Hello Everyone!!
I hope that this post finds you well and you are having a great week! I wanted to go ahead and update everyone on things here. April and i have thoroughly enjoyed the time that we have had here so far in Australia. It is a great place that we live in and the people are so friendly. Hillsong is an amazing church that is consistently spreading God's Word all over the world. They have an incredible mission and vision and Brian and Bobbie Houston are great leadership to be under.
As some of you may know, April and I came to Australia for a much bigger reason than us just wanting to go! We came because of a strong feeling that we felt from God. I tell you, God sure has done some amazing things in our lives in this season. We feel as though we have grown so much in maturity and spirituality, and our marriage has never been stronger! We have had a lot of time to grow together in a way that we weren't able to do back home. Our relationship with God and with each other has reached a whole new level. We want to personally thank you for being part of that. Whether you have supported us financially, prayerfully, or otherwise, you have impacted our lives in a huge way.
Many of you know, but April and I have been through a lot this semester. It was hard enough living in a two bedroom apartment with two other girls! We have struggled financially and have gotten by, but it has been tough. God has definitely built our faith through the crazy circumstances such as April not having a job for the first month we were here, then losing her job for a week and getting it back again, and my dad passing away. We have stayed strong through it all! God has totally built up our faith in Him and we believe He is building us up for something huge. We have a big dream and vision that God has given to us and it is so amazing! This semester, God has been preparing us for things greater than we can imagine and we are so excited, as well as a little scared!
Well, one of the big reasons we came was so that i could get some more training musically. I realized after being here for this time, that will not be the case. The college is more of a Bible college than music school. I was under the impression that by studying within the Worship and Creative Arts stream, that i would be more musically trained, but that's not the case. Many of the classes i was able to receive Recognition of Prior Learning, because i had already taken them at CSU. So this semester i have taken one class, worship band, which is a practical class where we have a band and perform worship sets 3 times over the semester. There wasn't much training in this class because it was basically what i was doing while working at Seacoast.
After thinking through, and earnestly praying and seeking God in this situation, April and i have decided that it is time to come home. God has truly place a burning desire in my heart for Seacoast and specifically student ministries, and of course worship. Over this semester, i have learned many things that we may be able to incorporate into our church that will help us to keep moving forward! It has been a great experience for us and we have grown and learned so much. We are also so excited to come home and be with the one's we love most.
At first i really struggled with moving forward with this because i felt like i would be a failure, but i know that i'm not. We have considered many possibilities of why God would only bring us here for a semester, but we see that God wanted us to step out of our comfort zone, be forced to rely completely on Him, and put our faith in Him alone! We debated what God's "Will" was for our lives, to go home or stay here and finish the year. John 6:40 says "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." So God's will for us as His children is to spread the Good News, to tell others about Christ through our words, actions, and choices, no matter where we are. It's not about a location, it's about our heart and what we are doing to reach others! Also, it wouldn't be logical to stay another semester (at least in the college) and be paying a little over $2,000 for only one class. I don't think that would be a financially wise decision.
So it looks as though April and i will be coming home in December. We plan to leave here on the 16th of December and fly to Maryland to spend Christmas with her family. Then we will drive back down to Charleston on the 27th to settle in and spend New Year's with friends and family.
Thank you so much once again for investing in us. God is going to do some amazing things with us and we are confident that this semester has been a building block for our future! May God bless you for your fervent prayers and support for us! We love you and can't wait to see you soon! have a blessed day.
In Christ's Love,
The Knights
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
And the Rainbow Prevails!!
Okay so i know this is going to sound pretty crazy, but April got her job back today!! We know that (double) rainbow was a promise that God would provide for us!
Well, April went to Castle Towers today to actually return her uniform, and after she was on her way home, the owner called and i spoke with him for a few minutes. He said that one of the employees left and they would like to hire April again. She is picking up a shift this Sunday and will be working consistently again!!
This is totally God providing for us. We have gotten in the mindset that we know we have been faithful with the little that God has given us and He is just preparing us to be faithful with the abundance that He will provide us with in the future!! Thank you for all of your prayers in this time of need we REALLY appreciate it. Can't wait to hear what God is doing in your life!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Today we saw a rainbow!
We are trying our best to enjoy this crazy Australian spring weather, but today was tough. It started last night with dime sized hail for about twenty minutes. Then this morning it was raining pretty hard...after we got to college for chapel it was just plain windy and freezing... when all was said and done this afternoon as Robert and I walked home from Church the sun started to shine and just before we got home Robert pointed behind us to show me the most beautiful rainbow I have ever seen. It stretched across what seemed like the entire sky in a perfect half circle... and I saw both ends of it, it was absolutely incredible. To me this rainbow was a sign from God that he has not forgotten us and that he WILL take care of us.
Yesterday I was working at the cafe and just after we closed and had cleaned up for the day, my manager sat me down to tell me that I was being "let go". I never knew how hard those words were to hear, or that anyone actually says it that way, but he did. He said it was strictly because business has been bad and apparently the owners aren't making enough money so they will have to work more shifts and can't afford to keep me on staff. So yesterday was officially my last day of work.
I left work to go with Robert and Alex our friend (she's a girl) to the passion conference in the city. We had an AMAZING time. Louie Giglio, Chris Tomlin and the David Crowder Band were all part of the evening. It was a blessed night and honestly I worshipped God harder than I have in a while. It was sort of surreal...the idea that I just lost my job and our only income but it's okay because God is still God and worthy of my worship.
So...as I was riding up the escalator last night before I saw Robert and Alex thinking how was I going to tell them. A peace from God came over me and I remember thinking, this is a way to build my faith. God KNEW I was going to lose my job and he also knows that we have to pay our bills this week. He is sovereign and he is looking out for Robert and I, even if I can't get my head around how. The beautiful thing is that God has given me a great peace and trust over the situation. That I don't have to cry about it (which I haven't yet) because he is taking care of us. He has brought us this far and he's not going to stop providing for us now.
I am taken back to a few months ago when I didn't get that job at the Salon and I remember how it seemed to crush my faith in God at the time. I was totally confused and almost upset at God because I didn't understand what he was doing. I feel like in that situation I in some ways failed God in trusting in him. SO...maybe he is giving me another chance to put my faith fully in him this time, and so far so good! I am not being careless over the situation just because I am not worrying about it. If I trust in God to provide for us then I am being faithful to his call. It sort of cracks me up because I remember the other day praying that God would build my faith in Him, faith to move mountains (unbeknownst to me that I was going to lose my job in two days). He is giving me the opportunity to have what I prayed for. Now, I would have hoped for maybe a little easier situation but hey, he is God.
Last night I wanted to question God about it. I said to Robert, "I just don't understand". And he reminded me that I don't have to understand. Isn't that freeing, that we don't have to understand God's way...we just have to trust in it, and be available to be moved by him. As I began to question I was immediately reminded of Job when he questioned God about all the harm that was done to him. God did not answer his question, he simply responded by humbling Job and reminding him of who He was and who Job was. So... I decided not to question God because I figured I wouldn't get very far.
So we will trust in God and His great plan for us. I do however need a job of some sort so that is a big prayer request. One praise is that our car finally sold on ebay! Yay, so Robert will meet the guy tomorrow so he can take the car. That will help pay our rent for the next two weeks which is awesome.
I am reminded of when we get comfortable in our situation. I think back to when we were in Charleston, we really were comfortable financially. We were by no means making great money, but we did not need for anything either. Right now we are so in need of our Father's provision that it is refreshing. I would not trade my renewed and growing faith in God for my job back. What can I say, this is absolutely an adventure!!!! haha. Thanks for reading to the bottom. Love you, Miss you to everyone!
Yesterday I was working at the cafe and just after we closed and had cleaned up for the day, my manager sat me down to tell me that I was being "let go". I never knew how hard those words were to hear, or that anyone actually says it that way, but he did. He said it was strictly because business has been bad and apparently the owners aren't making enough money so they will have to work more shifts and can't afford to keep me on staff. So yesterday was officially my last day of work.
I left work to go with Robert and Alex our friend (she's a girl) to the passion conference in the city. We had an AMAZING time. Louie Giglio, Chris Tomlin and the David Crowder Band were all part of the evening. It was a blessed night and honestly I worshipped God harder than I have in a while. It was sort of surreal...the idea that I just lost my job and our only income but it's okay because God is still God and worthy of my worship.
So...as I was riding up the escalator last night before I saw Robert and Alex thinking how was I going to tell them. A peace from God came over me and I remember thinking, this is a way to build my faith. God KNEW I was going to lose my job and he also knows that we have to pay our bills this week. He is sovereign and he is looking out for Robert and I, even if I can't get my head around how. The beautiful thing is that God has given me a great peace and trust over the situation. That I don't have to cry about it (which I haven't yet) because he is taking care of us. He has brought us this far and he's not going to stop providing for us now.
I am taken back to a few months ago when I didn't get that job at the Salon and I remember how it seemed to crush my faith in God at the time. I was totally confused and almost upset at God because I didn't understand what he was doing. I feel like in that situation I in some ways failed God in trusting in him. SO...maybe he is giving me another chance to put my faith fully in him this time, and so far so good! I am not being careless over the situation just because I am not worrying about it. If I trust in God to provide for us then I am being faithful to his call. It sort of cracks me up because I remember the other day praying that God would build my faith in Him, faith to move mountains (unbeknownst to me that I was going to lose my job in two days). He is giving me the opportunity to have what I prayed for. Now, I would have hoped for maybe a little easier situation but hey, he is God.
Last night I wanted to question God about it. I said to Robert, "I just don't understand". And he reminded me that I don't have to understand. Isn't that freeing, that we don't have to understand God's way...we just have to trust in it, and be available to be moved by him. As I began to question I was immediately reminded of Job when he questioned God about all the harm that was done to him. God did not answer his question, he simply responded by humbling Job and reminding him of who He was and who Job was. So... I decided not to question God because I figured I wouldn't get very far.
So we will trust in God and His great plan for us. I do however need a job of some sort so that is a big prayer request. One praise is that our car finally sold on ebay! Yay, so Robert will meet the guy tomorrow so he can take the car. That will help pay our rent for the next two weeks which is awesome.
I am reminded of when we get comfortable in our situation. I think back to when we were in Charleston, we really were comfortable financially. We were by no means making great money, but we did not need for anything either. Right now we are so in need of our Father's provision that it is refreshing. I would not trade my renewed and growing faith in God for my job back. What can I say, this is absolutely an adventure!!!! haha. Thanks for reading to the bottom. Love you, Miss you to everyone!
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Fun Times
Hello Everyone! How are you going? We are doing pretty great over here! I have been spending a lot of time with my house watching Grey's Anatomy. We got stuck watching it and just rented season 3 to watch within the next 3 days. Things have been pretty normal, nothing too exciting recently.
I just realized that i haven't posted since Jionte and I's road trip. For our spring break, we went on a road trip up the East coast of Australia. We got to go to many places such as Surfer's paradise, Byron Bay, Marochadore, Port Macquarie, Grafton, and Newcastle. It was an awesome time to just hang out, play guitar, see the sights, and rest! We had a blast. We had no attachment to stay in one place too long b/c we just decided to sleep in the car! You can check out all the great pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/robertknight85
Also, we have been working on the stage props for the new term of Wildlife, the high school ministry here at Hillsong. They turned out awesome, but we were up until 2 and 3am for the past 3 nights working on them. I will put some pics up of those soon!
Well, i hope you are doing well as you read this. We will update you soon. have a great weekend!!
I just realized that i haven't posted since Jionte and I's road trip. For our spring break, we went on a road trip up the East coast of Australia. We got to go to many places such as Surfer's paradise, Byron Bay, Marochadore, Port Macquarie, Grafton, and Newcastle. It was an awesome time to just hang out, play guitar, see the sights, and rest! We had a blast. We had no attachment to stay in one place too long b/c we just decided to sleep in the car! You can check out all the great pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/robertknight85
Also, we have been working on the stage props for the new term of Wildlife, the high school ministry here at Hillsong. They turned out awesome, but we were up until 2 and 3am for the past 3 nights working on them. I will put some pics up of those soon!
Well, i hope you are doing well as you read this. We will update you soon. have a great weekend!!
Friday, October 3, 2008
$$$$$$$$$$ PRAYER
Hey everyone, we just need some prayer for our financial situation right now. I am really going to need a job by next week to cover our costs here. Right now, every other paycheck we get from April's job pays our rent and then the other one is going towards our bills/transportation/and grocery costs. It has just been really tough on us as we are struggling through. We are surviving, but it is hard on us. Just pray that God would bless our giving, because we know He will, we are just being patient for His timing. We love you and miss you all. Have a wonderful day and we pray that God is blessing your life as well!!!
In Christ's Love,
Robert
In Christ's Love,
Robert
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