It has been a little over a month since i moved to Redding. As i settle in more and become familiar to life here, its feels like I have lived here for years.
Life in general//
Life in general is amazing. I love it here so much, as much as I look forward to going home I wonder how I will leave this place?, how will I go back?, what will life look like?, who will i be?. Life is busy here, and by the end of the week I am ready for space, time to be by myself, being able to come away from the "intense-ness" and hang out with the family is refreshing and fun. Friendships have blossomed, and I have some very sweet loving people in my life, our journeys being knitted together in a way only He can. I love America.
Our Revival Group is about 50-60 students, and within our RG we have small groups of 4 students. We went to Chico to Retreat with our Revival group, we were at a old hotel where we hiked, jumped off waterfalls (I watched), I tried "gravy and bread" for the first time (it's considered a breakfast), had night sessions and long nights talking with friends. It was awesome to get away from the chaos of school and homework and just do community with my group.
We spent time at Mountain Chapel church last week, the church that Bill Johnson, Kris Valloton and Danny Silk started in back in the day. The church has built a high ropes course, and we got to have a go!. For lunch we went to a elderly home, where we had lunch with the people there. I met a couple who had been married for 52 years!. We also got to hear from people who had been in Mountain Chapel back in the day, who shared stories of their time with our leaders.
School//
We do school altogether everyday with the subjects varying, worship (which is now led by our fellow 1st years! Amazing!), senior leaders sharing and guest speakers. Then we have revival groups, small groups, AMT's (Advanced Ministry Training), and activations. So our week is a mixture of these things.
My activation is the community activation, and I am placed in Shasta Lake (which is where I live!). We have not started in the community yet, but I am excited to take what I learn in school to the streets in Redding!. My AMT is the prophetic with Nancy Cobb, which is awesome!, we will have this class for 4 weeks then we are able to pick another.
I have 3 amazing girls in my small group, we had our first meeting last where we did a general "get to know each other", which turned into an awesome time sharing God's goodness with each other, and encouraging an praying for our sisters!.
School has been intense, so so so so good, amazing, the best thing ever!. Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry is affectionately called Bethel School of Supernatural Reading. There is a lot of reading. We are juggling about 4 books at the moment, 30 days to understanding the bible, grasping God's word, and 2 other books we are about to start. We also have book reports and worksheets for our Bible studies. SO all this to say I am learning a lot. It is intense, and there is a lot to process, but we are only 3 weeks into school and I have 8 months to go, I am blown away. We are lucky to have Bill Johnson and Kris Valloton regularly, and have heard from Beni Johnson, Chris Overstreet, BISHOP JOSEPH CARLINGTON (YES!) and Jason Valloton. Blessed beyond measure to hear from these father's and mother.
This week was Purity week, and the best part was Kris Valloton bringing us the "birds and the bees" in a way only he can. It was funny! but we captured the heart of healthy relationships.
"The only appropriate hug you kid's should have is the side hug. That's it. Unless your married.. then you should be doing the other hugging or you need help."
"Girls, if its not for sale, don't advertise; shark bait will only attract shark bait"
"Don't have a spirit of stupid, make responsible decisions even if it means that you lose out for a moment, it's not worth screwing yourself up"
"Intimacy without covenant is not love"
"Submit yourselves to accountability, which is not meant to be your friend, its meant to tell you the truth"
Just a few nuggets from this week. I will try to drop some more regularly so it's not in one big blog!.
Your existence precedes your conception,
Your purpose precedes your birth,
Your assignment precedes your awareness
Your believing precedes your seeing
-Bishop Joseph Carlington
"If it's going to be funny later, find the funny in it now" Bishop Joseph Carlington
We have been allocated to the twin view service, and we got to hear from Kris Valloton, Banning Liebscher, and Pastor Lance. Tomorrow we change to the Bethel Campus service! at 8am, where we will own the overflow room. This is a really long blog! So that's it for now. But I love you all, and will try to be more regular in my blog! BLESS!
http://web.stagram.com/n/_courtneyrosesmith/ This is my instagram _courtneyrosesmith If you don't have instagram you can use this link to check my daily photo's.
https://www.ibssm.org/a/ this link is for school donation! We have mission trip selection soon! If you would like to partner with me, select this link and search Courtney Rose Smith to donate. Would be such a blessing! We should have more information coming soon about missions.
No comments:
Post a Comment