When dreams come true

I'm leading our community worship time tomorrow and here's my little intro to our time together, with some extra comments for context.

We come to the end of what would knew would be a long term - 11 weeks : 2 modules and 3 weeks on missions -  and what has proved to be a term of God working in big ways.

While I definitely am looking forward to seeing the bigger picture of what God is up to, I consider the sense of confusion and fear I’ve felt and the days when truly seeking God and finding rest in Him seemed too hard. The joy and thankfulness I felt were so easily forgotten when I couldn’t see the way forward. In His abundance of grace, God reminds me that he hasn’t changed! He didn’t stop being faithful when I couldn't see a way forward.

And He has spoken into those emotions. Of course I’ll have feelings, but I am being challenged to live beyond what I feel, to live in the knowledge of my sure foundation. To no longer be a slave to fear, but to live the life of a child of God, with my eyes fixed on His, trusting Him with everything I am and all that I have, no matter what’s going on around me.

The songs I’ve chosen today are ones that remind us of God’s faithfulness, of the hope and security we have because we know, love and serve Him.

The final song might not be so familiar to all of you but is a song I remember singing as a young teenager, believing with all my heart that God would use me to bring nations of people to Him. I’m just amazed, and really humbled, that He has me here. He has me training.

I’M GOING TO BE A MISSIONARY!

I know this is really obvious. But what I’ve dreamed of since I was 4 has finally come true. It’s taken me 6 months and a song from the 90s for me to realise:

I am training to be a missionary.

For those of you interested, the song is Hillsong : You Said.

It's been a while... sorry x

It's been far to long since I have made use of my blog.

There are lots of reasons. Mainly because I had this skewed idea that I was to be writing a weekly report, an itinerary in reflection. Once I missed a week, the idea of updating on two weeks seems like a harder task. Then it snowballs, and months down the track, 'updating you' is just a little overwhelming. I don't know what happened in February! The point isn't for it to be another 'task' to cross of my endless to do list! So a new mindset, a new approach.

When I was in Adelaide for the Easter holidays I would sit with friends over coffee or a meal, never sans... and I would tell them about the concepts of life. I just made that phrase up, but what I mean is: the themes, the struggles that run through weeks, the tensions I am working through, not the things that are scheduled in at 10 AM daily - which is morning tea time FYI.

So I start today, and probably because I decided to become a 'spotifier' this week. That's just online music streaming, but as I sit here with music in the background, I feel better. I should listen to more music. Not so that I can tell someone what my favourite band is (I'm not that kind of music lover), but because it evokes emotion, it calms, it energises, it takes me away from the endless spiral of thoughts that consume my mind.

I'll share some of the concepts of life here with you from now on...x

A new beginning

Well hello!

I'm sitting here in the kitchen of my unit that I share with Eun Kyong, there's chutney boiling away on the stove, and just 2 sleeps until classes start. I have been well orientated this week, ready for life and study on campus.

Thanks so much for stopping by to catch up on what I’m up to.

Since I last posted, I've spent the majority of my time back home, working as a coordinator in community care. Until last Saturday when (mum and) I had packed my car with my necessary possessions... and a few luxuries... and headed east! I am spending the next two years completing missionary training in a residential, cross-cultural learning community on a semi-rural property.

Mum left Monday afternoon after helping drive over, unpack, set up, sightsee and sneak in a few early birthday celebrations for me... I turned another year older on Thursday!

Orientation Week officially started at 4 PM on Monday and for those of you interested in the finer details, consisted of the following sessions:

• getting to know you,
• introduction to duties,
• community gathering,
• creating community,
• food safe training and kitchen orientation,
• farm orientation,
• prayer,
• fire safety,
• workplace scramble,
• connections (IT),
• intro to courses,
• commencement service planning,
• library orientation,
• missionary speakers, and finally
• city tour.

My birthday on Thursday was different to most I've had. Eun Kyong got up early to prepare for me a traditional Korean birthday meal, which for breakfast consisted of seaweed soup, rice and kimchi.

Korean breakfast of seaweed soup and kimchi.

Morning tea celebrations with everyone on campus included a birthday fruit platter.

College morning tea birthday 'cake'.

Finally, in the evening, a bunch of girls came together for coffee and cake to celebrate. It really amazed me how after only 4 days I had such a lovely group of new friends to share it with.

Girl time with coffee and dessert.

As wonderful as the people, place and program is, it's been a very busy week, and to be honest, I'm really glad it's over. I find it incredibly overwhelming meeting 80 new people, being with them all the time, taking in a ridiculous amount of new information, and following a program that for me started with vegetable prep duties at 7.45 AM, continued through the day with the above listed sessions, and finished with dinner wash up at 7 PM.

I did very much enjoy my first Saturday morning here by going off campus. Breakfast with a friend of a friend followed by hours wandering the harvest market and main shopping mall, and generally trying not to get too lost!

Wanderlust Caravan.

When I returned this afternoon, I whiled a few hours away by decorating my room, cooling off with Eun Kyong in the river that borders the property and making a delicious tomato chutney/relish with some of the abundance of tomatoes the farm is producing at the moment.

Tomato chutney/relish in progress.

Tomorrow brings my first local church visit. I am going with Eun Kyong to hers and then she has made plans for us and her church friends to go on a trip to the beach. Very much making the most of the hot weather being thrown at us this week.

I look forward to Monday, to starting my course and the routine it will bring.

Thanks for your interest in my life, and your support as I walk this path. It means so much to me.

Tahnee x