What a refreshing Saturday! I was coming into the weekend feeling a little bit uneasy and a little bit down. But this get away excursion to the beach house was exactly what I needed. I got to sleep in this morning... until 9:30! That is unheard of!
Kiwi Hannah and I got to share a bed together! So exciting! I have felt like I haven't got to hang out with her as much recently so I was really happy when she wanted to room with me! We had some good 'Ol girl chat when we went to bed. I felt a little bad for her though because my digestive system has been having some issues the past couple of days again. But I opened the window to save her sensory olfactory cells from a stinky death.
Janessa, Hannah from the South and Shneggy made us all pancakes this morning. Everything Janessa touches in the kitchen tastes like it was delivered straight from heaven. And Schneggly prepared my glutey-eggy-dairy pancakes with love. And I could taste the love. It tasted so good with my special nutella, bananas and maple syrup!
Our favorite song of this DTS is called 'Deep Cries Out' and the lyrics go like this:
We're stirring up deep, deep wells
We're stirring up deep, deep waters
We're gonna jump in the river, jump in the river....
So while Schnegg stirred the pancake batter he sang
We're stirring up deep, deep pancakes
We're stirring up deep, deep pancakes
We're gonna jump in the kitchen, jump in the kitchen...
In his cute little french accent. Hahaha. I thought it was hilarious. It was quite possibly the highlight of my morning.
We spent the afternoon at the beach. Raglan is one of the big surf spots in New Zealand. So we went to the surf beach and scoped out the hotties. But the tide was waning and I think that it was not prime surf because there was no one surfing. But the beach was beautiful and the waves were making a relaxing thunderous noises. The beach is really beautiful. It is down at the bottom of a green hill/cliff thing. The beach was really long, and the sand is black. So cool. New Zealand is volcanic rock so it's beaches on the west side of the island are black. I am not sure why the sand on the east side is white though...
I brought my guitar because I thought that the beach might provide a change in surroundings and inpsiration for a song. I remembered the prophesy that I got about how I would write prophetic songs over people and nations, so I asked God to give me a song. And Janessa was out walking along the beach and standing in the waves in front of me. I couldn't look away from her. So I wrote her a song. It turned out pretty sweet! I love writing songs! And I think I am getting better at it. Elisa and I wrote a song last night too! So many songs in such little time :)
On the way home from the beach, we stopped in town for a bit of food. Hannah, Hannah and I decided we wanted coffee, so we were walking around looking for a cafe and some guys on a bar patio asked us if they could buy us a drink. Hannah from the South was oblivious. Kiwi Hannah awkwardly said "No...." and tried to walk fast and avoid eye-contact, and I stopped and said "No thanks, but could you tell us where we could find a coffee shop?" I had to repeat it a few times because he couldn't understand my accent. But he pointed us to a creepy alleyway and told us there was a coffee shop down the alley. We didn't even think twice and walked right down the alley way. Luckly there was a coffee shop there and not a serial rapist waiting for us. And it was probably the best coffee I have had in a while which is saying a lot since all coffee in New Zealand is AMAZING. But sometimes it is annoying because they only have fancy coffees here, like lattes and mochas and stuff like that. They don't just have plain old coffee. Matt is really upset about this because he just wants coffee, but everywhere you go they look at you weird if you ask for coffee. But the lattes are legitimately the best lattes I have ever had in my life. I might move here just for the coffee.
When we got back to the house, Johanna and Sarah and Jacob got to work in the kitchen. We celebrated both Canadian and American Thanksgiving today! We got to show Kiwi Hannah and the Europeans the glory of eating until you go into a food coma! And we even went around the circle and told everyone what we are thankful for. I am thankful for so many things! I am so thankful that the staff took the time to get pancakes for me this weekend! And I am so thankful for all of the wonderful people that are in my DTS with me! I love them all! And I am so thankful for my family at home! And I am so thankful for my friends at home! So much to be thankful for!
Speaking of friends back home, one of these lovelies messaged me today. I have been feeling really uneasy all week because of the stuff that I have been learning about 'Spiritual Warfare'. It got really weird. Like too weird for me. It got kind-of magicy and creepy and gave me the willies. I respect Beryl's opinion and I think that she is totally entitled to it and that she is a really amazing woman, but I just don't know if some of what she taught on this week really sits well with me.
I have been feeling really conflicted because she is very much against any piercings or tattoos. In Leviticus 19: 28, it says "'Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord.'" Which could be interpreted to mean piercings I guess. But no where does it say in the bible that piercing certain parts of your body is significant of worshipping Hindu gods. In fact, David actually pierced his ear to show his dedication to God, as in Yaweh, not some other god from a far off land. Because back in those days, masters pierced the ears of their slaves to show their ownership of them. So the piercing for David signified God's ownership of him! Nor does it say that piercings prevent you from getting spiritual giftings. In fact, as my friend pointed out, Romans 8: 38-39 says:
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And Ephesians 1: 3 says:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
And in the words of my lovely Calgarian friend "How weak is our God if He cannot freely give us gifts because of a piece of metal in your nose?"
Amen, sister.
And as interesting as it is to learn about witchcraft and curses and creepy stuff like this, there was nothing said about generational curses by the apostles. This teaching is not from the bible. So I kind of lean towards doubting it and questioning it. It is more likely, in my opinion, that mental disorders have been passed down in my family line because of genetics and not because of a curse. Being a neuroscientist, I know a few things about mental disorders, and there is significant evidence that these can be passed down through genetics (and other external factors can work in combination with the genes to result in the emergence of the symptoms).
And further, it states in Colossians 1: 12-14:
'Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
And in 1 John 5: 18:
'We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.'
And in Romans 8: 15:
'For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba Father."'
And in Ephesians 2: 4-10:
God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
So no where in the bible does it say that a curse can go through the cross! Jesus died on the cross to save us from all sin! Once we have accepted Jesus, all curses and sins are broken off!
I have also felt convicted because I do yoga for exercise. Apparently since it has roots in Hinduism, it is from the devil. Some people think that since some of the poses were originally developed to worship some kind of gods, that it is un-Christian to practice yoga. I can understand that saying "Ommmmm" and stuff might symbolize the summoning of spirits or some crap, but I don't say "Ommmmm" and I don't have a mantra in the traditional sense, generally my mantra is "Jesus loves me" or "I'm God's favorite" or "I love God" or something that makes me feel more confident about myself like "I am strong, I am beautiful and I am worthy" or something. And when I do yoga I make it very clear to God that I am doing it as a form of exercise and a way of honoring my body and my soul and my spirit, which were all made in his image. He knows that I am not worshipping some gods that I don't even know exist. I think that I still need to pray about it and ask God his opinion on it though, but in the mean time I will be doing lots of stretching (yoga) in Yaweh's name.
This blog has sparked a very spirited theological debate on the couch currently with Kiwi Hannah and Janessa. I love theological debates.
One funny story from this evening: We all gathered to have a movie night tonight and we had three movies to chose from - Armageddon, the Italian Job or Oceans 11. We took a vote and Henk was like "I vote for the 'Challenging Job'" Bahahah! Oh Europeans. They crack me up. But we did end up watching the 'Challenging Job', or as us native English speakers call it, the Italian Job.
Also, during the movie, there was not too much inappropriateness, there was some women in underwear, but no nudity or sex scenes which was nice, but there was one explicative - "What the F*** happened to my truck?" It was kind of awkward when the movie said that, but then Kat made it ok by saying "At least it rhymed," Indeed, rhyming makes everything much better!!!
Good night everyone!!!
P.S. Tu est magnifique ce soir, Schnegg. <3
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