Nackered!

Hey ya my loves!

Colour is over now and man are we all exhausted! It has been so so good and I didn’t even feel too tired during the conferences, but today as we’ve had a day off from school the physical tiredness has been rushing over my poor little body like a wave! Im so happy to be able to sit down and scribble down everything that has happened during the past week – so many WONDERFUL things have taken place in such a short time!!

So on from Sunday to Tuesday, a few days before colour Jonna spent her last days in Sydney here with me – we had the best time ever!
We got to just chill out in the park, go to church together, chatter about life.. On Monday we went to Coogee beach and it was such a warm, lovely day on the calm beach!! We went a little crazy as always with our pictures, it’s always fun to have such memories :)

On the last day we went to to city and went through probably every single tourist shop in whole wide city! :D Jonna bought finally the UGG-boots she’s been craving for and I got a pair of cute ”roman-times” sandals – how funny that I bough a pair of summer shoes now when autumn is upon us here in Sydney and she bought a pair of full on winter boots as she returns back to Finland’s spring! After all the shopping we sat down at Hyde Park for a picnic – it was so yummy!! I got a VENTI caramel latte – man that amount of coffee kept me going till the early hours of the morning!! We also bought chocolate eggs to celebrate easter a little early :)

We finished the night at the oh so famous Pancakes on the Rocks, ordering ”the usual” and enjoying both nachos and pancakes with Lemon,Lime&Bitters.. the best possible way to finish our time here together according to the good old times :)

Then started the craziness of the past week – am I glad I got to rest in Jonna’s gracious company to gain enough strenght and energy for the week to come! Wednsday we were ”bumping-in” to the Sydney Entertainment Centre – we got to prepare all kinds of things for conference and set-up the venue! After we were ready I went down to the pool with a few of my friends just to chill and then early to bed!

On the first days I was helping with the Registrations – Helping women to get their conference passes and registering their kids to kids programs!
The opening ceremony was absolutely adorable, and such a large crowd of women gathered to fill the entertainment centre that there were not enough seats for us volunteers to sit down!

2nd day of conference I got down to the business: I served in Pamper (giving manicures and hand massages!) and also hung out at the CarPark ticket sales desk the times I was needed at the Pamper! During the nights I got to do ”New Christians” –team and greet new Christians after the altar call to give them a bible as a gift and chat with them! It’s so cool to meet people who have just been brought to the Lord!

3rd day the same pattern repeated and the closing ceremony was stunning, breath taking and so much fun! We had the Sisterhood morning which is all about how we can be the change and do our part in making this world a better place – the Sisterhood Vision video that the team had prepared was inspiring, heart breaking and breath taking! I never knew of some of the issue people still face in the 21st century, such as HUMAN TRAFFICKING all around the world, especially in Europe, and CHILD ABDUCTION in Uganda.. I am convinced we all must play our part to change these circumstances to those who are the victims of these terrible human crimes and so thankful the Sisterhood offers a pathway to step up and make a difference. The seed was sown into many women’s hearts and I am confident those seeds will grow and we’ll see great victories in those areas!

This year we received knitting needles and a ball of wool – a gift that can keep on giving! I have been knitting for the Sisterhood lately and am so excited now Im not the only one! Knitting is hip! (I know I know, you all think Im such a grandma but it’s not true – knitting is in and young people can also contribute through hand skills such as! Our dance team had prepared a hilarious knitting dance prior to the gift moment which was heaps of fun! :)

Then on Sunday we had the FABULOUS live album recording – We accommondated the floor with all youth groups from church and I got to hang out with both Fuel kids and Powehouse fellows! This is my Fuel tribe leader Nicky – she’s an amazing woman of God and so good to be around!

The church did something remarkable – we had a project called ”Kilo of Kindness” and everyone from church brought with them a kilo of non-perishable goods to donate to our CityCare who take the food, packs it and contributes it to the poor in our city who are lacking in such basic needs as food! So as an result of this request from the church, on the night of album recording 10 tons of non-perishable foods were brought to us!!! CANT YOU BELIEVE!!! I love the fact the people in our church commit to actually being the church and carrying what is in the hearts of Bobbie and Brian with such passion!

The night was amazing, the songs so powerful and Robert Fergusson’s (He’s my all time favourite preacher and teacher here at Hillsong) altar call so INCREDIBLE that my heart must have left a beat and streams of tears soaked my face – and hey, I am saved so you can imagine what it was like to those who have not yet met the Lord Jesus!! I had to take notes afterwards, his words just captured me!

We grabbed some Subway and Gelato icecream with Esmeralda, Florence, Keith and Ashton at Darling Harbour and sat there chatting away – such a good night it was! Was great to be able to catch up with Ashton again and we got to encourage each other in our walk here - I believe God connected us beforehand to make sure we’d both make it through and would have someone to lean unto when days seem too hard to bear alone. His friendship has saved me from many harmful thoughts and other way round too! It’s a perfect balance of compassion, challange and companionship that keeps us both going no matter what happens!

Then Colour 2 started: Registrations on Monday and since I knew I’d be sitting around the whole day, I went to donate blood at the red cross donation truck that was parked next to the venue! It was great to be helping again since I haven’t been able to donate for a long time because of certain medications I’ve been on, but from now I can do it every 3 months and I most certainly will! It’s such a simple thing to do and can save lives ! So many people who’d like to donate blood can’t because of their medical conditions.. But I CAN! ..and do I will :)
It was great to see that many people took the chance!

God has been so generous with me – I received so much support right before colour with my finances, adding up to nearly $1000!! And on the last morning of colour a girl came up to me to deliver $80 which anonymous fellow college student had felt God wanted to bless me with! Money is so not the issue when you are doing what God want’s you to do and when you give generously to Him and His people even when you yourself are in need! God has all the money in the world and the amounts are nothing to Him, He just want’s to see where our hearts are at!!

On the 2nd day of Colour 2 God really started to work with my personal things – Sy Rogers was preaching and his words unlocked in me the feelings I had still held unto agains my dad – the bitterness of the loneliness and abandonement he had left me to and the secret wishes that he’d have to go through what he put me through. I realized God was not condemning my feeling and by no means devalidating the hurt I’d been through, but he whispered into my ear: ”Daddy sees it and daddy’s sorry you had to face it”. I broke down and wept as I realised God had already placed the horror of abandonement I had wished over my dad over His own Son when Christ was crucified and I woke up to realise that loneliness was not what I wanted to find my dad in, even though the he right now is in the very middle of it. God touched my heart with His healing hand and uprooted the last unforgiveness I had had in me toward the past..

Also our other quest speakers stirred me up – Lisa Bevere’s magnificent sermon about the ”lioness” we are called to be as women and Marilyn Skinners inspirational life story of how one woman could change the world in the way she and her husband Gary have. Full of fire and faith, the woman of Provers 31 is ready to rise in me!

It was pouring down on the 3rd day like crazy as we got up in the early hours of the morning – streets were flooding so bad me and my roomies picked up our shoes, rolled up our pants and went barefoot, making our way to church in the hammering rain! Autumn has officially arrived..

The sight of Volunteers on the last night was not surprising: everyone felt so tired that people simpy just laid down in the volunteer area and went to sleep whenever they had a chance! However, the packdown was not even too bad and we all got the next day (today) off from school to recover, so it’s been very gracious and not as exhausting as I thought it might be! I’ve been running around the whole time of both conferences and album recording, and I quess that’s what kept me energizised – I had no time to be tired! Serving also brought me so much joy and satisfaction that I found it hard to complain about anything at all!

Well, I quess that would be it for now, it’s beautifully only 9pm and I hope to take a little walk before I head off to bed. Tomorrow life’s returning back to normal, with amazing classes at school and Fuel at night. I am also popping into my old workplace – I got a call from the new manager today and Im going to meet with him to see if I’d still like to work there. If I can raise the pay a bit and change my hours a little I think Im up for it :) Saturday we’ll meet with Jenn (my RDG collegue) to chat about RDG stuff and we’re also invited over to Nicky’s place for dinner, which will be great!! Life’s just so good, don’t ya reckon?

Heaps of Love,
Hugs and Kisses,
-P