Romance

Recently I have found a renewed love for BBC's Time Period Dramas. Movies such as Pride and Prejudice, Downton Abbey and Cranford have reminded me of how much I love to sit at my computer with a bowl of ice cream and watch as the drama of life in England in the 1800's unfolds. Yes, this drama may take three to six long hours of dialog and overly dramatic situations to finally end, but they always do end well. 

I love to watch Mary and Elizabeth quietly struggle against cultural traditions and Miss Mattie fight the never ending stream of gossip that serves as entertainment. But what I love most of all is seeing the hero and heroine, who have been at odds the entire saga, finally recognize their deep love for one another and confess their feelings no matter the cost. The man lays down his fortune for the girl with no dowry or the lady chooses love over security. Whatever the obstacle, their confession is always made in a pure, beautiful and sometimes wordy monologue. The man or woman will pure out their true feelings and they will lean in for a single motionless kiss that indicates that the movie is soon over and love has yet again conquered all. 


I'm not sure what it is about the movies that captivates me to the point of staying up late and blogging about them. Maybe its the dresses and way of life. Maybe its the simplicity of William turning to Fanny after knowing her for a month and saying "Fanny, I love you. Will you be my wife?" Or Mattie's simple but strong saying "the answer is love. It is the final word." Maybe its that good always wins. Or maybe, just maybe, its that these movies remind me of how romantic God is. 

God created romance, so naturally he would be the best. In the book Black by Ted Dekker, the characters refer to their relationship with God as "the great romance". In the bible God speaks more boldly and beautifully then any movie character. In what book or drama do you hear "Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine."Isaiah 43:1 He couldn't hide his immense love for us when He wrote an entire chapter in the Bible about a couple madly in love that represents what he feels for us. I don't even have to mention the fact that He was so in love with us that he died for our freedom. 

My nine year old sister asked today why everything was always about boys and girls and being in love. We had a really cool conversation that got me thinking about all this. As we road in the car and talked about it we would listen to the radio and in Maggie's words, "see what the songs would tell us." They all told us the same thing. Girls, be like this and he'll love you like this and you'll feel like this. Or fall in love just to fall back out and feel like this. 

We all know that we live in a broken world but at the heart of the brokenness is a place that still longs for what we were created for. Our desire for romance and perfect relationship only reinforces the fact that God created us for more and we know it, and blindly fight for it everyday. Yes, the songs that were on the radio were horrible and they affect our youth in a negative way by they also scream for something more, something better. 

As I explained all of this on a nine-year-old level I was struck with the thought that we have something amazing. As Christians, we hold the answers to those pleas for help. We know why people search for the perfect someone to fill that void and we have the answer. Its easier to share what Christ did for us when we realize that everyone wants what we have, even if they don't know it. 

Just some thoughts as I continue to discover what being Christ looks like. 

Share Back Night

                 You're Invited 

What: A night of coffee, fellowship and hearing from me about my past year and the one to come. 

When: Thursday, January 5th 

Time: 7pm to 8pm 

Where: Java Journey Cafe 

2149 North Center Street, Hickory, NC

I only stumbled upon this song a few weeks ago but it seems to be God's theme song for me throughout 2011. 

I have learned a lot this year about God's character. 


His desire and ability to fight for us


His caring nature 


The value He puts on our hearts 


His grace that covers every good and bad thing we do




I love my relationship with God because it is ever changing and still has the ability to carry me through anything. 


So here's to 2012 and all the wonderful adventures we will walk through and what we will gain once we reach the other side. 

Happy New Year

It's not New Year's Eve but I have the same motivation and fears of failure about this blog that our list of resolutions gives us on January 1st. 


As I've read over my past post and mourned the fact that my last entry was in February, I've chosen to jump into a new phase of blogging rather then continuing to avoid that ever present "new post" button.  


As much as I hate to admit it, I am totally freaked out by social networking. Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, Skype. I have 'em all but rarely do I visit them let alone post something or talk to someone. 


I'm not sure what it is that makes me think up username after username just to neglect it out there in cyber space. Maybe it's the idea that it's new and confusing or that my life's too boring or maybe I'm just lazy. Whatever the reason, it really doesn't matter anymore. I have resolved to not be beaten by a silly computer any longer. 


So here I am, making a New Years resolution in December. I will post something on this blog twice a month. Thoughts, whats going on, photos, things that inspire me, anything as long as it's something. 


Yes, I'm still freaked out but I'm also excited to share my life with you. Give feed back, subscribe, shoot me an email. I love to hear from people and it helps me to remember I'm not talking to a wall. 


So here it is, my first post of this new year of blogging. 


Happy New Year blog readers, life's too short to not at least write some of it down for the world to see.  

Cheers, Hannah 

K Mart, Joy and April DTS

I thought I would begin this extremely over due update with a story. Yesterday, God woke me up with the idea of spending the day with Him. I liked that idea, even though I could have thought of ten other things that needed to be done and five people I would have loved to hang out with, I really wanted to hang out with God. We decided on going to the mall to buy things for my room. Due to lack of transport and boldness on my part we had to settle for walking to K mart. After enjoying a long quiet time and cold glass of Ginger Green Tea I set out on my way. Trip outfit; floral sun dress, sunnies and flip flops. Trip soundtrack; The Temper Trap. I was set. The music set a quick paced so I made it to K Mart in record timing.  Three shelves, cream curtains, 79 printed photos, two clocks, and an hour and a half later, I walked out of K Mart a proud shopper. After packing all those things and the other random items collected in a backpack, I tucked my selves under one arm and my clocks under the other and headed home. In my opinion, a one and a half mile walk up hill practically carrying my weight in home decor does not sound like good way to spend thirty minutes but, for some reason I didn't mind. As I walked I listened to upbeat music and laughed at the thought of how funny I looked. As I crossed the bridge over the train tracks I was suddenly filled with uncontainable joy. I could barely control myself and practically skipped the rest of the way up the hill.

Now, that might seem like the most anticlimactic and uneventful story ever, and it sort of is but I have a reason for sharing it. In communication I desire to be real with you. I want you to see and understand where I am coming from and what I am struggling with. This stories point is to display a struggle in my life and Gods infinite grace and glory. I have been struggling with a lack of God given joy for the past few months and this story describes the very moment I was once again filled to the top. This story is an example of the life I desire to live. One that is infused with God at every turn. One that is never lacking in miracles and God doing big things, even while running errands. I hope this will encourage you to seek God in every moment. Ask Him to show up and be expectant.

This last month has been filled with provision, excitement, home improvement, refreshment and heat. Over Christmas I was asked to pray about staffing the April DTS since I was not going to be able to staff the January school. After a week of prayer and encouraging conversation I confirmed that I would be staffing the April DTS 2011. Since then I have spent my mornings and afternoons in the office recruiting new students and pastorally caring for accepted ones. I have loved working on the school and feel such a great sense of ownership as a staff member now.

Our base celebrated Australia day together at the beach and has begun to have a BBQ in the backyard every Friday. I love the sense of family we are creating.

One of the biggest things to happen for me in January has been the completion of my room. I have been living in Lewis House for four months and two weeks ago I officially began to work on getting settled in my new home. I painted my wall with the help of two of my friends. Gray-blue and teal were my colors of choice and I love them together. I worked a whole weekend on painting my bunk bed and mirror and finding other furniture to put in my room. This last Thursday was the day that it all come together. Pictures are on the wall, clothes on hangers and furniture in place. I now love to hang out in my room and love having people over to sit on my couch and have a good conversation over tea. I feel truly settled for the first time since moving here and it is such a relief.


February and March are a bit of a mystery right now. Other then recruiting students I do not know what they are going to hold and I am excited to find out. Please pray for wisdom as I plan for the school and prepare for the students to come. I am so excited and scared out of my mind at the same time.

I will be posting pictures of my room and happenings over the last month on my blog. I would love you to check them out. http://hannahgreywilliams.blogspot.com/

Blessings until later,

Hannah 

Photos

6 people+ two weeks of luggage+one train seat= loads of fun

STS Lunch

Phase1, such a crazy amazing gourp

Working at the office! Yay office work! 

Learning how to do a one-on-one

Train into Sydney 

The one and only, Starbucks! 

Youth Street Christmas 

Dance Rehearsals

Camping! 

Cooling off in the lake! 

Christmas Morning Breakfast 

Walking to Church

Home Alone, sugar cookies, and friends-best

Christmas Eve BBQ

Slip-n-slide! 

CRAZY! 

Santa paid a visit, he was from Hawaii.

Christmas Dinner

Beach Day for Boxing Day! So fun! 

Merry Christmas From YWAM Newie! 

Learning, Camping, Dancing and Christmas

                                                                                                                   December, 25, 2010

I have been back in Australia for almost three months and, even though my room does not show it, I have settled to the fact that Australia is now my second home. I can't believe that my second home is going to be without snow and cold weather on Christmas day. I also can't believe that my Christmas will be spent enjoying a BBQ, slip-n-slide, and day at the beach; but it will and I am excited. I'm going to miss everything about Christmas in North Carolina and I have to admit, I have shed a few tears over that fact. 

The past few weeks have been such a whirl wind. After I finished my Staff Training School I spent a week getting back into working in the kitchen in the mornings and working in the Registrar Team at the office in the afternoons. With time I became more comfortable with the jobs I was placed in and for that week I was able to walk out in confidence in my roles. At the end of that week, me and four other staff members from my base left for Sydney to do a Phase 1. Phase 1 is a two week training program that equips you to staff a DTS in YWAM. So, for two weeks I lived at a different base in a room with nine other girls. I went to class every morning and afternoon and each evening my time was filled with homework for the next day. I was able to get to know people from four other YWAM bases and become better acquainted with the staff from mine. The lectures were stretching and full of information I had never heard before. I have learned so much about how a DTS functions and the purposes behind everything we did on my school. I learned the importance of being intentional, how to teach a skill and assess a student on that skill, and how to properly do a one-on-one. I learned the importance of learning styles and ways to helps each person preform their best by simply providing snacks or short breaks and setting the room up right. So, while all of this was being mentally processed God was also speaking to me a lot. He was speaking about my value and His heart for me here in Newcastle. He was speaking to me about honoring leaders and being qualified for a task simply because He has chosen me. He spoke to me about sacrifice and becoming settled where He has me. Between God and Judith Knight, our teacher, I was barely able to keep up. 

When those amazing and hard two weeks came to an end we went back to a house full of excited DTSers who had just come back from outreach. The next day I was apart of a Christmas concert put on by our youth ministry, Youth Street. I am still apart of the Dance Team and our team preformed two dances during the evening. That whole day was spent getting ready, having rehearsals, making food, working in the Cafe and preforming. It was an incredibly rewarding day but beyond exhausting. I am so proud of the Crew or teens that really stepped up and preformed to the best of their ability no matter how silly they might have felt. I love seeing Crew given an opportunity to show off their amazing skills and going for it. 

The day after the Christmas Concert was Base Retreat. Base Retreat is a four day camping trip that our entire base goes on. We all pack ourselves into vans and head to the same beautiful camping grounds I camped at on my DTS. For fours days we live together in tents and eat our meals out of tin plates and listen to amazing lectures and cool off in the refreshing lake. For four days we are given the opportunity to relate to one another and God in a unique way. Away from the distractions of the world we are able to value one another and intimately hang out with our creator and Dad. We had a speaker from the Townsville base named Ken Mulligan who spoke every morning and a few of the evenings. He spoke on being a servant and following God through anything and not becoming and remaining offended easily and much more. Everything that Ken spoke on was exactly what I needed and it caused me to become so uncomfortable that I had to act on what I heard. I love that kind of teaching, the kind that not only inspires me but also motivates me into action. During those four day God once again began to speak to me about things I didn't really want to address. He continued to poke me until he gained my attention and I allowed Him to work on me. 

I have been home for a week now and it has been one of the hardest weeks of my YWAM career. This week has been filled with inward struggles and the taking on of new task. The fact that I will not be home for Christmas began to sink in and I had no intention of missing the holiday season so much. Everything, from hearing Christmas music to smelling a pine tree make me tear up and miss being home even more. More then anything I want to be in my house with the Christmas tree lit up getting ready to bundle up and go pick out a Christmas tree to bring home and decorate. The beautiful thing about living life with Jesus is that He becomes everything you need, even holiday spirit. Even though I miss everything so much I have such a peace in the fact that I am exactly where I need to be and that God is right along side me.

 I pray that your Christmas will be filled with joy and laughter and family and blessings. Choose to cherish every moment , even through the stress. Thank you so much for being apart of my life. It is such a blessing to have you as apart of my extended family making me feel so loved and supported from the other side of the world. 

Merry Christmas, 

Hannah 

Prayer Request: 

My Working Holiday Visa expires on the 11th of January. I have made a mad dash to get everything done and sent off. If you could please pray that my application ends up in the right hands and gains a swift approval that would be great . 

That I will hear God clearly on what His vision is for me in this next season. 

My roommate, Ashley Swinney, is still in the States due to lack of funds. Please pray for breakthrough in finances so she can come join me in our room. 

Financial needs: 

$100 for a small air cooler to lessen the unbarable heat this summer.

Monthly Support for:

Laundry-$16 a month 

Food-$40 a month

Clothing-$40 a month

I now have a pay pal account. It is a quick and easy way to donate right to my personal account. www.paypal.com 

1. Go to the web site

2. Click on Send Money 

3. Click Send Money Online 

4. There are directions from there

Feel free to ask me any questions you have about this and anything else.