Wednesday, December 28, 2011

goodbye 2011.

2012 is coming! this is happening all too fast. but i like it. i've had enough of you 2011. i hope it gets sunny soon, rain is pooosy. not long till SUMMER CAMP!! i secretly wish we were the ones staying in tents. not the boys.









“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:28



Wednesday, December 14, 2011

destroy.

It began long ago, when darkness, through its deceit captured the hearts of the sons and daughters of light. We looked for light but we found only darkness. We searched for bright skies but walked in gloom. We fumbled like the blind along the wall, feeling our way like people without eyes. We were destined to fall, even in the brightest days. We stumbled as if it were dark. Among the living, we were like the dead. We looked for justice, but it never came. We looked for rescue but it was far from us. 

So He, Himself, stepped in to save us with his strong arm and justice to sustain Him. He put on righteousness as armor, salvation His helmet. He clothed Himself with the robe of vengeance and wrapped Himself in a cloak of divine passion. He slipped out of his royal garments, left eternity to enter time, divinity to wrap himself in humanity. The sea of glass, for the ocean of separation. He left peace, and for the first time felt pain

Because the very hands that held the stars were now sentenced to wear my scars

It was love that purchased this traitor’s heart. It's what the prophets spoke about when they envisioned light living in men once again. For this reason, I AM LEGEND, predestined for greatness, built for the final hour. I was born for this with weapons in hand, armor in place. I now march to the beat of a different drum. I will break through battle lines that have been drawn by discouragement and despair. 

What more is left to be said? Time has met its end. It's now or never. Collision with me, myself, and I. You see my mission today is clear: to wake the dead. So let freedom's song rage. You’re not abandoned. You're not alone. Last day warriors arise from yesterday's ash and raise your fist with us. We are the army that is charging upon the land. Defeat is no longer an option. IT IS VICTORY.


We stand. We rise. We give our lives.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

the beginning.

how beautiful is it, that when one thing, one season, one event, one dream, 
ends and another one fills the spot that once was occupied?

you think it's the endbut it's really just the beginning of 
something else. something bigger. better. brighter.

a.k.a 
- i've finished school for the rest of my life! 
which means i'm on the verge of a whole new adventure learning to live the life of a uni student. (albeit freaky.)
- summer is on its way.
- it's almost Christmas time.
- i'll be 18 in january.
- elevate will be brimming with hungry teens in 2012.
- we've handed over our school and entrusted it into the hands of some incredible, God-ordained women.
- my camera broke :( but a new, flasher one is on its way. hopefully.




 A    P    P    O    I    N    T    E    D
T    I    M    E



Thursday, November 10, 2011

love love love.


So, no matter what I say
what I believe
and what I do
I'm 
b  a  n  k  r  u  p  t 
without love. 


Love never gives up.

love cares more for others than for self.
love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
love doesn't strut,
doesn't have a swelled head,
doesn't force itself on others,
isn't always "me first,"
doesn't fly off the handle,
doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
doesn't revel when others grovel,
takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
puts up with anything,
trusts God always,
always looks for the best,
never looks back,
but keeps going to the end, 

Love never dies.
- 1 Corinthians 3:4-7



Life, at this point, has never been so good. but so crazy and different and stressfuli'm just so confused and ecstatic at the weirdness and beauty of it all; i'm almost finished school, praise the sweet sweet Lord. 
next year looks enticing no matter what it'll bring, what i'll be doing, who i'll be meeting - i know God'll be all over it and i'll be loving it. 
i seriously have a million and one options with a million and one questions to go along with them:
i discovered this incredible incredible company in California called The Cana Family
option #1946357852: http://www.canavp.com/ 
and with a little more digging, snooping and stalking, i found this little project they've got going: http://www.halleproject.org/
then i fell over. what. the. heck. i believe i just found my heart's desire for my future.


it's pretty much summer. hallelujah.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

bad memory.

The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; 
he will never leave you nor forsake you
Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. 
- Deuteronomy 31:8

While i forget - have a really bad, habitual case of memory loss - my God has us on His mind 100% of the time.
Like when i forget i have a blog.




There's a hope and desire inside every heart that someone would 
pay them attention, 
remember them, 
recognize their voice, their face, 
their change in tone and 
the way they smile.

That's why we live, why we're here for such a time as this:
to restore hope, pay attention, love and nurture and care
for the lives where it seems like the rest of the world has
FORGOTTEN.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

commissioning.

commission my soul with a fire uncontrolable, 
for this great cause:to save the lost.
open my eyes to the reason I'm alive 
oh Lord, I'm ready now. 
I'll follow You.






 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" - Matthew 28:19-20

 

this is our life; this is our call, our goal, our burden, our Great Commissioning, our dream and our cry: to bring His children home, to show them to their Heavenly Father, to populate Heaven and plunder hell. it's simple but hard. huge but so small. a powerful task in the hands of the powerless. that's why God's here - everything we're not, He is.

 

I watched the I Heart: We're All In This Together Movie last Monday. 

I so desperately want and need to change this dying and wandering world. I don't know what that looks like. At all.  But God does; that makes me feel better.

 

Monday, August 22, 2011

sigh.

we had SEVENTY FIVE girls at Ablaze today.
and over TWENTY FIVE decisions for Christ.
what the heck.

like i can't even begin to understand and comprehend how it happened, but it did. it happened for real; in my school, through my best friends, by my mighty God. i'm so so so happy! life is so good, God is so good. aaaaah my heart is so full and happy, i just want more.

this generation is truly rising and a revival is totally taking place throughout NZ. i love this country and this city more than ever. looks likes i'll be around for a while...





my new favourites: the paper kites and elevation worship - these kids have voices to die for; like if i could marry someone's voice, it'd be this guy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_Voi3JM8ZA&feature=related

I may be weak, but Your Spirit's strong in me; my flesh may fail, but my God You never will

Saturday, August 20, 2011

dora the explorer.

there's never been more of a time where i've felt like it's time to  
 GET MOVING

not necessarily like travel the world kind of get moving

but just a get up and  go  kind of get moving.


because when we
SEEK we FIND

 no matter what the world may throw our way, we will hold tight to The Promise.
our purpose is in Him; we know He who holds us.
that means nothing can slow us down, nothing can separate us, nothing can get in the way of the hungry and desperate children in search of their Father
it's time to move forward, look ahead and advance.


TODAY is the day where we
take risks; dive head-first; take a leap of faith,
eyes shut tight, mind going crazy and hands hot and clammy
but with our eyes fixed upon The Goal,
with a New Dream humming away in our hearts,
we'll go exploring.


Friday, July 22, 2011

smart.

get smart,
why do you have to end?

i felt like this year's was waaay different to last year's.
that's both super cool and disappointing.
but on thursday night Ps John preached.
sure he's just our senior pastor and he preaches most Sundays.

but i got smart. haaaah

he's legit this world-class preacher who is sought after all over the world.
he flippin tore it up and it made me realise we've actually got this crazy good pastor and preacher every week. talk about blessed, and taken for granted.



















man, i love our city
love our church
love my God
love our young people.

Monday, July 4, 2011

exhange.

there's this incredible feeling of 
f  r  e  e  d  o  m
when you lift your hands

when you raise your arms high,
close your eyes,
sing your lungs out,
 and declare His glory, declare your need of Him
something beautiful takes place.



when we choose to lay it all down at His feet,
choose to give it all to Him,
to lay before Him as our little selves;  
naked, bare, vulnerable,
that's where He steps in.

 
But he said to me, “My
grace is sufficient for you, for my power is 

made perfect in weakness.” 
- 2 Corinthians 12:9

when  we choose to  let it go  He  takes it and replaces it. 

He EXCHANGES 
our hurt, our sorrow, our pain, our insecurity, 
our doubt, our fear, our shame, our pride, 
our lonlieness, our sadness, our weakness
for joy, for peace, for security,
for love, for passion, for courage, for comfort,
for gladness, for warmth, for strength.


 don't you just love that moment when the band dies down and the worship leader pulls away from his mic so you can just hear the voices of the people?
if there was a favourite moment in church for me - that'd be it.
it doesn't matter how great the band sounds, doesn't matter how amazing the vocalists are. 

it doesn't even matter that the kid behind you is tone-deaf, 
screeching at the top of his lungs. 
 because worship is this universal lifestyle where people can just seek Him and find rest, find peace in the only whole being in this world.

it's good to know that you're not the only one who's out of tune, too.

Friday, June 17, 2011

thinking.










wow. God is a big big God.
like huge.

If my God is big, then aren't His plans big too?
He holds it all; 
the earth, the stars, the sky and sun.
they're all His.

why put a cap on it all?
He is limitless, boundless.
flip, when was the last time you dreamt?
like truly, greatly, faithfully dreamt?

the sky is actually the limit - it's so unrestricted, uninhibited.
our God exceeds all of it.
it's a pretty big world out there,
but God is above all and 
His plans far exceed what i can even begin to believe and imagine.


......................................................

my life is a life for Your cause.
my will laid aside for Your call.
and reserved all the depths of my heart,
only for You.

...........................................................................


so it's taken a long time thinking,
and a looooong time praying.
it's been a lot of surrendering.
and now i have no clue what i'm gonna do next year.

but it's totally OK;
i have no idea, 
but i have no reason to be stressed.
no matter the plan for my life's shape or form,
it's gonna be unreal and super awesome
so i'm OK with it. 100 percent.

surrender hurts a little while.
but the peace is eternally worth it.


Tuesday, May 31, 2011

cold.


 

i'm not one for the cold.


but i have a feeling this winter will be
beautiful.

layers and layers of clothes
hot chocolates
house singing
the ball
sleeping in
woolly socks
woolly jerseys
change of hairstyle
CONFERENCE
 get smart

one day, 
i'll come along to June and 
it'll be Summer.

New York New York
Isaiah 61

Monday, May 16, 2011

feasting.

Hunger is the most extreme form of poverty.

925 million people worldwide were undernourished last year.
20,000+ children die every day from hunger-related causes.
Every 3.6 seconds someone in the world dies of hunger.
226 million children globally aren’t growing properly, because of chronic hunger.
go HARDOUT for the hungry.


it's funny how God throws plans around for you.
how it changes from one to another.
or how YOU thought YOU had it all worked out.
2012 is still open to a million things right now. great.
go HARDOUT for the hungry.


so Shane from World Vision came to our school on Thursday and spoke about the Youth Ambassadors program. YES PLEASE.
i realised how much i hate seeing poverty.
i realised how much i really really want to do this. 
like really really want to be a Youth Ambassador.
i realised that God is super passionate about the needy and lost.
i realised He placed this passion in me to change lives.

man, you really can't fight against what God has planned.
go HARDOUT for the hungry.

this is a MUAC.
a Mid-Upper Arm Circumference band that measures the malnutrion of a child according to their upper arm. 
some kids fall in the red zone:
that's anything from 5 to 10 cm.

that's a tiny arm.
















that's some hungry children.
that's a forgotten people.

that's one big fat opportunity: an opportunity to CHANGE LIVES.
go HARDOUT for the hungry.


can't wait to see God kick some poverty butt. 
http://www.famine.org.nz/Default.aspx  //  go HARDOUT for the hungry.





Wednesday, May 4, 2011

walking.

















i love people.
like really really love people.

it's what makes life worth living.
besides Jesus.

i love their dreams; their hurts, their joys and celebrations, 
their hopes, their burdens, their issues and problems.
i love their voices, their laughs, their cries, their pet peeves, 
their likes, their dislikes, their unique traits and quirks.


the best part is sharing.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.
- Romans 12:14-16 

getting to know a person and all that comes with them; how they think and see, what they aspire to be and what they long for; it's all like tiny precious pieces of treasure. and the more we talk to them, the more we grow in relationship with them, we begin to build a whole collection of timeless and worthy gems.



















people are on all sorts of walks in life.
and when they let you in, having shared something held so so close to their heart, 
like their boy/girl problems, 
their family troubles and 
their secret desire to be able to dance like MJ, 
you begin to walk alongside them.

you begin to walk in the shoes of one of God's children.

i'd like to be like that; able to just let my walls down; able to be an open book. 
i'd like to have people walk in my shoes and see life through my eyes and 
i'd like to do the same.

God, let me see through Your eyes, through Heaven's eyes.

so come, take a walk with me.
because life is way too short to walk alone.