Loved

So Faith Weekend, or Luke 10 Weekend, whatever you want to call it.  I don't even know where to begin. I'm not going to write out everything that happened because it's a story that needs to be told in person and I'm down to skype or talk when I get home or even email you the story or highlights of it. A general overview, we stayed and were fed at Kaiapoi Baptist Church thursday night, then New Life Church in Timaru where one of our speakers, Gordon Rosewall is a preacher, and then at a Catholic church in Methven. I had a roof over my head and a couch or a cot to sleep on every night. We had breakfast and dinner every day and were provided with food for during the day. I wrote out a thank you note to each of the people who put us up in the churches and we were able to leave $10 with them as well, spending no money on ourselves and giving it all away.  On November 24th we will hopefully be heading back to Kaiapoi Baptist to help serve their community Christmas dinner, which is going to be such a blast to see everyone there again. I was never in any dangerous situation and I know that if I had been all I needed to do was call up our leaders with the phone card they gave us and they would come get us.
The thing about this weekend was it wasn't meant to test God. It wasn't like let's go out with nothing and see what You give us! I entered the weekend with the mindset of I want a chance to really focus on serving people and blessing the world around me.  I know that I'm a daughter of the King of kings and that I already am provided with so much, and that I would be well taken care of. We had the option of participating in this weekend or just going and serving at some churches and staying at base and God just gave me the assurance that I don't need to worry about food or shelter and if I went out wanting to bless people He would provide for me in that.
Walking in Timaru and again when we were at the church we stayed at in Methven, I realized that I have never felt so loved or cared for in my life. I've always had a home, always had food, clothes, whatever I could possibly need. When I'm traveling and not knowing where I'm going to sleep that night or if I'll be provided with more food than what we have in our backpacks, I had this core knowledge that God would provide and I just had this strong trust in Him so I had no reason to worry about that stuff. It made me realize how blessed I am and seeing His provision, I've just never felt so loved or safe or cared for. It's really a strange thing. I would never go out with the intention of challenging or testing God to see if He would provide. I really wouldn't. What made me go out was the knowledge that a father gives their child what they need and that's what God would do. There was no doubt in my mind that I would have a place to stay or food to eat. It was a fact that I would, and the details were just unknown to me. I really hope that this makes sense.
There were definitely a couple times where I struggled this weekend but even as I say that and know that I struggled, I still knew God was there and He was working. The sweetest thing was, when we were struggling and we actually listened to the small voice in our heads or really turned to God and came to Him with open hearts instead of 'You need to provide!' He would almost immediately pour out His blessing. I think that was the coolest thing to see, was how small our human minds are and all we see is what we're faced with and I feel like He was sitting up there, kinda giggling at us sometimes just going, 'be patient, you have nooo idea what I'm going to give you next!'
I really learned how God is my Father, my Daddy. I will never be in a place where He can't help me, I will never really be in need. It may seem like I don't have a lot, or my life sucks cause I'm not living comfortably, but He will provide what I need and even more than that. I have no doubt that this weekend was a huge learning experience, and it was definitely not a waste of time. I have no desire to challenge God in His role as a provider because I know He doesn't respond in that, He doesn't respond to 'I want this, give me this thing.' He responds to 'this is where I'm at, You know what I need so I won't worry about that, I want to work on serving You and the people around me.' God is so good and so sovereign and He's never going to leave us or let us down. That's the biggest gift and blessing ever.

Again, prayers are always appreciated! Life is busy with lectures and work duties and homework and outreach prep!! I am so stoked for everything that is still to come! One big thing I could definitely use prayer on is just finding the time to process and work through everything we're learning and experiencing. God's just doing so much and then there's just the things in life and there's just so much going into my head at once. God's provided me with the best people to talk with so no worries, they definitely help with the processing. Like I said, God is so good and this is where I'm supposed to be at this point in my life. I'm so thankful for every blessing and I'm just in such a good place right now! Thanks for everything :]