LIFE Weekend Away

Okay...So I actually started to write this blog last week but didn't get a chance to finish before I left on the youth mission. So this was actually two weekends ago. I will post more about the mission, soon. It was amazing. Pictures are hopefully coming, too.

Well, it's been another amazing couple of weeks in London! The Lord continues to show up and I am continually blessed by the power of what he can do when he moves! This last weekend I went on the LIFE weekend away. LIFE is the name of the group for the older kids attending Christ Church. It ended up being a weekend where we had four kids and five adults. It was absolutely crazy. The world would say that it would be pointless to take four kids away for a weekend. That's not a youth group. I am learning so much about how the world focuses on numbers and the Lord focuses on lives changed.

Four was the absolute perfect number for the weekend. This was a weekend about establishing relationships between the youth and the leaders. The crazy thing was that, not only were there only four kids, but they were all boys! I am actually really starting to enjoy being a part of these young men's lives. It was a really powerful weekend. We played lots of fun games. We had a teaching time on worship and even did some prophetic worship together. We were in Margate which is in the southeastern part of England (I think). We were right on the water. It was beautiful; a bit cloudy, but we never really got rained on. The boys were so fun. The great part was watching them come together as a team. These are not boys who normally hang out with each other, so it was fun to see them start to go deeper in friendships. The thing I love about God is he is all about relationship. He longs for us to not only have an amazing relationship with Him, but he loves for us to have deep relationships with others, too. The other great thing about this weekend was the fact that I got to know the leaders better. I am really enjoying getting to know Rachel, Andrew's wife, and Jo, another female leader. I feel like there was good male bonding going on with the boys and the leaders and that we, women, also had a chance to really get to know each other. I am excited about having deeper friendships with these people.

The highlight of the weekend was definitely Saturday afternoon. We had a time of prophetic worship. It was incredible. It almost felt like I was at home with all my good friends worshiping and praying to the Lord. I am amazed that the Lord is using me to teach about intercession and prayer, but I am blown away by the fact that he is also using me to teach about incorporating worship into all of this, too. It blows my mind that this thing that is so fresh and new to me is something that I am now helping to share with the other side of the world. The Lord has been revealing that having this knowledge come from me is good because it's a good reminder that you don't have to be an amazing musician or singer in order to take part in prophetic worship because I am not super at either of those things. Two of the boys we took along with us are incredible musicians and so they were really into it. They did a great job! After a little fear was broken, these young men went deep after the Lord. One young lad does not think of himself as musical (although he actually can sing), but the Lord used him to bring in a powerful piece of scripture to enhance the time. When he spoke out this scripture was really when the worship began to go deeper. It was amazing. Please be praying for these young people as we begin to dive deeper into prayer and worship. I know that the Lord has an even deeper level that He wants to take them. This prophetic worship time has led to other stuff, too, which I will mention when I talk about the mission trip that I just got back from.

Again, I am reminded that the Lord is good. I am really enjoying being a part of firmly establishing the LIFE team. These are a great group of young people and the Lord is using them powerfully. This weekend was just another step in growing in unity and trust and ripping down any barriers that they may have up. It was quite a joy to spend my time with them. I am so excited for the next few months to really get to know these young people, as well as the leadership team! I feel very blessed to be exactly where I am right now!