Hello my lovely friends! Here is a song from For King And Country called O God Forgive Us. What this song means to me is this; we are crying out to God to forgive us for all the mistakes we make. And boy do we make a lot! I hope this song encourages you to take a minute (or more!) and ask God to forgive you for anything you have done against His will. (I own nothing! All rights go to For King and Country, KB, and producers!)
❤ Mandie
Y’all, I finally made an update to my blog, and I am loving it! Let me know what y’all think in the comments!
❤ Mandie
Here is a song from Mercy Me called Even If. This song really spoke to me when I just stopped and listened to the words of the song. Here is what I got out of this song. God is our only hope. He is there with us through the fire and through the storm and we will never be alone. It is well with my soul!
One lyric that hit me deep was, ‘It’s easy to sing when there’s nothing to bring me down.’ I have felt this strongly this past year. Sometimes when I would go up to help with worship, if I didn’t feel happy it was harder for me to truly sing. I want to be able to sing through the fire and the storm, through the hills, and the valleys! (I own nothing, all rights go to the MercyMe band and producers!)
❤ Mandie
For this week’s music Monday song we have Still by Hilary Scott. I love this song for the beauty of it and the meaning. All God needs us to do is be still. In this crazy world we too often stay so busy, when God is calling us to just be still and listen. Take some time this week to be still and listen to what God is saying. (I own nothing! All rights go to Hillary Scott and producers!)
Church Camp this year was something I have looked forward to since the beginning of the year! I was literally counting down the months, weeks, days, and even hours! This year we went to a camp we have never been to before. Now at first we were all a little hesitant about going to a different camp, but personally I had a really good feeling about this camp before we even went. The camp theme was HIS VOICE.
Here is the condensed version of my experience at Camp!
Day 1- I felt God.
Day 2- I saw God.
Day 3- I heard God.
Now for the extended version!
Day 1– On this day we arrived at camp around 3:00pm. Worship, and then service by Jeanne Mayo were at 7 or 8pm (I can’t remember). Jeanne spoke about ‘Freedom from the Father-Wound’. Basically the point she was making was the fact that sometimes we can attach our feelings toward our earthly father, to our Heavenly Father. God is trustworthy, even when your earthly father isn’t. God is the best parent ever! You don’t even need to earn His attention, you already have it!
This night I really felt something, but I wasn’t sure what it was at the time. I sat in the room after pretty much everyone left and just listened. So the first night I felt God moving.
Day 2– This day we had lots of activities in the morning and then at 2:00pm we had service again. Jeanne now spoke about ‘A Call for Ambulance Drivers’. The point for this lesson was we need to be like ambulance drivers as we run our race. Our goal doesn’t necessarily need to be to save them right then and there, but to get them where they need to be. Do something with your life for eternity! You don’t drown by falling in the water; you drown by staying there! You cannot change the world until you let God radically change you! Read that one more time! She had so many great points in this service!
This night I saw something so beautiful! I watched as many students gave their lives to Christ, or even openly said they were faltering in their walk right now. I saw all of our youth family members worshiping their faces off (as we like to put it). It made me SO happy and proud to watch them feeling the presence of God. Yes I cried, because I was seeing God move.
Day 3– This day was pretty much the same as day 2, the set up of it and all. Jeanne ended it all off with a service entitled, ‘Friday Night Lights’. Basically, what is the light in your life? We all have a story behind the lights. Play through the pain of your story! Stay underneath God’s light. You will never learn to pray if you stop when you don’t feel like it. Faith is often spelled RISK.
This last night I had the best experience. During the end when music was playing they invited anyone, who wanted to step up and step out in their faith, to come up to the front. I knew in that moment I needed to move. I went up front and they started to play worship songs. And yes the tears started to fall again. And that is when I heard God!
Maybe it wasn’t an audible voice, but I truly believe that I heard God speaking to me personally in my life. I feel like God told me to let go. Let go and let God. I tend to hold on to my past, my fears, or my insecurities, when I should be holding onto God. One song we sang really stuck with me. It Is Well by Bethel. Here is the bridge of the song:
‘So let go, my soul, and trust in him, The waves and wind still know His name.’
As I move on from chapter to chapter, my prayer is that I will let God do what He is capable of doing in my life. I am so blessed to have had the privilege of going to this camp for my last camp experience (as a camper). I have the most amazing youth family EVER! I know y’all are reading this! ❤ ❤ ❤ I saw all of y’all grow in your lives and relationships with Christ this past weekend. Don’t let this be the end of the “God encounter”! Keep on striving for God, and I promise y’all will not regret it!
❤ Mandie
P.S. I think I got dehydrated from all the crying…LOL
Music is a huge part of my life, and it is also a way that God speaks to me. I would like to share some powerful songs from camp this past weekend. I love all of these songs and I pray you will be encouraged, strengthened, and challenged in your faith by these songs, as I have been in mine.
Great Are You Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpb02shcAis
You Make Me Brave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UglO7SGUWk
No Longer Slaves: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8TkUMJtK5k
King of My Heart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUW3tl4-5h8
Oceans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy9nwe9_xzw
What A Beautiful Name: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5L6QlAH3L4
It Is Well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4taAN4QtbI
Closer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJRDNYuwZdQ
Enjoy!
❤ Mandie
I meant to do this post in May, but summer caught me of guard! ❤
I have learned so much in this past year! Today I am going to share my journey through senior year with y’all! (Please read through the end)
I’ll start at the beginning! August 2016 started the toughest, most trying year of my life so far. I knew right off the bat that this year was going to be hard, but I never imagined it would be as hard as it was!
Anyway, it started with my sister graduating high school and going to college 6 hours away from home. We are a year and a half apart in age and basically been together all our lives! So needless to say we are very close. I lost my best friend (besides Jesus). I felt I didn’t have anyone to hang out with, talk to, or do “sister things” with. Sure, she came home through out the year, but that wasn’t enough for me!
And then coming back home from helping my sister move in I started schoolwork. I don’t even like to think about it. The first class I started was Physics. Now for those of you who don’t know I was homeschooled through senior year, so I mainly taught myself at this point. Physics. Ugh, I never want to see that book again! I read the first chapter, which the author said was the easy chapter, and thought ‘I’m going to fail’. It was so confusing! I’ve never been a technical person, or a math equation/formula person. Throwing me into all of this was so overwhelming! Me and physics did NOT get along. At the same time I started my first (and last) dual credit class. I thought it was going to be easy, until I took the first test/quiz and almost failed it!
On top of all of my school work, I worked over 20 hours each week. That took time out of my weeks that I could have been doing school work. So now I was always either doing schoolwork or working ALL THE TIME. I didn’t want to cut my hours at work, because I felt I would let them down. And I ended up doing schoolwork until 10 or 11pm every night. I needless to say I got stressed out, BIG TIME. Before this time I never knew what stress felt like, so I didn’t know how to handle it; making the whole “stressed out” part, worse.
Then 2017 hit. More chaos, more stress, more worry, and more challenges. In February college prep hit fast and hard. I had to audition for the music department at 2 colleges. I was stressed out in general because I lack self confidence in my abilities. I had only been working on these songs for a month too, and they were musical theatre songs! I had NEVER sang a musical theatre song before! That made me even more nervous. And then the long waiting process, to see if I even get accepted! UGH! How much more stressful could it get!
March, April, and May didn’t get much easier! I was so behind on my schoolwork that I wasn’t going to finish before my graduation on May 20th. Through all of this my positivity and faith went down the drain. I got upset easily and snapped at my family and friends. All I wanted to do was graduate. Lastly I realized how inadequate I was at church. I was leading a small group, on the worship team, and in a leader position being one of two seniors in youth. I knew how inadequate I was to be doing any of that. I couldn’t even keep myself and my faith together. How was I supposed to help them?!
BUT…
This is not the end of the story!
Yes, my sister left and I felt alone, BUT I learned how precious friends and family are. And I was able to learn more about myself and grow into who God has made me to be.
Yes, I struggled with my school work, BUT I learned to cut out distractions, focus, and how to ask for help. It all paid off in the end; I passed all my classes!
Yes, working over 20 hours a week was hard, BUT I learned how to communicate with others, be dedicated to a job, be patient, multitask, and serve others. I also gained so many amazing friends out of my co-workers!
Yes, college prep and auditions were nerve racking and stressful, BUT I got accepted to the music program and am so excited to see what God has planned for me in the fall! To read more about this experience click here!
Yes, I almost gave up with schoolwork because of stress, BUT Beach Trip in November 2016 came where I learned how to show reckless love to others, and learned how God can be my peace in all the stress and chaos of life! And my youth group became more than a group, they became family!
Yes, I lacked self confidence and was afraid of others judging me, BUT I had my first performance in December 2016 and learned how to be confident in the talents and gifts God has given me! Since then I have sang for more people, and have had more opportunities to use my talent to serve the Lord!
Yes, I dreaded 2017, worried that more stress would come upon me (which it did), BUT in January my youth pastor spoke on a sermon called Renew Year, and I learned how to celebrate the life I live, and live every day like it is my last. To read more about this click here!
Yes, I felt inadequate to be a leader in youth, BUT I learned that maybe the reason God put me there was for me to learn from them! They have ministered to me more than they know! They have encouraged, inspired, and completely amazed me in these past 10 months!
Yes, I didn’t believe that I could possibly finish all my schoolwork before graduation, BUT I graduated! I graduated on May 20th, and learned that closing one chapter of your life might not be easy, but God will always be there for me (and you)!
Yes, I struggled in my faith, BUT I learned how I (and you) can accomplish ANYTHING with God by my (and your) side!
As I close this chapter of my life I look back and yes, I see the stress, chaos, and pain of this past year, BUT I choose to focus on what I have learned and how God has changed me! My prayer is that I will continue to grow this next year in this new chapter of my life, and see what amazing opportunities God will place before me. Whether I am on a hill or in a valley I am NOT alone!
❤ Mandie
When I saw this song pop up on YouTube I got so excited! A new Newsboys song! And Peter Furler, the former Newsboys lead singer, is featured in the song! The song “The Cross Has the Final Word” says it all in the name of the song! No matter what your situation in life the cross has the final word!! (I own nothing! All rights go to the Newsboys, Peter Furler, and producers!)
I made it! And boy did time really fly by! For those of y’all who have know clue what I am talking about, I’ll explain! Last year on July 7, 2016 I made a challenge for myself. I said that I wanted to only drink milk and water for one year. I only slipped up two times, but I let myself off for those. The first time I accidentally drank some lemonade, but I only drank a few sips before I realized, so I figured I would let myself out of that one. The second time I had the flu and one of the best things to drink when you are sick is orange juice so I let myself off for that one too! Other than those two times I did great!
Now that I have finished my initial challenge I hope to continue it as long as possible. And I hope to be able to challenge myself even more in the next year! Have y’all challenged yourselves to anything this year? Or are there any challenges you want to try? Let me know in the comments!
❤ Mandie
Hey y’all! Happy 4th of July/Independence Day!
I have just updated my art page if y’all want to check it out! And I am working on writing many posts for the next few months! Thanks for your patience!
❤ Mandie
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