Hello everyone!!
Today was an amazing day at church!
I have been a part of the worship team this month at the church we are attending on Sundays! It’s been so good for me to step out of my comfort zone and allow God to call me into the uncomfortable. I have always been so in love with music. It’s the way I feel the Lord the most. And worship was always something I wanted to do, but it was never something I felt like I was good enough to do. But the Lord opened doors, and encouraged me to walk through them. I’m finally comfortable up on stage. So I’m grateful for that.
Today was a very different Sunday, however. The Lord has placed Australia on my heart since I was in middle school. And ever since I began the Race, I feel like He leaves hints all over the world to draw my eyes to Australia, and to be praying about what the future holds for me there. I have met so many people from Australia, I have seen numerous random magazine articles about Australia, I see Australian flags everywhere, and it’s something that crosses my mind very often.
At church today, I noticed a couple walk in the door and they were Americans! YAY! (We always get really excited seeing Americans) I could tell the woman was a painter as she walked in in her awesome ripped jeans that were paint spattered, and she had an A21 tshirt on. We went on to pray as staff before service started, and after the prayer our host asked the couple to introduce themselves. They went on to tell us that they are Sarah and Jared Dahl. They are from America but are currently living in AUSTRALIA!! They have been living in Australia for 12 years now. Sarah is a prophetic painter. She is amazing. Her husband is a musician and teaches. Sarah and Jared travel together and do different events around the world with their God-given talent. Sarah paints during worship or to Jared playing music and she paints the pictures that the Lord gives her. Jared has also played worship with Hillsong United!! (If you don’t know Hillsong, look them up!)
She painted while we sang worship today and it was amazing. I was able to talk with her during our fellowship time and she told me how she got started doing this. Its so cool. I’m just going to lay it out in interview form.
Keeley: “So did you always want to be an artist?”
Sarah: (Laughs) “No! I wanted to play basketball for the USA!”
Keeley: “Wow! Really? So how did you get started?”
Sarah: “Well I went to play basketball in college and we traveled overseas. I remember talking to a bunch of girls and they didn’t speak my language. So I had to literally draw stick figures to tell them the story of Jesus. When I was finished telling them the story in pictures, I asked them if any of them wanted to ask Jesus into their hearts. They all raised their hand. I started to panic because at the time I didn’t know what to do next. I didn’t know the salvation prayer. All of the sudden a lady walked up to me and said that she had been observing what was going on, and asked if she could pray for the girls salvation. And they were all saved that day.”
At this point I legit had chills.
Keeley: “That’s insane.”
Sarah: “Yeah, and then I went to a conference and a prophetic woman stood up and pointed at me and yelled ‘painter!’ And I started taking art classes.”
We talked about a lot of her experiences and we talked about how sometimes we question if what we’re hearing from the Lord is actually from the Lord, or if it’s coming from us.
Sarah said, “Oh trust me, I question it sometimes too. One time, I was at a church, and I literally live off of the money I make on these paintings, and the Lord told me to paint lungs. ‘I was like, are you kidding me, God? I need to eat today.’ But I ended up painting this picture of lungs with wings coming out of it, it was crazy. All of the sudden, this woman came up to me and told me she wanted to buy my painting. I literally asked ‘why?’. The woman told me that she is a lung specialist, and wanted to hang the painting in her office. Then after the lady had bought the painting, she sent a picture of it to her friends all over the world, and I had people contacting me for a painting like it for people suffering from lung diseases because it represented healing for them.”
God is SO cool.
We talked a lot more about a lot of other things. Sarah and Jared came to lunch with our team, and they told us about how they met. Sarah went to Jared’s church and asked him to give her music lessons and they hit it off. BUT, she said it was crazy because right when she saw him, she said that the Lord told her that she had just met her future husband. And only after they got married, did her father-in-law tell her that the minute she walked into their church that first time, the Lord told her that she would be his future daughter-in-law.
After lunch, I walked back with Sarah and I asked her more about my beloved Australia. I asked her what kinds of places I should look for to stay at when I go. I have looked up a lot of lodging places, and even Airbnbs are expensive. She told me to let her know when I will be coming, and if they are in Australia and not in a different country for work, that I am welcome to stay with them. But if they were gone, that she would connect me with her friends and I would have a place to stay. God, what are you trying to do to me here??
The Lord is so amazing. He places the COOLEST people in our paths and we are able to learn so much from them as they pour their wisdom onto us.
Please go check out her website! She sells her art and prints on there and you can see her work! She also sells stationary, and other cool items with her artwork on them! She gave us a postcard that had a painting she did on it and it had an amazing meaning behind it. She’s seriously just really stinkin’ cool.
Website: http://www.sarahrowandahl.com/
This is the painting she painted today!
I also encourage all of my Facebook friends to go “like” her Facebook page! Look up “Sarah Rowan Dahl” For every “like” she gets, she donates $1 to the A21 campaign!
https://www.facebook.com/SarahRowanDahl/
For those of you wondering what the A21 campaign is:
A21 is a 501 non profit organization that eradicates human trafficking awareness and abolishes slavery everywhere! And the founder is Christine Caine and she is not only amazing for her book “Undaunted” and all of the other amazing things she does, but she is also AUSTRALIAN!!
So many amazing things happened in just one day!
OH! And we got to do actual communion like we do back home and my heart was so happy! Communion has become such an emotional and beautiful thing to me over the past couple years, and this morning I was able to shed tears of joy taking communion with my team, and with the beautiful people from all over the world that I have had the privilege to spend every Sunday morning with.
ALSO, Jared and I rescued a baby bird today! What a stinkin’ day!
Jesus, you are my rock, my light, my everything. Thank you for the goodness that you pour into me daily, and THANK YOU for this crazy life I live!
I love you guys!!
Question and Answer blog to come!
Keep an eye out!
Love and Peace,
Keeley
