next step

Somewhat of a breakthrough with my parents during a skype conversation the other day in regard to my plans after this year. But what is my next step? I don't know. Still praying.

Mum doesn't want me to stay in Japan unless it's for other work, I know they'd both prefer me to be in Australia and not to do something that requires support raising but my priority lies in what God calls me to, even if they aren't 100% supportive of my decision.

Do I re-stint? Do I join staff in Australia? Do I do something totally different? It doesn't really help that I'm not a particularly passionate person, so I feel like there's not much I can say I'm passionate about outside of what I'm doing at the moment, even towards the degree that I did that my parents expect me to get a job in. As much as I want to rule it out maybe I shouldn't just yet since I believe there was a reason why God led me into that.


We'll see in October...

ancora imparo

soooo I will try to blog more! My excuse is that it might be a bit hard though because I also have my blog about my STINT in Japan to update too but it's not much of an excuse because I haven't been posting much there either D:

anyway...

I thought I'd write about some things I've personally been learning in Japan.

- Hearing from God: we tend to be so easily distracted. I know for me I struggle with listening more to my mp3 player or what other people say than what God is trying to say to me. But I'm so thankful (especially as the weather has gotten hotter) to have been able to just rest in God's word more and hear from him through my times with Him. Being away in New Zealand and at V20 was good in bringing my focus back to just listening to what God has to say. There is still plenty of room for me to grow in listening to God.

The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. John 10:3-4

- Complete surrender to the Lordship of Christ: I always knew that a true follower of Christ fully surrenders their life to God. I wasn't so sure on why though and I think that affected my own inability to fully surrender parts of my life to Christ. But I was able to understand more about why after reading "The Prodigal God" and "The Reason For God" by Tim Keller and realising that while salvation was free for us, it came at a great cost to the Father when He gave up His Son on the cross. We fully surrender our lives because we were bought at that price and now belong to Him.

At V20 Roger Hershey also challenged us to think about what rights Jesus gave up when He chose to come to Earth, and now as we surrender to His Lordship, what rights do we also give up. This was hard for me because I realised that although I may not demand it from God, I still hold onto the expectation of my rights for my parents' approval of what I'm doing, for comfort, for a relationship, for recognition and respect, and for my passions, desires and dreams. Holding onto these rights is equal to the unwillingness of completely surrendering to the Lordship of Christ. It's like I'm saying "I still want to be in control of these areas of my life, I don't fully trust You so I won't give these over to You". But He's helping me to learn to let go and be completely sold to the cause of Christ and the spreading of the gospel.

I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me-- just as the Father knows me and I know the Father -- and I lay down my life for the sheep. John 10:14-15

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace. Acts 20:24

Almost half-way

aah my neglected blog! Haven't had time to update since coming to Japan!
It's been almost 5 months which means we are almost half-way through the STINT.
So much has happened: the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, connected with the Japanese Christians, saw 4 girls come to faith, went to New Zealand for our midyear debrief and the V20 conference, Japanese has improved(!) and more!


After coming back from V20 in New Zealand, I feel like God has given me a lot to digest in thinking about how things have gone so far in the last semester, in looking ahead to what to do next semester and even in my future beyond this STINT. Nothing is clear for sure, but I know I need to pray.