Testimonies.

Today we had the water baptism segment of V&C. How the heck did THAT get so messed up? I mean, the Bible clearly talks about how baptism is supposed to work...heard of the Great Commission? What's this sprinkling babies business? Haha. John (henceforth to be referred to as JL since there are so many Johns here!) did a great job explaining all that & how things got so twisted.

After lunch was dedicated solely to student testimonies. We were way ahead of schedule, so I went ahead & shared mine today. Like I said in my previous post, I never know what God is going to move me to say. I had it all planned out & then ended up saying something totally different. I told about when I got saved of course, & my accident, & my baptism, but then I randomly felt like I should talk about the musical influence Skillet has had in my life...so I talked about how I was raised in a pretty uptight Southern Baptist church & how we only ever sang hymns, so I was shocked at my first Skillet concert back in 2001 when the music was loud...& I liked it. And the worship was different than I had ever known...& I liked it. I felt kind of stupid sharing all that, considering most of Korey's family was in the room, but I felt that it was what God was leading me to say, so I went with it. Afterwards Carol came up to me & said that she appreciated me sharing that, so I didn't feel as awkward about it after that.

The thing I noticed about everyone's testimonies today was how...AMAZING...& real they were. I don't know what I was expecting, but man our God is good! It was incredible to hear what God has delivered/protected/spared them all from. I don't think there was a single testimony where I didn't tear up at all. John went right before me & it was kind of hard to follow that. He was so real & honest it was so encouraging, in a way. I feel so close to everyone already, but after hearing where everyone has come from & where they hope to go...I just feel like I've known these people forever. Kal even commented on that after worship this morning, that he has never seen a class come together so quickly. And this is the ninth year of the school. God definitely has huge things in store for us. Kal also talked about Godly sorrow & dying to ourselves...I really think that's what's happening with each of us, it's like every day I feel a little part of me change, & I know that I'm no longer concerned with myself but with God's Will for my life day to day.

Tomorrow we will get to hear the other half of our class' testimonies. Which means I need to get some sleep. Waking up at 6am hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be, but I don't want to push my luck...especially after Kate & I stayed up talking till 1am last night. But God is faithful & I didn't even feel tired once. Until right now. Goodnight.

The Glorious Gospel.

I definitely had a harder time getting out of my comfy bed this morning. Pray that that stops right now. I suspect it will only get harder the colder it gets out.

Today we had more testimonies from Gary & Karen (another of the elders & his wife), Gloria & Kimmy (teachers at the school), & Kate's grandparents, Don & Carol (who are also founders of Living Light along with Korey's parents).

After lunch we started the church's Vision & Commitment class with John (the "principal" of our school/apostolic leader of LLCC). Basically it's the class any new members would go through to learn exactly what they believe at Living Light. With the introduction he talked about how they believe what the Bible says with no exceptions. God's Word is always the final authority...whether or not we choose to believe it is our own issue. Basically, we need to have our foundations built on what the Bible says & what we have seen God do in our lives. John put it this way, God called us to be his witnesses, but what good are witnesses if they haven't seen anything? There are so many people that have the knowledge of the Bible, but we also need to share how we have seen God work in our own lives. And from THERE, what must we do in response to what we've seen/heard? Next he presented the Gospel simply because it was the next chapter of V&C. But WOW, I've never heard it presented so well I don't think. I don't know how anyone could hear it just as he presented it & NOT be convicted in some way. Half of our class was in tears by the end of it...pretty much everyone except me, Kate, & a few others. I started to feel kind of...left out? Kate & I were talking on the way home though, & agreed that neither of us has ever felt unsure of our salvation, so why act like God was moving something in us when we were already solid in our beliefs? It was good to hear that she felt the same way I did about it. It was very powerful though, & they decided to conclude class early (even though we still had Ian & Trefor's testimonies left).

Kal gave us the opportunity to spend some time alone before we left school, & for some reason I was drawn to 1 Peter 1:12. I'm not sure why. Or what that means. But I underlined it & made a note, so I'm hoping to come back to it later with some more clarity.

Tomorrow we start student testimonies...I have to share first on friday. I'm kind of nervous...not sure why. I was going to scratch out some notes but I think instead I'll just let God give me the words. I have a feeling I'll be sharing some things outside of my normal testimony, but I'm not sure quite what...so I figure it's best to just trust God to give me the words & not stress myself out over it.

First Day...Complete!

Obviously today was my first day to class. I woke up at 6am alot easier than I thought I would...any of you that know me well know I'm NOT a morning person, so it's pretty much by the grace of God that I picked up Filip & Hannah for school & made it there on time. Haha.

Today was solely testimonies from church/school staff, but it's awesome to hear where people are coming from & what God has done (& is continuing to do) in their lives. We heard testimonies from Tim & Carol (two of the original founders of Living Light), John & Kim (John is the apostolic leader of the church & Kim is his wife), Scott & Rhonda (one of the elders & his wife), & then our directors, Kal & Teresa. Teresa's was by far my favorite...I have a feeling about her...I like her alot already. She almost reminds me of an older version of me, & it's really encouraging to see what God has done with her & how He has spoken to her. She has incredible gifts in music, as well as spiritual gifts. From what little I know of her she is just an amazing person, & I have a feeling we will be talking much more in the near future.

This blog feels so short & uninformative...there were so many things I wanted to write about, too! I can't remember any of them at the mo because I'm so tired! Tomorrow I will take notes. Maybe. Haha.

Overwhelmed.

The last two days have been pretty overwhelming...the church picnic was yesterday, & it was pretty exhausting to meet so many people & answer the same questions (Who are you? Where are you from? What do you play? How did you hear about the school?), but everyone was really welcoming. I talked a bit with Lori Peters about doing my lessons this year...dunno if she will have time or not, & I'm pretty sure that she thinks I'm a freak, but I trust God will give me a perfectly capable instructor regardless...even though I really would love to work with her.

We had a joint meeting of all three churches today & it was awesome. God definitely showed me some amazing things in the worship time & in the meeting time. This year has definitely started off packing the punches. During worship we focused on not worrying about meaningless things in life (something I'm an expert at), & allowing God to take control & fill you with His peace. WOW, I needed to hear that, & I'm sure I will need to hear it a few hundred times more before it sinks in, but we're on the right track. Haha. Then during the meeting we studied 1 John 2:28-3:10, about how when we are born again God instantly transforms us...so many people view it like we have to change everything when we are saved, when actually God starts to change us when we are saved...it's a seemingly subtle difference, but a big one at the same time. And it came up again that we need to trust God & surrender our lives to Him completely...gee, it seems like He's trying to tell me something. After service ended Kelly (the only other drummer on the school this year) came up to me & said, "I don't know what is going on in your life right now, or where you're at, but I wanted to tell you I was praying for you in the meeting today & that you are here for a purpose. You might not know what you have to offer, & you might be nervous, but God has placed you here because you have a purpose only you can fulfill. It wouldn't be the same without you, & the school would suffer without you. Just thought you should know that that was put on my heart today." I can't believe what God is telling me already. I can't wait to see what this year has in store.

A bunch of us on the school have been hanging out all day today...we went to lunch at Panera & had ice cream at Cold Stone, & then went to Best Buy to get cell phones for the Brits, & then to Target to get random odds & ends. Haha. I think tonight we are all going to hang out at me & Kate's & watch movies & enjoy our last couple of days of freedom by relaxing. :o)

Thanks to all that have been praying...as you can see God is already moving.

Awesomeness.

This blog is called awesomeness because my roommate said it should be. Haha. Tonight we had our student/staff picnic at Kate's (& my) house. Awesomeness is actually pretty much the only word for it...everyone is so amazing. It was incredible to finally meet everyone & hear a bit about them.

All the students & staff got together in a circle & we all went round & introduced ourselves, then Teresa & Kal (our directors) went through our scheduling for the first couple of weeks & gave us a brief overview of what to expect. This year is going to be amazing, I can feel it. I can't wait to see how God works through everyone's lives on the school this year. The first two weeks is basically going to be testimonies of everyone on staff at the school & church, & all of the students. Then from there we pretty much get into all the hardcore reading & music. It's going to be awesome. I can already see God showing me things...I can't really explain it but I know I am where I'm supposed to be. It's going to be hard & scary, but totally worth it.

Tomorrow is the all-church picnic at the lake. As if tonight wasn't intense enough meeting like 50 new people, tomorrow is going to be even CRAZIER. I can't wait. It's going to be an awesome year.

O'Hare.

Today the 3 Amigos (me, Kate, & Stef) went with Kal (director of our school) to pick up 3 of the Englanders from O'Hare in Chicago. What an adventure, let me tell ya.

We left round noon-thirty & arrived in Chicago 'bout 1:30. We waited about an hour for John (first student to arrive) to get through customs...it was funny because we all started off really excited but after about 30 minutes it got boring waiting. So Kal began going, "JOHN! JOOOOHN! Okay girls, start shouting, first guy that looks we take, whether it's him or not..." Bahaha. Finally we found him, & went to the OTHER international exit to wait for Lydia & Becky, who shared a flight. They didn't arrive until 4:00, they had a loooong line in customs. Then it took us FOREVER to get through Chicago at rush hour. It was a long day for us, & a longer day for them, but it was so great to meet them finally after all the facebook stalking we've all been doing. Haha.

After dropping the three Brits off at their respective homes Kate, Stef & I went to Panera for dinner. Good times were had by all. I know the three of us will be close.

Tomorrow is our student/staff picnic, I'm super excited. There are rumored to be about 55 people coming, it will be so great to meet everyone. I can't believe all this is finally happening...

I found out today from Kal that I am the only drummer, aside from another girl, Kelly, who knows a bit of drums...I don't think she is majoring in that though. So that's a bit nerve-wracking. And Kal said he was going to talk to Lori this week about doing my lessons, so that is exciting news!

I feel like I'm not being very informative but by the time I actually have time to write I am so tired that I feel like I'm not making any sense! I love my roommate & my host family, dunno if I've said that yet or not...they are seriously so perfect for me, I knew God would place me in the best place for me.

Definitely past my bedtime...I get my morning wake up 6am. Oy. Can't wait for the picnic, will post more tomorrow!

Hello, Kenosha!

I'm heeeeeeerrrrrrrrreeeeeeee!!!!!

Wow I can't believe this day has arrived...we got here round 5:30 & Katelyn (my roomie) & I went to pick up Stephanie (the only other American girl on the school this year) & her mom. We all came back to Katelyn's (my) house for dinner & bonding time haha. Us three girls get along fantastically & have already nicknamed ourselves the 3 Amigos. Bahaha.

Tomorrow we three girls are going to Chicago with Kal to pick up John, Lydia, & Becky from England. I feel like there are a thousand more things that I have to say, but my brain is working overtime at the mo & I need sleep. I'm sure my updates will become more frequent now...least till school starts. Haha.

Goodnight all, thanks for your prayers!!!