What's all the fuss about??

Well I haven't blogged in a bit because I've been traveling here there and everywhere! But for any of you who have me on FB, Twitter, or Instagram you know that my most recent and exciting journey was with Powerlife Ministries! I know people who follow me must get so sick of hearing about Powerlife all the time but for those of you who have been joining me in prayer for these weeks or some of you who may just be curious, I thought I would share a little about what Powerlife is and what it means to me!



In summer 2006 I went to my first summer trip with Swords Creek Community. Little did I know by signing up for this trip how much Powerlife would affect my life in the coming years. I remember the theme that year was 'Citizens of Another World' and we spent the week learning about how to be set apart from the norms of the world.

I can remember crying on Friday night knowing that tomorrow we would have to leave and go back to the real world. At 15 I just couldn't understand why we as Christians couldn't live in such constant fellowship with Jesus and other believers all the time. To me it was the perfect world! My mom says the next day when I got home I said "Mom, that was the best week of my life." And it was. Until last year!

I continued to go to camp every year except for one that my youth group decided to do a missions trip. That year our youth group traveled to Johnson City on the Friday night of camp to watch the drama and I sat and cried thinking that I had missed camp and it just didn't feel right. After I graduated I went two years with my church as a youth counselor to help with the young girls. But last year God opened the door for Hannah and I to become Student Servants and serve with the staff. The Student Servants are a group of college age guys and girls who serve to love on the kids and help with setup, rec, and other random tasks.



Last year the theme was Life Changing Choices and serving with Powerlife was a for sure life changing choice for me. That summer we spent 3 weeks and a weekend together. I became part of a group that very quickly became family.



I got to see the behind the scenes of the camp that had been molding me for years and develop relationships with the staff that had been my role models throughout my teenage years. I qickly began to realize that while these people were not perfect, they displayed the love of Jesus and truth of the Gospel on and off stage. My relationship with the Lord grew in leaps and bounds during these weeks! Why you might ask? Because at Powerlife you get to do what we were created to do, focus on Jesus and glorify Him, all day, every day. You start out the morning with worship and Bible Study, then use your creative side to present the message of the week. Afternoons are spent in fellowship with other believers through sports, workshops and freetime. Evenings are filled with Praise and messages from people passionate about preaching the Word. As my old pastor use to say, "If that don't light your fire, your wood's wet."



So for 300+ days I counted down the days to Powerlife 2012! Though I kept in touch with most by visiting or calling, the longing for Powerlife could not be fulfilled until we were all reunited on July 6th! This year the theme was 'Follow the Leader'. In the mornings we journeyed through lives of the disciples on what it looked to follow and in some cases not follow Jesus. During the evenings we were challenged through messages to give Christ our all and get rid of anything standing in the way of truly following Him with everything. The weekend and two weeks I got to spend with my Powerlife family as we corporately worshiped Jesus and served high schoolers can not be expressed it words. It was simply the best two weeks of my year! We saw over 60 students accept Jesus and 12 give their lives to ministry. The work that has been done in these kids lives is something that only an amazing, holy, magnificent and miraculous God could do! I am so thankful to have been a part of Rick Coram Ministries through Powerlife! Leaving on Saturday knowing we were all spreading out to return home to several different states was sad and to be honest I am still missing them terrible. But the seeds sown these past couple weeks and the impacts made could never be measured. Our God is awesome and I am already anxiously counting down the days to Powerlife 2013!



Tomorrow I am going to post and share my personal testimony of what Jesus did in my life these last two weeks :)