I realized the power of prayer first hand at boot camp. This was one of my favorite moments at boot camp, not because it was fun, but because I still stand in awe of it. (I should make a note that we went to treasure island in Canada for boot camp before I go further.) On this island there are lots of seagulls and during class they were so distracting. Their squawking made it difficult to pay attention in class and hard to focus during prayer time. We as a group experienced sort of a collective laziness for about 2 days and we ended up in �platoon time� to figure out what exactly was everyone�s problem. Basically we all were a little lacking in the area of discipline. Eventually we felt that we had the problem solved and we were discussing things that had been going on in the last couple of days and one of the comments was that the seagulls were so distracting and that it was almost as if Satan was trying to distract our focus from God. Being highly bothered by the seagulls that had gathered nearby we decided to pray that God send the seagulls away for the remainder of the week. About 3 or 4 minutes into our praying the seagulls that had gathered flew away and no one remembered hearing seagulls for the rest of the week. Maybe that doesn�t mean much to anyone else, but to see it happen when we needed quietness most, it was more than my heart could have imagined.
I changed so much at boot camp, but I had to come back and be �normal� around my parents. This pretty much resulted in me spending lots of time with my new friends so that I didn�t have to pretend to be who I really am not. Which resulted in being told that I could only spend 3 nights out with my friends because my parents seemed to believe that I was dating Drew again and my older siblings were only allowed to see their boyfriends or girlfriends 3 nights a week so I wasn�t allowed to see Drew more than 3 nights a week. That along with my parents thinking that TFC and Drew�s family are part of a cult because they �want me to think like them� and they �brainwashed me.� So I guess for the time being I�m stuck where I am, needing to follow the rules of my parents and obey while still trying to live for God. It�s difficult, but with God at my side, and Jesus as my covenant partner, fighting for me day and night, and my friends as my support group, I can handle it. But all other points aside, I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME! (Phil 4:13)
One of the coolest things I�ve learned in the last 2 or 3 years is that God has a plan that we often don�t understand, but always works. The summer before my freshman year in college, we had to go through a 2-day orientation. I roomed with a girl named Carol and somehow we, like most of the girls there that weekend, ended up talking about relationships and the issues I was dealing with at the time. Then she did something that changed my life in a way that she probably doesn�t even know. She prayed with me. She was the first person to ever pray for me in that way.
I didn�t think much of it at the time and she probably didn�t either, but it impacted me enough that when I wanted to find a non catholic church in Toledo, she was the one I asked for thoughts on the subject and asked where she goes to church. One Sunday I went to church there and I wasn�t sure I liked it so I tried other churches for the next couple of weeks and I settled on the church Carol goes to. It�s a non-denominational church and I learn from the pastor�s sermons and I enjoy the atmosphere of the church. So at least until I decide on a specific denomination for myself, a non-denominational church suits me just fine.
Looking back, I�ve seen how much I�ve grown in the past several years and I�m determined to follow God�s lead. Jesus has drafted me, and I�ve promised as a warrior, as a soldier, to follow my orders in complete obedience.
