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
Showing posts with label Youth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Youth. Show all posts
Monday, July 27, 2015
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Just Some Thoughts on Waiting
Earlier today, I was thinking back to a conversation that I had with two of our young ladies following youth camp. It was one of those conversations that are wholesome and bring you closer to one another. I love those conversations.
It began with one of the young ladies talking about a recent trial that she has been dealing with and how God is getting her through it. She spoke of how she knew that she was in the will of God and that she trusted that He was going to work it out for her good. The conversation slowly moved and evolved, changing to where all of us could effectively add to the conversation with our own experiences and struggles.
Then we began to talk about the goodness of God, which happens to be one of my favorite topics. I mean, how could I not talk about it when God is so good to me all the time?! We told stories of the things that God has done for us, the prayers that He has answered, and all the times He has been there for us. If you know anything about us or TLC, you know that we have been blessed beyond measure with so many things: ministries, a wonderful heritage, incredible moves of God, being involved in the work of God all over the world; We have so many things to be thankful for! That being said, conversations like this one generally don't end very quickly!
I began to talk about how awesome it is that God cares for each and every one of us. He listens to us, He hears our prayers. He works on our behalf and will go out of His way to reach us. He is such a good God!
Then the other young lady began sharing a story from camp. She talked about the storm we had Friday afternoon at camp and how she didn't want to get wet. She needed to go do her hair for church but didn't really want to get out of the dorm because it was raining so hard (I had an umbrella and was dripping from head to toe. No lie.). She casually prayed and asked God to make it stop raining because she didn't want to get wet. She then went outside and trekked to the bath house so that she could do her hair. By the time that she got there, she was soaked and decided to just take a shower because she was dripping wet. A few minutes later, she was doing her hair and another young lady walked in. As she came in the door, she commented on how weird the weather was and proceeded to tell about how, even though it was an incredibly heavy downpour moments ago, it had stopped raining and the sun was out and shining brightly. The young lady that had wanted to badly to not get wet began to think about this development. She finished getting ready and continued to ponder. She told us, "What would have happened if I had just trusted God and waited on Him? I wouldn't have gotten soaked and had to deal with the mess. It would've been a lot easier on me if I had just let God work before trying to go and do what I wanted to do.".
This stuck with me all these weeks. To some, it may seem trivial, but I believe that there is a lesson to be learned here. Perhaps God desires to do something for you, You've prayed about it and asked Him, but you don't see any differences and you're about to give up on waiting. Through the Bible, we know that good things come to those that wait upon the Lord and His timing. When you do, you won't have to 'deal with the mess' of doing it on your time.
I know, that whatever my walk with God brings me, wherever it leads me, and whatever He has me to do, I want to wait on His perfect timing so that I don't make a mess of things!
It began with one of the young ladies talking about a recent trial that she has been dealing with and how God is getting her through it. She spoke of how she knew that she was in the will of God and that she trusted that He was going to work it out for her good. The conversation slowly moved and evolved, changing to where all of us could effectively add to the conversation with our own experiences and struggles.
Then we began to talk about the goodness of God, which happens to be one of my favorite topics. I mean, how could I not talk about it when God is so good to me all the time?! We told stories of the things that God has done for us, the prayers that He has answered, and all the times He has been there for us. If you know anything about us or TLC, you know that we have been blessed beyond measure with so many things: ministries, a wonderful heritage, incredible moves of God, being involved in the work of God all over the world; We have so many things to be thankful for! That being said, conversations like this one generally don't end very quickly!
I began to talk about how awesome it is that God cares for each and every one of us. He listens to us, He hears our prayers. He works on our behalf and will go out of His way to reach us. He is such a good God!
Then the other young lady began sharing a story from camp. She talked about the storm we had Friday afternoon at camp and how she didn't want to get wet. She needed to go do her hair for church but didn't really want to get out of the dorm because it was raining so hard (I had an umbrella and was dripping from head to toe. No lie.). She casually prayed and asked God to make it stop raining because she didn't want to get wet. She then went outside and trekked to the bath house so that she could do her hair. By the time that she got there, she was soaked and decided to just take a shower because she was dripping wet. A few minutes later, she was doing her hair and another young lady walked in. As she came in the door, she commented on how weird the weather was and proceeded to tell about how, even though it was an incredibly heavy downpour moments ago, it had stopped raining and the sun was out and shining brightly. The young lady that had wanted to badly to not get wet began to think about this development. She finished getting ready and continued to ponder. She told us, "What would have happened if I had just trusted God and waited on Him? I wouldn't have gotten soaked and had to deal with the mess. It would've been a lot easier on me if I had just let God work before trying to go and do what I wanted to do.".
This stuck with me all these weeks. To some, it may seem trivial, but I believe that there is a lesson to be learned here. Perhaps God desires to do something for you, You've prayed about it and asked Him, but you don't see any differences and you're about to give up on waiting. Through the Bible, we know that good things come to those that wait upon the Lord and His timing. When you do, you won't have to 'deal with the mess' of doing it on your time.
I know, that whatever my walk with God brings me, wherever it leads me, and whatever He has me to do, I want to wait on His perfect timing so that I don't make a mess of things!
Isaiah 40:31
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Monday, July 6, 2015
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)
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)
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