The Time is Now

Our first two students arrived today!! This is so surreal! One is from Korea and the other from Amsterdam! These past two weeks have absolutely flown.. I can only imagine how fast these next 5+ months will go! 

As you all know I did my DTS last fall in Australia and am now living in Kona, Hawaii staffing a DTS. We have 23 students, so these past two weeks we have been working like crazy to get the classroom together, put together our student manuals, clean/organize, figure out this housing madness, and so much more! This is the biggest quarter for the YWAM Kona base in history! I am so thankful and blessed to be a part of this.

Our base is currently in the process of building housing and a new cafeteria! Hopefully by this weekend I can post some pictures to show you the campus! There are heaps of different schools going on at once, it's really amazing to see how this big of a base functions off of all volunteers. I love it.

This past Monday we had base beautification day, so I enjoyed weeding some flower beds and cleaning door mats :) 

We then had a Base BBQ down at the beach for all the staff to get together, mingle and relax before this new quarter begins. It was lovely. There was at least 200 people I'd say. The Ship team (my school) had the pleasure of setting up the beach site, making sure everything ran smoothly, followed by tearing down and heaps of dishes! It was exhaustive but such a blessing. I love when people are happy and just enjoying life, which is what everyone was doing last night! Amen.

Today we got to join the one and only Loren Cunningham (founder of YWAM) in a Skype session with a few different countries, which I hopefully can tell you about later when we have a few more confirmations! As of now, I'm just in awe of watching pieces be put together - I love sitting in the meetings with such faithful men and women, praying and following what God tells us, it's amazing what doors open, they seem to be the ones you didn't think of, yet God knew and it works perfectly. Love it.

And tomorrow will be Arrival/Registration day! YAY! So ALL the students (over 500!) will be flying in, registering with their schools, getting housing situated and many more little details! Then Friday we have a huge welcome ceremony, which I will definitely be posting pictures of! Every one that comes brings a gift for the Natives and we present them, every country that has a student living on base will have their flag represented and flown, have a huge luau/BBQ and so much more than I know!

That's a slight update of our week. We are learning how to work together as a school real fast. I'm semi-rambling because I am exhausted, but I wanted to keep y'all posted because it's so exciting! 

As always, prayers are definitely needed! I'm trying to figure out my finances at the current moment also, so if you feel on your heart to support at all, I'd be glad to talk to you! If not, keep enjoyin' the posts and watching how amazing these DTS's are! 

God is good, we are so blessed to be called to pour into these people's lives and I genuinely am happy. PEACE AND LOVE!! :)

CHECK OUT LINK BELOW!

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Weekend Update

So I had every intention in the world today to write a nice post, however, I was able to update most of my tabs at the top of my homepage instead! You can now hear a little About Me and my walk with Christ, learn about Steps of Justice, find some information on YWAM Ships, and check out some amazing health and wellness information from USANA!

Thank you for taking the time to check out my blog!

Students will be here in 4 DAYS! Tomorrow is beautification day, where we will spend the day cleaning up campus and getting it ready for many, many arrivals! This is the biggest quarter the University of the Nations has ever had! I'm so stoked and happy to be a part of it! We are in a bit of a housing bind so it'd be awesome if you could keep that in your prayers!

I also did an amazing detox last week! If you ever want to rid your body of all those toxins and garbage I strongly suggest you do USANA's Reset program! It was an intense 5 days of their shakes, vitamins and nutrition bars! I lost 8 pounds, have more natural energy than my body has ever felt, sleep great now and my body just feels healthy. It's a beautiful product and one I will definitely be doing again. Get a hold of me if you'd like to lose a few pounds or just feel amazing! Gotta take care of our bodies!

We went to Kona brewery for dinner to celebrate a fellow staff members birthday!

                                                   

We also were very blessed to have a nice relaxing weekend before the school begins. Our school leader has a jet ski, so Saturday he treated us to a beach day bbq and some rides on the ocean! It was my first time jet ski-in the ocean.. we caught some air. Don't floor it like you would across a smooth lake in Michigan. Everyone is safe and no injuries! ;) The water was absolutely beautiful, we were far away from shore and when you looked down it was still a beautiful blue, praise God for His creation!

It was a great time for fellowship as well, just to relax and have conversation that wasn't YWAM/business-type related. I think it brought us all closer and am definitely grateful! 

Loving life and everything the Lord has provided! Can't wait to meet the students, sit thru lectures again, and pour into their lives! WOO! 

Amen. 

Last Weekend Before Students

This past week has gone by so fast; preparing the classroom, paperwork, meetings.. and it has been fabulous. I have never felt more happy or delighted than I have with all these responsibilities! The classroom is finally coming together, our little details are falling into place and the staff is beginning to see how each other works/processes! 

Staffing this school is definitely going to be a challenge, for some reason in YWAM you are constantly on the go, communicating, busy from the time you get up 'til the time you lay down - this lifestyle is amazing and the most peaceful for my spirit. Without the grace of God and looking to Jesus' example, I would prolly fall apart, freak out and be stressed to the max. But being back in this atmosphere makes me LOVE waking up in the morning to enjoy my quiet time with God. To simply rest in His presence, dive into the Word and get my day started right, no cup of coffee or cartoon could be better! 

Following a peaceful morning, our meetings this past week started off with worship, intercession, prayer and straight up honesty. It's so encouraging to be around people who are understanding of each other's moods and emotions. As thankful as I was to be able to go home after my DTS, see family and friends, I was miserable. I did not feel like I was being called back to "the norm". I've never had a passion or desire for any degree or particular job, but living the missionary lifestyle provides all the riches my body needs! I was never aware or exposed to how much pain there is in the world. 

As an American, it's so easy to get consumed in social networking, selfish needs, worrying about the bank account or what my neighbor might think. Anytime I met someone new the question always seemed to be "What college did you go to?" "What degree do you have" .. and when I would tell them I didn't pursue a college career you could see disappointment and confusion written all over their faces. "I was making the biggest mistake of my life" - It seemed of utmost importance to hold a degree (even if I wasn't going to use it!) just for names sake. My heart has never felt content thinking about sitting in a classroom for 4+ years if I have no desire or passion. I have followed my heart for 5 years now, following the Lord, and have no regrets. My eyes have been opened to human trafficking, sex slavery, water and health care issues and so much more. YWAM has been the biggest blessing in my life and I intend to live this lifestyle as long as the Lord calls me to it!

I met a man the other day who is 22 years old and will be staffing a school called Justice Waters. Basically what their DTS (Discipleship Training School) will be doing is educating students on how to dig trenches and build running water systems to help provide villages with clean, running water! That alone will stop many diseases from being spread and lives being lost! As I was talking to him, I just kept thinking "Wow, thank God you pursued where your heart was leading". How many people get wrapped up in pleasing others? Who is it that we fear? Our parents? Peers? I know I fear the Lord, and thru that lives are changed. He is the ultimate judge. If you feel unsettled in life, ask God (even if you never pray, aren't Christian, whatever your circumstance) and see what door He opens. He has a plan for everyone, we just need to ask.

Thank you for reading this, it took a different turn than I was going for and I love it :) Hopefully sometime soon I will be able to post more information about YWAM Ships for you! Give you more detail as to what this school will be doing and our mission! 
Live a life of love! XO

Encouraging Day

Today was yet another busy day, but thankfully we started off with some acoustic guitar and worship! We spent the morning interceding for the students and this school. I am legitimately stoked to watch God work thru all their hearts! We have got some pretty busy months ahead of us, but I'm so happy we have the Lord as our provider and the Holy Spirit to guide us, how much more comforting can it get!?

It's been challenging learning to work with other people, anyone that knows me knows I'm pretty stubborn. But thankfully I've got some pretty gracious friends who still love me and are teaching me patience.

Tonight we were able to get all the YWAM O.C. Ships staff together and have a pizza party! (I'm in the process of USANA's Reset Program which is amazing and definitely worth missing the pizza for, ask me if you don't know what that is!) 

How beautiful is it to be around people you can call family, having known less than a week, and yet feel like you've known your whole life? Real people do wonders in your life. 

We were able to mingle, finally put all the faces to the names, and truly enjoy each other's company. 

Our leader shared some wisdom and encouragement, which over the course of the next few months I will be able to share little by little. Summary tho, God is moving, His visions are big and He's providing things that we weren't even looking for yet! I absolutely love how beautiful life is when you are being obedient to the Lord, hearing His calling, and trusting in Him with everything you have that He will provide.. Why wouldn't He tho? I mean, if you created all of this and it's all yours, why wouldn't you want to share the wealth to reach out to people in need?

By the end of our pizza party we were all together in the living praying and giving thanks to the Lord - it was beautiful. The faith this team has in incredible, the stories behind everyone's journeys are encouraging and the stories to come will be epic. 

I hope you will get some encouragement from this. Let your guard down, meet new people and live a life of love. 

Love is all you need.

Mahalo!

Getting work done!

Today was a fun day! We had a legit staff worship first off, then a ships meeting to get the ball rollin' - decided some of the books the students will get to read and best of all we started decorating the classroom!

I was able to meet our school leader and hear his vision with Ywam Ships and it's amazing. God has already provided so much, I am so blessed to be a part of this journey and plan.

Our students will be here in 10 days! It's going to be beautiful seeing God work thru their lives, reveal Himself to them, and be able to be used by Him to lead them.

We capped off the night by playing Mash in McDonald's and talking freely about Jesus, how wonderful and thankful I am for the many blessings in my life!

Enjoy your day. Think of the many things you are grateful for, you'd be amazed what you take for-granted.

In the beginning...

   A L O H A !

Welcome to my blog and thank you for taking the time to read this! Seeing as how this is my first post I wanted to give you an overview of what I intend this blog to look like; little bit of background, get you updated on my life and begin following me from there :)

(Also, don't be discouraged, my future posts won't be as long as this one)

(I have a tab on the top of this page labeled "About Me" which is where you can check out my testimony and a bit more personal background!)

*As most of you know I had been living in Wyoming since 2009, which was absolutely beautiful! I grew up a lot in that time and learned many lessons. In the fall of 2011 I felt my time there was ending and a new season of my life was beginning. I wasn't sure where the Lord was taking me but knew I was ready and excited to go wherever He lead - which ended up being Australia!

I enrolled in a school with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) and began my DTS (Discipleship Training School) in October 2011. I had heard of YWAM a few years prior, however, it just never was the right time. I love how perfect God's timing is because this DTS came at the absolute perfect moment in my life. I went to school with the most amazing people a girl could ask for. My life was blessed in ways I never imagined.

We went through 8 weeks of lectures, followed by a mini-outreach (2 weeks) and a major outreach (7 weeks). My team and I traveled along the east Coast of Australia, speaking in schools, churches, parks, beaches, cafes - anywhere we could connect with people. We helped in indigenous communities, homeless shelters, nursing homes. I fell in love. I have always enjoyed serving others, however, never fully realized this gifting until YWAM.

After our school graduated in March, I returned to Wyoming and began work at the Irma and The Beta Cafe (best cafe EVER). My pastor, his wife and their three beautiful children welcomed me in their home, which was probably the best place I could have come back to. I worked a few months and then road tripped home to Michigan with my best friend for her wedding.

I was stoked to be back home, it was surreal but definitely what I needed. I had many ups and downs. I felt I had a calling on my life but the way things were panning out I felt like I was going to get stuck there! Praise God, that wasn't the case!

Hawaii had been on my heart since last winter and long story short, late one Thursday night I received a phone call from a man named Jim. Jim is leading a YWAM DTS for Orange County Ships! They are using the Kona, Hawaii base for a few months and he asked if I'd be willing to join staff - I was in shock. I had heard from the Lord without a doubt, He has been preparing me for this school long before I knew it. When I returned home people would ask me what I planned on doing next, and I always said "I feel like I will be in Hawaii mid-September somehow involved with YWAM", I had no idea how prophetic that was! I left for Hawaii September 12th. Amen.

The next day my plane ticket was purchased and five days later I arrived at the base. I have now been on base for three days, so you are slightly caught up to what YWAM has done for my life this past year :)

I truly believe in YWAM's mission "To Know God and Make Him Known" and could not have asked for a better blessing to come into my life almost one year ago. I absolutely love living an unexpected life, meeting new people, and being surrounded by so many cultures. My best friend lives in Germany, I just had an amazing conversation with my roommate from Thailand, and everyday our speakers have a Korean translator - God is everywhere. Everyone is a special child of God's and my desire is for everyone to know God's love.

. . . Thank you for taking the time to read my "brief" update ;) I want to apologize to those who supported me with my Australia DTS for not posting more updates or pictures! I had great intentions, just was selfish and didn't allow anybody into my life. My goal with this blog is to keep you involved and in the loop! I would love to share the many miracles, blessings and lessons with everyone I know!

-This blog is intended to be written from the heart.
-I don't know how often I will have time to update it. (At least once a week!)
-It's currently under construction.
-I just want to write.. so if I have a great message one day, awesome. If I simply write what we did that day in class, awesome. 
-No expectations, just love.

2 Corinthians 9: 10 "For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and them bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you."

Mahalo.