IYC

It was over a month ago and I haven't had a chance to post anything yet, but I can't NOT post about it. It was just too good and I don't want to forget, so it must be documented in my little public journal here. :-) I've been writing things up for my blog as the weeks have gone on, I just never had a chance to post them with pictures and all that. In the end, I decided to skip the pictures anyway. Well, except for this one.


It was the pizza pan race. The guys had to sit on the pans and scoot themselves along the floor to the finish line. James didn't play fair and he certainly didn't win, but he did finally make it.

We left just after 7:00am on Friday and drove longer than anticipated, arriving in Black Mountain, North Carolina, in time to drop Charlie off at the boarders (“drop off” is a joke—we were there for 20 minutes waiting for the vet to come and weigh him and take his temperature! Weird.) and get back to the IYC campground at 4:30. We got moved into the H&H cabin with the Hays. How great is that?! As if it had been named just for us and was just waiting for us to get there. Ha! The Overseers/Directors with children didn’t stay in the dorms; we had to stay in different family style cabins so the kids could stay with us. Sister Shanda preferred to have a little more privacy because she has a brand new baby (and because it’s her nature, of course!) so they stayed in the other cabin, leaving the H&H to the Hays, the Hornes, and the babysitters, Amy and Ashley. It was a great arrangement. :-)

I can’t remember an awful lot about the first evening’s service. I was distracted as I always seem to be on the first night of Camps and Conventions and whatnot. I hate that!

IYC felt much different from last year. I LOVED the campground and it just felt a lot tighter and involved—and the schedule changes were fantastic. I was especially thankful for the scheduled personal prayer time in the mornings. I’m bad about neglecting that when we’re at functions like this, but I sooooo needed it and God blessed and helped me so much because of it. I know it was the beginning of His work in me for the weekend.

I was blessed by the Overseer’s wives thing this year. We fished for little plastic creatures in an inflatable kiddy pool while discussing the many characteristics we should possess in order to be used of God. It was much more my speed than a frilly tea party. HA!

I missed the next workshop because of making a Wal-Mart run with Jamey. There were some necessary IYC things to be purchased and we needed to pick up some cupcakes, lots and lots of cupcakes, for Brother Dustin’s unwanted birthday party that night. :-) He’s the big 3-0 now. Old man.

I spent most of my free time that afternoon working on a slide show, mostly fun, some serious, about Brother Dustin. Following the service that evening James commandeered a microphone and began narrating the slide show that appeared on the screens. It was great fun. :-) Then we finally got to dig in to all of those fantastic cupcakes. Yum. I LOVE Sam’s Club cakes.

Backing up, we had a FANTASTIC service that night. I was so overwhelmed in the worship service, just felt so humbled and so unworthy and soooooo grateful to be a part. A part of the kingdom of God, a part of that camp, a part of that particular group of people experiencing such an outpouring of the Spirit of God, a part of The Church of God. We were singing When We All Get to Heaven and I remember wondering if I would even be able to bear heaven—I felt so overwhelmed here on earth by the amazing love and Spirit that I was feeling I just don’t know if I could handle any MORE than that. If there was no heaven and nothing to look forward to in the future, I can’t imagine ever desiring any more than what I feel in the midst of free and heartfelt worship like that. I felt such rejoicing and thankfulness and love, love, love for God. And unworthiness--I just felt soooooo unworthy and humbled and so, so, so grateful. Brother Shandu preached a wonderful, powerful message that night and I was blessed by that as well. He has such a beautiful, humble spirit and is so grateful to be in God’s Church. And we’re so happy to have him!

The Sunday night service was life-changing for me. I had found a place alone to pray before service, talking to God about things that I’d been hesitant to voice aloud (even to God—isn’t that dumb?!) but that had subtly nagged at me off and on for a long time. I’ve always believed that The Church of God is God’s Church and have seen it scripturally for years—and most of the time that’s all I needed to have peace in my soul. But there have been times here and there throughout the years (strangely enough, sometimes even at General Assemblies—the year at the Conn Center comes to mind) when I would find myself having strange thoughts and wondering if maybe, just maybe, I don’t have a true-blue revelation of this thing and maybe I’m just here because I was raised in it. I am a follower by nature... There have been so many who have left the Church in recent years, either heading out in another direction and claiming that the group they are with is the Church or striking out independently and forsaking most or all of the things they used to hold dear, including biblical doctrines one by one the longer they’re gone. Yet most of them seem so committed to the choices they’ve made, so determined that they are right, and in lots of cases are so totally dedicated and committed to their “religion” after having left The Church of God. It’s scary and heartbreaking. But every now and again I would have some tiny twitch of “what if they’re right?” go on in my head. I would always rebuke it and dismiss it immediately, never really entertaining the thought, already being sure that I know what is right—The Church of God. More commonly (though still very rare) the doubts would arise in the form of "What if I'm not grounded strongly enough in the TRUTH, and would some day be deceived myself?" I felt such a need to KNOW. I just needed to KNOW, really and truly know--in spite of what I have always thought I knew or believed and regardless of what I may have wanted to be right and true--I needed to KNOW the truth in a "once and for all" sort of sense. I was tired of such thoughts entering my head at all, though they were extremely rare and brief. I felt like I needed to just go and talk to God about the whole sha-bang and begin asking Him to show me His TRUTH. Before service that night I was able to just pour my heart to to Him over everything. I didn't want God to show me what I wanted to see or was hoping to see, but what HE sees--real and true biblical truth. Whatever is true and right, THAT'S what I want to know--really and truly KNOW--with no doubts or hesitations about anything at all.

Brian O'Dell preached a message that night entitled "Do You See What I See" from the passage in Isaiah 52 that proclaims "they shall see eye to eye when the LORD shall bring again Zion." It was soooooooooo amazing. It was as if God was specifically and systematically going through each thing I had talked to Him about before service and was answering each point one by one, like the message was prepared in direct response to my prayers. I hadn't really expected an answer so quickly (!) and thought that God would help me to sort through these things a little bit at a time, but He just flooded my soul with answers from the Word of God and confirmed them with such a strong, strong spirit. I had never had a *zap* sort of vision of the Church (in an instant that I can mark the time or the place) and I never had a "vision" in the literal sense (you know--seeing Jesus wrapped in a Church flag or something like that!); mine was a simple acceptance of what I saw clearly in Scripture through Bible study and the Body of Christ course and anointed teaching and preaching down through the years. And it was always plenty good enough to satisfy me! :-) But that night at IYC there was so much power and anointing flowing through me--in a depth I'd never experienced before.

~sigh~ I keep reading and re-reading through this post and trying to express what it is that God did in my heart that night, but I'm falling so short! I just can't seem to latch onto the words that could do justice to it. I know that I felt so humbled again that God could love me so much and speak to me so precisely and clearly, that He would so powerfully and instantly send the answer to my prayers. He confirmed my vision of the Church with a solidity so rich and so deep and so powerful--it all just feels so overwhelming! I've always known that this is God's Church and I've always loved it as such, but I feel like that knowledge and love has been embedded so much more deeply in my soul, like the roots of it have reached down to the very core of my heart and sunk way, way in. And there is such a peace and rest in it! ~sigh~ I love God so much. And I'm so grateful to know His Church and so thankful that He loves me enough to reassure and powerfully confirm my revelation of it. I wish I had the words to express it. But even without the words, it's an amazing experience. :-)

So that's pretty much my IYC this year. It was okay, I guess. ;-) It was fabulous and I already can't wait for next year. Just 325 days to go. Had to look it up real quick since I mentioned it. :-)

Oh, and IYC was fun, too. :-) I always love good fellowship and there was plenty of it there. Amy Anders and Ashley Werkheiser did a GREAT job taking care of the troop of kids (3 Clarksons, 3 Hays, 3 Hornes, and 1 O'Dell) and keeping them occupied. We enjoyed some late night games and laughs, of course, and loved seeing the folks we don't get to see nearly enough. IYC is definitely one of my new favorites after this year. :-)