The April DTS students have been here.... just a week now. You know how time can throw you for a spin? It feels like they have been here longer than just a few days.:) The 11 students who I've been contacting through our registrar office for the past months have arrived! They are no longer just emails or voices on the other side of the world.
 
I have been looking back a lot recently to when I came to Australia for my DTS. It's a lot to transition into: meeting bunches of new people, new enviornement, new schedule, la-de-da. They seem to be doing well overall, and really enjoying getting to know eachother.

Last Sunday, the DTS kicked off with a welcome BBQ and then on Monday we had our first worship time together and then jumped into a bunch of orienation information. All the good, necessary things to go over. :-) What troopers. On the latter portion of the week, we heard from our training coordinator, Joanne on Recognizing God's Voice. I love the way Joanne shares, very good with interacting and engaging with the listeners. She's very real and honest which I appreciate. We get to hear from her next week as well!

During the next 8 or so weeks here in Townsville, each weekday morning will be spent in lectures. It's a really sweet opportunity to hear from many different people on topics that really encourage and challenge in the aspects of faith, life, and God. The heart behind the lecture phase is to equip and prepare and grow us in our walks with God. And what is beautiful is that is not about just gaining head knowledge but about practically applying things to your life. Man, and does God meet with individuals in this time! I will be sitting in on the lectures and the majority of them I have heard on my DTS but I know that God is going to be growing me in new ways. Ooooh, the journey....


I appreciate your prayers! Til next time...

Take my heart, I Lay it down
At the feet of you whose crowned
Take my life, I’m letting go
I lift it upto You who’s throned

And I will worship You, Lord
Only You, Lord
And I will bow down before You
Only You Lord

Take my fret, take my fear
All I have, I’m leaving here
Be all my hopes, be all my dreams
Be all my delights, be my everything

And It’s just you and me here now
Only you and me here now

You should see the view
When it’s only You

Been a bit of a busy last few weeks. I had good intentions of blogging before now. Believe me?!

My beautiful mother came out to visit me in Australia! We had a grand time doing a lot of touristy things in Sydney, and then ventured up the coast (yes, driving!) where we stayed in the Gold Coast for a few days. (This was probably a 10-11 hr. drive) We had relaxing beach days and visited the beautiful Byron Bay, that I think was a favorite of both of ours. Then we made the trek (okay, 18 hours!) up to Townsville for a few days.It was awesome for her to be able to put some faces to names, some visual images to locations, etc! Mom, love you lots! I'm so glad we could spend some time together out here!

On another note, the timing for her visit could not have been more perfect, in my opinion! I am transitioning currently out of my current role in the Registrar office and into a new area. Each year, we run four quarters of training schools. In April, (next week!) I'm going to be staffing our Discipleship Training School with two others: Helen & Aaron. We have 11 students joining us from 5 different countries:-) In a quick nutshell, the heartbeat behind all of our DTS's is to know God and make Him known. It's heaps about growing in personal character, gaining knowledge, and then applying principles.

This year's April DTS, is a bit different than our other schools, as the 3 months out of the 5, we will be working alongside our medical ship while it is up in Papua New Guinea! Talk about adventure! Here's a recap video from our medical outreach last year in Papua New Guinea. 

I'm excited, excited, and excited! The students begin arriving on Friday and lectures begin on the following Monday. Looking forward to seeing what God does in and through us all. More updates and pictures to come! If you have any specific questions or want to hear more: leedslady9@hotmail.com  I'd love to hear from you!

                                                        

Hiiii one and all!

Camping last weekend was great! The weather mostly held out for us, besides a little bit of rain. We all arrived and set up our tents around the place, quickly creating "Tent City" :-) May have previously mentioned it, but there was over 200 of us for the weekend! Wow-za! Talk about crazy meal planning and transportation shenanagins. It was a weekend of fun and a weekend of Jesus. We got to hear from Mark Parker-- who speaks on a lot of our discipleship training schools, and also our base director-- Ken Mulligan. I played a legit game of soccer (woo for bruises!) and we had random relay races as well. Quite fun. Plus bonfires at night are one of my favourite things ever!

Sometimes I struggle to put things into words. Simply: I was reminded last weekend that my commitment is to follow Jesus, where He leads me and even when it is hard. I've been reminded of the importance of clinging to Him in craziness and in stillness.... not because I want something from Him, but because I desire Him. What's that look like? In a world that changes often, He is constant. 

I am excited. Dear friends are returning to Townsville this week! Next weekend, will be spent in the bush, in tents, in open air. Yes! Camping. Not to mention, in a few weeks time I will be going to Sydney with one of my favorite people! Looking forward to quality time there. 

Why is it that when you are looking forward to something it is so much easier to cruise through the days leading up to it? Time is flying, especially recently. It's another Sunday already, with another week on the horizon. I have been challenged recently to live wholeheartedly. Mm, good thing to be challenged with. I want to be present, I want to give the things I put my hands to 100%, I want to live in the moment. From the big things down to the "little" things.

How has your week been, guys? Today has thus entailed: a lovely skype chat with my grandparents (miss them!), a yummy chocolate-pancake breakfast across the street, and some chilling out and random this and that here in my room. Aaaah.

Make this week a good one, friends!

                                

I want to yearn for You.
I want to burn with passion
Over you, and only You


I think this is what it is about, guys. Passionately loving the Lord....with our lives. In the tasks and the menial things in the day to day.

Let's keep our eyes on Him and remember why we are here on earth.

Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:37- 40

                               

What an abnormal week it has been. I've survived my first ever Cyclone! After a Cyclone warning on Sunday (little baby cyclone, that we only got a little bit of rain from), we were keeping our eyes peeled on Yasi, due to hit Wednesday night. Cyclone Yasi grew from a Category 4 to a Category 5 cyclone, that I've heard was bigger than the size of Texas.

Wednesday morning and into early afternoon we prepped our houses and the YWAM centre, bringing in loose things from outside and securing potential "missiles" so they wouldn't be picked up in the winds. We bunkered down and stayed in our houses from about 3 pm onwards, into Thursday. It was fairly off and on for awhile into the evening, but steadily picked up- wind wise, especially. The cyclone wasn't due to hit land until 11 pm-ish at night but we lost power around 9ish.

Got the worst around 2 am and I slept on and off for most of the night. Was a bit scary, honestly. The winds were strong, and I was nervous to not know the damage or what was really happening. We were home-bound until around lunch time Thursday. Moreso just in-case until we got the all-clear. Things were rainy and windy more than normal for most of Thursday with the after effect of things, but really not bad.

Damage wise, at the YWAM centre things were minimal. Some lost trees, lost power, and little bit of property damage (dented fence...) and a bit of water leakage, but nothing not managable. Spent a lot of yesterday cleaning up the yards and different staff houses and then today were able to help out in the community and neighborhood a little. We surprisingly, got power and internet back today and clean water, as well! We were expected a few more days of living in the dark.;-)

The eye of the storm hit about 2 1/2 hours north from us in Townsville and brought a LOT of devestation up there. Pray for people affected there and generally from the cyclone. No one was killed though; Praise the Lord. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. Means so much. God is good...always!

"I survived Cyclone Yasi!" ---

I wanted to update once or twice each week. I have been major slacking on this front. Sorry to you guys reading! I've had several thoughts recently that go something like, "Oh wow, It's January!" (Which now, as it is the first day in February is no longer a true statement) But the summer-hot-humid weather is so not what I'm used to January being like.

I've been feeling like I am getting more and more settled here recently. Many told me before I joined staff, that it usually takes up to 6 months to feel settled in. In the past few weeks, my friendships have been broadening and budding with others around this place and I am loving it.

Something that I've been desiring recently is for my Hope to be in God. If I hope in Him, I won't be disappointed, as He does not waver and does not change. Hope is so important for us to grab hold of and He is who we need to cling to.

Not sure if you guys have been hearing about the flooding or not. I've had some people ask me about it and know it has been on the news a lot recently around the world. Townsville is fine, I am fine. It has been rainy recently but there are no floods nearby.

A lot of the flooding is happening more in the south if I'm correct. Not cool.... If you guys could be praying for the people and communities who have been affected that would be awesome!

Bless you guys.

This should have been my first blog post in 2011. Woopsie. What a year 2010 was.Last year's New Year's eve consisted of swimming, icecream, and falling asleep to Lord of the Rings and this year's New Year's eve consisted of painting our flat and eating pizza with 5 other girls and a few extra hands. It's weird to think of all that happened in between.

For me, 2010 started and ended in Australia. Last year, I traveled the east coast of Australia with 40+ people (4 vans, 4 days), welcomed the medical ship into Newcastle, Australia (from NZ), spoke infront of a lot of people on outreach, graduated my Discipleship Training School (DTS), flew in 10 air-planes throughout the year, went on my first cruise, hung out with children a lot over the summer, joined staff with YWAM, staffed a Mission Adventures camp, had my first food fight, said bye to way too many people, grew to love a heap of people, skyped more than I ever have before in my life, and made many new friends.

Thanks for sharing your lives with me. Love you guys!