A Year in Review: 2016 - Delight

Even though we're nearly a month into 2017, I thought a look back to all that Jesus did in 2016 might be good!

At the end of December 2015, I asked Jesus for a word for 2016 - a word that I could hold onto, a promise from Him, something to look back and see if it had happened. He gave me Psalm 37:1-9, but highlighted verse 4 which says, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." The word I felt He was speaking for the year was delight. He confirmed that word through prophetic words given by others and by the growing desire in my heart to just be with Jesus, no matter where I was or what I was doing. I wanted to find my delight in Him!

So, with this in mind, I jumped into one of the craziest years of my life!

February DTS 2016's first family photo!

January - We had a week of Face to Face as a community. We gather 3 times a year to seek the Lord together as a family at YWAM Seamill - face to face with God and face to face with each other. Jesus spoke a lot about our identity as individuals and as a community. It was a really amazing week together, and it definitely set the stage for the rest of the year.
Our Nations Ministry Team went on a two week outreach to Cyprus. They did quite a bit of pastoral care for long-term missionaries there and evangelism on the streets and in a refugee center.
January was also a month of preparation for us on the DTS staff team as we got ready for the February DTS to come!

February - The DTS trainees arrived and lecture phase started!! And thus began one of the craziest seasons of my life.

Heading to Glasgow for midterm! 

March - The DTS was in full swing, and Alex and I co-lead a two week outreach to Glasgow with the DTS. We partnered with the church we were staying at to minister in their neighborhood, worked with Glasgow City Mission to serve the homeless and refugees in Glasgow, and did a ton of street evangelism on the main shopping street in the city as well!
YWAM Seamill had staff teams sharing the love of Jesus in the middle east for most of the spring!

Northern Ireland

April - This was a huge month of breakthrough for me personally. We got back from the outreach
in Glasgow and started lectures with the DTS again. Jesus brought so much inner healing to me over those last few weeks of lectures. It was a really incredible and exhausting time!
I got to go to Northern Ireland for a personal retreat for 4 days. The YWAM base I stayed at is located next to the park that was the inspiration for C.S. Lewis' Narnia! It was a very refreshing weekend of silence and solitude and hiking around some beautiful land.

April is also when Wayne and I started dating!!! That was a really good topper to the month!
And then two days later, I left with a team of 4 trainees to lead their long-term outreach in Budapest, Hungary. Alex and another staff member lead the other 4 trainees on their outreach to Central Asia.

May - Outreach in Budapest! It was such a privilege to lead the team there and to watch each of the trainees grow in their faith, boldness, and their walk with Jesus. It was a very challenging month for me, but I saw the faithfulness of Jesus like I've never seen before.
The YWAM Seamill community had the second Face to Face time for the year which I was sad to miss!

June - We were in Budapest for nearly 3 weeks of June and then headed back to Scotland to rejoin the other half of the DTS for the last 3 weeks of their school. It was really fun to be back together, to hear all of the stories from both outreaches, and to see the growth in the people we hadn't been with for 7 weeks.

The Flanigan siblings!

July - July was crazy. The DTS graduated on the 7th, and I left in the wee hours of the morning to head back to the States on the 8th. I first went to Virginia for my brother Cole's wedding where I was with all 5 of my siblings for the first time in several years! Then on the 12th I flew to Oregon for 3 weeks to catch up with everyone there and to rest after an intense few months.

August - I got home to Scotland on the 5th, and Wayne and I were finally in the same place for more than two weeks since we started dating! It was an interesting month of transition though. I went from full time staffing a DTS to not really sure what my job was as Wayne and two others prepared for the September DTS to come.
YWAM Seamill was also hosting a 6 week school called the Leadership Development Course. I was only there for the last 4 weeks of it, but there were some legends in our mission here during that time. It was encouraging and inspiring to be surrounded by them!

September - And things got crazy again! We had another time of Face to Face as a community for a few days at the start of the month. Then September DTS trainees came on the 17th, and our house was filled with activity again. Wayne is the leader of this school, and it's been such a privilege to get to walk with him in his new role and to see him grow in his leadership skills.
Rachel and I began to pray and prepare for the January 2017 DTS.

Two of my favourite people in my favourite place

October - This was a great month. One of my best friends from Oregon, Hannah, spontaneously flew to Scotland to visit for a week! It was so crazy having her here, meeting Wayne and the people I live and work with, and seeing what life is like here.





Wayne and I were bought a car and got to bring it back from England on a little road trip!
The September DTS went on their two week mid-term outreach to Stockholm, Sweden, and Jesus did incredible things through them! They came back with a new passion and fire in their hearts to see people know Him!






November - We hosted a two week retreat for long-term missionaries in closed/difficult countries called Homecoming. We host it every year, and it is always such a special time.
I flew to Brussels to meet my mom there and to show her where I did my DTS! Then we went to London for a couple days, and then I brought her to Seamill! Talk about surreal.

 



My mom met Wayne. Wayne asked mom if he could marry me. She said yes. Wayne asked me if I'd marry him. I said yes. And now we're engaged!! Highlight of the year for sure :)

December - My mom went back to Oregon on the 5th, Wayne and the September DTS left for their 10 week long-term outreach to Cyprus on the 10th, I turned 23 on the 12th, and YWAM Seamill closed for the holidays on the 16th.
I chose to stay in Scotland over Christmas instead of going back to Oregon so I could rest after the craziness of the year. Although I love spending Christmas with my family, I think it was really good to just stay here. There were only two of us in the house for most of break, but it was restful and refreshing.

And that is a very condensed version of a really full, hard, and beautiful year! Thank you, Jesus, for your faithfulness, your trustworthiness, your grace, and your love in 2016. And thank you, dear friend, for journeying through it with me!