VLT (Vineyard Leadership Training)
My small group leaders, Bob and Kelley, invited me to attend VLT with them tonight. I had not been able to attend before or actually really get involved with the church recently because I've been quite busy with school.. and umm... a somewhat decent social life. To put it bluntly, I was putting God on the back burner so I could go out and have a good time. I've payed for it consequently in finding myself being depressed, worried, struggling with things I haven't had to struggle with for a long time, frustration, and a loss of passion for Jesus. Nevertheless, I saw my rapidly decending momentum and have put it to a halt. I'm working on becoming close to God once again and patching up all the damage of my worldy living. And to top it off.. I'm throwing myself head first into church and making God a number one factor in my life. So when Bob and Kelley invited me to VLT, I jumped at the chance!
Quickly, my work load has piled up and my energy level was sapped. I knew that I wanted and needed to go, but there is this mounting need to stay home and do homework. But that's foolishness! I know that by focusing on God, and making time for Him, and exerting some effort and planting seeds, that the Lord will reward me. With the attention focused on Him, He will help me focus on my work and the other things in my life. When I make time for Jesus, He always makes time for me to enjoy the things I like to do and so that all my work gets done in a timely fashion with a little extra to spare. When I give Him my energy be it at worship or just staying awake the extra however many minutes/hours it takes to pray, listen to a sermon, read my bible .. whatever, I know that He will strengthen me to get through my day and have plenty of pep too! And with each seed I plant, it will blossom and be fruitful. Yay Jesus!
Dinner was served before the meeting, and it was good too! MMmmm.. free food! Always a good time. At the meeting, we discussed some events that are coming up, any problems that need to be addressed, and then there was a word of Encouragement. It came from Exodus 33:14, "The Lord replied, My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." Recently I have been dealing with the fact that I haven't been able to 'feel' God lately .. His presence ... in my life. But that's just how I felt. The reality is that God is always with me, whether I realize it, feel it, see it, or not. He's always there! And I know I'm here.. in Urbana-Champaign.. at U of I... at the Krannert Center.. for a reason. And in this.. I hear God speaking to me. He will not abandon me to the wiles of the devil.. He will not leave me to fall into the hands of the world.. He has already delivered me! And when I came here.. He came with me. He came before me! He prepared the way.. how else do you explain all the perfectness of my situation?! He is with me now and He will be with me throughout the rest of my career/life here. And I know that in His presence, I will prosper. Those around me will be blessed and their lives will change. It will not be me they see, but Him.
Can you believe I got that much out of a 5 minute word of encouragement?! You should see what happens when I get a Word of Knowledge/Wisdom while reading a verse in the Bible! hahaha. Anywho.. we then worshipped for a bit which was amazing. It's so great.. I can feel God again. And I know I shouldn't rely on that.. but God's presence is so awesome! Jesus and I rocked out together... lol.. seriously!
After worship we split up into our 'zones.' We belong to the Young Adult Zone and we did more announcements, questions, and just general updates. Afterwards we broke up into 'SubZones' where we prayed for one another stuff. It was good. Then we broke up into Boys and Girls in the 'Subzones.' It was here that I finally had the courage to ask for prayer, and I'm glad I did! I asked that the other ladies would pray for Claire and I. And did they go to town. I felt so energized, inspired, refreshed, and at peace with the prayer. They spoke such great words of encouragement, blessings, strength, words of knowledge and just great stuff over me. But not just for me.. but for Claire too. The one girl.. Ellen, she gave me a new title.. I believe it was something along the lines of: Anna Marie, Special Covert Operations. Basically.. the ability to pray and touch people with God's words without them really knowing. That little hints.. drops of grace and love from God, would flow through my words into their hearts and minds when I spoke. And of course.. a hug ministry! This was so random and it made us all laugh! But it was great. I love hugging and I love giving hugs.. and well.. Hugs just rule! So they prayed that whenever I hug someone, little "Barbs of Jesus" would stick to them. hahaha. I thought that was great! I am so thankful for these prayers and I feel so much better. I'm really excited!
Afterwards.. Kelley told me that she would like me to Intern with her and Bob for leadership/small group training. Not to take over their small group, but perhaps to have one of my own some day or something. I'm kind of nervous.. shy, and don't really feel up to the task. But.. that's just foolishness. I have to remember what Brad spoke about the other night. He talked about how Moses asked God, "Who am I? I'm not this great speaker or anything..." But of course God replied that He is in charge and that'd He'd teach Moses what to say and stuff. And I have to do the same. I have to be willing and make myself available to God. Yes, by myself I cannot do this. But.. with God, all things are possible!
My small group leaders, Bob and Kelley, invited me to attend VLT with them tonight. I had not been able to attend before or actually really get involved with the church recently because I've been quite busy with school.. and umm... a somewhat decent social life. To put it bluntly, I was putting God on the back burner so I could go out and have a good time. I've payed for it consequently in finding myself being depressed, worried, struggling with things I haven't had to struggle with for a long time, frustration, and a loss of passion for Jesus. Nevertheless, I saw my rapidly decending momentum and have put it to a halt. I'm working on becoming close to God once again and patching up all the damage of my worldy living. And to top it off.. I'm throwing myself head first into church and making God a number one factor in my life. So when Bob and Kelley invited me to VLT, I jumped at the chance!
Quickly, my work load has piled up and my energy level was sapped. I knew that I wanted and needed to go, but there is this mounting need to stay home and do homework. But that's foolishness! I know that by focusing on God, and making time for Him, and exerting some effort and planting seeds, that the Lord will reward me. With the attention focused on Him, He will help me focus on my work and the other things in my life. When I make time for Jesus, He always makes time for me to enjoy the things I like to do and so that all my work gets done in a timely fashion with a little extra to spare. When I give Him my energy be it at worship or just staying awake the extra however many minutes/hours it takes to pray, listen to a sermon, read my bible .. whatever, I know that He will strengthen me to get through my day and have plenty of pep too! And with each seed I plant, it will blossom and be fruitful. Yay Jesus!
Dinner was served before the meeting, and it was good too! MMmmm.. free food! Always a good time. At the meeting, we discussed some events that are coming up, any problems that need to be addressed, and then there was a word of Encouragement. It came from Exodus 33:14, "The Lord replied, My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." Recently I have been dealing with the fact that I haven't been able to 'feel' God lately .. His presence ... in my life. But that's just how I felt. The reality is that God is always with me, whether I realize it, feel it, see it, or not. He's always there! And I know I'm here.. in Urbana-Champaign.. at U of I... at the Krannert Center.. for a reason. And in this.. I hear God speaking to me. He will not abandon me to the wiles of the devil.. He will not leave me to fall into the hands of the world.. He has already delivered me! And when I came here.. He came with me. He came before me! He prepared the way.. how else do you explain all the perfectness of my situation?! He is with me now and He will be with me throughout the rest of my career/life here. And I know that in His presence, I will prosper. Those around me will be blessed and their lives will change. It will not be me they see, but Him.
Can you believe I got that much out of a 5 minute word of encouragement?! You should see what happens when I get a Word of Knowledge/Wisdom while reading a verse in the Bible! hahaha. Anywho.. we then worshipped for a bit which was amazing. It's so great.. I can feel God again. And I know I shouldn't rely on that.. but God's presence is so awesome! Jesus and I rocked out together... lol.. seriously!
After worship we split up into our 'zones.' We belong to the Young Adult Zone and we did more announcements, questions, and just general updates. Afterwards we broke up into 'SubZones' where we prayed for one another stuff. It was good. Then we broke up into Boys and Girls in the 'Subzones.' It was here that I finally had the courage to ask for prayer, and I'm glad I did! I asked that the other ladies would pray for Claire and I. And did they go to town. I felt so energized, inspired, refreshed, and at peace with the prayer. They spoke such great words of encouragement, blessings, strength, words of knowledge and just great stuff over me. But not just for me.. but for Claire too. The one girl.. Ellen, she gave me a new title.. I believe it was something along the lines of: Anna Marie, Special Covert Operations. Basically.. the ability to pray and touch people with God's words without them really knowing. That little hints.. drops of grace and love from God, would flow through my words into their hearts and minds when I spoke. And of course.. a hug ministry! This was so random and it made us all laugh! But it was great. I love hugging and I love giving hugs.. and well.. Hugs just rule! So they prayed that whenever I hug someone, little "Barbs of Jesus" would stick to them. hahaha. I thought that was great! I am so thankful for these prayers and I feel so much better. I'm really excited!
Afterwards.. Kelley told me that she would like me to Intern with her and Bob for leadership/small group training. Not to take over their small group, but perhaps to have one of my own some day or something. I'm kind of nervous.. shy, and don't really feel up to the task. But.. that's just foolishness. I have to remember what Brad spoke about the other night. He talked about how Moses asked God, "Who am I? I'm not this great speaker or anything..." But of course God replied that He is in charge and that'd He'd teach Moses what to say and stuff. And I have to do the same. I have to be willing and make myself available to God. Yes, by myself I cannot do this. But.. with God, all things are possible!
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