The Ichthus Experience

Wednesday morning I got up at 6:30, grabbed my bags and headed to church to have a short Bible study, then drove to Lexington, KY for the Creation Ichthus Music Festival. Little did I know how much fun I was going to have and how much I was going to grow.

Day 1

Day 4

On the first day, my group got there around 10, after talking to the most random people and getting lost several times. I didn't really know the people I was with because I only moved to the church a couple of months ago, so making new friends was really good for me.

If you've ever been to a camp of any sort, you know it's pretty common to connect with people extremely fast and be able to mess around and still get to know each other through deep conversations. I really enjoyed being able to do that.

Newsboys Concert

The concerts were crazy! I saw a whole range of artists from rap, to indy, from heavy metal to contemporary pop and hymns. I loved all of it, and got 2 albums. My favorites were a band called Author and a singer/songwriter named Abe Parker.

I also got a whole bunch of free stuff, but aside from that I bought 2 t-shirts that I love and really want to show you!

On the second and third days it rained really hard and since the festival was held in a horse park, everyone got muddy and gross and smelled of something quite similar to animal poo.
I had to give up my poor green flip flops which did me no good anyway, and battled the rain head on.
Everyone was stationed at a canopy pole in our camp ground during the storm so we wouldn't blow away. I secretly enjoyed the rain because it was cold like back home, instead of hot and disgusting.

God's promise after the storm :)

Saturday was a gorgeous last day. We played Frisbee with strangers and tied dental floss to the legs of one of thousands of June bugs. I couldn't believe that it was already over, and how much I had learned about God through talking to others and hearing music.

A henna tattoo I got for free (before it dried and peeled)

 :) I'm sorry to bore you all to death, so I'll wrap it up. Thank you for reading and hopefully you all have had a blast this week too!

Have you ever been to a music festival?

Devo Monday//Talent

 

This weeks devotional is inspired by the amazing people I met at Aladdin! So talented, and only high schoolers :)
 The verse says "As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace." We all have gifts from God, because we were made in His image. This verse is pretty straight forward about it too.
 Use your talents, whether it be dancing, singing, writing, doing hair, playing football or anything else, use them to show the grace of the Lord in your life. 
Also, doing something you love, to serve Jesus makes that activity so much more fun! Just doing something with the intent to serve brings a ton of joy.
 Have a happy memorial day!

Devo Monday//Representing

Hello! It's Devotion Monday and today I'm looking at how we talk :)

Being a Christian means that we are "not of this world." Different. And it doesn't mean we are always cool. One way I see that a lot is through our speech. When we talk, we need to represent Christ. 2 Timothy 2:16 says "But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness" 

I'm not saying that ALL CHRISTIANS DON'T CURSE AND THEY ONLY TALK ABOUT JESUS THAT'S IT. Because that is not true. We aren't perfect, but we do need to represent Him with our words and actions. 

So next time you have a conversation with someone, specifically a non-believer or new Christian, remember that you are on this Earth to represent the love of Christ. Not to be the coolest person ever. It's really challenging, but we can work on it together :D 
So what do you think? Easy? Hard? Let me know in the comments
Have a great week everyone!

Devo Monday//Relax

"Even to your old age and gray hairs
    I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
    I will sustain you and I will rescue you."

Isaiah 46:4

I really liked this verse that my friend JULIA showed me~ It is saying that when you grow up, and go throughout life, God will STILL be there! So take a deep breath, take a few steps back and see how much the Lord has provided for you. When you trust in Him, dealing with sin and life in general is just so much easier, because you know that whatever happens is for His glory and His plan, and he will rescue you. :) Have a good week

Devo Monday//Friendship

In this day and age, teenagers a lot of times, classify themselves with their friends.

So if you have a lot of friends, you are popular, no matter how good or bad they are for you, or how well you know them. 

That societal norm is rather unfortunate, and it leads countless young people down paths where they would never go if that hadn't had that influence on them... if that makes sense. 

You feel?

I'm not really sure what we can do about it, other than to not classify ourselves or others by popularity, seeing as we're all equal people. 

Aaaaaanyway, Proverbs 27:17 says "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another."

From a Christian mindset, that means that people influence one another, so we should surround ourselves with people who won't influence us to be sinful or tear us down. Instead, have encouraging friends that will help you grow in your walk with God, and you can help them in return. THIS DOES NOT MEAN that you should only be friends with those that share your beliefs. Sometimes to grow your faith you have to be challenged, and besides, you can't make disciples of people that already are. Make good friends, with people that won't hurt you all the time. And remember to have community and fellowship with other believers as well. Christianity is based on relationships with Jesus first, then others. Make friends and make them well :) Have a great week

Devo Monday//Strength

 Hi there! 

>>So I made a new friend during spring break, named Asriel. She has 2 amazing Christian IG accounts ( @all.for.his.glory and @keepingitcoveredandcute) She posts a lot of devotionals along with super cute edits she makes! So I decided to try it out. She also just made a blog that you can check out here. If you don't already know this, I am a Jesus-loving teenager :) 

I don't know how many of you will be interested, but I really enjoy this type of stuff.<<

Isaiah 40:31 says "Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary." 

This a huge encouragement to me as a young Christian. When I read this verse I see people in my life that remind me of this truth. Some of my mentors that I look up to, show me what it is like to have this "new strength". 
What is it like, you ask? Well when I see someone like that, I see a determination to glorify God. They are just bursting to the top with love. But they don't act like they are perfect either. As a Jesus-lover, you recognize that your own strength isn't sufficient. That's why we rely on Him to take care of us, and He doesn't fail. Which brings me back to the verse. "They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary." 
When you trust God's perfect power, you will not be tired of glorifying Him. Of course we are humans and we make mistakes. But the Lord is always there for us :) So take this as an encouragement for the week ahead. When you trust in God, you will gain new strength. 

//What did you think? Any tips on writing devotionals or creating edits?//

Have a great day,

Brenna

Tell the World I'm Coming Home!

Tomorrow morning I catch a 6:50 AM flight back to Washington State with my family and I CAN'T WAIT! I have spent way too much time apart from some of the most important people in my life and I cannot stand not seeing them any longer! 

From church to school to home, so many people have influenced me and made me into the Brenna that moved to Kentucky six months ago, and I am uber excited to show them who I am now. I LOVE YOU PEOPLES

On the other hand though, leaving my friends even for just a week will be pretty hard too, but I see them almost every day ;) I love how they have supported me and been here for me and put up with all my complaining about moving and being a missionary kid, and how I just kept talking and talking about going home. You guys, I'm so sorry, and thank you. 

I'm including some T-Town SWAG so you see a little bit of my home town just in case you've never been there. 

Be on the lookout for new posts of pictures I'll be taking when I get home, and otherwise documenting my trip. :)

IF YOU ARE MY FRIEND IN WASHINGTON I WILL BE HERE ON WEDNESDAY

AND

HERE ON FRIDAY AT 2:30ish

QotD: Have you ever flown anywhere cool? How did you feel when you got back home?