Quietly Leading From a Place of Rest

  Catalina was so beautiful and wonderful!!

To start off this post, here are some photos:

View from the mountain during the sunrise

On the way to Catalina (you can see Long Beach in the first two pictures and Avalon on Catalina Island in the third picture)

Here is the mountain with the cross.. I took the first three pictures in this post from up there

The camp!

The beach at the camp with its dock

Devotions!

I stumbled across this fellow while on the way to somewhere... ;)

Me teaching impromptu

Bible Study Time

 S'mores by the fire on the beach!

This was the "skeleton" boat (at least that's what I call it..). It was sort of creepy looking and was sitting offshore a little bit... probably just some innocent fishermen ;) You can see the Long Beach shoreline in the background.

So, as you can see, it was beautiful there. There is something about being in the middle of God's beautiful creation that makes you feel so much closer to Him. Do you ever feel that way? Plus, at Catalina, there is no wifi or cell service. You have a pay phone there and that's about it when you are camping there. So, that makes you free from those kinds of distractions which can be super awesome (Although... I'll admit... I like my phone service and my wifi [a little too much :P]... but I will also admit that it can be a huge distraction having those things available/within reach 24/7..).
So:
What did I learn about myself? I learned that I have trouble sitting quietly and listening for the Lord's voice.
What did I learn about others? As one of the other leaders said, I got to see how amazing everyone was. Fellowship with friends/other believers is such a blessing.
What did I learn about the Lord? His creation again reminded me how amazing He is.

While I was sitting and spending time with the Lord, I recorded things in the journal they gave me. Here is some of what I did/learned:
I-
Remembered my past:
I am a sinner in need of a Savior, I've made choices that have hurt myself and others etc.
Thought about who God is:
God is ever-present. Even though you can't see Him, He's there. He created all of creation. When you look at creation, you see His fingerprints in it. Words can't describe how amazing and awesome He is.
Remembered God's promises:
God has promised to never leave us, to share in our troubles, to be a help whenever needed, to be a faithful and constant friend, and so many other things. And He promises to fulfill His promises.
And I-
Made my requests known before God:
I wrote a prayer for here. It was me telling God how I was feeling. And at that moment, it wasn't the best. It was a prayer full of hurt I guess you could say. And also of apology to the Lord for my unfaithfulness to Him.
And then. It happened again- I knew I needed to again Surrender my all/my life to the Lord.

• My futuristic dreams
• My relationships/friendships
• My attitude
• My unforgiveness
• My strong-will
• My "secret" sins
• My sadness
• My depression
• My hurt

My..... everything....
And I told God to give me time. And God told me no. He wanted me to surrender right then.
And inside I heard the song I Surrender All.
I then later went on to reading through my notes from the retreat. The ones that really stuck out to me were the following:

Trust Him to heal your broken heart

Faith will move my physical, mental, and Spiritual mountains

And I prayed.

God, move my mountains. I know You can do it. I need you to help care my burden. Actually, I need to give my burdens to you through surrender and then I need to take Jesus' yoke on me. Please be my Savior again. I love you, Lord Jesus. (I just noticed that my grammar and writing didn't make 100% sense... but they were from my personal notes and God doesn't/didn't care.. Lol.)

I then went through the list of things I needed to surrender and said that I was giving it to HIM. And I asked God to help me continually to be in full surrender.

"I surrender all, I surrender all. All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all."

I believed that all took place in two quiet times with the Lord in that one day. It was so awesome.
I also had a few good applications from my devotions. One being- Am I willing to leave everything behind, do as I am called, and go? Is my life in full surrender to the Lord?
God also seemed to speak to me about my self-worth. And I also felt as if He was trying to show me something about one of my friendships.
And then another beautiful thing I found that I wrote in here from my quiet time with the Lord. I wrote- Breathe in, Breathe out.. You are loved treasure cared for... You're not alone.

So, that is a little bit from my trip. If you want to know more, ask me, and I might be willing to share a little more. ;)
Blessings!!

Behold. Quietly wait on the Lord!

                                             

Quietly Wait On the Lord...

Waiting on God. Quietly waiting on the Lord.
That was the theme of the women's retreat I went to. The women that went were so amazing. I didn't feel like I was being judged. If you want to be loved on, our women retreats are an awesome place for that. They love on you. No matter who you are, where you've been, etc. They'll love you for who you are. They were also so open about themselves. So trusting. It was so amazing. And such an amazing time of fellowship with my fellow sisters in Christ.
The one session that was the most touching to me was the second session. They were all good, but the second one was the most powerful. The speaker asked questions like-
What are we waiting for to meet our needs? Friends? Parents? Siblings? Etc.
What are we waiting for? Change? Someone? Circumstances? Yourself (If only I'd.... get rid of this in me, etc.)? Etc.
Where do we wait? Retreats? Somewhere? Anywhere? Etc.
How do you/we wait? On your knees? After you've given up?

Who reading this is waiting for something from the Lord?
What are you waiting for? Rest? Etc.
Do you feel like you can't do anything right?
Are you going through the motions? Is your load too heavy? Do you feel alone? Do you doubt God's existence, His reality? Do you even sometimes doubt that you are even a Christian? Do you have moments of depression? Feeling like you are a failure? Are you secretly struggling with inner battles?
Be Still. Rest. Wait. Cease the striving.
What does waiting mean? It means to rest, delay, or postpone, be still (cease striving), wait expectantly (wait to see what God is going to do).
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, God is FAITHFUL. He is faithful to complete the work He began in you so very long ago as it says in His word. His mercy never comes to an end as it again says in His word.
Invite Christ to dine with you- our lives need to be a gift of hospitality to God. Welcome Him in. He is knocking. Turn over your thoughts, feelings, etc. to God. Welcome the Spirit of the living God in.
Let go of your desire for esteem, what others think, etc. God does not intend for us to suffer alone. So let Him bear your burden for you. Allow others to care for and support you in your time of need - Be interdependent.
The Lord is your strength and impenetrable shield. Trust and rely on Him, lean on Him confidently. Lean on Him and your heart will rejoice.
Behold, be still.

(Most of that came right off my notes from the session.) That stuff was pretty touching/etc. to me. And I hope it was encouraging/touching/helpful to you.

I realized that I was looking for someone to fill the emptiness I felt in my life. But. Friendship is not going to fill that spot. I noticed that it is a "God-shaped hole". Only God can fill it. I need to stop trying to find people to fill it and just let God be the one to fill it. After all, He's the only One who's going to fit in that hole. Right?! ;) But seriously. It's true. Isn't it? How many of you have looked to others to fill that longing you have inside of you instead of first looking to God? He's what you are longing for, isn't He? Invite Him in. Don't go looking for something to fill you when it's not going to truly fill you. You will always be longing. At least till you find out that God is who you are/were truly looking and longing for. Behold. Be still. Wait quietly on the Lord.

Now for some pictures! The retreat was so very well done! I had to take lots of pictures... so here are a few of them. :)

Breakfast! Yummm! They had fruit, yogurt, homemade granola, etc. :)

The view was amazing!

I went hiking with my sister. It was fun. :) I got to have some one on one time with her. That doesn't happen too often.

 Having fun. ;)

 Me by the cross after the hike with my sissy

 We made dolls for Operation Christmas Child (the one on the left is the first [and only] one I ever made..)

 Wild turkeys!

 The conference room. They had soooo many goodies in there!!

They even had Bible verses in the conference room (lots and lots of them) :)

 My sister doing a silly pose. ;) She's pretty awesome just by the way.

Wellllllll. I hope this post was encouraging/helpful/etc. And I hope it was worth your time reading. Especially if you made it all the way down to here.
FYI- I will be posting about Catalina soon. :)
Blessings!
-Bekah Grace

October Activities Updates Coming Soon!! ;)

JOB by AIM San Diego

Here is a rough draft of the song we are doing in the mime group.. We have worked on it a bit since then. Lol.

The Beginning of a New Season of Life

Hello all!
So, just recently (a couple months ago), I had a birthday. (Oh, no! She actually had a birthday! Is that even possible?!...) Okay, so no duh, I had a birthday cause everyone else has them too.
Last night, I had to "say goodbye" to a very very dear friend. I hope we continue to remain good friends and grow closer, but it still hurt/hurts to know that I will no longer be a mime with her and won't be able to hang out with her nearly as much.
Today, I am starting CollegePrep. (Scary!!!) I will be studying for CLEP tests to earn college credit. I am hoping it will be wonderful, but I'm not sure exactly what I'm getting myself into. ;)
Next week, I will start 10th grade.... oh no! ;)
I love and hate change. It's weird. I always want it, but when I have it, I hate it.
(That's a lot of change for one homeschooler. ;) Why do people always make jokes about homeschoolers?! Give us a break! Ok... random rabbit trail.)

So....... I wrote most of that quite a while ago, but I never published it..
Since then, I have almost completed three CollegePrep classes which really only equal one elective. I have done critical thinking, speed reading, and am finishing up Dynamic Memory. I am also studying for a CLEP test- Analyzing and Interpreting Literature.
And then 10th grade..... Well, I'm about 1/4 done with 10th grade I would say. It still isn't as hard as I remember 8th grade being. Lol. We had *so* many classes in 8th grade... it was plain craZee. ;) I don't seem to like Algebra 2 as much as I normally like math. I also have a class called Living My Purpose. It helps the students taking it decide what they want to do with their lives for the Lord, etc. I'm taking Civil War history which will count as my last year of history in high school... Except... I like history. So, I wish it was more like my last year of something else (maybe math? But then I need to like math..). ;) Biology is interesting. I have been using a microscope which is totally new to me (homeschooler! ;) And! I'm taking Drivers Ed. The first day in class though, they scared the students by playing this video about teens and driving or something. SCARY! But I think I'm almost over it now. Lol.
Oh, and, saying "good bye" to a friend of mine... well, it was really hard. Like I never expected it to be *that* hard. But it was. But thankfully, it doesn't hurt as much now. :) And. I've been able to see her and hang out with her a little still. And that means a lot to me. More than she probably knows.
Also, since my birthday was in June.. I will be able to legally get my learners permit for driving the day after Christmas. Although, the DMV will probably be closed that day. Lol. I've always wanted to be grown up... and then one day I stopped and thought about growing up... soon, I won't ever be able to be a kid again... So I better enjoy it while I have it, right?!
Wellllllllll... Maybe this is a pointless (maybe even confusing) post. Maybe nobody wanted to know allllll that stuff. Lol. But here is in.... in case anybody wanted to know. ;)
Change is hard. But sometimes change is good. Don't forget that...

October Activities

So. I am going to Catalina on Sunday! (Super excited! Although a little sad that not as many people are going this year. But oh well.) I will be gone till Wednesday.This trip has turned into a leadership conference type of thing. So, I am going with the AIM leadership team, some family, and a friend. We are all going to be driving up together and then taking a boat across the water (cause sadly, my car can't drive over/in water ;) That would be so convenient though!). I am hoping to take lots of pics and will be posting on here to tell you guys about- what I learned, show some pictures, and what we did (something like that at least). So be looking for that if you care to hear (well, I guess you probably won't be "hearing" about it..... more like  reading about it.. anyways...).

I am also going to a women's retreat this weekend. I was so disappointed that I would be missing the retreat this year, but then somehow it actually worked out. I am also planning on posting about that. Last year God showed/taught me a few things, and I hope that I will learn somethin' this year too. :)

So yep! 

Have a great rest of your week and God bless. :)

-Bekah Grace

College!! Well, kind of.. ;)

A few months ago, I started a college credit program (or whatever you want to call it) called CollegePrep. It has been an interesting experience. It is there to prepare you for college. This can be so helpful. They equip you with tools to better your critical thinking skills, your memory skills, and even your speed reading skills. I am already learning though that college is going to be tough. I'm going to have to manage a schedule, deal with stress, and find time for assignments, etc. Smart thing to be able to handle that stuff, right?! Thought so... So, this has been a good experience for me. And I'm glad I am doing it because it is going to be a stretching/growing experience for me. So there ya have it!

Update?

Whoever takes the time to read all these posts... ;) Hello!!

I love blogging.... I don't know why, but I really enjoy it. And I've missed blogging. So, I am going to try to blog more often then I have been.. The problem is finding something to blog about. Lol. If that wasn't the problem.. I might blog sooooo much that everyone would be scared to come and read on here cause... yeah...

Anyways! There ya have it! I decided that for this post that I would just add a "quote" that I came up with the other day.. so enjoy!

"The truest friends of all are those of whom you consider a fellow sibling. You've seen the worst of each other, you still love one another, and you are always there to help the other up when they fall." ~Bekah Grace

That's all for now! So, be looking for a post from me (if you even care about reading them). And.... If you have something for me to blog about... Comment and let me know. And we'll see if I can blog about it. K?

Bye!!