the Call Sacramento

Last Wednesday 9 of us and a baby all piled into a 15 passenger van (with the back seat out) and drove 22 hours straight from Colorado Springs to Sacramento, CA. It was a long drive, but went by surprisingly fast! The ministry that I'm interning at, Every Home for Christ, paid all of our expenses to attend the Call, a solemn assembly focused on intercession for revival in California, our nation, and in the world. We were so blessed to get to go!

September 3 (Friday) was the "pre-Call rally" at the baseball stadium in Sacramento. The stadium was nearly full as well as the majority of the field for five hours of worship. It was an amazing time of coming before the Lord in abandoned worship as we prepared for Saturday. Jesus gave me so much joy as I worshiped before Him. He continues to humble me as He shows me His glory and perfection... it's all about Him, not at all about me! He's helping me to get over my tendency to worry about what people think about me or to compare myself to others. My identity is only in who He says I am, not what others think about me or what I think about myself.

Saturday was the Call, held right on the front steps of the capitol building in the capitol city of California. I'm not sure how many people gathered, but they projected the whole event on screens for blocks in the middle of Sacramento. It was an amazing experience to gather with thousands of Christians with one heart and one mind in intercession for our nation. It was very sobering, realizing all of the lies that Americans have believed, and that if we continue in the same path, destruction really is imminent. The Lord has given us so many chances to turn back to Him, but we continue to deny Him. We prayed for just about every major issue that Americans deal with as well as took time to repent for our own personal sins and make wrong things right in our own lives. There was a cross that was set up that we would turn to, symbolizing our need for the blood of Jesus and His mercy in our lives.

An amazing thing happened two hours after we prayed for the end of human trafficking: craigslist removed the adult section which facilitates prostitution and trafficking! (Link to the article about it http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-20015629-71.html) Only God could have done this! I have so much hope that what we did on Saturday was the beginning of a new movement of people who will start prayer houses on college campuses and in the nations, starting a revival! God will be the one to do it, but He is inviting us to join Him by consecrating our hearts to Him and genuinely saying yes.

Three Weeks In

It's already been three weeks here in Colorado Springs at the Wall internship. I am so amazed at how time flies and how much God has spoken to me in this short amount of time. The other night I was having ice cream at McDonald's with my two leaders (Ashley and Rico) and Rico asked me what the main thing God has taught me so far is. I had to think about it for a second. He's showed me so much about His love, His faithfulness, and His worth. He's spoken to me a lot about what it looks like to be consecrated to Him. He's asked me to give Him things that waste time and hinder me from being fully focused on Him. But I think the main thing He has been showing me, which is what I told Ashley and Rico, is that He has been giving me more of a perspective on the bigger picture of His plan. The president of EHC, Dick Eastman does mentoring sessions for us and has been telling us about how he prayed daily for decades for a 24-hour prayer room at the Jericho Center (the EHC mission's base and new location of the Watchman Training Center/Prayer room). As crazy as it seems to me, I am part of God's answer to that prayer, along with all the staff that's been involved. I'm humbled that God wants me to play a small part of this amazing prayer movement, which is truly preparing the way for His return. He has been revealing to me the reality of His kingdom and that literally He is being worshiped 24-7 by heavenly hosts. Heaven is a real place that was really part of the earth at creation and that will be restored at the end. This prayer movement is a mere reflection of what goes on day and night in heaven! God has a plan to purify His bride, the church, so that He can come back to marry her. This reality seriously blows my mind. I am humbled that he chose me to sit before Him in worship of who He is. I am also very thankful that he did!

So, it's been really good! Something else that I found out on Thursday, is that EHC is paying for our internship and the leaders to go the the Call in Sacramento, CA!!!! Dick Eastman is going to be giving out a copy of his revised version of The Purple Pig. At the Call, they will be calling for 10,000 young people to join the intercessory missionary movement, to build prayer houses in the nations! We are going to have a booth about the Wall. I think there's even a chapter in this new book about the Wall and the internship that I'm doing. I can't wait to see what God does and I'm so excited that we get to go!

So in short, my eyes are fixed on my King Jesus, who is literally sitting at the right hand of God in an actual place called Heaven, longing for the day that His relationship with His creation is restored to its fullness. And we get to be part of His plan to restore that relationship, as long as we keep on saying yes.

theWALL

I have officially started my internship here at theWall prayer room with Every Home for Christ and it has truly been amazing! We have only just started and God has already showed me so much and has confirmed in my heart that this is the best place that I could be right now. I feel like the four other interns are a new family that I get to grow with over the next five months. They each have a different story and it is so obvious that God brought each of us here for a specific reason. God is so good and I am so excited to see what he has in store for me and the others that are here. I don't know how much I'll be able to update my blog because I want to try not to waste or spend a lot of time on the internet, but I will definitely as I am able. I have given up facebook for these five months to consecrate this time to the Lord. I believe He has huge plans for our group! (Picture to come:)

Pictures from the last week or so!

I've gotten to do so many fun things these past couple of weeks. First of all, here are some pictures from hiking Mt. Jumbo with my good friend Hannah. It was a beautiful hike overlooking Missoula!

It's kinda hard to tell, but there were sheep on the mountain!

There were some beautiful flowers!

Then, I went on a bike ride with Lauren and Hannah and we went to the end of the Kim Williams trail...something we've all wanted to do. It's not as long as I thought, but it was really fun! On the way back we went on some side trails and I got all scratched up from running into branches and bushes! It was a lot of fun!

And, on Sunday I watched the Missoula Marathon with Lauren, Heidi, and Lauren Morey. Lauren and Heidi's dad ran the full! He did really well, finishing in 3:48. Not too bad for a 49 year old first time marathoner! We got up at 4am in order to bring him to the race, then went to different places along the course to cheer. The last half we rode bikes, which was really fun!

This was the sunrise we watched as the runners passed us. It was so pretty!

It was so early! Quick funny story...one of the first girls that passed us running went behind our car and as she passed us was like, "Don't be weirded out, but I'm going to pee behind your car." Oh the things that runners will do!

The coffee was much needed!

Mr. Cross finishing strong!

We were his loyal cheer team! It's really cool to watch a marathon and see people after they finish, just knowing how much work and time they had to put into training. It really takes a lot of will and discipline to run a marathon!

So much to say...

As I lay here on the couch after a day of being sick, I decided to blog. Being sick really gives you a lot of time to think about life, past...present...future. So far, this summer has been full of adventure, stress, and also relaxation. I have been working at the Lighthouse Espresso, which has been a wonderful experience for me. It's my first real job, so it's been pretty exciting. It has taught me how to handle difficult people, patience in frustrating situations, and work ethic. I've gone to the lake, the river, hiked Mt. Jumbo (the mountain the "L" is on), and spent some time at home with nothing to do. And, in less than 2 weeks I will move to Colorado Springs. Today I received my official acceptance letter and packet for theWall internship at Every Home for Christ. It's all starting to seem real, though I can't believe how fast my summer is going by. I haven't decided for sure what I want to do after the internship, so I am leaving that decision in God's hands for now. I am so thankful for the places and experiences God has taken me through and those He will take me through. I am really looking forward to taking this season of my life and dedicating it to the Lord - in prayer, worship and in missions.

Tomorrow is the fourth of July, or Independence Day. We live in a country where we are free to worship God. I am so very thankful for that, and although at times it can cause me to become lazy in my faith, it also gives me so many opportunities to grow in my faith. I have often complained about the church in America being lukewarm and that people who call themselves Christians aren't truly living the lifestyle. But as I complain, I also realize that I am guilty of that many times, and that there really are some amazing men and women of God in America, who have given their lives to spread the Gospel. I am so thankful for those people who give me an example to follow, and I am thankful that I am free to follow Jesus. I am truly blessed. Independence Day reminds me of that.