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 7thgrade 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
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