Happy Queens Birthday Weekend

Today has been an okay day.

We had a really amazing speaker come here for Queens Birthday weekend, which is also Pentecost weekend...his name is Samuel January and he's from South Africa. He spoke all weekend about the Holy Spirit.

It was kinda weird because everything he said in the two teaching sessions were things I had already learned in my Briercrest course that I just completed (with an 81% might I add! w00t!), but never have I personally applied any of the information.

I came to realize that even though I had come here with an open mind and hoping to learn something about the Holy Spirit in ways that I had never heard before, I have been influenced by all these negative feelings I get from the PEOPLE. I think to myself "these people claim to have the Holy Spirit...these people that I just cannot agree with in their doctrine, their actions, their motives...so why would I want any of that?".

I spoke to Samuel about this...and he said that he knows what I mean. He can understand how it is that I have come to be like this, because the only exposure to the "Holy Spirit stuff" has been a negative people experience and it's hard to look beyond that. But he also said that it is a faith building thing, that instead of saying "I refuse to accept it BECAUSE of the circumstances", I can choose to say "I DO accept it DESPITE the circumstances"...if that makes sense.

Anyways, now I have healing that needs to be done. He prayed for me several times and I couldn't stop crying. He knew how I felt even before I told him. I'm lonely. I'm broken. I've plateaued and bitterness and anger has held me back from moving forward and looking to where I should be.

So it was good. But now I have work to do. On myself.



But that was this weekend. Today is a different story.

I am coming home (which is kind of a top secret thing from some of the youth in Caledonia, so hussshhh) in less than a week, and I'm SO excited to be able to see my family and friends and go to Nicki's wedding! I don't know if I've ever mentioned this, but my highschool best friend is getting married and her fiance offered to pay for my flight home for the wedding to make Nic happy. I plan on fully paying him back whenever I can afford it, but he said he's not too worried about it coz it's not like I'm taking off on them at any time...

So anyways, I found out that even though I'm leaving from Dunedin on the 11th, I have been invited to a young adults spiritual camp this weekend, starting on the 9th and ending on the 11th. It's for people who don't hang out with Christians our age very much and it's mostly just a refresher and a relaxer for a while. So I'll get a good regeneration before I go back home for the wedding!

But I was a little concerned coz I had no idea how I was going to get to Pukerau, and then to Dunedin because I don't want to drive my car (which I don't trust) in possible frosty weather and I've never been to either of those places, let alone driven to them all alone! But the girl who's organized it just let me know today that I can take a bus to her place in Gore, then I can go with her to Pukerau, and then on the Sunday, someone who is from Dunedin will drive me back with them, or failing that, she will take me herself. And I'll give her petrol money for it of course!

So now I feel like things are sorted and I'm really glad that she was willing to help me out in order for me to come this weekend. Failing a ride from Pukerau, I would not be able to go at all this weekend so I'm really glad that I'm able to go now. Someone is arranged to take my place while the centre is open and so that's yet another thing I don't have to worry about.


But one thing that will be on my mind a lot is going to be "What is happening while I'm gone?", meaning that there is a lot of crap going down right now amidst people on the board and I'm getting really sick of the drama that comes with being involved with some of these people. But it is being said that all things will be sorted out by the time I get back so that things can go on as normal when I return, and that I should not stress about it while I'm home with my family. But I doubt I'll be able to keep my mind off the people and situations going down here while I'm away. I'll likely be in regular contact with at least Iain, probably Karl and likely even Rae. I'll check in with Belinda to make sure the centre's running smoothly and I'll email Bethany to ask if she misses me yet. I think that going home for a while will make me realize that I truly do love it here as well, and that I will be missing a great thing when I return back to Canada in December.


Anyways, that's enough for tonight I guess. It's been a hard week, but I've survived it and hopefully come out with a positive attitude and with a determination to make things better.

This will work out.