i'm making bacon! would you like some fries with that?

Today I was in charge of weekend kitchen crew. That means there is a group of 4 or 5 of us who have to cook and clean up after breakfast and dinner. we get about 2 hours to make dinner. so when we showed up and realized that we were supposed to make roast beef (which takes 5 hours) we decided to sawp out meals! Unfortunately we had no meat thawed, so we made BACON! I was given the ok to make whatever, so we made a unanimous decision to make blt’s. they were delicious. And now I smell like bacon!

On Thursday and Friday we spent our days reflecting on the Acts 1 conference. We had different prayer rooms and large group times to just process all that we had been seeing and experiencing. It was super relaxing and renewing. Saturday we went to the mall. It was actually very fun. I just loved spending time with the 6 other girls that were in my car. So fun. Also we went to the ARC and I got two grandma sweaters for $3 a piece! So good and so warm. Perfect for this cold weather we have been having! The snow has not melted completely, and I’m sure we’ll be getting more soon!

This next week is relationships week. it’ll be good. Also we find out for sure who is on our outreach teams! Once that happens, I’ll be sure to let you all know more about it! But I am really so excited for our trip. The people that are interested are such good people, and we have an awesome leader!

Well, now off to watch “what about bob?” I’ll write more later!  

indescribable!

we just got back from the Acts 1 conference! it was an amazing experience. we spent three days seeking God's face. we had three three hours sessions each day. we spent that time following the Spirit's leading, worshiping, praying, teaching, ministering. it was seriously a powerful time. God was so faithful to me in His promise of "seek and you shall find". i sought His face so hard this past few days, and i FOUND HIM. it was an awesome time. i was so blessed to be a part of a group of this generation sold out for Jesus. there were times when i cried my eyes out. there were times when i was dancing with joy. so good.

i've also been getting closer to my family here. it's so good to be a part of such an encouraging group. i love my brothers and sisters! p.s. also, shout out to my small group leader mary. she's amazing. talks to me just like i need it. you're the best!

yes, this post is short. but i can't express what my heart is feeling! God is good.

is this boot camp?

there we were, all sleeping peacefully in our nice warm beds when all of a sudden an alarm was blaring and lights were flashing! the fire alarm went off in the middle of the night! (ok, so it was really 6:30. but it was dark and felt like the middle of the night!) we all jumped out of bed and scrambled around to put pants or a shirt or shoes or whatever we needed on. the girls were awesome and we all made it to the gym (our meeting place) super quick. it took about 20 minutes of just waiting around in the cold before the fire department came and let us back in the buildings. it turns out a light bulb was sparking and set off the alarm. everyone's ok. but it did feel like we were in some sort of boot camp!

last week was "Father Heart of God" week. our speaker took lots of time letting us soak up who our Father is. it was a good time of learning and experiencing Him more. today we leave for the Acts 1 conference. it's a conference for all the YWAM schools in colorado. we will spend three days together with worship and teaching and lots and lots of fellowship. {p.s. there's also chick-fil-a} it will be a fun time down in colorado springs!

saturday was a very productive day for me. i slept in. got lots of writing that i had to do done. i skyped my parents and a friend. worked on a puzzle. played some volleyball and pool. 

then, as i was wandering around on pinterest i saw this amazing dessert. i showed some guys and they got so excited, one of them bought the ingredients for it when they went out. so a few of us baked! it was so fun. and tasty! basically you take a pan and press chocolate chip cookie dough in the bottom, cover that with oreos, then pour brownie mix on top and bake it. SO SO SO GOOD. here's a picture from the blog i saw it on. they were gone too fast for me to get a picture! 

and then we finished the night off with 3 hours of murder in the dark. usually when i play this game i get accused as the murderer straight away, whether they suspect me or not. so i was really surprised when i was one of the killers the first round, my partner in crime got eliminated the next round, and i kept killing and my name wasn't even mentioned like at all! it was soo good! one time i killed three girls and then i thought two people saw me so i killed them fast too. and i got away with it! it was crazy! but that night was really fun. 

i am genuinely loving my family here. it's such a blessing to be so close to these people. 

and now it's time for lunch. p.s. mom, do you want to mail me a pizza???!! ;)

the character and nature of God

wow. i thought i would be writing more. i really did! maybe that'll change now that we're in a pretty set routine. :)

our first week of teaching was on the character and nature of God. our speaker was Pastor Blake Mattocks, from a church here in colorado. it was so good. Pastor Blake had such good information and truth about who our God is. and he made it so applicable at the same time. he didn't just throw a bunch of theology at us, but had deep information that was totally relatable as well. i'll try to sum up the 15 hours of teaching into a few short points, but i just might overload you guys.

the goal of Christianity is transformation. everything else flows from there! 

gifts are given, but character is developed. you will never rise above the limitations of your character!

courage is choosing conviction over compromise.

learned truth must become living truth. most often we learn things in "public" but master them in "private."

you live the testimony you choose! 

contentment is a learned behavior. it is a secret discovered through spending time with God. it frees you to enjoy what you have now. 

"when are you going to enjoy the process of walking with me?" -God (this hit me really hard)

Jesus will always identify Himself in the midst of a storm. 

changing the world is not always doing the great thing. being a world changer is being the best at what God called me to do. 

the smallest act of obedience is always greater than the greatest of intentions. 

one of the best ways to stop judging people is to show them kindness! 

celebrate the little wins as spectacular wins! 

and of course we had a teaching about "monsters in the dark" that were hiding inside of us, while we were hoping we would just "outgrow" them. it was a powerful time of getting into small groups and stating what those monsters were and declaring the truth over them and then praying for each other!

on monday i was part of a group that went around arvada praying for and reading scripture over important places in the city. we stopped at the fire station, police station, hospital, high school, and a middle school. aww man, when we pulled up to the middle school my heart just broke. i just love those kids. i miss highlife a lot. but it was a good reminder to pray for them on my drive back home! (which is 40 minutes each time we go up or down the mountain!)

i'm really loving my small group. we are such a diverse group of people. mary, our fearless leader, is a crazy woman of God who hears from God in crazy ways. did i mention she's crazy?!? alyssa comes from a rough background and has quite the testimony. she's dealt with everything you can think of and Jesus brought her out of it! shanteyl comes from a messianic jew background. emery is from a cow farm and is the sweetest girl you will ever meet. i know Jesus put us together for a reason!

oh, and i got two packages already! SCORE! :) one from my wonderful aunt and uncle that contained cookies cutters shaped like each of the continents! so cool! and of course my mama sent me cookies and rice krispies. i needed some sugar! i love you guys!

well, i should go to bed. it's officially and hours and ten minutes past my bedtime. :P

class time, old people, and brownies.

hey everyone!

well it's been a crazy whirlwind the last few days! we finished off our first week with more bonding stuff. we played a scavenger hunt/pictionary/charades games and my team totally kicked butt! it was so much fun. a couple girls and i also built a fort! seriously, we spent like an hour making it perfect! it brought me back to when i was younger and we would make forts and put blankets inside and listen to odyssey for hours. so much fun.

weekends we have it pretty much free. saturday there is always a "trip" that we can go on. this weekend some people took a trip to target. i stayed back and was going to go on a hike that was organized. unfortunately, the weather was cold and icy and we had to cancel our hike. so it was a super chill day just hanging out and doing nothing. on sunday we went into town for church. after that we pretty much did nothing. we've been playing lots of volleyball and pool. yes, we have had to read a book for a book report we'll have to do next week. but other than that it's been real fun.

monday started our "normal schedule". every monday we'll go down the mountain to the base in arvada and spend the day there. in the morning we have a group worship time, followed by small groups for a couple hours. after lunch we are given the chance to do some laundry. a group of us went to one laundromat and another girl and i walked until we found a grocery store in search for some ice cream. we bought a half gallon of ice cream and demolished more than half of it! also, it was really funny to watch the guys do their laundry! when we got back to the base guess what we did? that's right, more volleyball. :) after dinner we have community outreach. my group went to the care center. it was so much fun talking to the old folks there! they are so full of joy. it was fun just laughing with them. then we went back up the mountain to eagle rock. it was kind of weird going from "home" at eagle rock to the base down in arvada. i almost felt like a stranger! but it was good to get to know the students and staff down there.

today we had our first official day of class. it was good to get into a routine! our speaker for the first week is amazing. already we've learned so much. i can't wait for the rest of the week! oh and also, TODAY WE GOT BROWNIES! they hadn't given us any sugar yet and i was so craving so dessert! but that craving was satisfied and it was so so good. oh, we also found out our work duties today. i am on dinner prep. so i get to cook dinner four times a week! it's fun! so much better than having to do dishes.

right now, almost everyone is watching tangled. it feels like it's been a month already. i love all these people so much. but for now, time for sleep!

day three

well, so far my time at dts has been amazing.

i live in a room with 5 other girls. it's SO much more spacious than i thought. and yes, we do have to keep it clean as we have room checks. :) i really love the girls that i am rooming with. we are all pretty different, but everyone is so genuine that i think this is gonna work out well.














we have been doing so much already. today we drove up to estes park and went for a hike. it was crazy! either it was really steep or i'm really out of shape. probably a little of both. it was beautiful though. so many cool rock and trees. i just wanted to snap a million pictures, but i restrained myself! when we got up to the top we just hung out, ate lunch, and prayed a little for the countries our outreaches are going to. here are a few pictures of the sights i saw at estes.

this first week is very much a "bonding and get to know the camp" week. we've had to share a short little testimony and it's been awesome to hear everyone's story. i honestly really like everyone here. we've had a few worship times, and they've been so good. yes we have homework, but no worries. it's not due for another two weeks! you can pray for me though. today has been super tough. i'm struggling and confused about a lot of stuff. i just want to be open to whatever God wants to teach me during this time. but it's hard.

it's only day three, alex. there's so much more in store! i can't wait to share it all with you!