laurabutler - You were, You are, and You always will be.

Do not dare God to do anything.

His reply is sure to be a million times more powerful than anything you could have possibly expected.

The week of training camp, God revealed that he was tuned in very clearly to me despite any doubts that I had as to whether He was listening at all. The first day there, I related to a talk about how Western culture has tamed our world view of Christianity so much that we have set boundaries and limitations for what God can and cannot do. Hebrews 13:8 says that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever”; therefore, why shouldn’t Jesus be able to perform miracles as He did during His time on Earth? I certainly didn’t believe with my whole heart that Jesus could powerfully move in such a way today. If he could, why had I only heard stories of others’ miracles and never experienced it for myself? I wrote in my journal this day and asked, “Lord, change my world view for good with an experience”. I so desperately desired for God to destroy the “God-in-a-box” view that the world had defined for me.

During quiet time the next morning, I wrote down, “I want to experience your miracles. Forgive me for making you such a small God. You are a God of miracles”. At this point, I felt that God was saying to me, “Everything in My Own time”, and I surrendered the idea of His revealing Himself to me. Little did I know, this prayer was about to be answered in a mighty way, and the rest of the morning went a little something like this.

Grief. “Grieving the Seasons of our Lives” was the ever-so-light topic on the agenda for first thing in the morning. These words struck me: “We must grieve the painful losses of the past seasons of our lives before we can effectively embrace the present and the future”. I was sitting next to Carly Blalock, and we couldn’t help but finally break down and be vulnerable with God. Jesus was preparing our hearts to receive what he had for us next. Healing. Everyone began praying for one another for healing, emotionally and physically. Carly and I sat on the ground in a circle with several other people praying for Jesus to heal her shoulder that she was expected to have surgery on when we got back from our trip. Before we prayed, Carly showed everyone how she could pop her shoulder ridiculously out of place. We prayed for stability in Carly’s life and shoulder, and as it shook and popped, you could actually FEEL the healing occurring inside. Read her blog to hear more about this, www.carlyblalock.myadventures.org . It was like nothing I had ever experienced, and honestly, I did not expect that to happen in the slightest. Both of our faces lit up with excitement and a look of utter disbelief. Immediately I thought of this verse,

“Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Mark 10:15.

After seeing Carly’s miracle, I thought why not give it a shot for myself.

I have had two ACL reconstruction surgeries and a meniscus repair throughout high school, and my biggest fear for this trip has been that I will injure my knee yet again. The same circle of girls put their hands on my knee and began praying for healing. You probably think I am crazy right now, but you cannot even describe an experience like this. My leg was hot and shaking. I couldn’t even tell if peoples' hands were on my knee or not. All I could feel was the hand of God working inside my leg. I literally sound crazy now. There is really no denying, though, that what I felt was real. While praying, a girl in the circle addressed my worst fear and greatest love and said, “God will protect you when you play soccer with the children in Honduras”. I haven’t played soccer in so long that I can’t even remember the last time, and if you hear my testimony, my knee surgeries are a large part of it. God took away my ability to play so that I would come to Him, and now that He officially has my whole heart, He seems to be sharing my passion with me once again.

The week following training camp I was on a Young Life sailing trip in the Bahamas, and one day our reading passage included this verse,

“He said to her, Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering”. Matthew 5:4

God answered many of my prayers these past two weeks, and I have never felt more free in Him.