This isn't easy

Brisbane from Kangaroo Point 

Another pic of the city at night

The Heinrichs, Polly, and I at the wedding

The Mangroves

So I know it is time for an update, but I'm having a horrible day and feeling quite under the weather so I'm just going to list a few prayer requests that I really need right now!

• That God will give me His eyes when I look at the church and the people here. I'll be honest. It has been really hard for me to not be critical of the church and the people just because there never seems to be much depth to anything, but I can't compare here to home. Australia has a completely different personality than America. While many will say that the culture in America is secular, there are still a lot of Christian undercurrents; that is not the case in Australia.
• I need a purpose. They say that our purpose here is to help direct people towards God, but I don't really feel like I'm being given much of an opportunity to do that other than living by example. But really, I feel like I had more of a ministry at Monsanto last year by always having a good attitude and coming ready to work than living by example here. I just need God to at least show me where He is working so I can join in.
• I'm leading a Bible study next week for youth aged 15+. I'm kind of scared that I'll give them too much meat, but I also don't want to water God's Word down. Please pray that God will give me the words to say or even more, that God will speak through me and through the discussions that the group has.
• During July, I'm teaching at the Friday night services on Prayer and Why you should believe the Bible. Please pray that God will start speaking to me about what points I should cover in both of those lessons.
• I'm really having a hard time here if you haven't figured that out from the prayer requests above. I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place, and Mandy has even commented that I seem to get sadder and sadder as the days go by. Please ask God to fill me with His joy and His comfort. I don't want to walk away from this trip feeling like it was a waste of time, and right now that is what it seems.

Thank you for praying for me. I really need God to work in my life right now.