well, this week is boot camp week. oh my... they were so not even joking when they called it that. jason said that, in the military, boot camp is meant to transform civilians into soldiers--and that is exactly what we are doing spiritually. the leaders said that this week is meant to rid us of all of our "junk" before we actually dive into master's. if we have issues with no sleep--too bad! if we ever complain--you're doomed!!!! let me explain...
yesterday we spent four hours and learned an entire human video. it got kind of frustrating because after we did a run-through, we started doing "three strikes you're out." if brindy saw three mistakes, we had to start from the beginning, again. and again. and again. we got to know the beginning of the drama very well... :)
after that, we ate dinner in like twenty minutes and then came back to the church where we hopped on the "magic bus"...our fifteen passenger van...and headed down-town to the baseball stadium. when we got there, brindy read us the passage in the bible about how moses had to hold his arms in the air so that the israelites could defeat the amalekites... if he lowered his hands they would lose. but he could not do it on his own strength, so aaron and hur helped him. well, all of us master's students got to walk around down-town with our arms straight up in the air for over half and hour. we could lean against each other, but we were running up and down streets, lots of stairs, and never EVER lowering our arms. it burned SO STINKIN bad!!!!!!!!!! but afterwards, we all felt really bonded (dude, you held up my arms when i thought they were gonna fall off--thanks! :) ) and then we came back to the church where we were instructed to create our own human video. that took a long time, and i'm really scared to perform it because our group didn't really finish. :) then we all sat in a circle and gave our testimonies to each other. by the time we finished it was 1:30 in the morning, and i thought we were done. nope! then mike talked to us about the best ways to present our testimonies to an audience, and so we had to do it all over again after he talked to us. by the time i finally went to bed it was 3 am. but jason said that the point of this week is to push us right to our physical limits so that all we can do is rely on God for strength to take another step--and that was really hard this morning! i am so sore from yesterday (we do a "death drop" in our human video that kind of, literally, kills your entire body) and so i almost fell off of my little bunk bed this morning. i wasn't awake enough at 6:45 this morning to realize how sore i was, so when my knees buckled on my way down the bunk ladder, i seriously thought i was gonna biff it. :) i'm doing well right now, but we are about to take our bible memory test, so i gotta go! please keep me in your prayers!! i survived day one of boot camp week...only six more to go!!!! :) i know God's going to stretch me beyond what i think is possible--and i am so excited! i just pray that i will be able to keep a positive attitude through all things!!!! i'll try to keep you all posted!! :)
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
september 29th
Melissa and me!!!
kim, brindy, and stevie!!!
baseball game...we got a home run!!!...but we still lost. :(
my prayer place at the beach...not a bad view, eh?? :)
the sweet baseball stadium. whoohoo!!!september 29, 2008
so, last night was the most incredible night since i’ve been here... which has to mean it was spectacular! but first i’ll start with the morning:
we had college bible study before church, and i sang on the worship team for that—and my conclusion about being on the worship team is that, right now, it’s not the right time. i don’t have enough confidence to let go and focus on God, and so i spend the whole worship time thinking about if i’m off-key or if i’m blushing really badly from being in front of people... so the worship team is a no-go. but i’m still planning on taking voice and key-board lessons...
then church was about finding your area of ministry and allowing God to work through you, and so i started to pray that God would lead me to the ministry that He wants me in; not the one that i think would be the most fun. i mean, i came into this program thinking i would be involved in the youth, but after going to the service, i realized it would not be a good fit at all for various reasons...and so i thought, oh. i’ll just be in college group. but as i was sitting in church yesterday, i felt very strongly that i was supposed to look into children’s ministry. WHAT?????? i love kids, but really??? but, since i’m here for God and not myself, i was like, okay. i’ll look into it. luckily for me, the church was having all of their ministries set up booths for after service so that people could walk around and find out more about all of them. so i went to the kids’ booth and talked to Shari who’s in charge—and she is SO nice! so this next sunday i’m going to go to kids’ church and just check it out. it’s just crazy to me how fast God can change things...but i realized that the kids’ and college programs don’t interfere with each other, so i will go to college group and learn a lot, like a student, but in the kids’ ministry i can actually pour out of myself and give to the kids.
we had the afternoon off, and so melissa and i hung out at the apartment, pigging out on pastries left over from the NEXT conference and watching pride and prejudice. i fell asleep for a little bit (lots of carbs and a good movie will do that to ya)...and then we went to college small group. that’s where things got really amazing.
i don’t know why, but i didn’t think it would be that great. i mean, i thought it would be good, but coram deo is really the place that i expect to be changed—shame on me. last night was about being the kind of church that God is calling us to be in His Word, but then it changed into a sermon on “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you...” and about speaking in tongues. well, i hadn’t been baptized in the Holy Spirit (aka i didn’t have my prayer language) but i was kind of skeptical about it. i mean, i’ve asked for it before, and some people believe it is a spiritual gift and not guaranteed to be accessible to everyone, etc... but then it was explained to me really well by kim and brindy. brindy said she believes that the gift of speaking prophetically in tongues in church is a spiritual gift that not everyone has, but everyone can have a personal prayer language with which to speak with God. kim said she was really skeptical like me about whether she was capable of having it, but she said that she had to just “let go” and start. pray up, and then trust that the Holy Spirit is interceding for you, and start speaking. it’s more a language in which you can pour out your heart to God when there are no words. God understands, and at first it might seem like gibberish or baby talk, but just start and know that God knows the very depths of your heart—he will understand what you’re saying. everything i’m learning here so far is that i have to let go of...everything. all those things that are making me self-conscious or doubtful—God is so good, and i just have to trust him. i love it here...
now this morning we have coram deo at 10...and then the rest of this week is a surprise! but we have been warned that it will be hectic...so i need lots of prayer!!!!!oh! one more exciting thing: a new guy joined master’s. he’s been living here his whole life and he’s been hanging out with us every day anyways, but he finally decided to join. his name is robby and you can tell he has a really rough exterior to cover the hurts he has inside. he jokes around a lot and is really fun, but he said even though he didn’t want to do this, he knew God wanted to take him to where he’s supposed to be. i’m excited to see the transformations that are taking place in all of us... yay for master’s!!!!!
Sunday, September 28, 2008
September 24th-27th
september 24, 2008
i absolutely LOVE my girls in my apartment!!!!! right now, as i’m typing this, i’m sitting on the floor in our living room watching three of the girls do my turbo jam exercise dvd—earlier, brindy and i already worked out together. they are all super excited that i’m the exercise dvd girl and so we are all gonna try and get buff!!!—or at least not obese.
either one works, really...
tomorrow we actually have our scheduled TMT time for three hours, and so all of us girls are gonna hit the beach for some surfing. i can’t remember if i already said this, but there’s this guy that goes to san diego first assembly, and everybody calls him surf-shop matt...he loves all of the master’s commissions people, and so we get to rent surf boards and wet suits for free whenever we want!!! that saves us a lot of money...
okay, i seriously wish that i knew how to put video clips on here, because you have no idea how much i’m enjoying watching these girls try to keep up with the dance video... HA!!!!! they are all so silly and it’s just awesome...
oh man...so our neighbor from downstairs just knocked on our door, and we thought it was brindy, so we’re like, come in!!! well, he opened the door to find those girls doing some kick-boxing-karate move and sweating up a storm. he was really nice but like, “hey...so i’m from downstairs, and my whole room is shaking. it’s kind of crazy.” stevie was like, “wow. we made an earthquake downstairs...we really do need to work out!!!”
today was great—we had our relationships expectations session, and it’s such a cool theory. basically, we’re allowed to talk to the boys, but not in a flirtatious or emotionally attaching kind of way. jason said that “being connected to someone emotionally divides the heart” and that the point of these next nine months is to give our hearts, fully devoted, to Christ. it is a year meant to be filled with no distractions—we are able to allow Jesus to be our everything.
after that, we had our first “foundations” class. for the first six weeks, we are going to be reading The Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyers...i read the first two chapters today and i can already tell that i’m going to benefit hugely from it!!!! so we have that class ever wednesday morning---and our scripture study every tuesday. we are finally starting to get a somewhat set schedule.
we also had some GAG time...guys against girls time...where we played the board/card game Battle of the Sexes. guess who won... the girls!!!! YEAH BABY!!!! we only won by one point, though... hehehe!!!
then we had a few hours break when brindy and i worked out and had some dinner and i did some homework...and then tonight we attended the youth group. so, i thought i would probably be part of the youth program, but i’m rethinking my decision...i think i’m gonna try the college group. high school youth group was nuts...and not in a bad way, just a “i think i might lose my mind if i tried to do it” kind of nuts. so tomorrow night we get to go visit the college small group, and so i’m hoping i feel good about that one. otherwise, i don’t know what i’m gonna do. but God has it under control... and so no worries!!!
oh!! so tonight at the youth thing, i had to go up to the front with this other first year guy named jake, and we had to compete in front of the whole youth group in like a trivia competition. guess who won...the girls!!!! YEAH BABY!!! twice in one day!!! BOO-YAH!!! the verdict??? girls rule the world... for sure.
anyways, i’m going to study my scriptures now for a bit, and then i’m off to bed. we finally got a fan for our bedroom!!! i’m super excited cuz now it won’t be 85.7 degrees like it was for all of today!!! it was SO hot today in our apartment!!!! oh well...problem solved now! i guess it will just make us appreciate the cool weather more... yay for coldness!!!!
september 25, 2008
today was incredible!!! the day started with off-campus prayer, so my girls went to The Living Room and had yummy coffees and prayed. it was awesome, and totally stretched me out of my comfort zone... yay for new experiences!!!
then we went surfing this afternoon for three hours—no joke!!!! i got up SO many times!!! of course, i fell right back down...but there were about three or four times that i stayed up the whole ride in to shore... fun stuff!!! now tonight we are heading out the door for college group, so i have to go...but i thought everyone should know that i have the worst farmer’s tan in the history of ever from my wetsuit!!!! it looks like i’m wearing a white t-shirt. ew.
september 27, 2008
so yesterday we had a beach day—i know, i’m really living the rough life... but anyways, we played some beach volleyball, and then a group of us decided to brave the chilly water and act like polar bears—we all jumped in and got really wet and cold. we had a little free time after that, during which i did my homework and then set up this laundry/clothes hanger rack thingy. and i realized one thing...i am carpentry challenged. i was supposed to screw in these...uh, screws. but we don’t have a screwdriver. cool, right? so i improvised, thinking i was so clever, and used a kitchen butter knife. i am very blessed that it was a dull butter knife because i may have amputated at least two fingers had it been sharp. and it’s funny because the screws are only half in their holes... and it’s kind of wobbly, but oh well!!! it will serve its purpose...
then last night, jason surprised us with padres baseball tickets—so i went to a professional baseball game!!! okay, so i’m not really a fan, but the atmosphere was so fun!!! yay for baseball!!!!—and free tickets!!!! by the way, i did not get to eat a hotdog, because it seems that at these professional games, the hotdogs cost 8 stinking dollars a piece!!!!! WHO PAYS EIGHT DOLLARS FOR A HOTDOG???????? they smelled almost worth the eight dollars, though...
alright, now for today. the church had its annual “NEXT” conference, which basically is meant to motivate people in the congregation to serve others. it was really interesting, and my favorite session was called “the heart of the artist.” the worship leaders talked about how it is impossible to truly be creative and inspired if we aren’t spending intimate time with God. He is the ultimate Creator, and He is the One who allows us to use our gifts. it was awesome. after the conference ended, all of the master’s students cleaned up (fun stuff!!) and then got an assignment: write our “Jesus Letter.” basically, we write a letter to God, and then we get them back at the end of the year. that way, we can see how and when God answered our prayers. i went with Kim to the beach to write mine, and then we decided that, hey, since we’re at the beach, why not surf??? so we surfed for a couple of hours, and the boys joined us. it was awesome, cuz a cute little seal swam within about ten feet of me. it was just looking at me with its big black eyes...but i was kind of afraid every time it went under a wave, cuz every time it came up it was closer to me. what if it was hungry??? or maybe in my lovely wetsuit i looked like a she-seal. hehehe!!!!
but now, i must admit, that with the last couple days of surfing and playing volleyball, my arms are kind of...limp?...dead?...unable to be used for any kind of purpose?...yeah, my body is not working so well. kind of like kim’s car. after we went surfing, we went to surf-shop matt’s house and played guitar hero (my first time!!) and then we walked back to her car...and her lights were on. to make a long and funny story short, matt had to come and save us—jump-start her car—and so i just got home about an hour ago...and now it is time to go to bed...
tomorrow is sunday, which means college sunday school at 9 AM, and then church at 10:45. brindy and i are singing on the worship team for the college group, so i have to be at the church at 8:30. i am kind of nervous about singing, just because i’m not very confident. but i’m praying that i fully realize that i am singing only for an audience of One—God’s is the only opinion that matters, and He only wants me to focus on Him and worshiping Him out of love and adoration. it’s scary though!!! it’s just brindy, mike, and me!!! AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!! but i’m passionate about worship, and i feel so complete when i’m surrounded by music, so this should be good, right??? ya!!!
anyways, goodnight!!!!!!
i absolutely LOVE my girls in my apartment!!!!! right now, as i’m typing this, i’m sitting on the floor in our living room watching three of the girls do my turbo jam exercise dvd—earlier, brindy and i already worked out together. they are all super excited that i’m the exercise dvd girl and so we are all gonna try and get buff!!!—or at least not obese.
either one works, really...
tomorrow we actually have our scheduled TMT time for three hours, and so all of us girls are gonna hit the beach for some surfing. i can’t remember if i already said this, but there’s this guy that goes to san diego first assembly, and everybody calls him surf-shop matt...he loves all of the master’s commissions people, and so we get to rent surf boards and wet suits for free whenever we want!!! that saves us a lot of money...
okay, i seriously wish that i knew how to put video clips on here, because you have no idea how much i’m enjoying watching these girls try to keep up with the dance video... HA!!!!! they are all so silly and it’s just awesome...
oh man...so our neighbor from downstairs just knocked on our door, and we thought it was brindy, so we’re like, come in!!! well, he opened the door to find those girls doing some kick-boxing-karate move and sweating up a storm. he was really nice but like, “hey...so i’m from downstairs, and my whole room is shaking. it’s kind of crazy.” stevie was like, “wow. we made an earthquake downstairs...we really do need to work out!!!”
today was great—we had our relationships expectations session, and it’s such a cool theory. basically, we’re allowed to talk to the boys, but not in a flirtatious or emotionally attaching kind of way. jason said that “being connected to someone emotionally divides the heart” and that the point of these next nine months is to give our hearts, fully devoted, to Christ. it is a year meant to be filled with no distractions—we are able to allow Jesus to be our everything.
after that, we had our first “foundations” class. for the first six weeks, we are going to be reading The Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyers...i read the first two chapters today and i can already tell that i’m going to benefit hugely from it!!!! so we have that class ever wednesday morning---and our scripture study every tuesday. we are finally starting to get a somewhat set schedule.
we also had some GAG time...guys against girls time...where we played the board/card game Battle of the Sexes. guess who won... the girls!!!! YEAH BABY!!!! we only won by one point, though... hehehe!!!
then we had a few hours break when brindy and i worked out and had some dinner and i did some homework...and then tonight we attended the youth group. so, i thought i would probably be part of the youth program, but i’m rethinking my decision...i think i’m gonna try the college group. high school youth group was nuts...and not in a bad way, just a “i think i might lose my mind if i tried to do it” kind of nuts. so tomorrow night we get to go visit the college small group, and so i’m hoping i feel good about that one. otherwise, i don’t know what i’m gonna do. but God has it under control... and so no worries!!!
oh!! so tonight at the youth thing, i had to go up to the front with this other first year guy named jake, and we had to compete in front of the whole youth group in like a trivia competition. guess who won...the girls!!!! YEAH BABY!!! twice in one day!!! BOO-YAH!!! the verdict??? girls rule the world... for sure.
anyways, i’m going to study my scriptures now for a bit, and then i’m off to bed. we finally got a fan for our bedroom!!! i’m super excited cuz now it won’t be 85.7 degrees like it was for all of today!!! it was SO hot today in our apartment!!!! oh well...problem solved now! i guess it will just make us appreciate the cool weather more... yay for coldness!!!!
september 25, 2008
today was incredible!!! the day started with off-campus prayer, so my girls went to The Living Room and had yummy coffees and prayed. it was awesome, and totally stretched me out of my comfort zone... yay for new experiences!!!
then we went surfing this afternoon for three hours—no joke!!!! i got up SO many times!!! of course, i fell right back down...but there were about three or four times that i stayed up the whole ride in to shore... fun stuff!!! now tonight we are heading out the door for college group, so i have to go...but i thought everyone should know that i have the worst farmer’s tan in the history of ever from my wetsuit!!!! it looks like i’m wearing a white t-shirt. ew.
september 27, 2008
so yesterday we had a beach day—i know, i’m really living the rough life... but anyways, we played some beach volleyball, and then a group of us decided to brave the chilly water and act like polar bears—we all jumped in and got really wet and cold. we had a little free time after that, during which i did my homework and then set up this laundry/clothes hanger rack thingy. and i realized one thing...i am carpentry challenged. i was supposed to screw in these...uh, screws. but we don’t have a screwdriver. cool, right? so i improvised, thinking i was so clever, and used a kitchen butter knife. i am very blessed that it was a dull butter knife because i may have amputated at least two fingers had it been sharp. and it’s funny because the screws are only half in their holes... and it’s kind of wobbly, but oh well!!! it will serve its purpose...
then last night, jason surprised us with padres baseball tickets—so i went to a professional baseball game!!! okay, so i’m not really a fan, but the atmosphere was so fun!!! yay for baseball!!!!—and free tickets!!!! by the way, i did not get to eat a hotdog, because it seems that at these professional games, the hotdogs cost 8 stinking dollars a piece!!!!! WHO PAYS EIGHT DOLLARS FOR A HOTDOG???????? they smelled almost worth the eight dollars, though...
alright, now for today. the church had its annual “NEXT” conference, which basically is meant to motivate people in the congregation to serve others. it was really interesting, and my favorite session was called “the heart of the artist.” the worship leaders talked about how it is impossible to truly be creative and inspired if we aren’t spending intimate time with God. He is the ultimate Creator, and He is the One who allows us to use our gifts. it was awesome. after the conference ended, all of the master’s students cleaned up (fun stuff!!) and then got an assignment: write our “Jesus Letter.” basically, we write a letter to God, and then we get them back at the end of the year. that way, we can see how and when God answered our prayers. i went with Kim to the beach to write mine, and then we decided that, hey, since we’re at the beach, why not surf??? so we surfed for a couple of hours, and the boys joined us. it was awesome, cuz a cute little seal swam within about ten feet of me. it was just looking at me with its big black eyes...but i was kind of afraid every time it went under a wave, cuz every time it came up it was closer to me. what if it was hungry??? or maybe in my lovely wetsuit i looked like a she-seal. hehehe!!!!
but now, i must admit, that with the last couple days of surfing and playing volleyball, my arms are kind of...limp?...dead?...unable to be used for any kind of purpose?...yeah, my body is not working so well. kind of like kim’s car. after we went surfing, we went to surf-shop matt’s house and played guitar hero (my first time!!) and then we walked back to her car...and her lights were on. to make a long and funny story short, matt had to come and save us—jump-start her car—and so i just got home about an hour ago...and now it is time to go to bed...
tomorrow is sunday, which means college sunday school at 9 AM, and then church at 10:45. brindy and i are singing on the worship team for the college group, so i have to be at the church at 8:30. i am kind of nervous about singing, just because i’m not very confident. but i’m praying that i fully realize that i am singing only for an audience of One—God’s is the only opinion that matters, and He only wants me to focus on Him and worshiping Him out of love and adoration. it’s scary though!!! it’s just brindy, mike, and me!!! AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!! but i’m passionate about worship, and i feel so complete when i’m surrounded by music, so this should be good, right??? ya!!!
anyways, goodnight!!!!!!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
some stuff...
september 22, 2008
well, i absolutely LOVE master’s commission!!!! i have never felt as truly whole and complete as i did throughout today. we began the morning with an hour of prayer. now, before, this would have seemed next to impossible to me cuz i barely ever even prayed for five whole minutes without stopping. but the cool thing about today was that jason—the leader man—gave us a prayer wheel which gives us different elements of prayer that we can focus on. i literally felt like i could go on all day!!! here’s what the “wheel of prayer” had on it: praise, worship, personal cleansing, intercession (requests for others), petition (requests for self), listening time of prayer, praying back scriptures, and thanksgiving. the hour literally flew by, and i am so thankful that we have that every day!
after prayer, we had our devotions. we are going to be reading out of My Utmost For His Highest. some of it will probably be over my head, but i know it’s going to be incredible...
this afternoon we had AC’s, which is where we get put into groups (i have melissa, matt, jake, myself, and our leader stevie) and once a week we will all get together and hang out...kind of like an accountability group. sometimes we’ll have serious talks and stuff, and then sometimes, like today, we will just do way fun stuff. first we went to The Living Room—it is this sweet coffee shop that reminds me a lot of rembrandt’s, only it’s more old fashioned, by-the-sea-ish. then we went and walked on the pier and then the beach. i saw my first “thong” swimsuit in real life today...all i have to say about that? ew. major ew.
my group is so totally awesome, though! i think we are all going to get along incredibly well...
and tonight was the most amazing night of my entire life. we are normally going to have these sessions on monday mornings, but this week the schedule is kind of weird. anyways, it is called coram deo which means face-to-face with God. basically, it’s a couple hour session in which all of the master’s students can “re-boot” with God. throughout the week, we have to help set up/be involved in some part of the leadership in all the other services. but this is the one service which is designed by our leaders, jason and jessica, and they do the worship and preaching. tonight we actually had a guest speaker, though, and he talked about what we owe the world. instead of just telling people about God, and our personal beliefs and experiences, we owe the world an encounter with Jesus. we should be so filled to over-flowing with Christ that when we meet and speak with people, they don’t really see or hear us, but the Lord. according to Brit, the speaker, “an encounter with Jesus will trump anything anybody believes or has experienced.” so, an encounter with Christ will be the simplest way to reach the lost—we just have to become so immersed in Him that we don’t exist without His presence.
we also learned about suffering and how perseverance is so character-building. another incredible quote that i think everyone should hear is: “you don’t smell the beauty of a rose until it’s crushed—you don’t see the beauty of a diamond until is has been chipped away at. beauty comes through trials.” is that good or what????
also, we learned that when we ask God to change us, we may get just that, but it usually comes in a form that is more than we bargained for...but in spite of the difficulties we will have to face, we should never be afraid to pray dangerous prayers. the spiritual growth will be worth it in the end. again, somebody remind me of that when i’m going through hard stuff, k?
lastly before i go to bed for the night, i was prophesied over tonight. a girl from another group that was with us, named darcy, came to me while we were worshipping at the end of the service. she said that her and this other guy named mario both actually had the same vision of me, but knowing that i was a first year girl, i’m only aloud to really interact with the girl...so she came to tell me. it was so moving, because i’ve been praying that while i’m here, God would truly romance me to the point that i fall madly in love with my Savior. since i’m not dating this year, heaven knows i’ll need a little somethin’ somethin’...if you know what i’m saying. so i really just want Jesus to be everything that i need. anyways, being prophesied over tonight was just like God telling me, “you are not forgotten. Let go of your cares, for I have overcome the world.”
this is so the coolest experience of my life. and i know that some of it will be tough and i’ll have to push through the lack of sleep and have a positive attitude in all of this, but i know that this will change me forever—and for the better, i’m sure!!!! yay!!!!
september 23, 2008
so far, today hasn’t been as awesome as yesterday, but still way fun! this morning began with prayer at the church, only on tuesdays it’s not like normal prayer days—on tuesdays it is for the church as a whole and people pray out loud for the different ministries. i’m sure it will come to have more meaning to me the more i get to know this church and its different ministries, but for today it was still really powerful to hear the other people praying. actually, God called me out of my comfort zone to pray that we as a congregation would see people through His eyes, loving them as He does, and—as pastor brit said yesterday—that we would be carriers of encounter. it was funny, though, because my heart started pounding so hard and fast that i literally had to slow down my breathing and consciously think about my heart beating before i gave myself a heart attack. it’s crazy just how intimidated i am of looking stupid in front of people. but i felt so strongly last night God just telling me to “Let go.” and so i just pictured myself jumping off of a cliff and trusting God to catch me before i hit bottom, and i prayed out loud. of course, it wasn’t worth getting all worked up about it, cuz after i finished praying another person prayed. and then another. and then another. so basically, i have to quit thinking so much about myself and what makes me “uncomfortable,” and just start doing the things God is calling me to do without freaking out about it.
the rest of this afternoon we have “personal development” time... and then tonight we are having a “dorm night.” i think us girls are just going to watch a movie and eat lots of food---yay us!!!!!!
september 24, 2008
okay, so the rest of yesterday was absolutely a blast! i brought a few work-out dvd’s with me, and so in the afternoon we all tried one of the ten minute ones. it was hilarious!!! kim kept mocking tony horton and acting all manly, but pretty soon we were all out of breath from the exercising...so then instead of talking, she would just grunt in a manly sort of way. we were all totally disgusting and sweaty by the time it was over---did i mention that our apartment is set at a steady 83.7 (no joke!) degrees??? it was like a stinkin’ sauna yesterday!!!! anyways, it was so much fun!!!
then for our dorm night, we ate pasta and salad, and then went out to paradise yogurt—it is this really yummy frozen yogurt place... well isn’t the point of working out so that you can eat the foods you really want????? so i got a peanut butter frozen yogurt with cookie dough in it...and let me tell you, it was worth the five million calories. mmmmm....
then we came back to the apartment and watched baby mama...cept i went to bed halfway through...but it is such a funny movie!!! now for today: it’s only 8:15 in the morning, so not much has happened yet...i’m all ready to go though, so i had a few extra minutes to add to my entries. i loaded the dishwasher (ew. dirty dishes are yucky) and then made myself some coffee. after i’m done here, i’m going to work on memorizing my verses for the week. i am looking forward to our “relationship expectations” seminar today. Jason (our leader) is going to be talking about what kind of conduct is expected and acceptable between guys and girls...should be pretty interesting. and that’s about it for the day. i’ll write again soon!!!!!
well, i absolutely LOVE master’s commission!!!! i have never felt as truly whole and complete as i did throughout today. we began the morning with an hour of prayer. now, before, this would have seemed next to impossible to me cuz i barely ever even prayed for five whole minutes without stopping. but the cool thing about today was that jason—the leader man—gave us a prayer wheel which gives us different elements of prayer that we can focus on. i literally felt like i could go on all day!!! here’s what the “wheel of prayer” had on it: praise, worship, personal cleansing, intercession (requests for others), petition (requests for self), listening time of prayer, praying back scriptures, and thanksgiving. the hour literally flew by, and i am so thankful that we have that every day!
after prayer, we had our devotions. we are going to be reading out of My Utmost For His Highest. some of it will probably be over my head, but i know it’s going to be incredible...
this afternoon we had AC’s, which is where we get put into groups (i have melissa, matt, jake, myself, and our leader stevie) and once a week we will all get together and hang out...kind of like an accountability group. sometimes we’ll have serious talks and stuff, and then sometimes, like today, we will just do way fun stuff. first we went to The Living Room—it is this sweet coffee shop that reminds me a lot of rembrandt’s, only it’s more old fashioned, by-the-sea-ish. then we went and walked on the pier and then the beach. i saw my first “thong” swimsuit in real life today...all i have to say about that? ew. major ew.
my group is so totally awesome, though! i think we are all going to get along incredibly well...
and tonight was the most amazing night of my entire life. we are normally going to have these sessions on monday mornings, but this week the schedule is kind of weird. anyways, it is called coram deo which means face-to-face with God. basically, it’s a couple hour session in which all of the master’s students can “re-boot” with God. throughout the week, we have to help set up/be involved in some part of the leadership in all the other services. but this is the one service which is designed by our leaders, jason and jessica, and they do the worship and preaching. tonight we actually had a guest speaker, though, and he talked about what we owe the world. instead of just telling people about God, and our personal beliefs and experiences, we owe the world an encounter with Jesus. we should be so filled to over-flowing with Christ that when we meet and speak with people, they don’t really see or hear us, but the Lord. according to Brit, the speaker, “an encounter with Jesus will trump anything anybody believes or has experienced.” so, an encounter with Christ will be the simplest way to reach the lost—we just have to become so immersed in Him that we don’t exist without His presence.
we also learned about suffering and how perseverance is so character-building. another incredible quote that i think everyone should hear is: “you don’t smell the beauty of a rose until it’s crushed—you don’t see the beauty of a diamond until is has been chipped away at. beauty comes through trials.” is that good or what????
also, we learned that when we ask God to change us, we may get just that, but it usually comes in a form that is more than we bargained for...but in spite of the difficulties we will have to face, we should never be afraid to pray dangerous prayers. the spiritual growth will be worth it in the end. again, somebody remind me of that when i’m going through hard stuff, k?
lastly before i go to bed for the night, i was prophesied over tonight. a girl from another group that was with us, named darcy, came to me while we were worshipping at the end of the service. she said that her and this other guy named mario both actually had the same vision of me, but knowing that i was a first year girl, i’m only aloud to really interact with the girl...so she came to tell me. it was so moving, because i’ve been praying that while i’m here, God would truly romance me to the point that i fall madly in love with my Savior. since i’m not dating this year, heaven knows i’ll need a little somethin’ somethin’...if you know what i’m saying. so i really just want Jesus to be everything that i need. anyways, being prophesied over tonight was just like God telling me, “you are not forgotten. Let go of your cares, for I have overcome the world.”
this is so the coolest experience of my life. and i know that some of it will be tough and i’ll have to push through the lack of sleep and have a positive attitude in all of this, but i know that this will change me forever—and for the better, i’m sure!!!! yay!!!!
september 23, 2008
so far, today hasn’t been as awesome as yesterday, but still way fun! this morning began with prayer at the church, only on tuesdays it’s not like normal prayer days—on tuesdays it is for the church as a whole and people pray out loud for the different ministries. i’m sure it will come to have more meaning to me the more i get to know this church and its different ministries, but for today it was still really powerful to hear the other people praying. actually, God called me out of my comfort zone to pray that we as a congregation would see people through His eyes, loving them as He does, and—as pastor brit said yesterday—that we would be carriers of encounter. it was funny, though, because my heart started pounding so hard and fast that i literally had to slow down my breathing and consciously think about my heart beating before i gave myself a heart attack. it’s crazy just how intimidated i am of looking stupid in front of people. but i felt so strongly last night God just telling me to “Let go.” and so i just pictured myself jumping off of a cliff and trusting God to catch me before i hit bottom, and i prayed out loud. of course, it wasn’t worth getting all worked up about it, cuz after i finished praying another person prayed. and then another. and then another. so basically, i have to quit thinking so much about myself and what makes me “uncomfortable,” and just start doing the things God is calling me to do without freaking out about it.
the rest of this afternoon we have “personal development” time... and then tonight we are having a “dorm night.” i think us girls are just going to watch a movie and eat lots of food---yay us!!!!!!
september 24, 2008
okay, so the rest of yesterday was absolutely a blast! i brought a few work-out dvd’s with me, and so in the afternoon we all tried one of the ten minute ones. it was hilarious!!! kim kept mocking tony horton and acting all manly, but pretty soon we were all out of breath from the exercising...so then instead of talking, she would just grunt in a manly sort of way. we were all totally disgusting and sweaty by the time it was over---did i mention that our apartment is set at a steady 83.7 (no joke!) degrees??? it was like a stinkin’ sauna yesterday!!!! anyways, it was so much fun!!!
then for our dorm night, we ate pasta and salad, and then went out to paradise yogurt—it is this really yummy frozen yogurt place... well isn’t the point of working out so that you can eat the foods you really want????? so i got a peanut butter frozen yogurt with cookie dough in it...and let me tell you, it was worth the five million calories. mmmmm....
then we came back to the apartment and watched baby mama...cept i went to bed halfway through...but it is such a funny movie!!! now for today: it’s only 8:15 in the morning, so not much has happened yet...i’m all ready to go though, so i had a few extra minutes to add to my entries. i loaded the dishwasher (ew. dirty dishes are yucky) and then made myself some coffee. after i’m done here, i’m going to work on memorizing my verses for the week. i am looking forward to our “relationship expectations” seminar today. Jason (our leader) is going to be talking about what kind of conduct is expected and acceptable between guys and girls...should be pretty interesting. and that’s about it for the day. i’ll write again soon!!!!!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
What i think so far...
this is a cool picture i took from out my plane window :)
sisters!!! :) on the beach after dinner...fun stuff!
my footprints in the sand...i thought this pic deserved a spot on my blog :)
kenzi's work of art in the sand...
san diego first assembly---my new home church! :)
September 19, 2008
as of right now, my emotions are in check and i have the surreal feel of going on vacation. i did cry the night before i left when i hugged my dad, but besides that, i don’t really feel like this is happening. like i’m going to camp or something. “well of course i’ll be home in a week.” but really, i won’t be setting foot in Idaho for just under three months. whoa.
it’s amazing how adventurous one can feel when one is safely at home living a normal life. but when the adventure becomes real, little bits of “OH MY GOSH THIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING TO ME!!!!!” start popping up. Not that that ever happens to me. :)
it was really weird saying goodbye to my friends in the airport…but nattie decided that i’m “still in Idaho, but have a bad case of mono. we’ll all see each other again when i’m ‘better.’” that way, it’s not so sad, cuz i’m not really gone. Good thinking, Natalie! :)
And yet, no matter how weird or sad or even scary this step of my life is, I know it’s right. I have a peace that God has my life planned out and under control—and even in the hard stuff—He’ll get me through. Somebody remind me of that when the hard stuff comes, k? :)
To quote the Fellowship of the Unashamed by Dr. Bob Moorehead (look it up—it’s awesome! :) )—“my past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure…I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until He returns, give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes.” That’s what I want to do at Master’s Commission—so please keep me in your prayers and thank you for your support!
Okay, so about my first day in san diego…
My mom, sis, and I flew in at about 10:30-ish and then after retrieving our suitcases (and finding one of my brand new, beautiful turquoise suitcases broken by the roughness of travel) we went to our rental car and drove to our hotel. Now, this was no ordinary, simple yet clean hotel. This was like, “hmm…maybe I’ll pretend I’m a hobo for the night and sleep on the narsty (it’s like nasty only worse :) ) bed with the yellow pee (at least I’m guessing it was pee) stain on the quilt and the cute little mini-beastie (a tiny creature that we named Moe with six legs and a beetle-like shell) crawling on the ground…not to mention the thing hanging over my head from the ceiling (I think it was a cobweb…whatever it was, it was very “Halloween-y-ish”). Anyways, after “eww-ing” and “gross-ing” about the room, we ditched it for some lunch at Subway where I ate an amazing meatball sandwich :) and then headed to Walmart for some necessities. That took a while, but we managed to spend lots of money to buy me things like air freshener and laundry soap.
After dropping everything off at our “super 8 hotel” we decided to head for the thing that makes cali so great---the beaches. Along the way, my mom decided to daydream and visit a really nice hotel and just “check the prices.” Well, we fell in love with the idea of staying in a room where we wouldn’t fear being eaten by a horde of bugs in our beds, and so we booked a new room at “Paradise Point.” After our other hotel, this truly was paradise. So, we bailed on the whole “roughing it for the sake of money” thing, and moved into our beautiful new room…and guess what. No pee stains. :)
September 20, 2008
Well, today was move in day…and I absolutely love where I’m staying. :) my roommates are awesome—we are five all together. First there’s brindy. She is WAY nice and looks kind of Kate Hudson-ish… then there’s Kim. She is from New Jersey and has a carefree, total surfer air about her---I really really like her!!! Stevie is our house mom…she’s in charge of cooking and shopping for groceries. She is a little quieter but loves to laugh. I like her a lot too!!! :) lastly, there is my roommate and fellow bunk-bed-buddy: Melissa. She’s twenty and is super nice and not really talkative. I can tell we are going to get along very well—the perfect amount of talking and quiet. I hope she doesn’t snore!! :)
So, I am a top-bunk girl…but that’s okay. It has little prison-like bars all around the edges just in case I happened to be prone to falling off. :)
After we got all of our stuff moved in (it took me a long while cuz, believe it or not, I brought a lot of stuff :) ) kim, Melissa, Kenzi, and I went surfing! It was so much fun, but being the brilliant person that I am, I grabbed the sharp thingy on the bottom of the board—the little fin thing—and sliced my finger open. It started bleeding and I had a moment of panic because I thought “wait…sharks are drawn to the scent of blood.” Yeah, I got out of the water after that. But we’d already been going for a good hour and a half, and so I was getting pretty tired. I’ll bet I’m good and sore tomorrow. :) I could definitely get used to this California lifestyle…
Oh! So mom, Kenzi, and I all ate lunch at In N Out Burgers for the first time—the verdict? It was delicious!!!!!—and I got a t-shirt. :) For pre-dinner we had PB&J and dinner was burritos at Taco Surf. Um…I’m thinking we eat really well, very often. But as our obesity preventive measure, there is TMT: Temple Maintenance Time. That is the time that is required for all those in the Master’s Commission to be devoted to exercise. All the girls agreed we should try my turbo jam dvd’s together; can you imagine five girls rocking out to a work-out video in the living room??? I think this may bring lots of laughs and plenty to blog about.
I found out a little bit more about the program, too. We memorize four Bible verses a week, and fill out a questionnaire/personal essay about the passages. We also take classes that are “foundational.” Basically, they teach us about ourselves. We read books like Battlefield of the Mind, and The Five Love Languages, and even take personality tests. I’m super excited for all of that, but it gets even better…
We are doing human videos and dramas, plus worship team stuff. I’ll get voice lessons and keyboard lessons…and one of the things I’m most excited about? STOMP. It’s the rhythm group that does way cool beats and drum things on garbage cans and other random objects. It’s going to be so much fun!
I’m going to be really busy, and they warned us that we don’t get much sleep, but tonight instead of taking advantage of our opportunity to sleep, we are going to watch What Happens in Vegas. I can tell that I’m going to love these girls—and even as they are all squealing in the hall right now, I know we are going to be like a family. This is so awesome and such a gorgeous place. I love the palm trees, beaches, people, and I am so looking forward to beginning my “quality time” with God.
Friday, September 19, 2008
The First Day...
well, i'm officially in san diego...
my luxurious flight via a southwest airplane was amazing. :) the view from my coveted window seat was a sea of clouds colored pink and orange with the sunrise...did i mention that i had to wake up at 4 am?? actually no, that's not right. i had to physically get out of bed at 4 am..but i didn't wake up til about 9. :)
i'll write more about my day tonight...right now my mom, sis, and i are gonna leave our cockroach infested hotel room for the beach. i'll be sure to post pics in the next couple of days.
weird...the people that run this hotel keep sliding menus through the crack in our door---they've done it twice within the last twenty minutes!!! i'm having fun so far... :)
my luxurious flight via a southwest airplane was amazing. :) the view from my coveted window seat was a sea of clouds colored pink and orange with the sunrise...did i mention that i had to wake up at 4 am?? actually no, that's not right. i had to physically get out of bed at 4 am..but i didn't wake up til about 9. :)
i'll write more about my day tonight...right now my mom, sis, and i are gonna leave our cockroach infested hotel room for the beach. i'll be sure to post pics in the next couple of days.
weird...the people that run this hotel keep sliding menus through the crack in our door---they've done it twice within the last twenty minutes!!! i'm having fun so far... :)
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Before the trip begins...
as of right now, i'm still in idaho...saying my goodbyes and tearing up through all of my "lasts" with friends and family.
it's so weird to be at this stage in life; everything is about to change, and i just can't decide if i'm more excited or nervous. i'm going to be far away from all that i've ever known---but i think i'm ready. :) i've started my packing and, God willing, my suitcases will all be: under 50 pounds, able to be zipped shut, and able to hold all of my necessities. aka: lots of clothes!!!! :)
i can't wait to meet the people who are in the master's commission program with me, and i'm really looking forward to meeting my roommate! i don't leave til the 19th, but it's coming up pretty fast...
so california--ready or not---i'll be there soon!!! :)
it's so weird to be at this stage in life; everything is about to change, and i just can't decide if i'm more excited or nervous. i'm going to be far away from all that i've ever known---but i think i'm ready. :) i've started my packing and, God willing, my suitcases will all be: under 50 pounds, able to be zipped shut, and able to hold all of my necessities. aka: lots of clothes!!!! :)
i can't wait to meet the people who are in the master's commission program with me, and i'm really looking forward to meeting my roommate! i don't leave til the 19th, but it's coming up pretty fast...
so california--ready or not---i'll be there soon!!! :)
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