Before this weekend, the Lord had really been working in my own heart. Teaching me and showing me how to trust Him fully, regardless of my circumstances. He had been teaching me what it means to "pray continually." He had been quietly assuring me that He is faithful. So, I went into this weekend with a peace that surpasses all understanding, ready to serve these kids. I really had no idea what was waiting for us all this weekend.
When DG and I made it to the church Friday morning (after having a wonderful trip down from dallas together) we did some work and had some lunch and met the other leaders. It was all pretty chill. Later in the afternoon, James had the leaders participate in the Prayer Labyrinth that the students would be participating in the next day. Most of us didn't finish because we ran out of time, but I enjoyed the parts I got to! One of the first stations involved us writing a name for God in which we have experienced or in which we need to experience. I wrote: Yahweh Jireh- The Lord will Provide. It ended up being really awesome to see it up on stage on Saturday after the high schoolers had written on it. Riley has some pictures if you haven't already checked it out. It overwhelmed me reading through it and just feeling such reverence for the Lord.
I had the 8th grade girls this weekend. A lot of the time I felt like I was talking to a brick wall, which was rather discouraging at times. It was like pulling teeth trying to get these girls to talk to me. All of these girls also come from Christian homes and go to the Christian school that is at the church. So, I found that to be challenging in its own way. The most I could get out of them was "sunday school answers." Getting them to go any deeper was pretty much impossible. However, when I met to James and Ashley Sunday before we left, I felt a bit better about it. They know these girls and know exactly where I was coming from in my discouragement. One thing I can trust in is the fact the regardless of how much they opened up this weekend, the Lord definitely planted seeds in each one of them. I will just continue to pray that it would just "click" for them and God would turn their hearts to focus fully on Him.
One thing that stood out the most to me this weekend was worship on Saturday. Kevin, our speaker, had delivered a really good message. I got a lot out of it and I could tell that the students were as well. After Kevin spoke, some students needed to talk/pray so I went outside with one girl. We got to talk and pray for a while and then we came back in. When I walked into that room, I just had to stop for a minute. I was so completely overwhelmed by the presence of the Lord in that room. I looked around and I saw broken hearts and students crying out to the Lord. It brought tears to my eyes. I walked to the back of the room and all I could do was fall on my knees before the Lord. I found that each song the band played was exactly what I wanted/needed to pray. It was wonderful. I was just in such awe and completely overwhelmed with the the presence of the Lord in that room. God was moving mightily in there. Praise Him!
Sunday morning, some of the high school students led worship. After witnessing that, I was reminded how grateful I was for our band that came this weekend! They lead with such humility. I forgot how important that was, until I saw what it could be like without it. ha. But seriously, Molly, Katie, Nathan, Trey, Zach and Riley were SUCH a blessing this weekend. Forget the fact that they sounded wonderful (as they always do), but they truly came to serve, and it warmed by heart to see. Anyway, I loved having them there. On a selfish note, I was also really glad to hang out with them a little bit and have fun.
Sunday, a bunch of students also came up and shared a little bit of their testimonies from this weekend. It touched me SO much. I got to here from a couple of kids who had been saved! Praise God! It was beautiful! Goodness. I also got to here from kids who finally realized all that God has in store for them and their hearts were changed. We also got to here from a mini John Piper! This kid was legit. Anyway, it was incredible to here all that the Lord had done in those 2 days.
Anyway, there is so much more I could say, but my thoughts are way to jumbled. Basically, God is GOOD and so Faithful! This weekend also provided some great affirmation in my life. This year has been an incredible year of growth and learning for me! I am also learning so much about the power of prayer! It is wonderful. I feel like I am a totally different person and I couldn't be more grateful for the Lord relentlessly pursuing me and breaking my heart. Gosh. I am just speechless for all He has and continues to do!
5 comments:
Yes! Girl, this weekend was such a blessing. I'm so glad we got to do it :)
Reverence and awe, my friend.
I am thankful to have been able to share our continuing realizations of His "relentless pursuit" together this year.
God is good. All the time.
Amazing, Marie!!!!! This post really warmed my heart. :)
It's good to hear about God's work at Breaking Free, despite some of the seeming non-responsiveness from your girls. I think that learning to be faithful when results don't show is simultaneously one of the most challenging and rewarding lessons that I have learned in the past couple years (and am still learning, the hard way).
Oh, and by the bye, what you said about worship is one of the most encouraging things anyone has ever said. There is literally nothing that could make me happier than knowing that the songs that we played allowed someone to respond to God, and hear from Him, because that's the whole reason why we were there.
So thanks.
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