Michindoh Summer 09

The much anticipated Camp update has arrived!

This year at camp I believe the prayers of the church were answered as God was at work in the hearts and lives of many campers.

My co-counselor, Heather Seaton, was such a huge blessing and her help was greatly appreciated. While we planned the week to the best of our ability, God still proved to have His own plans and we went through the week with the motto, " Be Tough, Be Flexible" always keeping in mind that God's plans are the best.

We had 8 Sr. High girls in our cabin and we loved every minute of reconnecting with them and forming strong bonds. Kassie did a great job of coming up with games for everyone to play including making mummies with toilet paper, playing volleyball in the mud pit, watermelon rugby, and capture the flag/three legged race.

In the evening, I had the opportunity to be on the worship team with some very talented musicians and we had a blast praising God together.

Throughout the week, Eric, a fellow counselor and myself had the priveledge of talking with one of my campers on several different occasions. And thank the Lord, on the last day of camp, she was saved!!

An exciting part of camp is the Sr. High bonfire. We were forced inside this year by the rain, but we continued to share testimonies and pray together in the chapel until early in the morning. It is always an amazing experience to see the Spirit move among us and to hear the stories of what is going on in the campers lives.

While it was an exhausting week, it was fantastic! Heather and I are excited about the friendships we made and are praying that God would allow us to participate in camp ministry again next year.

-Amanda Marie

The Language of Tears

Tears that bare the soul
stream down and do not cease
while pain, grief, and mourning
surface at last to be seen

Time stands still as the Spirit with us meets
heart ties form as lives connect
and burdens we lay at Jesus' feet

Hearts overflowing and filled with joy
peace reigns over guilt and shame
Christ and His cross work our redeeming grace

Groan for us, Oh Spirit
make our hearts fully known
tears bare our souls
Draw us near to our GOD!

Welcome to Summer...

Hello my friends,

I'm sorry it has been so long since I've updated my blog. I can hardly believe we are about to enter July! Wow, I'm very excited for the fourth, it's a favorite holiday for me.

D.I.G. has begun and we have had two meetings so far. It is going well and we are all working on learning the new study material. It is very challenging and time consuming, but I know that it is worth it!

We had twelve ladies the first week and are expecting the group to be around seventeen next week. I am thankful for Kassie's help in leading the group and for Jolene our hostess.

Evelyn is doing much better and she has been on her own now for three weeks. I am working in our family's woodshop making and assembling gardening baskets. I am still looking for work though and have sent my resume to a couple of people. Please pray that God's will is done.

I continue to look for ministry opportunities and have emailed an organization asking information about their volunteer program. I will update you on that in the future.

I am excited to share that we have almost reached the maximum amount of campers that we can have at our camp this year! This is fantastic news! I am excited about the week and have much work to do to prepare. I will be getting music together and planning my cabin devotions over the next few weeks.

Yesterday, I went to a neat place called Nuevo Mexico authentic Mexican grocery store. It was a fun time for me as I was able to practice my Spanish with the store manager and buy some things that I miss from Mexico. :)

Have a blessed day!

-Amanda Marie

Delighting In God

I'm really excited to tell you all about the plans that are being made to start a ladies' Bible study called D.I.G.(Delighting In God) this coming June. My accountability partner, Kassie, and I are making the preparations to begin a study on Romans using Kay Arthur and David Arthur's Inductive Bible Study program. We especially wanted to start a group that was serious about studying the Scriptures. Meeting once a week to encourage each other to be in the Word all week long, not just at Bible study, through accountability. Kay Arthur's studies take much time in and meditation on the Word of God. We continue to get ready for our first meeting as June quickly approaches and are very excited to see what God will have us to learn individually and as a group through the study of His Word.

What's Coming in Summer 2009???

1)SGBA Camp 2009
I applied for Camp this week and if counselors are still needed, I will be going! We will have a meeting next month to prepare for the week and then camp will be held at Michindoh on the dates of July 13-17th!

Pray for the campers that will be attending, that God will open their hearts and save their souls!

2)Missions Trip??
I am praying for an opportunity to go to Mexico this summer on a short term missions trip.

3)Caregiving
I will be staying with Evelyn for the month of May and then we will probably see if I am still needed at the end of that time. It is possible that during the summer, if she is doing much better, I will still be checking in on her from time to time.
Please pray that Evelyn will soon be able to return to church.

4)Teaching
I am now on the rotation as a Jr. Church teacher at Thornville, so I will be taking my turn again in the months to come.

Although most of these things are liable to change, I wanted to give a quick snapshot of what I'm anticipating my summer will look like. :)

Thank you for your prayers!
-Amanda Marie

With this moment I want to PRAISE HIM!!

Arriving home from church this evening, I am just filled with the excitement and joy that comes when God moves! I am so thrilled to tell that God is working in the hearts of the youth in our small youth group and truly blessing us. We are still praying for our youth pastor and his family as they have all been sick and unable to be with us. We are also thankful for our Sunday school teacher stepping in to teach the lessons on Wednesday nights. Our group has been studying Don Whitney's book, "Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health" and it is so convicting. We are once again touching on the subject of Godly Sorrow and asking the question:
"Do I truly mourn over my sin?"

Our times of prayer and fellowship have been so sweet and I am praising God for His hand in our lives!

-Amanda Marie

That's My King! S.M. Lockridge

I've seen this video various times over the past year or two and it is always an encouragement! Enjoy!