Walking in Trust

Happy 2015 from a cold and snowy Kelowna! With the first snow day in 35 years there are a few changes taking place, and not just in the weather.

As many of you may recall in my last post, I mentioned that I was planning to return to Australia this week (in two days to be precise) and join YWAM Whitsunday as staff. However, details were not coming together and one day as I was praying for God to make Himself clear I received an email that made it clear that I was not meant to return to YWAM Whitsunday or Australia at this time. At first I was disappointed, I had been so sure that God would provide. Yet now it's becoming clear to me that being in Canada at this time is truly for the best.

The soup and cookie mixes

When I made the decision to not return to Australia this January God began to provide me with more opportunities to share with people what He has put on my heart. I believe that over the last week He has been confirming my decision. I have been doing a fundraiser through my church by selling soup and cookie mixes in a jar. It has been a huge blessing to know that people support me, are praying for me, and are interested in what I am doing. I've been able to raise over $300!

Even though the plans to return to Australia have been postponed I am still pursuing the opportunity to return later this year. For several weeks I was encouraged to look into a different base in Australia and I am now considering the option of joining staff there instead. For now I am looking for work, building relationships, sharing what God has put on my heart, and hoping to meet up with individuals who I have not yet had the chance to see.

An afternoon with two great friends!

Thank you so much for standing with me through this time! I appreciate all your prayers and encouragement so much!

Blessings,
Amy

Please continue to pray with me for:
- Work as I look for a job
- Clear understanding of how best to use my time while in Canada
- Clarity in what God is calling me towards next
- Individuals and families who are would be willing to support and pray for me as I look into being staff in YWAM

Guarded by Grace

I hope you are all having a very wonderful Christmas season. Whether you are surrounded by friends or loved ones, I trust that your last week and the week to come will be full of laughter, joyful memories, wonderful people, and delicious food!

I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who prayed for my family and I as we did a road trip across the USA several weeks ago. We got to meet with many people who we had not seen in a good number of years, see new places, make new friends, and have a great time building relationship with each other over the 3000 or so miles of road we covered. We then returned home to find that the vehicle we had been riding in over those many miles had several problems that could have easily caused an accident at any point along the trip. As our mechanic so wonderfully sized up the situation, "you have so much grace!" for without God's grace who knows what would have taken place.

Visiting in Vancouver

These last two weeks back in Canada have been a huge blessing. I had the opportunity to go down to Vancouver for several days to visit a good friend, spend time with family here, as well as visit with several families and good friends sharing what God has put on my heart. These last few months have truly shown me the value of family. I'm so thankful to God for the people he has surrounded me with, through all the embarrassing moments, tears, moments of frustration, and times of joy they've always stood by me. I don't know what I would do without them. :)

First time skating!

Within the next few weeks (January 7th actually) I'm hoping to be flying out to Australia once again. I'll be returning as staff for a year to YWAM Whitsunday where I will be volunteering in hospitality, helping train and equip young people in the calling God has given them, and sharing the love of God with those I meet. Since this is a volunteer position I've been raising support by selling soup and cookie mixes. I'm also looking for individuals and families who would consider supporting me financially on a monthly basis or through prayer over the next year. I'd like to raise a support base of 20 families giving $20-50 a month. I also appreciate donations as everything is a blessing. If you would like to know more about what my expenses will look like or how to support me please write me at amyt.dr@gmail.com I'd be happy to share with you.

Thank you for being part of my journey! I'm so thankful for Christ's continuous grace as he leads me each step of the way. May God continually bless you over this holiday season and as we enter a new year.

Blessings,
Amy

Prayer Requests:
- Please pray for the remainder of my time in Canada as I raise support, spend quality time with family, and visit with friends
- That all the details for this next year will come together smoothly and quickly
- For men and women who are willing to pray for me and/or support me financially over the next year

Made to be Courageous!

"Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. This is my command - be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD you God is with you wherever you go." - Joshua 1:8-9

            Over the past few weeks God has been continually reminding me that He is trustworthy and can help me handle all circumstances and challenges. During the outreach of my School of Evangelism, God used Psalms 73:23-26 to help me understand that when I feel weak, God is still strong and if I rely on him then he will give me strength for each day. "My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever." I guess this lesson didn't end with outreach, because God is once again reminding me to let Him be my strength.

            Over the last month or so I've been asking God what He has planned for this next year. It's been quite the process, but as I step forward I'm learning to be courageous. It's difficult to step forward when you don't really know what lies ahead. Yet, even though it's scary to take a step forward in what seems like utter darkness, I know God is going to shine His light as I continue chasing after Him. I've resolved that I want to choose to follow God in love every day of my life, through all circumstances and in all seasons. For that I need courage. Courage to chase after God when I don't understand what is going on around me, but trusting Him to have the answers and to tell me in the perfect timing. My God is good and I am so full of joy as I continue to grow in my knowledge of Him.

Please continue to partner with me in prayer, support, or words of encouragement as I pursue another year or more in missions. I'm preparing to return to Australia in January and join staff at the Whitsunday base where I did both my DTS and SOE. During the next few months I will be raising prayer and financial support for my time there. If you are interested in partnering with me during this coming time, please contact me. I would be so privileged to have you as a partner in this journey!

As far as what is coming a little sooner, the months of November and December have been and will continue to be full of time with family. I've thoroughly enjoyed my time in Michigan seeing my niece and nephew. It has also been a real blessing to spend Thanksgiving all together as a family. Now tomorrow we will be driving out to Minnesota to visit family friends we have not seen in many years. I'm so excited to reconnect! From there half of us will be flying back to Kelowna and the other half will be driving back stopping along the way to visit many more friends. I will be joining in on this winter road trip and would enjoy seeing you, please contact me!

Thank you so much for reading and for partnering with me in this time. None of my travels with Youth With A Mission to share the love of God would be possible without you! Let's walk forward in courage!

Blessings,
Amy

A great article: So Your Life Didn't Turn Out the Way You Hoped

Prayer Requests:
- For clear guidance and open doors as I step forward into God's plans for me
- Safe travels as we visit friends across America
- Health
- Finances as I trust God to provide everything for this coming season
- Be shine His light to everyone I meet

Seeking to Go Further and Appreciating the Journey

Frost on the leaves

Over the last few weeks I have been in Canada spending time with my family, friends, and supporters. It's been great to travel on short road trips to go visit friends and to have fun when an Aunt and Uncle came up the States for several days. Though riding in the car for several hours isn't always the most comfortable experience, I find it usually makes for wonderful memories when you go with friends and/or family.

A mountain sheep

One of my highlights of being home is having the opportunity to review this last year of my life. I got to spend several days browsing through pictures and reading over notes from both my DTS and SOE. Around this time last year I was arriving in Australia for the first time with one of my fellow DTS students. We were two days late for the school due to some plane trouble, but we were so excited (and I was really nervous) as we pulled up to a small house and met more fellow students as well as the staff of the Whitsunday base. Walking through the door that day I had no idea that the people in that room would become some of my closest friends, and that over the next year God would impact my life in ways that I could have never imagined. I'm so thankful for this past season and I'm so excited to see what's coming next!

Right now I'm in Grand Rapids, Michigan visiting with my oldest brother Chris and his wife Lisa. They have two little children and for the next month I'm going to be baby-sitting and helping around the house. It's a very different lifestyle having two little kids around 24/7, but waking up to hearing your nephew say, "where's Amy?" is completely worth it. The laughter and smiles make up for the late nights and grumpy moments. I'm looking forward to this next month to make memories and face the challenges that come my way.

God has been teaching me a lot about the importance of embracing the moments that we have each day. Sometimes I get so caught up in wondering what is coming next that I don't appreciate my surroundings and the people around me. God keeps reminding me that I need to put my trust in Him with the knowledge that He is going to make everything work out, and it's going to be far better than what I could imagine on my own. I may not ever stop glancing at the horizon, but I'm learning to spend more time focusing on the here and now. For the moment, that means spending time with family and helping out where I'm needed. So bring on the late nights with laughter, tears, and all the colors of fall. I'm learning to appreciate this wild and random journey I call my life!

Blessings!
Amy

Prayer Requests:

- For patience as I continue to seek God
- For the time I spend with family
- Finances
- I'm looking for a phone with a good life span that will work internationally for calls, texts, and some social media
- To continue to glorify God in all that I say and do, as I learn to seek His plans for my life above all else.

Scanning the Horizon

Hello!

A new month seems to suggest a different location for my life, so at the moment I'm back in Kelowna, Canada! The School of Evangelism officially ended on September 26 after five months of exploring effective ways to share the Good News in a cross-cultural setting and learning more about our amazing God. Our eight week outreach in Central Asia was full of challenges, but they were all worthwhile for the growth we experienced, the lives we touched, and the ways we saw God move. If you would like to hear some stories of what I got to be a part of during that time feel free to contact me at amyt.dr@gmail.com, I'd be happy to tell you about all that God did!

The team

Through the SOE God continually revealed to me the importance of finding my strength in Him and learning to have joy in all circumstances. The other day I was looking through some of my notes from the lecture phase and found a prayer that I had written down. I was momentarily stunned and then laughed as I read over the prayer which talked all about learning to find joy in my Heavenly Father every day. God had taken that simple prayer and turned it into a day to day lesson for the rest of my school. He taught me to find my joy and strength in Him, and some days I still need reminders of those lessons. My faith in Jesus Christ combined with my love for people and travel has taken me to several new countries over the last year. I've learned to trust in God for finances, to love the way He loves, to step out in boldness because I serve a God that does the impossible, and to give even when I feel like I have nothing left for God can truly take the bad and make it into good. It has been a wild, crazy, and exciting journey which I wouldn't trade in for anything!

The journey isn't finished yet, it continues even now while I'm back in Canada though it may look a little different. For the next few months I am going to be in North America spending time with family and friends. I'll be mainly here in Kelowna, but during the month of November I plan to be in Michigan with my eldest brother and his growing family. During my time there we'll also have a mini family reunion over American Thanksgiving. I'm also planning to join in a road trip with my dad from Michigan to Canada during which we will be stopping to visit friends and family whom we haven't seen in several years. I'm so excited for these next few months to relax, catch up with friends and family, and seek God for whatever lies ahead. I'm so blessed to have this time and would love to see you and personally share stories of God's love and faithfulness. I hope to host a night within the next few weeks to share about my time in Central Asia, show some photos, and share stories from the last year. I am also looking at finding some work as well as getting plugged into some of the ministries that take place here.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support!  With your help I've been able to share the Gospel and see transformation in the lives of those around me as they learn of God's love. It is so amazing to think of all the seeds that have been planted around the world through your prayers, support, encouragement, and through simply reading this blog!

Blessings,
Amy

Prayer Requests:
- To know what ministries I should volunteer with around the city
- To find work
- For the time I spend with family and friends
- Finances
- To continue to glorify God in all that I say and do, as I learn to seek His plans for my life above all else.

Life Without A Compass

Have you ever tried going on a new adventure, whether it was a trek in the woods or just a car ride to a town that you weren't very familiar with? Have you ever gotten there or been well on your way only to realize you had no compass, no map, no GPS, and worst of all, no internet to ask Google for directions? Maybe you've gotten lost driving around your own town, or maybe you are perfectly capable of asking for directions and arriving safely at your destination right on time. Either way, most of us have gotten lost at some point in our life, even if it was only for a few minutes.

Personally, I hate being lost. Once I find a familiar place to orientate myself, I'll laugh and feel silly for getting lost in the first place. But in the moments when I don't know where I am or what is coming next, all I want is to be found and have someone/something to show me the way. I'm all for adventure and trying new things like going on a road trip or travelling to another country where I don't know the language. Just so long as there is a map or some way I can orientate myself if I end up in the middle of nowhere... which often ends up being the outskirts of somewhere.

I'm one of those people who can enjoy surprises, but prefers to know what is coming and how to prepare for it. I like to know that I am headed in the right direction. To walk forward with the assurance that I am doing the right thing. Yet, sometimes you have to make decisions when you don't know all the answers. It's what I've decided to call "life without a compass" - making tough decisions and having no idea where you will end up.

To me, one of the hardest parts about following God as I go on adventures around the world, is that most of the time you are living a life without a compass. You are challenged to follow Him, even when you don't know where you are going. To trust Him with your heart, your family, your dreams, and your future. To believe that He will make everything work out in the end. You learn to put one foot in front of the other and continue moving forward even when the ground beneath your feet doesn't look like it will support you. When you fall down, you ask for the strength to get back up again. Why? Because in my life, no matter how hard the journey gets God is the one person I can count on to always be there for me. Through the sunshine, thunderstorms, and earthquakes He's always with me. Though I'm far from perfect, He calls me precious, treasured, and loved. The best part is that God never changes, the only thing that changes is my understanding of His character and nature.

As I try to discern what adventures may be coming next, I'm learning to trust God. I don't know where I am going, what I will be doing, or who I will be meeting along the way. All I know is that I'm moving forward one tentative step at a time. I'm looking for a compass, yet if I can use a Pirates of the Caribbean reference, the ones that I've been finding don't seem to point north. On the contrary they keep pointing back to God, so I'm going to try and be patient because I know that whatever choices await me, they all lead to great adventures.

Thank you for reading this somewhat confusing post. I truly appreciate your support and prayers.

Many blessings!

Prayer requests:

- Please continue to pray for my team and I here in Central Asia!
- Our time here is nearly over and we want to make the most of what is left as we continue to see God move and build relationships with the amazing people here.
- Health - To know God's plans for the remainder of our time here.
- Safety
- Finances

If you would like to get in contact with me, just send me an email at amyt.dr@gmail.com! I'd love to hear from you!

A World of Dreamers

More and more God has been showing me that I live in a world made of dreams. We are all dreamers in our own right. Ever since childhood we have had ideas of who we want to be, what career we want to have, or how we want to impact the world. As we grow older those childhood ideas that became dreams change as we learn more about ourselves and the world around us. Many of us believe some dreams die and are replaced with about five new ones. I like to think that dreams do not ever die, they simply fade into the background as we focus our attention on different ones.

Sunrise on the ship!

Sometimes we look back through our life, however long it's been, and ponder all our dreams. We think of the dreams we had as children and often laugh at how absurd some of them were. We think of the dreams we had/have as teenagers and the life decisions we made on whether or not we pursued some of our dreams. Then we sit each in our own Lay-Z-Boy or rocking chair (whichever you prefer) of thought and look at where those life decisions have led us. Have we pursued the dreams that have been with us since childhood? Have we compromised our dreams for what we thought was a better 'life decision' at the time? Do we still have dreams to live out? Do we even dream anymore?

I believe we are all dreamers, and we are a result of a dream. God's dream to have relationship with us! He didn't have to create us, but He chose to because we were His dream! God made us to be dreamers as well. We might not ever make a whole universe, but we can change lives. It doesn't matter whether you are a doctor, mechanic, engineer, teacher, pastor, work in media, IT, serve your country through the military, work in government, or are simply a stay at home parent or any number of other things - you make a difference every day with your dreams!

My school on YWAM Australia's new medical ship!

My life is full of dreams. I've lived out some of them, others aren't ready to come out of the incubator of my heart, and still others have been laid aside or shoved to the back of my mind. Each dream, whether it lived for a few seconds or has stayed with me through several years, has meaning. I may not ever see them all become a reality, yet I want to live out as many as I can.

Right now my chief dream is to love and serve God with all my heart and let others see that reflected in me! That may sound like a silly dream to have at the top of my list, considering I should be living that out anyway. Still it's a dream. I want to travel the world sharing God's love with others! I don't know where this dream will lead me, but at the moment it's leading me to Central Asia for eight weeks starting on Wednesday! I'm so excited for this new adventure to meet new people and see a new part of the world!

Will you journey with me on this adventure that has been birthed from a dream?

Will you continue to pursue the dreams on your own heart?

Thank you for reading, as well as all your prayers and support!

Blessings,
Amy

Fun video: If you would like to know a little bit more about the new YWAM Medical Ship for Australia, just click the link!

Prayer Requests:
- Safe travels: we fly out on Wednesday and several of my fellow students are already enroute.
- For those who are staying in here for an Australian outreach and that God would reveal His plans for them.
- Finances: over $1000 has come in over this last week! As a school we are still trusting God for $4000.
- Health: several of us have been struggling with colds and fevers.
- That all the last minute details would come together smoothly.
- For God to continue to lead and guide each of us!