What the Derriere?

This makes me laugh every time I see it, here's why: A kiwi is a fruit, a flightless bird, and a nationality (New Zealand) and the sign doesn't differentiate which kiwi the dog will eat. Ergo, be on guard all of the above.

Traveling across New Zealand, I came across the cleanest country ever. It's the first airport I've flown into and not had a slap of pollution hit me on the way out. Hostel's were another exciting adventure, especially when two of four toilets get cut from the equation and of the two showers, one's connected to the media room. Haha! An extreme favorite by far is how I can speak the same language as the locals and still have no idea what they're saying. 

One morning my friend started chatting about going to buy something necessary like a toothbrush. I mean, I packed everything in my bag, so I basically ignore this conversation. I ignore it until she says, "Yea, I'm going to have to go the dairy and buy one." Uh....... follow my inner dialog, "Dairy = cow. A farm? Toothbrush?" So I get over my confusion. "A what?" "A dairy, like 7/11," she says. "A convenience store?! Hold up, how do you know about 7/11?" (I hadn't seen one in New Zealand, my guess was she saw it in a movie) "Oh, I saw one in India."

Yes, we did just cross three continents to conclude that a dairy is in fact what I like to call a convenience store. The best part about this? None of the other Kiwi's know what 7/11 is.
 

to write

This entire year in Bethel, has been a constant season of putting stakes in the ground. (Did I almost say steak instead of stake? Yes.) I've gotten some pretty sweet downloads from God on his abundance; literally experiencing the reality that there is no lack in his kingdom. I can't outspend him! I can also have good things, not just cheap things! The other revelation is on his goodness; that no matter what, God always has a good result. Given any risk, given any trial, his result is always good.

K, I need to pause and lay out what a revelation is. To me, in my experience, a revelation is literally experiencing God's reality of a certain thing. Revelation on his goodness. Revelation on his abundance. Wow.

Onward: My entire time here has been spent continuing to pursue my dreams. Coming back into a school environment after spending a year doing my dream (to travel the world!), I wasn't looking forward to jumping back in to a part-time job. Moving here, I applied for jobs, specifically at one place I felt God highlighting. Nothing happened. Then I moved into a "meh" period where I knew God would provide and I didn't want to look. Result: stressful. Did God provide? Every month. In a different way every time. But it was hard.

I would hear whispers in the mornings of Him asking me to write for Him, especially during worship. My response? "Uh, ok." I'd scribble something down and then, "What do I do next?" Finally one morning during our revival group, I had enough. My friend walked past, asking how I was, and I told her, "I need a job." She prayed for me, I remember specifically her saying, "God, give her the right connections." I knew she was on to something, but I didn't know what. Fast forward near 11pm. My thoughts align with God's, and the epiphany moment; "God. You're telling me to write. As a job."

He started telling me a story when I was in Nepal, during one of our down times. I was bored, asked Him for a story, and He delivered! I expanded on it in South Africa, and hadn't touched it since. Talking with my pastor the following morning, I'm now setting aside time to write my book. It's a process, but every month, God is beyond faithful. Bills are paid, rent too. I haven't been perfect with my money, but He's teaching me a lot through it. One month, someone anonymously paid my rent for me. Conclusion? God is good, and He's got an abundance for me!

unmerited favor

I am not in a works based relationship. I am in a loved based relationship. I am loved. Therefore I receive. Blah! That totally blows my mind! And I absolutely love it. Every second of it.

Being in South Africa has been one of the most fun times of my life. I mean, it's one of the most consistantly beautful place's I've been to, and everything about it is easy and just goes with the flow. Walking into townships, sharing my faith, having so much fun. I've almost felt shame or guilt for how easy it is and how beautiful it is here. But as I went for a drive with my friend this morning, I get hit with this revelation: I'm not in a works based relationship. What this means: I don't have to work for the good things of God to happen. I am loved, and out of his overflow of love, I am free, and saved, and can enjoy.

My MacBook dictionary defines grace like this: "the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings" Holy snikies!!!! (also defined unmerited-not deserved or merited). Oh. My. Gosh. I am free to receive the undeserved favor of God. It's mine. I don't have to work for it. And his blessings? They're mine. Mine.

The cross took care of all the works to get somewhere/earn the favor of God. Jesus took care of it, so I'm free to enjoy his blessings. So later as we're driving around, we pass by this closed gated community overlooking the ocean, and we can tell that there is such a beautiful place back there. What do we do? We go up and ask to get in. This was of course, after having a day of checking out a shipwreck, driving along the coast, finding a secluded beach, and checking out a lighthouse. I had a thought of "I've had enough good things, I shouldn't push it".

What happened? We got in.

my ramblings

God. "Yes, Nikki?" Why am I writing this? "Because I asked you to" Simple enough. "Truth"

"Trust. Tell 'em about trust" Trust is something new for me. Ok, not really, but my relationship with you and trust it just goes deeper. "I'm taking you to new levels of intimacy" Yea. And I'm flippin out about 'em. "Notice how unconcerned I am" That's pretty nice. "People need to know that they can hear my voice and trust it" And my writing is going to help change that? "Most definitely. It's really simple. I talk, you listen. You talk, I listen. It changes things" Like what kind of things? "Like happy things"

This is me, not trekking with you. "I delight in you, so I change things for you so you'll be happy" Seems pretty one-sided. "It isn't. It goes back to the basics of trust. You trust me, I change things for you. It's really simple, really easy. Really simple, really easy. Really simple, really easy. Always"

"What have I told you before?" That if it's complicated, it's not from you. "How 'bout that!" It's like you set me up for success. "Indeed. I do"

another random adventure

Nepal. I kept getting confused about where it was. Not to mention the fact that we were so close to China, and by close, I mean we saw the red line that if crossed would lead us into Tibet. How long did it take me to realize Tibet was China? Too long. What if I just write and don't really edit? Could be fun. And random.

I learned that God stays exceptionally close to me. He's also so much fun. I got to trek the freaking Himalayas with some of my closest friends, share really awkward cultural moments together, see Jesus come face to face with His creation. Namely, me.

I love going overseas, I love traveling, I love being in new cultures, but so many times in sharing Jesus with people I get stuff in return. Or every time. I go to Haiti to help with a housing project, and I walk away with deep friendship with God, where He stays up watching movies with me, reading with me, talking with me.

He's hilarious.

One day in Nepal, we're in town sharing Jesus with people. We get in this funny situation where we are in conversation with these people 2 stories up (we're on ground level). They come down, a rain storm starts, so they invite us up til the storm passes. We share Jesus with them, and our translator (a believer) gets in a huge discussion with them, which was great but complicated, because he would pause to explain what he was saying, and then they'd all jump back into asking questions, leaving us somewhat listening as he led them to Christ.

While this is going on, Twilight is playing in the background, full English version. My first thought was "Oh man, look away, don't watch that!" And I heard God say, "Why? Can't I put it on for your enjoyment?" I mean, crap. I was offended.

My thoughts went something like "Uh.....Um. Uhh. Yea. I guess you can. I can enjoy this? Is this wrong? What's happening?" I felt like my mind was like Morse Code, just bouncing everywhere piecing together yet again the fact that God's not religious.

I'd been so boxed up in what I felt like God expected of me, that I missed just enjoying things. Nothing like being slapped in the face with something fun to re-awaken that. That's what's so fun about Him. Everything!!!

In sharing God with people, He always brings deep revelations for me. I go to share with someone, and I always get another insight into how much He cares for me. Personally. Or into how much He knows me, loves being around me, and sharing experiences with me. Like He wants to hang out with me, do things I love to do, and then share with people about this fun God. Haha! God is fun. Really fun. Did you know that?

World Mandate

Every year, Antioch Community Church puts on this annual missions conference called World Mandate. You get great speakers, fun worship, incredible testimonies, I mean, God just moves. So what was it about this years conference that I had to blog about it? Well, Norman had this thing called snow. And not just any snow, record breaking snow!

OK, I do have to admit that people from Oklahoma really like to freak out about weather. Like they truly enjoy sitting around, watching the weather channel, and freaking out about it. Naturally, the weekend we left for this conference a state of emergency was declared.

Just watch as my wonderful car mates and I were driving southbound I-35. The windshield wipers froze, but there wasn't any place to turn off and shake them off, which meant that someone had to climb through the sun roof and change them.

HOLD UP!!

So, I'm trying to upload this enlightening video, and this lovely window comes up:

I click on the "Upload Terms and Conditions" and this comes up:


And I've tried this on 3 separate occasions, spanning quite a few months with the same response. What does this tell me? I may not be uploading that video after all. Does anyone else find this SUPER BIZARRE and SHADY?!

Stitches

Proverbs 12:18 Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Can I just pause and emphasize the power of words? Here goes:

I was at work, doing the usual, mixing up some waffle cone batter with a machine grade blender that looks like this. It's at least a foot long. So, as I'm mixing the batter in a container a little less than half the size of the blender (Yes. I know. Bad idea), I turn it on low, turn around behind me, and scoop some more powder into the mix. I did this a couple of times til I heard my co-worker gasp, "Oh my gosh!"

Naturally I spin around thinking, "Oh crap, the batter! Watch out for the blades!"

Too late. It got me.

Aside from the pain in my finger, I noticed red stuff on the floor and all over my hand. Praise the name of Jesus that I was working with someone who is competent on handling this red stuff, because I am not!

Aside from almost passing out due to blood loss, praying the Holy Spirit to stop the bleeding, my sister came to the rescue, and a whopping 12 stitches later: my finger's fine!


Back to the power of words: I was wondering why this happened. I went through these declarations by Steve Backlund in the morning, one of which says:

Any adversity, attack, accidents and tragedies that were headed my way are diverted right now in Jesus' name (Psalm 91).

I was like, "What's the deal? I mean, I declared that, and believed that, so...." About that time, I got a text from another co-worker that I worked with the day before. It said something like, "Weird how yesterday we were joking around about cutting our fingers."

Wow. I forgot about that. We totally opened a curse on ourselves. What I then realized is as followed:
1. The co-worker that saved my life switched shifts with someone else that day. That other co-worker cannot handle red stuff.
2. The bleeding stopped.
3. My sister answered her phone on the first call. That never EVER happens.
4. My finger's still attached. No tendons, bone, or anything got damaged. Aside from it being deep, it was fine.

ihop

Over the past couple of month, random people started giving me words saying they say me ministering to people in Africa. My reaction: "God, I have no problem going to Africa, but I need to hear from You." Well, I did.

I was at this place called ihop. No, not the international house of pancakes, the international house of prayer! The end of every December, they have this conference called onething. My sister and I went last year and got totally ripped over the book of Revelation. Naturally, we followed it up with another trip to it this year with a handful of our friends (that made it a lot more fun, as noted by the traveling puppet show below).

One night Loren Cunningham, the director of ywam was speaking about Nigeria. Somewhere in the midst of him talking, I made the connection that he was talking about Africa. I think my response was something like, "Huh, Africa again. Bizarre." God then screamed at me in the spirit, "GO!" I mean, aside from the audible voice of God, you can't get much more clear than that.

So, next stop: Africa.

Lifegroup Leader

Don't you love titles? They just give away what I'm writing about. So on to polar bears and penguins:

Yup, me and two other cool people are leading a lifegroup (<- click). What this means: I really have no idea. I figure that's for the best as it leaves more room for Jesus, right?

P.S. There are also a bunch of random words throughout my blog that you can click on...many of which do not appear that way until you mouse over them.

Dallas Outreach

As part of our Equip discipleship school, there are two outreaches that our class goes on. One is to a church plant in the United States, and the second one is to a church plant overseas. This past weekend, we went on our outreach in the United States, to a church called Mercy Place in Dallas. We arrived Friday at 7pm and left that Sunday at 2pm.

Just about everyone in our class saw a first hand healing. I know factually of at least 7 salvations that happened, but I'm also quite confident there were more. You see, we didn't have time to allow everyone to share how Jesus moved that weekend because there were so many stories! Majority of our time was spent treasure hunting and prayer walking, but we also had lunch with patients at a near by mental institution, where the following happened:

A couple of people in our class were talking with one gentleman. He explained to them how he was schizophrenic, always hearing multiple voices. When asked by one guy on our team if the voices were saying anything now, he said, "Yes, they're telling me to run away from you guys." The guy in our class asked this gentleman if he could pray for him, which he responded, "I'd rather you didn't." Our guy was determined, however, and went to one of our class directors asking what to do. Our director told the guy to tell the gentleman with schizophrenia that he was going to pray for him, and to do it. So he did.

As soon as he started praying, tears started flowing from the gentleman. When he finished, he asked the gentleman if anything happened. The gentleman replied, "As soon as you started praying, all of the voices stopped, and one loud voice said, 'Be at peace'." The gentleman was then so overcome with emotion that he ran into his room, locking the door behind him.

Oh, and we also saw someone's leg grow at the Sunday service, healing their scoliosis.

What a weekend!

Holiday Malfunction

Coming from a university where students pride themselves on never going to a football game, it's a bit of a shock moving to a football culture where the outcome of the game dictates the emotional stability of everyone the following day. Imagine my surprise when the city of Norman up and cancels Halloween due to the fact that a game was scheduled the same day.

Halloween to me has always been a holiday dedicated solely to candy. Any way you look at it, it's still a holiday, right? October 31st is/has/continues to be Halloween. You see, when the Sooners played the Kansas State Wildcats, it was a humongous interference. Oklahoma could not deal with this horrible atrocity of something overshadowing football, regardless of the fact that is was a national holiday, so it up and canceled Halloween.

OK! So it wasn't a full on cancellation, but Norman DID switch the days of trick-or-treating to Friday October 30th! No joke! That is how seriously they take football. People are so serious about football that I found a total of 2 articles on the holiday switch. Both of which I can now no longer find.

assaulted by a knight in shining armor

A morning cancellation just about made my day as I was able to sleep in! The fallout to that was being unable to sleep past 9am :( Whatever. I got up.

I headed out of my room in search of some good coffee, reached for my door, opened it, and came face to face with a knight in shining armor! Adrenaline surged through my veins as my three blood curdling screams ricocheted throughout my house. It was at that moment I realized the knight's feet were built into a stand, and I heard my sister's laughter come wafting at me from around the corner.

You see, my roommate the night before reacquired this knight in shining armor statue, exactly 5 feet tall. Why is this important? 5 feet is also my height to a T, so I literally came face to face with it when I woke up. Anyway, she decided the best place for it before the knight went back to its owner was directly outside my bedroom door, mainly to get back at me for all the times I scared her.

It worked.

So for the next two weeks, the knight found itself in many a place to illicit a most terrifying response. It rarely worked. The sad thing about this picture is not where it was taken (my roommate's closet), but the fact that it took her a week to find out it was in there.

Treasure Hunt

As part of my class, we have to share the Gospel at least 3 times a week. I really don't enjoy convicting myself to go up to complete strangers on no urging but my own to share. My solution: Treasure Hunt. You wait on the Lord for peoples names, locations, articles of clothing their wearing, and things they need to be prayed for.

I hadn't done it before, but I wanted to, so I invited a friend of mine from class that hadn't done it either. So we're sitting in my living room before we go, waiting on the Lord. I am so convinced that I'm making up what I'm getting, but I decide to write them down anyway: Wendy's chocolate frosty, Ben, blue shirt, Carrie, left foot, cursive white writing with a red or black background restaurant sign. Also got a white T-shirt and left foot from earlier that I decided to add to my list. My friend got the name Sarah and flowers.

What happened? We started at Wendy's with chocolate frosty's, found no one there contained any of our names, so we moved on. Drove around for an hour stopping at random locations at which EVERY male was wearing a blue shirt, none of them named Ben. We even managed to hit Sonic where all employees wore blue shirts, again with no luck. Frustrated, we paused in a parking lot, asked Dad for more guidance, when my friend got a certain intersection. I got a picture of a building a lot like Walgreens, but discounted it because I was staring at one before I closed my eyes to pray.

At the intersection, I noticed immediately a CVS (which is another type of Walgreens), and eventually we hit it after more unsuccessful stops. We decided not to strive, and just walk around asking people's names. How many guys in that store? At least 5, all of which were wearing blue, and none of which were named Ben. No Sarah's or Carrie's either.

On our way out, we decide to ask the cashier what her name is. Before we could she ducked down behind a blue bin. She pops up, and what's her name? Carrie, who is also wearing a blue shirt. Of course. We struck up a conversation with her, told her about the Treasure Hunt, and that she was our treasure! We then asked her if her foot hurt. "Yes!" she says. "I know," I say to myself. "Which one?" I say outloud. "My left foot," she says. "I know," again to myself.

So we pray, "Holy Spirit come". That's it. "How's it feeling?" We ask. "The pain is gone!" she says. We asked her if she knew Jesus, got into a nice conversation, and left totally filled with faith. Yay Jesus!

EQUIP

Upon moving to Norman, I realized that growth would happen. What I didn't expect was how fast it would happen. With the encouragement/pushing of a wiser woman, I applied for and got accepted to Equip. What is it? It is a 10 month discipleship school meant to "establish a biblical foundation, to live a Kingdom lifestyle and impact the world". OK, so what does that mean?

In pursuit of Jesus, I am actively being discipled, actively looking for someone to disciple, doing weekly scripture memory and reading, spending at least an hour with Him a day, sharing Him at least 3 times a week, and these are but a few. Class started with a retreat September 12th, and already God has revealed himself to me in more intimate ways.

For starters, I am learning to daily hear from God, and look to him as a loving Daddy. I'm not fully there yet, but I will be soon. Just this past week, my friend and I went out to share our faith. She heard the word "Starbucks" and I got a pain in my leg that I haven't had before, so I considered it a word of knowledge. We went in, struck up a conversation with the baristas there, and one said she had pain in her knee, due to the fact that she blew it out. I took her aside and prayed over her knee 3 times. End result: pain free leg that Jesus healed!

It's a Girl!

My sister and I were so lucky this past Thursday: Our other sister was pregnant, due the beginning of October. We both really wanted to be there for the birth of their child, our first niece or nephew (that's right, they decided to not find out what they were having), but we had absolutely no idea when it would happen. We got a call last Tuesday telling us the doctor was going to induce her on Thursday! Yes! This meant we could actually plan to get down there and not miss it! Thank you Jesus!

Everyone got there with perfect timing. Five minutes after my dad walked into the room, the nurse came in, said my sister was dialted 10 inches, and ready to start delivery. Her response? "Nope. No. I can wait a bit. Really. No."

So, we left her and her husband to the care of the doctors around 5:30pm while we chilled in the waiting room, discussing what it would be. Then we waited. And waited. 7pm rolled around, and we are still waiting. Finally, our brother-in-law shows up around 7:10pm (of course the one time none of us were looking at the door) and says, "Oh, sorry guys. I texted my dad already, and I didn't want him to come down here and ruin it for you. It's a girl." An outbreak of cheering erupted, especially from my sister who really did not like the name they picked out for a boy. "Her name is Caylee Grace. I mean, I think Grace, I need to check with [my wife] to see if she likes that as a middle name. She was born around 6:45pm, 5lbs 11oz".

And then we had to wait another hour until we could actually see and hold her.

Is this real life?

Having no sleep the night prior to my flight to Atlantis, caffeine became my constant companion. On the flight to the Bahamas (first class!), the flight attendant comes over, asking what I would like to drink. "I would really love a cup of coffee," I say.

Her jaw dropped. "Your mother lets you drink coffee?!"

I laughed, holding my hands up defensively, "No, no, it's OK, I'm 22." Twas at that precise moment when the mother of the family I was traveling with turned around in her seat and exclaimed, "Is my 16 year old daughter trying to tell you she's 22 again?" So, in answer to the question of male suitors down south, the answer is simply; there was none. Everyone thought I was 12.

Basically, I vacationed for a week. I rode every water-slide at Atlantis, snorkeled with and fed wild sharks and sting rays, snorkeled with 10 feet manta rays, went to a private island, and oh yeah, got lost on a bus. You see, we were trying to get back to the hotel after the private island. Instead, we managed to take an hour bus ride to downtown Nassau. The driver was less than pleased.

Fun in Airports

Starting with my adventure in the Denver International Airport, running like a crazy person to catch my flight (I got on board at 6:58am but was not the last person to board! However, because of our lateness, we delayed the flight another twenty minutes while they loaded our bags), I have been spending a lot of time in airports. I got a marvelous privilege to spend a week with a family at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. More to come on that note.

Taking one look at the DFW airport, I cannot stop myself from thinking how ghetto it is. Surrounding it is a booming metroplex, large population, multi-national headquarters, and yet, ghetto DFW. There is one exception: terminal D, the international terminal. I flew into the international terminal to meet up with the family on the way to the Bahamas (we all know Oklahoma is it's own country), and what's the first thing I see? A castle.

"Well, that's cool!" I'm thinking to myself. "I've got time to kill, I'll go get my coffee, and chill out in the castle." I start walking in the direction of Starbucks, when I am bombarded by cafés galore, advertisements the sizes of buildings, and my personal favorite; vending machines. I know you've seen 'em, the Best Buy and Apple vending machines, but I start giggling at the sight of this one:

Proactiv. I get it, you're on your way to a big business meeting, you're stressed out beyond belief, and so is your face. No worries, just pop in your credit card, and away you go. Oh, what I would have given to see someone purchase that!

Colorado

Upon what Base was fixed the Lath wherein

He turned this Globe, and riggalled it so trim?
Who Laced and Filleted the earth so fine,
With Rivers like green Ribbons Smaragdine?
Who th' Curtain rods made for this Tapestry?
Who hung the twinkling Lanthorns in the Sky?
Who? who did this? or who is He? Why, know
It's Only Might Almighty this did do.
His hand hath made this noble work which Stands
His Glorious Handiwork not made by hands.
~Edward Taylor From God's Determinations: The Preface

I'm pretty sure Edward Taylor was inspired by the mountains of Colorado when writing this. I got to spend a weekend in the mountains of Colorado for one of my childhood friend's wedding. The problem in catching up with old friends, especially during a big event when time is limited means that sleep becomes trivial. A problem indeed, as my brain does not function when sleep is depleted. As they drove me back to the airport (super late I might add: I checked my bags at 6:45am when my flight was at 7am), her husband turned around stating, "This is the quietest I have ever heard you. You must be tired!'"

Since time was short, I was unable to accomplish a few of my goals such as:
1. Visit King Soopers (a grocery-store chain in Colorado)
2. Visit my childhood home
3. Go four-wheeling
4. Go snowboarding

I guess this means I require a second trip.

Middle Eastern Coffee

My sister has a job at Starbucks. This means free coffee, discounted drinks, and a gateway into a coffee-loving atmosphere; however, this does not mean that she makes the morning coffee. Every person that has made me regular at-home coffee that works/worked for Starbucks seems to make VERY STRONG coffee. Don't know why, they just do, and it's hard to compete with a professional when all I want is normal coffee with room for half & half. Thus, when my sister makes it, I have to add water, then half & half. Overall, it's a good thing I make it, even if not to her specifications.

For the past couple of weeks, I just could not get the coffee to taste right. I could not understand why. I mean, 3 Starbucks spoonfuls of coffee (with the Starbucks measuring cup-yeah, that's why only 3), 6 cups of water, and a sprinkle of cinnamon on top. Admit it, the most amazing coffee recipe period. So what was going wrong?! One morning my sister was in the kitchen during the process: "Did you just add turmeric to the coffee?!" After getting over the initial shock that she could verbally communicate this early, I looked at her disdainfully replying, "No, it's cinnamo-". I glanced down. "oh...", I replied mentally and verbally, "whoops, haha, um, it is turmeric."

In conclusion: I now know how to make "Middle Eastern Coffee". 3 Starbucks spoonfuls of coffee, 6 cups of water, and a sprinkle of turmeric on top. As stated it makes 6 cups of coffee, which we find perfect for two people.

God is on the move!

The community here is phenomenal. No, seriously, it's stinkin' awesome! As unemployment is my new social status, the Body of Christ here has just come along side of me and given me little odd jobs to do that pay the bills. I am finding so much joy and satisfaction in the works of my hands. Antioch is one the first churches I've been a part of that really focus on God the Trinity, and the first I've seen in pursuit of the Acts 2:42-47 church. So many I've been to have focused solely on Jesus and completely cut out the Holy Spirit, and we all know those that only focus on the Holy Spirit...they scare me.

It's impossible to talk about community without writing about the community groups. Last week our young adult group spent our time together in worship and prayer for OU, unity among the churches, the city of Norman, Iran, etc. God met us there in powerful ways: One girl was unable to raise her arm up due to an injured shoulder, so some gathered around to pray for her and Jesus completely healed it! And this is only one such healing! There were breakthroughs in peoples lives and someone even made a decision to follow Christ! God is on the move!

P.S. Kim Walker may just be my new favorite artist. You should totally check her out.