my stinging knees and perfect bangs...

Ever since I've gotten new bangs, I have to spend about 30 minutes on my knees in front of the mirror blow drying and straightening my curly locks into sleek perfection. Including make-up and miscellaneous hair-dressing, this is about 45 minutes. As you can imagine, my knees have taken quite a scraping, they've turned dry and red and cracked.

The other night, I knelt down next to my bed to pray, my knees stinging with pain as they rubbed against the rough carpet.

But what stung more than my knees was the realization in my heart.

I'd spent hours upon hours that week on my knees trying to perfect my outward appearance.

How many hours did I spend on my knees in prayer?

"Edward Payson, a true inspiration to the church in his time, was known to have worn grooves into the floorboards where his knees pressed so often and so long during prayer."
- When God Writes Your Life Story, Eric and Leslie Ludy

Lord, please forgive me.

Ellerslie: School of Honor

This past week I learned about a place called Ellerslie: School of Honor (hence the title of this post). I think God may be calling me to go here (not to mention I would LOVE to go here).

What is Ellerslie? Here's an excerpt from their website:

"Mighty men and women of God are desperately needed. Raising them up is what Ellerslie is all about!

In an age where spiritual mediocrity is praised within the corridors of the Christian faith, moral compromise is overlooked, and the post-modern silt of the Emergent Church is tacitly exonerated in our midst, rescuers are required – Christians strong and ready with faith as their shield, flint in their forehead, and steel in their spine.

There is a need in this day for souls polished pure by the fire of God, hearts built courageous by the training of the Spirit, and minds tempered and harnessed by the unchanging Truth of Scripture. After all, who will stand when all others subside into a seated silence? Who will fight for Truth when all others have determined fighting for Truth to be harmful and incorrect? And who will win the heroes crown in this age of slackness and selfishness?

Ellerslie School of Honor isn’t intended to be the entire answer to the modern decline of the Post-Modern Church – but it is designed to be a part of the answer.

Ellerslie has been constructed with the sole purpose of building such saints and soldiers – arming men and women with the stuff from heaven’s war chest, training them for spiritual battle, and sending them forth into this world to spend themselves on the lost, the weak, the dying, the orphaned, the poor, and the oppressed.

We are not a factory merely for theological scholars, but rather, we are a boot-camp for those called to the front-lines of this great spiritual war. A new kind of lion-hearted Christian missionary is arising, and Ellerslie is one of the training grounds.

The time has come for the Church to rise up and remove the spit from the face of Jesus Christ."

(If you go to the Ellerslie home page, be sure to watch the inspiring intro video. It's so amazing.)

It would be such a blessing to be able to go.
Here's where you all come in, I need your prayer:

1. As awesome as a 2 month session at Ellerslie would be (talk about life changing!), I only want to go if GOD wants me to go. So please pray that I will do His will regarding this.

2. If, then, God DOES want me to go, I'm going to need some serious financial help. It's $5,000 for the 2 month program (which is what I'd be doing). My mom was right when she said that we might not have $5,000, but God does. So please pray for that.

Thanks so much, wonderful blog readers. You all mean so much to me. :)

Also, if you'd like to read...

Eric's article on Ellerslie.

and...

Leslie's article on Ellerslie.

xoxo

He restores my soul...

By Your Side

by Tenth Avenue North

(Listen to the song on you tube here.)

Why are you striving these days
Why are you trying to earn grace
Why are you crying
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away

Why are you looking for love
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough
To where will you go child
Tell me where will you run
To where will you run

And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Look at these hands and my side
They swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world's sin
So I could carry you in
And give you life
I want to give you life

Cause I, I love you
I want you to know
That I, I love you
I'll never let you go