WE MOVED! :)
Please visit www.arielmasquerade.wordpress.com for Masquerade's new website, or feel free to browse here for awhile.Thanks for the support and love!
xoxoxoxo,
Ariel
September 24, 2012
September 21, 2012
Moving!
Oh, my readers. You guys have a very special place in my heart! I started this blog 2 years ago in a week. When I started this, no way in a million years had I imagined it would become this. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would have over 100 people like my page on facebook, or that I would get so many encouraging comments and emails, or that I would have viewers from so many different countries in almost every continent on this earth, or that I would end up having 4732 page views in the lifespan of this blog. You guys have blown my mind and made my heart swell so much!
You guys have been with me on this journey and you've been the biggest blessing ever. I'm excited for the next step that we're taking with this blog! And I want to take this step together, no one left behind.
Lots of you have heard the big news that we're moving!!! I'm so excited for this! I've decided to move the blog to Wordpress. Blogspot has done so much for me, and I'm so grateful for this website because this is where I began. But just like businesses outgrow their buildings and have to move, I feel like I've outgrown Blogspot. I really like the layout I have on Wordpress and (this part I'm very excited about!) I can now have different pages other than just the blog. I have pages like "The Fingers Behind the Blog", "From the Mouths of Strangers" and "For Your Viewing Pleasure". I'm so pumped to be able to reach out to you guys in this way, and I'm hoping that you will continue to follow the blog, even as I'm not in the same place.
The new web address is: http://arielmasquerade.wordpress.com/
I'm just working on the finishing touches right now, and the new website should be launched sometime this evening! Keep your eye on the facebook and twitter page :)
I love you guys, and I hope you'll continue walking with me in this crazy journey!!
xoxoxo
Huge blessings!
Ariel
P.S. I'm not deleting this website! I will leave it here because there are many posts that people still read, that still get people thinking and that still help people. I don't want to take this away if God still wants to use it! So please feel free to come back here and visit :)
You guys have been with me on this journey and you've been the biggest blessing ever. I'm excited for the next step that we're taking with this blog! And I want to take this step together, no one left behind.
Lots of you have heard the big news that we're moving!!! I'm so excited for this! I've decided to move the blog to Wordpress. Blogspot has done so much for me, and I'm so grateful for this website because this is where I began. But just like businesses outgrow their buildings and have to move, I feel like I've outgrown Blogspot. I really like the layout I have on Wordpress and (this part I'm very excited about!) I can now have different pages other than just the blog. I have pages like "The Fingers Behind the Blog", "From the Mouths of Strangers" and "For Your Viewing Pleasure". I'm so pumped to be able to reach out to you guys in this way, and I'm hoping that you will continue to follow the blog, even as I'm not in the same place.
The new web address is: http://arielmasquerade.wordpress.com/
I'm just working on the finishing touches right now, and the new website should be launched sometime this evening! Keep your eye on the facebook and twitter page :)
I love you guys, and I hope you'll continue walking with me in this crazy journey!!
xoxoxo
Huge blessings!
Ariel
P.S. I'm not deleting this website! I will leave it here because there are many posts that people still read, that still get people thinking and that still help people. I don't want to take this away if God still wants to use it! So please feel free to come back here and visit :)
September 10, 2012
Love.
Today is World Suicide Prevention Day. So we support it by wearing yellow, writing "love" on our wrists and maybe a name, a name of someone who has been effected by suicide. But is that all we do? Is that honestly all we're going to do? Wear a certain color, on a certain day? Tell me, what is this going to help? Yes, I am wearing a yellow hoodie as we speak, and I have "LOVE" written on my wrist. Why? It's a step. It's a movement. But that's just the beginning. If tomorrow we don't take another step, and another, and another, is anything going to change? It's not. That's just not the way life works.
I am so grateful for life. Yes, I am frustrated and angry at life, but it really is a beautiful thing. I'm frustrated and angry at the situations I've been put in in my life. But if I hadn't gone through that stuff, I would be nowhere near the person I am today. I hold tight to Romans 8:28, "All things work to the good of those who love the Lord." To be completely honest, this world sucks. A lot. And a lot of the time, I hate it. I hate living here and I just want to go home to be with my Daddy. There's sexual assaults, sex trafficking, murder, theft, abuse, wars, the list could go on and on. This world sucks. BUT, there is this thing called love, and from it branches so many other things. I truly believe that love is a verb, because you cannot love someone without acting towards them in love. When love is poured out, that's when things change.
I know for a fact that if I did not have the hope that I have, I would be long gone. See ya! Adios! Sayonara! Au revoir! Why would I want to live in such a disgusting world if all that happens when I die, is I get put in the ground, and that's it? What is the point?? There is no point to that, at all! Why would I want to deal with depression for any longer than I have to? That's been my reality for 4 years now. Praise God, it's not as severe anymore. Why would I want to work through the pain of my past and heal when I could just end it? But there is so much more at stake. We live for a reason. We have a purpose. What is that purpose? To love as Jesus loved. Let his love fill you, but not only that, let it spill, let it overflow onto those you come in contact with. I've had kids see me and yell, "Madame Ariel?!" with a huge gasp and a running hug. I've had people send me random messages on facebook. I've had people thank me with such sincerity and meaning for something that I've done for them. I've had people write me little notes. I've had people give me random gifts that seem little but mean the world. I've had people care enough to talk to me when I'm losing hope. Those moments of love impacted me so much. They kept me going. Never underestimate the power of your words, your actions, your love. It's needed!
So what do we do now? It's time to act. Take that next step. Be a part of the movement. What that looks like for you, I don't know. Maybe it's giving someone a hug. Maybe it's saying hi to someone in the hallway who you're not a fan of. Maybe it's sitting and listening to someone who's going through a hard time. Maybe it's holding your tongue when you feel a snarky comment on the tip of it. Maybe it's going and feeding the homeless. Maybe it's hanging out with a certain kid who just needs some extra attention. Whatever it is, go. Move. Be the change that you want to see in the world. Yeah, it starts with a bunch of little stuff. If you put $1 in a box, yeah it's small. It doesn't look like much. You can't really do anything with it. But if you put $1 in that box every single day for 30 years? That's $10,950. That's a lot bigger of a number than 1. That one dollar made a difference. It may take a while, but it will be so worth it.
And to those of you struggling with thoughts of suicide, I say this: you are SO worth it. You weren't a mistake, not even maybe. You were put on this earth for a reason. Yeah, things may suck right now, but please keep fighting. Down the road, there may be a person you meet who is struggling with the same things that you were, and you can help them. You can make a difference. Your story holds SO much power! You have the ability to change the world, so please, please don't give up. You're loved more than you know. Kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight. Keep fighting. It'll be so worth it.
Love you guys,
Ariel
I am so grateful for life. Yes, I am frustrated and angry at life, but it really is a beautiful thing. I'm frustrated and angry at the situations I've been put in in my life. But if I hadn't gone through that stuff, I would be nowhere near the person I am today. I hold tight to Romans 8:28, "All things work to the good of those who love the Lord." To be completely honest, this world sucks. A lot. And a lot of the time, I hate it. I hate living here and I just want to go home to be with my Daddy. There's sexual assaults, sex trafficking, murder, theft, abuse, wars, the list could go on and on. This world sucks. BUT, there is this thing called love, and from it branches so many other things. I truly believe that love is a verb, because you cannot love someone without acting towards them in love. When love is poured out, that's when things change.
I know for a fact that if I did not have the hope that I have, I would be long gone. See ya! Adios! Sayonara! Au revoir! Why would I want to live in such a disgusting world if all that happens when I die, is I get put in the ground, and that's it? What is the point?? There is no point to that, at all! Why would I want to deal with depression for any longer than I have to? That's been my reality for 4 years now. Praise God, it's not as severe anymore. Why would I want to work through the pain of my past and heal when I could just end it? But there is so much more at stake. We live for a reason. We have a purpose. What is that purpose? To love as Jesus loved. Let his love fill you, but not only that, let it spill, let it overflow onto those you come in contact with. I've had kids see me and yell, "Madame Ariel?!" with a huge gasp and a running hug. I've had people send me random messages on facebook. I've had people thank me with such sincerity and meaning for something that I've done for them. I've had people write me little notes. I've had people give me random gifts that seem little but mean the world. I've had people care enough to talk to me when I'm losing hope. Those moments of love impacted me so much. They kept me going. Never underestimate the power of your words, your actions, your love. It's needed!
So what do we do now? It's time to act. Take that next step. Be a part of the movement. What that looks like for you, I don't know. Maybe it's giving someone a hug. Maybe it's saying hi to someone in the hallway who you're not a fan of. Maybe it's sitting and listening to someone who's going through a hard time. Maybe it's holding your tongue when you feel a snarky comment on the tip of it. Maybe it's going and feeding the homeless. Maybe it's hanging out with a certain kid who just needs some extra attention. Whatever it is, go. Move. Be the change that you want to see in the world. Yeah, it starts with a bunch of little stuff. If you put $1 in a box, yeah it's small. It doesn't look like much. You can't really do anything with it. But if you put $1 in that box every single day for 30 years? That's $10,950. That's a lot bigger of a number than 1. That one dollar made a difference. It may take a while, but it will be so worth it.
And to those of you struggling with thoughts of suicide, I say this: you are SO worth it. You weren't a mistake, not even maybe. You were put on this earth for a reason. Yeah, things may suck right now, but please keep fighting. Down the road, there may be a person you meet who is struggling with the same things that you were, and you can help them. You can make a difference. Your story holds SO much power! You have the ability to change the world, so please, please don't give up. You're loved more than you know. Kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight. Keep fighting. It'll be so worth it.
Love you guys,
Ariel
August 30, 2012
Dear Camp Family
Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world." ~ John 18:36a
This summer was absolutely incredible. I can hardly believe that it's coming to a close and that school begins next week. I have mixed feelings. I'm both excited and sad to turn the page. This summer, I saw God move in so many ways, in both staff and children. I grew so much, and I learned so much. There's always one thing about summer camp that I cannot shake, and that's my camp family. So this, my family, is for you.
Dear Camp Family,
I cannot even explain to you how much you mean to me! It's so cool to see how each person comes with different lives and gifts and walks, yet we all come together as one team, one body, one family working together to further God's kingdom. I'm going to miss the late nights in dorm with my roomies, talking about boys, and life, and stories, and boys, and eating junk food, and making bracelets, and talking about boys ;) I'm going to miss crying and praying with you. I'm going to miss the late nights and early mornings and being way overtired to the point of being delusional. I'm going to miss seeing you all using your gifts in this ministry and being so incredibly selfless in order to serve these kids. I'm going to miss seeing all of your faces! Your amazingly wonderful faces that Facebook cannot do justice. I'm going to miss your hugs, and feeling your love around me all the time. I'm going to miss opening up encouragement notes that make me smile, cry, or laugh to the point of tears. I'm going to miss writing you guys encouragement notes! Can you guys imagine how much the world would change if people encouraged each other like this all the time? Instead of insulting each other and calling names or pointing out flaws, to point out the good things and encourage them with where they're at, and with where they're going? Life would be so different. Those notes have made my life so different. To encourage and to be encouraged is one of the things I've learned to value most in life. I will never forget the reactions to some of those notes, and how much they meant to you, and how much a small act of kindness like that could change some one's entire day. I'm going to miss our Sunday night meetings. When a group of friends come together to worship Jesus together, something strange happens. They're not friends anymore, they're family. Brothers and sisters joined together by one Daddy. I would ten times rather worship Jesus with you and pray with and for you than have all the money in the world or party night and day or whatever the world says will make you happy. Those Sunday nights, I looked forward to them every week. The prayer times we had together showed me what the body of Christ should be doing all the time. I felt so much love in those times. Now we can go out, and pour that love onto others. I'm going to miss how absolutely insane you all are. From mud fights to food fights to pots and pans baseball to giant dutch blitz to glow in the dark hocker to seshing up...I love it! I catch myself about to do stuff all the time, and have to remind myself that I'm not at camp. At Corn and Apple I had a water bottle in my hand and saw one of my friends, I was about to pour the water all over her until I remembered that I was not at camp anymore. Ha, it was moments like those with you guys that made this summer golden. The thing that I'm going to miss most though is not the fights of various kinds, it's not the random things you say when you're way too tired to be letting anything come out of your mouth, it's not watching you sesh up, it's not the activities, or the sites, or the videos, or the chapels, or the meals...the thing that I am going to miss the most is you. My family. I've been home for not even a week, and I just want that community back. I wish that everyone loved Jesus as much as you all do. I wish that all of my friends wanted to have praise and worship sessions and pray together. I wish that the world could have community like camp does.
Yeah, I'm going to miss all of this stuff like you wouldn't believe, and I'm going to miss all of you even more. But I'm excited. I'm excited for what life's going to bring. Now we've all just charged our batteries for a solid 2 months. We're way stronger than what any Energizer Bunny could ever give us!! And that makes me excited. We were all together for 2 out of 12 months. We have 10 left to make up a year. We're all going to different places...Winkler, Morden, Winnipeg, New Bothwell, Steinbach, Altona, Los Angeles, Australia...we are going all over the place! When you get a plate of fries, what do you do? You put salt on them. And then you eat them. The fries where the salt lands are always the better ones, the most flavorful. We are called to be the salt of the earth. We're being shaken out from Winkler Bible Camp and we're landing in all different places. We're giving where ever we happen to land a new taste, new life, new experience. I want to encourage you with that. You have the opportunity to change lives! You did it here at camp. Follow where God leads. Listen to him. Don't be afraid. For someone who's never had fries with salt before, they might be surprised by the taste. They might find it strange, interesting, they might love it or find it disgusting. Either way, we have the awesome privilege to influence people where ever we are, and where ever we go! Take advantage of that privilege.
I love you guys, so much!!
Ariel
Enjoy :)
This summer was absolutely incredible. I can hardly believe that it's coming to a close and that school begins next week. I have mixed feelings. I'm both excited and sad to turn the page. This summer, I saw God move in so many ways, in both staff and children. I grew so much, and I learned so much. There's always one thing about summer camp that I cannot shake, and that's my camp family. So this, my family, is for you.
Dear Camp Family,
I cannot even explain to you how much you mean to me! It's so cool to see how each person comes with different lives and gifts and walks, yet we all come together as one team, one body, one family working together to further God's kingdom. I'm going to miss the late nights in dorm with my roomies, talking about boys, and life, and stories, and boys, and eating junk food, and making bracelets, and talking about boys ;) I'm going to miss crying and praying with you. I'm going to miss the late nights and early mornings and being way overtired to the point of being delusional. I'm going to miss seeing you all using your gifts in this ministry and being so incredibly selfless in order to serve these kids. I'm going to miss seeing all of your faces! Your amazingly wonderful faces that Facebook cannot do justice. I'm going to miss your hugs, and feeling your love around me all the time. I'm going to miss opening up encouragement notes that make me smile, cry, or laugh to the point of tears. I'm going to miss writing you guys encouragement notes! Can you guys imagine how much the world would change if people encouraged each other like this all the time? Instead of insulting each other and calling names or pointing out flaws, to point out the good things and encourage them with where they're at, and with where they're going? Life would be so different. Those notes have made my life so different. To encourage and to be encouraged is one of the things I've learned to value most in life. I will never forget the reactions to some of those notes, and how much they meant to you, and how much a small act of kindness like that could change some one's entire day. I'm going to miss our Sunday night meetings. When a group of friends come together to worship Jesus together, something strange happens. They're not friends anymore, they're family. Brothers and sisters joined together by one Daddy. I would ten times rather worship Jesus with you and pray with and for you than have all the money in the world or party night and day or whatever the world says will make you happy. Those Sunday nights, I looked forward to them every week. The prayer times we had together showed me what the body of Christ should be doing all the time. I felt so much love in those times. Now we can go out, and pour that love onto others. I'm going to miss how absolutely insane you all are. From mud fights to food fights to pots and pans baseball to giant dutch blitz to glow in the dark hocker to seshing up...I love it! I catch myself about to do stuff all the time, and have to remind myself that I'm not at camp. At Corn and Apple I had a water bottle in my hand and saw one of my friends, I was about to pour the water all over her until I remembered that I was not at camp anymore. Ha, it was moments like those with you guys that made this summer golden. The thing that I'm going to miss most though is not the fights of various kinds, it's not the random things you say when you're way too tired to be letting anything come out of your mouth, it's not watching you sesh up, it's not the activities, or the sites, or the videos, or the chapels, or the meals...the thing that I am going to miss the most is you. My family. I've been home for not even a week, and I just want that community back. I wish that everyone loved Jesus as much as you all do. I wish that all of my friends wanted to have praise and worship sessions and pray together. I wish that the world could have community like camp does.
Yeah, I'm going to miss all of this stuff like you wouldn't believe, and I'm going to miss all of you even more. But I'm excited. I'm excited for what life's going to bring. Now we've all just charged our batteries for a solid 2 months. We're way stronger than what any Energizer Bunny could ever give us!! And that makes me excited. We were all together for 2 out of 12 months. We have 10 left to make up a year. We're all going to different places...Winkler, Morden, Winnipeg, New Bothwell, Steinbach, Altona, Los Angeles, Australia...we are going all over the place! When you get a plate of fries, what do you do? You put salt on them. And then you eat them. The fries where the salt lands are always the better ones, the most flavorful. We are called to be the salt of the earth. We're being shaken out from Winkler Bible Camp and we're landing in all different places. We're giving where ever we happen to land a new taste, new life, new experience. I want to encourage you with that. You have the opportunity to change lives! You did it here at camp. Follow where God leads. Listen to him. Don't be afraid. For someone who's never had fries with salt before, they might be surprised by the taste. They might find it strange, interesting, they might love it or find it disgusting. Either way, we have the awesome privilege to influence people where ever we are, and where ever we go! Take advantage of that privilege.
I love you guys, so much!!
Ariel
 |
| Meet my crazy, absolutely wonderful family! |
Enjoy :)
July 28, 2012
Out Of This World
Hello all! As you've probably already figured out, I'm back at camp for the summer. For those of you who don't know, I've worked at a bible camp for the past 2 summers and am now back for my third. And I'm loving it! God's doing such cool things here, you cannot even imagine! I'm actually just so pumped to tell you guys about it.
Camp for me in a nutshell has been this: Week 1-Food Prep, Week 2-Dishes/Program Help, Week 3-Ropes Assistant, Week 4-Dishes/Program Help/One on One, and this coming week, Week 5 is Ropes Assistant again. The theme this year is Out Of This World from the verse "Jesus said, 'My kingdom is not of this world.'" (John 18:36a) It's been such a blast. I've noticed this year that the staff are being put in a lot of roles that we wouldn't normally be put in. Like people who've been counseling mostly are being put on dining hall or custodial. Stuff like that. I counseled the majority of the summer last year, and this year I've been in the kitchen a lot. It's been cool to see how God's used this to his glory even when I couldn't see how doing dishes could possibly further his kingdom. I've gotten encouragement notes from countless people telling me how they think it's so awesome how I continue to be willing to serve God in any position, and always with a smile. All glory to God! My smile is from him, and it's to bring him glory.
I want to tell you guys about week 2. Ha, oh week 2! It was absolutely crazy. I have so many stories, so here we go!
It was Thursday night and my friend C, who just so happened to be my "boss" as the Dining Hall Coordinator that week, was having a rough night emotionally and physically. All week she had been having problems with her foot and had been limping. Thursday she messed it up in chapel by jumping and had shooting pain every time she took a step, so instead of limping, she hopped. So she came back to dorm, and we were talking, and J comes to our room and says that God was leading her to talk to C. We ended up praying for her, and J prayed for her foot, and C got up and started walking around...normally! I had not seen her walk normally all week. Then she started jumping and dancing! It was incredible! We went and told the connectors who were in the lounge in dorm, and they said, "C, you need to go pray for B's knee!" And so we went into another room, they had their lights off already, and we told them that we had to pray for B's knee. Prayed, healed, bam! Then we prayed for K's leg which had been giving her almost unbearable pain all week. Healed! This was all on Thursday evening from about 11:30-12:30 at night. It was so random, but so, so, so good!
I thought that Thursday was like, the cool day of the week where God was working and that things were just gonna be done the next day. So on Friday morning at breakfast, R's feet were giving him a lot of pain since he's not on his feet that much normally. A group prayed for him outside, and as I was walking down the road, I heard yelling and screaming. First thought: He's healed!!! Yeah baby!
This other girl who hurts herself a lot had almost broken her toes that week and was on crutches. A few people prayed for her, and she walked out of the chapel without crutches. People were going nuts! We were so excited! She went outside and her campers were like, "Where are your crutches??" Her response, "Guys, I don't need them, God healed my foot!" The campers were so pumped.
At lunch we were sitting at a table talking, and I heard about this one on one camper who lead 4 other campers to Christ! What?!?! God is so crazy!!!
There was a camper who broke her elbow that week and couldn't make her arm go straight at all. She was prayed for at archery, healed! She was blown away. She had full movement of her arm. Insane!
At the next activity of archery, there was a group of boys there. One boy had an ear infection, and so the other campers started praying over his ear. I saw them walking back from archery, about 5 boys, laying hands on each other and praying while they were walking back to their cabin. I ran into the Cove and was like, "You guys will NEVER guess what I just saw!!" This was honestly the coolest thing ever, because at the start of the summer, the summer camp director was talking about how cool it would be if this summer, campers were praying for other campers. And then, BAM! God shows up!!
This other staff member's wrist had been messed up for about a year, she was prayed over, healed!
Another girl, N, sprained her wrist. Prayed over, healed!
One of the coolest things I have ever witnessed was this: at one of the last chapels, the speaker went up to dismiss them, but first he said, "Okay guys, in a few seconds, we are just going to let out the biggest cheer we have for Jesus!" He counted down, and then whole chapel just went nuts! Usually when they tell the kids to give a shout for Jesus, it lasts like, 10 seconds. This time, they would not stop! I kid you not, they were just screaming for Jesus. And it was awesome! It was a glorious sound.
We've also had so many kids accept Jesus as their Savior. It's so sweet! During week 1, the count for kids who became Christians was 21. Week two was 18. We're now half way through summer camp, 4 weeks down, and in those 4 weeks, 70 kids have accepted Christ! How incredible is that?! And we're only half way in!! God is so good.
Please continue to keep camp in your prayers, for both the campers and staff. I know that God is going to continue to work in awesome ways. If you guys have any prayer requests, shoot me a comment or an email (xo_arial_xo@hotmail.com) and I would LOVE to pray for you! I've got a prayer list on my iPod, and I would be more than happy to add you to it.
Huge blessings! Love you guys!
Ariel
Camp for me in a nutshell has been this: Week 1-Food Prep, Week 2-Dishes/Program Help, Week 3-Ropes Assistant, Week 4-Dishes/Program Help/One on One, and this coming week, Week 5 is Ropes Assistant again. The theme this year is Out Of This World from the verse "Jesus said, 'My kingdom is not of this world.'" (John 18:36a) It's been such a blast. I've noticed this year that the staff are being put in a lot of roles that we wouldn't normally be put in. Like people who've been counseling mostly are being put on dining hall or custodial. Stuff like that. I counseled the majority of the summer last year, and this year I've been in the kitchen a lot. It's been cool to see how God's used this to his glory even when I couldn't see how doing dishes could possibly further his kingdom. I've gotten encouragement notes from countless people telling me how they think it's so awesome how I continue to be willing to serve God in any position, and always with a smile. All glory to God! My smile is from him, and it's to bring him glory.
I want to tell you guys about week 2. Ha, oh week 2! It was absolutely crazy. I have so many stories, so here we go!
It was Thursday night and my friend C, who just so happened to be my "boss" as the Dining Hall Coordinator that week, was having a rough night emotionally and physically. All week she had been having problems with her foot and had been limping. Thursday she messed it up in chapel by jumping and had shooting pain every time she took a step, so instead of limping, she hopped. So she came back to dorm, and we were talking, and J comes to our room and says that God was leading her to talk to C. We ended up praying for her, and J prayed for her foot, and C got up and started walking around...normally! I had not seen her walk normally all week. Then she started jumping and dancing! It was incredible! We went and told the connectors who were in the lounge in dorm, and they said, "C, you need to go pray for B's knee!" And so we went into another room, they had their lights off already, and we told them that we had to pray for B's knee. Prayed, healed, bam! Then we prayed for K's leg which had been giving her almost unbearable pain all week. Healed! This was all on Thursday evening from about 11:30-12:30 at night. It was so random, but so, so, so good!
I thought that Thursday was like, the cool day of the week where God was working and that things were just gonna be done the next day. So on Friday morning at breakfast, R's feet were giving him a lot of pain since he's not on his feet that much normally. A group prayed for him outside, and as I was walking down the road, I heard yelling and screaming. First thought: He's healed!!! Yeah baby!
This other girl who hurts herself a lot had almost broken her toes that week and was on crutches. A few people prayed for her, and she walked out of the chapel without crutches. People were going nuts! We were so excited! She went outside and her campers were like, "Where are your crutches??" Her response, "Guys, I don't need them, God healed my foot!" The campers were so pumped.
At lunch we were sitting at a table talking, and I heard about this one on one camper who lead 4 other campers to Christ! What?!?! God is so crazy!!!
There was a camper who broke her elbow that week and couldn't make her arm go straight at all. She was prayed for at archery, healed! She was blown away. She had full movement of her arm. Insane!
At the next activity of archery, there was a group of boys there. One boy had an ear infection, and so the other campers started praying over his ear. I saw them walking back from archery, about 5 boys, laying hands on each other and praying while they were walking back to their cabin. I ran into the Cove and was like, "You guys will NEVER guess what I just saw!!" This was honestly the coolest thing ever, because at the start of the summer, the summer camp director was talking about how cool it would be if this summer, campers were praying for other campers. And then, BAM! God shows up!!
This other staff member's wrist had been messed up for about a year, she was prayed over, healed!
Another girl, N, sprained her wrist. Prayed over, healed!
One of the coolest things I have ever witnessed was this: at one of the last chapels, the speaker went up to dismiss them, but first he said, "Okay guys, in a few seconds, we are just going to let out the biggest cheer we have for Jesus!" He counted down, and then whole chapel just went nuts! Usually when they tell the kids to give a shout for Jesus, it lasts like, 10 seconds. This time, they would not stop! I kid you not, they were just screaming for Jesus. And it was awesome! It was a glorious sound.
We've also had so many kids accept Jesus as their Savior. It's so sweet! During week 1, the count for kids who became Christians was 21. Week two was 18. We're now half way through summer camp, 4 weeks down, and in those 4 weeks, 70 kids have accepted Christ! How incredible is that?! And we're only half way in!! God is so good.
Please continue to keep camp in your prayers, for both the campers and staff. I know that God is going to continue to work in awesome ways. If you guys have any prayer requests, shoot me a comment or an email (xo_arial_xo@hotmail.com) and I would LOVE to pray for you! I've got a prayer list on my iPod, and I would be more than happy to add you to it.
Huge blessings! Love you guys!
Ariel
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June 17, 2012
Do You Remember...
I cannot stand it when adults say to teenagers, "You don't have any problems yet, just you wait." Or, "Oh, being a teenager isn't that bad. It gets worse once you get older." Or, my personal favorite *eye roll*, "You don't even know what stress is yet." Being a teenager may be one of the most difficult points in your life. Do I know from experience? Of being a teenager, yes. Of being an adult, no, however I have talked to adults who've confirmed this. I understand that adults often forget what it's like to be a teenager, to be in high school, to try to figure out who you are, to have the stress of school and jobs and thinking of the future and saving money and having a social life all at the same time. And if that's not enough, what about the family problems and drama with friends. If that's all not enough to stress a teenager out, what about that teenager who was beaten as a child and is still dealing with the stress of being terrified of going home? Or the teenager who was raped and now has to try to heal from the damage that was done without letting on to anyone that anything is wrong? Or the teenager who made one wrong choice and is now pregnant and has to give up her education and possible success to raise this child. Or the teenager whose mom just got diagnosed with terminal cancer, yet he still has to go to school and work and pretend to be strong. Or the teenager who has been made fun of so much that he needs to cut himself every single day just to be able to wake up the next morning? Or the teenager who looks in the mirror and sees only fat, fat, and more fat, so she starves herself to be accepted. Or the teenager whose parent's just announced that they're getting a divorce and they now have to decide who to live with, what town they want to live in, whether or not to leave their friends and all they know. Or the teenager who feels like they're walking on eggshells at home because their parent is an alcoholic and will snap at the smallest thing. Or the teenager who has so many secrets bottled up inside that they just might burst. Or the teenager who is friends of people who are going through stuff like this and they feel the need to be strong for their friends, meanwhile they're breaking inside for their friends. We, as teenagers, have incredible things and opportunities in our lives, not gonna lie. But we also have so much to deal with, and it really does not help when the adults around us have no sympathy whatsoever. As an adult, think about what you went through before you entered into adulthood. Were you sexually abused? Were you bullied? Were you going through family problems? Before you speak, think about what the teenager you're talking to might be going through. For some, an adult telling them that they don't know what stress or problems are might just be the breaking point between life and death for them. Teenagers are at this raw, precious age where we're figuring life out. Who we can trust. What we like to do. What we want to do for the rest of our lives. What we're good at. What love is. Who we are in general. What we need is godly men and women coming along side us and mentoring us, loving us, and being there for us. Please be that for a teenager in your life, we need it more than you know.
Blessings,
Ariel
Blessings,
Ariel
June 16, 2012
Picky Eater
You know what bothers me? Picky eaters when it comes to the bible. They pick and choose what they like and talk about how good the food is and are so thankful and satisfied with it. But then they see food in front of them that they don't like. So they push it to the side and continue on with the other food that they do enjoy. Maybe this food they didn't like was too spicy. They didn't want to try it out in small helpings at first and then keep escalating when their tastebuds could handle more heat. It was too hard, too much work, so they just push it aside.
So many people do this with the bible. They love the stuff where Jesus is performing miracles or when Paul is telling the church in Thessalonica that through their perserverance and faith in their suffering, they have become examples and are spreading the gospel in 1 Thessalonians 1. But wait, then they get to chapter 4 and they get a different taste in their mouths, one they're not sure of they like. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 says: God wants you to be holy and to stay away from sexual sins. Pretty straight forward right? But then they start thinking, "But...if I stop having sex with my boyfriend he might break up with me...plus, I like sex...it'll be too hard to stop now...and we're going to get married eventually anyways...ah, I'm sure it's fine. God won't care. It's just sex. Everyone has sex!" And so they push the food aside. They still love food, just not that food. This, of course, isn't a problem with real food, but when it comes to spiritual food, you can't just pick out the parts that you like and leave the rest for whoever wants it. You need all of it to stay spiritually strong and healthy. Will some of the stuff that God tells you to do be hard? Heck yes! Will you always want to do it? Nope! But does Daddy know best? Always. He's the author of the world, do you think that just maybe, just maybe he knows what he's talking about?
Blessings,
Ariel
So many people do this with the bible. They love the stuff where Jesus is performing miracles or when Paul is telling the church in Thessalonica that through their perserverance and faith in their suffering, they have become examples and are spreading the gospel in 1 Thessalonians 1. But wait, then they get to chapter 4 and they get a different taste in their mouths, one they're not sure of they like. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 says: God wants you to be holy and to stay away from sexual sins. Pretty straight forward right? But then they start thinking, "But...if I stop having sex with my boyfriend he might break up with me...plus, I like sex...it'll be too hard to stop now...and we're going to get married eventually anyways...ah, I'm sure it's fine. God won't care. It's just sex. Everyone has sex!" And so they push the food aside. They still love food, just not that food. This, of course, isn't a problem with real food, but when it comes to spiritual food, you can't just pick out the parts that you like and leave the rest for whoever wants it. You need all of it to stay spiritually strong and healthy. Will some of the stuff that God tells you to do be hard? Heck yes! Will you always want to do it? Nope! But does Daddy know best? Always. He's the author of the world, do you think that just maybe, just maybe he knows what he's talking about?
Blessings,
Ariel
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