Graduation

It's done, I did it, i made it!  Those were some of the things that filled my mind as I walked across the stage to receive my diploma from Mr. Pruett (the director of the Honor Academy).  One full year of non stop go, go, go.  One full year of Life Transforming Events.  One full year of fasting, intense prayer and worship, meetings, classes, work.  One full year of doing what God asked me to do for His kingdom.  It has been the best year of my life!  It was so good in fact, that I will be returning for a second year.  I will be spending the year of 2014 at the Honor Academy as a Graduate Intern in the Management Associate program.

Coming To A Close

I am at the end of my year...there are only three days left...it's coming to a close!  I can't believe that this year is almost over.  Today is Wednesday and on Saturday I will be a graduate of the Honor Academy.  This year has taught me so much that I couldn't possibly express it well enough through a blog or even words.  There are things that the Lord has told me and shown me and done in me this year that I don't even understand.  The girls in this picture are one of those things.  I was at the Honor Academy living with 8 other girls for eight out of twelve months of my year.  I knew it was coming when those eight girls would have to leave and be replaced by new girls, but knowing it was coming didn't make it any easier.  The first few weeks were so much harder than I could have ever imagined it to be.  I missed my other sisters who were now miles away, only reachable by phone.  I was stuck with these strangers who didn't know me I didn't know them, things were just awkward.  I began to pray for these girls hoping that one day life would seem normal with them, I didn't expect what I got.  

God gave me a love that I can't even understand for these girls.  I look at each of them as my sister, someone that I would protect and defend against anything.  These girls have impacted my life and have shown me so much about love and unity.  They have been a blessing from the Lord.  I am so thankful for each and everyone of them and for the love that they have shown me.

Phoenix ATF

This morning I made it back to the Honor Academy campus after a long and exciting trip to Phoenix Arizona!  I traveled to my 5th Acquire the Fire event this year, and I have to say this one was a unique trip compared to the rest.  Each trip that I have been on has always been different, sometimes it's a good different and sometimes it's a bad different.  What made this trip different?  Throughout the weekend the Lord was speaking to me and showing me so many different things about myself and about others.  I was blessed with the chance to pray for a boy named Cody.  Cody came by my booth with a friend on the 2nd day of the event, we began to talk as I asked him what he had learned from the weekend so far.  He truthfully told me he hadn't learned anything because every time the speaker comes up or the skit starts he gets intense pain throughout his body and has to leave the session.  I prayed for him and told him to come see me later to tell me what he learned from the next session because I believed he would be healed.  I saw him a couple of time through the day he would pass by and wave.  He later returned to my booth to let me know that the pain had started up again.  Irritated at the devil I grabbed a few of my friends and we went to town praying for him and declaring healing over his life.  We sent him on  his way yet again believing that the pain would be gone.  At the end of the night Cody comes by my booth and tells me, that last time you guys prayed for me almost all of the pain went away I only had a little bit of pain left.  I was amazed, God is so good.  Continue to pray for Cody for this has been a reoccurring thing for him in recent time.  He has been having serious problems being able to stay focused because of these pains.

Fall Fasting LTE

This weekend, I did my second Fasting LTE here at the Honor Academy.  For three days I set aside food, electronics, as well as talking in order to set my gaze upon the Lord.  I love the fasting LTE, both times I have done it, I am put in a sincere place of desperation for more of Him.  For this LTE we were told to ask the Lord what He wanted us to do, and write it on a card.  We called it "Because God told me to."  I asked the Lord and He told me to ABIDE. He took me to John 15 where Jesus says abide in me and I will abide in you, apart from me you have nothing.  That hit home to me because so many times I try to figure everything out on my own instead of relying on Him to help me.  About a month ago I went down a process we call roads where you are challenged as a leader and put in different scenarios to see how you will react.  In one o of the sessions for that, we were sharing different struggles that we had and my best friend gave me a word saying that God wanted me to remain IN HIM.  So on a mirror she wrote IN HIM.  At the time yes, I needed that word, but even more so I needed that word this weekend because the two fit together.  ABIDE IN HIM!

This weekend I wrote my mission statement and I would like to share it with you.  This is What the Lord has put on my heart and what I am called for.

My Mission Statement

I am ADOPTED.  He calls me by name and I am His.  I know that my Father knows my heart and it is my quest to know His.  I will trust in Gods plan for my life as He leads me by my right hand.  I will be a bold woman who knows how wonderful she is because she is works of the Fathers hand.  It is my conviction to love others and call out the greatness in them.  It is my passion to labor behind the scenes of something great for the kingdom of God.  I will be an example in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity as I lead others.  I was made for greatness not because of who I am, but because Christ is in me. 

The Overcomers

December 8, I will be running a marathon relay with four other members of my Core family.  We will each be running 5.2 miles to complete the marathon as a fundraiser for our internship at the Honor Academy.  I am so blessed to have the opportunity to run with these amazing men and women of God (team pictures to come later)! We began training last week starting at about 2.5 miles for our run.  Yesterday we ran our first 3 miles stretch, and it was amazing to experience God using a painful thing like running to draw us closer to Him.  As we ran, for the last 1.5 miles we prayed and quoted scripture to each other which empowered us to run when we wanted to stop.  It gave us extra breath and life when we felt tired and dead.  God is using this training and will use this race to bring us closer to Him and to remind us that it is not by our strength that we are going to finish but by His. That is why we are calling our team THE OVERCOMERS.  Because through this year, and through the rest of our lives, we will constantly have to OVERCOME adversity in order to do all that God has called us to do.  This race is just a symbol of the battle that we are being called into.  And just like this race, the only way we will OVERCOME is by calling on the name of Jesus and understanding that on our own we are nothing, but in Him we can be anything!

Please consider joining the race with us by sponsoring our team!  You can click HERE to go online and donate.  Just select our team, THE OVERCOMERS.  All donations will be split between the team to go towards our internship.  But it's not just for us, it's for every person God is going to impact through us.  It's for every dream we are going to come closer to as we pursue God through the Honor Academy.  We need your help, please consider becoming a sponsor. 

 Also check out our facebook page: Dallas Marathon (Overcomers) 

Women's LTE

This weekend we had our Women's LTE and to be honest I wasn't that excited about it.  Anyone who knows me knows that I am not the girliest person in the world.  I'm a tough, rough, get your hands dirty type of girl so something like this is so far out of my element.  This year has been a year of embracing womanhood and realizing that I can the fierce woman that God has designed me to be and still not be a girlie chick.  I love it!  The Woman's LTE was honestly such a blast for me.  Yes I painted my nails, yes I had to wear a facial mask, yes I played with makeup and wore lipstick, yes I took lots of girlie pictures, but I enjoyed every moment of it because of the amazing women who wer beside me.  I got to spend the entire weekend with my core that I have been blessed with.  These women mean the world to me.  Through the weekend the Lord was really showing me how to be in community with women, which is a stretch for me.  Growing up, I always preferred to spend time with guys.  They are less drama, they get dirty, they don't cry, it was always my preference.  This weekend my eyes were opened up to other women, how we need each other regardless of whether I think so or not.  

One of the best parts of the weekend was Damsel in Distress.  During this, the women are role playing that we have been captured and imprisoned.  We are taken to the top of a hill to scream and holler for help.  In the meantime, our brothers have to run up the hill through paint balls and weeds to rescue us.  For me, this was absolutely amazing to see the man come out of each one of my brothers.  As I have mentioned before, we have a huge family, we have 7 brothers and 18 sister, those 7 had to come and rescue each of us one by one.  They were exhausted but they did it anyways because to them, we were worth it.  To be valued like that meant so much to me.  I also learned how important it is to let a man be the hero.  We very easily could have ran off the hill ourselves and have been fine, no big deal.  But the point was to call the man out of our brothers and trusting them to get us to safety.  It taught me a lot about being a woman, we have to trust that a man will do what he needs to do even if we can do it ourselves.  I was so proud of each of my brothers, they struggled and pushed to save us and they did it well!

Honor Week

Last week we had what we call Honor Week for the January class.  This week consists of reviewing the different pillars that Teen Mania is founded on and seeing how to apply those in our lives as we are getting ready to graduate.  Along with our leaders teaching us about these pillars, five interns are also selected to speak at each session about the pillar that they best exemplify in their lives.  I had the honor of being selected to speak before the last session on excellence.  I was able to share to my fellow classmates about how the Lord has taught me to do everything unto Him and to do see it through to the very end.  

Along with that incredible honor, I was also given the opportunity to be recognized along with three very close friends of mine as our classes Carrier of the Flame.  This is an honor given to four women in each class who best reflect the pillars and vision of the Honor Academy.  It was such a pleasure to carry the flame along side of my sisters and to be recognized as such a woman by leadership.  The same night that I was honored as a Carrier of the Flame, I was also awarded with the Directors Award.  

It is very humbling to look at these different honors and to see what God has done in my life.  I would have never been in the running to receive any of these when I first got here, or even a few months ago.  I can honestly say that God has done an amazing work in my life since the day I arrived at the Honor Academy, but in these past few months God has taken me to a whole new place of intimacy with Him.  That intimacy has opened the door for all kinds of heart changes.  I am so thankful for all that He has done!

The A.N.V.I.L. LTE

     A week ago, I was taking part in a brand new LTE that was created at the Honor Academy.  This was called the A.N.V.I.L LTE.  The ANVIL is a four day event that is created to break you, challenge you mentally physically and spiritually, and to unify you as a team.  We were all assigned to teams based upon family cores.  Most teams were made up of two family cores, but my team was just my family.  We have a big family, we are made up of two sister cores and one brother core so we were large enough to make up one team.  In those four days, each team had to run all across campus to different physical and mental elements to complete them as a team.  For example, my second day of the LTE consisted of a 3 hour scavenger hunt all across campus, two obstacle courses, pulling kiddie pools across a soccer field, and a balance beam.  Each of these elements were in different places all over campus and since this LTE is a competition between teams we had to run to every element.  On average we probably ran a good 3 or more miles a day.  This LTE wasn't as much of a  physical challenge for me as it was a mental challenge.  Since my team was only my family core, it provided a lot of grace on my part and a lot of passion to see them succeed.  I am absolutely crazy about my family so God used that to bring out the leader and encouragement in me.  I wanted to let me family step on my back if needed to overcome an element, I would have carried someone on my back if I needed to.

     When the LTE was over and done with, God had shown me how to be selfless.  There were so many elements throughout the weekend that I wanted to run as fast as I could on or I wanted to go off and do my own thing.  But if I had done that, there were people in my family who needed me and they wouldn't have had me to help them.  God showed me how to lay myself down for others and how to become more prayer minded about others.  At the end of the LTE, we had a ceremony banquet where awards were given out to individuals and teams.  I received an individual award of the ANVIL woman of the year (2013).  My team placed 7th out of 8 but we were proud of how we had done because we were by far the most loving and unified team in the entire competition.  We started as one, remained as one, and finished as one!

My New Family

One of my all time favorite things about the Honor Academy is the fact that we are not only placed in a core with sisters, but we are also given a brother core.  This semester I was blessed, once again, to have not only a brother core but a second sister core.  This means we have a BIG family!  We spent our Saturday spending time with each other and getting to know one another as brothers and sisters.  I am completely blown away by these incredible young men and women that God has placed me with this semester.  I honestly could not have asked for a better group of people to have as my family.  We all get along so well and genuinely love to spend time together as if we truly were family.  We spent the day in water/ paint fights, pizza eating contests, movie watching, and story telling just sharing those little moments and memories that will last a life time.   

Mountain LTE

A week ago today I concurred Hallots Peak in Colorado!  I had the awesome opportunity to hike a 12,000ft+ mountain with a group of people that I love and cherish.  As many of you know I am a January intern here at the Honor Academy, but what you may not have known is that I am 1 of about 30 January interns.  We are a very small but close class and we had the family vacation of our lives!  We drove about 18 hours from East Texas to Colorado and spent two nights in the mountains.  In that time we had fellowship, worship, elk burgers, ice cream, and a lot of fun.  Things on campus have been rather hectic so the idea of going on the first ever January only Mountain LTE was an amazing vacation for many of us (at least it was for me).  Throughout the weekend I was able to build closer relationships with most of the Januaries that went with me.  I am so very blessed to have spent the past 8 months with these amazing men and women whom I consider to be my brothers and sisters.

A New Season

August 16th began a new season of my life.  I have been joined at the Honor Academy by a fresh and new group of young people who are eager and ready to change the world and impact their generation!  To be honest, this season has started out great but difficult.  Part of being a January intern is going through a huge transition process. The way things are now, are completely different than they were a few weeks ago.  My core, ministry placement, friends, and daily life are all totally different.  At times I find myself wondering what will change next or thinking will this ever feel normal again.  In the midst of all of this, I am so excited to be in this challenging season.  Is it hard, yes, but in my life I have learned the most from challenging situations and times.  So my answer to the rough season is bring it on because it produces growth.

The End of One...the Start of Another

This past weekend held probably the most bitter sweet moments of my life.  August 10th was graduation day for the August interns here at the Honor Academy.  Many of my sisters and friends graduated and either moved on to other things or will be staying here in Garden Valley for another year to serve and disciple the new interns that will coming in on Friday.  The night before graduation we have a banquet called Gala, at this banquet we get all dressed up and reminisce on the past year or eight months that we have been at the Honor Academy. It's a time to remember, a time for recognitions, and a time of accomplishment.

There is a song that goes "there's no place I'd rather be than here in your love" this song sums up exactly how I felt through the weekend of Gala and graduation.  I wanted to come to the Honor Academy as an August intern, however God had other plans and I came as a January.  Being a January, I had to watch all weekend as my brothers and sisters received their awards, honor rings, and diplomas.  I wouldn't have had it any other way!  I couldn't have been prouder of my family than I was this weekend.  The guy that is in the picture with me is my brother Logan. Logan is a man of excellence, faith and integrity.  He is a servant and a preacher at heart.  I was so proud to watch him receive some of the highest honors here of armor bearer as well as the faith award.

Graduation weekend was a roller coaster of feelings.  Feelings of joy for my family yet sorrow for those who are leaving.  Feelings of excitement for the new season that is rolling in, yet nerves for the anticipation of what will happen.  At the end of the day though I know that God is going to use me like never  before in this upcoming semester and only God knows what will come after that.

Becoming a Woman

My whole life, I have been what you can call a tomboy.  I have rolled in the mud as a kid, gotten into play fist fights with the guys at school, despised wearing dresses and refused to own any type of clothing where pink was the dominant color.  When I turned 18 I thought I had finally reached the point where I could consider myself a woman, but age doesn't mean that you have made it to womanhood.  I am currently 20 years old going on 21 within the next couple of months and I think I have just now grasped a little bit of what it means to truly be a woman.

I will never forget a talk I had with a close friend of mine where I was in complete venting mode.  I was going on and on about the fact that I didn't feel like a woman, I didn't feel beautiful or graceful or elegant like a woman should feel.  She simply pointed out how you dress is how you will often feel.  That struck me because my usual outfit would be jeans and a tshirt.  That's what I felt confident in, I wasn't secure enough to wear any other type of clothing.  Then I came to the Honor Academy...here it is a rule to dress in office attire which means I have to dress nice on a daily basis.

This started off miserable, I would change outfits several times in the morning because this one didn't look flattering or it was uncomfortable or I couldn't figure out what colors do and don't go together.  You would have thought I was a 5 year old dressing themselves for the first time.  Praise God I have a wonderful HA sister that taught me a lot about how to dress.  Now I am glad to say that I dress with confidence and with a sense of style (it's still in the process).

How I dress doesn't make me a woman, but it was the first introduction into womanhood for me. Another huge breakthrough was when I read Psalm 139.  God tells us what He thinks of us and we are able to see our value in that Psalm Since being at the HA I have learned so much about being a woman.  God has done such a work in that department where I can walk with my head held high as a confident, and bold woman who knows not only how to dress but she knows what her Father thinks of her.  He thinks she is beautiful and wonderfully made!!

Extreme Camps 2

This month, we had our second round of Extreme Camps!  I volunteered to help out again and was planning on assuming my position as a facilitator.  I knew what to do as a facilitator I was comfortable and prepared for what I would have to do with that job.  However, God had other plans for me.  On the first day of camps about an hour into registration I get a phone call that says to get to registration as soon as possible I was going to be a camp counselor.  I was nervous, I had seen how exhausting and challenging being a camp counselor can be, but I couldn't have been blessed with a better group of girls!  These girls made my experience easy and a blast.  They didn't complain they stuck together and respected not only me but they respected each other.  I poured all that I had into these girls and tried my hardest to make an impact.  At first, I didn't know if I was doing much other than being a friend along the way.  Most of these girls had been to extreme camps at least once before, they probably knew more than I did as far as how things work here.  They were all girls that love the Lord so it wasn't as if I had people who didn't know anything about Jesus with me.  I did what I could do to love them and be there for them throughout the week.  It wasn't until the last day of camps that I began to see a little fruit of my labor.  Our last night together was a powerful and vulnerable night where we talked about our identity in Christ and what God says about us.  That night, I was able to see walls come down in some of the girls life, I got to see them pray for each other and love each other through that.  A week later, I was able to see how God really used me that week.  One of my girls was back on campus for her mission trip and she brought me a gift from her and two of the other girls in my group.  The most precious thing (even though quarters for laundry was awesome) was a journal they gave me and inside the journal they had each written me notes.  These notes almost made me burst out in tears.  God showed me through their words the impact that I had made.  God really used me that week to minister to their hearts and to love and care for them!

Extreme Camps

This past week I had the awesome opportunity to be apart of what we here at Teen Mania call Extreme Camps.  It's a weeklong camp where young people Jr High through High School can come and enjoy our campus luxuries like our high ropes course, paintball course, gym, pool, and so much more.  The kids are able to be active and have fun, but even more than that, they get to spend a week away from the pressures of life and spend time with the Lord here in Garden Valley Texas.  I had the chance to facilitate for the week which meant that I was in charge of games and other activities on campus.  At first, I was a little bummed out that I would not be a camp counselor.  I wanted to be able to interact on a personal level with these kids to pour into them and see them grow through the week.  But I had an incredible time as a facilitator.  I was able to make sure the kids were taken care of, I got to see them have fun and enjoy their week.  I was challenged to make an effort if I wanted to interact with them, and I was able to talk with a few of them and get to know them.  It was definitely an exhausting but amazing week.  I look forward to the second camp that will be coming up in a couple of weeks!

Celebration LTE

My best friend Brianna (representing the Ukraine)

Sand Volleyball

My brother and I are so swole!!

Winners of the Women's 4x100 race

A couple of weekends ago we had out Celebration Life Transforming Event, for three days we here at the Honor Academy celebrated the life that God has given us by having our own Honor Academy Olympics.  In life, we so often get caught up in work, family, tasks, and responsibilities that we forget that the Bible tells us to celebrate.  For the Celebration LTE we got together in our family Core's to represent the country of our choice and with our family we compete in several athletic and athletic events to receive points for our team.  My family represented Algeria as we competed in events like soccer, basketball, volleyball, belly flops, synchronized swimming, pie eating, water balloon toss, three legged races, Frisbee toss, and a track meet.  The first day we had the more athletic events minus the track meet, and lets just say we didn't do the best.  However, the second day we had the pie eating, belly flop, and the track meet.  We dominated placing in almost every event that we did and even winning some of them.  We participated in at least 9 of the track events.  Out of the 9, we placed in at least 7 and won three!  I was so proud of the comeback my family made at that track meet.  Because of the amazing job we did the second day, we tied for third in the overall Olympics!  It was definitely a weekend that I will never forget.  I laughed and made so many memories throughout those three days and I grew so much closer to my family.



Every Dollar Counts!!

 

Hi Everyone! As you all know I am attending the Honor Academy internship in Garden Valley, Texas.  To get an idea of what I have been doing here, you can check out some of my previous posts.  I am currently in serious need of your help!!!  This internship, unfortunately, is not free.  In order for me to complete this incredible and life changing experience I have to pay $8,400.  Thankfully, this does not all have to be paid at once.  When I first arrived in January, I only had to have $2,400 in my donation record and since then I have been charged a monthly payment.  These payment started at $800 but the decrease as the year goes on.  I am currently being charged $650 a month to stay here at the Honor Academy.  As of right now, I am in need of $1,090 in order to meet my payments for last month and this month.  I need this money in as soon as possible!!  I have so many amazing supporters who have been faithfully giving to my internship on a monthly basis, but I am still behind on my payments.  Please consider taking part in this!  Please don't think that you are unable to give, literally every dollar counts.  Even if you can only give $1, it makes a huge difference!!!  By investing in my internship, you are being a part of hundreds to thousands of lives being impacted.  If you would like to give you can click on the donation tab at the top of the page. Thank you so much and God bless!!

Campus Preview Weekend

This past weekend, we had here on campus what we call Campus Preview Weekend.  This is basically the opportuinity for perspective interns to come to the Honor Academy and live the intern life for a few days.  During this weekend the participants get to experience our ropes course and obstacle course, be apart of corporate exercise, live in the dorms, hear from our leaders, see what a class is like at the HA, and interact with other interns through smooth music and a dance party!  The best part about Campus Preview Weekend is the participants get to have an amazing encounter with God maybe even for the first time.

I was very excited for Campus Preview Weekend!  My department makes all the calls for this awesome event so I was able to recruit and bring in several of the people that attended.  It was such an exciting time for me to finally get to meet the people that I have been putting in so much effort for.  I personally had high expectations for the weekend and God surpassed every expectation that I had!  A couple of days before the event started, my team and I went into the auditorium and we prayed over the room that hearts would be opened, that God would reveal himself to everyone there ect.  We each took an area of the room and prayed over it.  I went down to the pits (the area in front of the stage, sometimes people will go there during worship) and I also prayed over the altar since there would be an altar call the first night.  God really answers  prayer!!!  During each worhsip session the pits were full of people who were giving their hearts in worship to God.  And during the altar call, that altar was so full you couldn't walk around in it.  God is so faithful to give us what we ask when we ask according to His will!

You RElearn Something Everyday

 

Here at the Honor Academy I have been taking a few different classes that are teaching me about leadership and discipleship.  Among those classes is missions class.  To be completely honest, this class has been my least favorite all year.  I dread going, not that I don't like missions, for some reason I just don't like a class about it.  Our textbook has been Perspectives Exposure: Discovering God's Heart For All Nations and Our Part in His Plan.  Sounds like an interesting enough title right?  It has been a painful book to read in terms of my brain hurts when I read it.  Today I went to complete my final reading out of this book.  I could hear the angels rejoicing with me, I will NEVER have to open this book again!!  Then I opened up to see that I was going to be reading about the power of prayer.  I have a passion and a love for prayer, and through this book that I have been hating for the past 4 months, I grew an even deeper understanding and passion for it.  This lesson talked about the power of intercession and prayer.  Until this year, I never fully understood why we are supposed to pray.  Does God just want us to talk to him?  Does it remind God that there are things going on here on earth?  Why is prayer so important??  Prayer is essential in order for God to work here on the earth.  It makes me think of something one of my leaders here at the Honor Academy said.  Without God, man cannot, but with out man God will not.  We need God to work in our lives, but unless we ask Him for help or ask Him to work on our behalf, He won't.  Why?  God has given us authority and dominion over this earth.  In the beginning He gave the authority over to Adam, and Jesus reclaimed that authority for us.  We have the authority to speak changes over a situation, but God has the power to make that change happen.  Do you see how prayer and God are linked?  So yes, we talk to God through prayer, but prayer is also the link between God and us.  It links God to our lives, our circumstances, our situations.  Without God, man cannot, but without man God will not.

Will Obstacles Stop You?

Here at the Honor Academy, we have a 400 acre campus which means we have lots and lots of woods to explore (we call it the back 40)!  I went for a walk to get away and spend some time with the Lord.  Typically when you venture out into the back 40 you tend to reference everything to scripture or to God, it just happens!  I was walking along and as I walked I came across some areas that were slightly difficult or annoying to go through.  For example, the pathway is covered in thorns or there is a tree in the middle of the path.  As I continued I decided that no matter what came in my path I was not going to turn around or backtrack to get around it.  Be careful what you say because God may put it to the test.  About a minute after I said that, I came face to face with this pond.
This pond had dirty water, there were bubbles surfacing all over the place meaning something lives in it!  It didn't seem deep but how can you tell with nasty water?  I kept looking all around trying to find a way to get out of crossing this pond but looking to the left and to the right wasn't an encouragement.  The only way to get around would be to backtrack  but I had just said that I wasn't going to do that.  I was so intimidated by this little dirty pond to the point that I saw a log and thought it was a crocodile!  Paranoid? I think so!!  For 15 minutes I stared at this pond praying and asking God to give me a new way to get across.  Finally I focused soley on the exact spot on the other side that my foot would hit dry land.  I didn't look around me I just looked straight ahead and before I could even realize what happened I was standing on the other side wet.
How difficult do we make things on ourselves when we look around at the "what if's?"  What if there is a snake in here?  What if I catch a disease from this nasty water? What if that log turns into a crocodile?  How much easier are things when we look ahead to the final goal?  I learned that when you set your eyes on the goal and go for it, you will be standing on the other side in no time wondering why it took you so long to jump in the water.

Opportunities Provided

 

 

 

Lately my job in the Honor Academy call center has been a little off.  People have not been answering their phone which means that I don’t get to talk to very many people.  When you work in a call center, the point is to talk to people not to leave 50 voicemails a day.  I was getting slightly irritated until the Lord led me to the most incredible phone call that I have had so far. 

A girl had sent me an email saying that she was interested in coming to the Honor Academy and wanted to know how to get signed up.   I responded and gave her a call.  When she got on the phone I asked her how she was doing and to my surprise she said she was doing “okay” that there had been a lot of things coming up from her past lately.  I left an open invitation for her to talk about anything that she needed to, and praise God she took it.  This girl talked about how she felt that she was unworthy of God’s love that she had messed up so much in her past that she believed herself to be beyond the point of redemption.  She continued to condemn herself saying that the things she had done, the people that she had hurt, were unforgiveable. 

At this point, I related so many of the things she had said to myself and the way that I was.  I began to share parts of my testimony with her. The Lord kept leading me to passages of scripture that I was able to share with her.  We talked and wrestled with different situations and sins.  It was incredible because in a way it was like sharing the gospel with someone for the first time.  When I told her that Jesus had died for all of her sins, not just some, she reacted in amazement.  When I told her that Jesus still saw her as valuable and that He wants her and pursuing her she was so touched. 

After 97 minutes on the phone, I had her pray, we quoted scripture together, and I prayed for her.  Hearing the sincerity in her prayer and the passion that she had was so amazing.  I truly believe that she fully asked out of the deepest and most inner places of her heart for forgiveness and gave it over to God.  I am always so amazed at the ways that God uses me over the phone and it is such a privilege to be able to interact with His children on a daily basis!

Check out the Dance Party we had in San Antonio!!!

Acquire the Fire!!!

Within one months time, I have had the incredible privilege of traveling to three different Acquire the Fire events (San Antonio, TX: Winston-Salem, NC: Dallas, TX). I also will be heading out to Lansing, Michigan in a couple of weeks for my fourth event. For those of you who are not familiar with Acquire the Fire (ATF) it is an intense youth conference put on by Teen Mania Ministries. At these conferences, young people, and parents, are challenged to go outside of their "normal" Christian lives to do something radical for God. These radical things vary from person to person. For one person something radical may be signing up for a mission trip, someone else it may be coming to the Honor Academy, for some a radical decision may just be committing their lives to Christ for the first time. My first ATF even last year changed my life, God met with me and challenged me to do something radical for Him and He has blessed me every step of the way since then. It has been such an amazing blessing to be able to help with the event that God used to change my life. Being on the other side makes me appreciate everything that goes into these events.

Can I Really Make A Difference?

Yesterday, I was able to see the true impact that I am making in my generation.  This past week, God used me in an amazing way to help a young girl fulfill the call the God has on her life.  Earlier in the week, I had called a girl named Kindle.  For those who don't know, my job at Teen Mania is to call people on behalf of the Honor Academy and share info abour the internship, and help them begin an application with us.  I called Kindle and to be honest I don't even remember the conversation that we had.  I remember it being a really good talk, I shared about the internship, what it has done for me so far, and I just answered some questions that she had.  I asker her if she wanted to start an application and she said that she difinietly did but she had already started an application once before.  I tried finding her in our system to see if we had her application but I couldn't find it anywhere.  I ended up asking help from someone else and we eventually found her application.  The reason why it was so difficult to find was because she had asked for us to drop her application before.  Yesterday, she was called for a phone interview.  Later in the day the girl that had done Kindle's interview told me something that shocked me.  Kindle had told her the only reason she had decided to continue with her application was becuase of the conversation I had with her.  I had shown her love and care throught our talk that had touched her heart and confirmed that God had been calling her to the Honor Academy.  Praise the Lord!  If God can use someone like me, He can most defnitely use someone like YOU!!!!

Les Miserables

The other day I watched a movie with my sisters and brother called "Les Miserables." I just wanted to share with you my journal entry about this movie. Please bare with me as this is a lengthy post.

Journal Entry
Day 46 at the HA: February 18, 2013

Last night, Rachel, Renae, Caleb and I watched a musical called "Les Miserables." This musical is about a man who began as a prisoner, he is set free after 19 years but only on parole. He is told to live the rest of his life in rejection. Everywhere he goes for the rest of his life, he musty show papers saying he is on parole, if he fails to show these papers to anyone, he will be hunted down and sent back to prison to be a slave  Unfortunately showing these papers makes it impossible to get a job so the man continues to wander lonely and rejected.

He finally stumbles upon a Catholic priest who takes him in, feeds hi, and provides shelter for him. During the night, the man collects valuable goods from the church and  leaves taking the goods with him. He is soon after caught and brought back to the priest. The officer tell the priest that the man claimed the valuables were given to him. The priest tells the officer yes it is true. He then looks at the man and says my brother you left so quickly , I couldn't give you the best gift. The priest then hands over two silver candle sticks, and sets the man free from the officers. The man is so amazed at the grace of the priest who then tills him to use the silver to start a new life.

Eight years later, we find this man to be a successful business man who is highly respected by all the people. He is passionate and caring towards others, a man of love, mercy, and grace. He finds himself coming across a dying prostitute, a woman drove to desperation because he had allowed her to lose her job. She had done everything she had to do in order to get money for her daughter to live. In her last breaths, she told the man where her daughter was and he promised to get her and provide for her. He finds the girl and buys her off of the innkeeper. By this time, his true identity as a former criminal has been revealed and he now has a man hunting after him, He protects the child from his pursuers. The day he gets the child he falls in love with her and adopts her as his own.

For the next nine years, he raises the child to a young woman. She loves him as he loves her, understanding fully the adoption the man had given her. When we first meet this girl, she is mistreated and unloved by the innkeepers. But she is taken away from the pain and is given a new life, a life of love, and provision. She was given all that she needed and wanted. She, from the start, understood and accepted this adoption. This man was now her "Papa."

Nine years later, the father and daughter are walking across the streets of France and her eye suddenly catches the eye of a young man. They both fall in love at the sight of each other. He, now convinced, that there is no life outside of her, leaves his friends and plans of revolution to find the woman of his dreams. He finds her and declares his love for her. They share a beautiful moment together telling each other how in love they are. Her father comes outside worried that she is out alone but he does not catch the young man and is oblivious to the love his daughter has for this young man.

Later that night, the father finds our that the man who has been hunting him has found his location. He gathers his daughter and their belonging and they leave. The daughter, before she leaves, places a note outside for her love. Distraught, her lover did not receive the letter right away so he, now seeing no meaning to life, joins with the revolution. After the first day of fighting and bloodshed, the lover receives the letter. He replies, but the letter gets to the father first. Confused as to why his daughter would be receiving a letter, he reads it. The letter is heart-filled with words of love and farewell because the young man is now facing his death. The father, touched and amazed that his daughter has found live, goes to the revolution to look after the young man.

The father risked his life and ends up saving the young man from near death so that he could be united with his daughter. The two are brought together and married, all because of the love the father had for his daughter. Her happiness meant more to him than his own life.

Why did I just spend all of this time talking about this movie? There are a few different things about this story that I was able to relate with God. Let's look at the beginning. This man was a slave, a criminal, the lowest of the low yet was set free, given another chance at life again. This is exactly how we are before coming to Christ. We are slaves to our sin we are bound in chains, but Jesus set us free to have a new start. The man spoils his new freedom by stealing from the priest. How often do we mess up? Christ set us free yet we continue to stumble and fall. But, just like the priest had mercy on the man, how much more God has mercy on us. Even though we don't deserve it, He gives it to us. Just like the man we are then given yet another chance to life a life that was worth Christ dying for.

Later on, the young girl who is living a life of abuse and mistreatment is adopted by this kind loving man who wants to love her and giver her all the desires of her heart. She can then do one of two things, she can either receive the adoption, or she can reject it. Who wouldn't receive it? A child knows enough to understand that they want to go with the person who is going to treat them well and right. In the same way, we have been adopted as sons and daughters of God and our Father is a King who wants to give us the deepest desires of our hearts. We have to see as the child saw so clearly who loves us and cares for us. We then have to receive that adoption.

After the girl was adopted, she immediately knew who she now was. She instantly dropped her old identity. She knew without a doubt in her mind that she was loved and cared for, she knew who her "Papa" was. We have been adopted, so lets walk out in that adoption. We should be as secure as that little girl was. We know who our Father is, he is the Kinds who wants to give us all the desires of our hearts. He wants to protect us as the man protected the girl. he is our Father, we are His children.

Later, the father finds our that his daughter is in love. He then puts his life in danger to bring his daughter the man that she loves. The love for his daughter was so great, he saw the desire that she had, and wanted her to have her desire fulfilled. He went to the extent to risk his own life for the sake of his daughters happiness. What love is that? But the Lord did one better! He saw us, we were His desire. He saw our desire for adoption, He saw our desire for acceptance, for love. God did more than risk His life, He gave the life of His only So. What love is that, that the Father would give up His only Son so that His adopted children could have the desires of their heart, and experience the love of their Father?

The Run of My Life

Lately I have been getting into small runs, nothing too serious, I just enjoy the occasional workout. Running at first was just a way to exercise until I started meeting with the Lord on my runs (check my former post titled "Running with God") This past week I went out to do a short run, I wasn't planning on doing much more than 2.5-3 miles. I began and felt the presence of God so strong as I ran up hills, on straight paths, and occasional down hill. The 2.5 mile mark ended and I had to keep going because I wasn't done with God. I hit the three mile mark, but had to keep going. Then 3.5, then 4 all the way up to almost 5 miles of running. I had spent about 50 minutes running alongside Jesus. For all of you runners out there, my time and my distance may not be the best in the world, but that is the longest run of my life. I finished, honestly not even feeling tired. God had kept my focus so strong on Him through my run that I honestly could have kept going, and a part of me wishes I would have kept going. God can meet with you any time any where, even when your dripping gross amounts of sweat.

**Please keep my friend Tara Cherry in your prayers. She will be running a half marathon this Saturday. Tara has worked so hard to get in shape for this marathon, if you have the chance check out her blog (http://www.mommyheadadventures.com/) to see how hard she has worked and how far she has come. I am truly proud of her and blessed to have her in my life!**

Since I have arrived here at the Honor Academy, God has really been speaking to me and challenging me.  I knew coming into this that one of my biggest challenges was going to be finances.  To pay off my entire internship, I will have to raise $8,400.  I knew it was going to take a lot of faith and the support of others to raise this big amount.  Thankfully Teen Mania does not charge us the full amount up front, we are required to have $2,400 by arrival day and after that you make decreasing monthly payments.  For the first two months the payments are $800.  I have an immediate need for $500 to pay off the month of February, due by the 10th, and I also have an upcoming need of $800 for March. I know that my need is great, but I believe that God is greater than my need!  If the Lord lays on your heart to give, you can go to honoracademy.com/donate, or go to the donate tab.  If you would like to give by mail you can send checks to 

Honor Academy

ATTN: Finance

P.O. Box 2000

Garden Valley, TX 75771

Checks can be made out to Teen Mania Ministries.  Checks and online donations will need my ID# 2668207.      Though financial support is beneficial, even more so, I need support in prayer.  Please pray for the Lord's provision as well as my trust in God to provide.

Thank you!!

Phone Blessings

So, I would like to just share a testimony from my day at work yesterday. Part of my internship at the Honor Academy is that I have a ministry placement (a nice way of saying I have a job). I have the opportunity to help run Teen Mania Ministries. My ministry placement is in the Honor Academy call center aka the MOB. I call teens all over the United States and encourage them to listen to the voice of God for their future but to ultimately help them get to the Honor Academy. Yesterday I called this girl who had shown interest in the HA. When she answered we began to engage in small talk, just to break the ice and for me to get to know her a little better. It came down to the moment of truth. I asked her if she was still interested in the Honor Academy, and her reply took me completely by surprise. She told me that she had actually enlisted to join the air force as soon as she graduated from high school. At that moment, HA was the last thing on my mind. I was able to just listen to her about how God had confirmed that the air force was where He wanted her to be. I was able to share excitement and joy with her. There may even be a chance in the future for her and I to meet. At the end of the conversation, I felt so blessed to have had the opportunity to talk to her. I felt blessed just to encourage her and pray with her.

My First Fast

Fasting.....What an interesting word.  I was surprised at how little I knew about this word before coming to the Honor Academy.  Yesterday was the first of many fasting days that I will partake in while I am here; we have a fasting day every other Wednesday.  I was very nervous to fast because I had attempted it a few time before coming here and had failed.  What was the difference between those attempts and this one?  First off, it helped that hundreds of people around me were doing the same thing.  But more importantly, I was devoted and committed to spending time in the Word or in prayer rather than eating.  Did I get hungry?  Around 5:00, yes, but I was more hungry to be in the Word than I was for food.  I fell asleep last night without a dying sense of hunger.  I woke up amazed at how God really does satisfy us.  Is one day too big of a deal to go without food?  Probably not, but for me it was.  I challenge you to join us for one day in fasting!  Our next fasting day will be February 6, join me for one day as we go deeper into the Word of God.

How does God see us?

Last night here at the Honor Academy, we had our women's class called risen. As I have said before, I struggle a lot with insecurity mostly with my self image. I often think I'm not pretty or I'm too fat, but last night God revealed an image to me of what He sees when He looks at me. He gave me a detailed picture of myself standing as a beautiful bride awaiting her bridegroom. I can't describe the beauty and glory this image reflected, it was amazing! The thing is, I'm not the only person that God sees as a beautiful bride. God looks at each one of you and sees you as a gorgeous creation.

So Long Insecurity!

I am finally here at the Honor Academy and I know it is going to be everything that I hoped/ worked for and more!  As I said in my last post, I have several goals that I am really believing God is going to help me accomplish, one of those goals being that I WILL overcome insecurity in the year of 2013.  I may not overcome every part of insecurity but I will see a drastic turn around in my life, I refuse to see anything less! 
For years now I have struggled with all kinds of insecurity, but one of the main ones is my weight.  I have never thought that I was thin enough or I was attractive enough so I hid it by wearing jeans and tshirts every day.  A couple of weeks before I left home for the Honor Academy, my mentor (praise God for mentors) told me that you feel how you dress.  In other words, if I go around dressed like a bum, I'm going to feel like an unattractive bum.  However, if I dress like a beautiful woman, I will feel like a beautiful woman.  After she told me that I began to make extra efforts to dress myself a little better, it was only baby steps but it WAS a step.  Little did I know that at the Honor Academy, you have to dress nice for EVERYTHING (besides corporate workout).  I was a little concerned about that at first but you know what, this morning I dresed myself with boldness and confidence in who I was and how I looked.  Is the insecurity of my self image gone? No, but it is decreasing and it will continue to leave more and more as I continue to present myself as the beautiful young woman that God sees in me!

Time to Go to Work

The big day is here!  I arrived in Texas last night, and today I begin my internship at the Honor Academy.  I want to say thank you to everyone who has supported me so far and everyone who will continue to support me as the year goes on.  I am so excited and a little nervous to see what this year will bring.  The work begins now, I have several personal goals for this year and I know God has His own goals for my life as well.  It's going to take a lot of work to accomplish it all but I am confident that through Him, the goals will be reached.

                                                  Let His plans be your plans for 2013!!

Jeremiah 29:11

New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.