a day away with God...

Our church, Pinelands Baptist, has been running an Alpha course on Wednesday evenings, which I have been privileged to help facilitate. It has been a great time for all of us to go deeper in our faith - even if that is in the beginning stages of questioning and discovering.

Yesterday, we went away as a group to Kleinmond for a 'Holy Spirit day away'. On some Alpha courses, this is a whole weekend away, but since many of our participants have families, this wasn't possible, so we did our own day-long version. So much prayer and preparation went into this weekend, and with such God-results!

The drive up was beautiful - mist covered the ground, and the sun peeped over the mountain, visible through the mist. God is so creative!

Craig co-lead the day, mixing the DVD teachings with his own, on who the Holy Spirit is, what He does and how to be filled with the Holy Spirit, followed by a time to put this all into practice. It was wonderful hearing people's questions, confusions, doubts and understanding all coming out and being challenged. We had some discussion time in smaller groups, which again was fascinating! Over lunch, I got to hear two ladies, both who started this course not knowing Jesus personally, saying how glad they are that they have done this course and how many of their questions have been answered. Praise God! During the practical time, we invited the Holy Spirit to come, and prayed for each other to receive a fresh filling of Him. It was so beautiful to watch as each person experienced God in their own unique ways, as God met them where they were at and loved them. There was tears, laughter, peace, joy, freedom, love, passion and healing being poured out all over that place!

God is doing such amazing things all over the world! Amazing is too small a word... It doesn't wrap up how crazy or huge He is!

On the way back, we took the coastal route, which reminded me again that Cape Town really is one of the most beautiful places in the world, and that it will always have a special place in my heart, no matter where in the world I am.

During that time, I had this weird feeling growing in my stomach - a nervous excitement is probably the closest I could come to describing it. I wanted it to go away, 'cause it was weird, but at the same time, I didn't want it too. I asked God what it was, and He said it's for the things to come - what He is about to do, that will far exceed anything we could ever hope or imagine!