From Portland, Oregon to Sydney, Australia

This time last year I was a 21-year-old girl with two suitcases to her name and a head full of dreams. Today I’m still that same girl, only I’m 22, those suitcases are now unpacked with the belongings settled in my closet, and that head of mine now has bigger dreams.

These last 12 months have been such a whirlwind of emotions, thoughts, and actions. I’m finding it quite difficult to actually sum up everything I’ve been through to present to you guys in a cute little package. However, as I write this, the song Oceans by Hillsong comes to mind.

For all the countless times this song has been played and the  of hundreds of  others that it has been quoted on one blog or another, I am sure that with each one this song has held a different meaning.

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"Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior

I will call upon Your Name
Keep my eyes above the waves
My soul will rest in Your embrace
I am Yours and You are mine”

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My year has been nothing like I planned or hoped but with that said, it has actually been far better and greater than I imagined. Never would I have imagined myself leading a small campus youth group while en route to becoming a campus minister (Don’t let the title scare you There are no tight white collars and lack of colors around here). I surely would not have seen myself befriending the people I have today - not because of who they are but because of who I was. Lastly, amongst many other unmentioned things, everyday I seem to fall in love with God and His grace a bit more than I think to be possible.

As easy as it was to list all those things that I have been blessed with, getting them was not. I’ve had my fair share of troubles and doubts, times where all I wanted to do was run back home, travel back in time and pretend that my problems were not my own. However, I couldn’t and the the realization that I couldn’t was painful and surprisingly tiring.

Australia is not some place where you go and the sun shines ever yday, life is  easy and full. It is not the place where your dreams come true… unless you will it to be. For a good portion of this last year, I relied solely on the fact that I had moved to AUSTRALIA! , and that living here would all of a sudden make my life cool and complete. But like any unstable foundation, that excuse started to crumble. God showed me that even the greenest of grasses can turn brown without Him. The most beautiful places on earth are mere smudges without His guiding hand to help you see.

That is one of the biggest lessons I have learned this year. I think God brought me to this exact place to help me realize that. It took a lot of hard work on my part and unreasonable amounts of patience, grace, love, and understanding on His to get me to this permanent mindset.

So whether this next year brings me back Oregon rain or keeps me under Sydney sun, I know I am going to be okay and even more grateful for any position I am put in.

Lastly, to all who were with me from the beginning or even yesterday; if you read a blog post or all of them; encouraged me; missed sleep because of the crazy Australia-America time difference just to give me an ear to talk to; dished out advice or a mouthful of prayer; if you are family, friends, or just an acquittance; whatever hand you put in or fingerprint you left upon my life I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. This journey and my life would not be the same without you. The blessings you all have been to me, I pray the same for you 100 fold. I love you guys.

Guest Blogger: August

Here are a few random things I enjoy: I love waterfalls because the very presence of them says “peace”. My favorite flowers are sunflowers not only because they are bright, bold and beautiful but also because they also have purpose, their seeds are used for food and for oils. I truly adore being at the beach at night; ocean waves overwhelm and bewilder me because of their depth and captivating ferociousness. I’m not a huge wilderness person but I truly enjoy walks in the park or mountain top views. I am constantly asking myself the same question whenever I am surrounded or in the midst of nature. What is it about nature that we are just enthralled with? We can sit for hours and talk about the colors in a sunset or sunrise, the beauty of the way the stars trickle themselves like freckles across a sky, and compliment over and over on the various types of flowers that we see. But when someone asks us what our favorite physical attribute is about ourselves we take forever to answer them back. This baffles me, even though I do it all the time. I am a huge advocate for “beauty”, I think I have secretly made it my personal goal to make sure that every women I come in counter with will know that they are beautiful inside and out, created so intricately and with a purpose. But when it comes to myself, I sometimes come up short in this area. I am quick to compliment one of my friends or affirm someone in their physical attributes but once it comes back to me I shut it down or deny it. I know I can’t be alone in this, why do we do it? Nature astounds us because the beauty we find there is simple yet breathtaking, it is not tainted by everything around it trying to compare beauties, it just is beautiful and that’s that. Nature reminds us that we are small and maybe sometimes a seeming insignificant part of a big story. Nature seems not only bigger but also better than us. But it’s not. All things have purpose; I would dare to say that we as human beings have one of the biggest purposes. We were created to bear the image of Christ here on earth… good gosh THAT’S HUGE.

Let’s take a quick look back through the creation story, shall we?

Genesis 1:9 says, “And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.”

Genesis 1:12 says, “The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.”

Genesis 1:21 says, “So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.”

Genesis 1:25 says, “God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.”

Lastly Genesis 1:27-31 says, “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.

Do we not realize that God created the ENTIRE WORLD, universes, galaxies, waters and dry lands, animals, insects and us, the human race. It was good, it was good, it was good and then finally it was VERY good. WE are the very good. These creations that he created are so minuscule in comparison to US who were made in the IMAGE OF HIM. We are the only creation made in the image of God WHAT?! How awesome is that?! We as human beings are majestic; we were created with set aside and diligent time, and the breath life from our very creator. We stare in awe of his creations; waterfalls, flowers, beaches, mountains and forget that we too are his beautiful, handcrafted, breathtaking creation. Let us rejoice in that today.

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Every last Thursday of the month I invite different bloggers to write their own pieces specifically for you guys, my readers! This month I have the incredible honor to host guest blogger, Arielle Estoria Wilburn. She runs the blog Chronicles of a Lioness so after you read her heart-warming post here, go check out her page for even more amazing stuff.