The Real Nicole.

One thing that totally blows my mind and overwhelms me is how much my life has changed in 6 months.  Now I don't mean that in a bad way, because some of the things I've done and achieved is awesome. But it really does shock me.  6 months ago I was living at home and leading in the youth group of the church I grew up in. I wasn't unhappy, I fact I loved it, I was exploring what God wanted me to do though. With my whole life for a long time. I like details, and I don't feel like I have very many in that category. But God has sent me on this awesome journey to the country and I really love it here. I love the community and the slower pace, I love that I feel safe walking around and generally being here and there is loo worry about doors not being locked and stuff.  I love the sporting community and atmosphere, I totally would have done sport growing up if it was like that in the city and you didn't have to pay a million bucks and be elite to get good sporting communi...

God called me and I answered, and that is while I'm here now. its been a crazy journey to get here. The beginning of the story starts here... In late December of 2012 i was first time leading of CE Camp and had an awesome group of 16 year olds.  On of these girls was from a country area.  She told me of the struggle it was to be a christian teenager in the country because she was the only one her age and the youth group was just an occasional dinner or something at the ministers house with her younger sister and a few others.  I left that conversation thinking that someone who was passionate about youth should really go out to the country and support them and care about them because that's what they were passionate about rather than that was a need to address.   About a week later (Jan 2013) i was at Beach mission and talking with the Minister of Naracoorte UC who was on the team. I was talking about the plans i had that year to serve in my church with ca...

I have this friend. She is great. One of my best friends I'd say. Probably my closest friend. Why? Well I meet her at the start of this year when she started attending at my church. Funny story actually when we first met we joked around quite a bit, I thought she was great. I was talking the the youth pastor about how awesome she was - he knew her from a previous church - he was like she's great, be her friend and get her to youth lead with you. Now my youth pastor was only joking when he told me to befriend her so she will be a youth leader. But that's exactly what happened not like that though. The first night we lead a small group together was awesome, I loved having someone who just seemed to so naturally bounce off what I had to say and finish my questions. We were Bert and Ernie the youth ministry world. We road tripped to Sydney for hillsong together and it was some of the best fun I've had. She encouraged me, laughed at and with me, danced with me, support...

As a youth leader, slum city was something I wanted my young people to get involved it, I thought it would be a great experience and something they could share with their non-Christian mates. I didn't expect to be so challenged for me personally and to come away with an experience that has profoundly changed and shaped my thinking. Slum City is a 24 hour simulation that occurred in Civic Park over the 40 Hour Famine weekend (17-18 th August). Participants gathered from local churches and the age range varied from year 9's to the Mayor of Tea Tree Gully Miriam Smith.  About 30 people were a part of the slum and Ross, Dan, Bradley, Josiah, Georgia and myself represented Hope Valley.  During the 24 hour period our phones were taken away from us, we were fed a basis meal of rice for dinner and a piece of bread at breakfast, and there was nothing like sports equipment, access to the playground or playing cards to keep ourselves occupied and we had to participate in a range of...

  Last Friday, I was given the opportunity to preach at youth.  This is my message from that evening.   Have you ever built a house or done renos on your house? Turn to the person next to you and share about if you have ever done some building work. Or the building work you want to do if you could do anything to your house.   When Sam and I were little we used to play with our lego. We would build a whole town on Sam’s car mat. It would take us a couple of hours to build the shops and police station and school, and mansion at the end of the street. These houses were amazing they would be mansions not just with an exterior wall but with internal rooms and interior doors, a 2nd storey with staircase, even occasionally a 3rd story, we used to just build more and more on the more people we would find in our lego box or the more we would realised the kinds of rooms they could have, a gym would be added, a craft room, toy room, roof top car park and b...

Im a youth leader and the youth intern at my church, this means I get to do some really exciting things but also some really boring thing. Each week I spend one day in the church office, doing admin tasks such as updating the database with contact details, write letters, make the youth program, call places to book things, organising many of the details for youth camps.   I also have to write studies for our youth group and write devotions.   Part of my role as a youth leader is to have a bunch of fun while looking after, caring and contacting the youth im responsible for.   Each week I hang out with youth in small groups and talk about whats going on in their lives, talk faith and have heaps of fun.   I contact my girls most weeks to remind them of details for events and catch up and there are a few youth who I mentor so I have deeper conversations with about whats going on in their lives and support and encourage them in their faith.      I ...

These July Holidays I road tripped to Sydney with a team from my church for Hillsong Conference. It was AMAZING! I went to confernece hoping to get a real passion for my faith and a passionate vision for incredible things. I wanted to become a person that God spoke to so clearly about vision and exciting things and i wanted to become crazy for Jesus. I had an amazing time at Hillsong. God spoke, i listened, i build community with a group of people i wasnt heaps close too, and i learnt a lot about myself. Pastor Steven Furtick spoke at Conference and one of his talks was titled, you are never really ready. this message spoke to me, im in a stage in my life where im trying to work out what i want to do with the rest of it, where my study will lead me, what kind of lifestyle i want in the future and what kind of career i want and most importantly, how im going to use my life to serve God. I have (i think) answers to many of this questions but i question a lot about how i can d...