MY JOURNEY TO BE THE "TREE" GOD MADE ME TO BE

Spring Mission Trip

2026-01-12T15:51:00.000-08:00

If this is your introduction to my journey to be the “tree” God made me to be- Welcome! I’m so glad you are here, and the Lord has allowed our paths to cross. For those O.G.’s that have been rocking with me since day 1- you will remember the fun testimony of how the Lord led me to get a passport and you know how excited I am that after sitting on it expectantly for over 10 years I finally have an opportunity to use it! If you don’t know and are curious here is a link for the post I made about that in 2013. I re-read it and it reminded me of His kindness and reignited my faith all over again!

The Lord has opened up a door for me to go on a ministry trip to Madrid, Spain in April! I officially graduated from Ascend Academy in August and right before Christmas they announced that they are going to be starting up their Gospel Crusades again. They have done them for many years, but this is the first time since I have joined the ministry. They said Israel would be in November (what a cool birthday trip that would be!!) and Madrid, Spain would be in April, and I was praying that it was the first week because that was my spring break, and I didn’t see any other way it would be possible to get so many days off. Especially since my teacher assistant gave her 2 weeks right before Thanksgiving and I am now the only teacher in the class. They announced this week that it is April 11-20 which is the week after and I immediately thought oh there’s no way now. But I put it before the Lord, and I said if this is You then You will make a way because You’re the God of the impossible. So, I emailed my boss to explain the situation and she said to give her a couple of days to try to figure out coverage. She called me a couple days later to let me know that one of the T.A.’s in another class volunteered to take my class for those 9 days so that I could go. So, she gave me the time off! I genuinely thought that it would be impossible. When I went to thank the other teacher for volunteering, she said if she had the opportunity to go on a mission’s trip that she hoped someone would do the same for her. So, I have my passport, I got the time off, submitted my application and was accepted and now the last piece is to raise the partnership.

Funds to Raise:

Trip- $2,900

Plane Ticket- $2,000

Food- $500

Total- $5,400

The budget is an educated guess but I’m trusting the Lord knows and will provide the exact amount I need

Trip- The trip is $2,900 and there is a $1,000 deposit needed by February 22 to secure my spot Update: The deposit has been paid and I have secured my spot!!

Plane ticket-The ticket is my responsibility and I'm watching prices. Right now they are between $1,000-$2,000. Another way you could bless me is if you have an over abundance of airplane miles and you would like to gift them to me to pay for a ticket.

Food- Breakfasts will be provided by the hotel and we are responsible for lunch and dinner for the 9 days. Chat Gpt tells me that it can range anywhere from $120 (budget) - $500+ (splurge) in U.S. Dollars. I can’t imagine I would spend that much on food, but I think it’s wisdom to budget on the high side to be safe.

I invite you to pray and if the Lord stirs your heart to partner with me you can click on the Partner with Amy tab for all of the giving options.

We're Not in Kansas (City) Anymore

2023-11-22T11:40:00.000-08:00

November is the time I usually do my quarterly update, so I figured I’d sit down this week and type one up while I am on Thanksgiving break. I went back and re-read my last update to see where I needed to pick up from. Some of you already have updated information but I’ll start where I left off for those who don’t. As of my last update, I was moving to Georgia but did not have a job or a place to live. Within a week of getting accepted to the academy I had both. I put my resume on indeed and I zoomed with a preschool who was willing to wait for me until I arrived in September even though the school started in August- which is pretty much unheard of. When I came for a visit back in March, glory nights was only in the evenings, so I had to fill my days with things to do. Before I left, a sweet parent and friend gave me some money and said to spend it on myself. Friday was the first day of the conference and it was supposed to rain all day so I figured it wouldn’t be the best idea to be out hiking in it, so I found a spa in Conyers and made an appointment. When I arrived, I was filling out the paperwork and they asked why I was in town and when I shared the receptionist said no way I go to school there! So, we exchanged numbers and when I found out I was moving she was the first person I contacted to find out about housing. Well, it turns out she was moving, and her place was coming available. She had a small studio apartment on a 15-acre horse farm that was about 40 minutes from the church. Originally, I thought that was too far as I would have preferred to live closer to the church, but when I got the preschool job, I discovered it was only 7 min from there so I decided it would be better to be closer to work since I had to be there so early so, I went ahead and took that place. Clearly divinely orchestrated-even in me meeting her at the spa. So, I moved here the last week of August and I’ve been here about 3 months now.

Honestly, it has been a rough transition. There was some drama with the movers but eventually we finally got everything where it needed to be. My new bed was delayed so I slept on an air mattress the first week which wasn’t ideal but doable. However, the day before the academy was supposed to start, I woke up to heart palpitations. This was not a new occurrence as these had happened before and the cardiologist was not able to find anything before so when they happen, I just push through and wait them out. They’ve been mostly sporadic over the years, but I had noticed an increase as I prepared to move to Georgia. Well, this time it happened 3 times in 1 day which had never happened before, so I went to urgent care and then was transported to the hospital and was admitted overnight. They discovered that I have svt which is an electrical problem and now I am on heart medicine for it. To be honest, it was a really scary experience to go through by myself not knowing anyone and not having insurance, but I was released just in time to fill my prescription, go home and take a shower and then drive to my first class. It definitely felt like warfare, but I said not today satan. You’re not making me miss my first class! The cardiologist said we will just watch it and see if the episodes increase and if they do, we will look at changing the meds or worst-case scenario, an ablation procedure. Also because of being in the hospital, I missed my first official day of work so that didn’t exactly start me out on the right foot. I truly believe it was an attack from the enemy on my health and my finances which just solidified for me that I am right where the Lord wants me.

Academy is going really well. I am really enjoying my classes and even though it’s been a rough transition I know that I am where I am supposed to be. I just keep reminding myself- just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it’s not God. We had another glory nights a couple weekends ago and it was so strange to think how quickly life has changed since the last one I came for. I packed up my whole life and I live here now! I am so glad to be here and am excited to see what God wants to do over these next 2 years. I’m slowly meeting people and making friends but honestly that would be my biggest prayer request right now- friends =) The timing of the Lord is interesting though because last night in class it was mentioned that they are actually not opening the academy up to new students for a while. They want to really focus on the ones they have and steward them well, so I got in just in time. Yet again another confirmation of the Lord’s perfect leadership. We really can trust His timing and that He knows what He’s doing. This month is the end of my first trimester. Man if I thought 4 years flew by, this 2 years is gonna feel like a blink.

As for my job- that’s my least favorite part of my move so far. I am grateful that they waited for me, and I am grateful to be getting paid a salary however this job has been a nightmare. Because the class started in August and I did not get here until September, most of the usual classroom routine things that get reiterated over and over at the beginning didn’t happen so the class is complete chaos, and I just can’t get control. I have an assistant who is great, but we have a class of 18 and only 4 of those are girls, and that in itself makes it challenging. I had one student at the beginning who was not only verbally but physically abusive to me. I don’t know what changed but luckily that has de-escalated substantially. He is still a handful though. Although it’s a “Christian” daycare, the Pre-k program is state funded and therefore I do not get to teach Jesus or the Bible. I knew that coming in and it was my one hesitation in taking the job, but it really does make a difference. I had no idea how much I would miss the atmosphere of working in a Christian school. This has basically been like working in public school all over again and keeping up with the state requirements has been a job in itself. It has been very overwhelming and stressful, and I have been clashing with admin and feel like I am failing at every possible turn. I am a woman of my word, and I will honor my commitment to finish the year, but I really miss teaching kids about Jesus.

On top of all of the transition, the past month has been hard as I have been processing all of the ihop controversy. If you are not aware just google it. You’ll find more information than you wanted, I’m sure. Even though I’m not there currently, I was for 14 years and truly thought I would be there forever- Maybe even go back when the academy is done. It’s all so sad and heartbreaking and the way it’s being handled is very upsetting. A couple of people have mentioned that it may have been the mercy of the Lord to move me away when He did. I don't know, but again- His leadership is always perfect. I really do miss the nightwatch though. I knew I would but that’s probably been the hardest part of the whole transition. I really love the nightwatch and I miss singing to Jesus in the middle of the night!

So like I said, it’s been a bit of a rough transition haha! But I know these things take time and it will get better. But you love me for my honesty, and I’d be lying if I said it was all sunshine and rainbows =)

I know the most common question I get asked by y’all is “what do you think the Lord is doing?” One of our classes this trimester is called the school of dying to self. And honestly, I think that’s what He’s doing. He’s causing me to die to myself so that He can live through me and ultimately get all the glory. The refining process is never easy and often painful, but the result is coming out shining like the Son- and that makes it all worth it. So once again I’m surrendering to His perfect leadership and His perfect process of refining and making me more like Him.

On an exciting note- This week is my birthday! Praise God I am off all week from teaching, so I am taking the week to do my usual dreaming with the Lord and asking for vision for the upcoming year and beyond. It’s so weird not to be in Kansas City to celebrate my birthday but I think I will get a small group of girls together that I’ve met here to do something. Of course phone calls and facetimes are always welcome =)

I'm Moving to Georgia...And Nobody is More Shocked Than Me!!

2023-07-07T13:22:00.017-07:00

This video is a song that the Lord has really been using to speak to me in this season. Let it wash over you today.

Have I got an unexpected update for y’all! I am moving to Georgia and believe me nobody is more shocked than me. Let me back up and bring you into the journey that has led to this decision. Back in November of last year I was scrolling through Instagram, and I saw a post on Corey Russell’s page, and he had tagged the Bridal Glory ministry. I had never heard of it before, and I was intrigued so I clicked on the tag and started scrolling through the ministry’s page. I found the teachings and started listening to them and I was instantly drawn in. It’s kind of like the normal IHOPKC messaging that I’m used to, but somehow this is even deeper and more tender. In researching the ministry, I discovered it was a church in the Atlanta area called Ascend Atlanta and they have a ministry school. I watched the promo for the school, and I instantly thought that looks amazing. It has an in person and online option so I thought about doing the online one, but when I looked at the price, I discovered it was not much cheaper for the online version than in person and if I was going to spend that amount, I would want to do it in person. So, I basically dismissed the idea. I’m here in Kansas City, planted for the long haul and I love my life and I’m not planning on going anywhere. Looking back, it had a very similar feeling to the first time I saw the promo video for fire in the night at Onething 2006. I had the thought, wow that is the coolest thing I have ever seen. If God could ever make a way, I would do that in a heartbeat. Then I looked at the dates and since I was teaching public school at the time none of the tracks worked with my schedule so I just dismissed it thinking it would never happen. 3 years later God opened a door for me to come and this has that same feel of God opening a door to do something that was in my heart, but I thought was impossible.

I have been asking God for several years to visit a church besides IHOP where He is moving. He’s moving all over so I didn’t have any set ideas but when I discovered this ministry, I decided this was the church I wanted to visit. The only time I could get away of course was spring break, so I thought about going to visit a Sunday service. But for the price of tickets, Air B&B, etc. just for a Sunday service I couldn’t really justify spending the money. A couple days later they announced they were going to have a conference of sorts called Glory Nights and it was the last weekend of my spring break! Now I could actually justify a trip. So, I did something I had never done before. I took a trip all by myself to a city I’d never been to before and didn’t know anyone in and visited a church where I knew absolutely nobody. It was a leap of faith, and I am so glad I took it! I went with no expectations just excitement to see the Lord move and experience Him in a new way. The 2nd night of the gathering, the leadership team and some of the academy students got up on stage and they were giving different prophetic words that they got while praying for the people attending the services. When they were done, the pastor said he had one too and began to share. He said I saw a vision of a yellow brick road. Instantly I was alerted because of a prophetic word I received back during IHOPU in November of 2012 from a dear friend. It was one of the most precious and impacting words that I have ever received, both because of what it said as well as who it came from, and I often go back to it when I need to re-cast vision for my life and for what God is doing. That part of her word was this:

“I got another picture of a street paved with gold bricks in the New Jerusalem. It was called "Amy's Road" and was put there in memory of the time you spent clearing the path. I believe that this either represents the fact that Jesus will reward and honor you publicly for the time you spend clearing the road, or it is actually the real reward He is going to put in the New Jerusalem for you. He sees the time you spend clearing the path for the next generation and it’s as precious as pure gold to Him."

So, when he said yellow brick road I instantly thought, oh my gosh I think this is a word for me. And then he said he heard the phrase, “we’re not in Kansas anymore.” Then he saw Dorothy’s red heels click 3 times and he said watch the next 3 months, a shift is coming. He also said he saw another picture of a moving box right after where the tape was going from left to right. He said they may be connected. That night I went home and texted a friend and shared the word and said I thought it was for me at first but now I’m not sure. So, she suggested that we ask the Lord to confirm it if it was my word. I thought that was a great idea so before I went to bed, I prayed that he would do that. The next morning, I went to the last service which was a Sunday morning. I got there early to get a spot in line and get a good seat and I chatted with the lady who was behind me in line. Her name was Susan, and she was an Academy student. When we were done, she introduced me to the lady who was in front of me, a lady named Minnie who was also a student. Susan introduced me and said Amy’s from Kansas City and after she said that Minnie goes super matter of factly, oh you got a word last night. I said, excuse me? She said yeah, the Kansas word that was for you. I still wasn’t sure if that was confirmation because I didn’t know this lady at all. She kept looking at me like she had more and then she launched into this beautiful prophetic word. It was one of those where after you wish you had grabbed your phone to record it, but I wrote down as much of it as I could remember. After the accuracy of that word, I realized her gifting and I said OK God, You confirmed the word. I’m claiming it as mine. I think I’m moving to Georgia.

Sunday service was good and when it was over, I was just going to leave. But my flight didn’t leave until 10 pm that night and I basically had all day to kill. My plan was to go visit the Atlanta House of Prayer, which is also 24/7, and just spend the day there until I had to leave for the airport. It was about an hour from Ascend. Since I wasn’t in a hurry, I just decided to linger a bit. I’m so happy I did! The girl that was sitting next to me struck up a conversation with me. She was also a student there. Then she introduced me to the lady sitting next to her who was an online student visiting for Glory Nights. Then that lady introduced us to the girl that was sitting next to her who was an online student and was in process of moving to Georgia to be in person. We all began to chat together and then prayed together. When we were done one of the girls asked if we had lunch plans and if not if we would all like to grab lunch. I was like well I was just going to eat somewhere by myself so sure. So, I ended up going out to lunch with 3 ladies who I had only met like 10 minutes before. Crazy! I don’t do that kind of stuff! It was clearly orchestrated by the Lord. So, we were just sharing stories and hearts and I shared that I was in a whirlwind because I thought the Kansas word from last night was for me. One of the girls said, I don’t know who this is for, but I feel led to say something about the number 14 and how in the Bible every time there was a significant transition between generations it was always 14 years. There’s something about the number 14. And then I had the thought, well that’s interesting because now that I think about it my 14-year anniversary of being at IHOP is July 1st and that will be 3 months from now. We exchanged contacts and have kept in touch over the past few months.

So, the last 3 months have been a wrestle and honestly this is really bittersweet. I love the nightwatch and I truly love my job and my life here. I really thought I was nightwatch for life. If I had stayed, my school was going to move me to the 4-year-old class and I was going to have all of my same babies for another year, which was a really exciting prospect because I love my babies! I shared my journey with my principal and said since July 1st was my anniversary, I would let her know for sure if I was coming back on July 2nd.

When I was home for Christmas a dear sorority sister gave me a precious gift- a mustard seed necklace. I have been wearing that every day as a reminder of trusting the Lord with my little mustard seed of faith. I think God knew I would need a practical, physical thing to hold on to in this season and I am grateful He choose to do it that way and through her. (Thanks Brittany!)

I’m always careful about “signs” because when you want something, you can make anything a sign, but there have been moments along the way that have felt like signs/confirmations. In my 14 years here, this is the first time I saw something and thought that looked better than what I was already doing. I think that’s important to pay attention to. Last week I had pretty much decided but gave the Lord 1 more opportunity to close the door and say no if I was misinterpreting what I heard. I was going to apply to the academy, and I wanted Him to close the door and tell me no if I was wrong, otherwise I was moving forward. I applied on Monday and received my acceptance on Wednesday, and I said OK. I am doing it! I’m packing up and moving to Georgia!

I told my principal I’m not coming back, and I’ve shared with the “bosses” I serve under in various capacities. Now that the decision has been made, there are tons of practicals that the Lord is going to have to work out. I am going to need a job and/or more monthly partners and I’m going to need a place to live. The school is 2 years so I know I will be gone at least that long, but if I’m honest this feels like more than just a temporary move. Who knows what the Lord might do with my weak yes? So, prayer for all the logistics and practicals is appreciated. This truly has shocked me, and I cannot believe it’s happening, but I am so excited at the prospect of getting out of my comfort zone and going on an adventure with the Lord. The main prayer request is finances and provision. I am good through the summer but after that I’m not sure how He’s going to do it- but I’m trusting that He is. I figure he’s going to use a combination of partners and another job like he has done here all these years, so I am also looking at jobs in Atlanta. If you know of anything, or even something remote I can do from home, let me know! I have been saving every month to put towards a new car, but that fund will now go towards moving expenses. I’m still praying for a car, but at the very least I will need a new set of tires before winter comes.

As I look back, I can’t help but reflect on His faithfulness to me for the past 14 years. Wow! His leadership truly is perfect, and He already knows what’s coming next.

If you are stirred to sew into me and my new adventure, you can go to the Partner with Amy tab.

Cincinnati, Ohio!

2014-04-16T14:14:00.000-07:00

April 16, 2014

Hey guys I just returned from my last ministry trip of my IHOPU career! It’s so crazy how fast it’s gone. I am just a little over a month from graduating! I wanted to do a quick recap of my trip. Thank you for everyone that was praying for us. We truly felt your prayers!

One of our main focuses during our time there was a juvenile detention center called the Lighthouse. This is a place that houses boys between 14-20 who have committed felony offenses such as assault, sexual abuse, etc. Basically if they were of age they would be in the normal prisons. There is a very precious couple who have a ministry there and they have been faithfully leading church services for the boys for over 20 years! That particular Sunday morning we got to lead both services. It’s totally voluntary for the boys to come or not and we had about 30 out of the 60 in the facility that chose to come to our events. The next night we put on two worship concerts for the boys. The boys are really hungry for God and they have really desired to learn how to do prayer meetings so we showed them a bit of how we do it at IHOP with the harp and bowl model. That may have been my favorite night. I love how the Lord just loves to meet us where we are at. The boys love a Christian rapper named Lacrae and so we all started rapping one of his songs and the boys loved it. Then one of our team got up and did a spoken word and started rapping the Bible. The boys ate it up. They all wanted a try. There we were in the middle of Podunk nowhere with a bunch of hardened criminals (scared little boys who have had a hard life) and they were all rapping the Bible. They were doing the model except instead of singing, they were rapping. It was so cool to witness and I have to admit I teared up a few times because it was just so precious. I think the most impactful part of the Lighthouse was the night we prayed for the boys. We had a night of prophecy where we just asked the Lord what He wanted to share with each boy. They were all so moved as they could feel and see that God saw them and loved them. Several even committed their lives to Lord that night! It was a very fruitful week.

There was a wonderful couple who hosted us for meals and the husband owns a painting company. Some of his employees are saved and some aren’t. We were given the opportunity to go and prayer for all of them in small groups. Again it was so cool to see how the hearts of the guys were touched when they heard how God felt about them and how He saw them. The most impactful one was the guy’s business partner grew up Catholic but wasn’t really walking with the Lord. After our time praying for him he asked the boss if he told us anything about him because there was just no way we could have known the things we were saying. When he said no he said how can I not believe there is a God after all that? So exciting and encouraging!

The rest of our trip was kind of sporadic. Some of the church leadership in Cincinnati really felt like we were to go to strategic places and just worship and bring the presence of God to those places. So one day we went on the top of Carew Tower, which is one of the tallest buildings there and also to a park and just had some sweet times of worship and praising God.

One of the days we had the opportunity to lead worship in the middle of the campus of University of Miami. Those that were not on stage got to go around and evangelize. I got to talk to a lady who loved Jesus and was having a really hard time in her life. I prayed for her and she was really encouraged and edified. We saw quite a few salvations as well. One guy was a violin player and while we were worshipping he came over and joined us. After we were done a couple of our team members started sharing the Gospel and he got saved. It was so fast! I was sitting next to him the whole time listening to the conversation. After he walked away I was like how did that even happen so fast?

Our last day we went to the Cincinnati house of prayer and did an Encounter God service like we have here. One of our team shared a really powerful message out of John 13 and Jesus washing our feet and then we did more praise and worship. I even got to sing on the mic this time. It was really scary but I did it. Baby steps…

Oh and the craziest thing happened the last night. We went to a gas station for some ice cream and afterwards we were all standing outside in a circle eating and debriefing and this woman walks up randomly and goes, I was just driving by and I saw you guys standing here in a circle and I was wondering if you are a prayer group? I just gave my life to the Lord today. What in the world?! That’s how it was the whole trip. It was like they were just drawn to us. So we got to pray for her and encourage her. It was such a sweet end of the trip.

Overall I would just say that I had so much fun on this trip. We only had 14 people which is way smaller than the past trips have been and that made it way easier to get to know everyone. I don’t think I have laughed that much in a really long time. On a heart level I didn’t feel like I got as much personal breakthrough as past trips but I had a really enjoyable time.

Check out this Instagram link for pictures and short movie clips!
http://instagram.com/cincymissions#

Safer Than a Known Way

2014-04-16T14:13:00.001-07:00

April 16, 2014

I have just a little over a month left until graduation. This past 4 years has just flown by! This quarter has been so busy but I wanted to send ya’ll an update and even ask a prayer request. In my last blog I mentioned I might go to New Zealand for a bit. As seniors, we are given the opportunity to do a senior capstone project which basically looks like a group of us going to another house of prayer somewhere for about a year and serving and strengthening the house of prayer. I initially signed up for New Zealand because it sounded super exciting and I had just gotten my passport, but after a couple of Skype meetings with them I realized that I just wasn’t excited about it. Sure it’s pretty but I think the beaches would only keep me for about a month and that wasn’t a good enough reason for me to go. New Zealand didn’t have a nightwatch or a CEC and it made me realize that I definitely want to be somewhere that has both of those things. Those are the 2 main things that cause my heart to come alive- singing to Jesus in the middle of the night and teaching kids about Jesus! The day after our last Skype session, IHOPU had a ministry fair where a good number of ministries from all over came and we had an opportunity to connect with them and see if we felt led towards a certain location.

So I decided to go to the ministry fair and just feel it out. My main desire in going was to find somewhere that was excited about children’s ministry. I walked around for several hours and nobody even brought it up. I was actually a bit discouraged and kinda figured it was a lost cause. But before I left I decided to stop by the booth for the Orlando house of prayer. I wasn’t really expecting anything given the response I was getting but I was curious to see if anything was there because they just went 24/7 and I’m sure they would welcome someone coming to help strengthen the nightwatch. I started talking with one of the guys at the booth and he asked me to share a little of my journey and I told him how I did FITN and then have done the nightwatch basically my entire time here. He got so excited and told me that they just went 24/7 and had like 5 full time people for the nightwatch. But here’s the part that threw me for a loop. After chatting for a bit he goes, "you know Amy if you were to come to OHOP you would be paving the way for the next generation." Now my ears perked up because I hadn’t even said anything about kids yet only nightwatch. And what he said was word for word a very significant prophetic word I received last year for my birthday when I was really seeking the Lord for vision for my life. Of course he had no idea what he was saying but as he was saying it he was like man I’m really feeling the Lord. So then I asked well speaking of the next generation do ya’ll have a CEC? And he said they did and shared their heart for raising up the next generation. My heart got so excited! He said the 2 areas where they probably need the most strengthening would be the nightwatch and CEC. So the next week I connected with the associate director on the phone and now I am emailing back and forth with the guy who leads the CEC just to get a better feel for what he may need.

This is where the prayer request comes in. In a few days I will be starting a 21 day fast. A few of my friends and I decided to do it a couple months ago and set the dates for later in the quarter. But here’s the cool part. Some of the sophomores were feeling like they wanted to do a fast and not knowing anything about ours they called it for almost the exact same days, just off by like a day. So now it’s like a school-wide invitation. The coolest part is that the main goal of their fast is confidence in the love of God which I have been praying over my class and myself for at least the last year. I felt like it was a sweet kiss from the Lord to show me He hears my prayers. I am fasting for several personal heart things but I am also going to be asking for direction. When New Zealand was out of the picture I was planning to stay in Kansas City and go on staff here. But now this other opportunity may be surfacing. The thing about it though is that I’m not even sure if anyone is planning on going to Orlando and the exciting part for me in thinking about the capstones is going somewhere with a group of people that I’ve been running with 4 years. I wouldn't be super excited about it if I was the only one going. So needless to say there are many fears I have in going somewhere I don’t know anybody. And let’s be honest, it’s way more comfortable to stay here than go to a completely different state where I won’t know anyone. So yeah if ya’ll could join me in praying for direction and for my heart that would be awesome! Remember the more prayers that go in the faster those bowls get filled.

I have to admit that graduating is very bittersweet. I have absolutely loved my time here at IHOPU! I don’t like change and transition is super scary. I recently read a book called Safer than a Known Way. It was a really random find and it’s an autobiography about a woman named Pamela Rosewell Moore. Basically this chick was 21 when she prayed her life over to God--with contingencies. She didn't want to leave her home country (England), she wanted to get married young, and she didn't want to speak in front of people. One by one, God leads her to surrender her expectations and follow His plan. She ends up serving in many countries, speaking to large audiences, and marries in her forties.

She shares this poem as a reflection of her experience--also her inspiration for naming the book:

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year,
"Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unkown."

And he replied, "Go out into the darkness
And put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light
And safer than a known way!"

-Minnie Louise Haskins, 1908

She put her faith in God, her hand in His, and trusted His way really would be the best--for her and for reaching others for Him. And it was. Her experiences smuggling Bibles, learning under Tante Corrie (who we might better know as Corrie ten Boom), and so much more are proof that God's way was best.

The book had a really big impact on my heart and I have been gradually relinquishing my rights to the Lord. The biggest and ouchiest one is I relinquished my right to write my own story. Instead of telling God how He was supposed to be doing things, I now say You’re will be done. It’s a slow journey but I am learning to trust that He really does have an adventurous story for me. In one of my classes one of the teachers was talking to us about graduating and figuring out life and how scary it all can be and he made a comment that really stuck with me. He said at our core we believe that if we really follow the Lord wholeheartedly that our lives will be hard and not enjoyable. But he told us that his experience has shown him completely the opposite. I’m asking the really hard questions like do I really believe you satisfy? Are your plans for my life really good? Can I really trust you with the desires of my heart? Do you really know what will make my heart come alive? Is God’s way truly safer than a known way?

Pamela said at the close of the book "God knew how to write my story far better than I could have imagined.” Now my question is, am I brave enough to trust that the same is true for me?

Lord God Merciful

2013-12-16T15:21:00.001-08:00

December 16, 2013

Today I am officially finished with my 1^st semester of my SENIOR year! What in the world? Can you believe how fast this past 4 years has gone? This quarter has been absolutely amazing. There is a lady here who wrote a children’s book called “The Thankables.” It is all about being grateful and thankful and not grumbling or complaining. She challenged our church body to 40 days of making war on grumbling. Here’s the video. It’s never too late to start!

http://www.thethankables.com/join-war-on-grumbling/

Y’all I am not exaggerating when I say it is truly changing my life. Grumbling and complaining is deadly. You really can speak death over yourself instead of life. I have been internally doing this war on grumbling and I have seen such a difference in my prayer life. Instead of arguing and complaining about how He’s doing it wrong and how actually His leadership isn’t really perfect, I have turned it into prayers of thanksgiving and gratitude for what He is doing and focusing on what He is doing instead of what He’s not. Turns out He’s doing a lot more than I had realized before!

Since this is my senior year, I have really been reflecting on my time in school and just how different I am now than I was when I first moved to Kansas City. I’ve especially been thinking about the nightwatch. I was remembering how after first semester I had the opportunity to switch and how I almost didn’t because I was afraid I would miss out on relationships with the people in my class. Now looking back I can’t imagine what my life would look like had I NOT switched to nights. I have the most amazing relationships with people I probably wouldn’t be as close to had I chosen to stay on days. Plus I LOVE the sweetness of nights. I don’t even want to think about what I could have missed out on if I had let the fear of missing out win. I am so excited to finish out my final semester in the watches of the night. The Lord really seems to be highlighting the necessity of day and night prayer and it sounds as though there will be many students switching to nightwatch next semester. I am looking forward to January to see who all will be joining us in the night.

This quarter my James class absolutely rocked my world. I think it may have been my favorite after all. We had to write a reflection about how our prayer life changed from what we learned in the class. Here is a bit of my reflection that I turned in. I feel like it summarizes what God has been doing in my heart:

I think the first thing that has been transformational in changing my prayer life has been to see God as a God who delights in mercy. These past 3 years at IHOPU have been a time for me of dismantling wrong ideas about God and His character. Before I came for fire in the night I thought that God was really mad at me and punishing me for a certain relationship in my life. Although my boyfriend at the time was the one that in my mind treated me badly, when God told us we had to break up, instead of judging him for how he treated my heart, God not only showed him mercy, but actually blessed him. He did not appear to be doing that to me and it actually seemed like I was getting the raw end of the deal. So it’s a journey God and I have been working on over these past few years. Last semester we had the book of Isaiah and my main take away from the class was how merciful God is. It really broke down a lot of my ideas of a harsh God. You just can’t see that when you really look at how He treats Israel. He is merciful unlike we have ever known or even have a grid for. So then coming from that class last quarter to this one and Minor Prophets at the same time, the theme this semester that God has been screaming to me is, “Amy I’m merciful!” It’s all over James and the all throughout the prophets. It has changed everything about my prayer life. I’m not praying to a God who is mostly mad and frustrated with me because I keep failing. I am talking to my sympathetic high priest who knows my frame, knows every detail of my life and what has made me the way I am today. He knows my weakness and even though I am frustrated with myself when I blow it, He is not. I have even begun to see especially over the last couple of years how God ending that relationship was very much His mercy to me on so many levels. His perfect leadership is always seen in hindsight. He desires that we learn mercy, which means He gives us opportunities to do just that. As I was reading through the book of Jonah, I was struck that Jonah actually got mad at God because He was merciful towards someone that Jonah didn’t think was deserving of mercy. I realized that has been my attitude towards God in my own situation. But I can’t be mad that God showed him mercy. I deserve hell but God has given me mercy. When you remember the truth through that lens it changes everything, and it literally has changed everything this semester.

I think the most impactful thing God was teaching me this semester came through the book of Hosea. It touched me when I read the notes but then when he hit on it in class it touched me even more. The basic premise is Hosea is a picture of God and His relationship with Israel. Israel is represented by Hosea’s wife Gomer. Before they were married, she was a prostitute and even though Hosea loves her better than anyone ever has, she continues to run back to her other lovers. She gets sold into slavery by another man and her husband Hosea buys her back! This was the part of the notes that got me:

“He will not be intimate with her immediately nor will he fully exercise the authority of his “title” as a husband – because she is too tender and weak at the beginning stages of her “deliverance” from the other lover. Gomer still cannot make the distinction between “husband” and “master” and thus is not able to rightly interpret even the intimacy of Hosea rightly. Thus he withholds intimacy to give her time to trust him with deep confidence and understanding. She must be gently and tenderly brought to the place of intimacy without shame, or intimacy rightly received – not as a possession to be used but as a friend to be enjoyed.”

When I read the notes and heard this in class I just had tears streaming down my face as I realized this is what God has been doing with me. What I have perceived as rejection and a sign that God doesn’t really desire me, is actually His plan to get my heart to a place where it can actually receive His love. Oh I pray that more breakthrough is coming!

Onething is coming up and I am going to be helping with CEC again this year. They are doing things a little differently and instead of having all the kids all together in one room they are breaking them up by ages. I have been recruited to work with the 10-12 year olds. I’m kind of nervous because I am used to doing 5-7 year olds and this will be completely out of my comfort zone, but I am really looking forward to seeing how God meets me in my weakness. I am going to be going on another ministry trip in the spring and this year I will be going to Cincinnati, Ohio. And I know a lot of you are already asking me what I’m going to be doing when I graduate. I don’t have much information as this is a very new development (meaning I’ve only known since the week before Thanksgiving) but here's a little teaser for you. I have an opportunity to move to New Zealand for up to a year after graduation for my senior capstone! Looks like I heard rightly about getting a passport. More details to come on both trips as they get closer!

Senior Year!

2013-10-26T07:38:00.001-07:00

October 26, 2013

Well ya’ll I am officially done with my first quarter of senior year. I have a feeling this year is going to go so quickly. I apologize for the lack of update until now. This quarter was definitely the hardest one yet and when I say I had absolutely no free time because of homework, I am not exaggerating. My classes were the book of Isaiah and the Life of Christ in the Gospels. Each class on its own is a hefty workload and as far as I know no other class has taken them together before. In fact when seniors from last year found out they were all shocked that they would do that to us. While it was extremely hard, it was also so good and having the combination of both classes at the same time was really cool.

In the Life of Christ the teacher opened up the class by stating that the reason the gospels aren’t read more is because we don’t get anything out of them. Most of the time, if we are honest, we read the Bible to find some application for our own lives or to get our daily devotional for the day. The first week he said we are often guilty of being more in love with idea of Christ than with Christ Himself and I really had to take a long hard look at how true that might be in my own life. Jesus is a real man and how can I be in love with someone I don’t actually know? I think one of the things that impacted me about the class was the idea to ask Jesus questions as you’re reading different stories in the Bible. Jesus lived 30 some years on earth. He has memories of all those things that happened. I have to be honest because although I had heard that before I didn’t really try it because I didn’t think He was gonna talk back anyway. My teacher said He probably won’t answer back, but He might. But either way ask the questions because it makes it more real to your own heart. It was so encouraging! Whenever anyone has said that in the past, I understood them to mean ask Him because He’ll talk back. But this was the first guy to be real and say actually no He probably won’t answer. It may seem silly but I feel that gave me the permission to start doing it and it’s been really fun to think about what He may have been feeling or thinking when certain things were happening.

The book of Isaiah was also really good although very overwhelming. I mean the book is 66 chapters so it’s hard to cram it all in 8 weeks. I have read through the book of Isaiah several times and was somewhat familiar with it. I think my biggest take away from the class was how merciful, kind and tender the Lord really is. We see over and over again how Israel was constantly rebellious against the Lord and did their own thing. But no matter what they did, the Lord continued to go after them and chase them down with His loving-kindness. I have heard people say they don’t like the Old Testament because God is so mean, but honestly after this class, all I could see was how tender and compassionate He is. The way He deals with Israel is the way He deals with us. He is gracious, slow to anger, rich in love and good to all. He is just so kind. Even when I am faithless, He remains faithful. It’s so comforting to my weak little heart!

It’s really interesting too because this quarter I have Minor Prophets with Dave Sliker who is the same teacher I had for Isaiah and He said His goal for this class is for us to see God rightly. It looks like God’s just gonna continue to break down my wrong understanding of Him as mean, harsh and distant. Praise the Lamb! The other class I have this quarter is the book of James. I am so excited about this class! It is taught by Dale Anderson and he actually used to be on the nightwatch. Last year when the class was offered, he was still on the old nightwatch schedule where all the students are on the new. So it was not a nightwatch friendly class. But all the nightwatch students prayed and asked God to make it work for us this year and He totally did! He is so kind! Dale is just so tender and has cried every class period so far. It’s so beautiful to see an older man cry when He talks about Jesus. This one may be my favorite class…too soon to tell though.

I made a big change this year as well. I switched my concentrations. I had signed up for CEC again this year but about a week before school started I had a conversation with Bobby who is the guy over the nightwatch students and I expressed how I felt really left out by not choosing house of prayer leadership last year. I loved CEC but I didn’t really learn anything that I hadn’t previously learned in my other schooling and the one reason that I chose that concentration, he didn’t even cover all year. Bobby actually apologized and told me that the way that I was feeling was not my fault but a design flaw with the school and that he would take full responsibility for it. Then he made it super simple. He said go where you’re going to have the most fun. So I switched to the House of Prayer Leadership concentration and have not regretted it or felt like I made a bad decision. I’m still teaching my 5 year olds on Sunday mornings though and loving it!

The school is also doing something new with juniors and seniors. They started a student led prayer room at IHOPU. It’s like the one in the normal prayer room, but it’s manned by students only. We were all placed on a team and we also have a harp and bowl (the model that they teach in the music school and what they follow in the normal prayer room) lab each week with our team. I am my team’s admin so I get to serve in more of a behind the scenes kind of way. I love it! I haven’t sung on the mics yet, but we’ll see if I get the courage up to do that at some point this year. I also get to lead my own d-group of freshman girls. I was so excited to be asked and it is so fun so far. I make them a home cooked meal every week so we eat together and then they just share their hearts and we pray together. My goal has been to create a safe loving environment where they feel they can share and be vulnerable. From what I can tell they all seem to feel that way. I would appreciate prayers as I lead them and disciple them though. It’s a big responsibility to shepherd other people’s hearts and I really want to love them well.

I know that was a lot! Thanks for reading =)

Prayer requests:

Vision: Next month is my birthday! Last year I asked the Lord for vision for my life and He answered in a powerful way the whole week after my birthday. I am asking for that again this year, but even greater because I have a huge life transition happening when I graduate and at this point I don’t really know what I am doing yet. So clarity for my next step would be spectacular!

My heart: Just prayers for continued healing. My biggest desire is to be confident in God’s love when I walk across that stage in May. Pray that He would encounter me in a deep way in my remaining time at IHOPU.

Senior year: As the leaders of the school, we have all been feeling a lot of pressure and warfare so far this year. Please feel free to pray however you feel led about that.

Tipping the Bowls

2013-07-21T09:27:00.001-07:00

July 21, 2013

About a month ago I was at a birthday party and I struck up a conversation with a guy that was on the nightwatch. He was kind of telling me about his background and how he sometimes organizes mission trips to Israel. He asked me if I had ever gone anywhere and I told him no that I had never really had a heart for missions but I was totally open to going if the Lord made it clear that he wanted me to go somewhere. He asked me if I had a passport and when I told him no he said, you need to get a passport, and then you will put yourself on God’s radar. To be honest I had never even entertained the possibility. I just assumed if I ever went somewhere that I would just get a passport then. But I decided that I was going to go ahead and do it, but secretly. I wasn’t planning on telling anyone. I had no idea how to get one or where so I just figured I would look online or something when I had the time.

Well a couple days later I went to mail something at the post office and as I am walking in there is this huge sign on the door, GET YOUR PASSPORT HERE! So when I mailed my package I asked the lady how I would go about getting a passport. She gave me an application and said to fill it out and then make an appointment and it cost $135. I don’t know why but I hadn’t thought there would be a cost. So I took the application and I said ok Lord well you know I don’t have an extra $135 just laying around so if you want me to get a passport then you need to provide the funds for it. Then I set the application aside and didn’t really think too much about it.

Well the next week, my mom and aunt came for a visit and so we did what we always do when people come to visit, we went to the prophecy rooms. When it was my turn the first guy was saying a bunch of encouraging stuff and then his very last statement he goes, “I also feel to tell you to get your passport ready if you haven’t got your passport. I sense God, there’s going to be an invitation to come. It might be short term it might be long term. Somewhere on a mission field or mission trip. I don’t know how long or when but I just felt to say get that ready.” I about fell out of my chair! 3 confirmations! I have never received that many confirmations for anything before.

I was convinced this was the Lord. So one day towards the end of June I sat down and was writing in my journal. I don’t know why but somehow prayers just seem more real when they are written down. Anyway, I was writing in my journal and talking to the Lord about my life and all of my concerns about money and school and the future. Before I had started writing that day I had actually gone back and reread old entries and was reminded how I have had the same few prayer requests for literally years. I have been praying the same things over and over and outwardly have seen little answers. Then I remembered a teaching that a guy gave during this year’s signs and wonders camp. He talked about the bowls in heaven in Revelation 5:8 which are filled up with our prayers. When he was teaching the kids he told them now we know there are bowls but the thing is, we don’t know how big the bowls are. There might be a bowl that is super small and it only takes like 1 or 2 times for the bowl to spill over and the prayer to be answered. The bowl might be super big and take hundreds of prayers before it tips, we just don’t know. So as I was praying this time I said ok Lord I will do my part and fill out the application but you know I don’t have the money. This really seems like you but could I please just have a power encounter in my finances? Mike Bickle has told countless stories of times where he needed an exact amount and God brought him that exact amount. And it wasn’t really even about the amount, it was more the heart connect of oh wow you really do see me and know what I need. So I asked the Lord for $135 and for tuition, but not just because I need the money, because I want Him to confirm His pleasure over the way I have chosen to live my life. I want the money so that I know He is pleased with my decisions. I looked at the clock and saw the time and the last part I wrote was, “What if this was the year God? What if you went above and beyond to lavish your love on me simply because that’s who you are? What if now is the “suddenly” of God? Could it be now? Could I see some answers to my many prayers this year? Would this prayer today at 2:27 pm finally tip the bowls around your throne and pour out answered prayers? Would ya God?”

So after I prayed, I filled out the application and even anointed it with oil and consecrated it to the Lord. Then I went to bed. The next morning I got up and went to the prayer room. When I came home at 6 am I realized I had forgotten to check the mail the day before. When I opened up the mailbox I saw that there was a check from Grace Fellowship. Now this was super strange because I was not expecting anything from them. I thought oh wow maybe they found some extra money and were able to pay the remainder of my tuition, but the check was made out to me, not IHOPU. So I opened it up and low and behold it was a check for $500!!! Out of the blue for no reason. I couldn’t tell who it was from. There was no name on it. All it had was a small phrase in the little memo part of the check that said for missionary support. So I thought it was for the passport but it wasn’t the exact amount so then I thought well maybe I should save it and put it towards tuition.

The next day I got together with a friend and I told her the whole story. Then I said I think the check is for the passport but it wasn’t the exact amount that I asked for so maybe I should save it. She is very wise and always gives the most wonderful advice. She said I know you wanted the exact amount but what if the Lord decided to bless you above and beyond what you needed simply because He can? She said no Amy it said missionary support. You get your passport and you use the rest towards your monthly living expenses. And then you trust that it’s just a down payment and the Lord will provide the tuition when the time comes. So after praying about it, I felt like that was right so I went to have passport photos taken. The post office lady told me that if you have AAA they will do them for free. So I checked out the website and it turned out that since I have the basic membership they were actually $5. But without anything they were like $15 so I decided it was worth the extra time to drive there. Every little bit helps right? So I got there and the guy was having a hard time with the computer system. He said well let’s just take your pictures while the computer does what it needs to do. Afterwards, the system was still doing funky things and he couldn’t get it to work right so he said you know what just go ahead and take the pictures for free. I got my passport photos for free! Sure it was only $5 but like I said, it’s not the amount. It was just another confirmation that this is the Lord. So I sent everything in and paid my money and now I am just waiting 4-6 weeks to become the proud owner of a U.S. passport.

So I don’t really know what the Lord is doing but it seems as though He is getting ready to take me on an adventure of some kind and my heart is really excited at the prospect of what it might entail. But more than even that, I am excited to think that my prayers may have finally tipped the bowls. He answered immediately. Like so immediately that the check may very well have been in my mailbox at that exact moment and I had no idea. What if this is the season? Would you join me in filling those bowls? The more prayers that go in, the sooner they tip out =)

College Station Ministry Trip

2013-04-19T07:35:00.003-07:00

April 19, 2013

Howdy Ya’ll!

Yup that’s right I am back from my ministry trip to College Station. Thank you to everyone who prayed for us and partnered with us financially. It was an awesome trip! We drove down to Texas on Easter Sunday and then we got back to Kansas City late the next Saturday night. A typical daily schedule looked like waking up bright and early to be on the campus of A&M for a morning prayer meeting at 7 am. Then around 10 a group of people would stay behind on campus and do some evangelism/ pray for physical healing. If you didn’t stay on campus, then you either came back to the College Station House of Prayer (CSHOP) and either played or sang on a worship team or did CEC with the kiddos. Then we had a few hours break and that evening there was a teaching, what we called an encounter God service (EGS). A couple of days we even did prophecy rooms. I think the teams prophesied over like 100 people. Crazy!

One of our main focuses on this particular trip was to bless the moms. There are several young couples with small children at CSHOP. Most of the time, the moms do not get to be in the prayer room because they are taking turns serving. So one of our main goals for the week was to take the kids off their hands and give them some time to just be in the prayer room and soak. My main focus was the children’s ministry (CEC). We had between 20-30 kids depending on the day. The oldest one was five and the youngest was 11 weeks old. The majority were like 1 or 2. Everyone else on the team rotated through all the different activities, but I did CEC the whole time. I did it for like 7 hours a day. Man was it exhausting…but so worth it!

The very first day that we were there, we were outside playing with the little ones and Cynthia, the lady who is kind of in charge of the prayer room came out and told us the sweetest thing. She said right now all of the moms are sitting together in the prayer room just praying and worshiping. She said they had just realized that in the whole 3 years the prayer room had been going, they had never once all sat together like that. That was enough for me. Even if nothing else happened that week, I knew that was powerful. But of course there was more. The moms were so blessed and you could just feel their excitement and appreciation. They were also really thankful to sit in the prayer room with their husband. One lady said that normally they have to take turns with the kids so they don’t get to be in there together. That week they did =)

My favorite thing about our time there was not just that we were babysitting, but we were actually getting to teach the kids the Bible. They had already learned about God the Father and Jesus the Son so I got to teach them about Holy Spirit. Man I love Holy Spirit! The first day we talked about Pentecost and how little flames rested on all the people who were in the upper room. Then we made a fun craft where each kid had a headband and they colored a flame and attached it and wore it. I wish I would have taken a picture! 20 kids running around with little Holy Spirit flames…powerful!

The next day I taught them how Holy Spirit is our teacher and how we have to listen very carefully to hear Him. So we made big ears by cutting a paper plate in half. We attached a pipe cleaner and then glued ears on that said something about listening to Holy Spirit. Ya’ll these kids are amazing. I was telling one of the dads that his daughter was coloring fire on her ears. Then he told me a story that was crazy. One of the guys was getting ready to preach at CSHOP and the dad walked over to his daughter who is 2 and another girl who is 4 and said hey let’s pray for him he’s getting ready to preach. The 2 year old looked out the window and saw the guy and was like no he’s already got the fire on him. Then he turned to the 4 year old and asked her if she wanted to pray. And she said the same thing. Who are these kids ya’ll? Sure the crafts were cute but I really believe that week there were seeds sown and the lessons went deep. I got a couple of testimonies from a couple of the moms at the end of the week. The ears really impacted them. One mom said that one night the 4 year old put on her ears and said I have to put on my ears and talk to Holy Spirit because I haven’t talked to Him in a while. Then proceeded to pray Holy Spirit give me ears to hear your voice. I love you. Amen. Precious! Another mom said her daughter put them on and then put them on mommy and daddy and said you need to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying.

My favorite night of the whole trip was the second to last night and I had not had a chance to eat dinner yet so someone brought me something and I snuck out to eat it real quick. When I came back in, I just felt the pleasure of the Lord over that room. The kids were having so much fun and the adults were full of joy. It was awesome! I thought wow if this is how I feel, how much more the Father? It was a sweet kiss from the Lord.

I was not able to be a part of the other stuff since I was in CEC the whole time, but I did hear testimonies of physical healings and there was even 1 guy at an EGS service who gave his life to the Lord and even got baptized that night. It was such a fun trip! My main take away however is that the Lord really has given me a gift to equip the next generation. Because it comes so naturally to me, I just assume everyone can do it, however when working with the people who are not necessarily gifted in that area, I quickly realized that it is something very precious that the Lord has given me. I feel very confirmed that I am where I am supposed to be and doing what I am supposed to be doing. Which is what I was hoping would happen.

One night while a I was there I had another dream where I was holding a baby and their head fell off. I had purposely not held the 11 week baby at all until then because she was tiny and of course I was afraid. Well the next day after my dream I said forget you stupid devil. I went and held the baby. And guess what? Her head didn’t fall off! Praise the Lamb!

Last story just because it’s really funny! One night a little girl asked me to read her a book. So I pulled her up in my lap and we started reading the book. All of a sudden she starts shaking and I am thinking oh no I wonder if she’s scared. But we were reading Jack and Jill. Nothing scary there. Then she stopped shaking and started crying. I asked her what was wrong and she said her pants were wet. That’s when I realized what happened. I pulled her off me and sure enough my entire left leg from the knee down was covered in pee. Haha what can you do? The best part about it though was the next day during the lesson, we hadn’t even been talking about it and she interrupts the lesson and goes, sorry I went potty on your leg. I appreciated that =)

By Faith Amy...

2013-01-20T02:06:00.000-08:00

January 20, 2013

Happy New Year! Don’t you just love the start of a new year? A time to reflect on your past year and think about your life? Especially on New Year’s since I am always at the Onething conference I think where was I this time last year? How was my heart? Man 30 was my best year so far! I loved 30!

So as most of you know on Thanksgiving weekend I turned 31 and I actually had the privilege of going to a wedding and celebrating a good friend. It’s funny because I try to not make my birthday a reason to think about the fact that I am not married yet and have not started my family, but seeing as I was going to a wedding on my actual birthday, I was kind of confronted with it. Haha So I was like you know Lord it would be awesome if you could give me some vision for my life. I mean I am turning 31 and don’t get me wrong. Most days I love my life and actually love the fact that I don’t have the responsibility of being a wife and mother, but if I were to meet my husband tomorrow, I mean it’s not like I would complain or anything. But here I am a third year student at IHOPU. Which means I only have like a year and a half left and I am already starting to get the question, so what are you going to do after you graduate? Would you please just show me what You’re doing and why You have me here? So the night before my birthday I went to bed asking for a dream and nothing. The day of I didn’t get anything and then that night I was like ok Lord last chance tonight in a dream? But I woke up and of course nothing. I was a little discouraged, but to be honest it’s not like I really expected Him to answer.

So anyway that next week I went back to school and on Wednesday in our Romans class, Holy Spirit totally hijacked the class (I love when He does that) and Dave Sliker started talking all about the next generation and how important it was and for maybe like 30 minutes to an hour we talked about families and spouses and then we got into little groups and prayed for eachother’s future spouses and children. One of my friends was so sweet and really felt like she wanted to pray for my kids so she did. When it was done, I really felt like the Lord had done it just for me. I mean sure there were others in the room that I’m sure were touched but I really thought it was just for me. Then that same day in our CEC practicum we had a guy come in a give us a presentation on the 4/14 window. The 4/14 window is part of the 10/40 window, which you may have heard of. The 10/40 Window is the rectangular area of North Africa, the Middle East and Asia approximately between 10 degrees north and 40 degrees north latitude. The 10/40 Window is often called "The Resistant Belt" and includes the majority of the world's Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists. Anyway it’s called the 4/14 window because in the 10/40 window, the greatest population of people in that geographic location are between the ages of 4-14. Which means the majority are children. Now I had heard of this before, but when he gave the presentation, it was like he was simply reiterating what Dave Sliker had said that very morning. I felt like both classes were complete confirmation of eachother. Then on Friday morning in the prayer room, the same girl that prayed for me in Romans class pulled me out of the prayer room and told me she got a word for me and proceeded to give it to me and then pray over me. Ya’ll I have never gotten a word like this before. It was so encouraging to my heart! Here it is:

I read a verse yesterday and felt like it was for you related to what we talked about in Romans class (raising up the next generation).

"And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;

you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;

you shall be called the repairer of the breach,

the restorer of streets to dwell in." -Isaiah 58:12

You are going to be a spiritual mother to generations long after you die. I feel like you are going to have a multitude of spiritual (as well a natural) children who can trace their spiritual heritage and inheritance back to you.

You are going to be key in turning the generations that follow (specifically your own family line) back to the Lord. You are going to restore the ancient heritage of those in your family line who loved Jesus. It reminds me of the righteous kings of Israel who repaired and restored the temple after it had been shut down for generations by wicked kings.

You are going to clear a path on the "ancient streets" our spiritual mothers and fathers walked on (Jeremiah 6:16, Song of Songs 1:8) so future generations can walk them. You are doing this just by living the way you do, following Jesus, you are making the way easier for them. This is how you are a Forerunner. Your lifestyle is your message and it prepares the way of the Lord. In the time of John the Baptist preparing the way of the Lord was something a city would do for a king when he came to visit a city. They would clear the street and make them as smooth as possible for his entrance into the city.

I got a picture of you on an overgrown dirt road going through a wilderness. You were on your hands and knees digging up boulders and weeds and throwing them off to the side of the road, clearing the way. It was slow, hard work but you were moving forward and the path was getting clear bit by bit. Then you reached the end of your path and Jesus called you to Himself and you went to be with Him.

Then children came and walked to the end of the path you cleared. It didn't take them long at all because you cleared the way, but they still had to choose to walk it. When they got to the end they saw that it went even further and began to clear the way the same way you did. The road grew longer and longer until they were called to be with Jesus as well. Then more children came and started to clear the road where they ended. It went on like this for generations. The road grew longer and longer because you started clearing it and others followed after you, even after you were gone.

I got another picture of a street paved with gold bricks in the New Jerusalem. It was called "Amy's Road" and was put there in memory of the time you spent clearing the path. I believe that this either represents the fact that Jesus will reward and honor you publicly for the time you spend clearing the road, or it is actually the real reward He is going to put in the New Jerusalem for you. He sees the time you spend clearing the path and it’s as precious as pure gold to Him.

Your love for generations you will never see is the same love Jesus had for a people who had yet to be born when He poured His life out for them on the cross. You are pouring your life out for generations you will never meet, who may never know the labor of love you did for them. Your love for people you will never meet is precious!

So then the next morning I was in the shower and I had this sudden realization, Oh my gosh. You actually answered my birthday prayer didn’t you? That’s what this entire week was about- You giving me vision for my life. He’s never answered me that quick before. So on Saturdays I have a small accountability group with some girls on nightwatch, who I absolutely adore, and I was sharing my week and everything that had happened. And one of the girls goes, Amy He didn’t give you a dream because you could easily dismiss a dream. He chose to speak in class, and then it went to a smaller context, your CEC practicum, and then He gave a word to friend, and last Holy Spirit confirmed it to you Himself when you were in the shower this morning. Talk about an answered prayer! He’s so just so kind.

Then to top it all off, I served in CEC at the onething conference. On one of the mornings Dave Sliker came in to talk to the kids. We did worship and then he got up to give his message and he goes, you know I was gonna talk to ya’ll about Jesus but when I came in here and was looking around I was asking the Lord who you guys are and he told me so now I have a completely different message. I love when that happens! Anyway he started by saying you guys are missionaries. You know how when you’re little and people ask you what do you want to be when you grow up and you say doctor, lawyer, teacher? Well the Lord wants to give you a new vision for what you can be when you grow up, a missionary. Now initially I was annoyed and thought great that’s all they seem to be talking about around here. We’re equipping you so you can go out into all the nations and preach the gospel and now they’re trying to convince the kids too (just being honest here). But then he said something that completely shifted how I saw being a missionary. He said did you know that there are people living on the tops of mountains and in the lowest of valleys that don’t know Jesus? God is raising up a generation, your generation, that’s gonna say they’re not singing to Jesus there. They need to be singing to Jesus there. And they will go there and start singing to Jesus and because they are singing to Jesus, others around will start singing too. It was so simple but I thought wow God if it’s really that simple then of course. Why wouldn’t I go somewhere and sing to you so that others can see how beautiful you are and start singing to you too? For the first time in my life I could see how being a missionary made sense. Then Dave asked if there was anyone in the room who felt like this was them to stand and we were going to pray for them. So a good number of kids stood up and I went around and was praying for them and I just had tears streaming down my face as I was praying. It was a really beautiful moment. At the end of that set, one of my friends, my evangelism buddy from the blitz trip first semester, was like Amy you’re awesome. He was like you’re a really good leader, but then you also worship. And the kids are watching you. And I thought huh if that's true, then that’s confirmation of the part of the word that said, “You are doing this just by living the way you do, following Jesus, you are making the way easier for them. This is how you are a Forerunner. Your lifestyle is your message and it prepares the way of the Lord.”

When I first started going back to church, my pastor gave a message on the by faith chapter, Hebrews 11 I think. At the end of the message for the prayer time, he asked us to ask the Lord to complete this sentence. By faith and then your name… So I was like ok cool let’s see what happens. So I said ok Lord by faith Amy… and He finished it with “Led the next generation into the Lord’s battle.” Now you know I struggle with knowing whether or not I actually hear God, but this was not something I could make up. I mean why on earth would that have ever come out of my own mind? So I’ve known that I am called to the next generation, (whatever that means or looks like) but I feel like I am finally starting to see a glimpse of what that could look like. I don’t know if God will call me to be a missionary. I have a sneaky suspicion He might, and if He does, I know He is in the process of preparing my heart. But whether I go or not, I am called to raise up those who will go. I am called to love Jesus and sing to Him, and as I do, the next generation will see me singing and want to sing too. It’s not about me, it truly is about the ones coming after me. It’s about God getting the glory and the honor that He’s due from every tribe, tongue and nation. Because when that happens, He will come. And oh what a glorious day that will be! The wisdom of sitting in a prayer room night after night singing to Jesus will be justified when I finally see Him face to face and look into His eyes of fire!