What is God up to?

I have quite a few things I could write about tonight. Over the past week I have had little snippets come to mind and have thought, "Hm, that might be something worth blogging about". However, today a series of events occurred that made me think I should write something different tonight. Strangely enough, my topic has a lot to do with my last post.
As I think (or hope) is the case with any team moving to another location to minister to people, I am constantly asking God if this is what I'm meant to do. Not in a "Oh, I don't think this is right anymore...God, are you sure this is what you want me to do?" sort of way. It's more like, "God, I still really want to do what you want me to do, so if for some reason that plan is changing please help me to understand and follow it". For that reason, I am constantly thinking and praying about exactly what it is that I will do in Australia. This goes beyond what sort of job I will have or how many hours a week I will work. I'm talking: what grocery store will I go to...because I will want to build relationships with the people there? What hobbies will I have in my spare time, and how can I meet people through those hobbies? One of the most important questions I ask myself is how God wants to use my gifts and talents to reach out to people with his love.
As I mentioned in the last post, I have what I think is a gift for helping people realize their self worth. Okay, so I might not have said that...but that's what I meant! I have this burden growing stronger within me all the time to help women (especially those who have been hurt) realize their self worth in Christ. Part of how that works itself out is for women to believe in the physical, emotional, and spiritual strength that God gave them to overcome obstacles. In more practical terms I want to teach women self defense, help them strengthen their bodies, and teach them to trust God and believe in themselves. I had two conversations today that made that burden grow even deeper. (I feel like the Grinch...that burden just keeps growing as I type!)
I was having a conversation with a very good friend today about starting to attend a class that a woman at our church teaches. I wanted to start attending the class because there is a woman I know who has been invited to it, and I thought she might feel more comfortable going to a new place if she had someone she knew in there with her. To be honest I didn't know much about the class, I vaguely remembered that it was primarily for single women. As I asked my friend about the class and if I should attend, she started to explain more about what it is. The class is primarily for single women: single mothers, older women, younger women, it doesn't matter. Along with teaching truth from the Bible, she teaches life skills. In addition to those things, she sometimes brings in counselors who help the women with other issues that pertain to everyday life. I was shocked and amazed, I didn't even know there was something like this at my church! The things my friend mentioned are all things that I would like to talk about with women in Australia. I have the chance to learn from a woman who has been teaching in this role for many years, and have the chance to get to know more women in the life circumstance that I feel really strongly about.
The second situation tonight was very interesting. I went to my martial arts school and was working out. About ten minutes into class my instructor pulled me aside and said, "There's a new girl who should be starting class today, but she hasn't come out of the dressing room. Do you mind going in and talking to her?" I went into the dressing room and she was in the bathroom. I guess she heard me walk in, because she almost immediately came out of the bathroom and just looked at me. I introduced myself and ask how she was doing. She barely spoke but said that her stomach hurt. She was nervous enough to puke! I talked to her for a few minutes and asked if she would go and work out if I was her partner. She said yes, so we went out together. We joined the rest of the class, but she still froze up. My instructor asked if I would give her a private lesson, so we went off to the side and worked out together. I taught her quite a few things, and we talked a lot. She slowly but surely came out of her shell, and I could see her confidence building as the hour went on. After we worked out together, she was much more at ease. Don't get me wrong, she has a really long way to go! However, she made great strides in that hour we spent together. What we did in that hour could possibly look a lot like what I feel this burden to do in Australia! It just blew me away how God provided this young lady today to help me see in a tangible form what could be in the future. I'm not saying that everything is crystal clear now, but I definitely have a lot more to pray about after today!

Passion made real

Caution, the following article might not be suitable for all readers. I found it disturbing.

http://www.qt.com.au/story/2010/04/28/an-ipswich-magician-and-childrens-entertainer-is/

Most of you know that I do martial arts. It is a passion of mine. It is working itself out into a much bigger passion as we prepare to move to Australia. I have been doing much praying about the idea of my job in Ipswich being to teach women's kickboxing and self defense classes. I greatly desire to see teen girls and women, especially those who have been hurt sexually and emotionally, transformed into confident women who believe in a God who gives them a new beginning, a renewed strength, and a greater sense of who they are. In a perfect world, I imagine myself teaching a few classes a week at a rec center somewhere and then going into schools and working through crisis centers to do seminars.
You can imagine that when I read the above article, I was sick. I won't lie, I wanted to do things to this man that a Christian woman does not do! However, my call is not to hurt those who hurt the ones I want to help. My call is to love those have been hurt (and those who have hurt them...that's the hardest part) and let God's vengeance be worked out on those who do wrong to the innocent. I'm glad it's his job, because I act out much too irrationally sometimes!
I am grateful for this online newspaper that gives me glimpses of life in Ipswich, because it makes my purpose real. I can imagine these girls coming to me after a traumatic incident and hearing about a loving God who won't take advantage of them, or judge them because of things that happened in their past.
For those of you who have a hard time getting why we want to go to a place like Ipswich, please remember after reading this article that Satan works in developed countries just as much as underdeveloped ones. God also redeems people in both.