From glory to glory...

Has it really only been a little over two monthes since CLC has started? God has transformed me so much, and He is still refining me... I love it! Before I get all deep on you, here are a couple of pictures from the past couple of weeks. Yah for fun times!



Andrea, Brad, Lisa, and I went up to Paulina Peak and had a blast! We hiked around to this ridge (which you can kinda see behind Andrea in the picture below) and we went to the edge and threw rocks over and made avalanches! It was fun :)


This is what happens when boys think they are funny... My car got suran-wrapped all around, hot-dogged, and crisco-ed. YAH! Revenge was sweet though :)

Then, last Thursday, we had a hair cutting party! Tim and Thomas got mohawks, Taryn got layers (and we helped her discover what her hair looks like curly cuz we shoved her in the sink), Seth and Brittany got trims, I got some layers :) it was fun...
Transitioning now, I just want to share with you (I'm not sure who "you" are, but whoever reads this thing, it's to you...) what God has been speaking to me:

1. MARK 2:21

"No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment: or else the new peice pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse."

• I cannot patch what God is doing in my life onto my old life. Period... there are no if's, and's or but's. He has not called me to be a patch work quilt. I have to throw away my old life, completely. Letting Him rebuild me is key. He wants me to be like a tapestry in that I don't patch Him onto certain areas of my life, but I let Him weave me into His plan and we become one.
• He has really been showing me that it's not about fixing my life, but it's about giving my life to Him and laying it down at the foot of the cross. I can't pretend that I have it all together, because frankly, I don't. From my point of view, things look a little messy... it's like when you look at the back side of a tapestry, you only see strings hanging down and the picture is not visible. But from the other side of it, it is a beautiful image. Jay used this example in a message once, and it has really stuck with me.
• God has asked me this one question: "Have you really layed your life down?" Have I really let Him tear me down in order so He can build me back up the right way?

2. GALATIONS 2:20-21

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain."

• All I have to say about this one, because I think the scripture is pretty explanitory, is that I will never set aside the grace of the Almighty God because I am not good enough to be called His child... Thankfully though, God's grace is sufficient to cover a multitude of sins. I love His Grace!

3. 1 CORINTHIANS 9:24, 26, 27

"Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one recieves the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it... Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified."

• God has challenged me to run in such a way. I have been running after God for some time now, and I have found it really easy to slip into a running coma (if there is such a thing?). It is SO easy to get into the routine of the christian walk. Wake up, read my bible, go to class, go to rotations, go to church, go to sleep, then do it all over again. Coming into CLC, I thought it would be really easy to grow closer to God, which on some levels is true, but in a way it has become more of a challenge. So many things fight for my time!
• We just finished our first quarter, and I realized that this thing is gonna go by fast! If I don't take advantage of EVERY chance I get, I will leave CLC the same person I was at the beginning. It's been hard, and I am for sure still struggling, but I have to discipline myself to be subject to the Holy Spirit and listen when He tells me no. I can't always be everywhere all the time... I knew this in my brain, but God has really revealed it to my heart in the last couple of weeks.
• Going back more to the scripture, God has called me to a purposeful run, one with certainty in who Christ is and in who I am, and one where I actually move forward. I refuse to deny Christ's rights into my heart becuase I know that if I do, I will be ineffective.

That's only three things out of pages and pages of things God has spoken to me about. I wish I could express just exactly how He has encountered my life and just turned me around face to face with His grace. I love it so much! It's hard, I will admit, to let God refine me, BUT I know it is so so so good and that it is what He wants.

I hope some of this spoke to you, and I love you all :)

Simply,

Elyxis

What happens when you are in CLC?

Beware of the coolness that is about to take place! (sorry for the poor quality, I took these videos on my phone) ENJOY!!!!!!

For those of you who didnt know, my birthday was this last friday, so we had a partay at Seths house, which was awesome! So here's what happened: Thomas and Damon got me and Taryn (it was her birthday the next day) a little box filled with dirt, flowers, grass, and other gardenish stuff and at the bottom was man deoderant, a spider man ice pack, sardines and anchovie paste... and a variety pack of semi boneless pickled pigs feet. YUM! :) Long story short, Seth ate it...

Now you know what goes on when we get together :)

More videos to come soon!

Still gagging - Elyxis.

What happened to me?!?!?!?!?!!!!!????!!

I just finished my third week of CLC... all I can say is wow. I am very positively sure that God has spoken to me more clearly than ever before, in the last few weeks. He has gently, in his Holy Spitit kind of way, shoved me out of my comfort zone and into a whole new realm of relationship with Himself. He is faithful every morning to meet with me, He is faithful every moment to remind me that He is there and loves me, and He is faithful to remind me that I am indeed a sinner! He has spoken alot to me just about the authentic-ness of our relationship and lovingly reminded me that it takes real sacrifice to grow in Him. The other morning, while reading my bible, He spoke to me out of Zechariah 7:5, which says, "...When you fasted in the fifth and seventh monthes during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me - for Me?" Now not that I literally fasted for seventy years, but I am in a lot of ways fasting for these nine monthes of my life. God just spoke to me and asked if I was really doing it ALL for Him or if I was doing it for myself, even in the slightest way... and I was forced to answer the honest truth, which was "no". Of course I went into CLC with the intentions of getting to know God and myself better, but I was forced to look into myself and check my motives. The bible talks about how God looks over all the earth searching for the one who loves Him with their whole heart, I want to be that person, so badly. I have found myself desperate to get into the presence of Jesus every spare moment that I have because I am tired of it being about me. I want GOD to use me, not the other way around. I will be the first to admit that I haved used God before as an excuse and even to get my own way... BUT GOD IS SO SOVEREIGN!!! I cannot escape Him. He has grabed a hold of me and shaken me, and still is shaking me... it's hard, I'm not gonna lie, but it is sssooooooo good. "The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His mercy." ps.147:11 I do hope in His mercy, His grace, and His salvation... I dont know how I would be living without Him right know, to be honest. Everything around me is shaking. Everything. All I can do now is trust and know that He is more in control of everything around me, more than I can ever imagine. I love Him a lot!

Still running,
Elyxis.

encountering Jesus is something I hope to never recover from...

This past week has been an incredibaly rediculous week. I started Cascade Life Commission! It felt nothing like I thought it would. I have been waiting for it for a little more than three years, and now it is finally here. It's exciting, fun, new, scary a little, and God has already changed my life so much because of it. Every single person who is doing the program this year is so incredable: Taryn, Andrea, Sabrina, Brittany, Candice, Lisa, Amber, Stacia, Brad, Tim, Damon, Thomas, Dustin, Seth, and me. We have had such a great time getting to know each other and have already formed a strong bond. On Tuesday we headed of to good 'ol Wild Horse Canyon, one of my favorite places in the world, for Encounter. GOD DID SO MUCH AMAZING STUFF IN MY LIFE! I have been running after Jesus for about three years now and I can most honestly tell you that He has never been so real to me before. That is a big deal to me. There are so many different aspects of God and I had felt like I had tapped them all dry. Can I say that I was awefully wrong! His mercy and grace and love overwhelmed me in such a powerfull way that I am truly ruined for good. He spoke more clearly than ever, ripped out tons of strongholds from my life, and set me FREE! It's really hard for me to put my experience in words because there are no human words that can really do it for me, they can't explain it good enough, or right enough, or to depth I want them to.

So with that... I am now going to run off into whatever God has for me at full speed and I am not going to look back!

rain.

I love the rain. There is just something about it that makes me joyous. I love the smell of rain, you know, that fresh, wet, cool smell. I love the feeling of rain, how it seems to wash my cares away. I really love the sound of rain, because it always cools my jets. It does not make me depressed, as it does some. Others might say that the clouds and thunder make them feel sad, but not me... I feel exhilarated. I love how rain looks as it hits water. The rain falls into the water and it sends back up another little droplet. I just love it!
The best part of rain, for me at least, is that it reminds me of the timely presence of God. He is fresh, and he refreshes me. He makes me forget about circumstances, even when they seem impossible. He always cools my jets... because yes, I do get frustrated with life. He exhilarates me. When His presence falls into me, another little droplet of me is forced out. Rain usually doesn't come without a strom though...
I don't know about you, but I find that it is when times are the hardest that I feel God the nearest. God is always with me, I know that, but there is something about storms that make me long for rain, and more of it. I want the rain. Rainy seasons are the ones I long for, the ones I wait for.
Rain doesnt only effect the place it lands. Whether it's in soil, where seed is watered, or whether it's in water, where ripples go out and stir the water, rain brings change... I love the rain.

Praise the Lord!

I finally got a job! This summer has really been a test of my faith that God is in control. Time and time again this summer God has proved Himself faithful to me, which has been awesome. It's like with everything that I have done or have tried to do, it gets down to crunch time and then God is like "BAM!, here ya go." Hopefuly now we (and by we, I mean God and I) can get my car fixed too :)
yep.
In the mean time, here are some pictures! Sorry, our camera sucks, so most of the pictures are blurry or bad quality...
WARNING:THESE IMAGES ARE RANDOM AND MAY RESULT IN CONFUSION AND LAUGHTER. STEP 1: TAKE A DEEP BREATH, STEP 2: LOOK AT PICTURES, STEP 3: PHONE A FRIEND FOR MORAL SUPPORT!

















i told you they were random :)

Forgetfulness

Today God showed me something. It is very important to me.

"The mountains tremble and quake before Him and the hills melt away, and the earth is upheaved at His presence - yes, the world and all that dwell in it." -nahum1:5

I'm just gonna get real raw and honest here: I have been making it about me, and by it, I mean life. I had forgotten that it is all about God. I know this is a simple and almost cliche thing that we all hear all the time. "It's all about God" I hear it 3 gazillion times a day. Today as I sat reading my bible in between services God spoke to me, He showed me something, He told me something...

"I love you, but what about Me? Do you love me? Have you forgotten who I Am? I miss the times with you where you trembled and quaked and melted before My Presence. The mountains and hills fear me, that's nothing... I want you to fear me."

I sat there thinking, "Why am I so... ahhhh!" I was dissapointed in myself. I had to face myself, my hearts' condition. Time and time again I have said, "God, take all of me... take my heart, my mind, will and emotions..." I have said it all, but have I done it all?

God reminded me of my forgetfulness. My failure to remember who my God Is. He can freaking make the earth upheave because of His presence! I had become numb to His presence. Weariness can take a tole on a person... I know that first hand. But God reminded me that HE does not become weary, and that He is always right beside me. I can lean on Him, in fact, I'm supposed to.

God is good. Even though today I was dissapointed in myself, God wasn't. He loves me. It's hard for me to comprehend that my failures and weaknesses open the door for God to be strong and victorious and loving towards me. It's a humbling path to run.

Today I remembered. I sacrificed my forgetfulness at His feet. It felt really good, but more than that, I know that God was singing over me the whole way, He was dancing all around me. I felt Him. It was more important to me than anyone could probably ever know.



Thanks for letting me be very honest with you. Sometimes God lets us bite the dust so that we can remember. All I know is that the dust is sweet to taste when I am with my God. Thank you God...

S.O.S. !!!

If anyone knows of someone who wants to sell their car for cheep, or if they even want to give it away please let me know !!! we currently have no working cars... it kinda sucks. I know that God will provide though, so I'm not stressing :) Thanks friends, be praying!

Finally, some pictures !

As I promised, here are some pictures from my vacation... enjoy them! (also check out Caleb and Ashley's blog for other pictures that they should be posting)

These first pictures are from the Tea House that we went to... they had some pretty cool hats :)











These pictures are from when we went shopping in Boise- WE HAD A BLAST!











There were these walls of shoes.... I Know.




We had so much fun... thank you Caleb, Ashley, and Ky for your hospitality and for blessing us! We love you guys :)

Mystery vacation!

Well, it's been over a month since my last post... sadly its not because of busy-ness or crazy schedules, but because I have had nothing much to post.
But, I am now in Idaho visiting some pretty cool people! We left Thursday morning to go on our "mystery" vacation, ( i actually knew where we were going ) and arrived Thursday at 1pm. It was a good drive, besides the boringness. :) We have spent the first couple of days at the Roaring Springs Water Park in Meridian with Ky... and can I just say that we had a blast. The first day at the water park was amazing! There were tons of really cool slides and it felt nice in the heat to get to go into the water. I think my favorite part was the wave pool... it was kinda like the ocean but in a pool :) The next day at the water park was just me and my sisters. Sadly this day wasnt as good because I scalded my feet on the pavement in this first 10 minutes so it kinda hurt to walk. Then we came back to Caleb and Ashley's house. My family and Ky went to the bike races and I had some amazing Jesus time while I had the time to myself. Lately, God has been giving me some very significant words about this next season of my life. Here are a few that he has spoken to me right out of my daily devotions:

Hosea 2:14-15, 19-20 (all amplified version)
"Therefore, behold, I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness, and I will speak tenderly and to her heart. There I will give her her vineyards and make the valley of Achor (troubling) to be for her a door of hope and expectation. And she shall sing there and respond as in the days of her youth and as at the time when she came up out of the land of Egypt... And i will betroth you to me in righteousness and justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. I will even betroth you to me in stability and in faithfulness, and you shall know (recognize, be acquainted with, appreciate, give heed to and cherish) the Lord."

Hosea 6:3
"Yes, let us know (recognize, be acquainted with, and understand) Him; let us be zealous to know the Lord. His going forth is prepared and certain as the dawn, and He will come to us as the heavy rain, as the latter rain that waters the earth."

Hosea 10:12
"Sow for yourselves according to righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God); reap according to mercy and loving-kindness. Break up your uncultivated ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, to inquire for and of Him, and to require His favor, til He comes and teaches you righteousness and rains His righteous gift of salvation upon you."

Isaiah 30:21-23a
"And your ears will hear a word behind you, saying, This is the Way; walk in it, when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left hand. Then you will defile your carved images overlaid with silver and your molten images plated with gold; your will cast them away as a filthy blood-stained cloth, and you will say to them, Be gone! Then He will give you rain for the seed with which you sow the soil..."

Isaiah 33:5-6
"The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high; He will fill Zion with justice and righteousness (moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation). And there shall be stability in your times, an abundance of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; the reverent fear and worship of the Lord is your treasure and His."

Jesus is truly amazing, He is always there for me, and His words are so timely... I LOVE IT! These words are really reassuring to me. Its kinda not the most easiest thing to trust that God will provide over and abundantly for you not only in the physical realm, but in the spiritual realm too. I know that God has some really amazing things in store for me if I will be faithful to search them out... I love that my fear and worship of the Lord will be my treasure and His :)

So back to the whole vacation thing, today we went to Family Life Church with Caleb and Ashley. It was pretty cool :) Worship was amazing! It was like an hour and half long, or something like that... Jesus was for sure there. Now I am sitting here blogging to all you all. I might be coming home this tuesday, but if not, i might be staying for the NXT's summer camp- and thats what i really want to do. If i do that, then i wont be home for another two weeks. Sorry to all of you who arent having as much fun as me :) pictures to come soon, hopefully!