Break Every Chain.

        I wish so much that this could be one of those cute, fluffy, silly blogs where I apologize for being MIA for so long, pick up where I left off, and run, but it's not. I wish I could say that I've just been busy and that's why my blog hasn't been updated, but that would only be half true. I have been busy. I've been out of town on a mission trip, so I haven't exactly had time to write, but in all honesty I've been avoiding this post. It's not bad. In fact, it's really good, it's just powerful. I haven't been sure how to approach it. I don't know how to share my heart this time. This one goes deep. This one is mine. This one is so good that it's almost painful. This is the story of my life changed.
        A little back story. If you've been following my blog at all this summer then you know what I'm doing. If you haven't been following, then let me catch you up. I'm in Alabama for the summer. I am working at a church here. I am working with high school and middle school students. I am totally in love with every single part of it. My responsibilities for my internship include going on mission trips with the students. Atlanta was a few weeks ago with the high school kids and it was great. I loved it. I got to know them and see how their ministry lives and works. Wonderful.
        If I am being completely honest, I was a little bit nervous about the middle school trip. I hadn't had as much time with these kids. I didn't know them as well. I wasn't sure how they were going to accept me, or if they were at all. I knew this trip would be more difficult. Less sleep, more drama. I didn't know if I was fully prepared for it. Thank the Lord I wasn't. The middle school mission trip to Monroe, Louisiana was probably the single most amazing thing that God has done in my life up to this point. My students, and yes I do feel comfortable referring to them as mine, are absolutely wonderful. There was no much worship taking place last week. God was tangible. You could practically taste His presence whenever we were all gathered together. Not to mention the staff of the ministry we were at was phenomenal. They made the week run smoothly and were just fun to be around.
        Almost every part of last week was great, but our group worship time every night before lights out was on an entirely different level. Tyler asked me a few weeks before the trip if I would help lead worship on the trip. I agreed, but I was a little bit nervous. No one here had heard me sing. I had never helped lead corporate worship like this. Would I be good enough? Would the kids like it? Would it minister to the students? I was practically a basket case. It turns out, as it usually does where God is involved, that all of my worrying and stress was for no reason. God took hold of our band last week and worked in ways that I never could have imagined. The third night of the trip we started like we had the two nights prior and it went well. We had some share time for students to tell their stories up to that point of the week and the stories of how God worked were heart warming and fantastic. We were content with how Wednesday night had gone. We thought it was awesome.

God had other plans.

There is no explanation for what happened next other than God grabbed hold of our worship and flipped it on its head. Once we finished our closing set we expected the kids to file out and hit the showers like they always did, but to our surprise there were kids all over the gym. Still worshiping. Still praying. Broken hearted for their friends. In tears for how they had personally hurt the heart of their God and how they had strayed in their life. They sat in the floor or on the bleachers or stood in circles or in the corners. They prayed over each other. They cried out to Abba. They didn't want to stop. We didn't make them. After almost an hour we decided to do another worship set and it was beautiful. We didn't leave the gym until almost 1am. Even at that point the students were fighting us tooth and nail to stay and keep worshiping. That was one of the moments God used from that trip to change my life.
        The final night was another one. Thursday night was planned to be special. It was our last night there and we wanted it to be something that the students would remember. We had stations set up around the gym. There was a communion station, a foot washing station, a praise wall, a journaling station, and a prayer station called 'Nail it to the Cross'. The theme of worship Thursday night was freedom in worship. We wanted the kids to embrace the spirit and whatever it was leading them to do. There was a solid group in front of the stage that was just enthralled by the music and how God was working through that, but there were also plenty of students filtering through the different stations all night. The sheer length of that worship service is what amazes me. We started to worship at 8:45 and ended our corporate worship time a little after midnight. Almost four hours of soul-filling, heart-freeing worship with these beautiful middle school students that I continue to fall more and more in love with. Not only how long we worshiped, but the fact that we weren't tired when we finished. Physically, yes we were tired, but emotionally and spiritually we were on fire! I am still breathlessly in awe of just how much God is changing the lives of these kids. They are not just going to change the world for their Jesus. No. They are going to tear this world apart and rebuild it in the image of how God wants it to be.
        We all witnessed the power of God so powerfully last week. In every aspect of our trip, His presence and power was right there. One example of God's power that stands out in my mind is the band's prep time for worship. By the time Wednesday and Thursday night rolled around we were exhausted. We hadn't slept well, we were running around crazy all day, it was hot, we were sweaty. It just was not a fun time. Wednesday before worship started I was so tired that I could barely keep myself upright. None of the songs were going right in rehearsal and I was getting frustrated. I was on the verge of tears. The band could tell. I was frayed and worn. I needed a boost. During our group prayer time I asked the band if they could just lift me up in prayer because I was tired and didn't know how I would make it through our set that night. We had a prayer for the set and that it went well and then JT, our worship leader for the week (who is all kinds of Jesus-loving wonderful) asked Ryan to come and pray over the other vocalist and me. He prayed for healing and restoration. He prayed that God would fill us and give us exactly what we needed for that night of worship. God delivered. He delivered in a mighty way. As soon as Ryan began to pray over us I felt my exhaustion slowly slipping away. I was wide awake and ready to spend my night praising the one who fearfully and wonderfully made me. As soon as I realized what was happening I just started crying. There was no other response. I was overwhelmed and amazed and in awe of the God that I serve. A similar thing happened Thursday night leading up to our big night. I will gladly and openly tell you that we did not make it through those nights on our own. I had no strength left in me and God stepped in, put his hands on me, and held me up.
        I am constantly being amazed by the power of my God. My Abba. The One who created the entire universe and knit each of us together in exactly the way He wanted. He is all powerful. He can do ANYTHING that he wants to. Why do I so often doubt His strength? Why is He not the first one I go to when I have a bad day or my road gets rough? Why do I so often think that I can't bring my problems before God? I have been so convicted this last week. I claim Christianity and I say that I am a daughter of the King, but when it comes right down to it, I don't trust him! I have seen God's power first hand this week in a way that I have never seen. I have been shown, through so many people and so many circumstances, that prayer really is powerful, but not just the words of prayer. We are told that the spirit and power of Christ dwells in us. What would happen if American Christians began to pray and actually call on the power of Christ that we have in us? What if we ACTUALLY BELIEVED what we are told in scripture? I can tell you exactly what would happen. We would change the world. My sweet, wonderful, awkward, hilarious, God-filled middle school students witnessed the power of God in the same way that I did this week. I am just here to send out a message.

WE ARE AN ARMY RISING UP TO BREAK EVERY CHAIN.

We WILL tear this world apart with the message of Christ that we are. Be prepared.

Friendship Bracelets & Dippin' Dots

My host family is wonderful and I am so thankful for them, but I feel like I never get to see them! Either I'm gone on a trip or they're at the beach. I think I've only had maybe two solid weeks of us all being here at the same time. I was in Atlanta, then we had about two weeks, then they were at the beach this past week, and now I leave Monday for Louisiana. It's crazy! I am certainly looking forward to seeing them tonight, even if it's only for a little bit. I missed them, but their trip may have been a little bit of a blessing in disguise. Since they were gone all week I had to relocate to a temporary host home. I'll admit that I was a little nervous. It's hard enough to adjust to ONE new house, how would I handle having to do it twice?! Well, this family made that no issue. They are absolutely wonderful and I am so glad that God put me with them this week. The mom is the director of pre-school ministry at the church and she is a hoot. She has boundless energy and loves to just sit and talk. Her husband is hilarious. He has a very dry sense of humor, but I think it's hilarious. The girls are absolutely wonderful. One going into eighth grade and one going into third and I adore them. One day last weekend we sat for probably a little over an hour making friendship bracelets and it was so much fun! They are precious and I'm going to miss seeing them when I get back to my host home tonight. I have such a wonderful time with this family this week. They took me in with no hesitation and I became a part of their family for the week. I made tie-dye cupcakes with the girls on Wednesday night, sat up late talking with them, had dinner and lunch with them as often as I could, went and got Dippin' Dots with them after dinner, and just spent time with them. The mom is from North Carolina, which was a God send this week since I have been homesick as of late. I can't even adequately put into words how much of a blessing this family has been to be this week. I am forever grateful and once again amazed at how God works out even the smallest things for us.

Not only has this family been an enormous blessing, but I am falling more and more in love with these students. The fact that every time I see one of the girls from my Sunday school class or small group they are genuinely excited to see me and introduce me to whoever they're with (even if it's friends!) makes my heart so happy. I am excited to go on this mission trip with them and see how God is going to use them in the lives of the kids we're working with in Louisiana. The high school group is all kinds of wonderful too. A few students in particular have made me smile this week. On Tuesday I had the opportunity to hang out with some of the guys for a few hours and it was so much fun. Initially they were helping us sand down wood blocks for a project, but it turned into a trip to Dippin' Dots before heading to middle school house church to lead worship. Such an amazing time. That was probably one of the highlights of the week. It was the first time I had sung for the middle school group, so I was nervous, as usual, but the guys that lead with me took that away in no time. The guys are crazy and hilarious and remind me so much of my small group guys at home that it's almost like I'm not away at all. I am so thankful that they are willing to let me in and spend time with me and not feel weird because I'm not 'one of the guys'. They will never know how much they have blessed me. There are also some girls that I have gotten close to. Sisters that remind me so much of my best friend and her little sister that it's insanity. I got to hang out with them Thursday night at the Freedom Celebration and it was fun. We've made plans to go to the art museum in Birmingham on one of my days off. I can't wait! I am constantly amazed by how my God orchestrates things exactly how he wants them and most of the time I have no idea what he's doing for me until after the fact. I have met so many amazing new people here this summer, but I have also found people who feel like home. This place and these people will forever hold a piece of my heart.

-C