I can't seem to stay away...

 I find myself back here this morning...because, though my body is back in Lancaster, so much of my heart is still sitting back in Kentucky with our students.  I woke thinking of them and praying that transition for them is easier than it is for me.  God always blesses me with the ability to be fully present each time I go on a missions trip, conference or retreat with our youth...while still my top priority, "home" is left there for just a little while.{Alex, Nick and Emma...you still matter MORE!!!}  This year I left behind an impending move and all that it entails in the next few days...I barely even thought about the fact that I'd have my head in boxes and cleaning....I forgot all about the fact that I had to work out Alex's student loan information...forgot about the bills that were waiting for me to get home...forgot about the fact that I'm still looking for a job....for one blissful week, my focus shifted from resonsiblility at home to responsibility with our students.  But now I'm back...and all those things are staring impatiently in my face!

So...I figure if these things are battling me, probably they are doing the same for our other leaders and students too.  I'm hoping they all had the ability to sleep in like I did...not sure I'm caught up...we estimate the leaders had about 3-4 hrs of sleep each night. 

{Picture courtesy of Amber Jacoby Photography}

Like I said the other day, it's hard to get right back into things when your heart has been focused in another area...when you've heard great teachers and music and encouragement for 5 straight days.  For that reason, my day is paced slowly and worship music is blaring in the background.

I'm excited to see the kids again at the end of the week.  I'm so encouraged to see that the Lord is working in each of them...and I'm praying they'll keep letting Him.  Often after a conference like this the enemy likes to put his dirty mitts in the middle of our stuff and twist us all up with distraction.  I'm praying that while the kids get back into their schedules and real life that they will be on guard and aware the the enemy would like to use busyness and people to shift their focus off of what God has been doing in them and RUN the other direction before he digs in. 

Students...keep both feet in the fight towards becoming all that God is laying out for you.  Pursue Him continually.  Invite Him to be a part of every corner of your life.  Ask Him tough questions...and let Him answer. Never stop running towards Him and the things that are close to His heart.

 Listen. 

Worship.

Be amazed. 

Holly, Rob, Steve, Kim and I are so proud of each one of you.  We see possibility and anticipate great things in your futures.  You've been set apart for God's use...we pray you will allow Him to lead you forward...

Saturday evening...

I'm not sure where to start this post...the last 2 hours have been a bit of a whirl...and alot emotional around here.  And I'm not sure I can articulate clearly why...but I'll try.

There's been alot of things brewing through the hearts of our students this week.  Some of them have brewed silently, and a few have spoken to some leaders about the thoughts they've been having and the things that the Lord has been speaking into them.  Our group discussion before dinner was the beginning of something good happening among us.  The kids felt a real freedom to share their hearts and open up in front of each other.  Holly asked them if they'd be willing to share what God has been doing throughout the week...and here's some of their responses:

"I am beginning to realize how big God's love for me is"

"God understands my pain"

"We're at war and we need to be prepared"

"I need to let Jesus live through me so my friends will know that I love Him"

"I know what I should be doing...I just need to do it"

"I'm trying to wrap my head around my faith-and my eyes are being opened"

We felt a sense that the LORD has been working among us all week...and He has.

During the closing ceremony this evening we had a time of worship and celebration for the way the Spirit has moved among us and done His work to draw us closer to Himself.  We were challenged by Jason Ostrander to continue on in the things that God has been speaking to us and allow Him to finish His work.  He then extended an invitation to those who had made salvation decisions throughout the week to stand and be welcomed into the Kingdom of God.....all over the arena students stood to their feet and were cheered on and clapped for.  It was a really moving moment.

Afterwards Jason invited those who have been wrestling God this week over a call to ministry- whether it is full-time or part-time- to stand in commitment to this call.  There was movement around every corner of the room as students stood, some before he had even finished speaking, and others almost reluctantly-as if continuing to wrestle.  Four of our own students were among those who made commitments to ministry of some sort.  Three of them stood to obey a call to pursue missions and one to a call towards music ministry.  It's hard to explain the feelings and emotions among our group...hard to put into words from my perspective, too.  Nick was among those who stood, and watching him struggle to obey God tugged at my mother heart...it brought back to me thoughts of so many Missions Festivals when I have repeatedly given each of my kids back to the Lord to use as He sees fit.  Nick's heart has always been tender towards mission work..and yet he's struggled throughout the week to distinguish his voice from the God's.  And, even up to the moment he stood was sure that he wasn't going to stand...in his words,

"Mom, I wasn't going to stand...I didn't want to, it scares me...but even though I didn't want to, without thinking about it, I was standing."

That same story was repeated in several of the kids.  THAT's what God has been up to this week...and so much more.  Remember our earlier prayer for unity?  God is doing a new thing in that regard, too.  As often happens with our groups, living together 24/7 can do lots of things; it can cause friction and frustration...but it can also cause friendship.  I'll be honest, I think we had a fair share of the first two earlier in the week, but as the week has progressed, it's been a really neat thing to see the kids learn to love each other and encourage each other.  I've seen it happen after previous LIFE Conferences, and I had hope that it would happen again with this group. 

 God has been really good to us this week.  I can't tell you how sweet it has been to watch the progression of each student throughout the last few days.  Every one of them has had a new root planted in them...for some it was more obvious and clear, and for others it was another step towards understanding God.  For us leaders it has been a great thing to watch.

Parents, I KNOW you would be so proud to see your kids this week.  We agreed that it's a privilege to have been allowed to spend this week with them.  We're ready to head back...but it has been a wonderful time for every one of us. 

So, here's the schedule for tomorrow morning:

We plan to pull the bus out of the parking lot at 6am {yikes, 4 1/2 hours from now!} we will travel a few hours so the kids can sleep, stop for a late breakfast, travel some more, have a late lunch, a potty break, and hopefully will be home around 8pm. 

*Pray that Rob and Steve get the rest they need in the next few hours...they're emotionally drained from meeting with a few of the boys this evening to talk about commitments made, etc. 

*Pray for safety as we travel

*Pray that we would transition well to our regular schedules

Can I also give you a heads-up about something else? A warning, I suppose, your kids have had a really exceptional week.  They've had some freedom to be {somewhat} independant from you this week, they've heard alot of messages, they've learned alot of new things, and they've lost alot of sleep!  For that reason, I'd like to encourage you to hold back on questioning and probing them about their week for a day or two.  I can tell you only from my experiences that there is a sort of low that you go through when you walk back into your life after being in a "Jesus bubble" for a week.  Real life is hard, and it's not easy re-entering it.  Please be patient and let them process...in time they will be ready to spill out everything, but it may take a while.  As an adult it's still difficult for me to go right back into mom roll - and I know that it'll be even more difficult for them.  You've got great kids...in time they will process their thoughts and begin to share.

thanks again for letting the leaders serve your kids this week...we love what we do!

Saturday morning...

We all woke with bittersweet thoughts about this being our last day of LIFE.  On one hand, it's been such a great week of living in a totaly "Jesus bubble" and it's been great....and on the other hand, it's time to get home-back to reality and get on with summer.  {And, some of us are kind of missing our families!}

The day started like all the rest...by meeting at 7am for breakfast.  {*Note to parents:  Just thought you should know your kids are REALLY good at getting up before 7am, showering  and sitting at the breakfast table before 7:30 on a summer day}  Our first session included a parade of nations with all of the home assignment missionaries.  The kids gave them a standing ovation that lasted for several minutes...We also had communion together....all 7,000 of us...and took an offering for the Great Commission Fund...it was an AWESOME morning!

After the session, we split up to go to small seminar groups, then met back together for lunch.  Right now we're all crashed out at the hotel...napping or playing games or just sitting around and chatting.  We all needed some down time before we meet at 4 for some group time and then back to the arena for dinner and the closing ceremony.

Please continue to pray for all of us as we finish out this evening. 

 We want to finish well and continue to hear God's voice.

...back again later for pictures and information about our departure tomorrow morning...

A few pictures....

Again...I'm too tired to think.  We started our day at 5:45 and are finally settled in the hotel at 11:52.  WE'RE BEAT!!!  Sorry, I'm opting for a quick post and getting some sleep.

Today is Nathan Staherski's 15th birthday...

he celebrated with a box of Swiss Roll Cakes!

Nick, Kyle and Jared hanging out at the band booths...

{with Bradley Hathaway}

{with Trace Bundy}

{stealing a picture behind Logan Martin}

{poser}

I didn't take alot of pictures, but it was another great day with the kids.  We continue to have some really interesting speakers and worship times and I believe there is some stirring in the hearts of some of the kids.  It's been really neat to see the kids so eager to choose seminars to attend and hear them processing the information afterwards.  As leaders, we spent some time together praying for one student who is wrestling with the possibility that God is calling them into ministry in the future...we are so excited to watch some progression in this student and see their hesitation and fear turn to curiosity and possible openess. 

So much of the talks this week have been on listening to what God has to say about how we should live and then doing those things.  I pray these messages will be forever embedded into the hearts of the students and their faith will become part of every corner of their lives.   We've heard testimony from several former LIFE attendees who have made about-face changes in their lives after LIFE and are now living lives completely sold-out to Christ.  The students have been told over and over this week that following God may mean alot of hard choices.  It may mean doing something you're not comfortable doing, giving something up you don't want to or loving someone who is impossible to love.  They've heard that God likes us to be in impossible situations for the sole purpose that He would be glorified when we give up our will to follow His. 

The night ended with a missions theme and a call to offer our help to Alliance projects in need.  The Alliance Youth Project offering is going to be taken tomorrow morning and the kids were left with a challenge to give  what they can and see what great things the LORD will do with it.

Oh! I almost forgot.  The group of 6,500 people in the arena made it in the Guiness World Records.  We played the largest game of Rock, Paper, Scissors ever recorded.  Funny!

My eyes are closing as I type...no sign of making up that lost sleep anytime soon!

Tomorrow is our last day here.  It's a pretty packed with activities and speakers and fun.  We're all thoroughly enjoying the week, but I think we'll be ready to head back home when the time comes. 

For now, GOOD NIGHT...

{back again tomorrow if I get a chance!}

Thursday with Derwin..

So..part of the problem of having such a full schedule is that I don't get a chance to sit here until late at night, and then I'm too tired to have complete thoughts.  BUT...if I had all my wits about me, I would share about how awesome our speaker, Derwin Gray, was this morning.  He spoke about the incarnation of God.  How He came down so that we could have relationship with Him.  He talked about how God is our relentless pursuer and how He wants to be the One who we get our worth from. 

"Don't surrender your Divine Birthright to other people's opinions and plans for you"

"You are my treasured possession"

"You are a chosen people"

Derwin challenged the kids not to underestimate the power that they have to change the world around them.

"God's objective for young people is this: that they are ambassadors to this world and HE wants to change the world through them."

Derwin also shared the deep love God has for each of us and His desire for our lives to collide with His.  You can't imagine how it looks to see over 6,500 teenagers bending their bodies forward to listen intently to this man speak.  He challenged the kids in some very practical ways. 

We also enjoyed some great worship music, as well as poetry by Bradley Hathaway

The afternoon was spent at the Louisville Slugger Stadium, where we enjoyed a concert by the band, "Kutless", dinner, and a baseball game.  During the middle of the 5th inning we were called on to do a little dance that all 6,500 of us have been working on all week.  Just a few minutes ago Joe Burchill called to say that our "dancing" had made it on the News!  It had to have been over 100 degrees outside, but it really was alot of fun!

Kutless

A bunch of kids ate HUGE sno comes to cool off...

Anyway, if I had my thoughts together...or maybe if I just had a tiny bit more sleep, then I could tell you story after story about the ways the kids have been getting along and enjoying being together. These really are some great kids, and I believe they are being challenged and transformed.

The song playing in the background is one of the songs we've been singing all week, it is another message of God's greal LOVE for us. 

Before I go...two short messages to the kids I left at home...

ALEX:

I didn't get much of Trace Bundy's performance, but here's a little clip for you!

{It won't download!!!!!  Sorry, Alex, here's a picture instead...}

Emma...

It's possible...MAYBE I bought this shirt for you. 

I thought it was cute...and a little funny!

{Miss you guys...thanks for keeping things together at home!}

I'm off to bed...the other leaders have beaten me to it!

Wednesday morning...

A quick look at our day so far...

starting the day out with worship

{The Logan Martin Band}

Opening session w/ Francis Chan

{love him!}

FUN in the Activity Room

Janae bungie jumping

Isaiah and Austin in the sumo suits!

Heather, Janae, Holly and Kim

Our first large group session:

I thought you would enjoy a glimpse of our first session before we head off to bed for some much needed sleep...you'll probably need to stop the music that is playing in the background first. 

WARNING:  this is LOUD....but if we sat through it, you can too!

The evening ended with the CM&A President, Gary Benedict giving us a blessing, asking the LORD to work for us, in us and through us during the week.  We met as small groups to discuss the evening and pray together...and now we're heading to bed! 

More to come tomorrow...

Good night!

we've arrived!

After a VERY long ride with VERY little sleep among us, we have FINALLY arrived safely. 

After a time of prayer, we posed and

anxiously awaited departure...

the bus ride went smoothly- lots of sleeping, laughing, and fun!

We awakened to a beautiful sunrise and headed to Cracker Barrel for an EARLY breakfast...

{waiting...}

{and waiting...}

{LARGE sodas for breakfast!}

{Plates of carbs...gravy, grits and biscuits!}

We're off to a good start...ready for things to get off the ground in about two hours.  There's a sense of excitement among the kids--and many of them are at the LIFE Store as I type spending MONEY...prepare for loads of tshirts and sweatshirts to be coming your way soon!

Thanks for your prayers for safety...

Continue to pray for unity and open hearts for each student...

Loading up and heading out

In 23 hours we will be well on our way to Kentucky.  I have a HUGE list of things waiting for me to do in the morning...but for tonight, I'm going to bed with this thought on my mind:

She just said what I'm praying each student will be able to say after this week...a prayer uttered from their gut- a surrender of self and an invitation to allow nothing to be off limits to the LORD.  I believe that is God's heart for these students too...and I believe it can happen.