girls will be girls

so we had connect at my house tonight, right?  like any good southern girls, allie and i made chili and cornbread…if you can master cornbread, you are one step closer to marriage (if you are southern). :)

anyway, so just as we finished connect, we brought out these cakes for one of the guy’s birthday. since this is the 3rd birthday (plus a wedding on the weekend) in the past 4 days, you can imagine at the amount of cake and junk food that has been consumed in the past 4 days. plus, we just got rid of the last of  last weekend’s cake today!

much to our disappointment, there was leftover cake. at which we begged everyone to take it home with them. i mean, give a girl a break…you can’t expect us to resist all the time? and again, much to our disappointment, nobody seemed to really care , and by leaving these cakes at our house, they were essentially saying, “it’s okay with me if you get fat.”

so allie and i decided that we should just do away with all temptation and just throw them away since nobody else would take them.

5 minutes after everyone left. 5 minutes! i start to clean up the kitchen when i turn around and see allie eating something. i asked, “allie, what is that?” 

 ”it’s a snickers”, she replied.  (a mini snickers, to clarify!)

“oh is there anymore?”

“yeah they are in the freezer.”

“can i have one?”

 ”yeah, sure!”

as we unwrapped the snickers, we both turned to each other, knowing what the other was thinking.

allie said it all, “so we beg people to take cakes, but we still eat the snickers? oh my gosh, we are going to get SO fat!”

to which we both started laughing uncontrolably–allie convulsing on the sofa chair and me crouched on the floor with my legs crossed…trying seriously hard to not pee  my pants.

so i’m kinda infamous for uncontrolable laughter to the point where i am seriously crawling to the bathroom–you know what i mean. yeah so this was one of those moments. the only differnence is that this time i had a dance class earlier in the evening and hadn’t changed yet, so i was still wearing a leotard. haha, yes. fortunately i literally stumbled into the bathroom just in time.

after i flushed the toilet, i gasped, “oh no!”  then i hear allie yell in between laughs, “what did you flush your snickers?”

to which i sighed in relief, “oh gosh, i thought i did. that would have been horrible.”

…enter another fit of uncontrolable laughter…with me laying on the floor holding my snickers in the air so it won’t touch the floor.

the laughter ended with the statement, “well, i guess that’s it. we’re going to get fat.”

and we ate our snickers…what can i say? girls will be girls.

and

housies.

my housemates are one-of-a-kind. as i write this, we are sitting around our ‘semi-stolen’ giant tv, rugged up on the lounges, ignoring the fact that some guy is knocking at our door…we just can’t be bothered to get off our butts, step into the cold of our house, and answer the door. oops…instead we just laid back on the lounges, unseen by our mysterious visitor and laughed. and laughed. and laughed. until he finally left. hahaha, it’s still funny.

except now we have established that it could have been someone’s secret admirer–bummer. there goes our chance for love. shame. 

some hilarious/ridiculous stuff goes down in this house…

…take for example, 3 weeks ago. just a normal day off on our Easter break. we were all just mucking around, watching the entire 7th season of Friends then we thought it appropriate to have a tea/coffee/hot choc break. the kettle was steaming with boiling hot water. and as i sat on the kitchen floor (in running shorts, sitting legs crossed) digging through my cupboard for the hot choc–gaby, having just poured her tea into the teapot, reached across me and pulled her saucer towards her…unfortunately for me, the teapot fell off the saucer, landing on my leg, and spilling the scalding, hot, boiling water all over my leg and hand. i would love to say that i was a kind and lovely southern lady; however, all kinds of indecenies filled the room. give me a break–my skin was burning. after a week and a half of purple skin, bandages, and blisters, i’m all better now and i get to forever taunt my housemate for that little incident.

worst part of burn

burn 4 days later

bedtime was a little tricky

wearing pants was difficult/interesting/impossible :)

then thanks to our south african princess, danita–who has introduced me to the unusual, yet interesting sport of netball–our house now takes saturday trips to the netball courts to support danita and the knights.

haha…and my past life as a cheerleader surfaced–only for 2 minutes, but those were a scary 2 minutes.

as a result of netball, the housies and i decided that we should own a wide variety of sports balls. so our anzac day was spent at Big W picking out frisbees and netballs (next is basketball, then soccer, then volleyball, eventually tennis) then spent the rest of the day at the park laughing our heads off while we ran around the field chasing frisbees and doing cartwheels.

Oh and we affectionatly named our pink/white netball Georgi…heaps of thought went into the decision before we sharpied her name on the ball.

welcome to the family, Georgi Slazenger

stay tuned for more aussie housemate adventures and accidents…

p.s. housies, we need dishwashing soap!

big EXO day

So saturday, september 19, 2009 was a day of epic proportions—big exo day. Exo day is when all the youth of the state (New South Wales) get together and have a massive festival. There are bmx riders, wake boarders, hardcore stage, indie rock stage, hip hop stage, chill stage, battle of the bands, make overs, fashion shows, and so much more. It is a one day only event that unites the youth of NSW. 10,000 kids showed up!

I spent most of my day hanging out at the indie rock stage where i listened to some sweet bands and made sure kids didn’t stand in the stairwells. I volunteered to help out at Exo day and was given the priviledge of hosting aka standing on your feet the entire day.  It was a beautiful warm day, however it got a bit cold–okay really cold– that night…smart one for me, i was in shorts and a t-shirt. Nevertheless, a cup of hot chocolate and a jumper and you were all good to stand for another 2 hours!

To end the evening, Reggie Dabbs brought the Word, 1,000 people got saved, and Relient K brought it all home with a celebration concert.

Seeing those kids, who just commited their life to Christ, leave the stadium to receive their Bibles in the amplitheater was one of the most rewarding sights. 1,000 decisions to follow Jesus! Exo day was a total success.

…side note. upon leaving the showgrounds i got to hear the end of beyonce’s concert. she was singing halo and it was amazing!

 

Sunnies and housemateshosting...thats where its at

 

team awesome

lunch...chicken nuggets and chips

X-O volunteering

night rally+wind=cold

sweet as

::selah::

There is a different air about Hillsong right now.  A fresh wind has swept through the place, a wind that breathed life into all that it came in contact with. We definately dwell in the midst of the Holy Spirit everyday. His presence is undeniable. In fact, just last week I was giving a non-Christian visitor a tour around the campus and he kept saying  “There is just something about this place. There is  great ‘energy’ coming from the campus. I felt it the moment I walked up to the church.”    …everyone can sense it, whether you have the Spirit within you or not.

I so wish I could describe to you what chapel was like on Tuesday. There aren’t words. From the moment the first song started, I felt God near—So near, that all I could do was cry in His presence. This was by-far the best chapel I have ever experienced in my life. I will also put it at the top of the worship times I have ever experienced. I will never forget that moment.

Just imagine it….

….worshipping your Creator, your Redeemer, your Savior, your King, your Abba amoungst a group of 500 faith filled young people. Your Spirit is so full and overflowing that you get lost in the moment of worship. Your soul is screaming out, “THIS IS WHAT I WAS CREATED FOR! THIS IS IT!!” You can feel comfort behind you–you are in the midst of angels, they just want to join in on the celebration. Peace runs over your body. You sing out your praises to God. You sing out your love for Jesus. You begin to sing in another language, one not of this earth. You let go, you surrender everything. Then…then here it comes…that voice…that quiet soothing powerful voice that you know well.

God speaks. 

“Behold, my love. I am making all things new. A river of life will flow afresh. Don’t forget, Lydia, I am with you always. And I will always love you. You are mine.”

My faith kept rising and rising as we say the simpliest of songs, hymns of Jesus. Then we prayed. We prayed for Megan’s miracle. My friend, Megan, here in Australia has been diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer. As a college, we prayed for her on Tuesday, united in faith, that Jesus would miraculously heal her of all cancer…we will see the report on monday or tuesday! I believe she was healed. But either way, this girl is the epitome of joy and sunshine. Her anchor is Christ and He will never let her down!

My new enouragement is Revelation 21: 1-7. I love the thought that one day I will get to be with my King. The day that no one will cry or mourn or have pain, there will only be joy and laughter. He is making all things new. He is starting with us, salvation is part of making things new.

Tuesday started as any other day. Same ole, same ole. I didn’t expect to have that moment with God. I should have expected it…I mean isn’t that what we are supposed to do everyday?! But Tuesday, September 15, 2009 ended up being one of the best memories and experiences in my life. I know that I know that I know that I am supposed to be in Australia for this season of my life. God just gave me such a peace about it all. He let me know that He is going to “take care of everything.” 

Don’t discard a day as if nothing of significance can happen. It’s those days that we have to pray to see the opportunties God has placed in front of us. It’s those ordinary days that God makes extraordinary.

Tuesday was just one of those moments…a “selah moment.”  A moment where you have to just pause and wait on the Lord. A moment where the presence of the Holy Spirit is so thick and heavy that you can hardly move. A moment where you don’t even sing, you reflect and pray. Selah is a God encounter that leaves you breathless, speechless, and all you can do is just bask in the love of our Lord Jesus.

ears that hear

This past Sunday night at church, God showed me a little bit of what He sees.

I was sitting on the left side of the convention centre and worship was going, presence of the Lord all around. I was captivated by a man sitting in the section next to me–he was deaf. There was a sign language interpreter standing infront of him, signing the worship along with the man. The purity of the worship was enough to bring tears to my eyes…lots of them. Worship isn’t about the songs, I mean this man couldn’t even hear the music–he couldn’t hear the singing, his mouth wasn’t even open! But he was worshipping, in spirit and in truth. The Lord’s delight was all upon that man.

At that moment I heard God say, “Do you see why raising your hands is an act of worship, of surrender? It is universal, it unifies.”  Worship is one place where that man is surrounded by an action he understands without any explanation. He is joined by a company of people who are raising their hands up in the air and not saying anything.  Seriously, how powerful is it when we are silent before the Lord?

I wondered at what that man hears from the Lord because he doesn’t have the physical distractions that go with sound.

That man may not be capable of physical hearing, but I bet he hears from God. He has the only ears that matter… the ones that Jesus said throughout the gospels, “He who has ears, let him hear.”

just a thought…

so i found this new video…

Tomorrow I have to do a 15 minute nutrition presentation. I have called upon Paul here to give me some good aerobics moves to share with my fellow Jesus-loving friends. I mean, we all know the cha-cha slide, but how about the “sanctified slide”?!?! Guaranteed to be the rage at your next party!

(the first 45 seconds is all you need to get in the groove…in other words, don’t watch the whole thing!)

knock. knock.

7 months. It has been over 7 months since I’ve seen the shores of America. 7 months since I’ve been in my home.

Since I was little, I always had this mindset that I had to be strong and tough. I tried to always supress tears and emotion. I mean who wants to hang out with an emotional wreck/cry baby?? I’m not too found on public tears, so I always try to hold it in.

With that in mind…

A little pest has been knocking at my door lately…its name is homesickness. Everytime I hear it knocking, I kick the door to make it go away or I’ll open the door only to slam it shut the next second. I guess I feel like I have to toughen up, and push against the door as hard as I can. Tears just let the door crack open.

I haven’t been homesick these 7 months…I mean not even as much as a tear shed. But that knock at my door is getting louder and more consistent. I don’t want to be homesick! I’ve still got 3 months to go before I get to have a Christmas reunion with everyone I love. I can’t wait to run through the airport straight into the arms of my family.

I wouldn’t say that the homesickness has set in yet, let’s just say I have a little cough..haha. I have my once a week skype call with my family but I hardly ever talk/hear from people back home. It just gets a little tough when you begin to think you’ve somehow been forgotten.

Don’t get me wrong…I am LOVING my time here, so much so that I am staying for another year. (Yay!)  However, I am overjoyed at the thought of going home for Christmas…walking through my front door, being overwhelmed by the smell of cinnamon, Christmas decorations everywhere, the tree with all its ornaments, a roaring fire, my nieces and nephews’ laughter echoing into each room.

I feel like it’s a movie because I can seriously say, “I’ll be home for Christmas!”   and I’ll even let you in on a little secret…I am already listening to the occasional Christmas song in anticipation of going home!  hahaha , as pathetic as it may sound, I’ve actually even had a dream about a white Christmas (Oh, please God, let it snow on Christmas!!).

So let’s all just say a little prayer for Lydia to fight off this seasonal cold of homesickness! In the meantime, get your hot chocolate on the kettle, stock up on wood for the winter, hang up your twinkle lights and bust out your Nsync Christmas cd (don’t be shy, you know you own it) because I’m coming home for Christmas!!

..the BIG one..

Here it goes…so lately I have had some pressing decisions creeping my way and have been a little tangled in thoughts on what to do. But clarity came my way…in the form of the Holy Spirit. (God is not the author of confusion, but peace…remember?? –> 1 Corinthians 14:33) I have been praying a lot lately concerning a few matters.

1. Stay in Australia for second year?

2. Take on a connect and transition them from Wildlife to Powerhouse?

Sunday morning at church, we were singing Desert Song. And at the very end of the song, as I am singing the lyrics out loud, I felt the Holy Spirit. As I sang: “I know I’m filled to be emptied again, the seed I’ve received I will sow,”  the Holy Spirit replied:

“Lydia, where are you sowing your seed? I know you are busy. But who are you investing into? Where are you sowing your seed?”

And there it was. There is my answer to the big elephant that always seems to be in the room…….

I am staying for a second year in Australia!!!!!

I’m also beginning the process of becoming a connect leader. I am praying for my girls because this is such a God, divine opportunity. I have been praying for the past 3 months for an opportunity and here it is. However, this does mean that everynight (except Saturday) of my week is completely full from week to week. But you know, who wants to look back on the year and be like “yeah I did what was required.” Or do you want to look back and say “I was totally spent this year. I gave it all.” I want to give it all. And apparently God isn’t done with pruning/growing me yet. I still have so much to learn. It is going to be a stretching year, however, God remains faithful to His promises. And He gives me grace to go through this season of life. I am graced to be here. Thank You, God!  Please continue to pray for me as I enter into this new season!

Philippians 1:6 –”For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

one bad apple

God is pushing me into a new season of life and with that comes tearing down and building up. Last Thursday, I cried out to God to change my heart, my attitude, my thoughts, and my spirit. My past mindset/behaviours/attitudes are not acceptable anymore. I am growing and therefore my character should grow along with me. I just feel as though lately I have been overwhelmed by the lies of the enemy, which destroy me and wreck my day. It was like they came at me so fast that I just stood there at let them penetrate…to the point where I became numb to the feeling and just accepted them as truth. Some of those arrows have been in my spirit for too long–too long have I accepted lies as truth.

The very next day, Friday, God began His work. Immediately He began to bring things to light, exposing what was hidden and letting me see the ugliness. All day Friday, with every speaker and Scripture reference, God spoke directly into my spirit, reviving it. Although He is bringing life, it is hard to see yourself in a different light. I just feel like an ugly person right now. But I know that God has to break off the bad so that good can be restored.

It is like the Vine and branches in John 15. While studying this passage in tutorial, a fellow dancer mentioned a brilliant point. “Branches, alone, cannot pick their own fruit. Therefore, when there is bad fruit on the branch, we have to rely on the Creator to pick the bad fruit off so that good fruit can grow in its place. It is a painful process, but the end result is joy.”  It was a totally different way of looking at that Scripture, and so appropriate to my life at the moment. That is why it is so important to be covered by the blood of Jesus–you have surrendered “your branch” to Him and allow Him to pick the bad off so that you can grow more.

You see, God is taking me through a different season where I have more responsibility to Him and others. In order to reach my full potential in fulfilling this new season, I need grow–expand my capacity. Therefore, some fruit has to be picked off so that better fruit can grow. It only takes one bad apple to spoil the bunch.

I’m not saying that I’m this horrible, rotten person. No way! I have the Holy Spirit living within me, and by the blood of Jesus I am anything but rotten. It’s just that I need to be refined by the fire. Everyday is a day of new mercies (thank You, Jesus!) I’m recognizing that God gives you strength to make it through the fire. It’s just because He loves me and besides, who wants bad apples anyway?

Psalm 73:25-26 “Who have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

just spreadin the love…one musical at a time.

Alright, so lately I have been in a musical kick…going back to the great American classics. My housemates Allie and Gabby share my love for the classic musicals and lucky for me, they happen to have brought heaps of them to Australia. For my fellow well educated, brilliant minds that love musicals, you can share in the magic of song and dance as Allie, Gabby, and I set out to conquer the massive stack of musical dvds on their shelf.

Round 1- Westside Story:

you gotta love this song…