Ain't God Good?

Isn't God good?

On Friday night we had youth service. This time, it was upstairs in the youth auditorium at the church, rather than in the chapel at the school (which is where we usually have service). The chapel was under construction, the gym floors were being stripped, scrubbed, resurfaced, and buffed, and a lot of cleaning was taking place. The youth auditorium was also under construction. We had to figure out where to have some church. (We don't like having youth service in the main auditorium if it is just youth because it is too spread out.) We decided to have church in the youth auditorium, in the midst of the chaos. We shoved the mess to the back of the now 1 room auditorium, vacuumed,set up chairs, a piano, a pitiful set of drums (I mean pitiful. I don't know where we found them, but we must've been really searching to find some with such...unique characteristics...). Along side our meager two piece band, we had two speakers, 3 mics (total), and a pulpit. To make the situation even better, for some reason, the air conditioner was not working.-Not a good thing here in Oklahoma right now! Especially when its upstairs with no air flow other than a small fan.
I got there a few minutes early to make sure everything had been cleaned up and was ready to go for service and when I saw the arrangements, I said "Well, the Lord is gonna have to do a work for us in here tonight!"
We ended up having to add four rows of chairs. We had at least 10 visitors and it was wonderful!
We got down to pray for pre-service prayer. BOOM. God moved. Without any prompting, without any music, one-by-one, we all stood to our feet and began to give God the worship that He is so worthy of. Then service began. God moved all throughout the worship service. There was such a spirit of worship that filled that messy, suffocatingly hot room. Bro. Rodgers got up to preach. He preached about getting under a burden. Somethings that he said really stood out to me.
1) In the story of the prodigal son, where was the older brother? Why did he run after his brother, pleading for him to not make the terrible mistake of leaving? What happened?
2) It is more than just having a burden for the lost. We need a burden for one another. We need to care enough about each other that we carry a burden and intercede for our brothers and sisters.

When altar service began, the Lord completed the work that he began at the beginning of the service. A backslider prayed through, another visitor was seeking God in the altars, and young people were getting burdens. It was amazing.
(It was also very hot.)
After service ended, we put everything away so the carpets could be shampooed, and we went on a journey...to Freddy's. YUM!-And definitely an improvement from Whataburger! Praise-allujah. ;)

Then on Sunday, God moved again. It wasn't a fast paced, super upbeat service. It was one of those times when everything is slow and sweet and worship just flows from the depth of your heart directly to the throne of God. The choir sang, the preacher preached, and another backslider prayed through. Several more visitors were in the altars seeking God, and a couple  of them came very close to receiving the Holy Ghost.
I am so delighted to see how God is moving and working among His people! It is such a privilege and an excitement to be involved! I can't wait to see what else He is going to do!-Especially with ADMIT coming up.
Speaking of ADMIT...
Yesterday after church, some of the young people were going to go ride bike after church. Its becoming a tradition and I must say that I thoroughly enjoy it.
Anyway, we went out to eat at El Tequila. I got pollo flautas with rice, guacamole, and pico and some horchata. Yum. (It was quite the funny experience, using what little espanol I know with the waiter. Even though it was mostly 'gracias' and 'de nada' that was being passed between us. haha)
And, funny story:
I was doing my hair for church and I did my customary 'ask Trent what he thinks about it' move. So the conversation goes something like
"Hey Trent...does my hair look okay like this?"
"Yeah, it looks okay."
"Are you sure? I just generally don't do these curls like this..."
"Yeah, it looks okay."
Then THIS happened.
While we were waiting on our food, Brittany turned to me and asked if I knew that Trent didn't like my hair. I said no and told her our conversation from that morning.
Apparently Trent doesn't like it when we do our hair with curls 'everywhere' (I pulled a few curls from the front of my head back to my mass of curls in the back. Think Sis. Jones without that many curls going back.) and proceeded to tell Brittany, who also had her hair in similar fashion. Anyway, for the rest of the night Trent got to hear us say that things were 'okay' and then we would turn to the person next to us and state how much we disliked it. He is never going to live that down. haha
I digress.
While we were out, we were made aware of a need. The grout at the church and school needed to be scrubbed for ADMIT. We decided to go and help out, and then if we got done in time, we would still go ride bikes. (I have scrubbed the grout many a time and let me tell you, it is a j-o-b! Like a multiple person, multiple day kind of j-o-b. So from about 6:30 to 9:00 we scrubbed tile and grout. It is a seriously disgusting job.-the grout looks black...it is actually extremely dirty white grout. True story.
I only have one picture on my phone from it and unfortunately, I can't show it to you. Kristen disapproved.
Anyway, we managed to get most of the ladies bathroom done. And it'll have to be gone over again. But we are making progress so I guess that is good news.
After we left, we went to Sonic to get ice cream. Or what started out as ice cream but ended in chili cheese coneys, hot dogs, cheeseburgers, and tater tots. What can I say? We are apostolic...
I must say that I am so glad that I am surrounded with young people that are interested in the work of God and will work for Him, even when it isn't convenient or 'fun'.-though we generally end up having a blast, Seriously. If you don't enjoy working for the Lord, come visit the TLC young people for a while. We always have fun. :)
On another, somewhat (very) similar note, I am so excited for ADMIT!! God always does wonderful things for His people and it is such a blessing to be a part of. I can honestly say that I get so much out of it every year, even though I don't get to attend all of the sessions.

This was post was full of ramblings and my sincerest apologies to you if you actually read all of this. Maybe I'll actually get some interesting content out soon. Maybe. ;)

Peace be with you and your mashed potatoes...or whatever.
Ciao!
Lauren Bundy

Threescore and Ten Pt. 1

Summer Heritage was amazing this year. Its always amazing, but this year? I honestly believe that it was vital to the growth and continuation of the church in America as well as in other parts of the world. Why? Because we are now carrying the torch.

Every minister that preached at the conference had to be at least 70 years old (hence the 'Threescore and Ten' theme that was used there). They came burdened, passionate, and anointed and we left that way. In every service, we discovered that we have power, that God is our strength, that He is everything that we need, that he'll take care of us, and also that we must carry the torch. We were challenged to trust him and follow him without hesitation. I know I will.

Here is the line-up/service schedule:
Wednesday Night: 
Eld. Tommy Jackson - "Who's Going to Tell It When We're Gone?"
Thursday Morning: 
Eld. Allen Picklesimer - "Sardis; The Church that Used to Be"
Eld. Morton -"Oh Taste and See"
Thursday Night:
Eld Johnny Godair - "The Rod of God"
Friday Morning:
Eld Moody - "Don't Throw Away Your Future Thinking About Your Past"
Friday Night:
Eld. Morton - "Are You Going to be a Wise Man or a Fool?"

God called and anointed us. He challenged us. He gave us strength and faith. God moved.

While we were gone, we had at least 5 healings in our youth group alone. At church yesterday, we had another one.

We discovered the power that we have through Jesus. No devil scares me. No spirit frightens me. No type of fear can claim me. I have the power of the name that is above every name.

Another thing that happened: God brought someone into my life that I needed right at that moment. I knew this young man for about 24 hours before God used him to talk to my heart and challenge me to be stronger and better. He talked with me and cried with me and gave me so much. I definitely wouldn't have gotten everything that I did if he hadn't shared his burden with me. I am so thankful that God blesses His people with fellowship and relationships that can bring them closer to Him! God is good to us, isn't he?

I'll be posting more soon, along with some pictures. Check back soon!

Just What We've All Been Waiting For!

Who is excited to find out who our guest is? I know I am! (Except for the fact that I already know who it is...but I'm still excited!) I have decided to make the grand announcement today...
Who is it? Melissa Garcia from Melissa's Song (follow her blog if you aren't already.-I've heard she has some great things coming up.)

As many of you know, I met Melissa very briefly at Summer Heritage a couple of years ago. By briefly I mean, she told me that she liked my dress and I said thank you. It was that brief. Literally. The next year, I was standing in the lobby at our hotel and saw her standing in front of me. In typical Lauren fashion, I point blank asked her how I was supposed to know her because I felt like I had seen her before. So she reminded me of our encounter the previous year and we began to talk. For a long time. People began to ask us how long we had known each other and mention that we acted like life long friends. They were shocked when they found out that we had started talking within the last day or two. We swapped numbers and we text and FaceTime and all that jazz pretty much all the time. So when I asked her if she would write a blog post for me, she said yes and I got excited! Be prepared to read a post written by her sometime in the near future. (It'll be after Summer Heritage.)
Thanks for reading and be sure to follow her blog! You can find it through the link above or in my blogroll. Check it out. :)

Lauren Bundy

Somebody Get A Wheelchair.-We're Having A Birthday!

It's belated. Oh well. I told her on her actual birthday and gave her a card (there is a story with this card) and some chocolate...That is about as good as it got because it was Friday and I was at Camp so I couldn't throw her a legitimate party. *cue the sad trombone* Anyway, our crazy and mildly insane dear, sweet Brooklyn French turned 18 on July 3rd! So next time you see her, be sure to excitedly tell her happy birthday. Even three months later. Really. Its fun. ;)

Now for the story behind the card:
I went to Walmart to get some things for camp at the last minute (and I mean, I should've been packed and almost ready to leave for Thursday's evening service...but instead I was racing around trying to get last minute things so I could pack and get ready to leave. It was legitimately last minute.) and grabbed a card and a particular chocolate that is so addicting that you will never escape from its clutches once it gets you in its grasp. Well, it was pretty loud in Walmart. I don't know if you realized it or not, but Saturday was the Fourth of July, which is traditionally celebrated in America with parties, fireworks, lots of outdoors-y activities, etc. Which means that everyone and their brothers where at Walmart. So I was picking out a card and one caught my eye...It had a pretty little picture that reminded me of Brooklyn and myself when we were younger. It had a cute little quote about how friends are always there and blah blah. I opened it and it said happy birthday from the friend that will always be here or something to that effect. I noticed that it played music but I couldn't understand what it was playing. I liked the wording on the card so I decided to just go ahead and get it...Then I got in the car and realized what the little song was...I'm not 100% for sure, but I think it was "I'll Be There" from the Jackson 5. (I looked this up. I don't listen to this nonsense. Promise.) There was a slight problem. Part of the snippet that they used was hard to understand except for one phrase. "Baby, I'll be there" So I of course, had to explain to Brooklyn what had happened so that she wouldn't be utterly creep-ed out by it. We definitely got a good laugh from it though.-But hey, the chocolate was good, right? ;)

Anyway, I honestly do count it a privilege to be considered her friend. We have been friends since we were little people and I can't say that it has been smooth sailing the whole way. From uninviting each other to our nonexistent future weddings (as small children mind you. This wasn't last week!) to a few years ago when we managed to grow apart and travel down different paths for a while, we've had some bumps in the road. Okay, some of them were more like Oklahoma pot holes, but you know. I'm glad that this past year has brought us back together where we can hang out together and get mani-pedi's (Iee haa Chinese een mie famuhlee. Mie mom name Kim.) or we can link up and fight some battles in the Holy Ghost. Life has thrown us some curve balls, but regardless of what has happened, I can say that Brooklyn has been a true friend and I'm glad to call her one.

I'm proud of you Brooklyn and I can't wait to see how all God is going to use you and your testimony for His glory! Keep your chin up! :)
xo,
Lauren

(And yes, you should feel very special. This is an entire post dedicated to you. ;D)