chosen and dearly loved

SO... The last few days have been a blast here in the Aus! this was our first official weekend altogether as a DTS, and we had NO idea what to do. unfortunately, it is the rainy season here and so a lot of our plans to do things tend to get rained out. Friday night after lectures, we planned to all go down to the strand (which is a 45 minute walk to the beach) but they have fun little shops and an amazing place called Juliette's that has wonderful gelato and outdoor seating. ALAS, the rain came in and so our plans subsided. we did however still have our ice cream craving, so we all ran, in the pouring rain, to the grocery store to buy our pints of ice cream. DELICIOUS and totally worth it. then we all came back here and played card games. Saturday we had YouthStreet. from 12:30-5 we hang out with the kids and are on different teams with different kids, or crew as we call them. I am on the hip-hop team, so I went and learned a hip hop choreographed dance routine and boy let me tell you... it kicked my butt! It was a blast and so much fun to hang out with the kids... especially in a dance studio with NO air con! we all eat dinner together at 5 and then the crew stay on base and hang out with some of the other staff and play games and do fun stuff. Those of us who were on the earlier part of the day, left after dinner to head down to the beach to finally get our Juliette's fix and some beach time at night. it was SO peaceful. I think we all needed it for a bit. then Sunday we have the entire day off... I started my day off talking to 2 of my besties, Carly and Hayley on skype! It was a glorious beginning to my day! Then we headed to the beach... for about 5 hours. and we were all burnt to a crisp! I wore 55spf sunscreen and I still look like a tomato! I hardly ever burn, but let me tell ya, I made up for it! So we all had a wonderful day, came back and just relaxed, ate dinner, and hung out in the cafe.

I love the community here, but sometimes it is nice to just be alone. We are doing a 24/7 prayer thing here... where we are literally praying for 24/7 nonstop for 2 weeks. I just finished my hour of praying in the prayer room. It was pretty new for me to do something like that... I've never prayed for an hour straight a day in my life. especially not for intercession. so it was really interesting and really neat to see how God can use me in those types of situations when I'm most uncomfortable. Actually, a lot of what we do makes me uncomfortable... because it's so out of my element. But it's so wonderful to be stretched and grown and broken and then restored back together. That's what He's doing here. in me, in my DTS, in our staff, in our state, in our nation...

this week is "identity" week... and the name in itself made me uncomfortable because I am one of those people who has never been sure of who she is. I think there were times I was close, but never have I really understood that the Lord loves ME. He loves me for who I am and who I'll never be. I am a child of the living God. If God is royalty, and I am a co-heir with Him, does it not make sense that we are royalty too? That we are manifestations of God Himself? That we are created in likeness with Him? We are not meant to compare ourselves to the world and to others... we are not of the world and there's a reason that we're individuals and not like everyone else. today when we were in lectures, our teacher, JoAnn, showed us this video called, "The Butterfly Circus." PLEASE YOUTUBE IT. (it's in 2 parts). I'm begging you. and afterwards we went through this activity which I will not post on here, kind of personal, but afterwards, the Lord gave me a song, or a letter, however you want to think about it... just about how He sees me. I can assure you, this was not from my own heart or head because I do NOT see myself this way... but the Lord wants me to. What an incredible feeling to know that you're loved by the Creator. just as you are... no frills or fancies about it. just you.

I also have felt a strong sense of urgency for the youth lately. I've been praying hard into that and just desiring to see hearts change and wants and desires be directed towards advancing the Kingdom of God. for the youth (myself and my generation included) to get over themselves and set their goals, dreams, and expectations down to fully experience what God wants to do with them and through them. we've been talking about that A LOT lately. it is something I am REALLY struggling with... as a planner and as someone who loves to have routine and schedules in their live, and who dreams and plans way far out in advance... this is difficult. but also getting to rejoice in the fact that God longs to dream with me and walk alongside me as I pursue new opportunities in my life. I'm learning that He is a kind God who DOES want to give me the things I desire.

anyhoo- this is sure to be a hard, wrecking week... tomorrow we find out our outreach locations and are given the opportunity to pray about where we should go. so I will keep everyone posted on that. I'll be posting some pictures tonight, but I have to go eat dinner now.

I really miss home. I'm so grateful that I have such awesome community to come home to. Thank you to everyone who reads my blog, reads my emails, and deals with me and supports/encourages me on a daily basis. I am so so so fortunate to have you guys. I am loving you so hard from the other side of the world!

much love,

mal