A Breath at The Life Church

Once again, after months of praying, planning, running around like crazy, and more praying, we have finished another kids camp. Phew! It's summers like this one that make my life worth living. Honestly, this week of ministering at The Life Church, was so refreshing and encouraging! Talking with the Life Church staff, working with their youth, and worshipping with their kids brought a breath of life, and reminded us why we even do this- to make eternal investments, to plant seeds!

 The week kicked off wonderfully without a single hitch! Actually, there was one...our glow sticks didn't really glow. But even in this little baby hiccup, God provided even more than we expected with flashlights and laser lights  the kids loved! We had great times of worship, and fun with silly songs, and had the perfect opportunity to encourage kids to have a heart for missions and prayer, and to help them understand God has a plan and purpose for them! We even were so blessed that we were able to bless every kid with a gift!

As you can see, the kids had a great time getting there "blessings"!

Overall, it was an incredible week filled with the presence of God! There is something so incredibly humbling about seeing kids worship God!

Learning to sew the Prayer Flag Banner like a boss.

Prayer flag and walk way.

Pre- Games.

One of my favorite things is the chance to invest in the Life Kids both last and this summer! 

From Year...

2011

...to Year.

2012

Classic.

This is my life.

Thank you so much to Pastor Lance and Pastor Laurie, and all the staff and student leaders at The Life Church! If you're in Stockton, I urge you to check this church out! Also thanks to Nikki for putting up with my pretend punching and bossiness- I love you! And finally, thanks to Jan- without you this would have been a danger filled disaster! I sincerely appreciate all of you!

Well, here we go, off to the church for round 3 at Christian Worship Center in San Jose! Pray for us! It's from 9am-2pm, and I have the preschool and kindergarten class with 17 kids!

Pray for the planted dreams!

Love.

Seattle & Tea

Here I am, folding costumes, organizing game supplies, and packing for the week to come while watching one of my favorite movies, "Sleepless in Seattle". A nice warm cup of tea steeping next to me, and I know it's nights like these that make me remember just how good God is. It's like God lives and moves in the simplicity of it all. I leave for the second camp tomorrow. I pray it goes even better than the amazingly blessed last camp, and that God has His way! Pray with us. We are trusting the Lord will exceed our expectations. I feel so blessed for this opportunity and this evening, and everything. I know the Lord is faithful not only to meet my needs, but to meet me where I'm at.
Love.

"Now that was when people KNEW how to be in love. They knew it! Time, distance... nothing could separate them because they knew. It was right. It was real."

Our Camp in Review!

So...this is a few days late, and by "a few", of course I mean a week! My bad...Anyways, after months of praying and writing, and weeks of planning and gathering supplies, the week came of no sleep and early mornings! Praise the Lord for Go-Girls! Janet, the other writer of our VBS curriculum (and not to mention my Best Friend) came down for the week to speak and lend her logical thinking- cause let's face it, that just isn't my strong suit! Our hope for the week was that children would develop a passion for powerful prayer and a heart for missions, and that they would begin to understand that God has a plan and purpose for them! And after the week was over, we asked the kids what God had taught them, and they all said something along these lines! 
It is so incredible when you see a dream that God gives you come to pass!

Some 1st grade girls playing in the laser hallway.

The stairs up to the "Gadget Garage" (Craft Room) was lined with glow sticks and lasers also!

"And the Good News about Heaven will be told to everyone, all over, so that all nations will hear it." Matthew 24:14

One of the illustrations with colored bubbles.

Prayer flag banner, the kids each wrote one for missionaries around the world.

Janet and I with the VBS leaders- all of who were in the 6th-9th grades.

God completely exceeded our expectations, of course, and blessed this endeavor more than we could've even imagined! We had no problems or injuries, more kids every day, and the Sunday after I had three girls come up to me and tell me how they're raising money to support a missions organization and want to talk to families in the church to partner with them financially and through prayer!

Life Lesson: When God is for you, nothing can stand against you. 

And it's so wonderful to see this in action! 

Ask God what He really wants, because He will use those who have a willing heart.

Love.

Countdown to Camp #1!

Well, here we are, a mere three days to the opening rally for Camp #1. It has been a long process of praying, writing, rewriting, attempting crafts, finding games that wouldn't inflict injury, and figuring out what exactly the purpose of the kids camp was. For eight months we've been working on this project and praying up a storm- cause let's face it, with out that, what even is Children's Ministry? Oh yeah...babysitting. So here it is: 

Our heart for this ministry...

I am literally overwhelmed with the goodness of God, and the power of His presence and prayer. Literally. I keep finding myself in positions where God not only meets my needs, but exceeds my expectations in every way. My hope for this curriculum, as it is about to come to pass, is that children would develop a passion for prayer and a heart for missions! My hope is that they encounter God at this event, and that they begin to understand that God has a plan and purpose for them! 

This is going to be an amazing week of fun, but it's also going to be a time of revelation of God's heart for people, and how we can model that today! 

I am so excited and blessed to be a part of this awesome God opportunity! Partner with us in prayer as we begin to start into week number one!

On another note of blessing, if you or somebody you know also works in Children's Ministries, I will be training for an online Children's Ministry workshop through pajamaconference.com on July 30th! It's for free if you want to tune in to learn about "Developing Leaders in Your Ministry"! You can read a quick synopsis of it here. 

Anyways, the next three days are going to be crazy. Pray for me! Seriously. Praise the Lord for the leaders who are partnering with me, and Praise the Lord for Go-Girls. ☺

Love Notes and Great Folks

What? Blogging two days in a row? Yeah, I'm multitasking...
So last night, I brought in my first box from my college stuff. I know, I know...it's been almost a month we've been out, but it's only books and what not. Well, the what not was some notes from my good friends (hand written notes are my favorite), and I realized how much I miss the friends I made at APU! It's funny though, I was sad, yes, but I just feel blessed that I have those friendships! For certain reasons, many of the friendships I have in Azusa got real real deep, real real fast! I'm mostly certain that if they weren't based on a mutual love for Christ, we wouldn't have known how to encourage one another best.
And I'm not dissing my friends from the YC- Ale, Nikki, Tori, Janny, everyone...you all know I love you like Jonathon loved David, and I'm talking about the biblical figures who were like brothers, not some obscure other reference...Anyways, from the long conversations that take place in my car, or chalk drawing, or adventures, or kids camps, I know our friendships were orchestrated perfectly!

And I guess that's what I'm talking about...it is so awesome that God does that for us- orchestrates friendships that are not only filled with laughter and shenanigans and frolicking, but also encouraging words when we need them, and support , and good wholesome fun! This school year, I was blessed with both people on my hall- Carol, Kaitlyn, Emily, Brea, Abby, Rachel, Emily P, Lauren..., and those who were older  wiser who invested time and prayer in me! All of you- Nichole, Brigina,  Chelsea, Dee, Teagan, Holly, Aranda...there's so many more (please don't be offended if I didn't name you- multitasking has never been my strong suit.) I guess this is just a little shout out that I am so incredibly blessed by you all! Incredibly.

I was also reminded of my awesome friends when I received a letter in the mail- yes, snail mail! from The Brea! So great. Made my life. So I'm sending her a letter as soon as I post this...

Let's be pen pals, cause let's be honest, who doesn't love a good hand written note? 

Anyways, thank you for being wonderful friends. 

It doesn't get much better.

Love.

Summer Plights and Stage Lights

So this summer has been jam packed with planning and running and scavenging and speaking, and my camp tour hasn't even started yet! "Camp tour?" you may be questioning ever so gingerly, well I can't remember if I've really told you anything about it, but basically me and my esteemed colleague (and best friend) co-wrote a curriculum which God has blessed beyond our imagination!

Here's the promo video...

Pretty legit- PTL!

But besides all the shopping, planning, and conference calling for Kids Camp, I turned 19, hit an artistic streak, started writing two books, am in a children's production, and illegally trespassed. My life be cray.

Turning19...what to say? Age is but a number, babycakes.

I found these really rad wallpaper sample tiles, and I'm creating a really cool collage out of them.

(And by really cool, I mean simply elementary.)

My two books? One is fictional, the other is a teen girl devotional- this arose after the Purity Conference.

These things are taking a back seat though, unfortunately, because my nights and only moments of free time are being spent at rehearsals for a children's theater production of "The Princess and the Porcupine" - I owed the director a favor.

Oddly enough, I realized I really miss the stage. I guess I'm just trying to figure out how the desires of my heart interact with the call God has given me. Because I am a firm believer that God gives us gifts for a purpose, I just don't know if I've already played them out. Who knows? Not me. But God. We'll just see...

Such Good Times...

Google me.

Anyways yesterday, with Alejandra, I hopped the fence onto Yuba City High School because her future German classroom was open. Me being the instigator I am, encouraged her to do it. But as soon as our little feet touched down on the grass, we were caught by a janitor. He was nice though, and let us take a look. It was pretty fun.

Mentoring in Awesomeness...like a boss.

 Anyways, this is really filled to overflowing. Oh well, enjoy as you will. Pray for my camps, and for direction, and I will pray for you. 

Pinky Promise. 

Love you. 

A Moment of Silence & A Haunted Library.

So what do you get when you cross a yard sale, an attempt at sign language, reunions, a haunted library, a basement venue, adventures in disguises, a conversation with a native morrocan who is fluent in German and teaches English, lots of stage kissing, and an impromptu speech on the importance of IHOP coupons? My day yesterday. BOOM.

It all started with the early morning awakenings of a yard sale, because everyone knows when the ad says 8:00AM, we really meant 5:30AM! Well, everyone but me. I suppose it wouldn't have been quite so bad if I hadn't stayed up late the night before watching this...

"Delightfully Dangerous" starring Jane Powell (1945)

I'm an old soul. 

Anyways, it wasn't quite so bad because I bonded with two wonderful women over the course of the yard sale, and one was due to this movie! An older lady was quite surprised to hear my tiredness was due to classic movie watching the night before, and boy, was she happy to hear it!

The second lady, Julie, I know was a God-send, and she was deaf. Julie was the fourth confirmation God sent my way regarding sign language.

1. Ze best frand and I discuss my slight desire to learn sign language.

2. I find a book in my closet called, "Learning Sign Language, for Beginners".

3. Cold Case episode was about a boy in a deaf school.

4. Julie!

And when I went to Oklahoma! last night I met John, who was also partially deaf. Count 'em- five! All in the course of 24 HOURS! I talked to Julie for a while, she was nice enough to put up with my sloppy and choppy signs. Anyways, now I'm going to take a class. (Added it to my dream list!)

Isn't it wonderful to see God in the little things? Why yes, yes it is.

After that, me and my good friend, Ale, were reunited!

And we went to the Historical  HAUNTED Library in Marysville to check out the basement for Underground Prom.It's been said children laugh in the attic at night. We explored the second and third floor because we thought we heard voices from the people who worked there, but it was EMPTY! Finally we found them in the back of the first floor. They sent us to the basement where the DJ was bumping some tracks for fun. It was sick. (In a good way).

Grabbed some dinner and saw Ale's teacher who is upset at her at the moment, so we drove by three times, changing our hair to distract from our true identities. 

Wrapped up the night talking with John, the deaf German Morrocan English teacher, and Oklahoma! where everyone gets kissed apparently. Then off to IHOP to keep the tradition alive.

Lots of adventures and new friends, let's just say the WOO inside was real happy! More to do today, maybe if more fun happens, I'll tell you about it tomorrow!
Love adventures, summer, and YOU.