SNOW

We woke up to a winter wonderland Wednesday morning! Snow was falling all day long and covered our lodge and surrounding area. We had some free time today so we went out on the hill behind our lodge and built a kicker (jump) and all of us boarded off of it! So fun and exciting to finally get back on my board. All of our prayers for snow finally came true; one of my friends here did an all-day fast on Tuesday for snow! And it worked!

I led everyone in devotional time this morning. Each student has to do it three times through out lecture phase and I was the first student to go. I gave a little teaching, or sermonette as the leaders here call it, on one of the nine fruits of the spirit: self-control. I gave them examples from my own life, biblical examples, and where I have already seen self-control at work in some of the students. It was interesting teaching on the subject because self-control has translate into discipline and this bunch of 18-20 year old snowboarders don't want to hear it! I noticed how uncomfortable it made them in their seats, so I switched up my game plan a bit and praised these young guys for acts of self-control I've seen in them here. They responded well and a few came up to me after devotional time and asked further questions or if I would pray for them. God is so awesome. We had our weekly worship session on Monday night and the Holy Spirit made another magnificent appearance. We not only had a non-believer come and experience Christ's love, but Jesus spoke to me through my friend Sean. During worship, a song was playing that spoke about laying down your worries and burdens at the feet of Jesus. I felt the need to go to the back of the room and start to simply pray. My pride was on my heart as I asked Jesus if He was proud of me; I've never really thought about it or thought that He truly was. I know that He loves me unconditionally, but never knew if He was proud of me because we fall short so often being human. A few moments later, my buddy Sean walked over to me and simply put his arm over me and started praying for me. When we were done, he hesitated a bit and looked uneasy. I asked him what was up and he told me that God has been telling him all evening to tell me something. He told me that God wanted to tell me that He is proud of me. How crazy is that!? Sean said that God had told him too a few different times and he just thought it was nonsense. When I told him that it wasn't nonsense at all and that it was exactly what I needed to hear his face lit up and gave me a huge hug. God is so awesome again!

We have free time tonight so my small group is going indoor rock climbing together! And Saturday we are going cross country skiing for a few hours! I've never been cross country skiing in my life! Nor have I had a pair of skis on my feet since I was in middle school! I'm really stoked to go.

I have been receiving so many encouraging comments from people, thank you all so much for them. I hope all is well with you and I remember you in my prayers (which is often because we literally live out the verse, "pray without ceasing"). I miss you all!