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!