Graduated!

Wow. I can't believe it's really over. Graduation was awesome. We got there an hour early to pray together before it started, & Kal had a word for us out of 1 John...he cried, I cried, we all cried. The ceremony was great; we had a little bit of worship at the beginning, & then each student had a photo slideshow on the overhead while Kal & Teresa talked about them, then they said something when Kal & Tre were done. Everyone cried like the whole time. Haha. I got to write parts & play drums for two songs, Lydia's ("Facedown") & Bethany's ("I Will Run") & I was SO nervous because both songs are written in 6/8 time & I've only played ONE song in 6/8 before...but I wrote some simple parts & played well. I messed up once, but Tom covered it with his cool guitar solo. Haha. When it was my turn to go up to speak, I was actually kind of surprised at some of the things Tre said about me...I guess it was just really cool to hear how they felt about all the changes that have happened this year. It was so encouraging. I just can't believe it's ended. I haven't had time until now to really think about it. Even though over half of us will be living here next year, it's still just weird to think that we won't have 45 minutes of worship together every morning, or play in bands together anymore, or anything else. But I'm so grateful for this year...for the friendships I've made, for how much God has changed me, & for the things I've learned.

I guess this will be my last post. Thanks for those of you that have read every post & encouraged me & left comments, & I hope that you can see the changes in me through these posts. It's been the best worst year of my life & I wouldn't trade it for the world.

EDIT: Here's a video of one of the songs I got to write drums for & play at graduation. :)

Practice:

Performance:

Done.

School is officially over. Well, the school part of school, anyway. I feel confident that I did well on all of my finals, & it feels weird not to be studying anymore.

Next week is fun week...we're going to Chicago for a day, going to Milwaukee to see the Dead Sea scrolls, & spending the rest of the week praying & prophesying over one another. I'm sure it's going to be a bittersweet time. My family is coming to town thursday & graduation is friday...wonder how many times I'll cry in the next 7 days? Ha.

Finals.

Wow...I can't believe we're in finals week. This is insane. I feel like this year has gone by SO fast...

I had my Ear Training & Sight-Singing finals today, & I think I did well on both. Two down, six to go! The only ones I'm really worried about are Theory (tomorrow morning) & Songwriting (friday)...everything else I feel pretty confident about. I haven't been killing myself studying, just taking my time & reviewing everything I can. I don't actually feel that stressed, which is amazing. I've completely notated my song (with John's help!), so that's one less assignment I'll have to worry about!

It's kind of amazing how much I feel like I've grown even over the last two weeks. Things are slowly coming together, & I'm amazed at God's provision in my life. I have a place to live when I move back here this summer, & I'm supposed to meet with someone to talk about a potential job later this week. So we're getting there, slowly but surely! It's amazing how much peace you have in situations that SHOULD be stressful when you really trust God...wish I had figured that out years ago! Haha.

Alright, back to studying. You can pray that I won't fail my finals, if you want to. ;o)

Washing Feet...Take 2.

Today was really awesome. Worship this morning was great, & for Bible Review Gary had us split up into groups & read the passage where Jesus washes his disciples' feet, & then wash each others' feet. Now, this is the second time I've washed someone's feet, & the second time I've had my feet washed, & each time is a totally humbling experience & God never fails to speak incredibly profound things. It was me, Kate, & Hanna in a group, & we each washed each others' feet & then prayed & prophesied over one another. Kate & Hanna both prayed that my feet would be anointed to bring good news to those who have none, & that I will bring peace & authority in the dark places that I walk. I was SO encouraged by it, & there's one verse that I kept thinking of from Isaiah (Paul quotes it later in Romans as well): "How beautiful the feet are of those who bring good news." I totally want to get that tattooed on one foot, & the words "Peace" & "Authority" on the other foot. That way the blessing will always be there as a visible reminder of what God has called me to do. I want to do it soon...but I'm really scared it's going to hurt alot, so maybe I should pray for strength first. Haha.

Homegroup was good tonight, we discussed Scott's teaching in Racine on sunday. Scott is seriously the most gifted teacher I've ever had the privilege of hearing. He's also one of the most anointed teachers I've heard, because he holds his gift completely in surrender to God. He had intended to do a teaching he did in Pleasant Prairie several months ago, but since half of Pleasant Prairie was at Racine that day, he spent time during worship listening to & weighing the prophetic words that came, & asking God what he should speak about. He wrote an entirely new sermon in 40 minutes, & it was dead on with what God was speaking that day. It was absolutely incredible...& I got to thinking, no normal human being, good teacher or not, could pull something that great out of nowhere. He truly relies on God to use him in his gifting, & sets an incredible example of what it means to be submitted in EVERY area. I'd encourage all of you to listen to it if you get the chance.

Bed time.

Winding Down...

Things are starting to come to a close at SOW...nothing much new has been happening, but we're getting into the really difficult stuff in music classes now, which means more homework & less time. I'm not sure how much I'll be posting in the next few weeks, but I'll try to update with anything interesting/important that happens.

Speaking of music classes, I have to have a song completely written & perform it on May 4. This one has to be a corporate worship song...problem with that is that you can't really just MAKE good worship songs, they just have to be anointed. So I will have to spend alot of thought & prayer on this one...& I have exactly two weeks. Oh gosh. Just thinking about it makes my stomach turn a little, & I haven't even THOUGHT about music yet. If you want to pray for me, I'll let you. Haha.

This weekend I'm helping Serita with The Taste, & we don't have school on friday because we are going to Josh's church in Indiana for the weekend to lead a sort of worship course, so that should be fun. Not entirely sure what all that will entail yet, but it will be a nice change of scenery.

Man, looking back over this past year I am so grateful for everything that's happened. Even the really hard & sucky things, because I still see God's hand in it. He's got my back. He rescued me because He delights in me. It's going to be so weird for school to end...every time I'm about to enter a new season of life, I just think "I cannot IMAGINE what this is going to be like!" But the thing is, I think that's God's protection; He always ends up doing so much more than I even COULD have imagined. I don't feel like I'm ready yet for what's next...but I guess I never do. Luckily God knows what's next even better than I do, & He will reveal it to me on a need-to-know basis. And I am okay with that.

By the Grace of God, I am what I am.

Worship today was good...longer than usual, because Tim wasn't here to teach us Bible Review. Yesterday in Prophetic Worship, Teresa kind of had a theme of thankfulness going. We carried that over into the worship time today, & spent some time at the beginning of worship writing down all the things God has done in us this year. I could have filled an entire notebook with things I'm thankful to God for, honestly...but I kept it to two or three pages. Haha. Once we got into the worship time, I felt like I should flip through some of the Psalms. I landed on Psalm 121, specifically verses 7 & 8: "The LORD will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore." It was printed on a bookmark in my Bible, a bookmark my Mom made for me to take to camp when I was a kid. And I just started thinking...when I was a kid, I couldn't even spend the night at my friends' houses, even just across the street. I don't even know why...I was just scared. Of what...who knows. Going away to camp for a week was a big deal. And I was just remembering how certain things, like staying away from home, used to just completely paralyze me with fear. I flipped to the front of the journal I've kept to write in during worship all year, & I read all about how I was worried about the future, & doubting whether I could hear God speak to me like everyone else seemed to be able to...fears. It completely hit me just how much God has actually delivered me from, & how much He has saved me. For the first time, I felt like I completely GOT what Paul meant when he said, "By the grace of God, I am what I am." I wrote a few more pages of what I was thankful for after that. Haha. It's just so amazing...I know I've changed, but I haven't seen it as much myself, so I asked God to show me. He is faithful every time.

Continuing in that same line of thought, at the beginning of the year Kal had us write out 5 goals & objectives for the year. Today in Stewardship In Life class he pulled them all out & reminded each of us of them. It was so cool to see how much people have changed; to see goals that have been met, goals that were unrealistic, goals that are still being worked on. We've all grown SO much, & it's just amazing to see tangible evidence of it.

After school I had a "drum lesson." I use quotes there because I never actually played. We spent the whole time tuning my snare just right & then discussing what we're going to learn in our last couple of lessons. Next week we're going to start working on double bass stuff, & I think over the summer I'm going to teach myself to play "Sometimes" by Skillet.

Going to bed earlyish tonight...I'm going to Chicago tomorrow with some other SOWers. Should be good fun, I haven't gotten to actually SEE Chicago. Goodnight all.

Context.

Today was really good. My team led worship this morning...I wouldn't go so far as to say it was a train wreck, but it was definitely a struggle today. Oh well, live & learn. We finished up chapter 7 of Pursuit of God with Kal, & had deep discussions about faith. It was good stuff.

Trefor taught Bible Review today out of the first 12 chapters of John. We dig into the context alot, it was actually really awesome. Some of the stuff he was talking about just gave me chills. For example, the way the Passover meal was done--there was a special kind of bread baked specifically for the Passover, & it was broken into sections at the table. One section was to be shared, & one section was placed at the head of the table with a cup of wine to represent the Messiah, that one day He would come & share the meal with them. So when Jesus sat down with His disciples, He took the bread & the wine from the head of the table & said, "This is MY body...This is MY blood." Wow. I wonder if the disciples realized the significance of what He was saying at the time? Or when He would quote Scripture & then say that what He had just spoken was at that moment being fulfilled. Did these people realize that what their entire religion, everything they were used to, was about to be completely turned upside down? Probably not. But wow...imagine if they had. I can't even imagine how those that did believe in Him must have felt upon witnessing those things.

Homegroup tonight...Trefor is going to come & do some teaching on evangelism. Should be good stuff.

This Is Important.

Spring break was amazing. I could have used a few more days of it though. Haha. Although, if it HAD been longer, I think my drumming would have massively suffered more than it already has...it's amazing how quickly you lose your stamina! Probably didn't help that I continued my "normal" eating habits (about 6 meals a day) without doing anything to work it off. Hahaha.

So, I know I haven't been posting much lately, & I will tell you why. This post is going to be very long, & very personal, but I hope that you will read all the way through to the end, because I believe that everything I've written in this blog so far has been leading up to this post.

The last month or so has been really intense on the school...seems like we've had double homework in addition to all the theology we're learning in the Bible/book classes. I know I've said it before, but if you haven't read God's Lavish Grace (Terry Virgo), Pursuit of God (A.W. Tozer), or Humility (Andrew Murray), DO IT! They will change your life. Anyway, right before break we all kind of started to think about what we're going to do when school finishes up. I've been praying about it & asking God for clarity, & He has spoken to me very clearly & specifically about the direction He wants to take my life.

It kind of all started in Cadillac when Gary & Amy Bigger prayed & prophesied over each of us individually. Gary had a word for me about how God is starting a new life for me, that everything I have known up to now is in the past, that He's going to start something completely new in me, & that I should carefully consider where I live & who I live with in the next season. I felt strongly that it was confirmation that I should not move back to Oklahoma. I love it there so much. I love being close to family, I love all my friends...I even loved my job. But I feel that if I move back home, it will be too easy to get complacent & not challenge myself to really use what I've learned here. Not that I could go back to living exactly how I did before, with the revelation I've received since I've been here, but it would be easy to get comfortable & not challenge myself to grow MORE. So I knew that I wasn't supposed to go back home...but then where would I live?

A few weeks before spring break, Kal did a teaching in our Stewardship In Life class about his own personal testimony in starting the school, & one thing he said that stuck with me is that for him, when he's trying to make a big decision, God is annoyingly silent. He will give a tiny corner of the picture, but sometimes He wants us to step out in faith, even if we don't know exactly where we're going or how to get there. That was really on my mind after class, & I thought, "Okay...what do I KNOW that God has spoken to me?" I thought about Gary Bigger's word, & figured, well, I know where I'm NOT supposed to go...I don't especially feel called to be anyplace specific...I know people here...so the logical thing to do would be to stay here in Kenosha & trust that God will give further direction as I need it. So, with that resolved, I decided to talk to Gary Rudd (the elder of my church) about my "plan." Gary listened with interest & was excited to hear that I would be staying, & he asked what else God has been speaking to me about. Some of you may remember that back in...November, I think?...I posted a blog about the movie "Taken" & how God had really put a burden on my heart for victims of sex slavery, but I had no idea what to do with it. Gary pointed out that the only type of jobs I could really get that would be involved with those people would be either law enforcement or social work...outside of starting a full-on ministry, anyway. So I went away from our meeting mulling over whether or not I would actually be able to do--or even WANT to do--those types of jobs. In the meantime, my Mom came to visit, & she mentioned that she had gotten something in the mail about some sort of online program for certification in counseling. I didn't think much of it at the time...but about a week later in class, God just spoke to me. I can't even remember exactly what He said, it's all kind of a blur...but it just hit me that I've always been really good at relating to people...& I have such compassion for people who are hurting...& those girls that are victims of trafficking, if they do escape somehow, well, they need someone to talk to right? I continued to think & pray on it for a few days...but it gets better.

The following sunday at church, Gary was talking about how we at Pleasant Prairie have a word over us that our church is to be a City of Refuge. That refugees have nowhere else to turn, & that we should welcome them in with compassion. And I had a flashback to the first week of school: Gary & Ian were debating on which church I should be placed in, & they had settled on putting me in Kenosha when Gary had a strong sense that I should be in Pleasant Prairie, that that was where God wanted me. And it all started coming together in my mind! The people I want to work with are refugees! Why WOULDN'T I be placed in a church that has a heart for refugees?! It was deep confirmation to me that I was on the right track, & I couldn't believe I hadn't seen it earlier. I immediately scheduled another meeting with Gary to tell him what God had showed me. He was incredibly encouraging, & as I was talking he just said, "You know, there is just such a beauty in the transformation that has happened in your life. I always love seeing students come here at the beginning of the year & ending up being totally changed. As you draw closer to God, His beauty & love just radiates out of you." As crazy as it sounds, sometimes I don't really see how I've changed. I mean, I KNOW that I have...but I just don't see it how others do, & to hear someone that I respect greatly say it was just massively encouraging.

So I'm on the right track. I'm working out now how I will be able to go to school for counseling (specifically, victims of sex crimes, such as trafficking). God has been so faithful to show me the way, & answer whatever questions I may have. I never in a million years expected to hear from Him so clearly, even in the smallest details. This morning's worship time was hugely significant as well. Jim & Nicky (the couple that John lives with) sometimes come to our worship times, & Nicky felt really strongly today that we should just pray & intercede for the people that we will be impacting when we leave this school. Most of us prayed out for people or places or churches we will be going back to...I prayed for the people that are right now victims of sex slavery. Even just praying it out loud had me on my knees in tears. I felt in that moment God's heart for these people, & I resolved in my heart that no matter how hard or scary it's going to be to actually do this, to go through all the schooling, to see people who have been through such unimaginable trauma, it will be totally worth it & God will give me the strength. Kate & Tom came over to pray for me, & Kate had a verse (Hebrews 11:1) & a word for me that God wants to show me things & give me words of knowledge, & He wants me to be a prayer warrior & intercede on behalf of the people He shows me. She also said that He has given me faith to do what I need to do, & He wants to increase that as well. Tom prayed for me that I will have the strength to do what God is calling me to do, & that I will be surrounded with great authority figures, people that can cover me when the burden gets too heavy to bear on my own. Nicky had a word for me that God will equip me for what I need to do, & Jim had a word for me that God will be a constant light to my path, that He will show the way & that the light will not go out.

Needless to say, all of this is completely exciting, but completely overwhelming. I could use your prayers more than ever in this next season as I start out to do what I believe God saved my life to do. Pray that I will find a place to live here in Kenosha once school ends, & that I will have the money to live where I'm supposed to live. Pray that I will find a job quickly, & that God will open or close doors on the potential jobs before me already. Pray that I will be able to find out what kind of schooling I need in order to see this vision through, & that God will show me which school is best. Most importantly, pray that I will have an even deeper, more intimate relationship with Him than I do now, & that I will continually be close enough to Him to hear His voice, especially once school has ended & "normal life" starts back up again. I can't accomplish any of this in my own strength, & closeness with Him is the only way I will be able to make it. Serita had a word for me not long ago about me being so close to God that I can hear His very heart. I'm getting closer, but I need to be even closer than I am now. It's SO important.

I love you all very much, & I'm indescribably thankful for all the prayers you have offered up already on my behalf. I am definitely seeing fruit in it. God is so faithful.

Only 46 days until my graduation. I can't believe it.

My Birthday!!

Ahhhh it has been such a good day! I got to school to find my desk looking like this:

Apparently people at school know about my addiction...hahaha. This isn't even all of it, there were six 12-packs of soda total, a six pack of 20oz bottles, & some other random cans. I think in the end we added it up to like 74 cans & 9 bottles of soda. I'm set for life! Haha! Kate brought me my favorite breakfast sandwich from Daily Dose, Sam & Clyvie gave me some Swiss chocolate, & Becky gave me some English chocolate. Kimmy & John wrote me really nice cards, & everyone just really made me feel loved. Gary taught our Bible Review class on James, which is my favorite book. And instead of bands practicing for worship teams the last hour of school, we all sat outside in the sun & just chatted. It was such a great day!

Tonight Kate's mom is making me chicken enchiladas, & then her homegroup is coming over for a bonfire so I think I'll hang around for that. I've just been so blessed today by all the text messages, calls, facebook posts, & friends at school. I feel so loved!

I Suck At Updating.

Sooo, not much is going on outside the usual business, but I have a bit of free time & figured maybe I should update. Let's see...school is going well, but it seems like we've been getting alot more homework recently. Kal gave us an assignment where we have to write all our future plans for after school ends...I actually HAVE plans, but it was still a little overwhelming to write that paper. Drumming is going goooood, I finally got some quality headphones that I can use to play to a metronome, & my playing has improved a TON in just a short time. Now I just need to learn some cool fills & I'll be all set. At practice last week for the sunday worship team Karen asked if I would be interested in playing drums for worship at the joint meeting the weekend of graduation, so hopefully that works out! It would be kind of scary to play in front of so many people, & ESPECIALLY people like Nick & Lori, but it's about worship, not ability, right?

My Birthday is tomorrow! That's pretty much the highlight of my week. No, I lied...I get to go home for spring break on thursday, THAT will be the highlight. Haha. I can't wait to see everyone. And I'm DEFINITELY needing a break...I can't even explain WHY I'm so busy lately, I just...AM. But I will try to post more after the break is over & I've had some time to rest & collect my thoughts. Haha.

Benefit Concert.

So, last night was the LLSOW Benefit Concert. It was an INSANELY busy day, helping Shanon cook desserts for the reception, setting everything up at the venue...& then once everyone got there I went into work mode taking trays of drinks & food around to everyone. Felt like I was back at OG. Hahaha. Kal's jazz band played, & their drummer was running late so I had to set up & sound check drums because none of the boys knew how. They were my drums that I play on sunday mornings anyway, so I'm familiar with the set up. I got to watch a bit of the show, & KBP sounded awesome. Serita sang a couple of songs, Ro sang one, they played Kal's new song...it was a really good show, & I don't even LIKE jazz. Afterwards Gary got up & spoke a little bit about reasons to donate to the school, & he used me as an example. Not by name, of course, but it was really encouraging. It was a pretty late night, but really fun too. There are professional photos up on facebook, if you're interested.

Today I visited Kenosha & had lunch with Liz & Heidi. Liz officially turned in her SOW application for next year, & now Heidi is thinking about going too, so that's exciting! I can't believe my year is almost over already...so crazy. I'm planning to post a blog soon to update everyone on what I'm going to be doing after school, but I'm waiting for a couple of things to be finalized before I say much.

And hopefully after spring break I'll get back to posting regularly.

Milwaukee.

Today Teresa decided to randomly take us to Milwaukee. We hung out & had coffee at Alterra by the lake, & then we took a walk & memorized Colossians 3:12-17 as we walked. It was sooo nice to get out of the classroom in the nice weather. The drive back took a turn for the worst though--2 people randomly got REALLY sick, & about 3 others weren't feeling that great. By the time we took those people home & grabbed lunch, Kal just decided to cancel afternoon classes. I think by the end of it all 7 people were home sick. Thank God I don't drink coffee.

I got my Vic Firth isolation headphones in the mail yesterday, so I stayed at the building & practiced with my metronome for about an hour. Now I'm home for the day with minimal homework & no plans tonight. Ahhhh it's such an amazing feeling. :o)

Blaah.

Man I'm tired. Started the morning off with Q&A time with Scott while JL is in England. Someone asked about the Trinity, so I pretty much had 2 hours where my mind was completely blown. Scott is one of the greatest teachers I've ever heard...the deep theology at 8am was a bit overwhelming. Haha. It was really good though, I've got like 8 pages of notes.

Kal gave us a free period between 10 & 11:30, & I managed to get caught up on assignments, do some reading in Pursuit of God, & tune the downstairs drums. All in all a successful hour, I'd say. In Ear Training we talked Kimmy into letting us go to Starbucks the second half of class, & then in Theory Kal got into story telling mode, so it was a pretty chill day.

Now I really want to take a nap. I'm sore from yesterday.

The Gathering.

Wooow it's been a long day! Haha!

I picked up John at 7am (really 6am) & we went to the Kenosha building to pick up my drums & haul them to Pleasant Prairie. He made a pretty good roadie. I appreciated the help. Got all the drums inside & set up in a reasonable time & then ran through all the songs for the morning with the team. I wasn't nervous at all, & I had a few slip ups here & there, but ultimately it was a great time of worship, & everyone in the congregation was really excited to have drums back, so that was encouraging!

Went to lunch with Kate, Becky, Stef, Dan & John at Panera, then came home & caught an hour-long nap before picking John up again for The Gathering. We rehearsed all the songs & everything went smoothly. Man, it was SO encouraging to see so many different youth groups from so many different denominations meeting together & worshipping. I wish more cities would have meetings like that for the youth. It's so amazing to see so many high school students just really wanting to go deeper with God. Awesome. After everything finished up, one of the baptist youth groups invited everyone on the worship team back to their coffee shop till 9:30. I hadn't planned on going, but something about it felt right so I went with everyone else. As soon as I got inside & sat down at a table, I saw a girl by herself sitting on a couch nearby. I thought I should go talk to her, but had no idea what I would say...then I saw some other people approach her & promptly leave, so I could tell she was in a bad mood, & why would me going up to her change that? But God kept speaking to me about it, & finally I figured, what have I got to lose, right? So I introduced myself & just started chatting. She actually opened up to me about alot of stuff...family, school, friends, church...stuff she likes & doesn't like about all of the above, problems & struggles. And at the end of it all, I gave her my phone number & told her to look me up on Facebook, & she goes, "Do you ever feel like sometimes God sends people to everyone ELSE right when the need it, but never to you?" I said I used to. And she said that I was an encouragement to her & that she would look me up on Facebook. I hope she does. So much of what she said almost exactly paralleled how I felt when I was going through some of those same things. It's awesome to see how God works...what if I had never gone over to her at all? Just goes to show that stepping out in faith really is worth it.

DrumsDrumsDrumsDrums...

Woooow, I can't believe I didn't post at all this week. Fail.

I've had rehearsals every day for either The Gathering or Pleasant Prairie. Tomorrow morning I play for the first time at Pleasant Prairie, & tomorrow night is The Gathering. It's going to be a big drumming day haha.

Yesterday Kal talked to us about after school ends, & his own experience in seeking God on what he was meant to do when he was done with college. It was really encouraging, actually. He was saying how sometimes God doesn't give us clear direction because He wants us to take the first step in faith. So that's what I plan to do. There are a few things that I know God has spoken to me about, & I'm going to take the first step towards those things. It's an exciting & scary time haha.

I wish I could remember more of what's happened this week...it's been so crazy busy...next week should calm down a little, & then I'll try & post more.

Wish me luck for tomorrow.

Still Busy!

Wow I have been terrible at updating!

This week has been up & down. I've been learning so much, but trying not to get too caught up in the practical stuff...like where I'm going to live this summer, & what sort of job to look for. I know God will provide, but I don't expect things to just fall in my lap. Haha. I guess it's that "actively waiting" thing again.

Went to see Skillet in IL on thursday night with Becky, Matt, Aby, Kimmy, & Serita. It was an awesome show, first time I've ever seen them play with pyro. Good stuff. We left in the middle of TobyMac, but he was pretty entertaining too, actually.

Between practices for The Gathering & sunday mornings, I've been staying busy drumming. I play next sunday morning at Pleasant Prairie & then next sunday night at The Gathering. Pretty excited about it, but I know it's also going to be alot of work. I'm looking forward to it though.

I can't believe Spring Break is in 4 weeks. It's starting to get warm outside, & I'm wondering where all this time has gone. It's so weird to think that we only have two & a half months left of school.

Wow this is a really general update. Haha. I wish I could remember more specifics from the week...things have just been so busy, & on top of that I've been kind of under the weather. Hopefully it's just because it's been so warm out & doesn't turn into anything serious.

Mom's Visit!

Ahh, I had a great weekend. It was so nice having my Mom in town. :o) She got here saturday morning & we had lunch & went to see Dear John. It was actually pretty good, I was pleasantly surprised. Then we went to dinner with Kate at Chili's. Good ol' Chili's. Haha. Sunday we went to church in Racine. Howard spoke, which was kind of cool because I've never heard him teach before. We went shopping sunday afternoon & had dinner with Kate again at Culver's. Mom came to class with me yesterday morning & today, & I think she really enjoyed it...JL's class yesterday in particular. Amazing.

I had rehearsal after school yesterday for The Gathering. We're going to do about 10 songs, & John said that last time he went there were about 200 people, & they expect to have more this time. Oy. A little nerve-wracking, to say the least, but I'm pretty excited. I know it will be great.

Today in Teresa's class we had to listen to a worship song & figure out the chord progressions by ear...& then go play it. Wow. Kind of hard. But I surprised myself & actually did well on figuring out the chords, & I play drums, so coming up with a beat wasn't so hard lol. I had it much easier than the guitarists & keyboardist. Haha. But it was really fun to do, & I realized that maybe I'm not such a mediocre musician after all.

I just got back from taking my Mom to the airport...& I wish she could have stayed longer. It was nice having her here. But I get to go home for spring break, so I'm looking forward to that.

NOW I am going to go catch up on Bible reading, maybe watch some Criminal Minds, & get some SLEEP!

Tomorrow!

I love fridays. They're so short. It's amazing.

We had incredible worship time this morning. It's like, all of a sudden in the last two weeks everything has just CHANGED. Like, everyone is going through stuff individually & having major breakthrough, & we may not even know what everyone is going through but it's affecting us all as a group...in a positive way! It's just been awesome to see people changing & growing & the effects it has on all of us.

After school I had lunch with Lydia & we had such a great time just talking about what God is doing in each of us lately. It was really encouraging, I love our chats.

Oh! I also found out that I get to play drums for this youth thing in March, it's called The Gathering, & basically all the youth groups in Kenosha get together & worship & stuff, & I get to play! I'm so excited. I love playing for worship, but this is doubly exciting for me because I really have a heart for the youth. I guess I feel like it was long enough ago that I can offer some sort of wisdom, but not so long ago that I can't relate, you know? Anyway. I'm REALLY excited about it. We have our first rehearsal monday after school.

Now I'm doing laundry & cleaning my room to prepare for my Mom coming tomorrow! I'm so excited!

Dear Thursday,

You are always such a weird day because of Prophetic Worship. Haha. We met at Teresa's house for class & discussed chapter 5 of Humility. Then Teresa made us all go around the room & assess ourselves to see how we're doing in the humble department. Anyone who wasn't humble before sure is now. Oy. After class the girls had some prayer/discussion time & it was just...really great. I think everyone really opened up alot, & I'm excited to see what God is going to do in the next 3 months. We had a short Ear Training class & no Theory (since we ran so long at Tre's), so that was nice.

After school I met Tate at Starbucks & we talked about all the crazy things Skilletfans do on the road. There was much laughter. Hahaha. He's a cool guy, really enjoyed hanging out.

My Mom gets here in 2 days! Aaaahhhh I'm so excited! I should go clean instead of write this!

Back To High School!

Been a goooood day! Kal gave us an assignment last week to basically analyze a song Teresa wrote, "Obedient Response." We had to pick three words to define, find the synonyms for three DIFFERENT words, & then find the original Greek/Hebrew for two additional words, plus find two scriptures that tied in to the song & then summarize it all in a paragraph. Let me just post the lyrics of the song here for you; it's amazingly powerful.

Obedient Response

Eternal Word, faithful and true

I’ve resolved that I will follow you

Divert my eyes from worthless things

I will focus on the vision you bring

I will run the race that you lay out for me

My whole life one long obedient response

To You, my King

‘Cause I cherish all you’ve said

And I’m so grateful for the things

That you have done for me

I won’t give up when hard times come

I’m devoted so I will press on

My soul’s consumed, hungry for sight

You’re my counsel and your Word is my delight

I will stay the course that you have set for me

My whole life one long obedient response

To You, my King

‘Cause I cherish all you’ve said

And I’m so grateful for the things

That you have done for me

So here I am, I wait for you

You renew me with your perfect Truth

How sweet your words are to my taste

Satisfying me in the deepest place

I will keep your Word alive inside of me

My whole life one long obedient response

To You, my King

‘Cause I cherish all you’ve said

And I’m so grateful for the things

That you have done for me

Gaaah, love it. Such incredible lyrics to work with, so it was a pretty easy assignment. ANYWAY, this morning for worship Kal decided we would do this song & then just use the words from our assignments to really go deeper in what we prayed out & such. One of the words I defined was "eternal" (lasting forever; always existing; outside of time), & I was thinking about the first line of the song. "Eternal Word"...I was just totally in awe of God's Word & how it really IS outside of all time, & what it has endured already. And then, the third verse says "I will keep your Word alive inside of me." We actually have a part in keeping the Word of God alive? That's AMAZING! So I prayed out & said...well, basically that. And then it was just awesome because God just SPOKE. We ended up worshipping for like 2 hours & He just really highlighted different aspects of His Word & it's eternal endurance. It was just incredible how the prophetic words that came just built one on top of another & Kal tied it all together at the end by saying that we have to put the Word in us by memorizing it & such, but that unless we DO something to outwork it, our knowledge doesn't matter. It reminded me of Jeremiah 20:9, where Jeremiah is crying out to God & saying that His Word is like a fire in his bones, that he tries to hold it in but he CANNOT. That's what I want! I want the Word to be pouring out of me all the time, in all my conversations. Man. Such good worship today.

Gary wasn't in to teach us Bible Review today, so we had a free period for an hour & a half. I had a really nice chat with Lydia about some of the stuff we discussed in Pursuit of God yesterday, it was great.

After lunch we went to Central High School & got to spend time with some of the students in the Campus Life program. It was so weird being in a high school again...it's been 5 years since I've even set foot in a high school. Haha. Wait, I lied; we went to a school in Cadillac. But that was a small Christian school, this is the first time I've been in a proper public school in a long time. Anyway, we had some worship time with the students & got to pray over them & just have some time getting to know them. It's so awesome to see high school students so on fire for God & so ready to make a difference. I just love it. It's so encouraging to see, & makes me wish that I had stepped out even more than I did in high school. People knew I was a Christian, sure, but I never made any effort to really be a witness to my unsaved friends. To talk with these guys & really see their hearts for God was just phenomenal.

Tonight I'm having dinner with Luke & Heather (homegroup leaders) with John before homegroup, so that should be fun. I want to have a new outlook on homegroup. First semester I didn't really like going that much, but after I saw how God moved in the homegroup in Cadillac, I realized that it COULD be like that EVERY time, if I would change my attitude. So instead of just going because I have to, I've spent some time together with John just praying for people in the group & just really seeking God on it. I'm excited to see how we all grow together, & it will be good to talk to Luke & Heather about their vision for it tonight.

In the meantime, I'm going to try & catch a nap. Haha.