Camping, Fundraising and Fear of the Lord

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Hey guys 😊 Blog time again!

So i've been in Australia for 8 weeks now and in so many ways it feels like it's been years but in a good way rather than a 'will this ever end' kind of way! It's been a scorcher of a week weather wise and i am having about 2 showers a day because of the humidity. it's pretty gross i'm not going to lie!

This weekend we, as a class, went camping and not the regular UK kind of camping where you take tents and have campfires and stuff like that but the Australian kind of camping where you sleep on a tarpe (like the floor of a tent) just under the stars, with no campfires as they are illegal. So the first fleet of buses left at 9am on friday morning and started what should have been around a 2 hour journey but which turned out to be about a 7 hour journey as one of the tyres on my bus blew out so we had to pull into a gas station and change it (when i say 'we' i obviously mean some of the stronger staff members changed it while the students chilled in the air conditioned mcdonalds near by). It was so hot on that day and the sun was so intense that i had to wear sunscreen in the bus as i was next to the window facing the sun so to be out in the sun changing a tyre...well it mustn't have been pleasant.
So we arrived at the campsite around 4:30, set up camp, experienced the campsite toilets (didn't lock and were pretty disgusting and later housed many many maggots) and then went down to the river which was beautiful. Some people were straight in there but as I had a pretty rotten week with body image and thoughts on self i really wasn't in the mood to swim and didn't bring my swimsuit as i had no desire to wear something that clingy. Was pretty difficult watching everyone have fun in the water and feeling like i couldn't get involved because of the way i felt about myself.
Since we didn't get to camp on time it delayed the other group of students as the buses we were using were the ones they needed to use so they didn't arrive till 9ish so it was really dark and pretty difficult for them to get an understanding of what the campsite was like. most of the girls just went in the tents which were set up for the girls who found it difficult to sleep in the outdoors in just a sleepingbag and most of the guys just found a spot on the floor. We had to wait for the others to get to the camp site before dinner could be cooked so the policy of ladies first was greatly welcomed when it was dinner time!
My first nights sleep was pretty disturbed on the account that i was sleeping right next to a tree so had it's delightful roots sticking into my back all night. It definitely could have been worse though!
For the saturday the majority of the day was spent by the river so the majority of my morning was watching people have fun in the water. After a little pep talk and support from one of my class mates i decided to go in the water. It has been a good few years since i have been in the water for a long period of time, i would say at least 8 years and my actual swimming ability is pretty poor (only achieved 15m badge in school and my strongest stroke is probably the doggy paddle and i can't tread water) but people were pretty supportive and there were rocks and a tree trunk in the water which were pretty large and high enough for you to sit on and be above the water so treading water wasn't too much of an issue. After a while i just got so used to the water that i didn't want to get out of the water. i went canoeing a few times and took part in a relay race. I really did enjoy it and although the securities were still there they weren't hindering me in a way which i felt I was going to regret.
I could describe the camping trip detail by detail but i think it's already looking like quite a lot so i think i'll just wrap it up! So i really enjoyed my first camping experience and would definitely recommend sleeping outside with no tent (obviously you might want to check the weather if you're going to do it in somewhere like the UK). Definitely had a lot of laughs and just had a lot of fun. Even though we were doing quite a lot of activities I felt pretty relaxed and refreshed after it. I think I probably could be converted to be more of an outdoor person...well a campsite kind of person...i'm not really ready to fully experience the outdoors yet!

So this week we're sending out some information about a fundraiser we're doing for outreach fees. I'm still trusting God for over 3,000 pounds as the outreach fees is over the amount which I was originally told and the deadline is the 16th March so it's about 3 weeks away! The fundraiser is called 'Blessed to be a Blessing' and it involves asking people in our life for a donation of $25 (about 16pounds), $5 (3 pounds) of which will purchase a care-package for a homeless person in Perth and the rest of it will go towards paying off our outreach; so many people are blessed with one donation. If you want to know more please look at the photo attached to this blog as it explains it all and how to take part in it. I would greatly appreciate prayer in the count down to the 16th of March when the outreach money is due in. This is the largest amount of money i've ever had to trust God for so although I know that God will provide the doubts are creeping in now and again. This fundraiser really involves a lot of trust as all I can really do is provide people with the information and pray that some people will be moved to get involved. I'm also trusting some people to take the information and be a spokesperson for me as I cannot ask people in person...this isn't easy for me as I'm a bit of a control freak. So yer, prayer would be appreciated!

This week's topic was 'Fear of the Lord'. Fear of the Lord is not about being scared of God but it is about respecting God, loving what He loves (e.g. His creation, the boundaries He has given us to protect us, other people etc) and hating what He hates (i.e. sin). The main thing I have learnt about Fear of the Lord is that is a daily choice and that you have to chose to look to God and praise Him for who He regardless of how you feel or the circumstances you are going through; God is God every minute of every day and nothing which happens will change who He is. I look back into how I have worshiped God in the past and it have often been centred on how I feel and on what I'm going through and what i'm going through rather than who God is. Life is difficult, I think we can all relate to that, but through praising God for who He is you take your eyes off what is going on in your life and putting it on something which can have a positive affect on your life, a God who is mighty to save, who is Holy and who loves you and is with you. Basically God deserves praise in every season of our life and sometimes we just really need to chose to really give Him our all even though it is the last thing we want to do at that very moment in time.

We had a beach day as a base on wednesday and guess what...i put on my swimming cossie (swim-suit to all those who do not speak british). This may not mean a great deal to some of you who are reading this as you don't all see the body conscious area of my life but this is a pretty major step. The last time I put on a swimming costume I was just coming out of being underweight due to annorexia and i hated it and barely wore it then so to put it on now when i'm 6 stone heavier was not the easiest thing and i did wear a top and board shorts over them but it was on. One step time at a time 😊
I really enjoy being in the water. It's something i haven't allowed myself to enjoy for as long as i can remember because of the fear and shame which came with wearing so little and feeling so bad about my appearance. I really hate restricting myself because of the way I feel about myself and I really want this time on my DTS to be a turning point. Your prayers in this area would be greatly appreciated as a lot of uncomfortable feelings are coming up and it's just generally a painful area which has a lot of power over my life. I really want to learn how God sees me during my time here and really apply that truth to my life so that people's opinions/my perceptions of people's opinions will no longer will no longer have power in my life.

So yer that was pretty much my week! Hope it wasn't too deep or personal for you guys!

Hope you're all enjoying winter! Could really do with some rain here. Would happily experience the british weather for a day or two round about now!

Miss you all!

Much love and blessings!

God bless,
Rachel

p.s. don't forget to check out the 'Blessed to be a Blessing' thing in my photos and on facebook photos!

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