No sleep, lots of sleep, numbness, alarms, lock-in, Lost, and so much random-ness!

This is going to be a really random post...so get ready!

This weekend was such a great and not great weekend at the same time! Thursday night my mom and neighbor made Landon's birthday cake! It turned out great! We had to update the Mission's prayer boards for the 24 hours of prayer on Friday. So I spend Thursday night making cake and working on the prayer boards. We finally got done with everything around 11pm.

On Friday around lunch time, my mom and I loaded up the cars and took our house(kidding, but we took half of our house) to church for Landon's 12th birthday party. We set up for that and by the time we were done, the party was starting. It started at 4 and there were like 14 boys there. They played on a blow up obstacle course and played dodge ball. The party lasted until 6 but I left at 5 to go home and rest. I was hurting a lot so I took a long bath and shower. I headed back to church at 7 for my prayer time. There were a lot of people in the prayer room when I got there!
After my prayer time, some friends and I went to On Cue and Starbucks. We drove around and got to church at 10 when the lock-in started! There was a devo at 11 then a couple hours of games. These games required a lot of energy. They made everyone play but thankfully a few of my friends volunteered to sit out and watch with me.

There was a special devo from 2-3am for anyone who really wanted to grow deeper in prayer. We walked into the room and the lights were out except for 3 tables with candles. They actually had to bring in more chairs because so many people came.

Kevin explained what we were going to be doing and we read a few scriptures about how God can work so much through silence. Just by sitting in silence before God, He will remind us that He is God no matter what we're going through. He is so gentle and will hold us. I know so many people felt that during the prayer time.

"The LORD said, Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by. Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave." 1 Kings 19:11-13

"Be still, and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10

The next thing we did was sing each verse of I Am Mine No More 5 times and to focus on a different word each time.

"I am mine no more, I am mine no more, I've been bought with blood, I am mine no more. (repeat 5 times)

Jesus is my Lord, Jesus is my Lord, and He rules my Life, Jesus is my Lord. (repeat 5 times)

I am mine no more, I am mine no more, I've been bought with blood, I am mine no more." (repeat 5 times)

After we sang the song, we had 15 minutes of silence.

Then we sang a few more songs and had another 15 minutes of silence. During this time of silence, we were supposed to go to to each table whenever we wanted. On one table we wrote a prayer request for us personally. On the next table we wrote prayer requests for someone else. The last table had a big candle lit and small candles not lit. We were supposed to get a small candle and pray for something around the world, then light our candle.

This time was one of the best things we have ever done. After being in there for an hour and after the last prayer we were dismissed. But no one left. There was so much emotion in there. I can't even explain it. No one talked during the 30 minutes of silence. And it wasn't awkward or anything. Time flew. No one had to say anything. We could just tell on the faces of one another what was going on.

After the prayer time there was more games. I definitely did not play those games! They allowed my friends and I to go into the college lounge and watch a movie and rest. It was great!

Around 5 or so I think we had a last devo and got to clean the building! haha everyone was SO cranky and in a bad mood. I was fine because that's how I always feel! Welcome to my life everyone! We had a great breakfast cooked by some parents then we went home at 7.

I slept for a few hours when I got home and was obviously feeling bad. I sucked it up though and cleaned my room all day.

Saturday night we were watching the Olympics and all of the sudden, my left arm started feeling really weird. It started tingling and as time went on it started going numb and so cold. I didn't say anything until it was really numb and hard to move. My parents tried to get my arm and hand warm and rubbed it to see if that would help. It didn't so I took a bath. That helped a little but it still felt weird. So I went to bed and tried to forget about it. Yesterday morning it felt better. It's just really weird...It was very scary we're praying that doesn't happen again.

Well my heart monitor is just so fun to have!! Not. During the special prayer time at the lock-in, the monitor alarms decided to go off! Great. So I had to leave the room which disrupted everyone and I went to fix it. Thankfully it didn't happen again. Then yesterday morning and last night during church it decided to go off again which I meant I got to leave church twice in one day! How annoying.

Remember that Lost party we had at our house? Here are some pictures! We had Aaron and Carrie Ackerman, Micah and Tara Hobbs , and Andy and Summer Lashley minus Summer. She doesn't like us. Just kidding, she is just a little behind on Lost. We forgave her already. It was so much fun! It happened to be on Landon's birthday so we had cake!

The cake was awesome!!

Here is Landon attacking his cake? haha

Our "Lost" table. Please notice the plane crash and palm trees and tropical looking stuff. There was even a guy getting sucked into the plane's propeller with blood coming out...you can thank Landon for that one.


Landon's 5th grade class got to go to the Capitol one day and dress up for Colonial day! Here is his awesome costume that Sada Knowles made!

This is the phone and monitor thing that hooks up to all the wires for my heart monitor. The wires are all over my stomach and chest and of course I'm allergic to them! I have a nasty rash all over. Woohoo!

Today I have slept a lot. I'm so exhausted. But my birthday is on Friday and I will be 17! I'm excited!