Womens Weekend

Over the weekend, all of the girls on project got to spend time together while the guys went backpacking. It was nice just to get to hang out with all of the girls here and to get to know them better.

On Friday we started the weekend by going camping. We were told that since there was a bear wandering around the campgrounds, we were not allowed to bring anything that might attract it. We ended up not even seeing the bear, which is a good thing. When we first got to the campground, we got to pick the tent we wanted to stay in, and all of my roomies went into a tent together. After we had been there for awhile, we started our camping trip by talking about God's love for us regardless of what we've been through. Sometimes when we go through hard things in our lives we feel a sense of shame or guilt about it, but God will still love us no matter what happens. It was really encouraging to hear that because sometimes I feel a sense of guilt and shame when I'm doing something that I think will make God stop loving me...but He will always love me :)

After that we sat around the camp fire and were encouraged to open up about things that were occurring in our lives. The staff told us that when we feel the need to hide things or keep things to ourselves, it can hinder our relationships with others and with God. Even though God already knows the state of heart, we should still turn to Him with our burdens, praises, emotions, and anything else. Also, if we keep things to ourselves instead of turning to other people for support as well, then we never develop those deep relationships that God wants us to have with each other. So, everyone started opening up about their lives, and it was really great to hear what people have been through and how they were able to be picked back up.

Then it was time for sleep. Did I mention that we were basically sleeping in the tundra? Everything was cold and the ground was pretty much frozen. Oh, and I had to dig my way through the snow to get to my tent. Okay, so maybe it wasnt THAT cold....but it was cold. My roomies and I had a snuggle fest to try to keep warm, but we still sat up most of the night shivering. Thats one of my favorite things about Colorado. It can be eighty degrees during the day and still drop down to freezing weather at night. Its crazy!

The next morning everyone woke up and had some breakfast. We continued the talk we had the other night, except we read 1 John 1: 5-10,

"5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives."

We talked about what it meant to walk in the light with God, and that if we turn to Him we won't find ourselves in darkness anymore. Also, we spoke about confessing our sins to Him and to some of our friends. If we confess our sins to God, we will find forgiveness and comfort to Him, and we'll also find comfort in our friends if we let them know what's going on in our lives. I really loved hearing about walking in the light and avoiding the darkness. Its so incredible that when we put our faith in God, He removes us from the darkness. How awesome is that, friends?!

After our discussion, we packed up and went back to our condos to shower and make ourselves presentable. We were placed into dinner groups of people we dont normally hang out with and we actually went out to dinner. It was such a nice treat to be able to talk to some girls that I dont get to see that often and to be able to go to the village and to a restaurant just to relax. I really enjoyed it.

When we came back, we went to Monica's room (she's a staff member) and had ice cream and brownies. They told us we would be talking about our feelings more (we were all feelinged out by this point), but that they wanted to play a song for us first. When they turned on the music, Monica started dancing to it and announced we were having a dance party instead of feeling fest. It was nice to take a fun break from all of the project stuff! When the dance party finished, we all went to watch 27 Dresses and cuddle under warm blankets. It was the epitome of a Girl's Weekend....brownies, ice cream, dance parties, feelings, and girl movies!

On Sunday we went to the early service at church and finished up the book of James. The whole focus of the service was on why we should pray, which I thought was what I really needed to hear. We spoke about how God moves when we pray because he moves through our prayers, and that we have access to the most powerful thing in the universe through our prayers. Also, God is looking for persistence in our prayer lives, not perfection. That was good for me to hear because a lot of the times I get discouraged because I think my prayers aren't good enough. But thats not what God is looking for! To get the point across, we talked about Elijah and how he prayed over and over again that it wouldn't rain, and it didnt rain for three and a half years. But then he prayed again for rain, and it did rain for the first time in awhile. Elijah was persistent in his prayers to God, as we should be also. We also spoke about how we should pray when life is crushing us, when life is good to us, and when we are hurting physically, emotionally, or spiritually. I think that hardest one for most people to remember is to pray when life is good to us. How easily do we forget to praise God when something goes well in our lives? Its definitely something I've been working on because every good thing I receive is a gift from God! He deserves to be praised because He does so many marvelous things in our lives.

After church we had a brunch banquet. All of our staff members we've been meeting with one-on-one called us up and gave us roses after they told us what strengths we have. It was nice hearing everyone's strengths and hearing what the staff members thought. I really enjoyed girls weekend!

Other than that, I've been preparing for the lesson on Brokenness I'm leading with Emily and James tonight. Pray that it goes well tonight, friends!

I'll leave you all with some scripture and a song that I've been identifying with!
Psalm 3
Martyrs and Thieves by Jennifer Knapp (I wont post all of the lyrics. I encourage you to take a listen though!)