The Power of the Spirit When Given Opportunity to Move in Corporate Worship

What was amazing? Chapel! I know the last time I blogged about Chapel I said it was the best, but seriously this time, this was THE best.

Going into Chapel I was carrying some emotional, mental, and spiritual baggage that were hindering my worship to God. Preoccupations seemed to rule me, especially my mind. When praising God I really wasn't praising Him at all because I was not even focused on Him. God was working with my will during the service, and after students were dismissed, I stayed fixed on the bleacher and prayed to God. I finally broke during my prayer when a girl came down from the bleachers above me and wrapped her arm around me. I began to cry and let it all go--I unloaded my baggage and gave it all to Him.

I was finally able to wholeheartedly praise God! I was so filled with and surrounded by the Holy Spirit that I was shaking and single-minded. My attention and affection was on God, and the experience was incredible! Worshipping in Spirit and in Truth is how God wants us to worship Him, and that was what I was doing.

My time of worshipping privately before God staring at the wooden cross erected in the gym and in community with that girl who was so filled with the Spirit was like the Passion conference in that I got a glimpse of heaven.

I cannot express to the full the measure of joy I experienced in my relationship with God. I was very happy, very fulfilled, and very thankful to my God... Never underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit when it is released like it was in Chapel 3/22/07 when chains were broken.

Thank you to whoever God pressed on to give us students the opportunity to participate in this kind of Chapel. From everyone I talked to I can say that we very much want more of this and desperately need more of this.

Wow...

Something AMAZING happened today. I cannot wait to tell you about it!

I'll fill you in on the incredible day when I gain time to go further down on my priority list to the blog slot... Don't worry; it's not too far down.

Spring Break Thus Far

I've already talked about visiting my high school, so let me skip ahead to my trip to Louisville. I left yesterday morning and returned this evening. Quick trip, huh? My sister needed to take care of some business at SBTS, and we had to return promptly. My dad went with us, which was good besides some unnecessary--better put, unwanted--comments on the way back. The commute to and from, as with our trip last year, had its hilarious signs, including the following:

• "Don't Get Plowed" (IL)
• River names (IL & IN) like Little Wabash, Beaver Creek Pond, Little Crooked Creek, etc.
• "Entering Hoosier National Forest" and "Leaving Hoosier National Forest" (IN)
• Town/area names like Sulphur, English, Santa Claus (home of Holiday World amusement park), Birdseye, etc.
• My personal favorite: "No Stopping, Standing, or Parking" along I-64 (IN)

A noticeable difference between this year's and last year's was the gross smells of sour feed and other things through Illinois and Indiana.

SBTS was as great as ever. Rachel and I sat in on the class Personal Spiritual Disciplines, in which the class had read Donald S. Whitney's Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. Awesome! I've already read that book in Discipleship and Evangelism, so I could easily get into the discussion. At the beginning of the class period, the prof had us form a group of two to three (or in our case five) and pray for each other, asking that God would make us blameless and holy. We got to meet three nice gentlemen Brad, Phil, and David as a result.

My dad joined us for Chapel. The chapel building at SBTS is beautiful! My eyes were closed for more time than they were open but not because the service was boring. I had stayed up a little late the night before watching Escape from Alcatraz on AMC with Rachel and Dad.

I also nodded off a few times during our lunch with the admissions rep. Oops...

I cannot tell you enough how beautiful Southern Seminary's campus is! All the buildings match, some of the sidewalks are brick walkways, the place is well-maintained, and it is mostly secluded. Combine these attributes wtih the amazing people and the incredible faculty there, and you have one awesome seminary.

Oh, one more thing: The seminary's students are mostly guys. In the class I sat in, I think there were four girls including Rachel and me. In Chapel, the singing congregation had a strong low tone. That part of seminary was particularly enjoyable. :)

Note the Time I Posted

I just realized that beginning with my post "I Wore a Visitor's Tag" the time of which I post will be one hour behind because of the new Daylight Savings Time schedule.

I Wore a Visitor's Tag

Today was the first official day of Spring Break. I had a doctor's appointment for the stye/cyst/whatever on my eye, and then I visited some former teachers at my high school. I also volunteered to help out an MBU admissions rep. who visited the high school today. A couple students were interested, and that was cool because it is always exciting when a person is interested in enrolling at MBU, I actually knew the names of these two prospective students since they are from my high school, and I am currently the only person from my hometown who is going to MBU--FHS graduates are definitely welcome! Also, I know of another person from my hometown who is interested but did not come talk to the student ambassador and myself.

Two seniors and one junior from FHS interested in MBU? Hooray! It's a nice boost for me since possibly five people I know affiliated with MBU (mostly staff) will not be returning next fall. I was kind of down because of that for a while. Though some close friends may leave, could new ones come to fill their shoes? I hope so.

Our Many Dimensions

My sister, Rachel, and I have come to realize that we are variety. This past week is a prime example. Wednesday night, we went to the Charlie Hall concert at school (MBU). Thursday night, we ate stove-roasted marshmallows and walked to the fitness center vending machine in our slippers/flip flops and loungewear to buy some chocolate. After returning to our apartment, we watched Cinderella and ate the chocolate. Last night, we went to Powell Symphony Hall in our sophisticated attire and listened to the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.

If a stranger observed us Thursday night, and a different stranger observed us Friday night, these two strangers would have two very different accounts of what we were like. Do we even make sense? We have many dimensions.

Our trip to the fitness center for some chocolate proved to us that we are indeed addicted. We blame it on the Passion07 conference. It was there in Atlanta where we rediscovered our love for the Snickers bar, and ever since then we have settled for anything close to it--anything chocolate. We crave it. We'll make evening journeys across the apartment complex lot in slippers/flips flops, athletic pants/P.J.'s, and hoodies. We are addicted, and we are the same girls who will enjoy a violin concerto, a Christian rock concert, and Cinderella.

We are not unique in the fact that our interests vary, but this is simply a recent analysis of ourselves that we have made.

Correction Box

I must recant the statement I made in my post "Oh, Yeah" in which I said that Sean Hannity is my hero. With the aid of a friend, I have come to realize that my failure to explain myself may have caused some confusion, and people may have actually taken me seriously.

I did not intend for you to take the statement literally. Sometimes conservative talk radio hosts like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh can flat out tell it like it is, or how it should be, and I get a little excited. In the heat of the moment, I may embellish my emotions a bit. Though in this case I did post such a thing a while after I thought it.

Sean Hannity is not my hero. Neither is Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reilly or any other conservative voice, so I hope when you read that Sean Hannity is my hero you picked up on my randomness. Christ is supreme.

A Perk of Going to MBU (And I'm Not Talking About Coffee)

You know what's great about going to a Christian university like MBU that has an awesome Chapel auditorium? You get awesome worship leaders like Charlie Hall to come put on a concert. Charlie Hall, you may have heard of him from the Passion conferences, is coming to MBU during his Falling Into Daybreak tour tomorrow night (technically tonight) at 7 p.m. I'm so excited! If you want to go but do not have tickets, you can still get tickets from the MBU Box Office (314-392-2345) for $5. If you're not able to go, I'll let you know how it went, or I could just tell you right now: It was great; God moved. To Him be the glory!

Oh, Yeah

Sean Hannity is my hero.

Praise for Mom

As you may have read in previous posts, my mom has been enduring a foot wound since September 30, 2005. She had her third surgery last week, and we are really encouraged. What makes this surgery different from the other two? First, the surgeon "cleaned out" her foot completely. Second, she is using a vac in her foot that is sucking up all the fluid and moisture (as opposed to her foot draining and soaking her bandages which can hinder healing and lead to infection).

Mom has absolutely no infection in her foot now--not staph, not strep... nothing! We consider this surgery a blessing from God and an answer to everyone's prayers.

She is recovering nicely. She uses a knee walker to get around. It is like a regular walker except it has a cushion for her to rest her knee on, so she is not walking at all on her foot.

My mom is up-beat and looking forward to being able to walk on both feet again. Thank you all again for your faithful prayers. You guys have helped us so much by letting us know you're praying and checking up on her progress from time to time. You guys are awesome and great examples of prayer warriors!

Something New!

"Don't panic. Seriously don't panic."

I've tinkered with my page layout, and I'm sure some of you are having convulsions now, but please don't panic. I'm just testing it out and seeing how I like the new look. Be aware that you may see various major or minor alterations to the page's design in the upcoming weeks.

What do you think? Are you feelin' it?

Like I said, it's tentative.

A Word from the Fool

For all you future students out there, let me offer you some wisdom that will come in handy in your college years and maybe even your career.

When you have a calm week with abnormal downtime, take advantage of it, and I don't mean have a leisurely week. Bust your butt like it was any weekly grind of exams and deadlines. I have learned my lesson this week. Trust me, if you don't take advantage of your season of calmness, you'll want to kick yourself later.

Last night I slept for approximately three hours and forty-five minutes. The nights before, I averaged four and a half to five and a half hours of sleep. I am so worn! Why? I've been pushing myself to get A LOAD of schoolwork done on time and do well on a couple tests this week. Last week was the same way but not at the same scale.

Three weeks ago I could have "got ahead" on some of this work and didn't. Instead, I hung out with friends, watched music videos on YouTube with my sister, spent too much time on the Internet, etc.

Note that most people who know me know that I am a classic night owl. Last semester, I stayed up late almost all the time. You would think I'd be used to weeks like these, but on the contrary, my body has become less tolerant this semester. Plus, it seems like there's a big difference between going to bed at three and going to bed at one or two. A psychological difference maybe? All I know is that I can't handle doing homework all hours of the night anymore. Though my addiction to staying up late isn't broken, it has been at least temporarily injured. Seize the day, my friends.

Take it from me, you upcoming scholars, work first and play later. You'll be less stressful, much happier, and much more alert later. (I was so tired yesterday that I couldn't open my eyes all the way without them hurting and, thus, had slits most of the day; my eyes have gone blurry while trying to do algebra at around twelve or one o'clock in the morning; my limbs have felt really fatigued in New Testament history--an awesome class in which I was also falling asleep; I've been getting my words backwards when talking; I've gotten swimmy headed; I'm 100-percent delirious; etc.) The benefits of taking the wise action of nipping homework and studying in the bud surpasses those of some instantaneous pleasure of leisure time tremendously.