It's been awhile since we have posted here but oh so much has changed. We have left the beautiful city of London and our corps family there and our family is now living in Sydney Australia. We have been here almost 2 months now and finally beginning to feel settled and at home. The girls are loving being with cousins and grandparents and are feeling very content and happy here. Ashish and I are also doing well, enjoying family, the mild winter weather and the beautiful sun.
You may be wondering why we are now in Sydney? We are here to plant a multicultural ministry in the Doonside area and although this is very exciting, it is also very daunting. We don't feel like we have anything extra special to offer in this field other than open hands and open hearts. We are just praying that God can use us.
This blog will document some of our struggles and successes and setbacks and joys as we attempt to plant. We hope that it will be an encouragement and a learning tool for some of you out there about to embark on the same journey.
Stay tuned
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
Monday, June 22, 2015
God Gifts
So life has not always been super easy since we arrived here and there have been some days when I have wanted to go home, but in the midst of those hard days God gives us little gifts of awesomeness.
Here is a list of some of our best God gifts:
1) Musicals:
I am a huge musical fan and I in musical heaven here in London. I have been able to see Miss Saigon, Les Mis, Bollywood Dreams (or something like that) and then this past Saturday I woke up super early and waited in line with many many others to spend a whole day listening to the best musicals and shows the West end has to offer. It was pure deliciousness. I heard and saw everything from Wicked, Les Mis, Mama Mia, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Phantom, Memphis. Oh my goodness it was just a great day. 20, 000 people surrounded me as I sat on the Water fountain in Trafalgar Square and everyone was just so happy and in good moods singing at the top of their voices. A GREAT day.
2) Parks :
Instead of spending family time walking around malls, we spend our time in the many parks that surround London. I love it, Ashish loves it and my girls love it. There are simple little parks with a few swings and a slide or big parks with pirate ships or even bigger parks with lakes and ducks and boats. There is nothing more fun that enjoying the long daylight hours during summer running around these beautiful parks surrounded by the history of this city.
3) Sightseeing: At least twice a month we try as a family to get out and be tourists and wander the city and visit places we have not seen before. We have been to Kensington Palace, Hampton Court Palace, Tower of Lonon and the Zoo just to name a few. One of our favourite places to go is to Southbank and walk past the London eye and the Thames River and over bridges and past Big Ben.
I never get bored of sitting on the top deck of a red bus just taking in all the sights around me, Such history and such beauty. We are blessed
4) Ice Cream
I know this is a silly thing, but the Ice cream here is to die for. It is so yummy. It is creamy and fluffy and just the best!!
5) The Royals
I do not understand the whole Royal family thing, but I love being in the midst of all things Royal. I got to be at the Hospital where Princess Kate had her baby girl and was there when they announced to the world it was a little girl. Oh my goodness such fun.
I also was able to take the girls ( for a very short while, as Alina was having a mini breakdown) to see the trooping of the colour which is a huge ceremony involving horses and soldiers and her guards. That was also just a great thing to be a part of, full of history and pomp.
6) Southwark Corps
Our Corps has often been our saving grace on those hard days. The amazing people at Southwark Corps love on us and our girls. We often leave very encouraged and blessed. We thank God for these supportive and loving people.
Here is a list of some of our best God gifts:
1) Musicals:
I am a huge musical fan and I in musical heaven here in London. I have been able to see Miss Saigon, Les Mis, Bollywood Dreams (or something like that) and then this past Saturday I woke up super early and waited in line with many many others to spend a whole day listening to the best musicals and shows the West end has to offer. It was pure deliciousness. I heard and saw everything from Wicked, Les Mis, Mama Mia, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Phantom, Memphis. Oh my goodness it was just a great day. 20, 000 people surrounded me as I sat on the Water fountain in Trafalgar Square and everyone was just so happy and in good moods singing at the top of their voices. A GREAT day.
2) Parks :
Instead of spending family time walking around malls, we spend our time in the many parks that surround London. I love it, Ashish loves it and my girls love it. There are simple little parks with a few swings and a slide or big parks with pirate ships or even bigger parks with lakes and ducks and boats. There is nothing more fun that enjoying the long daylight hours during summer running around these beautiful parks surrounded by the history of this city.
3) Sightseeing: At least twice a month we try as a family to get out and be tourists and wander the city and visit places we have not seen before. We have been to Kensington Palace, Hampton Court Palace, Tower of Lonon and the Zoo just to name a few. One of our favourite places to go is to Southbank and walk past the London eye and the Thames River and over bridges and past Big Ben.
I never get bored of sitting on the top deck of a red bus just taking in all the sights around me, Such history and such beauty. We are blessed
4) Ice Cream
I know this is a silly thing, but the Ice cream here is to die for. It is so yummy. It is creamy and fluffy and just the best!!
5) The Royals
I do not understand the whole Royal family thing, but I love being in the midst of all things Royal. I got to be at the Hospital where Princess Kate had her baby girl and was there when they announced to the world it was a little girl. Oh my goodness such fun.
I also was able to take the girls ( for a very short while, as Alina was having a mini breakdown) to see the trooping of the colour which is a huge ceremony involving horses and soldiers and her guards. That was also just a great thing to be a part of, full of history and pomp.
6) Southwark Corps
Our Corps has often been our saving grace on those hard days. The amazing people at Southwark Corps love on us and our girls. We often leave very encouraged and blessed. We thank God for these supportive and loving people.
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Learning, growing and changing
I have been MIA on this blog over the last few months. I have had much to share and say but felt that I needed to process things a little bit before I posted again.
We have been here over 6 months now and I would say it is beginning to feel very much like home. We are beginning to find our feet and find our purpose, and that is a great feeling. I feel like our girls are beginning to really settle and Priya is making friends and she seems to be in a better place emotionally.
Ashish and I are also doing well. We are loving the Corps and community we have been appointed to and are feeling very positive about the future.
I cannot speak for Ashish but these last few months have been a challenge and have stretched me a lot.
If I was to be honest, there has been some really rough days in the last six months, and there have been some hurt feelings and sometimes a fear we had made the wrong decision in offering our family up for overseas service.
I feel like I am on the other side of that hurt and fear now and so I can look at things a little bit more objectively. I can actually now see that God has been answering our prayers all along, sometimes prayers I had forgotten I had prayed.
Like I said things have not always been easy and there have been tears and there have been feelings hurt in the process but I now see God was with us all along.
I see that God truly paid attention to the reasons we wanted to move our family overseas. He heard us when we said we wanted to be challenged and stretched, we wanted to be made to feel uncomfortable and we wanted to grow deeper in our walk with him. He heard us say we wanted to be immersed in other cultures.
No we are not living in a third world country and we are not struggling and living rough like many other officers, we are not in danger and we are not living without adequate shelter. The reality is we have it made, but at times things are a little difficult and at times things are frustrating and things don't come easy. There is more work involved in day to day tasks that were very simple in the USA. Lets just be honest and acknowledge that USA officers are some of the most blessed in
the world and you can get use to being a little spoiled. When you don't live in that world any more, that is an adjustment.
Oh but I thank God for that adjustment. I don't want to become so accustomed to a certain way of life that I become miserable when I don't have it anymore. I want to be changed in that process and I want to be made to feel uncomfortable so that I have to ask God to forgive me for me selfishness.
He has answered my prayers, he has been teaching me to distinguish between what is an inconvenience or what is a little frustrating to what is actually life threatening or damaging. He is teaching me to be grateful and thankful. I thank God for those lessons
When I have been hurt by miscommunication or my false expectations he has taught me to think through how I respond to be people and to let go of my expectations and to look at it from the other side.
He is teaching me daily and for that I am incredibly blessed.
He is teaching me that he knows me better than I know myself and that he does indeed give good gifts to his children.
I have never been more anxious about my children and about my future than I have since being here and yet he is teaching me to really trust in him, not just say I trust him but to really trust him.
He is teaching me how to be a pastor and not just an administrator and how to learn from my past mistakes and how to love on people and let go of my dreams and visions.
He is teaching me that "things" are not important and actually just crowd your house.
He is teaching me to say no to things that I don't think I should be spending my time on.
I still get a lot of things wrongs and in the beginning my hurt over some things my have made me withdraw a little but I see God has been with me this whole time and he has just been waiting for me to be ready to learn the lessons he wanted to teach me.
I am in a good place right now and ready for the next lessons he has for me to learn.
I share these things because I think it is important to be real and because I think people need to know that saying yes to God is not always easy, but it doesn't mean you made a mistake. It means that Gid actually heard your prayers and is answering them right before your very eyes.
We have been here over 6 months now and I would say it is beginning to feel very much like home. We are beginning to find our feet and find our purpose, and that is a great feeling. I feel like our girls are beginning to really settle and Priya is making friends and she seems to be in a better place emotionally.
Ashish and I are also doing well. We are loving the Corps and community we have been appointed to and are feeling very positive about the future.
I cannot speak for Ashish but these last few months have been a challenge and have stretched me a lot.
If I was to be honest, there has been some really rough days in the last six months, and there have been some hurt feelings and sometimes a fear we had made the wrong decision in offering our family up for overseas service.
I feel like I am on the other side of that hurt and fear now and so I can look at things a little bit more objectively. I can actually now see that God has been answering our prayers all along, sometimes prayers I had forgotten I had prayed.
Like I said things have not always been easy and there have been tears and there have been feelings hurt in the process but I now see God was with us all along.
I see that God truly paid attention to the reasons we wanted to move our family overseas. He heard us when we said we wanted to be challenged and stretched, we wanted to be made to feel uncomfortable and we wanted to grow deeper in our walk with him. He heard us say we wanted to be immersed in other cultures.
No we are not living in a third world country and we are not struggling and living rough like many other officers, we are not in danger and we are not living without adequate shelter. The reality is we have it made, but at times things are a little difficult and at times things are frustrating and things don't come easy. There is more work involved in day to day tasks that were very simple in the USA. Lets just be honest and acknowledge that USA officers are some of the most blessed in
the world and you can get use to being a little spoiled. When you don't live in that world any more, that is an adjustment.
Oh but I thank God for that adjustment. I don't want to become so accustomed to a certain way of life that I become miserable when I don't have it anymore. I want to be changed in that process and I want to be made to feel uncomfortable so that I have to ask God to forgive me for me selfishness.
He has answered my prayers, he has been teaching me to distinguish between what is an inconvenience or what is a little frustrating to what is actually life threatening or damaging. He is teaching me to be grateful and thankful. I thank God for those lessons
When I have been hurt by miscommunication or my false expectations he has taught me to think through how I respond to be people and to let go of my expectations and to look at it from the other side.
He is teaching me daily and for that I am incredibly blessed.
He is teaching me that he knows me better than I know myself and that he does indeed give good gifts to his children.
I have never been more anxious about my children and about my future than I have since being here and yet he is teaching me to really trust in him, not just say I trust him but to really trust him.
He is teaching me how to be a pastor and not just an administrator and how to learn from my past mistakes and how to love on people and let go of my dreams and visions.
He is teaching me that "things" are not important and actually just crowd your house.
He is teaching me to say no to things that I don't think I should be spending my time on.
I still get a lot of things wrongs and in the beginning my hurt over some things my have made me withdraw a little but I see God has been with me this whole time and he has just been waiting for me to be ready to learn the lessons he wanted to teach me.
I am in a good place right now and ready for the next lessons he has for me to learn.
I share these things because I think it is important to be real and because I think people need to know that saying yes to God is not always easy, but it doesn't mean you made a mistake. It means that Gid actually heard your prayers and is answering them right before your very eyes.
Monday, January 26, 2015
NHS
So being here in the UK I have realized that being an Officer in the USA we are VERY spoiled.
We are spoiled in many ways but especially when it comes to our health and the services we have available to us.
In the UK they have NHS which stands for National Health System and it is FREE and available to everyone and anyone. This is amazing and great and a very good thing.
In the USA though we have incredibly brilliant health insurance and we have pretty much the pick of the crop when it comes to Dr's and hospitals etc.
I miss that so much.
I am incredibly blessed to have free services here and I so grateful to live in a country where health care is available to everyone...BUT.... I miss the care that I was able to receive with our insurance in the USA.
I miss Dr's taking more than a few minutes to actually check me out, I miss walking into shiny, clean looking Dr's offices. I miss always being able to get an appointment that day or at the least the next day. I miss my girls having a Dr that was just for them and where I could ask them any question and not feel like I wasting their time and where they always had an appointment for them. I miss all the little extra's that made going to the Dr in the USA a pleasant experience for the most part.
I miss all those things and sooooo much more
But here is the deal..I was spoilt. I was better off than so many other people in the USA and as much as I miss all those things ( and I do) I think I do like the fact that health care is free here and that it is available to everyone.
I think I am okay with the fact that the wall paper is peeling off and the signs look messed up and worn out IF it means more people can have access to a Dr because they are spending money on health and on services rather than cosmetic things.
So yes I miss being spoilt but maybe its time to stop being selfish and maybe its time to TRUST the Lord with my health and the health of my kids and time to rejoice that everyone can have access to health without having to get into debt. Just a thought.
We are spoiled in many ways but especially when it comes to our health and the services we have available to us.
In the UK they have NHS which stands for National Health System and it is FREE and available to everyone and anyone. This is amazing and great and a very good thing.
In the USA though we have incredibly brilliant health insurance and we have pretty much the pick of the crop when it comes to Dr's and hospitals etc.
I miss that so much.
I am incredibly blessed to have free services here and I so grateful to live in a country where health care is available to everyone...BUT.... I miss the care that I was able to receive with our insurance in the USA.
I miss Dr's taking more than a few minutes to actually check me out, I miss walking into shiny, clean looking Dr's offices. I miss always being able to get an appointment that day or at the least the next day. I miss my girls having a Dr that was just for them and where I could ask them any question and not feel like I wasting their time and where they always had an appointment for them. I miss all the little extra's that made going to the Dr in the USA a pleasant experience for the most part.
I miss all those things and sooooo much more
But here is the deal..I was spoilt. I was better off than so many other people in the USA and as much as I miss all those things ( and I do) I think I do like the fact that health care is free here and that it is available to everyone.
I think I am okay with the fact that the wall paper is peeling off and the signs look messed up and worn out IF it means more people can have access to a Dr because they are spending money on health and on services rather than cosmetic things.
So yes I miss being spoilt but maybe its time to stop being selfish and maybe its time to TRUST the Lord with my health and the health of my kids and time to rejoice that everyone can have access to health without having to get into debt. Just a thought.
I'm in HIS hands
"I'm in his hands, I'm in his hands.
Whatever the future holds, I'm in his hands"
These words have been a big part of my devotional time with the Lord these past few months. There have been many days where I have needed that assurance and that peace that comes from knowing that my life and my days are indeed in his hands. I am beginning now to not only know those words as lyrics to a song but I am also beginning to truly trust these words and know them to be true in my life.
If you have been following this blog at all you will know that things are over here have not always gone to plan (well at least according to my plans) but every day I am beginning to see that maybe things have been going EXACTLY according to plan (HIS plan).
A few weeks ago now we were given a new appointment here in the UK. Beginning march 29th we will be Corps Officers at Southwark Corps in London. We are excited for this new opportunity and excited to be part of a new community. Ready to serve and get stuck in.
We did not see this appointment coming at all, but ever so slowly it seems God had been working his plan out all along and we just did not know it. Also ever so slowly God has been giving us a heart for this place EVEN before we knew we were going there.
One of my first weeks at DHQ here I remember gazing out the window and being led to pray for this community and a housing estate ..little did I know then that my Corps appointment would be in that very community.
The last few months when walking around this community I have seen this place in a different light and seen so many different minsitry opportunities. Once again that was God just preparing my heart.
It's a good feeling to know that all along God had been leading us and setting us up for this place to become our ministry home.
I hope that if you ever doubt that God has you in his hands that you will eventually be able to see his handiwork ALL over your situations and the words of that song won't just be lyrics but a truth deep in your heart.
Whatever the future holds, I'm in his hands"
These words have been a big part of my devotional time with the Lord these past few months. There have been many days where I have needed that assurance and that peace that comes from knowing that my life and my days are indeed in his hands. I am beginning now to not only know those words as lyrics to a song but I am also beginning to truly trust these words and know them to be true in my life.
If you have been following this blog at all you will know that things are over here have not always gone to plan (well at least according to my plans) but every day I am beginning to see that maybe things have been going EXACTLY according to plan (HIS plan).
A few weeks ago now we were given a new appointment here in the UK. Beginning march 29th we will be Corps Officers at Southwark Corps in London. We are excited for this new opportunity and excited to be part of a new community. Ready to serve and get stuck in.
We did not see this appointment coming at all, but ever so slowly it seems God had been working his plan out all along and we just did not know it. Also ever so slowly God has been giving us a heart for this place EVEN before we knew we were going there.
One of my first weeks at DHQ here I remember gazing out the window and being led to pray for this community and a housing estate ..little did I know then that my Corps appointment would be in that very community.
The last few months when walking around this community I have seen this place in a different light and seen so many different minsitry opportunities. Once again that was God just preparing my heart.
It's a good feeling to know that all along God had been leading us and setting us up for this place to become our ministry home.
I hope that if you ever doubt that God has you in his hands that you will eventually be able to see his handiwork ALL over your situations and the words of that song won't just be lyrics but a truth deep in your heart.
Monday, December 22, 2014
When All Your Dreams Come True
What do you do when all your dreame come true...but they are not what you expected or dreamt?
I am not even sure that question make sense, but it is the place I have found myself over the last few months. Everything I dreamt and prayed about was happening. I was here in London where so many people's dreams come true but there were times I did not feel so happy to be here.
Now don't get me wrong I am super excited to be here. I feel this is where we are supposed to be but there have been some hard and lonely days.
There have been some days where I have wondered if we made the right decision. Days when it seemed like what I wished for was not the reality of what we got. Days when I wondered if we had anything to offer, anything to give. Days when I worry for my girls and wonder if we put our dreams before their needs.
Moving to the mission field ( wherever that may be for you) is never an easy thing. Even if it is all you dreamed and prayed for. When the excitement of being in a new place wears off, your left with a broken heart for people you left behind, for a ministry you left behind. You long for days where things were easy.( where you know your way around, you know the bank system, you know how to pay your bills, etc). You long for recognition of who you are and what you done (no matter how superficial that might seem), you long for a minstry of your own..something to sink your teeth into.
There are some really hard days where you want to pack it up and go home to all that is familiar and where you actually felt like you were at HOME. To a place you felt needed and appreciated and loved ( oh how it looks different after the fact haha)
So what do you do when all your dreams come true, but it is not turning out the way you dreamt it would?
Well I cried a little (or maybe a lot), I sat at home and ate far too much chocolate. I watched numerous episodes of Come Dine with Me, I sat in a room upstairs with my daughter and cried some more.... but I also dug into the word and into God.
As I began to let his word sink in, I decided that nothing was about to change anytime soon, and I just spent time talking to the Lord. Me and the Lord has some pretty full on honest conversations in those early days.
But as I clung to him, he became my home and refuge. I asked him to show me the blessings around me, I asked him to give me new vision, fresh eyes. I asked him to remind me why we chose as a family to do missionary service.
He reminded me. We chose this, becasue we wanted to be uncomfortable, we wanted to be challened, we chose it so our children would experience the world and many different cultures, we chose it because we felt God could use us and we chose this because we wanted to be a part of building Gods kingdom. None of those things had changed... and it seemed we forgot that is what we prayed for. Yet he had not forgotten and he reminded me.
He challenged me about about my desire to be comfortable even here, he challenged and rebuked me for my judgements about people who had served overseas before us, he challenged me about my desire to be known and for my past accomplishments to be known. He challenged me about my selfishness and small world thinking. He made me depend on him and not my surroundings.
Even on days when I felt lost and alone he was with me and together we got through those days. We still get through those days together.
And now 4 months into this journey I see the plans he had for us all along coming into view. We cant see the whole picture yet but we see glimpses of the future. We see that God has not sent us here and then just forgotten about us. I am seeing HIS dreams coming together and starting to form into something beautiful.
So what do you do when all your dreams come true....you give them to God and ask for HIS dreams to come true instead. They are much better than anything you could dream up.
I am not even sure that question make sense, but it is the place I have found myself over the last few months. Everything I dreamt and prayed about was happening. I was here in London where so many people's dreams come true but there were times I did not feel so happy to be here.
Now don't get me wrong I am super excited to be here. I feel this is where we are supposed to be but there have been some hard and lonely days.
There have been some days where I have wondered if we made the right decision. Days when it seemed like what I wished for was not the reality of what we got. Days when I wondered if we had anything to offer, anything to give. Days when I worry for my girls and wonder if we put our dreams before their needs.
Moving to the mission field ( wherever that may be for you) is never an easy thing. Even if it is all you dreamed and prayed for. When the excitement of being in a new place wears off, your left with a broken heart for people you left behind, for a ministry you left behind. You long for days where things were easy.( where you know your way around, you know the bank system, you know how to pay your bills, etc). You long for recognition of who you are and what you done (no matter how superficial that might seem), you long for a minstry of your own..something to sink your teeth into.
There are some really hard days where you want to pack it up and go home to all that is familiar and where you actually felt like you were at HOME. To a place you felt needed and appreciated and loved ( oh how it looks different after the fact haha)
So what do you do when all your dreams come true, but it is not turning out the way you dreamt it would?
Well I cried a little (or maybe a lot), I sat at home and ate far too much chocolate. I watched numerous episodes of Come Dine with Me, I sat in a room upstairs with my daughter and cried some more.... but I also dug into the word and into God.
As I began to let his word sink in, I decided that nothing was about to change anytime soon, and I just spent time talking to the Lord. Me and the Lord has some pretty full on honest conversations in those early days.
But as I clung to him, he became my home and refuge. I asked him to show me the blessings around me, I asked him to give me new vision, fresh eyes. I asked him to remind me why we chose as a family to do missionary service.
He reminded me. We chose this, becasue we wanted to be uncomfortable, we wanted to be challened, we chose it so our children would experience the world and many different cultures, we chose it because we felt God could use us and we chose this because we wanted to be a part of building Gods kingdom. None of those things had changed... and it seemed we forgot that is what we prayed for. Yet he had not forgotten and he reminded me.
He challenged me about about my desire to be comfortable even here, he challenged and rebuked me for my judgements about people who had served overseas before us, he challenged me about my desire to be known and for my past accomplishments to be known. He challenged me about my selfishness and small world thinking. He made me depend on him and not my surroundings.
Even on days when I felt lost and alone he was with me and together we got through those days. We still get through those days together.
And now 4 months into this journey I see the plans he had for us all along coming into view. We cant see the whole picture yet but we see glimpses of the future. We see that God has not sent us here and then just forgotten about us. I am seeing HIS dreams coming together and starting to form into something beautiful.
So what do you do when all your dreams come true....you give them to God and ask for HIS dreams to come true instead. They are much better than anything you could dream up.
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