The conference has been amazing and much fun (worship was fantastic last night: strong and powerful and full of love) and now I am mostly ready to take my suitcase downstairs and head off to the lovely Pearson International Airport to fly to Finland via LONDON!!! It is our desire and prayer that we are able to see some of the city during our lengthy layover there. :) Can't wait.
Prayer Points for Team Finland (and Italy, Peru, Iceland, and Alabama):
- good team connection, that everyone is respectful of others' time, feelings, etc. and that we all put in the effort to make the trip excellent
- that we will be pure vessels able to pour out all the love, peace, joy, and power that God has given us
- that all logistics are taken care of/ things run smoothly, even more than we think they could
- signs, wonders, miracles, and healings
Happy New Year's! The things God has planned for us this year are going to blow our minds! Can't wait...Come, Lord!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 30, 2010
The Glory of Confinement
This was the topic of Duncan Smith's sermon this evening: The Glory of Confinement. At first several of us were confused but essentially he was talking about full submission to God. He told us a story where the Holy Spirit asked him when Joseph's greatest moment of confinement was. Duncan replied, "When he was in the dungeon." The correct answer was when Joseph accepted the position as second in command to Pharaoh because he was no longer his own man and never would be for the rest of his life. He was now all about the Pharaoh's business and would now always answer to him. This can also be described in the paradox of the corporate ladder. We strive to reach the top believing that being our own boss will make our lives easier when in fact the higher we climb the more "unfree" we become. So in terms of the Christian walk our greatest moment of confinement will be in the split second when we die and are then taken into heaven where we will be forever all about the King's business. Truly we will no longer be our own person. Amazing. Of course as we pray Heaven to Earth it should now be our heart's desire for us to step into a place of confinement now, full submission to God's will, heart, and desire for our lives. It is not about our destiny; it is about fulfilling His purpose. It is about dying to ourselves and becoming the pure, empty vessels that He can use to pour out His glory and love on all those we meet. Oh, this is what I want. I love Him so much.
Peace
Peace
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
i'm back
Christmas was good. I love my family. Breakthrough is evident which makes me excited. Did tons of shopping, but got a load of deals. Ate gobs of chocolate and had a chill and low key white Christmas. Delightful. Shared a bit at church first Sunday. Had fun with the Holy Spirit. He gave a short "sermon" on faith for me second Sunday. Awesome. Flight a bit delayed on Monday. Took an hour to get my suitcase. And had a lovely walk back to school from the bus stop. Yay, I'm back. No SGL's= stay up til 3am watching movies. :)
Being back in Toronto has been wonderful. Since we all our classes are over and we don't have any pressing duties everyone has been hanging out in the halls and lounges as opposed to hiding away in rooms or attending to responsibilities. Time is short. In a day in a half I will be on a plane again but this time to hop the pond. So excited but it still seems far away/not possible at the moment. We had our last pre-trip outreach prep meeting today. Prior to break Isaac and I were given the task of coming up with a drama or skit to perform while on outreach. We decide on "King of Hearts" a sketch I performed ages ago with the BOL youth group (when there was one). Didn't do much else about it until we found out that Lizi (outreach leader) wanted us to start practicing it today. Uhhh.... We got it all sorted out and it's going to be a bit better than the original (which is a bit dramatically cheezy). Added several other parts and such and I'm thinking we should probably get another name for all the changes we made. Not sure we are the performing sort but we had fun attempting to rehearse. I'll let you know how it turns out and if we were able to keep a straight face throughout. Doubt it.
Tonight starts HEAVY RAIN...it's our New Year's conference. Definitely not as large as ONETHING (wish i could go there) but I'm so freakin' excited. Can't wait to dance and go crazy. Duncan Smith is speaking tonight after a major rock out by the Freshwind Band.
Being back in Toronto has been wonderful. Since we all our classes are over and we don't have any pressing duties everyone has been hanging out in the halls and lounges as opposed to hiding away in rooms or attending to responsibilities. Time is short. In a day in a half I will be on a plane again but this time to hop the pond. So excited but it still seems far away/not possible at the moment. We had our last pre-trip outreach prep meeting today. Prior to break Isaac and I were given the task of coming up with a drama or skit to perform while on outreach. We decide on "King of Hearts" a sketch I performed ages ago with the BOL youth group (when there was one). Didn't do much else about it until we found out that Lizi (outreach leader) wanted us to start practicing it today. Uhhh.... We got it all sorted out and it's going to be a bit better than the original (which is a bit dramatically cheezy). Added several other parts and such and I'm thinking we should probably get another name for all the changes we made. Not sure we are the performing sort but we had fun attempting to rehearse. I'll let you know how it turns out and if we were able to keep a straight face throughout. Doubt it.
Tonight starts HEAVY RAIN...it's our New Year's conference. Definitely not as large as ONETHING (wish i could go there) but I'm so freakin' excited. Can't wait to dance and go crazy. Duncan Smith is speaking tonight after a major rock out by the Freshwind Band.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Home Again
I love Christmas time though this year because I've been away and in a bit of a different atmosphere in the pre-holiday season I haven't had all the time to get hyped up on "Christmas!" things. Not sure whether this is good or bad, it's just different. Part of me used to hate Christmas for all the commercialism and what not but now I tend to pass over that a bit and chill out realizing materialism can only have a hold on me if I let it. Christmas is about Jesus. God became man so that my debt might be paid and that I may be reconciled to Him, that I might be in right standing with God, and that I might enjoy my place as His daughter in His Kingdom. How wonderful is that?! Christmas is great. Deck the Halls, the King has come!
MIRACLE: So in lieu of Mom driving 20 hours to come get me from Toronto and bring me back to Indy, we bought a plane ticket for me. It was set for Friday night but for some reason I was looking at other tickets the Monday before and saw there was one for six hours earlier where I would arrive at 4pm instead of 10pm which sounded a lot better to me. This would be great cuz I could hang out more with Kris, I might be able to see friends, and just be HOME before everyone went to bed anyway. Essentially it felt like I would have another whole day at home. I emailed the ticket company to see if it might be possible to switch and breakthrough one was that a real person emailed me back and said they were looking into it! Yay, she didn't say the seats were all taken or that it was impossible! *sigh of relief*
{Side Note: one of my big struggles is with faith- believing that God will bless me in the everyday life-type stuff. Sure I know He is a good God and when He blesses me out of the blue, I love it and rejoice, but it's hard to believe for something that I actually asked for. Many many people have spoken words that God is going to give me ridiculous favor, wants to pour out His favor on me, that He's going to give financial blessings, etc. and I really felt like this was one instant where it might come to be. I could have easily not emailed about the tickets or given up when they didn't email me back, but I felt this was a exercise of faith that could bring about a huge blessing.}
The next day I think I emailed to see if anything had come up and the lady said no and that she would let me know when she knew something. I let it go for two days. It was now the day before and the flight I had been wanting was no longer listed on the travel sight because it was for the next day. The stress is totally rising; the day before I had gotten a headache that turned into a migraine and I almost lost my dinner. This day feels like it might follow the same pattern. I ask Mom to call in because I had to go to CBN and I'd check in later. Judith talked with me after and helped me give up some of the stress and prayed with me. You know, we were not meant to carry such heavy burdens... easy to pick them up though and hard to let them go...
Fortunately for me the internet at SOM lags a bit so I didn't receive Mom's comment right away but I did receive an email for another lady working on my case: she was trying but wasn't getting anywhere. I decide to maybe go in to the airport early and trying the ticket counter in the morning. I go out with friends for one last Hoo-rah and pray for the best. Mom's message had been along the lines of "sorry, but it looks like you're SOL. see you at 10." And that is totally fine, it really didn't look like anything was going to happen, but for some reason this was a BIG deal to me and I was not going to let go so easily. I wanted a breakthrough in my life and I wanted faith. Who knows what kind of faith I was having at that moment (authentic or fabricated) but I had to hold on to something!
Went to the airport around 12pm hoping for the 2pm flight. The queue for the baggage check-in was HUUUUGGGEEE while that for the executive class was nothing. I start wheeling toward the former and then head back thinking, "I have the authority. I have class, and besides if they send me back what have I lost, this line is a mile long?" I walk up to a lady, say 'my flight is for 8' and 'may I switch to 2?' She does a little clicking and says that's just fine!!!!! O WOW. REALLY? Online the penalty of switching is $165 so I'm praying for not that and she looks at me concerned and says, "Oh, well that's going to um be $70." *!*!*!*!*!*!*!* haha I about threw my card at her. OK! Now my bag was overweight so I had to pay for that too but I pretty much didn't care. All the while I'm thinking, "God you are good, God you are good." but still inside me is this place of doubt, as if all of this could have been coincidence. Possible, right? Maybe if you believe in coincidence, I guess. I thought, "Maybe I should ask if I can have a window seat....well, no, you shouldn't push your luck." She does all the checking with my passport and all that and turns to me and says, "Well, your seat is now a window seat, is that ok?" haha I about laughed out loud. What an amazing God I serve. I can't believe he loves me this much. And yet, truly, it is so much more than I could ever love.
All on the plane ride I was shaking my head an grinning like an idiot. And it was amazing to be home early; it really made all the difference. I was able to unpack (and dump all my clothes in the laundry room), see a few friends at a Christmas gig, go shopping for my friends coming to stay the night, and get the house ready for them (bake, clean, etc.). So nice! It was a bit crazy, when I got home there was a bit of a culture shock for me...probably one of the only times I've had it. I was no longer in a building where 60 of my closest friends live next door to me, where my classroom in just downstairs, and where the Holy Spirit is so free to move in all of us that He so often does and we see it. Nope, now I was home, which is more an more not feeling like "home"; I know soon I will be leaving it for "good" which is probably a good thing considering I am -- years old. Crazy. Because of this mini-shock I was quite excited that Becky, Sandra, and Joni from school were stopping by the house on their way to Kansas City and CO. While it may seem lame that it had only been about 14 hours since I had seen them I already missed them sooooooo badly. My spirit was so homesick. Can't wait to go back even though it won't be for long. In the meantime I am enjoying home and family and shopping and good food and my bed and internet past midnight and a shower I can move in and real carpet and my kitties and....
Peace.
MIRACLE: So in lieu of Mom driving 20 hours to come get me from Toronto and bring me back to Indy, we bought a plane ticket for me. It was set for Friday night but for some reason I was looking at other tickets the Monday before and saw there was one for six hours earlier where I would arrive at 4pm instead of 10pm which sounded a lot better to me. This would be great cuz I could hang out more with Kris, I might be able to see friends, and just be HOME before everyone went to bed anyway. Essentially it felt like I would have another whole day at home. I emailed the ticket company to see if it might be possible to switch and breakthrough one was that a real person emailed me back and said they were looking into it! Yay, she didn't say the seats were all taken or that it was impossible! *sigh of relief*
{Side Note: one of my big struggles is with faith- believing that God will bless me in the everyday life-type stuff. Sure I know He is a good God and when He blesses me out of the blue, I love it and rejoice, but it's hard to believe for something that I actually asked for. Many many people have spoken words that God is going to give me ridiculous favor, wants to pour out His favor on me, that He's going to give financial blessings, etc. and I really felt like this was one instant where it might come to be. I could have easily not emailed about the tickets or given up when they didn't email me back, but I felt this was a exercise of faith that could bring about a huge blessing.}
The next day I think I emailed to see if anything had come up and the lady said no and that she would let me know when she knew something. I let it go for two days. It was now the day before and the flight I had been wanting was no longer listed on the travel sight because it was for the next day. The stress is totally rising; the day before I had gotten a headache that turned into a migraine and I almost lost my dinner. This day feels like it might follow the same pattern. I ask Mom to call in because I had to go to CBN and I'd check in later. Judith talked with me after and helped me give up some of the stress and prayed with me. You know, we were not meant to carry such heavy burdens... easy to pick them up though and hard to let them go...
Fortunately for me the internet at SOM lags a bit so I didn't receive Mom's comment right away but I did receive an email for another lady working on my case: she was trying but wasn't getting anywhere. I decide to maybe go in to the airport early and trying the ticket counter in the morning. I go out with friends for one last Hoo-rah and pray for the best. Mom's message had been along the lines of "sorry, but it looks like you're SOL. see you at 10." And that is totally fine, it really didn't look like anything was going to happen, but for some reason this was a BIG deal to me and I was not going to let go so easily. I wanted a breakthrough in my life and I wanted faith. Who knows what kind of faith I was having at that moment (authentic or fabricated) but I had to hold on to something!
Went to the airport around 12pm hoping for the 2pm flight. The queue for the baggage check-in was HUUUUGGGEEE while that for the executive class was nothing. I start wheeling toward the former and then head back thinking, "I have the authority. I have class, and besides if they send me back what have I lost, this line is a mile long?" I walk up to a lady, say 'my flight is for 8' and 'may I switch to 2?' She does a little clicking and says that's just fine!!!!! O WOW. REALLY? Online the penalty of switching is $165 so I'm praying for not that and she looks at me concerned and says, "Oh, well that's going to um be $70." *!*!*!*!*!*!*!* haha I about threw my card at her. OK! Now my bag was overweight so I had to pay for that too but I pretty much didn't care. All the while I'm thinking, "God you are good, God you are good." but still inside me is this place of doubt, as if all of this could have been coincidence. Possible, right? Maybe if you believe in coincidence, I guess. I thought, "Maybe I should ask if I can have a window seat....well, no, you shouldn't push your luck." She does all the checking with my passport and all that and turns to me and says, "Well, your seat is now a window seat, is that ok?" haha I about laughed out loud. What an amazing God I serve. I can't believe he loves me this much. And yet, truly, it is so much more than I could ever love.
All on the plane ride I was shaking my head an grinning like an idiot. And it was amazing to be home early; it really made all the difference. I was able to unpack (and dump all my clothes in the laundry room), see a few friends at a Christmas gig, go shopping for my friends coming to stay the night, and get the house ready for them (bake, clean, etc.). So nice! It was a bit crazy, when I got home there was a bit of a culture shock for me...probably one of the only times I've had it. I was no longer in a building where 60 of my closest friends live next door to me, where my classroom in just downstairs, and where the Holy Spirit is so free to move in all of us that He so often does and we see it. Nope, now I was home, which is more an more not feeling like "home"; I know soon I will be leaving it for "good" which is probably a good thing considering I am -- years old. Crazy. Because of this mini-shock I was quite excited that Becky, Sandra, and Joni from school were stopping by the house on their way to Kansas City and CO. While it may seem lame that it had only been about 14 hours since I had seen them I already missed them sooooooo badly. My spirit was so homesick. Can't wait to go back even though it won't be for long. In the meantime I am enjoying home and family and shopping and good food and my bed and internet past midnight and a shower I can move in and real carpet and my kitties and....
Peace.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
While the photos upload...
Awesome story to share = Wednesday, our "anointing with oil day"
For our last week of school (soooo sad! how on earth did the time speed by me so fast?! wow, i have absolutely no idea! craziness) we had John and Carol Arnott with us. They are such lovely people and their hearts are exactly where all of ours should be: completely engrossed in love for Jesus and the desire to be the pure spotless Bride. Jesus is coming! Let's be ready, shall we?
So before sending the students off on outreach the pastors and leaders consecrate/commission/anoint us. This consists of us wearing old clothes or trash bags and the SGL's and pastors praying/prophesying over us while pouring about a cup of olive oil on our heads and hands and feet and wherever else. We went by outreach group and mine was in the middle so I got to watch several teams go ahead of mine. The Spirit was so thick, which is obviously to be expected since we are being set apart for Him and this is a holy act initiated by God. In the OT priests and kings were anointed by the man of God with a horn of oil. Erin (roomie) and I both had our cameras out and between the two of us (and our helpful stand-in photographers) we gathered over 540 pictures! So good. I've never been anointed like that before and it was a very cool experience. We definitely were drenched and very slippery afterward, but I felt so clean on the inside and holy after it all.
Have a look...
For our last week of school (soooo sad! how on earth did the time speed by me so fast?! wow, i have absolutely no idea! craziness) we had John and Carol Arnott with us. They are such lovely people and their hearts are exactly where all of ours should be: completely engrossed in love for Jesus and the desire to be the pure spotless Bride. Jesus is coming! Let's be ready, shall we?
So before sending the students off on outreach the pastors and leaders consecrate/commission/anoint us. This consists of us wearing old clothes or trash bags and the SGL's and pastors praying/prophesying over us while pouring about a cup of olive oil on our heads and hands and feet and wherever else. We went by outreach group and mine was in the middle so I got to watch several teams go ahead of mine. The Spirit was so thick, which is obviously to be expected since we are being set apart for Him and this is a holy act initiated by God. In the OT priests and kings were anointed by the man of God with a horn of oil. Erin (roomie) and I both had our cameras out and between the two of us (and our helpful stand-in photographers) we gathered over 540 pictures! So good. I've never been anointed like that before and it was a very cool experience. We definitely were drenched and very slippery afterward, but I felt so clean on the inside and holy after it all.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
He that began a good work in you...
...is faithful to bring it to completion.
Amen. As we are quickly approaching the end of school many of us are getting anxious about how far we have come since the beginning of September and comparing it to how far we thought we would have come in such a time. Have I really grown that much? Have I made progress? Am I becoming the person that I've always wanted to be and still hope to become? Thanks to the encouraging words of Sarah Jackson and the continual reminders of Daddy, I am remembering the fact that I am not done yet. He is not done with me yet. PTL. Just because we are going on Xmas break, just because we are done with the school and are on to outreach, and just because we only have one more month before we are kicked once more into the "real world" (whatever that means...i hate this term and think i will forever stop using it...ok, good) doesn't mean that we are done or that God has done all the work that He is going to do in our lives and that forevermore we are on our own or stuck where we are right now. Nope, what a lie. God never slumbers nor sleeps and He is fo' sho' not done with me yet. Revelations are still coming and issues are of course still arising. Makes me know I'm not dead yet.
This week we have John and Carol Arnott with us. John talked with us this morning and we had our last soaking time this afternoon. I'm working through identity, openness, trust, and knowing v believing issues. haha all huge I know and such core issues. Amazing how interconnected things are. If I think about it too much it makes my head spin leaving me back where I started: knowing I just have to trust and believe God is in control. :)
Good Quote: Honor is the fruit of love.
Maybe I already wrote that here but it was from the Jacksons last week and quite impactful.
Peace.
Amen. As we are quickly approaching the end of school many of us are getting anxious about how far we have come since the beginning of September and comparing it to how far we thought we would have come in such a time. Have I really grown that much? Have I made progress? Am I becoming the person that I've always wanted to be and still hope to become? Thanks to the encouraging words of Sarah Jackson and the continual reminders of Daddy, I am remembering the fact that I am not done yet. He is not done with me yet. PTL. Just because we are going on Xmas break, just because we are done with the school and are on to outreach, and just because we only have one more month before we are kicked once more into the "real world" (whatever that means...i hate this term and think i will forever stop using it...ok, good) doesn't mean that we are done or that God has done all the work that He is going to do in our lives and that forevermore we are on our own or stuck where we are right now. Nope, what a lie. God never slumbers nor sleeps and He is fo' sho' not done with me yet. Revelations are still coming and issues are of course still arising. Makes me know I'm not dead yet.
This week we have John and Carol Arnott with us. John talked with us this morning and we had our last soaking time this afternoon. I'm working through identity, openness, trust, and knowing v believing issues. haha all huge I know and such core issues. Amazing how interconnected things are. If I think about it too much it makes my head spin leaving me back where I started: knowing I just have to trust and believe God is in control. :)
Good Quote: Honor is the fruit of love.
Maybe I already wrote that here but it was from the Jacksons last week and quite impactful.
Peace.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Seems like a bullet point kind of day
- Shame to Honor week was great; I really enjoyed Peter and Heather Jackson. It turned out to be one of those topics where I thought I was all sorted out but in fact I have a lot to work through. It all comes back down to Identity.
- Isn't that funny that that was my 2nd sermon topic? So, I finished my sermon on Identity to turn into my outreach leaders but then I learned more in class so I'll have to do some revisions. Hopefully I will keep learning about it. I need it.
- Tomorrow BABES are leading the youth meeting all the way through again. I don't think I'm doing much for it oddly enough. Maybe I will push the arrow keys to move the PowerPoint forward during worship. Did I mention that I sang for the youth worship last week? Well, I did. It was interesting.
- Enjoying my last weekend here. So excited to come home for Christmas. Packing will be a bear this week but I know I will enjoy it. Today was a lazy day and tomorrow I plan on going downtown for one last adventure in the city. Woot.
- Over break I just want to rest and soak and such but plans are already piling up and that is good and bad I guess. Maybe I will have to pull in the reins a bit. I tend to be very good at filling up my schedule fast. Either way it will be an awesome Christmas. Yay for family and Jesus' birthday!
- Just watched Inception with Leonardo DiCaprio. Very good, I recommend it. It's directed by Christopher Nolan who is really good at putting together mentally stimulating movies nicely.
- Peace.
- Isn't that funny that that was my 2nd sermon topic? So, I finished my sermon on Identity to turn into my outreach leaders but then I learned more in class so I'll have to do some revisions. Hopefully I will keep learning about it. I need it.
- Tomorrow BABES are leading the youth meeting all the way through again. I don't think I'm doing much for it oddly enough. Maybe I will push the arrow keys to move the PowerPoint forward during worship. Did I mention that I sang for the youth worship last week? Well, I did. It was interesting.
- Enjoying my last weekend here. So excited to come home for Christmas. Packing will be a bear this week but I know I will enjoy it. Today was a lazy day and tomorrow I plan on going downtown for one last adventure in the city. Woot.
- Over break I just want to rest and soak and such but plans are already piling up and that is good and bad I guess. Maybe I will have to pull in the reins a bit. I tend to be very good at filling up my schedule fast. Either way it will be an awesome Christmas. Yay for family and Jesus' birthday!
- Just watched Inception with Leonardo DiCaprio. Very good, I recommend it. It's directed by Christopher Nolan who is really good at putting together mentally stimulating movies nicely.
- Peace.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Honor
This week we have Peter and Heather Jackson, the foundering directors of SOM, with us teaching about the Glory of Sonship which can also be called from Shame to Honor. Interesting that we are learning about Honor after we have already had our guys' and girls' honoring days. For me this is actually a good thing because it will hopefully solidify the revelations and lessons I was learning last week - bringing some logic to the feelings and such.
As previously written last Monday was guys' honoring which was one of the most enjoyable days of my life. The whole day I was wishing I could just do so much more so that the guys would realize just how special and loved they are, by us and by Daddy. The Tuesday after wasn't all that fun though. First I was physically drained and since I had nothing else to work for my emotions started to come forward and demand the attention that they weren't receiving otherwise. The whole day I struggled with the entire idea of honor which you would've thought I understood considering the day prior. The main issue was the frightening thought that with guys' honoring over all I had to look forward to was Saturday....girls' honoring. It absolutely terrified me at the thought of an entire day dedicated to guys being sweet on me. And the thought that it scared me scared me. But really when was the last time you were honored? Truly honored? I'm guessing not too recently for most of us which isn't right of course, but even that which isn't right often becomes habit.
Soooo I spent the whole soaking time wrestling with this issue (yes, I was actually awake for the entire session which was a first for me) and God showed me how being able to receive honor from others is in the same vein as receiving love from Him (and others too). If I don't open up my heart - my whole heart - to the love He is pouring in, and I keep part of it closed off because of self-protection or whatever you want to call it, well then that part won't ever be affected by that love. If your heart is closed, nothing's going to get in and touch it. Duh. In terms of self-protection I guess that's a good thing but what people don't really understand is that if you block your heart for fear of the bad, your heart is also blocked off to the good. So keeping the heart closed is a huge block against God's love coming in. And if I can't receive the love of God, then how on earth will I be able to receive the love and honor of others? And how did this faulty system come into my life in the first place? Do I not have any experience in receiving love and honor that it freaks me out this much?
Of course I have received love and honor in my life....lots of it, but it goes back to what I said, if there is even one part of the heart blocked, the heart is going to be part dead and unaffected by the love coming in. So open up your heart in its entirety to Papa and let Him completely saturate it with His healing love so that you may also receive the love, honor, and affection of others. :) For me, the rest of the week was about repairing and preparing and as you can read below, Saturday was INCREDIBLE and tons of fun. Life is a journey, don't forget to take pit stops and learn something new along the way.
Peace.
As previously written last Monday was guys' honoring which was one of the most enjoyable days of my life. The whole day I was wishing I could just do so much more so that the guys would realize just how special and loved they are, by us and by Daddy. The Tuesday after wasn't all that fun though. First I was physically drained and since I had nothing else to work for my emotions started to come forward and demand the attention that they weren't receiving otherwise. The whole day I struggled with the entire idea of honor which you would've thought I understood considering the day prior. The main issue was the frightening thought that with guys' honoring over all I had to look forward to was Saturday....girls' honoring. It absolutely terrified me at the thought of an entire day dedicated to guys being sweet on me. And the thought that it scared me scared me. But really when was the last time you were honored? Truly honored? I'm guessing not too recently for most of us which isn't right of course, but even that which isn't right often becomes habit.
Soooo I spent the whole soaking time wrestling with this issue (yes, I was actually awake for the entire session which was a first for me) and God showed me how being able to receive honor from others is in the same vein as receiving love from Him (and others too). If I don't open up my heart - my whole heart - to the love He is pouring in, and I keep part of it closed off because of self-protection or whatever you want to call it, well then that part won't ever be affected by that love. If your heart is closed, nothing's going to get in and touch it. Duh. In terms of self-protection I guess that's a good thing but what people don't really understand is that if you block your heart for fear of the bad, your heart is also blocked off to the good. So keeping the heart closed is a huge block against God's love coming in. And if I can't receive the love of God, then how on earth will I be able to receive the love and honor of others? And how did this faulty system come into my life in the first place? Do I not have any experience in receiving love and honor that it freaks me out this much?
Of course I have received love and honor in my life....lots of it, but it goes back to what I said, if there is even one part of the heart blocked, the heart is going to be part dead and unaffected by the love coming in. So open up your heart in its entirety to Papa and let Him completely saturate it with His healing love so that you may also receive the love, honor, and affection of others. :) For me, the rest of the week was about repairing and preparing and as you can read below, Saturday was INCREDIBLE and tons of fun. Life is a journey, don't forget to take pit stops and learn something new along the way.
Peace.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Pics of Princess Day
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| The beautiful chandelier the guys constructed and suspended from the ceiling. |
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| Our make-over victim! I love you, Joe! |
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| The vicious dragon we attempted to shot down. |
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| Some of the guys thought it would be cool for us if they experienced the thrill of waxing. |
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| The guys serenading us in the morning before breakfast. |
Living in a Fairy Tale
Yesterday was Girls' Honoring Day! The guys are absolutely amazing, they put so much time and effort into making our day enjoyable and memorable, and I love them so much! The night before we had invitations on our door announcing we would have breakfast delivered to us at 10 the next morning (gracious since it was a Saturday) and to be ready for a day of "mirth and merriment". All the girls were kicked out of the regular hang out areas that night so the guys could decorate and prepare so we had to resort to our staying up late in our rooms giggling like school girls with the anticipation of a kid on Christmas Eve. We didn't go to bed too early...but we did get to sleep in a bit, until we were woken up by the drums practicing downstairs.
The first round of sweetness was the band of sharply dressed men with guitars standing outside our doorways singing "No One" by Alicia Keys and other such songs to us. Gorgeous. We received our previously ordered breakfasts on trays accompanied by a red rose, our first of many throughout the day. At 11 room 214 was escorted by the handsome Dale Small to the auditorium where we were greeted by all the gentlemen on one knee. They gave a very heartfelt, sincere, and moving intro to how this was our day to be princesses, and that they just wanted to honor us for who we are and how special we are to them. I cried. We had a great worship set and then we started our princess training. First was the manual: Princess Diaries movie. Second we were tested: each small group visited six different stations where we put our princess skills to the test. One was a photo shoot, one we acted out a short skit (written by "Prince William" and absolutely hilarious...it was called "Euthanasia" and loosely based on the "Good Samaritan"), one was putting on make up on a mannequin aka one of the guys (bless their hearts!), one we practiced defending ourselves from a vicious dragon by shooting him with paintballs, and two were problem solving exercises. All was so well planned out and was a ton of fun.
Next came more sentiment. They had an entire group photo (complete with dresses) and then took us into the chapel where they gave us our "diplomas" for finishing the school. Along with the diplomas we each received a unique flower with another scroll attached. We learned the meaning of each of our flowers and were given time to read the scrolls. The small one had a Bible verse and characteristics written around it and the "diploma" had comments that several of the guys had written just for us. AMAZING!! Hugs all around and they prayed for us and let us soak it all in. We had until dinner to do whatever with the enticing option of a lovely foot massage available in the "garden terrace." Fabulous.
We all dressed cutsy for dinner and were met again with studly men and had our pictures taken. Dinner was FANTASTIC. There were roses at each chair, and Jonathan is a chef and he totally outdid himself. We had a legit salad with good dressing followed by penne with well seasoned chicken breast topped with spinach and balsamic alongside delicious vegetables. Sparkling grape juice and lime water were the beverages and for dessert.... CHOCOLATE MOUSSE!!!
After dinner there was another honoring ceremony...and more tears. The guys spoke the words of the Father and honored us for who we are to them and to Him, they apologized for any time they have dishonored us, they apologized for any time that ANY other man has dishonored and hurt us, and they spoke of our true design (Johannes wrote a beautiful account of the creation and purpose of woman- amazing). Once we had removed the mascara stains from our cheeks the entertainment began and we were rolling on the floor and laughing til our sides hurt. Wow, I love these guys. This had definitely best one of the best days ever. I feel so honored and loved.
The first round of sweetness was the band of sharply dressed men with guitars standing outside our doorways singing "No One" by Alicia Keys and other such songs to us. Gorgeous. We received our previously ordered breakfasts on trays accompanied by a red rose, our first of many throughout the day. At 11 room 214 was escorted by the handsome Dale Small to the auditorium where we were greeted by all the gentlemen on one knee. They gave a very heartfelt, sincere, and moving intro to how this was our day to be princesses, and that they just wanted to honor us for who we are and how special we are to them. I cried. We had a great worship set and then we started our princess training. First was the manual: Princess Diaries movie. Second we were tested: each small group visited six different stations where we put our princess skills to the test. One was a photo shoot, one we acted out a short skit (written by "Prince William" and absolutely hilarious...it was called "Euthanasia" and loosely based on the "Good Samaritan"), one was putting on make up on a mannequin aka one of the guys (bless their hearts!), one we practiced defending ourselves from a vicious dragon by shooting him with paintballs, and two were problem solving exercises. All was so well planned out and was a ton of fun.
Next came more sentiment. They had an entire group photo (complete with dresses) and then took us into the chapel where they gave us our "diplomas" for finishing the school. Along with the diplomas we each received a unique flower with another scroll attached. We learned the meaning of each of our flowers and were given time to read the scrolls. The small one had a Bible verse and characteristics written around it and the "diploma" had comments that several of the guys had written just for us. AMAZING!! Hugs all around and they prayed for us and let us soak it all in. We had until dinner to do whatever with the enticing option of a lovely foot massage available in the "garden terrace." Fabulous.
We all dressed cutsy for dinner and were met again with studly men and had our pictures taken. Dinner was FANTASTIC. There were roses at each chair, and Jonathan is a chef and he totally outdid himself. We had a legit salad with good dressing followed by penne with well seasoned chicken breast topped with spinach and balsamic alongside delicious vegetables. Sparkling grape juice and lime water were the beverages and for dessert.... CHOCOLATE MOUSSE!!!
After dinner there was another honoring ceremony...and more tears. The guys spoke the words of the Father and honored us for who we are to them and to Him, they apologized for any time they have dishonored us, they apologized for any time that ANY other man has dishonored and hurt us, and they spoke of our true design (Johannes wrote a beautiful account of the creation and purpose of woman- amazing). Once we had removed the mascara stains from our cheeks the entertainment began and we were rolling on the floor and laughing til our sides hurt. Wow, I love these guys. This had definitely best one of the best days ever. I feel so honored and loved.
Monday, November 29, 2010
****PILATES****
AKA GUYS' HONORING
Sneaky huh, to use a code name like that? Yeah, I know, we are so cool. So here's the deal... it has become a tradition in the school (which began with the boys) that the guys take a day to honor the girls and the girls take a day to honor the guys. One of the weeks of school is honor so it ties in, but our "Honor" week isn't til the end of school so I guess we'll learn after we practice. Anyway we girls have been having "Pilates" meetings to discuss our plans for how to honor the guys and today was the day to see everything fall into place. O WOW what the Holy Spirit all over that one because I don't know how the day could have gone much smoother! I love hosting parties/throwing parties/catering/event planning/whatever... so I'm used to stress and work and running around and all that. This had some running around (what kind of event would it be without that?) but the ridiculous stress was not there at all. It was actually a really odd feeling.
Here's the plan: Previously each girls' room was designated a guys' room to write prophetic words about and pray for. The words were put in green bottles ("message in a bottle") and placed in their rooms during the evening events. Saturday a bunch of girls baked cookies, cupcakes, and muffins for the day- yummy. Sunday evening we decorated the whole auditorium, the hallways, the guys' doors, and blacked out the windows so they couldn't see in. Oh yeah, and a couple girls and I changed the words to a song and made up a dance here too. Awesome. My room still had prophesying to do (so fun! it's getting easier too- my brain was not functioning but I was able to write words down in the flow. makes sense since I'm not speaking from my head anyway, right?), made it to bed ~3. TODAY>>> woke up way to early. Francis (cook) didn't start breakfast until 30 mins til we wanted to serve it, but he's experienced and knows what he's doing. Ladies cut fruit, set up tables, yada, yada, you know the drill.
Breakfast at 10 went well minus having to bug Francis for more eggs for the bfast burritos. Spread included burritos, muffins, Starbucks coffee (this is a big deal- cafe coffee is not good), and a boat load of bread that we got from Italian bread factory across the street FOR FREE! FAVA! We did a bit of honoring and worship and then we sent them on a video scavengerhunt while we slipped into their rooms with glasses full of candies. The afternoon was chill and we served them tacos in the cafe before free time with popcorn and snowcones and XBox projected on the wall. A mini break came with outreach prep but ours included watching X Men over ice cream while Lizi and James chatted with each of us. After time picked up a bit with getting everything for dinner ready. Mission Impossible/Casino Royale is the theme with dice, poker chips, and cards on the tables, balloons everywhere and streamers of course. We asked them to dress nicely and we wore black, white, and red and served them steak, good veggies, potatoes and more bread (still have a truck load). I did plate up and it went really smoothly... so happy. Then there was a Mission Impossible game and then some performances by the girls over banana splits, cookies, and hot chocolate. To finish it off we watched a compiled video of some of the footage the guys took during the day.
IT WAS SUCH A GOOD DAY!!! I would love to do this all the time! The guys here Really are great and it's not just like one or two, every one of them is a great guy, upstanding, genuine, etc. People you want to hang around, good influences, etc. Honoring them has been a treat. Now I get to look forward to this Saturday when the boys are planning on honoring the girls, though honestly I would feel a lot more comfortable honoring someone else than being the one who's honored. That does not mean in any way that I would pass it up because I know it's going to be another amazing day for sure though...can't wait!
Sneaky huh, to use a code name like that? Yeah, I know, we are so cool. So here's the deal... it has become a tradition in the school (which began with the boys) that the guys take a day to honor the girls and the girls take a day to honor the guys. One of the weeks of school is honor so it ties in, but our "Honor" week isn't til the end of school so I guess we'll learn after we practice. Anyway we girls have been having "Pilates" meetings to discuss our plans for how to honor the guys and today was the day to see everything fall into place. O WOW what the Holy Spirit all over that one because I don't know how the day could have gone much smoother! I love hosting parties/throwing parties/catering/event planning/whatever... so I'm used to stress and work and running around and all that. This had some running around (what kind of event would it be without that?) but the ridiculous stress was not there at all. It was actually a really odd feeling.
Here's the plan: Previously each girls' room was designated a guys' room to write prophetic words about and pray for. The words were put in green bottles ("message in a bottle") and placed in their rooms during the evening events. Saturday a bunch of girls baked cookies, cupcakes, and muffins for the day- yummy. Sunday evening we decorated the whole auditorium, the hallways, the guys' doors, and blacked out the windows so they couldn't see in. Oh yeah, and a couple girls and I changed the words to a song and made up a dance here too. Awesome. My room still had prophesying to do (so fun! it's getting easier too- my brain was not functioning but I was able to write words down in the flow. makes sense since I'm not speaking from my head anyway, right?), made it to bed ~3. TODAY>>> woke up way to early. Francis (cook) didn't start breakfast until 30 mins til we wanted to serve it, but he's experienced and knows what he's doing. Ladies cut fruit, set up tables, yada, yada, you know the drill.
Breakfast at 10 went well minus having to bug Francis for more eggs for the bfast burritos. Spread included burritos, muffins, Starbucks coffee (this is a big deal- cafe coffee is not good), and a boat load of bread that we got from Italian bread factory across the street FOR FREE! FAVA! We did a bit of honoring and worship and then we sent them on a video scavengerhunt while we slipped into their rooms with glasses full of candies. The afternoon was chill and we served them tacos in the cafe before free time with popcorn and snowcones and XBox projected on the wall. A mini break came with outreach prep but ours included watching X Men over ice cream while Lizi and James chatted with each of us. After time picked up a bit with getting everything for dinner ready. Mission Impossible/Casino Royale is the theme with dice, poker chips, and cards on the tables, balloons everywhere and streamers of course. We asked them to dress nicely and we wore black, white, and red and served them steak, good veggies, potatoes and more bread (still have a truck load). I did plate up and it went really smoothly... so happy. Then there was a Mission Impossible game and then some performances by the girls over banana splits, cookies, and hot chocolate. To finish it off we watched a compiled video of some of the footage the guys took during the day.
IT WAS SUCH A GOOD DAY!!! I would love to do this all the time! The guys here Really are great and it's not just like one or two, every one of them is a great guy, upstanding, genuine, etc. People you want to hang around, good influences, etc. Honoring them has been a treat. Now I get to look forward to this Saturday when the boys are planning on honoring the girls, though honestly I would feel a lot more comfortable honoring someone else than being the one who's honored. That does not mean in any way that I would pass it up because I know it's going to be another amazing day for sure though...can't wait!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Tis the Season to be Tired
Friday night was great! We met early in the House of Prayer for a pre-service soaking/prayer time where we filled each other up and got HS drunk. Because we were the ministry team for the evening we got to sit on the front rows and feel official. Some of the girls and I took the invitation to come to the front and worship where I was planning to dance around or something but when the guitarist first touched the strings Andrea and I pretty much fell on the floor. Hilarious (and this is a big deal b/c I used to never get affected like this so I'm really excited and the HS is fun and amazing and it's a blast to have fun with Him). We gave the words we had received before the meetings and got to pray for those who came up from prayer, and then we prayed for those who wanted more HS after the meeting. They also had about 10 baptisms which is always exciting, adding to the excitement that we had 4 of my classmates get baptized earlier that afternoon. SO GOOD! I love baptisms; they are so powerful and more than just symbolic and I find it joyous seeing others take part. I kinda wish I could do it again, ya know.
I got to put to new JesusCulture CD on my iTunes...wonderful!
I tried to nap on Friday getting ready for the big night but it didn't really work all that much, but I tried to stay up as much as I could anyway. I stayed up for the 12-2 session taking a break to shower and such, and then the 2-4 session though there was a little cat nap during that one, and then I was going to leave but James came in and put on Passion of the Christ so I decided to stay for it even though my mind was not really functioning, I was tired, and my body fatigued. haha, am I back at Covenant? lol. I was able to keep my eyes open for the majority of it and it was good though there were parts where I was too tired to cry. So I finally made it to bed around 6:15 with Erin promising to wake me up at 8:20 so I could leave for outreach. Ouch.
Saturday: God was totally with me all day helping me to function and be effective. I didn't feel too drained or tired - all miraculous - and I had a great time at the World Life Expo downtown where we joined the Open Sky Cafe sharing Spiritual Readings and Healing Touches to whoever stopped by. The expo is all about new age stuff but since He that is in me is greater than he that is in the world nothing crappy could touch us. I felt really at peace event though there was a lot of shady stuff there and people who came to our booth could feel the bubble of peace as well. I got to head up my team of Peter, Philip, and myself and it was tons of fun; we saw lots of healings and prophesied over a bunch of people too. A few ladies asked about our church though we didn't advertise that sort of thing at all. Some were open. Some had huge blockages inhibiting our words to do much difference, but I take by faith that they are seeds.
That night I went to bed at 8:30. Much needed. This morning I still felt like I had been run over by a bus but BABES ran the whole service for the youth. Aside from one kid getting hurt in the game we tried to play all went well. :) Kristyn spoke on how to hear the voice of God and I followed it up by giving a blurb about the prophetic and then leading the kids through some activations. Fun. After the service SOM prophesied over whoever wanted to stick around. I was going to say that it was harder but the words came just my mind was not picking them up very quickly. Need to nap but now I'm off to focus (or attempt to) on tomorrow. Prayers of refreshing welcome.
Peace
I got to put to new JesusCulture CD on my iTunes...wonderful!
I tried to nap on Friday getting ready for the big night but it didn't really work all that much, but I tried to stay up as much as I could anyway. I stayed up for the 12-2 session taking a break to shower and such, and then the 2-4 session though there was a little cat nap during that one, and then I was going to leave but James came in and put on Passion of the Christ so I decided to stay for it even though my mind was not really functioning, I was tired, and my body fatigued. haha, am I back at Covenant? lol. I was able to keep my eyes open for the majority of it and it was good though there were parts where I was too tired to cry. So I finally made it to bed around 6:15 with Erin promising to wake me up at 8:20 so I could leave for outreach. Ouch.
Saturday: God was totally with me all day helping me to function and be effective. I didn't feel too drained or tired - all miraculous - and I had a great time at the World Life Expo downtown where we joined the Open Sky Cafe sharing Spiritual Readings and Healing Touches to whoever stopped by. The expo is all about new age stuff but since He that is in me is greater than he that is in the world nothing crappy could touch us. I felt really at peace event though there was a lot of shady stuff there and people who came to our booth could feel the bubble of peace as well. I got to head up my team of Peter, Philip, and myself and it was tons of fun; we saw lots of healings and prophesied over a bunch of people too. A few ladies asked about our church though we didn't advertise that sort of thing at all. Some were open. Some had huge blockages inhibiting our words to do much difference, but I take by faith that they are seeds.
That night I went to bed at 8:30. Much needed. This morning I still felt like I had been run over by a bus but BABES ran the whole service for the youth. Aside from one kid getting hurt in the game we tried to play all went well. :) Kristyn spoke on how to hear the voice of God and I followed it up by giving a blurb about the prophetic and then leading the kids through some activations. Fun. After the service SOM prophesied over whoever wanted to stick around. I was going to say that it was harder but the words came just my mind was not picking them up very quickly. Need to nap but now I'm off to focus (or attempt to) on tomorrow. Prayers of refreshing welcome.
Peace
Friday, November 26, 2010
Fun Stuff Ahead
Tonight is Team BABES' first time being a part of the ministry team for the Come Holy Spirit Meeting. This will be interesting because while I've gone to many of these meetings, I've never really paid attention to what's going on; I just go for the atmosphere. (PS I believe you can catch these meetings on Catchthefire.tv if you're interested) Mostly we'll share prophetic words/words of knowledge and pray for those who want/need it.
Even later tonight we will be having a 12-hour prayer/worship session. It's optional but sounds really good to me. It starts at midnight and goes til noon tomorrow. While I won't be able to go to the whole thing I hope to be there for most of it. And the best part is that it's in our building so I don't have to travel far. :)
Tomorrow Team BABES is going downtown in two groups to be a part of a New Age Expo. There is a booth called the Open Sky Cafe where we will give "Spiritual Readings" to anyone who stops by for a word. Our connections are with YWAM which is cool and I'm excited to see what God does in and through us. I'm on the morning shift so please be praying for me that I only speak the truth and that we are a light and that we fully walk in the authority that God has given us.
Sunday Team BABES is leading the whole youth meeting in the morning. We have a fun and prophetic time planned but we'll have to see what happens. The rest of the day will be spent wrapping up loose ends for Monday which I will have to tell you all about after it happens. ;-P And sometime this weekend I will have to start working on my next sermon on the topic of "Identity." yay.
Peace.
Even later tonight we will be having a 12-hour prayer/worship session. It's optional but sounds really good to me. It starts at midnight and goes til noon tomorrow. While I won't be able to go to the whole thing I hope to be there for most of it. And the best part is that it's in our building so I don't have to travel far. :)
Tomorrow Team BABES is going downtown in two groups to be a part of a New Age Expo. There is a booth called the Open Sky Cafe where we will give "Spiritual Readings" to anyone who stops by for a word. Our connections are with YWAM which is cool and I'm excited to see what God does in and through us. I'm on the morning shift so please be praying for me that I only speak the truth and that we are a light and that we fully walk in the authority that God has given us.
Sunday Team BABES is leading the whole youth meeting in the morning. We have a fun and prophetic time planned but we'll have to see what happens. The rest of the day will be spent wrapping up loose ends for Monday which I will have to tell you all about after it happens. ;-P And sometime this weekend I will have to start working on my next sermon on the topic of "Identity." yay.
Peace.
Meanwhile Back at the Ranch
~~** Note: This was written Thursday but because I finished typing it after midnight I was unable to post it. Lovely internet curfew.**~~
Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Americans! I must say it really hasn't felt like a holiday considering that not many people here think of this day any different than any other. Not to say I'm not thankful....I have so much and I'm so blessed and I could offer thanks for forever. God is good.
This week James Levesque (sp?) is here with us talking about Prophetic Evangelism. He is from Connecticut and a very dynamic speaker. He is 100% real and doesn't sugar coat anything, but rather is an in-your-face, yell-if-I-have-to kind of guy. The authority and authenticity that he carries has been refreshing to sit under and even when he's just talking Erin and I can feel the HS presence in the room and others have said the same.
Tonight at CBN Erin told me that the pre-service prayer team had received words about increased joy, breakthrough, freedom, and restoration for the evening. Awesome. HS was already there and it just got better with the expectancy of what was going to happen. Worship was fantastic aka HS presence all over. There were some angel sightings and so we gathered where they were (I encourage you to check out the archive version on cbn.com under "spiritual gifts"). I didn't particularly feel anything while in the group so I moved around to other manifesting friends. Joy is contagious and so much fun. James got up to speak but I saw Erin and Kristyn off to the side having fun so I joined them and spent the rest of the service on the floor laughing and with spasms. We got kinda loud too. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is FREEDOM! The Spirit of the Lord is inside of me, therefore I have freedom within me, on me, or whatever other preposition you want to use. cool. Refreshing evening. It was just what I've been craving and needing.
After the drunk fest a group of us went out to Jack Astor's for a good-bye "dinner" for Lillian, my third roommate. She's an intern from Brazil and her last day is tomorrow. We'll definitely miss her and her bubbly personality. ...More later. Happy Holidays!
Peace.
Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Americans! I must say it really hasn't felt like a holiday considering that not many people here think of this day any different than any other. Not to say I'm not thankful....I have so much and I'm so blessed and I could offer thanks for forever. God is good.
This week James Levesque (sp?) is here with us talking about Prophetic Evangelism. He is from Connecticut and a very dynamic speaker. He is 100% real and doesn't sugar coat anything, but rather is an in-your-face, yell-if-I-have-to kind of guy. The authority and authenticity that he carries has been refreshing to sit under and even when he's just talking Erin and I can feel the HS presence in the room and others have said the same.
Tonight at CBN Erin told me that the pre-service prayer team had received words about increased joy, breakthrough, freedom, and restoration for the evening. Awesome. HS was already there and it just got better with the expectancy of what was going to happen. Worship was fantastic aka HS presence all over. There were some angel sightings and so we gathered where they were (I encourage you to check out the archive version on cbn.com under "spiritual gifts"). I didn't particularly feel anything while in the group so I moved around to other manifesting friends. Joy is contagious and so much fun. James got up to speak but I saw Erin and Kristyn off to the side having fun so I joined them and spent the rest of the service on the floor laughing and with spasms. We got kinda loud too. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is FREEDOM! The Spirit of the Lord is inside of me, therefore I have freedom within me, on me, or whatever other preposition you want to use. cool. Refreshing evening. It was just what I've been craving and needing.
After the drunk fest a group of us went out to Jack Astor's for a good-bye "dinner" for Lillian, my third roommate. She's an intern from Brazil and her last day is tomorrow. We'll definitely miss her and her bubbly personality. ...More later. Happy Holidays!
Peace.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Freedom from Freemasonry
Ummm....what to do on a free Saturday? An eight hour seminar complete with three hours of renouncing curses of the ancestors? Yes, please. Sign me up! haha yes, this is what I did all day, well, most of the day. CTF was putting on a Freedom from Freemasonry workshop/seminar and offered a significant discount to SOM'rs. Since Freemasonry is ridiculously popular even today and has its roots deeply planted in the English and American heritages I figured I should go. The sins of the fathers reap curses on the children up to the 10th generation when it comes to certain sins; that encompasses over 2000 people! Wow, I'm a-thinking that the likelihood that in a group of over 2000 people (speaking of my family here), mainly from the Motherland but also all over Europe, there is at least one who was a practicing Freemason. Scary thought is that most FMs don't truly understand the gravity of what they are practicing. At every level there are curses they vow upon themselves and either directly or indirectly upon their families as well. Yikes!
So we spent the morning learning more about the secret society and then the afternoon session was spent renouncing, repenting, and breaking off all curses, vows, and other nasty things that have come through our family lines. Seem superfluous or kooky? Well, most of the chronic conditions that people suffer with today (illness death and disease, poverty and money problems, marriage and relationship problems, and mental and emotional issues) most likely come from generational curses. This doesn't necessarily mean that it came from FM but these guys curse just about everything so it could be. I encourage you to check it out for your family and become educated about the issue. So many people consider such things harmless when they actually carry a lot of the demonic with them. Therefore, I proclaim freedom and the blood of Jesus on my house. Amen.
And for a less weighty issue for the day....I was sitting next to my friend Peter from Slovenia during the discussion today and he met a lovely lady in the group who was also from Slovenia. She was so nice and even offered to take several of the students out for lunch at the Asian buffet nearby. What a blessing! It was so nice to fellowship with her, and she is such a witness of the generosity of God. One thing she said during lunch also stuck out to me: instead of just blessing any establishment where you go, go one step further and release the anointing on it. If you are filled with the HS, you carry the anointing within you and therefore have the authority to release it on others, so do so! Again, the simple things confound the wise...
Peace.
So we spent the morning learning more about the secret society and then the afternoon session was spent renouncing, repenting, and breaking off all curses, vows, and other nasty things that have come through our family lines. Seem superfluous or kooky? Well, most of the chronic conditions that people suffer with today (illness death and disease, poverty and money problems, marriage and relationship problems, and mental and emotional issues) most likely come from generational curses. This doesn't necessarily mean that it came from FM but these guys curse just about everything so it could be. I encourage you to check it out for your family and become educated about the issue. So many people consider such things harmless when they actually carry a lot of the demonic with them. Therefore, I proclaim freedom and the blood of Jesus on my house. Amen.
And for a less weighty issue for the day....I was sitting next to my friend Peter from Slovenia during the discussion today and he met a lovely lady in the group who was also from Slovenia. She was so nice and even offered to take several of the students out for lunch at the Asian buffet nearby. What a blessing! It was so nice to fellowship with her, and she is such a witness of the generosity of God. One thing she said during lunch also stuck out to me: instead of just blessing any establishment where you go, go one step further and release the anointing on it. If you are filled with the HS, you carry the anointing within you and therefore have the authority to release it on others, so do so! Again, the simple things confound the wise...
Peace.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Thursday = good day
So currently I am acting as a chat moderator for our weekly CBN broadcast. We run 7-9pm EST every Thursday and today I'm in the chatroom. Perhaps that means that I should not be typing up a new blog at the same time but.... :) Today has been quite fun. I was planning on running this morning but rolled over instead. No guilt. I did try to look decent today (meaning I didn't wear sweats and looked nice) but then I passed the auditorium which had a notice that said we would probably be getting sweaty during worship, sooooo I went back to my room and changed. Dale led worship; he doesn't play an instrument or sing and is our main sound guy. He played songs/mixed from his laptop and it was nuts...aka dance music the whole time...aka I spent 35 min going crazy...aka the way that worship is supposed to be! AWESOME! Guess I didn't need to go running this morning anyway.
This week we are looking into Church History with Gerry Plunkett. I've heard most of it before, but was really hoping to dive into the more recent revival movements. Hopefully we will get to that a good deal tomorrow. I do find it interesting how different groups got started and then how they transformed into something completely different. It's quite sad really what happens when people take moves of the Holy Spirit and then try to institutionalize it. It just doesn't work like that because soon you just have a spiritually dead legalistic group rather than a living moving Body of Christ. So, point of the story is stay alive! Always depend on the Holy Spirit; He is God after all.
Another highlight of the day was scrubbing the tiles on the wall in the kitchen during my Thursday afternoon duties. Hanging around the guys who were washing dishes made me miss my dear brother (shout out here. ha. Love you, Kyle!). Seriously, if the world was just inhabited by women, this would be an utterly depressing world. Guys make life interesting, help us females not take ourselves so seriously, and provide some humor. So today, ladies, appreciate the men around you in a new way and grant grace where it's needed. :)
Peace.
This week we are looking into Church History with Gerry Plunkett. I've heard most of it before, but was really hoping to dive into the more recent revival movements. Hopefully we will get to that a good deal tomorrow. I do find it interesting how different groups got started and then how they transformed into something completely different. It's quite sad really what happens when people take moves of the Holy Spirit and then try to institutionalize it. It just doesn't work like that because soon you just have a spiritually dead legalistic group rather than a living moving Body of Christ. So, point of the story is stay alive! Always depend on the Holy Spirit; He is God after all.
Another highlight of the day was scrubbing the tiles on the wall in the kitchen during my Thursday afternoon duties. Hanging around the guys who were washing dishes made me miss my dear brother (shout out here. ha. Love you, Kyle!). Seriously, if the world was just inhabited by women, this would be an utterly depressing world. Guys make life interesting, help us females not take ourselves so seriously, and provide some humor. So today, ladies, appreciate the men around you in a new way and grant grace where it's needed. :)
Peace.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Kalamazoo!
This past weekend was fantastic. The ride to Kalamazoo was a bit long and the two hour delay at the border didn't quite help. There was a lengthy line on the bridge and then my van had to go inside because the non-North Americans hadn't been stamped for the US on their way into Canada. We stopped for a delicious and nutritious lunch at Wendy's and made it to the church (New Day Community Church) around 7pm for some HOMEMADE lasagna! So much better than the pan-bought kind. Andrea and I stayed with a lady Carrie and her daughter Heather because we had the car and were able to drive wherever we needed...such a blessing. (this whole weekend had God's favor all of it...it's so fun when you look for it/expect it because He doesn't disappoint) We stayed up late talking about all things creative and life: inspiring.
In the morning I got to take a walk through the woods in the backyard before breakfast. I love nature. Carrie spoiled us every morning with the utmost deliciousness and sent us on our way. Saturday we were at the Iglesia, the building where they hold young adult meetings on Sunday nights close to the college campus. We learned about how God had given it to them, and we prayed/prophesied over it. After, we cleaned up some of the neighborhood and then went to the top of the hill overlooking the city and prayed over it-so awesome. With a little down time we were able to go through "downtown" a bit and look through some shops before going back to the Iglesia for the community cook out. I tried very hard to be social and mingle...still not easy. :)
Sunday Olivia and I had the opportunity of preaching at New Day. I spoke in the first service about The Cross. The Holy Spirit was definitely with me, it went a lot better than I thought though I listened to the recording of it and I have a few speaking tendencies that could be worked out. lol. Olivia spoke on "Hearts of Stone" which was quite good as well and at the end of each service our team prayed for anyone who wanted it. Words are flowing a lot easier now which is exciting, thanks Daddy. This was probably one of the main highlights of the trip for me.
We were at the Iglesia again Sunday evening and HS was there noticeably even before worship started, which was powerful too. People got up to dance which we were told never happens and there was a sense of freedom or that God wanted to bring freedom to people's lives. Joe gave his testimony and we prayed for anyone afterward. The drive home Monday was long and rather uneventful. The DVD player in our van went out halfway through the movie which was upsetting to those in the back who could see it. There were ZERO cars on the bridge at the border and only about 4 cars at the check point and the guy just let us through! PTL x 100! So awesome! We made it back in time for dinner (not sure if that is a good or bad thing) and were happy to get out of the car. Wonderful weekend, can't wait to see what our full outreach holds!
Peace.
In the morning I got to take a walk through the woods in the backyard before breakfast. I love nature. Carrie spoiled us every morning with the utmost deliciousness and sent us on our way. Saturday we were at the Iglesia, the building where they hold young adult meetings on Sunday nights close to the college campus. We learned about how God had given it to them, and we prayed/prophesied over it. After, we cleaned up some of the neighborhood and then went to the top of the hill overlooking the city and prayed over it-so awesome. With a little down time we were able to go through "downtown" a bit and look through some shops before going back to the Iglesia for the community cook out. I tried very hard to be social and mingle...still not easy. :)
Sunday Olivia and I had the opportunity of preaching at New Day. I spoke in the first service about The Cross. The Holy Spirit was definitely with me, it went a lot better than I thought though I listened to the recording of it and I have a few speaking tendencies that could be worked out. lol. Olivia spoke on "Hearts of Stone" which was quite good as well and at the end of each service our team prayed for anyone who wanted it. Words are flowing a lot easier now which is exciting, thanks Daddy. This was probably one of the main highlights of the trip for me.
We were at the Iglesia again Sunday evening and HS was there noticeably even before worship started, which was powerful too. People got up to dance which we were told never happens and there was a sense of freedom or that God wanted to bring freedom to people's lives. Joe gave his testimony and we prayed for anyone afterward. The drive home Monday was long and rather uneventful. The DVD player in our van went out halfway through the movie which was upsetting to those in the back who could see it. There were ZERO cars on the bridge at the border and only about 4 cars at the check point and the guy just let us through! PTL x 100! So awesome! We made it back in time for dinner (not sure if that is a good or bad thing) and were happy to get out of the car. Wonderful weekend, can't wait to see what our full outreach holds!
Peace.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Back to the Homeland!
Tomorrow Team BABES is hitting the road around 9:30 and heading for the border. I'm quite excited to go back to the States though it won't be home or anywhere I really know. We are going to Kalamazoo, MI for mini-outreach and will be there through Mon. I would love your prayers for safety, for the team (unity, good time, growth, etc.), and especially for Olivia and myself as we will be giving our sermons on Sunday morning to the congregation at New Day Community Church. Excited for the opportunity but nervous as well of course. I did finish writing it thankfully, but it needs a lot of practice in order for it to come off naturally.
Friday will be mostly driving with dinner at the church when we get in. Saturday we will be helping around the community, cleaning up the streets and such and then later hosting a bbq for the community as well. Sunday we will be at the church most of the day and we head back Monday. We will be staying with host families and I hope to be a blessing to them as well.
God bless!
Friday will be mostly driving with dinner at the church when we get in. Saturday we will be helping around the community, cleaning up the streets and such and then later hosting a bbq for the community as well. Sunday we will be at the church most of the day and we head back Monday. We will be staying with host families and I hope to be a blessing to them as well.
God bless!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Be Proud of Me, Mrs. Fields
I love/loved my high school; by far the best academic experience of my life. It taught me a lot, not just about the course material, but about study skills, time management, and limits (not just in the mathematical sense). It still holds true that these were the four years of my life where I survived on the least amount of sleep, was the most stressed, crammed the most activities and responsibilities into my life, and had made some of the best memories than any other time to date. Granted, I am only 22. Seeing as it was such a formidable time in my life, I sometimes find it hard to believe that the experience wasn’t yesterday but four years ago. Wow, time flies, but thankfully I can say I am not the same person I was four years ago.
While at college I realized how much I was changing and here at SOM I find myself changing still; I hope to never get off this train. I think back to AP English with Mrs. Fields senior year, a class of mainly girls who were all a bit too concerned with the shape of the “inkblot on a paper.” We were all accused of being “eager beaver overachievers” and warned that we had our “wires wound a bit too tightly and better be careful because they were about to SNAP!” Boy, was she right though then I didn’t know any of other way of living.
Busy just comes so easy for me and is quite often a theme in my life so it doesn’t really come as any surprise that the word God has been telling me for several years now is “REST.” While I may not fully understand ‘rest’ I love it. The act of resting is absolutely amazing. Learning to understand that I don’t have to do anything in order to please God, I just have to be is quite liberating, a certain stress reliever. I used to always think of myself as an even-keel type of person, but there is such a difference in being chill on the outside and having a sense of peace and calm on the inside.
Peace.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
let's stretch
Today a group of seven of us went downtown for a bit of Power Evangelism. We define this as evangelism where we rely on the Holy Spirit prompting and what God is saying to us about and for other people as opposed to handing out tracts or yelling on a street corner. The first stop was Tim Horton's for a coffee and to see what God was saying and who He had words for. We split in two groups and headed off. My group (David, Philip, and me) headed to the Eaton Centre, the rather ritzy mall, and started looking for people that God highlighted to us to speak to. I was looking around but started having a problem: no one stood out because everyone was standing out to me. How was I supposed to pick who God wanted me to tell that God loved them when His heart and desire was for every one walking past me? I started being drawn in every direction and not knowing where to go. All the lostness and unsettledness of everyone was swirling around me and making me quite overwhelmed. I was becoming so aware of God's love for seriously everyone. We often hear or say that God loves everyone but when we see unsightly people we rarely believe it for them, but here I am seeing it is so.
I spoke to a girl on the escalator and then followed the guys. We spoke to a lady and David said God was opening up a job change in a couple weeks. She said she was a Christian too and that she was indeed changing jobs in two weeks! How cool. We were able to pray for her and then went into Sears where we talked to another couple who said they were Christians too. As we prayed for them we each gave a prophetic word which they said were all spot on, which was great since we had also had a few people that we approached who were less than willing to hear what we had to say.
We met up with the other group for a bit before setting out again. We tried a prophetic game with two guys but didn't get anything right and then tried to give a word to a woman who rejected it (I still believe that the word was right). Some were feeling a bit discouraged at this point. We made our way toward the poorer side of town where there is a mission and such. The guys gave a Tim's card to a guy simply as a blessing and then David asked some kids if he could join their bball game. That didn't work out but we were able to give them some cards too and found out they were Christians too. It was cool to see that giving them the cards was a blessing.
When we started heading back the other group got to tell us how they got to be a part of God healing a girl's leg. She had a severed ligament or something and after praying three times she was able to take off her brace and walk normally and even jump! God is awesome.
I spoke to a girl on the escalator and then followed the guys. We spoke to a lady and David said God was opening up a job change in a couple weeks. She said she was a Christian too and that she was indeed changing jobs in two weeks! How cool. We were able to pray for her and then went into Sears where we talked to another couple who said they were Christians too. As we prayed for them we each gave a prophetic word which they said were all spot on, which was great since we had also had a few people that we approached who were less than willing to hear what we had to say.
We met up with the other group for a bit before setting out again. We tried a prophetic game with two guys but didn't get anything right and then tried to give a word to a woman who rejected it (I still believe that the word was right). Some were feeling a bit discouraged at this point. We made our way toward the poorer side of town where there is a mission and such. The guys gave a Tim's card to a guy simply as a blessing and then David asked some kids if he could join their bball game. That didn't work out but we were able to give them some cards too and found out they were Christians too. It was cool to see that giving them the cards was a blessing.
When we started heading back the other group got to tell us how they got to be a part of God healing a girl's leg. She had a severed ligament or something and after praying three times she was able to take off her brace and walk normally and even jump! God is awesome.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Older Than We Thought
This Wednesday we had our second social and this time the theme was an "old person's social" so we were all to dress as old as possible. Each outreach team also had to put together a dance to perform...as old people. haha. Team Finland, which now has a name - Team BABES (Boys And Babes Evangelistic Society) - is pretty chill but we did put together a little something to Thriller. (Another team used part of the song too but it was a different part so it worked.) It was fun to do and especially fun to see the other dances. The SGL's dressed up fabulously though a bit disturbing. Two were dressed as the nurses of "Halfway to Heaven Nursing Home" and the others were residents some sane and others not quite there. The best was Earl who walked around drooling the whole night in a bathrobe. So disgusting!
We students also got into the dress-up activities. I found the guys who dressed like old ladies to be the most hilarious. We even had a "Moses" and a Santa Claus.... I guess they could be the epitome of old. I tried to make wrinkles on my face but it didn't go so well; I kinda just looked dirty, but others got the jist. Many went to Value Village for costumes but I didn't feel like spending money for old clothes so I just wore a skirt and my roommate's sweater. Too bad I wasn't at home; I could've just raided Mom's closet! haha sry, Mom, your clothes really aren't that bad....anymore! :)
There were also games of course: 1. one team member is the hands for another whose hands are behind his back and feeds him pudding as fast as possible 2. one team member lays on the floor under a chair with his head sticking out with another standing on the chair with his arm extended at shoulder height; whichever team drops the most pudding in the mouth of the 'layer' the fastest wins....a bit messy (I definitely did NOT volunteer for this game) 3. BINGO! we won one round and won some candies. woot. Good times. Hopefully we'll at least have one more social before we go...wonder what that theme will be.
We students also got into the dress-up activities. I found the guys who dressed like old ladies to be the most hilarious. We even had a "Moses" and a Santa Claus.... I guess they could be the epitome of old. I tried to make wrinkles on my face but it didn't go so well; I kinda just looked dirty, but others got the jist. Many went to Value Village for costumes but I didn't feel like spending money for old clothes so I just wore a skirt and my roommate's sweater. Too bad I wasn't at home; I could've just raided Mom's closet! haha sry, Mom, your clothes really aren't that bad....anymore! :)
There were also games of course: 1. one team member is the hands for another whose hands are behind his back and feeds him pudding as fast as possible 2. one team member lays on the floor under a chair with his head sticking out with another standing on the chair with his arm extended at shoulder height; whichever team drops the most pudding in the mouth of the 'layer' the fastest wins....a bit messy (I definitely did NOT volunteer for this game) 3. BINGO! we won one round and won some candies. woot. Good times. Hopefully we'll at least have one more social before we go...wonder what that theme will be.
Friday, October 29, 2010
For the Love
This Tuesday we were put in our first sermon groups (we will have two) and my first one will be on "The Cross". Sadly, I don't really remember signing up for that one, but I am excited to see what comes from it. Obviously, the cross is a big part of my life and has definitely shaped me into who I am, but at the moment there is no one big revelation about the event that I feel rocks me to the core.
In hopes of stirring up ideas and revelation, I went to the "Come, HS" meeting at the church and started brainstorming- a fabulous atmosphere for getting into the flow. In scribbling down everything that came to mind about and surrounding the cross and why it is important and such and so, I made a discovery! Or a re-discovery, if you will: I love the book of Isaiah. Truly, it is my favorite. Lately I have been desiring more of the Love of God to be revealing in me and to me and that I might understand it better. Omg, Isaiah is such a book of the Father's love and it was so very refreshing to flip through and read all the underlining (which is a lot) and soak it in again. Let me share with you....
- Tell the righteous it will be well with them.
- I have heard your prayer and seen your tears.
- Your guilt is taken away and you sin atoned for.
- God is with us.
- The Lord has established Zion, and in her His afflicted people will find refuge.
- Surely this is our God; we trusted in Him, and He saved us.
- Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us.
- Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him!
- I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you...I have chosen you and have not rejected you.
- Fear not for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
- I will go before you.
- I will not forget you!
- My unfailing love for you will not be shaken.
- You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace.
- Before they call I will answer, while they are still speaking, I will hear.
And so much more... be blessed. I leave you with a favorite:
"In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength."
In hopes of stirring up ideas and revelation, I went to the "Come, HS" meeting at the church and started brainstorming- a fabulous atmosphere for getting into the flow. In scribbling down everything that came to mind about and surrounding the cross and why it is important and such and so, I made a discovery! Or a re-discovery, if you will: I love the book of Isaiah. Truly, it is my favorite. Lately I have been desiring more of the Love of God to be revealing in me and to me and that I might understand it better. Omg, Isaiah is such a book of the Father's love and it was so very refreshing to flip through and read all the underlining (which is a lot) and soak it in again. Let me share with you....
- Tell the righteous it will be well with them.
- I have heard your prayer and seen your tears.
- Your guilt is taken away and you sin atoned for.
- God is with us.
- The Lord has established Zion, and in her His afflicted people will find refuge.
- Surely this is our God; we trusted in Him, and He saved us.
- Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us.
- Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him!
- I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you...I have chosen you and have not rejected you.
- Fear not for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
- I will go before you.
- I will not forget you!
- My unfailing love for you will not be shaken.
- You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace.
- Before they call I will answer, while they are still speaking, I will hear.
And so much more... be blessed. I leave you with a favorite:
"In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength."
Thursday, October 28, 2010
still moving
Monday 15 of us rode on the Chariots of Fire (a bus) down to Niagara Falls courtesy of our wonderful tour guide Mel. It was a bit overcast and had just rained but the Falls were still amazing of course. Oddly enough they looked a lot smaller than I remember them from several years ago. We also had the opportunity to walk around Niagara-on-the-Lake, a small, quaint town on Lake Ontario that is absolutely exquisite. The Prince of Wales Hotel is here - quite ornate and ritzy. A lovely way to spend our day off.
I turned in my first book report Tuesday. The Heart Module has to read The Tale of Three Kings and The Shack. I wrote on the former this time and will be rereading the latter sometime soon. I definitely recommend Three Kings to anyone; it's by Gene Edwards and is a tale on brokenness and how God desires to use broken vessels. It's rather short with really easy-to-read chapters but is best when read slowly for absorption.
This week Rick D'Orazio is speaking with us on Identity and it has been fabulous. Here's a quote: "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." That is to say, when we finally realize and are comfortable with who we are, who He created us to be, and who He says we are then He can truly be glorified in and through our lives. (All goes back to being a vessel; the vessel has to accept its identity before it can function as it's supposed to.) Several of us have had the opportunity to stand before a giant mirror at the front of the room and ask the question, "What do you see?" That is the question of the week: What do you see? Follow that up with: What does God see? Are they the same? They should be. We are princes and princesses and we are loved. Many know this, but do you really believe it? Do you act like you believe it?
blessings
I turned in my first book report Tuesday. The Heart Module has to read The Tale of Three Kings and The Shack. I wrote on the former this time and will be rereading the latter sometime soon. I definitely recommend Three Kings to anyone; it's by Gene Edwards and is a tale on brokenness and how God desires to use broken vessels. It's rather short with really easy-to-read chapters but is best when read slowly for absorption.
This week Rick D'Orazio is speaking with us on Identity and it has been fabulous. Here's a quote: "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." That is to say, when we finally realize and are comfortable with who we are, who He created us to be, and who He says we are then He can truly be glorified in and through our lives. (All goes back to being a vessel; the vessel has to accept its identity before it can function as it's supposed to.) Several of us have had the opportunity to stand before a giant mirror at the front of the room and ask the question, "What do you see?" That is the question of the week: What do you see? Follow that up with: What does God see? Are they the same? They should be. We are princes and princesses and we are loved. Many know this, but do you really believe it? Do you act like you believe it?
blessings
Sunday, October 24, 2010
More
God knows our hearts, you know? My main prayer for the past few weeks and especially this last one going into the Mountain Mover conference was to know more of God's love, and not just to know it because I have known it all my life, but to understand it more and to truly have a heart change as a result. On both Thursday and Friday evenings someone prayed for me and word-for-word echoed my prayer to God. Isn't it amazing that He so intimately knows the desires of our hearts that He lets us know He knows? And more than that it shows that what we are asking for is the exact thing that He wants to give us. cool. And I'm learning never to be satisfied. If my God is infinite and He wants to give me all good things then His provision never runs dry and I'm determined to always say, "More, Lord."
Thursday I had the opportunity to go out to lunch with Amber and her mom who came up from PA; so nice to eat off campus for a change. John Arnott spoke in the afternoon and Johnny Enlow in the evening. Enlow is from Atlanta and wrote a book on the Seven Mountains of Influence (Ed, Gov, Media, Religion, Arts, Business, & something else). He spoke on how we most effectively affect change on these mountains - I recommend his books. I was on the ministry team again and after praying for people hung out with all the students who were getting affected by the Holy Spirit-so fun. Friday Heidi Baker spoke in the morning and evening sessions with Johnny in the afternoon. Heidi is amazing, she has such a pure heart for God's and is so simply passionate about intimacy with Him. I wasn't on ministry team that night but took part anyway; all those who hadn't felt like they knew the Father's love came to the front and we just gave them hugs and prayed for them. Such an opportunity to show God's love. Heidi also prayed for those called to the lost and those on the mountains of Arts, Education, and in the sciences.
Saturday = even better. Carol spoke on forgiveness in the morning. I could do this every week: continually in the presence of God; soaking in His love, peace, and joy; and seeing God touching so many people around me bringing breakthrough and restoration. Saturday nights mean fire tunnels often so in the pre-ministry time we of course had to practice so most of us were already Holy Spirit drunk before we even went into worship. It's really exciting for me since I don't typically manifest in the Spirit but I have been sensing more and more as we have been here. Worship was good and I was dancing in the back again when two guys came over and 'ambushed' me resulting in me on the floor for the remainder of the session. In spasms. I'm learning the difference between feeling with your brain and "feeling" with your spirit. So I was definitely ready to go when we were called to start the fire tunnels; so cool seeing the Spirit fall on others and seeing yourself being used as a vessel. The party for some of us continued til about 3am. So good.
More to come. Peace.
Thursday I had the opportunity to go out to lunch with Amber and her mom who came up from PA; so nice to eat off campus for a change. John Arnott spoke in the afternoon and Johnny Enlow in the evening. Enlow is from Atlanta and wrote a book on the Seven Mountains of Influence (Ed, Gov, Media, Religion, Arts, Business, & something else). He spoke on how we most effectively affect change on these mountains - I recommend his books. I was on the ministry team again and after praying for people hung out with all the students who were getting affected by the Holy Spirit-so fun. Friday Heidi Baker spoke in the morning and evening sessions with Johnny in the afternoon. Heidi is amazing, she has such a pure heart for God's and is so simply passionate about intimacy with Him. I wasn't on ministry team that night but took part anyway; all those who hadn't felt like they knew the Father's love came to the front and we just gave them hugs and prayed for them. Such an opportunity to show God's love. Heidi also prayed for those called to the lost and those on the mountains of Arts, Education, and in the sciences.
Saturday = even better. Carol spoke on forgiveness in the morning. I could do this every week: continually in the presence of God; soaking in His love, peace, and joy; and seeing God touching so many people around me bringing breakthrough and restoration. Saturday nights mean fire tunnels often so in the pre-ministry time we of course had to practice so most of us were already Holy Spirit drunk before we even went into worship. It's really exciting for me since I don't typically manifest in the Spirit but I have been sensing more and more as we have been here. Worship was good and I was dancing in the back again when two guys came over and 'ambushed' me resulting in me on the floor for the remainder of the session. In spasms. I'm learning the difference between feeling with your brain and "feeling" with your spirit. So I was definitely ready to go when we were called to start the fire tunnels; so cool seeing the Spirit fall on others and seeing yourself being used as a vessel. The party for some of us continued til about 3am. So good.
More to come. Peace.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Move the Mountains
Awesome week in the making. Monday through today SoM students sat in on a Soaking Seminar held by Connie and Jeremy Sinnott; I really enjoyed the teaching on 'intimacy' by Connie and the animation of Jeremy as he spoke. It was a good prep course to have before a conference. Tonight started the Mountain Movers conference here at the church which is focusing on two of the 'seven mountains of influence': business and government. Jerry Anderson, president of La Red Business Network spoke tonight sharing on the impact that this program has had around the world in governments and businesses just by bringing principles and values back in the picture. No denying that the transformation that our nations, governments, and business desperately need lies in the lack of morals, values, and conviction of principles. Already prisons, militaries, and judicial systems in Guatemala, Columbia, Mexico, Argentina, Ukraine, and other nations have seen drastic improvements in crime rates and corruption by teaching values to their leaders. Awesome. It's circulating in the US too; yay. So, how's your character?
What's God doing? Shaking the mountains; in me, in us, in the air. Wow, is He good. Even at the beginning of the week I was excited to see all the things that God is going to do and bring about this week (I've been praying to get completely smothered in His presence) and today was no exception and He did not disappoint. The Freshwind band played tonight and are typically rockin' but they started off slower tonight which went against how I was feeling; I was ready to go! I went to the back where there was space to dance and just went at it and the band finally caught on. ;) His holiness was everywhere and I couldn't worship hard enough. He is so so worthy. Ahh, it was so good and I was so sweaty by the end. Fabulous! Ministry time was good too; I prayed for others with Kristyn from my outreach team and because there aren't as many people at this conference we had time to pray for each other. I love God.
Peace.
What's God doing? Shaking the mountains; in me, in us, in the air. Wow, is He good. Even at the beginning of the week I was excited to see all the things that God is going to do and bring about this week (I've been praying to get completely smothered in His presence) and today was no exception and He did not disappoint. The Freshwind band played tonight and are typically rockin' but they started off slower tonight which went against how I was feeling; I was ready to go! I went to the back where there was space to dance and just went at it and the band finally caught on. ;) His holiness was everywhere and I couldn't worship hard enough. He is so so worthy. Ahh, it was so good and I was so sweaty by the end. Fabulous! Ministry time was good too; I prayed for others with Kristyn from my outreach team and because there aren't as many people at this conference we had time to pray for each other. I love God.
Peace.
Monday, October 18, 2010
He Still Redeems
Wow...how to start....
Thursday was a super hard day for me. Mike Pilavachi taught on Insecurity in the morning and we missed our second session due to everyone soaking. I didn't really have a relaxing time of it, but instead I was superiorly irritated and aggitated. It put me in one of those blah moods for quite sometime. At CBN that night, even though I didn't really feel "into" worship I told God I would worship despite feeling anything or nothing because I know that He is good at least in my head.
Friday Mike spoke on Grace and Leadership. Fabulous teacher. For small group we went to Montana's Grill and Amber and I split some of the most delicious sweet potato fries. Yum. I went to the "Come, Holy Spirit" meeting where He softened me up a bit getting back on my good side. :)
Saturday after a bunch of mayhem and uncertainty, Erin and I went with our friends Amber and Bart to some parks north of here to take pictures. Due to some of the events surrounding the trip, it wasn't our best day and our attitudes didn't help it. (Sorry, Lord and friends) We ended the day wanting to punch something. One of the movies of the week was Cinderella Man; quite nice. I hope I will one day be a supportive wife like she.
Sunday!!! Today we started in our ministry areas which for Team Finland meant working with the youth meeting. The youth pastors happen to be out of the country so it was kinda just us with a little help. I sorta forgot what preteens act like. Wow. I got to man the donut and hot chocolate table today which was fun, but other than that, introducing myself, and participating in a game, I/we didn't do much. We will do more as we go on. After lunch, Erin, Mark, and I went downtown to sightsee and walk around. It was fabulous! Such a beautiful day and it was cool to snap pictures and just experience the wonderful city that is Toronto. Clean, big, tall, nice. We ended the walk at the CTF campus Central for church which was cool. They hold the meetings in a club which has an edgy vibe to it.
After church a group went to Tim's to hang out and we talked about SoM and such. We got a ride back with Andrew (awesome) and he took us on a drive around town and then around the airport and back through town and everywhere. The guys put on techno music and we got Holy Spirit ROCKED! It was amazing! Oh, my word! And Mark was so right in that there are dozens of portals around the airport; craziness! God is so good. I want more, and the only reason I want more is that He wants me to have more and wants to give me more! Bless Him!!
So after a few days of struggling with crap, Sunday has been awesome and God is amazing. And even more amazing than that is that He loves me and He likes me! WOW. Definitely more to come; it's conference week!
Thursday was a super hard day for me. Mike Pilavachi taught on Insecurity in the morning and we missed our second session due to everyone soaking. I didn't really have a relaxing time of it, but instead I was superiorly irritated and aggitated. It put me in one of those blah moods for quite sometime. At CBN that night, even though I didn't really feel "into" worship I told God I would worship despite feeling anything or nothing because I know that He is good at least in my head.
Friday Mike spoke on Grace and Leadership. Fabulous teacher. For small group we went to Montana's Grill and Amber and I split some of the most delicious sweet potato fries. Yum. I went to the "Come, Holy Spirit" meeting where He softened me up a bit getting back on my good side. :)
Saturday after a bunch of mayhem and uncertainty, Erin and I went with our friends Amber and Bart to some parks north of here to take pictures. Due to some of the events surrounding the trip, it wasn't our best day and our attitudes didn't help it. (Sorry, Lord and friends) We ended the day wanting to punch something. One of the movies of the week was Cinderella Man; quite nice. I hope I will one day be a supportive wife like she.
Sunday!!! Today we started in our ministry areas which for Team Finland meant working with the youth meeting. The youth pastors happen to be out of the country so it was kinda just us with a little help. I sorta forgot what preteens act like. Wow. I got to man the donut and hot chocolate table today which was fun, but other than that, introducing myself, and participating in a game, I/we didn't do much. We will do more as we go on. After lunch, Erin, Mark, and I went downtown to sightsee and walk around. It was fabulous! Such a beautiful day and it was cool to snap pictures and just experience the wonderful city that is Toronto. Clean, big, tall, nice. We ended the walk at the CTF campus Central for church which was cool. They hold the meetings in a club which has an edgy vibe to it.
After church a group went to Tim's to hang out and we talked about SoM and such. We got a ride back with Andrew (awesome) and he took us on a drive around town and then around the airport and back through town and everywhere. The guys put on techno music and we got Holy Spirit ROCKED! It was amazing! Oh, my word! And Mark was so right in that there are dozens of portals around the airport; craziness! God is so good. I want more, and the only reason I want more is that He wants me to have more and wants to give me more! Bless Him!!
So after a few days of struggling with crap, Sunday has been awesome and God is amazing. And even more amazing than that is that He loves me and He likes me! WOW. Definitely more to come; it's conference week!
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