LEGACY: Week 3

January 27-February 2

So this week started out a little differently than the past two. Everything was normal in the morning, we woke up, ate breakfast, prayed, BUT then Francois called us out. As we group we were tired. We weren’t really all there. Most of us were dozing off and it was obvious. He more-or-less said that everything he was doing was pointless if we weren’t going to fully be there. He knew everything he was teaching and there was no need for him to reteach himself. He asked us, “Have you prayed about this week? Did you spend the weekend praying about the upcoming week? Have you maximized your time this weekend?” The truth was I hadn’t. Come Friday, I mentally shut down. I didn’t spend the weekend praying through the things I had learned the week before. I didn’t spend the weekend seeking the Lord. I just waited for Monday to start back up again. So Francois sent us out on a walk to pray and prepare ourselves. I walked out and didn’t make it very far before I just came to my knees before the Lord. I begged and pleaded with the Lord for Him to come to my rescue and meet me where I was. I wanted more and was desperate for Him to come and touch me. You see, I watch other students and it seems to me they all get “it” so what was I missing?

Tuesday was another knife to the gut teaching, but what really stuck with me was within the first five minutes of the morning. Francois asked us “Who is God to you?” I really took that question to heart. I prayed and asked myself all week who He was to me. The truth is I still don’t know if I have a definite answer, but at least I am asking the questions.

My favorite teaching of the week was on the Tree of Life! Man, I loved it. I even attempted to watercolor a picture of it in my journal. Lets just say it came out more like a four leaf clover and I’m sure my goddaughter could’ve done a better job. Something that Francois said that hit home with me was that we manifest what we receive. It makes sense actually. If my source and means and way is God then my result is God. So now I am currently praying through the fact that the source that fuels me is not 100% God. Yes, He is most of it, but if I am completely honest there are other things that fuel me. I encourage everyone to watch the teaching “The Tree of Life is God’s Economy” on the legacy website. Go to www.legacyencounter.org and sign up. You won’t regret it. Plus my blurbs are not near as good.

Every Monday and Friday we have “optional fun,” which is just another word for exercise. Well, I decided it was time to get back into a rhythm and in shape. I would prefer that my thighs didn’t talk to each other when I walked “You go, I go, you go, I go…” Soooo I decided to participate in “optional fun.” BIG MISTAKE. I had my first experience with Insanity and the name doesn’t do it justice. After the warm up, I was lying on the floor barely breathing. Okay, maybe I am exaggerating a little bit, but it was crazy. Luckily only a few got to me see gasping for air and begging for water. The verdict is still out on whether I will continue to participate in “optional fun.”

I had the best snail mail week ever this week! I got a letter from Britton and it was such a surprise. Britton, if you are reading this. Your letter is coming. I also got a giant envelope from Sallie. Inside was the cutest koozie and letter asking me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. I am so excited for her and this season she is in.

Friday night is our Family Night. We have a special dinner and have a time to bless one another and then play a game or watch a movie. This week we got to watch a video of the comedian Tim Hawkins. OHHHHH MY LANTA. I don’t think I have laughed that hard in a long time. I mean I cried.

Saturday was a wonderful day, except for the fact that the power went out and that means our heat also went out.  You see, at any point of the day you can find me sitting by the pellet stove. Remember that time I talked about it being cold here? Yeah, nothings changed. So to escape the cold I went for a ride to Tuscaloosa with 5 of my brothers to grab a burger. One of my favorite brothers here had just gotten done with a first date and he needed a burger and a debrief… I mean we did practice how he was going to hug her. Sweet boy.

---> I really have been blessed with incredible friends who are boys. I seriously sometimes look around and pinch myself because I have to be living in another world. They are incredible. Their wives are going to be so blessed. These fives brothers are great additions to my already fabulous crew.----->

So in short: We can never pray enough, God needs to be my fuel, I am out of shape, and I attract friendships with studs (any girls wanting to me set-up, come to me). Thank you for all your prayers. Please continue and pray that the Lord would touch me and I would have an encounter with Jesus!

xoxo,

B

LEGACY: Week 2

January 19 – January 26

2 weeks down and this week flew by – evidentially the first week is the longest. This week was a normal one combined with teaching, work,and chores. We have a pretty strict schedule. Everyday we wake up at 7 and have quiet hours and breakfast till 8:40. From 8:40 to 9 we all stand around in prayer to start our day. From 9 to 12 we have teaching and then lunch! At 1 we begin working in the vineyards and prune, prune, prune until 4. We have free time from 4 to 6, and then dinner. 6:30 starts chores (yes, I am 23 and havechores) and then teaching again at 7. At 9 o’clock we get time to wind down and just be. Quiet hours begin at 10 and then lights out at 10:30. I couldn’t tell you the last time I went to bed at 10:30 on a regular basis and was excited forit. The days are so l o n g and my too-close-to-the-fan top bunkbed feels ooooh so good.

This was our first week in the vineyard and I really enjoyed it. The task is quite monotonous, but I enjoy it. In the summer of 2009 I worked at JH Ranch where my job was to provide food for anyone who left the ranch property…in short I made at least 1,000 turkey sandwiches a week. I was hidden in a back room where no one could see me and the other 2 workers and we just worked away. It was in this summer that I learned about the beauty and the peace in the silence. That year turned out to be quite a doozie and I was so grateful for that lesson. I have high hopes for this job too. Standing for 3 hours and only moving maybe 20 feet a day is disappointing though and killer on my back. I am going to need a good massage at the end of this season (hint hint: mom and dad). Also I should’ve been given a stress ball when I was accepted into LEGACY because my hand strength is that of a child. It’s a good thing I don’t mind asking for help when I need it because there were many times when I couldn’t cut the vine all the way so I just tapped the shoulder of a dear brother and said “excuse me…..help?” At the end of this season though, you better believe I will be able to open any jar.

 We started our small groups this week and would you believe it or not my leaders are a newly married couple. The other two groups have Zach and Buxton (the other staff) as their leaders…it seems that love and marriage follow me everywhere. They are really fabulous though. I worked with Morgan at the Ranch in 2009 and she attended LEGACY in 2010. She met her husband, Taylor, in her Fruits and Nut Production class at Auburn in fall 2010 and he decided to come spend time apart at LEGACY in 2011. They were married this past May. They really are wonderful. We are currently reading the book The Divine Romance and I love it so far. When I say we are reading a book, I literally mean we are reading aloud page-by-page. Now tell me the last time you read a whole chapter book out loud. It is quite entertaining though because when it comes time for us to read, we all become illiterate. Seriously, if you listened in you would think we had never been to school before. Church becomes challenge, divinely becomes divinity, and sometimes people even skip words (me).

This week Francois has continued to talk about our spirit and really laying the foundation. I thoroughly enjoyed this weeks teaching because I had a break through and that is that the entire Christian walk is all about one man: JESUS. In the past I have more or less gone up and down in my walk. When I couldn’t have breakthroughs I would try harder, sing louder, fast, attend more things, give up things, etc and essentially just became really frustrated. However one day this week I had “Further Teaching” meaning I didn’t work in the vineyard one day and instead had more teaching and this week was about Discipleship. We received notes and one bullet point was “The danger arises when students believe that gaining new understanding and knowledge is the same as gaining reality. Teaching, Knowledge, Status, and Spiritual disciplines do not produce reality within a believer.” We gain the reality of Jesus when we get to know him. So I ask you, what do you know about the man Jesus?

We had another incredible teaching on Friday called Born Again of Water and Spirit. I can’t even do it justice so again I urge you go to www.legacyencounter.org and watch the videos. You can like the Facebook page too and get updates that way. I wish I could share more, but the truth is I don’t know where to start.

Last night was worship and I had to lead – meaning I had to sing in front of 50 plus people ON A MICROPHONE and lead them in worship.

----->Let me just take you back in time to my 7^thgrade year when I sang the National Anthem for districts for swim. I started an octave too high and when it came time for “and the rockets glare” and “the land of the free” I had to speak it. I WAS M O R T I F I E D. I cried and that was that, but the truth is I have always loved singing and when I was 10 years old I swore I was going to be the next Britney Spears. Well that experience slapped me in the face with reality.--->

 So when Francois said that Katie (who has the voice of an angel) couldn’t come that night to lead and he needed someone, my name got volunteered. I found out after I had just destroyed lunch and we had chili. I wish I had known before so I would’ve had a peanut butter sandwich because that is much more pleasing coming back up in front of a crowd. I went back to my room and started to cry because I was so nervous. I called my sweet friend Jessi and she reminded me so sweetly that the people were coming for a night of worship, not to hear my maybe talent. That was all it took for my nerves to go away. It was a good thing too because we didn’t get to practice so when I got up to sing, it was the first time I had ever sung with Francois. The night came and went and the angels miraculously didn’t touch my vocal chords, but I had a sweet night worshipping our Lord.

I can’t believe it is already the start of a new week. I can’t wait to see what the Lord has in store for me this week. Keep me in your prayers!

xoxo,

B

LEGACY: Week 1

January 12 – January 19

Well it has been one week on the farm and I swear it was the longest week of my life. Ask anyone and they said the same. The days were so long and the content very deep. Combine those and you have the longest week of my life. Getting up at 7 AM every morning did play a part too.

I got to the farm at 4 on Saturday and there were so many people here that I couldn’t tell who was a student and who was there just visiting. Usually I thrive in situations like this. I can befriend strangers in 5 minutes and know everything about their dog, family, and medical history. BUT something was different. I was nervous – I even cried and said I wanted my momma. It was like I was five years old. I realized later that night this is the first chapter in my life that I have done alone…I really am growing up.

On Sunday we have a dedication celebration and old friends of the Ranch (alumni of LEGACY too) came and it was perfect. Two dear friends, Eric and Katie Nickoli, came and they offered to be my stand-in parents. When I worked at the Ranch we told everyone Katie and I were cousins- she has orange hair too. During our celebration we had our first assignment – we had to stand up and give a little bio to the crowd and say something that everyone could come in agreement with. I said that I was at LEGACY because I wanted more – more time with Jesus, more of Jesus, and more of a relationship with Jesus.

The next day started our first official day at LEGACY and it was F-R-E-E-Z-I-N-G (the fact that it rained ALL the time didn’t help). I realized that I am a Florida girl to the bone. We have class in a barn and there is no heat for the main areas. We have this pellet fire, but of course it wasn’t working properly so instead I had on 3 layers and a blanket and looked like a marshmallow and I still wasn’t warm. I have never had so much coffee and hot tea in my life.  The content we have been learning this week was all about laying foundation. I can’t really explain everything that I am learning because truthfully I don’t even think I understand. I am trying to process and absorb it all, but it’s a lot. We usually work in the vineyards from 1-4 allowing us a lot of time to process, but because of the rain we stayed inside and either had further teaching or assignments. One day we had to go through the lesson and read the Scripture for 3 hours. I can’t tell you the last time I spent 3 consecutive hours in the Word.

There are 11 girls and 8 boys: Claire, Mackenzie, Morgan, Leigh Wilson, Brynn, Leigh Ann, Rachel, Pricilla, Brooke, Katie, Max, Benjamin, Brent, Ryan, Stefan, Jacob, Matt, and Patrick. I live with another recent college graduate, Mackenzie, in a room that is tiny, maybe 10x7. I have the top bunk (I am really hoping this is the last time I will ever have to get out of a top bunk) and the fan is a foot from my head. I can’t get in and out of my bed without ducking my head or I will get hit. This makes mornings especially difficult because if you know anything about me its that I am not a morning person and remembering to duck is asking a lot. Our room is literally right next to the boys bathroom so we always have either 1) boys singing in the shower or 2) a nice aroma wafting into our bedroom. The boys and I became real close and fast when I said they needed to take their business elsewhere. They appreciated my bluntness.

The Lord is doing a work in me right now. I am not sure what exactly, but something. Every Friday night is family night and we start by sitting in a circle and telling people how they blessed us that week. The girls were all like “I just love you” and my thought was when did we starting just loving each other? Then there was a bonfire and everyone went out and I didn’t want to go.

–-->Insert dialogue in my head: Who are you Brinley and what has happened to Tom Standifer’s people-loving daughter? You are choosing to be alone when everyone is hanging out----->

Today I went to Tuscaloosa to get some very necessary food items at Publix. Why drive 45 minutes fro Publix you ask? Well because in Eutaw there is a Piggly Wiggly and 4 dollar stores within a stones throw of each other. Basically they have never heard of anything organic or otherwise healthy. Our free time flies here. I have a few more hours until I have to turn my phone back in. Not having my phone or internet all week is actually nice. I love turning my phone on and watching my phone freak out with all the text messages (hint hint: text me throughout the week).

I also LOVE snail mail. If you want to talk or hear from me I suggest you write me. I would love to tell you everything that is going on and I am a really good pen pal.

My address is 

LEGACY c/o Brinley Standifer

211 Vineyard Lane

Eutaw, AL 35462

I wish I would tell you everything that Francois (Fran-swa) is teaching, but its just too much so instead I suggest going to www.legacyencounter.org and watching the teachings. LEGACY has archived them so you can start from the beginning. I would suggest starting with the first because Francois builds on each one.

I leave you with this: 1 Timothy 2:4 – “Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth.” Truth means reality. I am praying that Jesus would become my reality!