Princesses in Disguise

Well, we are back home from our trip and trying to recover a bit before we leave again on Saturday.  We had a marvelous time!  Our relationships with God (and each other) were deepened and we learned how to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.  It was wonderful to be able to spend focused time with the Lord with no distractions from the world.  The Lord taught us so much and we hope He will continue to teach us as we finish up the material here at home.

Our team of nine girls was unified in the desire to seek the Lord wholeheartedly.  We had a spirit of one accord when we openly confessed our failures to one another.  We built friendships that will last a lifetime.  On Thursday, we had a day of fasting and delighting in the Lord.  That afternoon, we were divided up into groups of three for an hour of prayer where we followed a guideline given to us.  We prayed for 12 different things for five minutes each.  Each day we studied different heart conditions (i.e. murmuring heart, prideful heart, adulterous heart, etc.) and the Lord opened our eyes to several areas we need to work on.  As Mr. Gothard puts it, this ten-day Journey is a launching pad.

Just as a recap, we spent the first two days in Chicago at the IBLP Headquarters and then drove eight hours to the Northwoodsof Michigan.  We spent five days in the Northwoods and then drove back to HQ where we spent two more nights before heading home.  Here are just some of the 400+ pictures we took.  They aren’t in any particular order.  We could seriously fill a book with all our stories from the last 10 days!

L: bowling in the lodge basement R: walking to the lodge (from our cabin)

L: one of our self-made brunches at our cabin R: kayaking on Wolf Lake

L: Pink team by the lake R: singing hymns around a piano

L: Matching Northwoods t-shirts (S and teammate) R: Pink team in front of our cabin

L: On the 4-mile walk around the lake R: one of the pretty views

L: in the house we stayed at while in Chicago R: with our wonderful leader!

L: playing volleyball at the lodge (it practically killed our hands but we had a blast ☺) R: during the hour of prayer (K on the right)

L: Eating lunch at Culver’s in Wisconsin on the way back to HQ R: Us with Mr. Garvin (Mr. Gothard’s brother-in-law)

As you can see, we had a great time!  It was very sad the last day saying goodbye to all the girls.  We became very close and we miss them already.  This Journey was a once-in-a-lifetime experience we will never forget.  If you are at all interested in going, we would both highly recommend it!  Click here if you would like more information.

 ”Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.”

Joel 2:12-13