WEEK 1 - Recognizing God's Voice with Joanna Pallister
WEEK 2 - The Nature and Character of God with Tanya Lyons
Wow! what an amazing last 2 weeks here in Vancouver!
There is so much to say, I don't even know where to begin.
WEEK 1
The first official week of classes started with recognizing the voice of God. A week I thought would be hard, since I haven't God speak to me since telling me that I am going to YWAM. But, I prayed about it and opened up my heart and willed myself to let God do His thing. And of course, He did!
One of the first questions Joanna asked us was "when was there a time in your life when you didn't recognize God's voice?" Keyword being recognize and not heard because we all hear God's voice, we just realize it's Him. Joanna asked us to bow our heads, close our eyes, sit in complete silence, and just...listen. At first, with my overactive mind, I was thinking about lunch, how silly this exercise was. "I haven't heard God in forever and a day, what's going to change now?" Then, as clear as day, I heard "FOCUS!" That's when I stopped thinking. That's when God just took complete control of my mind. He revealed a lot, and I mean A LOT, of things to me; times I heard His voice and rejected whatever He said, times I sensed His presence and avoided certain situations, and the list goes on. After about 3-4 minutes, Joanna asked us to snap back to reality and kid you not, half of us were in tears. This activity and many other activities with Joanna that week set the tone for what God has in store for us.
A moment that really stuck out to me is a moment I won't forget. We had to share an encouraging word that God spoke to us to another classmate or staff. One of the guys, soft spoken, charming Jonny, got Tae Min, the soldier turned lawyer from S. Korea. Jonny told Tae, "God is showing me a castle." He didn't go into much detail on it. Towards the end of the class, we were all sharing our thoughts on the activity and any other little tidbit when Tae Min spoke up. He said before he came to Vancouver, He didn't get an support from his home church. They were, more or less, against him coming to YWAM. I could tell that really struck a chord with him and broke his heart. A series of events happened that I don't fully remember but I remember the rest of us students standing together, arms around each others shoulders. Tae Min quietly praying to himself when the flood gates of heaven just poured out over him and as one the strands guys I've met, just breaks down into a sob. The guys go over and surround him and the girls laid hands on the guys' shoulders. That's when God said, "Adriana, explain the castle to Tae Min." Being obediant, I said, "Tae, God wants me to explain the castle to you, You are not the castle, God is. He is surrounding you like a fortress, defending you from harm. You don't have to defend your reason of being here to anyone. We know why you're here and so does God." At this point, Nathan, one of our co-leaders, and Ryan, classmate from Burlington, chimed in and confirmed what I said. Ryan turns to me and says, "it's interesting you say a fortress because that's how we are formed right now." At this point, I was stunned. God just spoke to me, showed me a vision, and confirmed what I said/saw! I sat down and just started laughing in the Holy Spirit. It was at that point, I knew God is starting something BIG in my life.
By the Friday, the last day for this topic, we were all, staff and students, an emotional wreck and just empty. I told my mom about the week and she called it a "cleansing" which I think we needed
WEEK 2
It's the 2nd week and I am ready for whatever God throws at me. Thing is, I wasn't ready for what the enemy was going to throw as well.
Over the weekend, I made a dumb mistake of watching a horror movie. "it's no big deal," I thought, "I can take it." But could my soul? Not at all! After the movie ended, I didn't feel like myself. As if my subconscious was taken over.
Monday rolls around. I do my morning routine and head out the door to go to church where we are based at. Monday morning, before class, we have worship in the sanctuary. I got there and I instantly felt hot all over. I was standing in the back, not partaking in worship. I knew something was wrong but everything me refused to pray. I called on God for an answer to my strange behaviour but no answer.
After our hour of worship and half hour break, we headed into class to learn from Tanya Lyons. Now, Tanya is probably the most peppy, animated person I have ever met. But that day, her nature just annoyed me (it's not you, it's me haha). For the first 3 days of this week, I didn't really partake in class, I was by myself for most of lunch and any break, but overall, I was just annoyed and couldn't pin point why. Was it because I am not as perky as Tanya is in the morning and it annoyed me? Was it because I didn't have enough coffee? Was it because I called on God and got nothing? Or was it because what was trying to take hold of mind? On Monday, I just had enough. Enough of the roommates, enough of the work, enough of God. I was just done. So I did the only thing I knew how to do, which is run away and go get a drink. After having an necessary "family meeting", I left. I sat at a bad for 2 hours, numbed any feelings, and walked back to the house. Now for the record, I WAS NOT falling down drunk, but I did have a nice, warm buzz happening. I had a slurred conversation with the leaders in the house, some how climbed up to my bunk and went to sleep. The next morning, I didn't wake up hungover, but I did wake up feeling incredibly guilty, ashamed and just disappointed."God, why am I here if I'm still going to be doing the same things I would be doing back home? I am wasting both our time. Why are this old, dead habits so easy to keep?" Long story short, God finally answered one of my prayers on Thursday, which was "God, what is your character? I can't seem to grasp or comprehend it." That's when God replied, "You can't. You don't even understand yourself." "Well show me." I retorted. I opened up my ears and eyes and really started to pay attention to things Tanya was so excited to share with us: God is loving, He is all powerful and chooses not to use it to an advantage, He is uncreated and eternal. He wants a relationship. He will not force you to give up anything until you're ready. He didn't intend for man to be alone, to be reject or seperated from each other or from God. In multiple areas in the bible, such as Job 38, Isaiah 40, Acts 17: 22-32, etc., God displays His power, mercy and grace but most of all undying, relentless love.
As the last activity, Joanna and her "minions" set up the classroom into prayer/reflecting stations and the one that stuck out the most to me was a station with our names next to certain words/phrases and corresponded bible verses. Example, "Adriana is alive - Ephesians 2:4-5". There is at least 100 different words and phrases, As I read through the list, God said "do you understand? This is what you mean to me. This is your value, YOUR character."
There is so much more that has happened but I wanted to keep this short (HA! short). It has been rough here and it's only been 2 weeks! I know God has so much in store for my rommies, leaders, and I. But I've learned that I don't have to go through this alone. I have a family here that's going to support me through the tough times. I don't have to run away anymore. When I am overwhelmed, I'll run to everlasting, loving arms of the Father. Always.
WEEK 2 - The Nature and Character of God with Tanya Lyons
Wow! what an amazing last 2 weeks here in Vancouver!
There is so much to say, I don't even know where to begin.
WEEK 1
The first official week of classes started with recognizing the voice of God. A week I thought would be hard, since I haven't God speak to me since telling me that I am going to YWAM. But, I prayed about it and opened up my heart and willed myself to let God do His thing. And of course, He did!
One of the first questions Joanna asked us was "when was there a time in your life when you didn't recognize God's voice?" Keyword being recognize and not heard because we all hear God's voice, we just realize it's Him. Joanna asked us to bow our heads, close our eyes, sit in complete silence, and just...listen. At first, with my overactive mind, I was thinking about lunch, how silly this exercise was. "I haven't heard God in forever and a day, what's going to change now?" Then, as clear as day, I heard "FOCUS!" That's when I stopped thinking. That's when God just took complete control of my mind. He revealed a lot, and I mean A LOT, of things to me; times I heard His voice and rejected whatever He said, times I sensed His presence and avoided certain situations, and the list goes on. After about 3-4 minutes, Joanna asked us to snap back to reality and kid you not, half of us were in tears. This activity and many other activities with Joanna that week set the tone for what God has in store for us.
A moment that really stuck out to me is a moment I won't forget. We had to share an encouraging word that God spoke to us to another classmate or staff. One of the guys, soft spoken, charming Jonny, got Tae Min, the soldier turned lawyer from S. Korea. Jonny told Tae, "God is showing me a castle." He didn't go into much detail on it. Towards the end of the class, we were all sharing our thoughts on the activity and any other little tidbit when Tae Min spoke up. He said before he came to Vancouver, He didn't get an support from his home church. They were, more or less, against him coming to YWAM. I could tell that really struck a chord with him and broke his heart. A series of events happened that I don't fully remember but I remember the rest of us students standing together, arms around each others shoulders. Tae Min quietly praying to himself when the flood gates of heaven just poured out over him and as one the strands guys I've met, just breaks down into a sob. The guys go over and surround him and the girls laid hands on the guys' shoulders. That's when God said, "Adriana, explain the castle to Tae Min." Being obediant, I said, "Tae, God wants me to explain the castle to you, You are not the castle, God is. He is surrounding you like a fortress, defending you from harm. You don't have to defend your reason of being here to anyone. We know why you're here and so does God." At this point, Nathan, one of our co-leaders, and Ryan, classmate from Burlington, chimed in and confirmed what I said. Ryan turns to me and says, "it's interesting you say a fortress because that's how we are formed right now." At this point, I was stunned. God just spoke to me, showed me a vision, and confirmed what I said/saw! I sat down and just started laughing in the Holy Spirit. It was at that point, I knew God is starting something BIG in my life.
By the Friday, the last day for this topic, we were all, staff and students, an emotional wreck and just empty. I told my mom about the week and she called it a "cleansing" which I think we needed
WEEK 2
It's the 2nd week and I am ready for whatever God throws at me. Thing is, I wasn't ready for what the enemy was going to throw as well.
Over the weekend, I made a dumb mistake of watching a horror movie. "it's no big deal," I thought, "I can take it." But could my soul? Not at all! After the movie ended, I didn't feel like myself. As if my subconscious was taken over.
Monday rolls around. I do my morning routine and head out the door to go to church where we are based at. Monday morning, before class, we have worship in the sanctuary. I got there and I instantly felt hot all over. I was standing in the back, not partaking in worship. I knew something was wrong but everything me refused to pray. I called on God for an answer to my strange behaviour but no answer.
After our hour of worship and half hour break, we headed into class to learn from Tanya Lyons. Now, Tanya is probably the most peppy, animated person I have ever met. But that day, her nature just annoyed me (it's not you, it's me haha). For the first 3 days of this week, I didn't really partake in class, I was by myself for most of lunch and any break, but overall, I was just annoyed and couldn't pin point why. Was it because I am not as perky as Tanya is in the morning and it annoyed me? Was it because I didn't have enough coffee? Was it because I called on God and got nothing? Or was it because what was trying to take hold of mind? On Monday, I just had enough. Enough of the roommates, enough of the work, enough of God. I was just done. So I did the only thing I knew how to do, which is run away and go get a drink. After having an necessary "family meeting", I left. I sat at a bad for 2 hours, numbed any feelings, and walked back to the house. Now for the record, I WAS NOT falling down drunk, but I did have a nice, warm buzz happening. I had a slurred conversation with the leaders in the house, some how climbed up to my bunk and went to sleep. The next morning, I didn't wake up hungover, but I did wake up feeling incredibly guilty, ashamed and just disappointed."God, why am I here if I'm still going to be doing the same things I would be doing back home? I am wasting both our time. Why are this old, dead habits so easy to keep?" Long story short, God finally answered one of my prayers on Thursday, which was "God, what is your character? I can't seem to grasp or comprehend it." That's when God replied, "You can't. You don't even understand yourself." "Well show me." I retorted. I opened up my ears and eyes and really started to pay attention to things Tanya was so excited to share with us: God is loving, He is all powerful and chooses not to use it to an advantage, He is uncreated and eternal. He wants a relationship. He will not force you to give up anything until you're ready. He didn't intend for man to be alone, to be reject or seperated from each other or from God. In multiple areas in the bible, such as Job 38, Isaiah 40, Acts 17: 22-32, etc., God displays His power, mercy and grace but most of all undying, relentless love.
As the last activity, Joanna and her "minions" set up the classroom into prayer/reflecting stations and the one that stuck out the most to me was a station with our names next to certain words/phrases and corresponded bible verses. Example, "Adriana is alive - Ephesians 2:4-5". There is at least 100 different words and phrases, As I read through the list, God said "do you understand? This is what you mean to me. This is your value, YOUR character."
There is so much more that has happened but I wanted to keep this short (HA! short). It has been rough here and it's only been 2 weeks! I know God has so much in store for my rommies, leaders, and I. But I've learned that I don't have to go through this alone. I have a family here that's going to support me through the tough times. I don't have to run away anymore. When I am overwhelmed, I'll run to everlasting, loving arms of the Father. Always.
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails"
1 Cor. 13:4-8a
(After reading this, replace Love with God. You will read a glimpse of His Character.)
Adriana M.
*Of course, leave a comment, ask me anything you want to know more of, and be blessed.*
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