a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted

There's this really neat passage in Ecclesiastes 3 about how there's a "season for everything" and it seems only fitting that I would center my first blog post here around that sentiment.

3 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

Newness has always scared me. I mean, I think it scares everyone, I know I'm not special, but considering my future has just always been particularly difficult for me. Not only do I not trust myself to make my future happen because I'm ~insecure as heck~, I've never fully trusted God to make my future happen because I ~suck at believing He's as big as He is~.

So you can imagine the terror I felt when I started to feel like the Lord was calling me to complete a Photo/Video Discipleship Training School (DTS) with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA.

I immediately started looking for ways out. I thought, there's no way I can get this funded. There's no way I can go to this place where I know absolutely no one. There's no way I'm even qualified with my current knowledge of both film and my faith.

But Jesus was like, "No see you're going to do this thing. Because I said so."

I said, "....okay I guess."

The pieces fell into place. God turned that fear into excitement, because that's the sort of thing He's able to do. I started to see why this is exactly what I need at this moment in my life - a chance to learn what it means to intertwine my faith and my art and not let those worlds be separate, a chance to travel and tell people about Jesus, and a chance to do all of this somewhere I never would have expected. Maybe a chance to meet some kangaroos along the way, who knows.

So here I am beginning the process of plucking up what's been planted in Virginia its whole life. I'll be transparent and say that there is a lot left to be done in order to get me there - financially, logistically, mentally, spiritually - but I am learning every day to surrender my doubts and worries to the God who is bigger than all of that. I'm not completely there yet but I'm getting there.

I want to offer an invitation to everyone reading this to partner with me if you're interested. I would so appreciate prayers for this trip - for peace of mind, for the people I will meet in Australia and on my outreach, for the practical things that still need to be worked out, and for God to do incredible things through this.

I also want to offer an invitation to partner with me financially if that is something you are interested in/able to do. I believe that God will provide the resources for this DTS to happen, but I simply can't do it without the help of others. I really want to share this experience with my friends and family as much as I possibly can, because this is something I am doing with others and not alone.

If you decide to partner with me in any way, please know how much that means to me. Please know that this will no longer be an individual journey, but something you are a part of as well. You're basically going to Australia with me, how neat is that?

If you've read this far, you have a lot of patience and I thank you for dealing with me. Seriously, God bless you. I'm really excited about this and I'm glad you're here to experience it with me.

-bw

**This blog is called "Looking Up" because that's exactly what I need to be doing right now - looking up to the God who will make this happen and not to my own hands. Clouds have always been such an incredible reminder to me of God's glory and creativity, so every post here will include a recent cloud pic because that's fun**