Currently Listening Awake By Josh Groban "Lullaby" see related

My Set-Apart Life Discipleship Training Experience

Buckle your seat belts & get ready to learn about some AMAZING things God did in Colorado on January 4-7, 2007!

I was blessed to have the opportunity to attend the first Discipleship Training Program through Set-Apart Life Ministry, which was taught by Eric Ludy. A group of 15 Christian men & women ranging ages 17-29 gathered from all over the USA in the quaint town of Windsor, Colorado for this powerful, God-scripted, life-changing program.

I feel I need to give names of the people there, so faces can be related to names when they are mentioned…so in top-to-bottom left-to-right order of the picture below…

Eric, Hudson
Me, Jon, Ashley, Caroline, Leslie, Kristen, Katie
Jamie, Jesse, Brandon, David, Karyn, Abby, Jess, Tim
Jen, Bri, Kendra, Brenda, Annie, David

Please don't take any of what I'm going to say as boasting or bragging; I'm talking of an incredible testimony that God Himself has created in my life, as He has created & continues to create testimonies in your own lives.

God worked in some of the most tangible ways I've ever experienced in my life. Yes, I had already believed He was capable of and willing to work in amazing ways, but it's never been so real as to be seen through my brown eyes and felt with my tiny hands.  And it's been an incredible start of an INCREDIBLE adventure!!!

I'm going to start by listing the topics of the eighteen sessions Eric's had prepared to teach on. But, the way the Spirit taught through Eric was quite the thing to behold.

1. Endless Frontier: The Essence of Historic Christianity
2. Grace: The Gospel Secret Unveiled
3. Scripture: Seeing Christ in Every Page
4. Opposition: Recognizing the Enemy Tactic
5. Kingdom: The Ruling Domain
6. Burning Bush: The Baptism of Fire
7. Solyma: The One Who Bears His Name
8. Consecration: Set-Apart for His Glory
9. The Name: Like Ointment Poured Forth
10. Proclamation: Holding the Heavenly Message Sacred
11. Dependence: Unlocking the Mystery of Godliness
12. Powerless Grace: The Recipe for Spiritual Mediocrity
13. Covenant: The Forging of Two Destinies
16. To Tremble: The Sacred Task of Handling the Word of God
17. Canon: The Test to Prove Control; The Divine Right to Rule & Control
18. Stillness: The Work of the Bond-slave; To Give Ear to His Master
19. Heart and Reins: Proving the Innermost You
20. Right-handedness: As a Man Ought to Be

So we spent about 20 hours in sessions and 24+ hours in worship/prayer over a three-day availability. Most of the other time was spent in fellowship or quiet times. But oh, did the LORD ever have the most abundant plans for each of us!! It is so true that He knows our every empty page; but it is so important that we hand the "pen of our life" over to God, surrendering our life to Him, as it is already His anyway. When we try and scribble out our own story, it ends up being a jumbled mess that isn't legible, except to the enemy.

God also used several climactic events through several participants & staff members to show His divine power, genuine love, inability to forsake, lavish sovereignty...yes!!!! A number of us were absolutely, completely healed of various physical, emotional, and spiritual battles we'd been fighting for great amounts of time. I can honestly testify for myself that the holy Hands of God healed me through Jesse - a new brother of mine, who's been blessed with the divine gift of healing - and the prayers of all others in the room. I'm now rid of a physical ailment I've had for about two years, and of emotional scars I had been lugging around for up to six years. They are GONE! DIMINISHED!!! PRAISE GOD!  

To be set free is indescribable!! Mere words are not adequate. I'm filled to the brim - nay, overflowing - with the Holy Spirit, Who I am now convinced dwells inside me!! God limited Himself to a teensy 20x20-ish space inside Holy Temple back in the Biblical days because He KNEW He was going to have a small place to dwell in; our very hearts!

Wow, y'all, the power of those prayers and worship we experienced each evening in Colorado was nothing but Christ-driven. The Spirit was absolutely being poured out of our very pores. Most of the time, I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, shout, dance, or just be still. At one point, I was literally laying on my face, sobbing, but not because I was sad or upset. Oh, I can't explain how extraordinary it was!

Another pivotal point of my own experience occurred in the basement & kitchen of the Ludys' home on the last night. There was a time a few of us – Karyn, Caroline, Jon, Leslie (Eric's precious wife) and myself – were in the basement discussing things about some powerful prayer that had occurred. We were huddled around the space heater having some heart-to-hearts about some things that had happened. Then, kind of "out of the blue," Leslie turned to me and said there was something she really needed to tell me. We hugged & she became teary-eyed. She said that she & Eric had been actively praying for each person attending the program as they got our names several months ago after registration. Then, she told me that my being healed truly was the will of God, and that my purpose was not to succumb to disease but that my purpose is so much greater. Also, she said I'm going to have a beautiful love story, and that God has been scripting it for a long time! She said I am going to be a loving wife & mother. This, to me, was such a powerful thing because, for years, I've so deeply longed to have God write my story, although hope occasionally seemed to wither away. I feel a strong assurance from God that what Leslie said came straight from the heart of my heavenly Father! What JOY this brings me!!

Then, later, a few more people had trickled down into the basement and my brother Jamie said something, which I feel also came from God's own heart; He said that God has for me my own Warrior-Poet, and that he is going to come to me riding on a white steed.  He said he could see I have truly surrendered the "pen of my life" to God and that He is actively writing. I've known that Jesus Christ is my true Warrior-Poet and that He came to us all on a white steed in Revelation with a sword coming out of His mouth; however, I know this Warrior-Poet Jamie was speaking of is my future husband, as I've already accepted Christ as my one Warrior-Poet on the one throne. WERE GOD'S WAYS UNPREDCEDENTED OR WHAT?!?!

Some time later that night/morning (we didn't leave 'til 4:30am, so it was likely morning), I was in the kitchen & hugging Eric, telling him good bye, as we were all leaving the following day. He told me that I have an incredible purpose and that God has tremendous plans for my life. I am beyond excited to embark upon this adventure!!!

Y'all, the works of God have only just begun. I am beside myself with joy that God's going to do such magnificent things in our lives! We must continue to put our trust & faith in Him, His sovereignty, His willingness, His capabilities…YEA!!  The endless frontier awaits; we are merely pioneers of God and must actively seek His covenant, grace, & kingdom.

Currently Watching Rain Man By Tom Cruise, Andrew Dougherty, Dolan Dougherty, John-Michael Dougherty, Marshall Dougherty, Patrick Dougherty, Peter Dougherty, Valeria Golino, Beth Grant, Dustin Hoffman, Bonnie Hunt, Lucinda Jenney, Loretta Wendt Jolivette, Donald E. Jones, Gerald R. Molen, Jack Murdock, Michael D. Roberts, Kim Robillard, Ralph Seymour see related

"A Starbucks Revelation"

My sweet friend Tessa sumbitted an article on the Relevant Magazine website, which they posted on the front page. After reading it, I realized I'm in a similar place as Tessa has been...and the words were a tremendous blessing.

About Tessa: She is currently enrolled in the YWAM Montana School of Biblical Studies, and the author of "Confessions of a Girl: Truth to be Told." I met her at Authentic Girl Weekend in August 2004.

Read on.

I was set free yesterday. Within a matter of a few hours the very patterns of my thoughts, my actions, and my concerns changed. It was as though 1,000 scales of oblivion were torn from my eyes, and I woke up after being subconsciously dead. In spite of this—this newfound freedom certainly did not come free. It cost me a number of things including a more than a slightly broken heart, a few short-lived tears, a pinch of humiliation and a couple hours of anger and depression. Oh, and it caused that little fume of frustration towards the entire male species that all single women secretly love to share to seep out from under my skin. But it set me free.

I had been bound up in the chains of wishful thinking. Much of my time throughout the day was spent wondering what could or might or should happen. My mind carelessly wandered off into marriage-land with a specific person right there in my visions. Talking about it, dreaming about it, wishing about it, thinking it really could happen. Besides, he seemed to be interested, (and God knows I definitely was!). And then it happened. The truth was revealed. He is all of the sudden …unavailable. Taken, and by someone other than ME! (That was the broken heart and teary-eyed part.) The anger approached me next, and let me say I thoroughly enjoyed coming to the momentary conclusion that I simply despised the male species. The humiliation part came when, fulfilling my duty as a female, I vented the whole story to my best friend, partly just to get the anger and shock off my chest, partly to hear the words, "Then that means there's someone a lot better out there!"

My day continued on, and as I went about my duties at work, I tried to organize my thoughts and convince myself that I was going to simply jump over this and keep going. Although I really did want something to happen further with this person, and despite the fact that I really did hurt at this new found knowledge that he had moved on, I wanted so badly to be able to bounce back quickly. I did not have the time to mope around and throw myself a pity party. For once in my life I realized it would be useless to do that before I did it. I'm completely convinced that God read everything that was going on inside of my heart and mind yesterday and took it and made preparations for the hours to come.

I was waiting for a call from a friend I was supposed to meet at Starbucks later on that night, but the call hadn't come yet, so I decided that instead of sitting around the house on a Friday night commenting people on MySpace, I'd much rather go on ahead to Starbucks and get some of my thoughts down on paper. For me, writing is a huge stress reliever. It takes all of the jumbled up thoughts flying around in my head and puts them into some kind of order. So, green tea in hand, I chose a table outside and took out my journal and began to write:

Lately, I've been wishing I were five years old, eating an ice cream cone with my grandma. Or perhaps 10 years old, scribbling in my diary about a new crush every week. Or a ripe 13-year-old in middle school with homework and boys being my only cares in the world. But life is not that simple. I must face my frustrations and jump over obstacles. I must face the bore of working 35 hours a week. I must face disappointment. Today was a DISAPPOINTMENT.

And then, as my hand furiously wrote out my tangled up thoughts, God dropped a revelation right into my lap that came out in the flow of my pen:

Actually, knowing He is unavailable kind of sets me free. Perhaps what happened today was a gift, to set my dry life in motion. Perhaps my only job now is to THRIVE in all that God has for me and to (although I hate this word) to WAIT.

Suddenly it dawned on me that I have been ignoring my gifts and have been settling for a stationary life that comes from impatience with God's plan. One of my main concerns lately has been that I am single. I am single, and I do not want to be. I am single, and I know who I want Mr. Answer-to-my-prayers to be. I am single, and therefore life sucks. That was my thought pattern. I was sitting around waiting for life (which I figured came in the form of the word "marriage") to come to me, instead of me going after life (which is NOT the equivalent to marriage).

The way I spent my time because of worries over my singleness actually hindered me in many ways from not only using my gifts, but from growing in my relationship with God, touching the lives of others in an effective way and caused me to waste many, many hours of my free time. My foolishness is quite embarrassing, and it got me nowhere. The way God spoke to my heart last night makes me now quite convinced that this period of singleness in my life is something so much more precious than it appears. It is an amazing time of growth, independence, maturing, overcoming and becoming.

My heart's desire now is that I will not simply aim to get married, but that I will aim to thrive—in my relationship with God, my relationships with others, my gifts, my compassions and life.

I shall leave you with the best quote I've found yet on the back of a Starbucks cup:

The Way I See It #44
If the current generation of young adults is delaying marriage for five to 10 years longer than their parents, the question becomes: What good are we doing with that time? – Ethan Watters

Currently Listening Miracles: The Holiday Album By Kenny G see related

Calling all ladies!!

Currently Watching The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Widescreen Edition) By Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel, America Ferrera, Blake Lively, Jenna Boyd, Bradley Whitford, Nancy Travis, Rachel Ticotin, Mike Vogel, Michael Rady, Leonardo Nam, Maria Konstadarou, George Touliatos, Kyle Schmid, Erica Hubbard, Emily Tennant, Jacqueline Ann Steuart, Sarah-Jane Redmond, Ernie Lively, Kendall Cross see related

I left a piece of me in Colorado.

I don't think a day has gone by since I've returned to TX that I haven't thought of Colorado. It seems like it still has a part of me. Something about the place - the mountains, the breezes, the wildlife, the harbored excitement, the vastness of it all - transformed me so much this past summer. I actually began to be transformed out there starting at the Authentic Girl Weekend in August 2004. Ever since then, when I wasn't there, I was here dreaming and thinking of it. I truly feel God has been using that beautiful place and the people that are/were there to make me into the woman He has designed me to be. However, I keep running into things that make me have to return to Texas every time. So, I know there's some purpose for me here, too. Yet I feel so unrefined, confined, within the borders of Texas. I am returning to Colorado for a little while in January; I absolutely cannot wait. Hopefully, come next summer, I'll be back there again.

Until then.

Currently Watching X-Men - The Last Stand (Widescreen Edition) By Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin, Kelsey Grammer, Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden, Shawn Ashmore, Aaron Stanford, Vinnie Jones, Patrick Stewart, Ben Foster, Ellen Page, Michael Murphy, Josef Sommer, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Dania Ramirez, Bill Duke, Daniel Cudmore see related

Colorado, O how I miss thee.