YWAMSF!

Hey Friends! Again, I’ve been awful at this being a disciplined blogger thing, and for that I am sorry! So let’s just get right into it! I have two different weeks to tell you about. First is PLUMBLINE (get ready) and then there is “The Cross”!

Alright, I really hyped up Plumbline, and going back into my notes, that was very justifiable. Not only was there really good lectures, there was some really awesome “God Moments” as I like to call them.

So, some of you may be asking, “Nicole, what the heck is Plumbline?” Let me tell you! Plumbline, in the context of YWAM DTS is a life changing week full of forgiving others and asking for forgiveness. It’s known for the freedom received from God during the week.

But in general a plumb line is a tool builders use to make sure what they’re building is straight. Basically it’s just a string with a weight at the bottom.

So for us, what is straight and true is God’s love and truth. But in our fallen world, we easily swing one of two ways (or in my and many other people’s case, both ways): rejection or rebellion.

Behind that rejection or rebellion is some deep seeded pain and like my boldly scribbled notes say, “when you bury pain, you don’t bury it dead. It’s still alive and you’ve had to work your whole life around it. And if you don’t deal with your pain and issues they’ll deal with you.”

So, this week was very centered towards exposing our deep seeded pains and GIVING THEM TO GOD. Which let me tell you, is NOT easy, but once it’s done it’s so freeing.  

And though it’s hard to give it up, it’s so important. This is the same mentality we had to have the second half of the week when we asked God for forgiveness.  Though I did not get the opportunity to do this, I must commend my fellow DTSers because there was SO MUCH courage in getting up in front of 25 people and confessing your sins and asking for forgiveness. 

Truly, seeing my brothers and sisters that vulnerable changed something in my heart and I’m sure that’s true for them too.

I also want to just commend our speaker, Jerry Peraetzel, for being FREAKING AWESOME. He was such an example of God to us and it blew my mind.

So to end, here are two awesome quotes from Jerry regarding forgiving and being forgiven:

“We can’t be bitter Christians. We are forgiven forgivers.” And “If you want Winnie the Pooh to show up, have lots of honey. If you want God to show up, have lots of humility.” BOOM.

This leads me to the next week, “The Cross” with Peter Iliyn. Peter has a PHENOMENAL story to tell about both his life and his father’s, and that’s what he did the first day. So many students left that day in tears because his dad’s story brings forth SO MUCH hope in God it’s..CRAZY (that’s the only word I can think of. I thought “I should come up with some big word to make them understand how crazy it was,” but alas, nothing; just crazy). Since there’s no way I could tell you the whole story in this blog post I’ll tell you to go get his book, Out of the Far Corners! Do it, I promise you won’t be disappointed. 

Other than the awesome story this week was full of amazing lectures (which sounds boring, but they never are). Peter talked mostly about living a repenting lifestyle, which isn’t always about asking for forgiveness, but really striving to turn your life around after doing so. The big thing I got this week was the difference between condemnation and conviction. Condemnation is general and doesn’t come from God and his love, but conviction is specific and very loving. 

So, those were the past two weeks and we just finished another week that I didn’t mention. (I’m kinda behind! Whoops!) VERY SOON, I’ll do a post about this last week, which was rad because we had some speakers who are actually staff here on the base (Steve Binquist and Ruthie Kim). We all loved them and they’re great, so be excited!

Thank you for your time and please just keep praying for us students and all the leaders and staff here at YWAM! We love you and appreciate you so very much!

-Nicole