pity. party.

well, this week is probably the biggest week in the life of our church. hillsong church. its hillsong conference. some of the world's best and well known leaders, pastors, and worship artists gather for one week in acer arena. its huge. i mean a REALLY BIG deal. everyone who is anyone is there. as apart of the college's requirements, the students are required to serve. so brian and all of the other students are there. serving. experiencing. and loving every second. our housemates are there. experiencing and loving it. and where am i, you ask? i am sitting on our couch with a blanket watching tv. not at conference. and feeling sorry for myself. and why am i not there? well, i am blessed with an incredible job. i really do LOVE my job and feel so blessed. however, we are in the midst of an extremely busy season/translation: i work until 5:30pm-6pm. the evening session of conference begin at 6pm...just in time...right? well, its an hour and a half train ride. i would get there as it was wrapping up. boo. so that is why i'm on the couch during the biggest week in church life. okay, enough with debbie downer. as i was sitting on the couch feeling sorry for myself i realized how much i have to be thankful for...

*time to relax after an insanely busy day

*an incredible job that keeps me insanely busy

*amazing housemates who i love living life with

*incredible friends who will fill me in on every detail of conference

*a PHENOMENAL husband who puts up with my pity parties and loves me through them and teaches me what true serving is

*an incredible heavenly father who i get extra alone time with this week

so thank you for allowing me to get all that out. i feel much better. you never thought you would be my therapist, did you?!

xoxo

erika//

life in photos.

Hey everybody, we just wanted to share these with you so you could be a part of our day out in the city. We love you all so much and hope that you have a great fathers day in the U.S.

Driving in Australia and other things!!!

Hey everybody it has been a bit since I have blogged so I am here to tell you a little bit of what has been going on here.  I got to drive yesterday for the first time in 6 months.  It was so nice to be in a car and driving around, that is until I pulled out onto the street and cars were coming at me!!! Oh yes out of such habit I started driving down the right side of the road, and good thing it was on a side street.  There was no danger and I quickly went to the left side of the road, and had no trouble the rest of the time.  I was quickly reminded of all the comforts of having just a mode of transportation and how nice it is to just get in the car and go.  Most of the time we are waiting on busses and trains.  While it wasn't our car and we are back to the public transport which is really good here, I had so much fun driving!  Can I just start this post out by saying God is so good.  I am learning so much through him and all the classes that I am taking. 

I am learning in songwriting that when you get the most cliche thoughts, write them down, then go back and figure out new and fresh ways to say that same thing.  I have learned so much about leadership and communication as well.  I could write a whole wall posting on just what i have learned this semester, but will spare you a really long post.  

Erika and I are doing really well.  We are loving the new place and love our new flat mates.  They are such a huge blessing in our lives and really enjoy having a friendship with people that are our age and in a similar place and situation that we are.  

I have just about finished a song that i have been working on since we arrived here.  I know that it's a really long time to work on a song, but I heard some of the best advice and wisdom about that from someone i just met today.  He said "It's funny how you can spend months and months writing a song, and then there are the times where a song comes to you in about 3 minutes.  The really frustrating part is when people like the song that took 3 minutes better than the one that took months.  The good thing is that the 3 minute songs come through the learning and frustrations that come from a song that takes months and months to write."  That was such a great revelation and help to me.

I hope everything is going well at home.  I hear and see on the news that things are difficult in a lot of the country.  I want to leave you with this verse John 14:27, which was also a great inspiration to the song that I am writing.  Jesus says "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."  

We love you all and thank you for your support through prayers and finance.  You are such a blessing to us and we are forever grateful.

brian

sick day with a sunny sky

So...I  (Erika) am home sick.  For clarification, I am at home and sick not to be confused with being home-sick.  Like clockwork, every time the season changes I get sick-boo.  June 1 brought winter to the southern hemisphere and 11 days later...I am sick.  Icky cold and allergies.  Sore throat and cough combined with no sleep left me with no choice but to call in sick to work.  Blah.  When I was a kid I LOVED sick days.  Sick days meant [fun and relaxation.  Now I just pace around the whole place thinking about what I should be doing instead of relaxing and trying to get better.  You should have see me at Brians parents house.  I paced around their house from 8 am to 3 am the next day.  He finally told me to shut up and go to bed.  I think he was tired and frustrated.  Oh and if my taster ever goes out.  God help us all I really freak out then.  If you can't tell by the writing style, Brian started writing where it says now I just pace.  Isn't he a riot]  Brian thinks he is SO funny.  As much as I would like to say the above is NOT TRUE...alas, I cannot.  Sorry for the imposter.  As I was saying, when I was a kid sick days meant TV (in large doses that were not usually allowed), reading, soup, and my mom at my every beck and call.  Ladies and Gents, it doesn't get any better than that.  But today didn't look like that.  I was home-alone.  Brian at school and then work.  So I got very bored.  And thought about EVERYTHING I should have been doing.  And wishing I was at work.  Some people play hookie from work and love sick days, but I LOVE MY JOB.  I hated missing it today.  Not because I would be behind or I felt guilty, but because I truly missed being there.  I did ALL of that but all I wanted to do was relax...ugghhh.  So frustrating.  But then came my silver lining...I had a mother/daughter date with my amazing mom over Skype.  Praise Jesus for Skype when you are 10,000 miles from home.  And I got to talk to her for two hours.  So in a way, I got my childhood sick day-my mom.   And then my awesome, amazing, phenomenal, HOT, and compassionate hubby came home from work and tended to my beck and call for the rest of the night.  Folks, it doesn't get any better than that!  After all was said and done and as much as I HATE being sick, it turned out to be an A-OKAY day!!!! 

And the award goes to...

I definately think that Brian and I should get the slacker award for blogging.  In our defense the past month and a half has been a whirlwind!  Since I know you all are dying to know what we've been up to the past month (ha!), I will give you snip-its into our life...

1.  We MOVED!  Thats right for the 3rd time since August we packed up our things and moved.  We are becoming professional packers and movers!  We are no longer in the college housing.  We've moved to the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney near the bay.  Its a BEAUTIFUL area.  And we are able to save heaps of money by living here.  We are so blessed.

2.  I'm applying for my 2nd Visa in 6 months!  Yeppers, thats right, I'm back to the Visa process.  But its for a wonderful cause.  My company, Lindamood Bell, promoted me and with the promotion I need to be able to work full time.  However, on my current visa that is not possible.  So they have agreed to sponsor me so that I can be full time status!  Again, we are so blessed.  However, we NEED your prayer.  This is a very vigorous process.  We (my work and I) are finishing up the application and submitting it this week.  The business sponsorship is a hard visa to get approved.  So we need your prayers!  Please join us in praying and believing for my visa to come through, so I can begin full time work by July 3rd!  We are believing for a miracle!

3. Brian is playing in Hillsong College Chapels!  Brian has the honor and privilege of being one of the few worship students to play in the chapel worship band at college.  If you know Brian, you know he is LOVING it!  Anytime he has an opportunity to engage others in life changing worship, he is stoked.  God is really raising him up in leadership. 

4. KEYBOARD!  God is a God who provides.  And we've seen this to be true through this whole journey.  God keeps showing himself as our provider...even in our wants.  We've been praying for Brian a keyboard.  As most of you know, Brian isn't just passionate about playing and singing but he is passionate about writing music.  In order for him to practice and write he really needed a keyboard at the house.  So we began praying.  And in about 2 weeks we had a keyboard GIVEN to us.  Thats right-given.  For free.  Amazing.

5. Brrr...As you all in the northern hemisphere are in full swing of summer, June 1 marked the first day of winter for all of us southern hemisphere residents.  I am so confused.  Each time I write the date, this messes with my mind.  My internal clock is WHACKED.  Winter in Sydney isn't too bad.  Winters primarily consist of sunny and crisp days. Today it was about 60 degrees and sunny...I can handle that!  And on Saturday we went to the beach...I'm not complaining!  However, this was after about 2 weeks of rain...ick.  Autumn is rainy season, so I was welcoming winter!  

6.  MEGA PRAYER.  We got to experience our first Mega Prayer Night at Hillsong.  This is a service the church gathers all campuses and has a 2 hour service of worship and prayer.  Unbelievable.  This was the BEST and most POWERFUL service I've ever attended.  I felt like I had a glimpse into heaven.  I can't begin to put into words.  But the Spirit was thick.  

7.  Across the Earth...Hillsong United released another album May 26 in the USA.  It hit #1 on iTunes beating Eminem...how crazy is that?!  If you haven't listened to it-YOU MUST!  This is my favorite United Album.  Unreal.

Well, that about catches you up.  I promise not to take such a long absence.  At the suggestion of a friend, I'm gonna start carrying my camera EVERYWHERE and take pictures of our experiences so we can keep blog-land updated more frequently and with more pictures.  Again, we are blog slackers.

xoxo

b & erika

If i have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

If there is one thing in this world that I am thankful for, it is the life that I have been graciously and undeservingly given. I was hit today with a very harsh reality that was very amazing to me. http://www.globalrichlist.com/ On this website is a calculator where you put in your annual income and it shows you where you are on the worlds "Richness Scale." I put in on that scale what Erika and I were making when we first got married, and I was slapped in the face, when I saw in relation to the rest of the world, how well off we are. 

I have been getting involved with I Heart Revolution, and I am so excited about this movement.  I really think that it is going to be something that impacts this world in an incredible and mighty way.  As I see and work with these issues, I am realizing more and more that we as Christians are supposed to have an attitude of love and generosity, and really to the point that we think is crazy or makes us uneasy.    We weren't blessed with the money or the things that we have so that we could hoard those things and keep them all to ourselves.  Thats not what it is about at all.   I love 1 Cor 13, most people know it, but I really like where it says in verse 6 where it says' "Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth."  I know that with a lot of homeless people in the states that the mentality is to just say that those people made the choices that led them to where they are, and they are just draining our society.  Well I would venture to say that most people haven't gone up to a homeless person and really sat down with them to ask them their story.  I would encourage everyone to do that,  I think that many people will be surprised what they find out.  

That goes with the rest of the world to, not just the homeless people in the States.  There is so much going on all over the world that we don't see in the news, or media.  There is so much injustice in this world, and it is so easy for us to get into a rut and ignore the strife of this world just so we don't have to leave the comfort of our routine lives.  I encourage you to do things to make a difference in this world starting with just stepping out of your comfort zone and talking to the people that you wouldn't normally talk to, or help the person that helping them might be an inconvenience. 

I thank you for reading what God is doing in us, please let us know what is going on in your lives, we love the feedback and hearing how people are doing.   

I will leave you with this,  If you haven't read 1 Cor 13 in a while, sit down and read it slowly and really chew on what it is saying.

blessings

brian

Colour Your World.

A couple of weeks ago Hillsong Church hosted their women's conference, Colour Your World, where literally thousands of women come from all over the world.  I was able to be one of 20,000 other women who had their life changed and turned upside down by what the Lord did at Colour.  Here I am two weeks after the conference and I am still processing and journaling all I experienced.  I have NEVER been so empowered as a female in leadership and woman of God.  I am blessed to be apart of a church who places value and worth on womanhood and empowering us as leaders.  Not in a feminist way, but in the way the Lord intended.  At Hillsong, we have a ministry called "Sisterhood" and it shatters every stereotype you have of women's ministry.  It is more than just a group of women at Hillsong doing a bible study during the week and bring a casserole to those in need every now and then.  It is a company of women uniting in friendship and cause changing their world and the world around them.   The hear of sisterhood is in this, "The Sisterhood is a company of women united in heart, using time and energy, strength and influence for the betterment of others...A company of women united in friendship, gathering their world, raising awareness, venturing into the realms of responsibility...A company of women united in cause, seeing the fruit, feeling the joy, knowing that they are making a difference." And Sisterhood isn't just for those at Hillsong.  We do have a local group that meets at church, but there are women all over the world apart of this amazing movement of women.  You can check it out at www.hillsong.com and then click on "sisterhood".   Once a year the "sisters" from all over the world gather for the Colour conference uniting us in spirit and body for 3 days.  And the result is nothing short of life changing.  There is no way I can share with you everything the Lord wrote on my heart, but I would like to share some highlights.    

We were blessed with amazing worship and phenomenal speakers (Lisa Bevere and Sy Rogers), wonderful entertainment, and had the opportunity to make friendships with women all over the world.  However, the life changing part of the conference was the challenges and need presented to us that are all around us and the globe.  The whole conference we were reminded that We are to be the Change because the "Spirit of the Lord is upon us...."  It is so easy to go through life only serving ourselves.  And this was not how the Lord intended life.  We were not created to live for ourselves.  The Lord really spoke to my heart about how I live my life.  My heart broke as I heard the need all around the world and right where I am.  And I get so caught up in me that I don't see the need right under my nose.  I'd heard the need so many times before.  And I walked away wanting to make a difference.  But then just several days later, I returned living life for myself.  But this time was different.  The Lord whispered into the depths of my soul, "My daughter, love.  Love in my name."  And the quiet intimate whisper in my soul, joined together with 20,000 other whispers has become a SHOUT!!  If we, as a company of sister joined together with Christ, can be the change in our world.  The way I live my life today looks different than it did two weeks ago.  Not only were we presented with a need, but practical ways we can be the change in our world and globe.  My service is not coming out of a place of obligation or legalism.  But love.  The Lord has placed such a burden on my soul that my life be a reflection of love and service.  And all who see my life can't help but see the love of my Saviour.  So, I extend the challenge and mandate to you...the Spirit of the Lord is upon YOU, my sister.  Won't you be the change in your world and globe?  

Before I close this ridiculously LONG post, which if you've made it this far, you are special to us, I want to open your eyes to a need that grabbed my heart.  Human trafficking.  For those of you who are not familiar with this, human trafficking is modern day sex slavery and exploitation of women sexually.  Roughly 2-4 MILLION girls are trafficked across borders each year.  These precious girls and women are expected to service up to 20 men a day.  99% are NEVER rescued.  How does this happen?  Some women are violently forced.  Others are given a promise of a good job overseas and then taken in trafficking.  These victims are from all parts of the world and happen to all races of women.  These women are subject to many abuses such as: malnutrition, sleep deprivation, emotional abuse, beatings, lack of healthcare and forced abortions. Many contract STD's and hepatitis A & B.  And children are deprived of basic education and any sort of parental upbringing, and are completely dependent on their captors for food and shelter.  Although this seems like a HOPELESS situation there is so much we can do RIGHT where we are.  There is an organization called A21 that is seeking to abolish this injustice.  You can join them in praying daily with guided prayers, financially support a victim of this crime, donate, etc.  Please visit www.thea21campaign.org to find out how YOU can be the CHANGE!

xoxo

erika