Everyday Life

MAN, have I been holding out on you! So it’s been about a month since my last blog – I really need to step it up – and a LOT has happened. I’m not sure if this will be one ginormously long blog, or if I’ll split it up into a few. We shall see.

Let’s see, where to begin…the basics. I’ve been in the AMT (Advanced Ministry Training class) “Union with God” for the last few weeks (I’ll take four different AMTs throughout the year) and it has been awesome! I wasn’t so sure about it at first, but I knew I needed to grow in union/intimacy with God. I don’t think I knew what I was getting myself into. We show up, and our class is at the end of the day, so I’m already tired; and then the focus of this class is meditation. So I go in sleepy, and we BEGIN the class with meditation – I’ve seriously heard people snore before...hilarious! And our teacher says it happens every year; I actually feel super peaceful and relaxed afterward, yet somehow re-energized, so it’s worth it! We get to hear stories of all these great mystics (no, not people in the occult), which are those that are so in tune with God and aware of His presence in them, that the miraculous is a daily part of their lives and follows wherever they go! How awesome is that?! 

Side Note: Because I know a lot of people associate "mystics" or "mysticism" with new age, occult/demon stuff, here's something that I've heard on more than one occasion by different speakers - Everything "miraculous" that comes from those involved in the occult or demonic is a counterfeit of what God wants us to do/experience. For example, people get drunk off of alcohol; that's a counterfeit of being drunk in the Spirit, which is WAY better than alcohol, AND  you don't get the hangover haha; my point being, don't freak out about the word "mystic" until you know the origin behind the signs/wonders that follow them. Trust me, this was definitely something new for me too!

So I’m learning to be aware of God’s presence in me instead of always desiring His external presence and what I can feel; and I’ll tell you, being aware of Him inside of me brings about a whole new meaning/level to “peace that passes understanding.”  I  get done meditating (focusing on God/His word/His presence in me), even if for only 10 minutes, and almost feel drunk, because, my whole being is at peace…now that’s good stuff! How many of you need that in the middle of your crazy schedules? Everyone raise your hand, because we all need that!

Next, let’s see…ACTIVATION! This is our year-long community outreach. There are several Activations to choose from, and we had to wait like a whole month to see what we were placed in - can you say torture?! We chose our top five activations in September and just found out a couple of weeks ago which one we got. Although I didn’t get my first pick, God definitely knows what He’s doing, and I’m super excited to see what He has in store through my outreach – PROPHETIC ARTS. Ok, many of you are like, “What the heck is prophetic arts?” Well it obviously involves the prophetic, which is one of the main reasons I came here. I felt like God  has called me to speak into people’s lives and reveal the “gold” that He’s placed within them, which we do through the prophetic, and the next part – arts – involves anything artistic; it can be music, singing, rapping, writing (in any form), painting, drawing, dancing…you name it. You all probably know I love music (playing guitar and singing), but I also enjoy painting/drawing, even though I have no idea what I’m really doing, so I’m looking forward to growing in new areas of being artistic – we are all creative! I mean, we’re made in the image of the Creator, Who, I would say, is pretty creative…wouldn’t you agree? That means you’re creative too! So start asking the Creator what your creative ability is! The next aspect of my outreach is the specific ministry area I was placed in. I’m part of a “healing art” group; I will have the opportunity (this will be a first for Bethel students!) to go into hospitals (and other places) to release hope and healing  (physical, mental, emotional, etc) through art! How cool is that?! Not only do I get to release hope and healing to people in hospitals, but I get to help pioneer this for all Bethel students to come, since this will be the first time they'll be going into hospitals to do this. Our leaders have built such great rapport with the locals and the city here that the Lord continues to open doors! 

PS. Previously, the Lord has given people in prophetic art pictures to paint, and as people walk by the painting or hold it, they’re immediately healed! CRA-Z! Lots of good testimonies to follow throughout the year I'm sure!

OK, third definitely has to be my SPRING MISSION TRIP! Oh yeah! We chose our top five, out of like 50 choices – that’s a hard thing to narrow down – and found out last week where the Lord is taking us. I’m going to ENGLAND!

Ahhhhhh! So excited; I’ve wanted to go to England for a few years now just to go and experience a new culture, and not only is the Lord blessing me with the opportunity to go, but He’s letting me go to reveal His glory! Yeah, He’s definitely a good Dad :) SO (get ready for the support spiel), in order to take this trip, I obviously need support. The total trip cost is $2100; if the Lord leads you to sow into this journey and send me to England here’s a couple of things you can do (whichever you feel most comfortable with):

·         Donate Online Option #1 (TAX-DEDUCTIBLE) – go to https://www.ibssm.org/a/ and click on “give online” towards the bottom of the page; next click on “mission trip” and you’ll be able to type my name in to continue with giving.

·         Donate Online Option #2 (Non-Tax Deductible) – you can give online anytime through my blog; just click on “make a donation,” and if you’d like to donate towards something specific (mission trip, living expenses, etc) just let me know.

·         Send checks directly to me (Non-Tax Deductible) – some aren’t comfortable with giving online, so you can also send checks directly to me, which I can put towards my mission trip. You can send checks to:

                1781 Conifer Way

                Apt A

                Redding, CA 96002

If you have any questions about donations/giving to help support me over the year, just FB or Email (m.d.henderson8@gmail.com).

Well, I think this is long enough for one blog entry. This was just an update on what God is doing right now, but I’ve learned a lot over the last few weeks through our different speakers, so the awesome insights will come in another blog ;) I love all of you amazing people and am so blessed by you!

Safety First

No, this isn’t an overview on any procedural safety tips. It’s my “real real” time to share my struggle and how Holy Spirit totally rocked me during retreat! Ps. This is a long one…enjoy, because I won’t apologize for writing too much :)

So my struggle, I think especially for the last few years, has been letting people “in.” I’m very personal, and it takes a long time for me to let people get to know me, and even when I do, very few people (if any) see the “real” me. You know what I’m talking about when I say real real – when you practically shout a song while you’re driving in the car, or when you sneak in the kitchen to eat a PB&J at 2:00 a.m. OR it could be more serious, like sharing when you’re really struggling or needing to cry; I think most of us tend to hide away in private instead of running to someone for a hug, but I don’t think that’s how God created us to be, no matter how introverted or unsocial our tendencies may be.

So I’ve realized more and more, along with this struggle to let others into my life, that I’ve had a really hard time worshiping, whether leading or simply being in corporate worship. What’s up with that?! I know I’m called to worship, so there’s obviously something going on.  And here’s how I found out what it was…

So here’s what happened at retreat:

Day 1 – get to Chico and finally make it to the hotel at the YWAM facilities after driving 30 minutes down the longest driveway EVER with a car full of awesome gals. Unload, unpack, wander down to the dining room for dinner, and see NO ONE that I actually know in any way. Hello comfort zone…exploding beyond my limits. So I sit with some random people I don’t know and actually meet them, and realize they’re actually nice and enjoyable…crazy huh? Next a little free time, and then off to service numero uno. Great worship, a few tears; no holy rolling or Holy Ghost crunches, but a good word about identity and some fun time jumping around dancing at the end, gaining a little more freedom and peace than I came with. 

Where's Melody? Oh, in front of Drew - the guy that looks like he's fixing to eat the camera...or me.

Holy Ghost dance party...yeah, that's called freedom; you want some?

Day 2 – rise and shine, breakfast at 8:30; revival group next – what could we possibly do for three hours of revival group time? WELL…we make  a “riverbed” of ourselves –  no we’re not crazy, just hungry for more of the Lord and doing whatever it takes to receive all He has to give – and let His river flow over us; ok, definitely received some more peace, but still missing something and definitely needing something more from the Lord. Three hours of resting and worship goes by pretty quick actually. Lunch, then a few hours of free time. The whole herd practically took the same hike to one of the falls, which was actually really nice and refreshing…and only like a 10 minute walk on a flat trail (WAY better than the last “hike”).  Some good fellowship, dinner, and now it’s time for service numero dos – and I’m ready to get more than what I did last night. Worship goes by, still having some trouble entering in. Crystal, our amazing speaker (I think that was her name) gets up there and just brings it! On the topic of “identity” which flowed from the night before from our great speaker, Carl, the point came up that “we love, because He (Jesus) first loved us” (I John 4:14). If we’re not loving Him or don’t really feel like we love Jesus, then we need to get in His presence so we can receive His love, because we can’t love unless we LET Him love us, and we can’t do that unless we actually spend time with Him. Don’t worry, He thinks you’re awesome;  so you can be yourself around Him. Soooo, being the crier that I am, of course the tears come during “altar” time, so I just let them instead of worrying about the mascara. Then after awhile I just felt lighter and free. Now it’s time for the fire tunnel…of course! I’m expecting, because I want what everyone else is getting! First time through the tunnel. Ok, no heebie jeebies or goose bumps…then I say to myself, “I’m not leaving until I get more, so second round of fire tunnel, here I come!” Now I’m standing in line with the “crazy” people that are already falling all over the place and have been rolling around, but you know, they have what I don’t, and it looks pretty good. Then out of the fire tunnel I come full of so much freedom, laughter… and the “knee bends” – who knows what I’m talking about? Haha

I’ll tell you this – I have never been freer in my entire life! I reached that point where I didn’t care about what someone else thought, or what I had even thought, and I was in a “SAFE” place to be completely ME.  How many of us can say that we are completely able to be ourselves all the time…with family, friends, new acquaintances, etc.?

So here’s what I felt the Lord shed some light on for me: when we can’t be transparent with others, especially those we’re close to like family and friends, and when we can’t truly be ourselves (the us that God has created us to be) we slowly begin dying inside (emotionally, spiritually), and then we’re just going throughout our day to day activities being who we think others think we should be, living without purpose aside from a daily checklist.  So where does that come from? At what point do we stop being ourselves and start being someone we think we should be? Concerning people close to us, people that “know” us, I think familiarity can play a big role. Familiarity is so unhealthy and so doesn’t honor anyone. Familiarity says “since we live together, or since we “know” each other, I can criticize you about this thing you do that irritates the mess out of me.” 

And a few things happen from that: 

• You expect that thing to change and it does, only because that person didn’t want to get blasted by you again, or you expect that thing to change and it doesn’t, because you didn’t really approach that person in love, which of course irritates you more. 
• In the case of the person being blasted – they get mad and ignore you for blasting them, or they do what you said for the sake of avoiding more criticism, allowing the shut-down process and performance-based mindset to begin.

Because who wants to be themselves when they don’t have a safe place to be received by the people closest to them? Who wants to be themselves when everything they do is “wrong” or “annoying” or is approached with criticism instead of love and honor? So that’s familiarity. 

Here’s honor. Honor says, “I release you to be the person God has created you to be. I release you to share your dreams, goals, ambitions, downfalls and silliness with me without criticism or judgment. I open up a SAFE place to you in my company so you can be free to be YOU. You know why? Because you’re amazing! I mean, you were created in God’s image.” 

When we’re free to be who God has called us to be, we’re released from performance-based mindsets (feeling like we have to perform or act differently from our "normal" selves to gain the love/approval of others), and we’re free to share our awesomeness with new people and let them in - risk letting them think you’re silly; if they do, it probably just means they haven’t been free to be themselves either.

So last night Holy Spirit totally created a SAFE place for me to be ME; total freedom, total peace, and total release to be ME – releasing me from all fear and all performance-based mindsets in relationships or worship, which also released me from criticizing/judging others.  So I release that to each of you, that you are free to be truly YOU (around others and in the presence of our Papa), and that you create SAFE places for others, removing familiarity and replacing it with honor, so that others can be free to be who God has created them to be, releasing their awesomeness and His glory.

"Let's Find the Easiest Trail to Hike"

So...the easiest trail ended up being a "moderate" one in difficulty, which isn't the best idea for a gal who is out of shape. A few girls from school and myself decided to get out in nature and get a little exercise while we're enjoying it. So during the drive to Whiskeytown Lake, we figured out which trail to take and somewhere read that it was a little over a mile long; it was actually over three miles.

Anyway, we find the trail start and head out with our water bottles, which soon emptied and had to be refilled in the stream several times during the two and a half hour hike that should have been like one hour. A little uphill and some rocks to begin with...this isn't so bad, right? And then thirty-minutes later we're still going uphill. The burning in our legs wasn't the only thing letting us know that uphill hiking isn't good for out of shape people.

Our main goal was to get to one of the falls and get some pics; we start running short on time, so one of the girls and I decided to jog the rest of the way to get there quicker - we find a road that's fairly flat going the same way as the trail so we stick with that for our 15 minute jog only to come to another part of the trail that definitely did NOT lead us to the falls. Now running late we decide to truck it the rest of the way back - down the road and down the trail; so an hour of jogging later I'm apologizing to my legs and feet begging them not to hate me in the morning...especially since it was going to be my birthday!

A few things I learned from this hike:

1. Moderate trails+running+higher elevation=not so great for someone out of shape that hasn't exercised in months.
2. If there's a flat road available instead of a trail the whole way - take it! Uphill can't be good for beginner hikers for a long distance.
3. Everyone is at a different point in their hiking skills; go at your own pace and don't worry about holding someone else up - you'll all get to the same place; enjoy the climb.
4. The first 15 minutes and the last 15 minutes are the hardest. Use your friends motivation for the first part and your body's need to crash and get out of the woods for the last.
5. It's always better with friends, so that when you yell in pain to help you get motivated to finish, they can laugh with you at the fact that you're in the middle of the woods, sweaty, dirty, blistered, out of shape and yelling at no one.
6. The flowing stream is the best place to be cool down, re-energize and be refreshed.
7. It sucks at first, and it sucks toward the end, but you get some good memories in the middle and man do you feel GREAT afterwards...I mean, immediately afterwards...not like the next two days, because then you're really sore!

This was as close to the "falls" as we got Friday

       

Welcome to Redding...? Yes, I'm a little late on the introduction.

So, I just found several pics on my phone of the journey to Redding and the first few days after getting here that I hadn't posted to Facebook yet, and figured I'd post them to my blog instead, because then I can write about them AND share it on FB.


Let the picture montage begin! 
Starting off with Morro Bay: After leaving San Diego (from seeing my awesome Aunt Nancy), we decided to take a coastal approach; we hit Venice Beach, Santa Monica, and L.A. (all of these are on FB), and then it was on to Morro Bay for the night - a cute little coastal town that happens to be right beside Morro Rock (a volcanic plug that is about 576 ft high!). Unfortunately, the marine mist was so thick you couldn't really see anything :( sad story - this will be the case for most of our trek up the coast.

 

Yeah, it was a little chilly being right there in the bay, and the mist was so thick it was like walking through a sprinkler. Neat little marine town though!




Next is Saaaaan Fraaaaancisco...I sing that song in my head every time I think about San Fran. It was nice to see the bridge...well, kind of see the bridge, but I definitely could never live in town there. We caught the main streets, Haight & Ashbury - where hippies were born - and then the super curvy road that I forget the name of. Good thing I had my motion sickness wristbands!

 

It was crazy how the marine mist was so thick in one area and then  totally clear in the next

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Like I said, marine mist pretty much took away the fun of the things I actually wanted to see                 

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The super curvy road that every tourist was taking pictures of.

                       
                             

The beautiful bay area

FINALLY - Welcome to Redding!

We stopped by a couple of the major attractions including the Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay, Whiskeytown Lake (about 15 min west of Redding), and Shasta Lake (well, a faraway view of it).

The biggest sundial EVER

Shasta Dam at Shasta Lake, WAY off in the distance behind, you can see Mt. Shasta with a bit of snow!

 

 

And that's a little bit of the end of my journey and the beginning of my new home...well for the next eight months anyway. Another update coming soon

PS. My birthday is Saturday, so feel free to wish me a happy, quarter of a century birthday! :)

You Know it's Going to be a Good Day When...

You know it's going to be a good day when you walk into the main sanctuary full of 900 students from all over the world that are ready for and expecting an amazing time of worship...by Jeremy Riddle.

You know it's going to be a good day when you have a God-encountered time of worship led by Jeremy Riddle followed by Kris Vallotton welcoming 900 students from all over the world.

You know it's going to be a good day, when you are filled with laughter and words of wisdom from Kris Vallotton, followed by Bill Johnson and all his awesome wisdom and "papa" ways ALL IN THE SAME DAY.

I feel like I have been at a conference all week long, when actually I've only been at orientation week at school. I'm pretty sure no other school even comes close to comparison. It has been an amazing week of meeting new people of all ages, cultures, and backgrounds, jumping in without reserve, meeting our awesome leadership team who's sole desire is to honor the Lord as they empower us to be who He's called us to be...and to see us fail? Yep, that's right - we were told that if we didn't make it through this year without failing at least three times, then it hasn't been a successful year. Soooo, to help us out with this, we (all 900 of us) had to find a partner that we didn't know, pray to the Holy Spirit, and ask for a word of knowledge...and we were only given a few seconds; needless to say, most of us failed when we couldn't tell our partner what their mother's name was. I definitely had no chance with an Indian partner who's from South Africa that's lived in England for 15 years. That was just cruel of Daddy God to do that, but it was fun and full of laughter and amazing to see that some of the people actually got their partner's information right! The point of this exercise was to take a RISK. The more risks we take, the more opportunities we create for the Holy Spirit to use us and reveal the Kingdom of Heaven and the heart of the Father. I have a feeling it's going to be a year of many risks and new levels! Bring it on!

A FEW NUGGETS:
With Kris and Bill being our main speakers for the week, there was so much knowledge, wisdom, and revelation to receive, so I'd like to share just a few statements from this week.
Kris Vallotton

• You become what you think the most important person in your life thinks you are; IF God is the most important person in your life, you'll become what YOU think He thinks about you; IF you have the mind of Christ, you'll KNOW what He thinks about you and become who He has created and destined you to be. 
• Adam and Eve were trying to get through performance (being like God like the serpent said) what they already had through creation (they were already created in God's image and therefore like Him).
• You were born to be amazing!
• God loves us, because He does.
• Are you living from earth towards heaven or from heaven towards earth? If the former, you'll always live a reactionary lifestyle.

Bill Johnson

• When you pray TO God, you don't pray WITH Him - you pray past the miracle.
• God lights the fire in the alter, but it's the priests that keep putting stuff in the fire to keep it going.
• There's an oak tree in the acorn - ie. You pray for $1,000 and God gives you $100; you steward the 100 well and $1000 will come out of it.
• A delayed answer is gaining interest.
• The Lord answers us with acorns instead of oak trees to see if we will walk through the challenge of being good stewards so we can then walk in the breakthrough anointing.

Did you catch all that? If not, just ask the Lord for revelation haha; I'm sure some of it would sink in more if you heard their whole messages, but hopefully you can get the gist of them.

PS. Not to name drop, but our worship this week consisted of sessions by Amanda Faulk (now Amanda Cook), Kristene Mueller (now Kristene de Marco), and Brian & Jenn Johnson. Now I just need to see Kim and I'll be set! So much more to come! Be blessed!

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Nothing profound today; just a little update. I dropped my mom safely off at the airport Wednesday; she is now home enjoying the Georgia humidity! Oh how I miss it...and the pine trees if you can believe it!

So, I actually live in a neighborhood where they actually do "neighborhood" things...such as neighborhood garage sales. So my new roomie and I sat up this morning for our part of the garage sale. It was nice until the hot winds came around 11:00. And of course the weather decides to make today the hottest day of the summer here - the only day we have to stay outside. We'll hit it hard again in the morning and hope everything sells...otherwise Goodwill will be getting a good load from us!

So, it's not 100% home yet, but I'm sure in a few short weeks it'll feel more like it - minus the humidity ;) Registration is Monday and school starts Tuesday! I'm enjoying the relaxation time before it gets busy, but I'm ready to start and meet the new friends that God has lined up. For those of you that know me well, being the people person I am (I'm sure you got the sarcasm in that line), I'm getting out and about before school starts to make the most of my leisure time. A movie in the park tonight with some of the gals and a worship session at another students house tomorrow night. Yep, I'm already pushing my limits - it's going to be good though!

I pray you are all blessed beyond what you can ask or imagine and that your cup is filled to overflowing!

Housed and ready to go!

So I guess it's time for an update...oh, and I have a good one! So I began the summer with three roommates; slowly the Lord led us in other directions, but I'm thankful for new friends through the process - there's that word again. I'm sure I'll be hearing it and writing about it a lot over the year. I came here knowing God wanted to do something outside of the box, and I think He definitely has.

Our first full day in Redding was last Sunday; after church we met a young couple who were super sweet and gave us their contact info if we needed anything. I think in a desperate attempt to find housing we gave them a call Thursday night. And lo and behold a connection came up Friday!

So Friday at noon I got to meet who would soon be my roommate and "mom" while away from home. We meet, have great conversation, see her place, and not only is she a great conversationalist and sweet, but a woman of God who loves young people! It may not be what I planned, but I have my own room! haha So I'm definitely thankful for the ways the Lord works.

I didn't find out until yesterday that my mom's prayer while here had been that the Lord would provide a mom for me while I was away from home...and Papa is so good that He provided TWO - my current house mate AND the women who opened her house up to my mom and I while we were looking for a place to live. So my new "moms" are the two people that have kept me from being homeless while in Redding. Yes, God is definitely good!

Oh, and just to add that little extra to show that He is God - you know how He does that - Well, I told the Lord I needed a dog, half jokingly, half serious, but I know I can't afford one right now. The lady that housed us while looking for a place has a small dog that I fell in love with. And now I can play with him any time I want and doggy sit off and on throughout the year. Yep, there God goes again showing off His goodness!