Some of you who have journeyed with me will remember that a couple of months ago, I was looking for a place to stay and God provided an unexpected blessing in the form of a non-believing young couple. I unfortunately, did not get to spend too much time with them but in the few months that I've lived on Barkly Street, God has taught me much about how much He can use me to influence others and I continue to pray that my house mates will find Christ as a result some day.
God also provided me with a great support group in the form of my church and my cell group called 'Surge'. I confess that I was not able to be as consistent in my visits as I would've liked but for every time I have gone, the fellowship and the teaching has been a huge blessing to me and the visit that I mentioned from the missions pastor as a representative of the pastoral group, is just a glimpse of how caring I've found Clayton Church of Christ to be.
Through the busyness of everything that has been going on in the OM Australia office, it has been a blessing to have had that larger church family on top of the OM family. And OM Australia has become a somewhat strange family, but a good one. One of my biggest fears about moving to Sydney is that sense of isolation from the team. Like my dad says, "It's not good to be crazy but it helps" and how better to be crazy than with all the other crazy people. An illustration of this was the busiest part of my year just weeks ago when I travelled with 3 "big shot" couples to five States in 5 days to essentially run 7 events. It was heaps exhausting but the hysteria that broke out in the squished car journeys, the late night messing about and the sharing of life along the way was definitely uplifting. For all the paper work, running around, confusing whatevers, God has certainly blessed me with some very amazing friends.
And now, I've packed my bags and almost ready to start again. Sydney some times feels so far away and I wonder exactly what God has in store for me there in terms of work. Please pray with me that I will be disciplined to use my time wisely for the extension of His kingdom in whatever way He would have be work. In terms of relationships, it will be an opportunity to make new friendships and find new families. Please pray with me for wisdom and strength to be building those as well. On top of new friendships, of course, please pray for both Jacob and I as we will finally live in closer proximity to each other, that God would continue to teach us how to love each other as we work towards marriage. We are both excited about the possibilities in front of us but realise that we can do nothing on our own strength. Thank you for the input that many of you have had on our relationship and in our lives and we do hope to be able to see many of you in Singapore next year.
So as we reach the end of another year, I can only look back and praise God for His faithfulness once again, the inspiration that it is to continue to trust Him for all the scary stuff that lies ahead and to continue to praise Him for the hope that He has given for all the exciting stuff that awaits too. Looking forward to celebrating many good things with you this year and next!
Blessed Christmas and Happy New Year!
