Lately...

So a lot has happened since my last post! Hopefully I can get it all down and not bore anyone to death!

THANK GOD the sun has finally started shinning here!! I was seriously starting to wonder if it was ever gonna stop raining.  The weather has been absolutely perfect.  I'm not used to looking at a 10 day forecast with a sunshine and no rain every single day!  I am still in awe everytime I see the mountains too.  Driving to work is just beautiful. Every morning so far it has put my soul at ease before entering work.

My roommate Holly and I have connected with some other first year students that are starting at Bethel in the fall.  They invited us to go rafting down the Sacramento River.  I wish I could've taken a picture of how beautiful it was!!

We started out by this waterfall near the rocks, as we climbed down the rocks and jumped onto our rafts, we held each other's rafts and began to just float and relax down the river.  Since it has been raining so much here, there were rapids!!  It was SO EXCITING and FUN!! At one point my raft flipped over and I LOVED IT!!! haha.  We floated about 5 miles down the river, just talking, getting to know each other, laughing and feeling free!  At one point in the trip I looked back down from where we came, and saw a HUGE mountain.  With the mountains, sparkling river, green trees surrounding us, and the bright warm sunshine I felt the same freedom I used to feel as a kid.  A two-fold revelation came to me.  I realized I haven't felt this free since I was a really little kid, and wow...WHY haven't I felt this free since being a child?

I am also becoming more aware of what my body feels when Holy Spirit is thick in a room.  I think it's definitely a building block in my relationship with Him. It's been pretty cool.  When I enter into a room where Holy Spirit is already thick, my body automatically just starts to feel like jelly haha, or really relaxed.  Then, my breathing slows down, and all the thoughts that seemed to have been racing through my mind before slowly start to fade.  I think I'm getting addicted to His presence.

I tried the Healing Rooms at Bethel this morning, before you go to get any kind of healing prayer whether it be emotional or physical, they ask you to worship or pray beforehand in the Encounter room.  They call this "soaking".  While in this room, they have people who will draw prophetically for you.  How it works is, the person drawing pictures will ask the Lord for a prophetic and encouraging picture, then they will draw this picture and talk to you about the inclination they felt in their spirit to put meaning toward the picture.  I received a picture from a girl and definitely willing to share more about what was drawn for me if you're interested in hearing about it, drop me a line!

I have received prophetic and healing prayer here and am definitely learning more about these two things and where they are in the Bible.  What Prophetic ministry means is simply what is taught by the Apostle Paul in the Bible.  To edify and encourage the body.  People know their own junk and don't need to be reminded of it all the time.  To prophesy over someone is simply to call out the good you see in that person.  It is nothing strange.  The point is to let that person know God SEES you. He knows who you are.  He knows what He made when He created you.  No matter what you've done in your life, or how far you've veered off the path, He stands firm to believe He has created a GOOD thing. To prophesy is to remind ourselves of the good within us. To call out the "gold" in us.  I am definitely open and willing to share my experience with any of these things, as well as talk about any questions popping up in your mind! :)

Just soakin' up some rays in the pool and raft we bought for our backyard!!! :)