A Peace Of Me...

I want to begin by saying Thank you for taking the time to read this and supporting us through this season of life!

This is a picture of us hanging out in the city after Easter Sunday night at the Entertainment Center!

About two months ago I lost my job at the salon I have worked at for a total of 6 months, I was quite sad about it, but I knew I had to start looking again. My original concern was looking for and finding another salon job, salons are run differently than I am used to and its been difficult adjusting to some of the differences. So I started my search in retail, I felt pretty confident I would be able to find something quickly because I have so much experience in this field. Well, I was wrong, I actually had very little luck in that area. I think that a possible reason would be because I have restrictions on my visa, which only allow me to work 20 hours a week. When I realised this was going no where, I started applying for salons again. Next thing you know, I had set up and interview with a salon in the area.

Although I was quite hesitant about it, I went to the interview. To my surprise it went well, although, I was still a little sceptical about it, they invited me back for a trial. I came home, talked to Bryon about it, and despite my concerns, and hesitations, I went to the trial. I was surprised yet again with how good the trial went, and at the end... I was offered a job!

The next day was my first day, and it was great! I was getting along with everybody, trying to help out, and stay out of the way at the same time. I finished the shift and worked the rest of the weekend. Then, the next week rolled around and it was Easter, meaning the shop was closed on Friday and Sunday, which meant the only day I was able to work was Saturday. Well at this point everything was fine, I had no reason to believe that anything was wrong

Then... Easter Sunday! We had an incredible service at Hillsong Church Sunday morning, and then we were off to the Heart of Sydney for the Sunday night service in the city! This was a combined services for all of the locations in the Sydney area, altogether there was about 14,000 people in one arena Worshipping God! After that we took a little stroll in the city with some friends and enjoyed our night.

This is a picture of Easter Sunday morning Hillsong at the Hills Campus

This is a picture of the Easter service we had in the city. These are all Hillsong students that wrote 'bluegrass style' a song specifically for this night.. It was AMAZING! here is the YouTube link... Check it out!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpW_Eh2YHmQ

OK so, back to the job situation, the next day was Monday, and Bryon and I had planed a day at the beach to go snorkelling. Well, we had to make a stop at the bank on our way out, and this is when I received the text message. It was from my manager at the salon and it said they had just gone over the monthly budget and they could no longer keep me on their staff. This really took me by surprise, but one thing I have noticed  about these kinds of text messages is that I have received so many that I have grown numb to them... as sad as it may seem, I have become used to rejection... Well, needless to say, the beach trip did not happen, and I immediately started looking for another job.

Its been two weeks since then and I have had some major eye opening experiences during that time. First off, I have realised in the past year, living here, that it is not beneficial for me to sulk or be depressed about these type of situations, because I know I cannot change what has already happened. Also one of the biggest things I have been striving for in my life is a positive attitude, my new favourite saying is "The best is yet to come", no matter what situation, it will eventually come...God does amazing, things and He will never give us more than we can handle, or let us fail!

The second major revelation I have had, particularly these last two weeks, is Jesus growing my faith like I have never seen before! It is the most incredible encounter with Christ I have ever experienced! The first thing that set this off was about a week ago, in Sunday night church, our senior pastor, Brian Huston, got up at the end of the service and simply prayed over the congregation. He felt God prompting him to pray for those with financial Issues and those who we looking for a job. Bryon and I were sitting next to some great friends of ours Alex and Jessica and they just laid there hands on both of us and just prayed for Gods provision and favour over our life! And you know what? That is when I started believing it for myself! God is amazing, He really does provide for those who are faithful to Him! Ill give you a few examples, right after they let me go from the salon, on of our married couple friends called Bryon and asked him if he need extra work for the week, He knew this gentleman from Hillsong that was moving, and he just needed some extra work done around the house. Bryon went over there for a couple of hours for two days in a row and made as much as he would make in 4 days of delivering pizzas! That was a huge blessing for us, but ill tell you the biggest blessing we have received recently is, when we found out, last week, that we are getting a little over 900 dollars in our american tax return!! HOW GOOD IS OUR GOD!!! :)

"Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20

These are our friends Alex and Jessica, they have been amazing to us! They are, along with many others, considered our Aussie family!  :)

Now onto the latest information, I have been constantly looking for a job for the past month and I finally have somewhat of a lead on a job possibility! I had an interview a salon (I know... another salon) But I went in for a trial today, and it went really well, they want me to come back on Wednesday! The great thing about this place, is that they are closed on Sundays, which is something I am really trying to stick to, being off on Sunday so I could attend church! The downfall at the moment is that the manager is trialling several people at once, meaning... I have a lot of competition, and I probably wont know much more, at least for another couple of weeks. I also applied for a job at Hillsong to work with there daycare program part-time, which would be so awesome, because it is much closer and way more convenient (because its the same place Bryon goes to school at) than this salon is. So, that being said, your thoughts and prayers are always welcome and greatly appreciated!

I just want to thank you all for reading and following us on this blog. It has been an amazing journey so far and I am so thankful to be able to share it with all of you! Continue to watch for post about how you can get involved with supporting us on this journey, weather it be prayer support, financial support, or just sending us greatly missed American goodies!!!Just please continue to pray for Bryon and I as we do life here and enjoy this time while we have it! You all play a huge roll in helping us to stay here and continue the work that God has called us to do!

Love you all!
Bryon and Shelby