so full of gracious abundance. There’s nothing we could have forced or schemed that could have provided like He has. The flip side of this is a question I’ve been asked so many times I’ve lost count. “Don’t you miss you husband, your family? Isn’t it awfully hard to be apart?” This is where the cost of obedience hits, the actual suffering.  People don’t realize how frustrating and truly painful it is to be misunderstood. It sounds like a trite complaint, however, in this particular case being misunderstood has huge ramifications. I generally lead with the fact that my husband is the one who has commissioned and sent me. He was the one with conviction from God first. However, comforted I am by his support, it still doesn’t cover the cost of the absence. It pales in comparison to the expense. This is where the rubber meets the road, as they say. Do I still believe God called me? Is obeying Him truly worth it? Will He supply all my heart needs, both perceived needs and actual needs? Will I choose to believe God for the sufficient grace He promises?

⭐2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

⭐2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

⭐Romans 5:3-5 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

⭐Philippians 1:29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake

• One thing that has become as regular as breathing to me is learning consistency in intentionally remembering what God’s called me to do, and what He’s done to prepare me ahead of time. After believing Him for all of this, after seeing the countless miracles my life represents, how can I not recall to mind His unfathomable grace and goodness? Walking into obedience daily is a choice. I may be physically present in this country and college, but it is very easy to get slack and begin to choose my will again, if I am not intentional. It may begin to look rigid and harsh, but the reality is, I’m not out for others approval. I want God’s approval.

⭐John 15:16-17 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

⭐Hebrews 2:1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

⭐Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them

⭐2 Timothy 2:11-14 The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself. Remind them of these things and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers.

• Considering how good God is, being able to celebrate the little victories along the path of obedience has been a balm and joy. The opportunity to come away with Him, so to speak, and have devoted time to grow myself in the Lord is priceless. I often will think- look where I’m standing! The fulfilment of God making me more and more into the person He wants me to be is a blessing I don’t really have words for. I used to be a person who had such little self-worth, spending so much time in self-loathing and self-destructive behavior, believing I’d never be able to be used by God because I had ruined my life. For God to prove me wrong so thoroughly has provided a deep sense of gratitude and curiosity for what all He has planned.

⭐Psalm 118:24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

⭐Psalm 16:11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

• Once some patterns of behavior get established, then added to it is rigorously choosing surrender, confession, and repentance each day to stay in a blameless and upright walk. There’s not a lot of place for worldly things when you choose to be set apart. The thing is, God opens your mind to what is truly of worth and what is worthless. It’s very hard to choose mindless things once you know the truth, you can’t unsee it. As Romans 12:1 says below, our reasonable service to God is offer ourselves wholly devoted to Him. Reasonable because of what He’s done for you. He died, gave His life as a substitute for mine, when I deserved to bear my own punishment. The very little I can do to say a heartfelt thanks is give my life back to Him, a living sacrifice to obediently follow.

⭐Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service

⭐Psalm 19:12-13 Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.

⭐Psalm 143:10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!

• After living this lifestyle a while, I can now boldly choose to obey God's word regardless of surrounding oppression or negativity. My conviction to the Truth has grown a strong enough muscle that it no longer is a chore for me to choose God’s will over my own (or others). For me, there is not another option anymore. This is supernatural faith.

⭐Matthew 5:10-12 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

⭐John 15:15-19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name because they do not know him who sent me.

• As a result of all this, I’ve noticed I am now able to share my story, as God leads me, without shame, heavy tears, and sorrow. My story is meant to help others, and this proves my healing and God’s divine purpose in rescuing me.  I’m able to share the victories without as much pain, and this is a monumental growth! The weight of shame and regrets that used to plague me served as a paralyzation, unable to be useful. For God to break through all of that and shine me up like a trophy to display of His tremendous power to restore is a miracle!

⭐Acts 20:24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

⭐Luke 7:47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

⭐Psalm 103:2-5 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

⭐Isaiah 61:3-5 to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise, instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.

• One final addition is to give attention to the fact that this costly obedience isn’t just here in Australia. My faithful, God-following husband who has remained home and keeps the home-life together has every bit of the costly obedience and faith steps I do. His daily walk just looks different than mine. We are called together and uniquely. This means if you are a stay-at-home mom, raising kids like I was for years, costly obedience and faith can look like being faithful to God in a faithless generation, raising your kids to be set apart and holy in a world pot-marked by evil. It comes in all shapes and sizes. What matters is the heart and motive. Are you obedient to what God has called you to do?

Well, there you have it! Those that have had the endurance to keep reading, or just have curiosity, hopefully now have a better understanding of what on earth I’m doing here and why I am returning for another year in 2023! 🎉🎉

A Full and Fruitful Semester

The end of my first semester of college in Australia. 17 weeks, 4 months.

The task of writing an update that recaps my first semester of college in Australia is truly impossible. Despite my best efforts to journal so I can remember, the fullness of my days with incredible experiences and new meaningful relationships are overwhelming and innumerable.  I really loved my classes and felt it such a privilege to get this chance later in life to experience college life abroad, on campus.

I know several reading this don’t realize what I actually went to study in Australia, or why. I am studying at Hillsong International Leadership College, with an emphasis in pastoral counselling. At my home church in Michigan, I often was mentoring women with significant spiritual needs and needing help with life direction. The education I am getting is growing my pastoral counselling techniques while also increasing my biblical education. The other tremendous blessing in this is that I never got to go to college. 26 years ago we got married and started a family immediately. This has been a redeeming of the past by God, a total gift for me. It’s incredibly humbling.

 For this reason, I have not wanted to take a second of it for granted, not wanting to miss a thing! I finished my first semester with distinction🎉!! I made sure to not only live each day to the fullest but be very mindful of the things specific things I thought God was leading me to work on personally. 

Daily disciplines and self-care are among the top things. Being a wife, mother, dog-mom, volunteer and serving at church over the years has left very little time for self-care.     

One of the things I discovered while living alone is that I hadn’t fully overcome unworthiness like I thought I had. So, me and Jesus worked on that abit too.

Late April, Chip had planned to come visit for over 2 weeks. What I didn’t know about was his surprise he was bringing along.....my oldest son James and his wife Alexia came to visit also for a week, and they definitely got me good with the surprise! 

It was a bit of worlds colliding feeling, having them join me in the new way of life I had adapted to. My husband immediately noticed that I had apparently changed👀. He said I was more confident in my independence. It was a wonderful time of connection, rest, and renewal. A portion of this trip for my husband was a work emphasis and had been planned long before I arrived in Australia. However, in God’s perfect planning and goodness I was on 2 weeks break from classes when he came!

Some of my favorite things from this semester have been a café by my apartment called Whole, cliff views at Bondi beach and Manly beach, sunrises viewed from my beloved “Jesus” chair and sunsets while walking to church on Sunday nights. I have loved hosting friends for meals and long chats, late night homework help, and deep, life-changing talks with new close friends. I prefer to be at church whenever there’s a service to attend because I want to give God every opportunity to teach me something new or to hear Him speak in a new way. I have loved how God has taken worship songs that I have known and loved for years and given me fresh perspective from them. I have been blessed by new songs coming out of the talented Hillsong music teams as well.

Some of my favorite points from all the church services I have attended are: 

“Any great battle outwardly begins with a great battle inwardly”- Lucinda Dooley 

“Choosing ‘this’ over ‘that’ is an art of Trust and Surrender, it is a quiet and brutal space, costly and worth it, fueled by grace.”- Laura Toggs 

“You have to look past the natural to the supernatural, need to go to a whole ‘nother level and shift your dish”- (shift your perspective- dish=face, sight etc) – Lucinda Dooley

GREAT Leaders resolve to 1. See beyond obstacles 2. Hear what others cannot hear 3. Go where others consider it impossible 4. Rise up in authority 5. Stretch out in faith 6. Walk in God’s path.” – Lee Burns

“Funny how giving grace becomes offensive when we think someone doesn’t deserve it, none of us ever deserves it” -Sam Lopez 

“When there’s no new news, stick to the old news. When it doesn’t look like I thought, don’t revaluate ALL of life. Keep doing what God first told you to do, or the last thing He told you to do”. -Sam Lopez 

“Worship is all that we are responding to ALL that He is.” -Haydn Nelson

As I shifted to being home for 7 weeks while on break, it’s given me some reflection time and to see where my difficulties will be in keeping up my new disciplines.

I have a running list in the back of my prayer journal for all the areas of growth or change that God has been at work in. Some of those are: Confidence (in myself and God), being wholly dependent on God for everything, increased depth in prayer life, obedience (including in the very hard things), expectancy of seeing God move, having eyes of faith and ears opened to His leading, humility (all I have and am today is from Jesus), being steadfast in Him, consistency in behaviors, unshakeable faith (He is my Anchor), and awe of God- His incredible power to accomplish His perfect will.

Besides being on break and to be with my family, a big reason I am home is that my daughter Lizzie is getting married July 23rd! Aside from all this talk of college and Australia, I’d like to take a second and brag about her 😊😊

Lizzie has been a strong and independent young woman for quite a long time. We’ve always said she was built to be an executive.😏 However, she has a tender heart for the Lord and has been transformed by Jesus into this gorgeous example of a life redeemed. We couldn’t be prouder and so we are throwing the party of the year to celebrate her marriage to Brian. What an incredibly good young man, we are so grateful for him and to his parents for raising such a wonderful person💖. He is perfect for our girl and I know that blessings untold await them in their new adventure of life together!

I am thoroughly looking forward to second semester and seeing what 

God has in store for me for the rest of the year!

1 Month Marker

  

Saturday the 24th marked 1 month I’ve been living in Australia.

As expected, the number of adjustments and changes I would encounter were many. I spent the first 2 weeks here in a hotel, well actually 2 different hotels. The first one couldn’t extend my stay, so I had to move. 

It didn’t really feel like I was settling into my new life because of the whole hotel stay and my home situation being unknown. In the midst of that, I was beginning to attend college, get used to walking everywhere, and plead with the Lord to miraculously adjust my body and hair to the tropical humidity. (Still waiting on that miracle by the way…😳)

Trying to rent and get settled into a new apartment took a little time and some efforts in organization with opening an Australian bank account, getting an Aussie phone number and getting my documents together for an application. I also had some work to do outfitting an apartment. Not having a car meant coordinating with college and new friends to give me a ride and help get items into my apartment. 

I had the privilege of spending a few hours with some very kind (and strong) 

young men who helped me. 

We even had an expert level Ikea assembler who is from Sweden and could tell us what the names of the products meant!👀

As faithful as the sun is to rise, so is God in providing and going before me. 

I have a lovely place to live that exceeds any need I have and is completely a gift from the Lord.

I’ve got a running list of things where I see God working and growing me. There are so many new experiences and rhythms of life to get used to, so much daily surrender. For instance, I have never lived alone, and I have never not had a car. There are benefits of getting a sabbatical from regular life, the rest from the usual busyness of home life. However, much like everything else that sounds like a dream, there’s a honeymoon period and then the new shininess wears off and you settle into reality. 

My schedule is fairly easy, I have Wednesday as my 1 big day of classes from 8:30am till 5:15pm, otherwise, just an hour or so on Tuesday morning and 3 hours on Thursday. 

My apartment is about an 8–10-minute walk from church and school, which are situated together separated by a parking lot. Being in school again after so many years was a challenge to my mindset, planning for homework time etc. I just needed a couple weeks of just doing it to gauge what my pace would be. 

One of the things God is working on in me is time management. Having been in a lifestyle where things were relaxed to now having a certain schedule every day, there were some adjustments that occurred regarding my morning routine. I may or may not have run for the first time in a decade in order to make it to class on time….😬

I have a wonderful group of ladies that adopted me right away. I may have looked a little new and lonely my first Sunday at church…but these ladies didn’t waste any time in becoming my friends. They’ve been great helping me shop for household items and getting them back to my apartment, sharing a meal, and just overall encouragement to me as I embarked on this new lifestyle. 

There are so many little things I take for granted at home in Michigan. Like the ease of getting groceries, getting bigger household items into the house, and going places when the weather is not ideal. Walking is good for my body and soul, and is how I planned to get around, as well as using public transit. I’ve been exhausted at bedtime after all the mental adjustments and physical changes this past month!

The good and praiseworthy report is that God is incredibly faithful and so generously kind. I have had so many conversations and experiences that are clearly from Him. Church is always a tender place for me. God has worked some major growth in myself and my family through this wonderful church and their music, so I am reminded of that whenever I enter the sanctuary. Regardless of how hard a day may be, I have full faith that He has called me here for this season. 

The personal growth and opportunities I am having to give encouragement to others based on redeeming work God has already done in me is clear proof. Ephesians 2:10 says “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them”, and I am seeing that worked out before me each day.

I have some ideas of why God has called me here, especially this time in my life. However, He surprises me constantly with hidden blessings He’s prepared for me in advance. It shouldn’t be a surprise anymore, after all I have seen Him do. It still causes me to feel overwhelmed with gratitude that God would see me and my little details and bless me in the most kind and tender ways to prove that He sees and is with me.

I wake up with daily expectation for seeing something great! This church’s focus for the lent season is 40 days of devotion. What I chose to do during that is to give up a bit of sleep early in the morning and to begin my day on my knees in surrender and worship. 

The song I use each morning is an old hymn called “Take my Life” that’s been redone by Chris Tomlin. You have no idea what that small action can do to change a person until you try it. The song goes through each part of a person; take my mind, take my lips, words, hands and feet, intellect and love. I pray through the song each morning, and this sets up my day. 

Each morning God is faithful to meet with me there.

One month has gone by fast, but slow at times too. I miss my husband, family, and pups so much that if I give any mind-space to dwell on that the tears are immediate, so close to the surface. 👉

God is tender and gracious to hold and carry me through that as well. I am very much learning how to rely on Him for my each and every thing.

My Year of Devotion in Australia

Why would a married woman and mother of 4 adult kids go away for a year to Australia? Never mind that year long concept… Australia! About as far away as you can go!

I am doing a reboot of my blog and using it to document this epic year before me, and so if you’d like to have updates and follow my journey you can subscribe and get email notifications when I post.

A quick snapshot into our current family situation- Chip and I have been married 25 years, going on 26 this September. Chip is an owner at the firm he’s been at for more than 22 years. Our oldest son James is married to Alexia, they met in Australia at Hillsong College. They are now living back home in Michigan. James is about to finish his degree and begin his fulltime career in public accounting. Alexia is fast becoming the best saleswoman David’s Bridal has seen! Lizzie is engaged to be married this summer to Brian, he is such a wonderful match for our Lizzie. 💖 She is also finishing her degree and flourishing in a tax internship. Charlie works full time in concrete and is starting to drive the trucks too. 

We’re so proud of his dedication and hard work. He’s quite a catch for any young woman! Baby Grace is in college full time and working. She’s got a servant’s heart and we are so looking forward to how God will grow her into the woman He’s created her to be. Last but certainly not least, is my 3 fur babies! Sassafras, Ducky, and Huckleberry are 3 Vizsla’s that have a large piece of my heart.

So that leaves me. As you can imagine, raising a family over these years, working parttime and full time some years, sometimes so busy with sports and school schedules I could hardly see straight has been a very full life so far. That brings us to the question of what on earth am I doing going to Australia for a year?!

To start at the beginning would be too long a story, and maybe over time I can share it throughout this journey. However, what I can do is build a timeline of sorts.

So I suppose for me, it might’ve began 25 years ago. I was a very young, pregnant mom-to-be back then, when I first heard Hillsong’s "Shout to the Lord". God often uses music to speak to me, to comfort my heart and lead me to Himself. This song was a catalyst to that. That baby I was pregnant with is James. He went to their college for 3.5 years. This is a blog about my faith struggle to send him.

We can fast forward several years, close to 8 years ago now, we found ourselves in a crisis. I don’t want to bury this post in that whole story, you can find some of that in my post archives in the beginning of my blog

However, that’s where this whole thing began with Hillsong Church’s influence in my walk with God. As most know, they are well known for their music. Their church has been around for more than 30 years and their leadership college has been for over 20 years. They expanded beyond their own little corner of the world into a worldwide superpower of good for the Kingdom of God. He mightily blessed them and I would even say that when I’ve been in their home church building, the presence of God is palatable!

Eight years ago, in that marriage crisis we were in, I spent some serious time in sorrow and at times it was deeply oppressive. My husband would come lay over me, pray, read scripture and he started to play Hillsong worship music. In that peaceful moment, God chased away the darkness I was in and healed my heart. We began to look more into who they were, the church and services we could watch online. It was such a source of encouragement in my restoration time that it became regular. From that, came the strong leading for James to go to the college. It was a big battle of faith for me. At the time, there was no way to go see him, I had no passport, and certainly not extra cash to take that kind of trip. In my tiny seed of faith I mustered, God grew an incredible tree of opportunity!

Hillsong has several conferences they do over the course of a year, all focused on growing people to live for Christ and to grow leaders in the Christian community to spread the gospel and lead well. During James’ time there, God did a lot of blessing and changing in our family. He grew Chip’s work practice tremendously, we got passports and began traveling. Among the first trips Chip took for a business conference was to Sydney just 2 short months after we sent James. Then God made a way for me to go 6 months later! 

The first visit that July had a big impact. I was completely taken off guard by the deep the sense of “home” I felt inside the church building. I knew the spiritual academic stuff, that being among fellow believers and in a church building can give you the “my people” feeling. This was different. So much stronger and pulling.

For the sake of brevity, I’ll just say that God’s blessing grew far past anything we had hoped or dreamed for, and the continual strong pull to go to Sydney just grew. I had the privilege to go 7 total times, each one attending a conference. In November 2019, Chip and I were there together, he at a work conference and me for visiting. We attended church Sunday morning, and there was an ad that played for the college. The line that caught my attention was “Give God a year of your life and see what He will do”. It sounded amazing! A year of solely devoted to seeking Him, studying and resting from all my normal life things. However, completely unrealistic and outside of the realm of possibility for me.

Or so I thought.

While I was thinking it was unrealistic, the Lord was impressing on my husband’s heart that he needed to send me there for a year. Chip later told me about what he thought the Lord’s leading was, and my first reaction was very much doubt and disbelief. How could this be possible? To leave my family and my whole life for a year? The cost of supporting an entirely separate life in another country was daunting and seemed ridiculously extravagant. Chip felt the Lord’s leading on timing was to be after my youngest graduated from high school. So we continued to pray and we waited.

When March 2020 happened, we had to bring James and Alexia home, leaving behind an unfinished degree for both. I was in Australia at the time, at the women’s Colour Conference. While we were in the last Sunday evening service together, we were waiting for God to fully confirm what we were dreading. We asked Him to confirm to us as a collective little group that we needed to bring James and Alexia home right then because of the covid scare happening and closing of borders. God did indeed answer and confirmed for us that we needed to. I was very sorrowful because I knew how big this whole college experience had been and that it was cutting it short. I also knew that if they left right then it was quite possible that whenever the Lord planned to send me here, that they wouldn’t be here anymore. I really did not like this plan. We had all sorts of things worked out in our minds of how it would look if I were to come to college. Besides bringing the kids home right then, I got one clear message from God- “Will you still obey Me? Will you still come?”

As we got through the tremendous year of change in 2020, I began to have real doubts if college for me would ever happen. We rolled into 2021, and there was a small glimmer of hope that borders would open, but as December approached, hope was lost. 

Until December 20th, when God spoke to me on the way to church.

I was just driving along, singing worship music and praying a bit when this very loud and strong sentence popped into my head. “It’s time, I want you to go now, the January intake for college”. First of all, this is nothing I ever would’ve come up with on my own. I didn’t know the borders had opened to students yet. As it turned out, they had opened 3 days prior! I was still questioning, wanting to have a strong confirmation before I voiced out loud what I thought I heard. I went home after church and was by myself for a while, so I took the opportunity to pray more about this. I put on a sermon from my church that I hadn’t heard yet, to have on in the background. It turned out to be my confirmation. One of our pastors, Tom, was preaching out of Genesis 12- the Abraham and Sarah obeying God and going to a distant land chapter. At first, I thought well it’s just coincidence because our church is doing a series through Genesis and it just happened to be that chapter. However, when my pastor leaned towards the camera and said “Is God asking you to do something right now? Is there something you need to obey God on right away?” I then acknowledged this was not a coincidence but my confirmation I asked for.

In upcoming posts I will share more regarding the struggles of actually getting into the country. But for now, you can see that I am indeed here, I did obey, and my mind is heavy with anticipation for what God has called me here for. 

One thing is for certain. It is a year wholly devoted to Him.

The Study Bible for Women

One of my favorite book reviews to do is of Bible translations and ones that include study guides! It used to be that we’d have to buy all sorts of other resources to study scripture deeper and to get historical information or commentary.

Inside this new CSB Women’s Study Bible, so many wonderful articles on doctrine and biblical womanhood, historical information, and 101 character profiles on women of the bible are included. As a matter of fact, every woman in Scripture is listed in the concordance.

As a woman, I appreciate that the publishers had women theologians, authors, teachers and lay ministers as the primary contributors in the articles written and study materials provided.  It encourages me to continue in my own study and pursuit of biblical knowledge.

Many of the articles highlight biblical womanhood, a trait not promoted enough, but very God honoring. Many necessary topics identified and addressed within the realm of “what does God say”, such as female identity, motherhood, spiritual mothering, women’s worth and identity in Christ, and her mission as daughter of the King.

The CSB translation, (stands for Christian Standard Bible) has used the Optimal Equivalence translation philosophy. This is a marrying of the more traditional Formal equivalence and the Dynamic or Functional equivalence. This means that is has taken both the word for word literal translations and the “thought for thought” style of communicating the meaning and impact of a passage to translate. This has produced a very readable, but historically faithful style of bible translation.

This compilation opens with an introduction on how to study the bible. Dorothy Kelley Patterson highlights how to inductively observe, ask questions, view passages as a whole and then how to apply and meditate on Scripture. 

This Bible closes with an extensive explanation section for all of its teaching helps as seen here and an expansive concordance.

You can find this bible at Lifeway Christian bookstores, on their website, and on Amazon