What a weekend!

God showed off!! (picture taken by Molly Bowman)

What a blessed weekend I had! I went up to Solgahchie (I have no idea if that is spelled right!) Retreat center with around 100+ of our youth and had an amazing time. God showed up and showed out and we loved it!!

The whole retreat was centered around the word "abide" based on the Bible verse John 15:4, "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me."

A few things I took away:

*Trust: often means that I may have to say, "God, I don't understand, but I WILL trust You!"

*For others to be impressed with our life-styles or good deeds those have to be consistent!*Abiding in Him is a disciplined marathon, not a sprint!

*Discipline is that determined effort on our part that corrects, molds, and perfects the character of a person. Holy character does not come all at once, but over a lifetime.

*Abiding in Christ has to be more than a Sunday/Wednesday routine, it must be a daily desire.*Disciples are hand created, not mass produced.

*Our responsibility it to make ourselves available to Him.

*God is the God of second chances....and thirds! and fourths! and fifths! etc! Thank goodness!!*What areas of my life fail to glorify God? oh wow! tough question!

I also took away memories I'll treasure forever. For the past few years I've taught high school girls Sunday School (Cross Training) and I will have to say that my class of Seniors and Juniors this year is absolutely amazing!! Shawn had all the seniors come up and wow!! What a crew!! These are young ladies daily abiding in Christ and they encourage me in my walk as they humble me by watching theirs. They have a trust in God and a love for others that is so much fun to watch! They are a special group and Shawn already had me crying....oh how I hate to lose this crew!! You all are so very special to me and a HUGE reason that I don't live my life just going through the motions anymore, but really desire to follow His plans for my life! I will miss you all so very much, but am SO excited to see how God is going to use you in your college lives! I just know He has big plans for you all and His plans are perfect! LOVE YOU ALL TONS and thanks for the ride the past few years!

The amazing Jr/Sr Girls of Antioch:

Maddy Smith, Courtney Luck, Mackenzie Yates, Andrea Thomas, Kim Graddy, Katie Hansen, Rhiannon Beard, Courtney Malone, Sarah Hebert (teacher), Beatriz Novais, Molly Bowman, me :), Lizi Arnett, Marissa Brantley, Sydney Stoner, and Megan Helms