Refresh.

These past 2 weeks have been ones of refreshment for me. As my relationship with God grows, so does the amount that I hear His voice speaking into my life. There has been so much going on here, and with help from The Big Guy upstairs, I really feel as though I've been making good decisions about different things/circumstances that He has put in my life. I'm learning more and more that when I put time and effort into my relationship with Him, He WILL speak to me.

I started reading "The Power of a Whisper" by Bill Hybels today (thank you Linda Lesperance!!) and it is SO good. I was only going to read one chapter, but I couldn't put it down. Some of the key things that really stuck out to me were:
1) Whispers from God can be dangerous and costly. If we want to hear from Him, we also must be willing to sacrifice.
2) Our God is a communicating God. He is relational and he is near.
3) The issue isn't whether or not God is speaking; it's whether we will have ears to hear what He says.
These things really are making me think more about God's whispers on MY life. Maybe He will/is calling me to do something involving sacrifice. I know I just need to have the ears to hear what He's saying, and be open to the things that he may be calling me to do.

On a little bit of a lighter note... school is going really well! I'm doing well on all of my assessments (aka: assignments) and my "worship band" just had our first performance! It went really well -- it was just fun to jam out on a stage with a live audience and get a feel for the other 3 performances we'll have to do this year! Now we know what to expect and can prepare accordingly. Working in a band setting without chord charts is really helping me learn better how to play by ear and figure things out with a group of people who all have different and unique ideas of how the song should sound. It's been a really good experience! :)

I'm starting to feel a bit sick (sneezing, congested, etc.) so if some of you would keep that in your prayers it would be much appreciated! The weather is changing slowly here, so that could be part of it. Although I've got to say, it's a beautiful time of year in Australia! I can still wear a t-shirt outside, but there's a nice breeze that comes through so it's really the perfect temperature... I promise I'm not rubbing it in... haha ;) Anyways, i'm off to eat some American Kraft Dinner (Mac n Cheese) that was shipped to Angelique from the homeland! mmmm... Much Love!