South East Conference

Right now I am in Talladega, Alabama at the Shocco Springs Retreat Center for the South East YWAM Conference. After a 12 hour ride on an old school bus with no heat or ac and 38 people we arrived at this peaceful retreat! Because of the grace of God I somehow slept the WHOLE way only waking up for potty breaks...LOL. GOD IS GOOD! It is absolutely gorgeous here and IT IS FALL!!! I was so bummed that I was not going to get to experience the brisk fall air and turning leaves. BUT I get a taste of it here! There is a beautiful lake here surrounded by beautiful rolling hills covered with bright orange, red, yellow, and green trees! Ahhhhhh. The topic of the week is Acts One. We are striving to be like the disciples in Acts one so that we can experience God's outpouring of his Holy Spirit in Acts 2! I am SOOOOOO excited for all that God has to teach me!

Shallow Depth of Field

This picture is my shallow depth of field picture portraying intimacy with God. We were studying about how there are tons of ways that can draw us to a place of intimacy with God. Sometimes we are taught that the only way to find intimacy with Him is through reading the Bible, journalling, or being silent. All of these are GREAT things but God created us all to find intimacy with Him in different ways. The ones I related to the most were finding intimacy in the outdoors, caring for others, supernatural experiences with God, and being an activist for causes that are heavy on the heart of God. I find true peace and intimacy taking in the beauty of Creation and all the little details God placed in creation for our pleasure. My great grandfather Poppy built a vacation home for us in the Poconos Mountains by a lake. I have found so much peace sitting down by the lake soaking in God's Glory. So as soon as we were released to take intimacy photos I walked down to our lake and climbed up onto the rickety old dock and took this photo.

Self Portrait

These are my self portraits! I couldn't decide on one! This week's topic was Maturing in Christ. We have been learning how to grow from infants in Christ to mature men and women in Christ. We have been working and wrestling through confession, repentance of sins, and forgiveness. The first picture is me on a slide. It represents me because it is a colorful picture and to me color portrays JOY. I am filled with the joy of Christ! I also has someone prophesy over me that I will always be young at heart so I figured that a picture of me on a slide was appropriate. The second picture of me was fun to take. I was walking through the local town of Winter Garden and I walked past an old dance studio and I saw this picture of a dancer on the window. As I began to take a picture of it I realized I could see myself in the window. So of course in the middle of town I began hitting dance poses and snapping pictures of my reflection in the window. I am a dancer and I LOVE to dance in worship of my King. I feel like dancing is the only way I can worship God with my whole self!!!

Fast Shutter Speed

This is my first successful fast shutter speed picture also portraying the character and nature of God. As we studied the mysteries of God I decided to take a pictures of water rings on the lake to capture how the Gospel starts with one and spreads because it is living and active!

Slow Shutter Speed

This is my first successful slow shutter speed picture. We were to capture the character and nature of God. I really wanted to capture the wind, because it was when Jesus calmed the storm the disciples truly saw His authority and power as God. I am in awe of my Savior!

Restoration

This photo is my portrayal of restoration. This little boy's name is Christie. I have visited him twice in the Straseni Orphanage in Moldova. The second time I was there, as I cradled Christie in my lap, God spoke to me and said "you will be his mom." I am 100% confident that I clearly heard God because I would have never come up with that thought on my own. I have been praying for God to move the mountains that stand in the way of this becoming a reality. Mostly I have been praying for the laws preventing American from adopting children from Moldva to be removed. Two days before coming to Orlando I found out that the law had been removed!!! Now I am praying for and trusting that God will take care of all of the other details. I am praying that God will restore Christie's life and that He will bring Him home with me! Please join me in praying for Christie's safety and protection. Pray that He knows how much His heavenly Father loves him. Pray that God will let me know when, where, and how to move towards adoption him. Pray that God will supply the funds and all the details.

Here are my photos!

I am so sorry I have not updated my blog in a while! Things have been crazy busy here but INCREDIBLY WONDERFUL!!! I am learning so much! Here are my photos I have taken. We have a project each week that couples with the topic of the week. This picture was my portrayal of intimacy