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?