Weekend with Belinda and Dani

This weekend was spent with two lovely people who I have "known" for a while yet never really spent time with - and this weekend we were able to just chill together and get to know each other a little more :-)
Belinda and Danielle visited Adelaide to do some mission talks - firstly, at The Craze (my youth group), and secondly at the church services on Sunday - to inspire the youth to be missionaries right where they are, and to share with everyone about the amazing trip that Dani is about to embark on. To read more and to support Dani, visit her page.

Note: If I had the photos from the weekend, I would post some... But my camera cable is not with me right now, and I don't have Belinda's photos yet...

On Friday night we had The Craze. After just one week's break, it was awesome to come back and connect again with all the youth. I love those guys and girls!!!
Belinda, Dani and I each shared testimonies / inspiration / encouragement / knowledge / advice etc on missions. Our main point was that every single believer in Jesus Christ is a missionary, and wherever we are is our mission field. We watched some DVDs as well, which made the night more interesting ;-)
We had one practical activity, where we baked cookies, and packaged DVDs and Christmas notes. These were for our church's monthly outreach sausage sizzle, which was held on Saturday - we figured, why not put this whole "mission" idea into practise, and start right here?!
Another activity we brought to the youth, was to get each person to create their very own mission statement. We each have goals in life, and on Friday, we set some goals for our spiritual life. I was so proud of each person there - there really was a sense of purpose in the room, as each one hunched over their chair as they wrote their mission statement.
I felt so peaceful and thankful and blessed and happy and content, there at The Craze! My heart was so full and so happy! I am so blessed to be a part of this ministry and to be with these wonderful people every week.
Belinda and Dani stayed with me for the entire weekend at the manse. On Saturday we slept in (SO GOOD!) and then I went for a walk. I took the dog, Chloe, with me, and she is seriously THE best dog to walk! This is coming from a girl who has house-sit and looked after many dogs, here!! She walked a little in front of me, and never pulled ONCE. Just had to tug her slightly and she'd follow me. And because she was so good, I really didn't care when she wanted to stop and sniff, etc (as dogs do. Ya know). It was SUCH a lovely, relaxing walk, where I was able to speak to the Lord and do some wonderful soul-searching.

After breakfast and showers, we went to Officeworks to do some printing. Then we drove up to One Tree Hill and had lunch at the hotel, and the food was delicious! The too-long-wait was worth it :)
We then drove to Whispering Wall, which was pretty great - Dani was ecstatic! I loved the laughs and amazement as we talked over / through the wall. If you've never been there, you've definitely gotta go ;-)
Then we came back to Gawler and went to Cups 'n Cakes. SUCH a cute shop!!! We fell in love with it! The cupcakes were amazing!! So sweet - next time I would literally share one cupcake with a friend!
Coffee and cupcake was the PERFECT finish to our girls day out :-)
At about 6pm, we went to the park for the sausage sizzle outreach. There was a nice group of people there... and LOTS of food! What is an end-of-year sausage sizzle without lots of food?!
It started getting freezing cold and windy later in the evening, so we went home and got all cozy in our PJ's, and watched Soul Surfer. This is a beautiful true story about a young girl who loses an arm in a shark attack while surfing, yet gets back in the water and goes on to be a professional surfer.
On Sunday, after church I bought some groceries and then we made lunch: taco mince on rice, with roast vegetables - sweet potato, carrot, asparagus, red onion and brussel sprouts. Mmmmm - so good!!!!
After eating, we went to the city and walked around Rundle Mall. I was rather dead, but it was lovely to do some window shopping, followed-up by coffee :-)
I took these two lovely ladies at the airport and then drove home.
It was so special to spend the entire weekend with Belinda and Dani. We are all very like-minded. Mission is in our hearts, and to be able to encourage each other and share with each other was such a privilege. I think that God places people like these in my life at the exact moment when I need it most.
Praise the Lord for new friends, and weekends to relax!!!
<3 Rachel