Update from OZ

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