Living Sacrifice :D

I'm aware that I am way overdue for a post but life has been crazy...in a good way! :)

(Me and Taylor..Sisters?, then Sarah, Skip and me

Me, Sarah, Erica...leading worship, then Jeremy and me)

Mt. Zion Youth Camp 2010 is over and the theme was Living Sacrifice. Based on Romans 12:1-2

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.

That week was all about teaching the kids to stand on the Word of God and how to stand up for their beliefs. I love being a counselor at youth camps it is so much fun and always a learning experience. God was definitely working in the lives of our youth. After, the first two songs Monday night at worship a girl came back to talk to one of the leaders...and right then and there asked Christ to come into her life! Praise God! If that isn't proof God was moving then just wait it only gets better. A group of boys that i was lucky enough to meet and become friends with, started to make changes in their lives. At first I wasn't so sure they were even listening...then they would come up to me and tell me all about things they were learning. It really opened my eyes that even if we don't think they are listening...they just might be!

(Hunter, Jacob, Me, Matthew and Jordan) Another big decision that was made was....Johnathan (my younger brother for those of you who don't know him) accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior!! Woo Hoo!! :D I had been praying for this day for years. I am so proud of him! :) So please join me in praying for him as he continues to grow in Christ!
God is good, oh so good! However, i also have to thank God for the leaders he placed at camp that week and below is a picture of almost all the leaders.
Following is just some random pictures from camp!

(Wesley and Me)

That is only a small portion of an amazing week at church camp. However, to write about everything would take forever. So instead how about just join me in praising God for the 4 salvation's, 8 re-dedications, and over 20 something prayer request. Please be praying for our students as many of them expressed the need for an accountability partner or prayers for their family members. Pray that they will be strong in God's word. That they will be Living Sacrifices!! :D
-Vikki Kay :)
Psalm 119:172 "My tongue sings about Your promise, for all Your commandments are righteous."

Birthday Surprise!

Well, today's blog is not what I had planned...but here I go. My mother and niece both celebrated their birthday Wednesday. However, my mother's surprise turned bad!

My mom had been in a lot of pain since Sunday and this pain turned into EXTREME pain Tuesday night. So as any normal person she made a doctor's appointment for Wednesday...yep on her birthday. Well, as mom was gone to work Wednesday morning (before we knew about the doc. appointment) my little brother and I decorated for mom's little surprise birthday get together, we went to pick up the cake then everything stopped when i got a text from Bill telling us mom was on her way to the doctors and my come by the house first. So we had to finish everything real quick. :/ Yet, she did not come home...why...b/c she was being emitted into the hospital. The nurse came and took mom to prep her for emergency surgery to remove her appendix before it ruptured. Even though I knew laparoscopic appendectomy was a rather easy and non-invasive even rather safe...i was still nervous. And for those of you who know me...i'm not a patience person so the waiting process was the WORSE!! However, i'm happy to report that mom is okay...they got the appendix out before it ruptured. Praise the Lord! Mom is now home today but still in a lot a lot of pain. Please pray for a quick recovery and an ease to this pain.

Mom said I thought on your birthday you were suppose to get stuff not have a body part taken! haha...i know that shouldn't be funny but since everything is over now....i can laugh. :P

So needless to say mom's surprise didn't turn out like planned but when she walked into the front door there was a banner that said "Happy 40th Birthday" and a bunch of black balloons that said you're 40 and over the hill. However, due to all this excitement there aren't any pictures...well that i have...i think mom has some on her phone. lol. Anyways, thank the good Lord she is A-Okay and at home resting! :)

Baseball + Concert + bbq Nachos = SUMMERTIME!

In the car going to meet everyone!

[Me & Aubrey...all four of us...Sarah and Elizabeth]

I have had an incredible weekend! Friday night my little cousin stayed the night with me and we watched Alice in Wonderland. I loved it! :) However, we stayed up way to late considering we had to get up early Saturday. Once we woke up I had to go pick Sarah up then go to the Schalk's where we then all piled into one vehicle to head to the church where the Schalk's, Sarah, Jenna, Dallas, Jessica, Mr. Ben, Amber, two others and myself took off for Memphis. We went to a Redbirds game followed by a Rush of Fools concert! Let's just say it was a wonderful day filled with baseball, nachos, laughter, tears from laughter and of course praising the one true God! :) I don't know about you but I can't think of any better way to spend a Saturday (besides sleeping in a little later ;P)! It was crazy because our group sat right behind the redbirds dugout yet, my parents were up in our club box and considering it was so so so hot outside me and Sarah decided we wanted to sneak upstairs to the air conditioned box. :) haha Well, on the way up we met the Wes Willis...the lead singer for the band Rush of Fools!!! Ahhhhhhhh.....(((((: how amazing! lol. He was with his wife Mechelle, who by the way is pregnant, he told us we better be careful or she might eat our nachos before we realize it. ha! Then later we saw the whole band and instead of being calm and saying hello we were creepers. NO JOKE...we awkwardly walked slowly to them then stood behind them speechless!! My parents had a field day with it! Below is a few picture from the game and the concert! Oh by the way, the Redbirds beat the Cubs 6-2 :) it was a great game!

[Top: Mom, me and Bill...amazing pitcher:)

Bottom: Sarah and me...Jenna and Dallas]

[Top: Wes Willis (lead singer/new friend), Me, Elizabeth and Sarah showing our Excited faces (:

Bottom: Keven (keyboard/electic guitar) Wes, Jamie (drums)]

Now, to what God is teaching me. Love. Strange I know. However, i feel as if God is constantly reminding me to love others even if they are different. I notice that when working with youth that i find myself reminding them to love each other and be nice. You know the saying..."If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." It's as if kids just don't get that. Which I remember when i was a youth...I wasn't always the nicest...nor am i now. But I am better at catching myself. I just challenge those reading this to watch what you say, watch how you look at someone, and how you act toward them. Remember God loves us unconditionally even though we don't deserve it so the least we can do is love others! :)

Branson, Shopping and Noah's Ark! :)

I've been on a youth trip in Branson for the past four days.This trip opened my eyes and tested my patience more than once. It was a trip filled with high-fives, a few tussles, a lot of laughs and even a couple screams. We left Sunday afternoon and arrived that night just in time to check into our rooms and make our way down to the pool. We got up early Monday in order to be at Silver Dollar City by 9 o'clock. This was my first trip to Silver Dollar City and I rode a few rides that I never EVER thought I'd ride...which is where the screams come into play...oh and lets not forget about the laughter that poured out of the rest of my group as they saw my facial expression. Anyways, Tuesday we all got up and headed out to the Branson Landing for a morning full of shopping. We only stopped for a wonderful lunch at Olive Garden :) to only continue the day afterwards with more, more, more shopping! However, I didn't buy a single thing the whole trip...wow, I know!! Even though the shopping was great fun my favorite part of the day was Noah the Musical! It was an incredible experience. I don't want to give much away because if given the chance I would encourage everyone to watch it. Oh and before I forget to mention it...a lot of the animals were REAL!! :D Ahh...horses, lama's, Camel's, pigs and all other kinds of animals running up the aisles to get onto the Ark...INCREDIBLE!! :)

It was eye opening to sit there and watch as Noah had to leave his brother behind and how his son's wives were made to leave their families. They were mocked and ridiculed. People thought they were crazy as they built the ark yet they got through it and the ark was built. However, then i was challenged to think about how it must have been to live on the ark for a year. Some of the struggles could have been fighting over how much to feed the animals (due to not knowing how long they are to stay on the boat), also getting tired of feeding and taking care of the animals...i mean can you imagine living next to the giraffe quarter's? I can't! Yet, it did however get me to think! Imagine your mother, father and siblings laughing at you and calling you crazy because you are helping you husband and his father build an Ark. An Ark for a flood...a flood that no one had ever heard of. How hard would that be for you to leave them, once they realized everything you said was true. Noah and his family had faith that I can only one day hope to have! Faith I strive for! Faith in Jesus whether its the good times or the worst times, whether your family is on your side or against you!

I made some new friends on this trip and got to know some others better!

[top left: Bro. Skip and Tyler, top right: me, Charla, and Miss Elizabeth...

bottom left: Me and Mrs. Christal, bottom right: me, Courtney, Aubrey and Elizabeth]

[Charla and Michael...two new friends] :)

Overall, this was an incredible trip which i enjoyed! I learned a lot about Skip's youth and a lot about myself considering some of his youth like to test my patience. haha. ;) Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading about trip and i encourage you to re-read the story of Noah and place yourself in his shoes and think about it....it's hard but will be rewarding...by making your faith stronger!
Thanks for reading,

God Bless! :)

Giggles, paint and...humility?

Hey guys I know I've missed a few days but it's not my fault...I've been away from Internet access. I know that sounds crazy this day in age but it's true. lol. I have been babysitting the Schalk girls and then spent all day today working a block party. I spent literally all day outside and am now bright RED...including my feet! Yikes! However, it was great fun. I did lots of everything from face painting, to staffing games, serving food and just about everything else possible. I loved it! :)

Also, I'm super excited because I leave tomorrow for Branson! I'm working as an intern for Unity Baptist Church.

[Elizabeth and Me]

[Jenna in her Rocking Rainbow Shades]....(we were board while waiting for time to start)

[Courtney Rocking the St. Louis Cardinals Symbol]

All in all the last three days have been so much that I don't even have enough time to write about it. there is also a lot, a lot of pictures yet I only have like ten minutes to do this b/c i still have to pack. However, the purpose of this blog is to not only tell about my day but to talk about what God is teaching me. And God has been teaching me a lot. A lot about humility...and being humble. If you want to be humbled I suggest reading Job 38-39. I don't understand how someone can read that and not now that God is real or read that and not need to get down on your knees and pray. This world teaches that humility is weakness but that's false...being humble doesn't mean you be little oneself or anything. Humility is attained by simply opening our eyes to reality.

Beth Moore said "Humility is not something we have until humbling ourselves is something we do." I personally would rather humble myself than force God to humble me. "Let's allow the circumstance, weaknesses, and any thorns in the flesh God has chosen to leave to do the job they were sent to do...provoke humility." This is so true but also makes me laugh!

Well, I have to pack and get to bed...it's going to be another long day tomorrow. I urge you to read Job 38...then mediate on it.
God Bless! :)

Jesus, Friends and Good Ol' Andy's! :)

Today is the first day for me to blog and though I'm not sure anyone will actually follow me I am here to say hello to those who do. :) So please join me on my search to know more about Christ and have fun reading some of my crazy stories.
I am very blessed with wonderful friends some are more like sisters, and well anyways today I got to see one of my best friends, Candice, who is in town for a week. Candice, myself and two other wonderful friends ventured out this afternoon to our favorite ice cream shop, Andy's, and then to church. So, take a look below at three wonderful little sisters God has blessed me with. This was them around this time last year! I sure do love them!

[Candice, Sarah and Erica]

Well, now that you have met them let me share a little of what we talked about. When the four of us are together lets just say Jesus is the center of our conversations. I shared with them how God has been teaching me patience and to wait on him. Turns out God is trying to teach my friends that as well. However,

Psalms 37:7 says: "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently on him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways..." To be still before the Lord and wait patiently tend to be a challenge for me. Yet, my goal is to learn patience!

So dear reader...if there is any...I challenge you to look at yourself and see if you have patience. Do you? If not join me and the beautiful girls above with our journey to learn how to "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently..." not an easy task but it can be done. Well, this concludes the end of day one.
God Bless! :)