Maddi (Mandi) and Sold Out

Wow, so let me start off my saying my blog posts will probably not be this frequent but this weekend was so crazy that I had to write about it! So let’s get down to business, we all know what I’m talking about here and if you don’t well listen up! This weekend was Sold Out and it was my first Vineyard youth gathering and it was one of the best weekends I’ve ever had. We prayed for each other and we served and prayed for others. I’m going to focus mainly on what the Lord did with me.

The night we got there was so amazing! We worshiped and had an incredible speaker. We learned about Tresure Hunting which is letting the Lord show you things about people like “Blue Shirt” and “Left Knee Pain” and going and searching for these people which I thought was really cool. What really made me smile was the hearts these guys have was really clear when there were a good number of people in the front that wanted to receive prayer for things like pain and broken hearts and the people left sitting had to go pray… man those guys jumped right into it and so did I. While we were waiting for the Lord to give us things people might need prayer for I kept hearing “Broken Heart” and of course I said “No way and I saying that out loud Lord, but if you have someone else say it I will totally go pray for the person that goes to the front” and sure enough… that’s what happened. I was so very proud of the person I prayed for because he was so open and so honest and really received what the Lord had for him.

And then there was Saturday… Saturday, there are so many things to say about Saturday but I will start with the outreach I went on. My group went to help this organization called Living Water International which is an organization that drills wells in other countries which is a huge blessing. If you want to learn more go to www.water.cc . The woman there and those guys blessed me so much. I got a ton of advice having to do with Nicaragua and made some new friends. 

Something that completely blew me away was how amazing everyone’s stories were about their day. The Street Team had some great ones and all of those guys did such an amazing job. Although I think Hannah Stevens stories was one of my favorites because the Lord really sent her group on a treasure hunt and it was so amazing. Anyway, the Lord told me I needed to share what working with Living Water did for me and how it encouraged me with my call to go to Nicaragua so that’s what I did, even if I had to tell Kaleb to make me go which caused him to attempt to push me out of my chair. It’s what came after my sharing though that really made the ending to this amazing weekend so special.

While out with my outreach group I made a friend named Emily and it turned out she herself has been to Nicaragua a few times. She gave me inspiration in the fact that I can do this and she also gave me some wonderful advice… but she did an amazing thing for me towards the end of Sold Out. She asked the ENTIRE group there to pray for me. I don’t know about any of you but having that many people around you, praying, speaking truth, giving you words and picture, well it was truly one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I am so thankful for everyone that prayed for me and stood with me in that moment, all of those guys are truly amazing and I really hope I get to see all of them again at DTS.

Anyway, I just wanted to share what the Lord did with me at Sold Out and I want to encourage everyone else that was there and felt the Lord moving in their life to share that with everyone as well. I know for me, hearing other people’s stories about things like this really inspire me to not only attend those events but to DO THE STUFF every day and look for how the Lord is moving every day.

The Big Change Coming

Alright first blog post, here goes nothing. 

I created this blog a few weeks ago for the single purpose of having it for what the Lord is about to be doing in my life, but I’ve come to the realization that I might want to start using it a little earlier to let you all know exactly what the Lord is about to do. I also just wanted a blog because Ashley has a blog. (See what I did there Ashley… Are you proud?)

A few months ago, after an amazing visit from the Kolbs and the Robby Dawkins weekend the Lord started bringing up Nicaragua more and more in my thoughts and then around Christmas he showed me that he wanted me to actually go to Nicaragua for a year. Now, if any of you  know me, you know that I’ve never even been on an airplane so the thought of actually leaving the country was terrifying. I spent about a month fighting with the Lord (which is one of my favorite things to do) before actually trying to put His plan in motion. 

I’d talked to a few people about it and those people were very supportive but nothing was really happening… that is until I prayed for confirmation. The next day I received a call from Carrie and my grandmother got on board. So since then things have been happening rather fast and things seem to really be coming together. I’ve gotten a general budget planned, I’ve started collecting things I’m going to need to bring with me, and Carrie and I are talking regularly.

For me however, and I think for a lot of people, when you put your entire life in the Lord’s hands and I feel like I have, there comes a lot of struggle and a lot of insecurities. Wondering if I’m really hearing him correctly, worrying about what people will think, whether or not I’ll even make it down there. I just have to constantly remind myself that the Lord is going to take care of me and if this is His plan then he’ll provide a way.

And I am so grateful for my grandparents, they are so wonderful and are being so supportive. I didn’t really expect them to support this calling because I didn’t even support it at first but they are and it’s so amazing.

Anyway, the plan as of now is I will be going down there sometime in July and I will be staying with the Kolbs. I’m so very grateful for them and am so glad they are willing to have me. What I plan to being doing down there is mainly seeing what the Lord leads me to do and what He’s doing. I also have a feeling I might be going down there because Missions might just be the thing I’m supposed to do with my life. I know the Lord will being using my heart for kids and my willingness to serve Him while I am down there and I can’t wait.