Life Changing

Wow! God can truly do amazing things when you step out of your comfort zone and allow Him to work. Heath and I have been married for 11 years and together for 13. All of those years he has worked with the youth at church and for more than half of them he has gone on some sort of summer camp with them, whether it was the beach or the mountains. This year as summer approached, out of the blue I felt God telling me to go with him. I kept thinking, "Are you crazy? I am so not the person to be going on beach retreat. I have never worked with youth before and I am certainly not bold enough." But it kept nagging at me and I kept feeling like if I didn't go I would stay behind and regret it. God has been at work in me this year and has given me a passion to be in His word and to serve Him. But it was always where it was comfortable. Now God was telling me it was time to get uncomfortable because that is when I would grow the most. I had completely leaned on Him over the last few months when we didn't know how our bills would get paid, and He was faithful. It was time to lean on Him in a different way and watch how He worked again.

I didn't say anything to Heath for awhile because I knew once I said something I couldn't turn back. Time was getting closer so I approached him and said I was thinking about going with him. He smiled and said, "You ARE going with me!" Like I said, there was no turning back. Especially once he told Chad, our youth pastor, who was just as excited. We talked to my family up in Dallas and they were great with having the kids spend the week with them and the kids were equally excited to spend the week with their cousins. With having to get the kids and the dog up to Dallas before we left and then going back up there after we returned, we would be apart for 9 days! That was a heavy burden on me. We had never been apart from them for that long. God had given me a peace about going on beach retreat and this was where Satan tried to steal it away. My heart was heavy and I worried about so many things. But God reminded me of Matthew 6:34, "Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself." God will give me enough strength to get through each day. I can't take my strength from one day to save for a day that hasn't even happened yet. When I focused on the day I was in and what needed to be done that day, and didn't look at what loomed ahead, I had the amount of strength I needed.

Beach Retreat finally arrived on Sunday, June 7. God had been answering my prayers and had given me the strength each day that I needed. Even the strength to say good-bye to my kids and know that they would be fine without me. It was a 10 hour bus ride to Orange Beach, AL with our Cypress Campus of Second Baptist Church. For those of you that don't know, Second Baptist Church has 5 campuses in the Houston area and over 1700 youth and leaders would be going to Beach Retreat. We would all be staying in separate condos along the beach but come together at night for dinner and worship. Despite the long bus ride, we enjoyed getting to know the other leaders and students. We arrived in Orange Beach around 9:30 that night where we were divided up with our students and off to our condos.

It was a busy but great week. Each day consisted of getting up and out on the beach by 9:00 for silent sounds (quiet time), back to the condo for breakfast and then off to classes until 12:00. Then lunch and free time where the kids could go to the beach, the pool, shopping, or tournaments on the beach. After free time it was showers and cleaning the condo, leaders meeting at 5:00 and then back to the beach at 6:00 for another silent sounds. Then we loaded the bus and we were off to join the other campuses for dinner and worship at the local Student Life building. On Monday after worship we were bussed to a local amusement park where the kids could play until midnight, Wednesday night was baptism night, and Thursday night was campus night where all the campuses worshipped separately. Most of the time Heath and I only saw each other in passing but were able to sit together in the evenings for worship. It was still great to know that we were there together. When we weren't running from one thing to the next, the time that we could just talk with the girls in our condo was special. I enjoyed getting to know them and meeting them right where they were. Talking about how God was moving and what they wanted from their lives. I hold those times closely to my heart. Friday came quickly and a little unexpectedly. I wasn't ready to go. But I got on the bus with a lot of great memories and a new perspective on what lies ahead.

On a personal level, I had an incredible time and walked away with a new passion to continue growing these relationships I had formed. I didn't want to just go home and forget all that God had done during the week. I was excited that after all these years, Heath and I could do ministry together. It will be tough having two kids and wanting to serve together, but God will provide in the ways that we need. I look back at the week and know without a doubt that God wanted me there and that I would have regretted it if I didn't go. I met some incredible people and allowed God to work in my life personally. When I got home I felt like I was looking ahead at a different life than I had been looking ahead to before I left.

That's what God wants from us...obedience. As crazy as I thought the whole idea was, I knew it was what God wanted. And to not go would have been complete disobedience. And a complete loss of all that I gained while I was there: trust in God's perfect plan, His strength, His peace, a stronger relationship with Him, new relationships, a hunger to grow stronger in my faith and knowledge of His word, and more that He hasn't even revealed to me yet. Beach retreat for me was more than just going to the beach to invest in the lives of students. It was allowing God to take me out of my comfort zone and show me there is so much more out there that I was afraid to experience. Our walk with Him is not about standing on the sidelines, but about getting right into the middle of it and fully experiencing Him. I did that and I am all the better for it.

I am overflowing with thoughts and feelings from beach retreat and could go on and on, but I will end with this: If you feel God speaking to you specifically, don't ignore Him. Just be obedient and watch Him move! Your life will be changed!

Before I leave off, of course I am including a few pictures of our time there.

This was the view from our condo. The beach was beautiful and the weather was perfect all week.

This was our condo from the beach. It was fairly new and quite nice! (We were far from roughing it!)

A view down the beach.

Free time at the pool. This was our last day and neither Heath nor I had any duties. I was excited that we would have an hour to hang out during free time. But what does Heath do? He takes a nap!

The first day on the beach.

Silent sounds on the beach the last evening. This was the view from where I was sitting and doing my quiet time.

This is a view from our condo looking out at silent sounds. It really is amazing to see 150+ students and leaders spread out across the sand in total silence reading God's word.

At night all the students came together for worship. The band from our campus played and then Dr. Ed Young who is the head pastor of Second Baptist Church gave the message.

On Wedneday night after worship we went to a local water park and used the wave pool for baptism. What a powerful statement it was for these kids to profess their faith in Jesus Christ by being baptized in front of their peers.

This was me with the girls from my condo just before our campus night of worship. One of the girls brought headbands and we put our names on them and all wore them that night. We also had another leader in our condo since we had 8 girls (she was taking the picture).

Heath and I at worship with our campus the last night. It had been such a great week, I was a little sad it was all coming to an end.

We have an incredible worship band and it is always a blast to worship with the youth!