Perth has just broken it's record for the most consecutive days of 30+ degree heat, and I am led to believe it is now challenging the Australian record. Twenty-six days and counting. Even though Summer is officially over... it's still quite warm.
I had quite a good February, God has been speaking to me a lot. Like I said in my last post, it is quite a big adjustment, finishing a DTS and moving into Property, and that's something God's been leading me through in the last weeks. Part of it is the drop off in intensity, because staffing a school keeps you so busy, that when you finish you have more time and space than you know what to do with. At least it's that way for me. Something that God started teaching me about this time last year was that you can never go backwards- either you keep moving forward or you stagnate. He's definitely been continuing that lesson recently.
So the big challenge that He's issued me is this: Are you just going to sit there and be unfulfilled, or are you going to start taking initiative and responsibility when it's not set up for you? Sometimes rude awakenings are very good for me, and He knows when to dish them out! So this is a bit about what I've been doing with that.
My leader, Sam, has been away for the last couple of weeks, helping out with the flood cleanup in Queensland, so I've been leading Property along with another guy. Obviously, that is more of a structured responsibility, and temporary, but it has been (and continues to be) a good challenge. I find it's often a lot harder to lead peers, but somehow I think He did that deliberately, and I'm definitely being pushed and sharpened. Which is what it's all about! I know that I'm being challenged and I'm growing, and I'd much rather be there than having an easy time doing nothing.
I've started a drama group as well. I've been into performing arts since high school, and although I thought I'd be leaving that behind by getting into missions, God's bringing it back into focus. I've often done street dramas on outreaches to get people's attention and to convey a message, so the year before last I created a gospel drama for our outreach team to use. Since then the idea of doing that more formally, with a group, has been floating around at the back of my mind, although I didn't know if I would ever do anything about it. But it's come back up with the challenge of initiating, and I felt like God was saying it was time to start acting on it. So I've pulled together a group of people with a similar interest, and we're working on creating new dramas as resources for overseas outreach teams as well as outreaches into Perth. It's small right now, but it's a start!
The other associated bomb God has dropped on me is... hospitality. I was reading a book that talks about the interconnectedness of lives in the Body of Christ, and He nailed me. He said that I am called to live in community; a) because I belong to His church; and b) because He's called me to community here in YWAM, so I need to see what He wants that to look like. And that's openness. Not just with those I'm close to, but everyone. And that manifests itself in hospitality- showing value to people through action. I guess it might not seem like a hugely important revelation, but it is really challenging me in the way I relate to people around me. And hospitality is inextricably linked to initiating, because it requires making the effort to reach out to people first. So what He's been challenging me on goes right the way through my life, from the most obvious to the most private areas.
Achievement of the month: built a new washing line! The old one had needed attention for quite some time... like since I first came to Perth. But now it's fixed up, and (wonder of wonders) now two people can hang their washing up at the same time! Hallelujah!
If anyone wanted to pray for me, they could pray that I would get over this sickness. I've been out for about a week, flu or something, and I'd rather it would hurry up and leave. So that would be very much appreciated!
God bless you!
