September/October: School Days and Social Dates Part 2

Every Meal Needs Some Meat.
Previously, I have written you appetizers about why I chose here and what my first day was like. Now it's time for the meat.  Time to let you in on what exactly I've been doing since I arrived! This first month being on my own was truly an adventure that came with  hundreds of introductions, some laughs, some tears, great teachings, crazy school schedules, and Daddy God.
The hundreds of introductions was the first thing God used to stretch me. I can honestly say that literally I have met hundreds of other students! There are about 900 or so first year students alone, 300 2nd years and a couple hundred 3rd year interns. Also, the laughs have been plentiful as I have bonded with my room mates, gone to many hang outs and social events, and met so many people in the different school groups we are put in. All the other students are amazing people who have incredible hearts after Jesus. And hearing their dreams and plans and what God is doing in their lives, so inspiring! The tears are from those nights where I've had a full week of meeting people and events and happenings, then a twinge of 'I miss my family' pokes at my heart. Thankfully, these times have been few, and most days I am excited to see what's going to happen!
Now, for the Bethel meat. There's been so much that I have learned and experienced within the first two months alone. So many different books to read, and different teachers to listen to! It's amazing!  I'm very sorry that I'm putting 2 months together, but I want to get them out to you so I can make shorter current blogs of what's happening as it happens :)
Three of the main themes we looked at first are Core Relationships, Prayer Strategies and Unconditional love from Daddy God.  Kris V taught Core Relationships, and it doesn't necessarily mean your girlfriend/boyfriend, wife/husband. It also needs to be applied to every relationship we build. Core relationships come from your "culture of love", most times being the atmosphere of love you grew up in as a child and young adult. Usually, the standard  you love others is the standard you love yourself, so if you grew up not feeling loved and not loving yourself,  you are crippled in the ability to love others to the fullest. Your heart will push away or sabotage anything that tries to express love to you, because your heart thinks "you do not even love for yourself, why should anyone else love you... and look at you you have flaws here, your screwed up here, you were abandoned here... why would they love you. You don't even love yourself." This mind set NEEDS TO GO! We need to move our hearts in the place where every morning we can wake up and say "World! If you knew me you'd LOVE, because I love me, and God loves me!", where we can move into building and developing our love for ourselves, and allow God to captivate us in his perfect love. You are worth your love, and you are worth letting yourself be loved by others. But most importantly, you are worth so much that you get God's love! He wouldn't have sacrificed his only son for something with no worth, and he did it all for YOU and you alone.
Prayer strategies was a fun one taught by Bill J. His class was about how we should pray on four different levels, to practice praying and trusting God, but also to build our faith when we see our prayers answered! The first stage is to Pray for things that will probably happen anyways! This may seem like cheating to some, but if you pray for something and it happens, you give glory and thanks to God and your faith raises because something you prayed for you saw come through. Second stage is to pray for things that most likely wont happen without  prayer. Again, this activates our spirits, and when we see the things happen we feel even more of a faith raise because we know it probably wouldn't of happened without our prayers! Third stage is to pray for things that absolutely won't happen without prayer. This stage stretches you in a healthy way to put even more faith and trust in Jesus, to see things that he does that there is no other explanation for, like a blind eye opening!! YAY Jesus! The fourth stage is to pray for things that are crazy. To even mention them in prayer would be nuts, right? Wrong ! Pray into these things! Pray to see limbs grow out, to see the dead come alive, to see God's peace settle in the world! These four steps are a neat way of how we can pray to encourage, develop, and stretch our faith in God with our daily prayers.
Unconditional love is another big one that has been touched on many days since school started by either Bill J, Mark Brooks, or Kris Vallotton. Discovering 'who's our daddy' has repeatedly been spoken on because it is such a key part to finding our identity, as sons and daughters of the king! When we don't know our identity in him, we try and get out of performance what we received in creation! (Adam and Eve ate the apple to become like God, because they didn't realized they were CREATED like God). We need to go from 'striving' to 'being', because we can just be in Jesus. He is ready to love us so matter what! When we became Christians we became his, so just be his. Let him love on you, let him cuddle you and let you know about all the loving thoughts he thinks about you. He's not a God of punishment, but a God of forgiveness, grace and mercy. One who delights in his children like we can only dream. So go for it! Look for God and his love, "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search it out" Proverbs 25:2 NKJV. Congrats, you get to be the kings (us too ladies) who go to search out all the glory and treats God has hidden for those who are hungry! And don't worry, "Jesus makes beauty out of ashes, so I guess it's okay to make an ash out of yourself sometimes!" (Tracy Evans, 180 Africa Ministry)
Blessings, love and so much more to come,
 Rebekah