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On the way to the airport I was thinking of calling my mentor and spiritual director, Jodie Howell. I really needed my mom and she was as close as I could get in Orlando. Sadly she had not had time to see my while I was visiting and for some reason I didn't make that phone call even though my heart ached for the hug of some comforting words.
I made it to the airport just in time. Boarding had commenced when I arrived at the gate but there was no reason to stress further as it was a very full flight and would take a while to get everyone seated. I was already about as stressed as someone can be. I had experienced some trauma and had lost some sleep, weight and my short term memory in the process. I was sort of in a state of shock and happy to be going home to Chattanooga. Allegiant Air has 'open seating' and I happened to have z64, so I was the last person on the plane to choose from the few remaining seats. What happened next is nothing less than a miracle.
Walking toward the back of the plane I saw one overhead locker still open with room for my laptop. As I got closer I saw an empty middle seat and pointed to it and said with excited authority 'that must be my seat' and as I looked at the person next to the window I said incredulously, 'next to Jodie! Jodie?' I was in shock with a huge smile on my face.
As I sat down in that seat I felt like I was the victim of a loving set up - like a surprise birthday party with all your family and friends invited. I thought all the angels were standing around proudly laughing at their great efforts to pull off the surprise blessing of a lifetime. I actually felt as I sat in the chair, a sense that an angel had been sitting there holding the seat open just for me. A warm sensation of peace enveloped me. This was now a sacred space, a sacred meeting, divinely appointed. If Jodie had sat anywhere else in the plane I would not have known she was even there.
We embraced each other and talked non stop for the entire flight about her finishing theology school and me starting my masters and moving to Seattle where some of her family lives, our ministries, our purpose and what the next season was going to be like, we talked of family, heartaches and shared the goodness of God.
My friend Ame dropped her off at her destination and she gave me a blessing which was very encouraging. Of all the people in the world I needed to spend time with right then, it was my mother. And Jodie is more than a mother. She is a mentor and spiritual director. She is wise and she knows me. She believes in me and see's my worth and value. Most of all she believes what God is doing through me. She loves me and I love her. I thank God so much for giving me this treasured gift. It is one of the sweetest, most miraculous and restorative gifts I have ever been given in my whole life.
God knows me better than anyone.
Family Worship is something that needs to be restored, revitalized and treasured. Sometimes our spiritual journeys become so individualized that we are not always aware of what our children believe. This may be because we trust someone else with their spiritual training. Imagine if we taught our children to hear the voice of God, to pray powerfully because of the purity they possess, to enjoy being in the presence of God and to have fun learning about God! Let's pray like we believe in miracles!
We then had some more songs and worship as the sun set. I felt the need to pray for our families to be united in prayer and for us to learn how to bless each other, forgive each other and pray over each other. So we broke up into family groups and spent time encouraging and blessing one another. It was a beautiful time. We then ended the night by watching a family movie out on the lawn and drinking root beer floats. 
All through the day people could enjoy the Prayer Tent that was set up exclusively for the children although it was great to see some dads go through by themselves too! (We need to keep praying that fathers become spiritually strengthened to lead boldly with the Holy Spirits power.) The prayer stations were set up in a real camping tent which was really cute to put together with some of the stations outside as well.
I was asked by the Youth Director, Jesse Seibel to design a prayer tree for the summer camp. YES A PRAYER TREE! Now there is no limit to how creative you can be about prayer stations. There are so many ways to make prayer fun. Prayer journeys, walks, prayer stations, prayer treasure hunts, prayer rooms and fun interactive creative worships. This one was centered around the Tree of Life. The summer camp had a beautiful tree right in the middle so I designed about 15 stations that were attached to or near the tree. This was a very fun experience. A lot of the kids loved praying here in the beauty of the outdoors.
During the summer camp I took a morning off to go down the street to a beach that is known to have dolphins visit in the morning. Unfortunately I missed them but a lady told me to snorkel out to the boey then turn right and I would find a giant rock that was home to up to a dozen green sea turtles. I swam out and found about nine turtles resting and swimming around - this was a beautiful experience - I even cried into my mask... thanking God for giving me such a precious moment to treasure. I then drove to one of our favorite snorkeling spots at electric beach. The power plant pumps warm water through huge pipes out into the ocean and is a haven for the most beautiful fish I have ever seen.
The beauty of Hawaii is breathtaking. At every opportunity I tried to go on a hike. Saturday afternoon was usually a time when friends got together to explore new hikes. Hawaii is full of the most beautiful people I have ever met. If you ever get a chance to experience the islands you will be blessed.
The Prayer Room created quite a bit of excitement as many of the Bible classes went through the Prayer Room for their Religious Studies. It was a new concept for most of the students but more and more kids came in , especially at lunch time just to hang out. After the first week, the kids wanted it open for another week. So we convinced the principle to extend it and that was wonderful. Here are some of the experiences:
During this time of prayer revival, a student unexpectedly lost one of their parents so all the closely knit students were very sad and going through a time of grieving. This was close to exams so after the third week the teachers got together and begged the Principle to keep the Prayer Room could remain open for a total of five weeks until the end of term to minister to the kids through this difficult time.
Another major event I was blessed to be part of was the Unveiled 2009 Womens Conference. As I love teaching in new and unique ways that are creative and interactive I chose to do my workshop a little differently. I wanted to show how the Old Covenant and New Covenant were illustrated profoundly by the Hebrew Blood Covenant Ceremony and mirrored in today's Wedding Vows revealing the incredible depth of God's love. So I found a young married couple, Faith and Neil who took part in the Blood Covenant Blessing Ceremony where we acted out symbolically the Hebrew Blood Covenant and talked about how each step paralleled today's wedding vows. It was almost as if they were renewing their vows. This was an incredible experience and many ladies were so touched afterwards as they saw how 
God was the Bridegroom and we are the Bride. It also reveals how much God wants us to enter into the New Covenant with him so we receive the Holy Spirit, become his children and receive all his blessings and eternal life. This is an incredibly deep understanding of the extravagant love of God and how nothing can separate us once we have entered into the New Covenant except turning our back on God. 
Miracles happened and we ended up with two classrooms to use. Now we started dreaming big and decided to put a tunnel between the classrooms so the students would feel like they were walking through space... Now to build this seems like a rediculously difficult task but Leighton was up to it - with an electric drill, lots of chicken wire, fairy lights, black material and fluorescent painted balls. The tunnel was designed to illustrate to the kids that the power that created the entire universe was now living in them, through the power of the Holy Spirit and when He works through them they can do more than they could ever hope to dare, dream or imagine. 
The rooms started to come together in a beautiful way and we sensed the presence of the Holy Spirit even before we started. Each time I do a prayer room a new issue moves my heart and this time I strongly sensed a need to offer a place to heal from sexual abuse. I knew I needed a cocoon to deal with a station on 'Fear' and didn't have time to make one. Now I wanted a very specific cocoon. One I could imagine in my mind - one big enough and cute enough for a small person to sit in. Now these are not just lying around in anyone's closet - in fact I had never even seen one before. But I asked one lady if she knew where I could possibly find a cocoon - and she knew exactly where one was and it was delivered that afternoon to the school - exactly the same as what I had imagined. When you don't have much time God can lead you to just the right person!
Healing Sexual Abuse, Fear, Letting Go of Past Trauma, were all stations that were new so we created a beautiful 'cocoon' room where kids could enter in and privately pray. This was such a lovely space. We also encouraged kids to go to the school counselor if they had any further questions. I know without a shadow of a doubt that there was inner healing taking place in that room. God yearns to transform us and give us a new hope, a new identity and a new nature, releasing us from our past. For many I know the first steps took place in that prayer room.
Prayer, outlining his addiction to sport and other things and sharing how nothing could satisfy him until he found Jesus. He brought in his outfits and medals and left them at the addiction wall. This was very powerful for the kids to see - that success and fame does not necessarily lead to the happiness they desired. The kids also wrote hundreds of letters to persecuted imprisoned Christians around the world and were personally delivered to Voice of the Martyrs representatives that were visiting Avondale College the following week.
The Prayer Room is awesome. As soon as you walk in you feel that God is there. Thankyou.
Children's Prayer Workshop for a local church. My favorite memory was my eldest nephew Ethan saying "I don't want to go to church" but then when the workshop was finished he stated,"can we go back again every week? I love church!" I believe we can make prayer and experiencing God fun for all ages not just kids! I also had the opportunity to speak at a Worship Conference talking of how experiential and sensory teaching is so powerful in symbolizing the deep aspects of God and allowing Him to become real (more life changing than just analyzing or talking about Him).