First week!

We have officially completed our first week of school! The first two weeks are intensives. Basically it is lectures from 8:30-5; so a lot of good solid teaching and information. After these two weeks we will get split into tutorials which is the group of students ( about 15-25) that we will be doing all of our classes with for the year.

The teaching so far has been great! Today I was sitting in class just thinking about how much I have to learn and all of the areas that I need to work on in my life. It is really humbling just hearing the heart and the attitude that I should have and realizing how many times that I have completely missed the mark. At the same time it is an incredible invitation to step into this season ready to be stretched and to grow. An opportunity to lay everything down and give it all that I have. We are not here just to go through the motions, we are here to build a solid foundation in becoming the servant and the minister that God has called us to be.

We are all on a journey and we are in this together. It is about building the church. It is about being apart of a family that is for something far greater than ourselves.

A small thought for all of us wherever we are in life, and whatever season that we may be in:

What are you DECIDING to do to change the world around you?
-It is not necessarily about the huge things that everyone looks at and says "wow". It is about the little things that we have the opportunity to do everyday, the moments we choose to stop and ask ourselves "how can I serve this person or how can I encourage them and build them up?"

I am convinced more and more each day that it truly is the small decisions the little things that we do that make the BIG difference in the long run. It is the little things that we decide to do or not do that can either help us to become the person God has called us to be or can very well destroy us. Let's not overlook them lets start to decide to do the small things that will build up others...and to get rid of the little compromises that very well have the power to take us out.

The Greatness of our God

Hello All!
God is so good, isn't He?? Each new day I am just amazed at all the things that He does for us. I am blown away by how His love that is absolutely unchangeable. He never leaves us and He will never forsake us. He always always keeps His promises and we can turn to Him in any situation and He shields and comforts us. I am in awe of how holy and just truly Great our God is...words cannot even describe...my human mind cannot even begin to comprehend who He is. In all of His greatness He chooses to reveal parts of Himself to me and to you!! We serve an Awesome God. We cannot be complete or fulfilled when absent from Him. We were made to need Him and to love Him. I am so excited to be on this journey with my Savior, with my best friend, with my God. He is with me even when I mess things up (which is quite often). Today I am thankful to have Him in my life, I cannot imagine not knowing the One who gave all that He had so that I could truly live. I cannot imagine my days without Him. He is my very best friend and I am in awe of the fact that He takes the time to reach into my small world and love me. He walks with me, He makes prepares the way for me, He orders each of my steps. He is my Lord. He is worthy of all that I am.

Being here has been incredible so far! Our housemates are awesome...this week we are having a competition on who's banana bread is the best! Bennie(morgan)and I against Bri and Linnea...we are totally going to win :)
The weather in Australia is chilly and sort of rainy, but no snow, it usually is in the 40's or 50's in the day so it is not a bad winter at all. We are looking forward to warm weather and sunshine though.
This past week we had conference and it was amazing! Speakers Andy Stanley, Pastor Brian, Ed Young, Judah Smith, Ed Young...all sorts of good ones! Also Hillsong, Isreal Houghton, Kari Jobe, Tim Huges, Chrisy Nockles for worship! It was truly a great week.
This week we are hoping to go have a picnic on the beach...hopefully we get a somewhat sunny day
It is fun being in a house where there is constantly music or singing :) This week is also job hunting week...lucky for me they don't have applications here, you just turn in your resume. That saves me a lot of paper work...filling out the same thing over and over again is not my definition of fun at all haha. So blessed to be here!...maybe next week we'll have a story about crocodile hunting or something...hmmmm for now that is all I got :)

Random stuff

This week is the Hillsong Leadership Conference. Some amazing speakers and worship leaders will be there; it is going to be awesome! Last night it was really awesome to look around and see the church packed out with people hungry for God...we even had a huge group in the overflow room; it was incredible to be in the house of God worshiping with one heart united together...nothing like it! Judah Smith spoke last night at our Sunday evening service; if you are in to podcasts you should look him up. This was our first time hearing him speak, we enjoyed it!

Top foods in Australia that are a must try if you ever find yourself down under:
1. Mi Gorang (delicious noodles)
2. Tim Tam Slams (Chocolate cookies...super yummy with coffee!!) AMAZING

Also Hillsong's new album "Beautiful Exchange" is officially out!! Great album, definitely a must get!

Thought for the day:

Psalms 18:32 IT IS GOD that arms me with strength and makes my way perfect

When we are following Him; He goes before us and makes us successful. The key is not to get in front of God, but to follow behind when we jump ahead we very often get off the path that He has for us....

Something to think about :) Have an awesome day!

Australia!

We are both here in Australia, and much enjoying our time. Morgan/ Bennie has been here for 6 months now and has been loving it and growing tremendously. Thanks to her I (Brittany) am now here. Her and a couple friends raised my tuition for this year so that I could come for the July semester. God is so awesome isn't He? Just when we think it is not going to happen, He shows up in a huge way. And you know what? He has been working all along...we just don't see everything. We need to trust that He hears us when we call on Him and that He is working on our behalf in spite of what we see or feel.
So we are back together!! God is incredible. We have been blessed with some awesome housemates and relationships! Each of us have our own unique journey, but are extremely blessed to be doing life together. I went to a Hillsong church service for my first time this past Sunday, and that is when it really hit home that I am actually here. My dream is coming to pass...something that has been in my heart for years and years. And I am here entirely in His strength and not on my own, which is comforting to know because I cannot do this without Him.
We will be doing are best to keep you all up to date on what is happening; it is going to be awesome. As of now I am still getting used to the huge time change! But it has been great so far, I am super excited for school to start in the next couple weeks. Also Hillsong Leadership conference is coming up this next week! Lots of exciting things happening, so make sure to keep checking in :)

So it has been a while since we have posted anything; we will soon be giving you the updates on Australia!!
Psalms 100:4 talks about entering into His gates with thanksgiving; and going into His courts with praise.

This is the key to entering into the throne room of God. Thankfulness is the gateway into His courts. Why? because He is more than worthy of our thanksgiving and praise. So today let's take a step back from all the worries and the things that may not be going right and start to thank God for what we do have. God does not respond to complaining and grumbling; He responds to a thankful heart; if you are not able to give thanks now, you won't give thanks when everything is good either. It is a habit, a small thing that we continually remind our selves to do because it brings glory to God. I believe that as we begin to be thankful our eyes will be opened to all that we truly do have to be thankful for...the list is unending.

Masterpiece

Ephesians 2:10 For we are Christ's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we could do the good things He planned for us long ago.

It is comforting to know that God has a plan. He has a purpose for you. You are a unique masterpiece, there is only ONE YOU. He placed you thoughtfully into His plan, and has good things planned for you. You have been trusted to represent Him to everyone you come in contact with; you were made in His image.