Challenge 2014

This year, my sister Erin and I went on a trip with our youth group to Kansas City, Missouri for a week. It was amazing, life changing, stretching, and moving. I loved every bit of the trip and seeing how God used everybody to do His work and to reach others about his love and mercy.

5,300 + teenagers
1,000 + leaders / youth pastors
39 states + singapore & austraila
7 fantastic speakers
2 incredible bands
vans, buses, and planes

...and we all came together to serve our amazing Jesus, learn about his restoration, reach the community of Kansas City, worship Him with our praise, and come together as the body of Christ to His work. I can't begin to describe this trip to you...It was a "had to be there experience". We did service work like painting houses, picking up trash, and landscaping. We met new people from different states and exchanged jokes about accents from Minnesota, Nebraska, and Texas. :) It was an unforgettable trip because it involves unique opportunities that you can only experience at the Challenge Conference. It's an unbelievable time.

So instead of me continuing to blabber on about it, here's some pictures for you to look at and see if you can gather why you must get yourself to a Challenge conference before you graduate high school. The next one is in Louisville, Kentucky in July of 2016 so make sure you talk to your youth pastor and get you & your youth group there. You won't regret it.

Service projects, playing card games, late night girl talk in our hotel rooms, j-walking because we're too impatient for crosswalk lights, worshiping Jesus with an Irish band, learning new songs with a band from our home state (MN proud), taking too many pictures, swimming, doing prayer walks around the city in 102F heat, meeting new friends, tweeting #ChallengeKC 5 times a day, long bus ride memories, growing more in my faith, and learning more about my restoration in Christ...would not even sum up Challenge but it's close enough. :)

Our youth group also stopped at Adventure Land in Des Moines, Iowa for some amusement park fun after a crazy week and it was awesome!

We serve one amazing God and I'm so excited to travel to Louisville in 2016 as Challenge staff!

Restored.
Live the story. Tell the story.

xoxo,
~Michlyn

Stopping By

Hey everyone,

I know I haven't been around here this summer, but I'm coming back! Life has been crazy and messy and chaotic but in the midst of all that, I've really missed writing. Blogging, especially, is a stress reliever for me because it's something I love to do, it passes time, and it's fun. Plus I have all you wonderful followers who take the time to read and skim through my little blog. :)

What have I been up to? Keeping myself busy as always, there's never too many dull moments in my life. I've been working a lot, babysitting, getting back into shape for volleyball, going to the beach, playing volleyball, drinking too much coffee, had my senior pictures taken, having youth group bonfires, and spending time at home with my family.

Here's a sneak peak of my senior pics - Look around the blog, there's a few more

All pictures belong to Bees Knees Photography - Please don't copyright or steal them. 

This summer hasn't been too crazy and there's still some things I need to do before it's over! I can't believe August is only 10 days away...Time slips away too fast. I recently took a trip to Kansas City with my youth group and that was incredible! (post on that really soon) Still need to do the annual trip to Valleyfair, have a couple more bonfires, and definitely go to the beach more. Unfortunately, where I live, it's not as hot and sunny as I'd like it to be in the summer but when the sun does come out, the beach is a must.

Ok well that's all for now...I hope everyone is enjoying their summer! Get outside, don't scroll through twitter or facebook for very long ;)

Have a fabulous day!
~Michlyn

New Orleans - One Year Ago

Wow. Time does fly. I mean it must seriously grow wings and fly faster than we think.

One year ago today I was stepping off of a coach bus with 42 other students. Pillow and carry-on bag in my hand, best friend and sister by my side, searching for my dad in the crowd of parents.

It was such a journey. An incredible experience. When I look back and see the pictures, read the posts, and watch the videos...I just want to go back. That week was unforgettable. There were some bumps (big ones) but we got through it and glorified God at the same time.

Strength. That's one word I want to use to describe my youth group. We lost our youth pastor around 13 months and now we have a new and incredibly awesome one. But we seriously have been through a lot. Something we always point out is say how "cliquey" or "snotty" we are compared to other youth groups. Yes, there are some weaknesses. Our strength though...literally, IS strength.

That trip transformed the way we saw each other. Whether most of us forgot about it or it washed away...it's true.

And today I'm especially remembering some of the best times of my life! God has richly blessed me with more support, friends, and love than I could ever have thought of. Now for the throwback.....

These pictures bring back so many laughs, hand raising in worship, crazy bus rides, and growing 

in my faith with some of my favorite people on earth!

xoxo,

~Michlyn

P.S. If you want to read more about my New Orleans trip you can start here or here or just watch the video here! 

District Blitz 2013

This past weekend I was out of town with my youth group on our first trip since last July! It was sooo much fun!

Everyone got a long, the bus rides weren't too long, we got to grow more in our faith, and worship our AMAZING God! :)

DISTRICT BLITZ 2013 --- ENCOUNTER JESUS

 Caitlyn & Erin on the bus...headed for the conference!

 

 Beka & I on the bus...on our way!!

 

 Waiting for the conference to start beginning on Friday!

 

In our seats in the balcony

 Chatting...waiting for the doors to open on Saturday night.

 

 Our speaker for the weekend...Brandon Zieske.

 

 These are fears that people wrote down and our speaker (Brandon) painted FREE across it. So amazing!

 The conference and the room was only half full :)

 

 The Neverclaim! This band is INCREDIBLE & SO passionate to worship our Lord.

 

 One night we decided to dress up and then go out to dinner...It was a lot of fun!

 

 A favorite verse that he showed

 Encounter Jesus flame

 Brandon Zieske

 

 The "MC" for the weekend :)

 

Dress up!

 

 Brother & sister on our "dress-up go-out-to-dinner night"

 

 Where we sat in the conference center...left balcony w/ a perfect view of the stage!



It changes EVERYTHING!

 

~Michlyn

2012 Year in Review

Well this year sure has been an adventure!!!

It started out really great and there were some definite bumps in the road.

God pulled me through and lo and behold - a new year is just 12 hours away! :)

Here's my year in review for 2012!

January - I had one of the best nights of my life! Our school's annual Snowdaze Dance 2012 was a hit! You can click here and here to read more.

February - I enjoyed the Valentine's Dinner at our church and then one of our youth group's favorite conferences EVER; Dare2Share!

March - I ventured on an 8 hour drive (each way) with my choir and band from school. We made our way to Chicago for 3 days. Which you can read more about here, here, & here.

April - I took a little blogging break, but still brought you a few pictures from the morning sunrise to showing you Polyvore and my best friend.

May - My family and I celebrated the 8th birthday of my angel baby sister and my other sister turned 14. Another fun youth event was our end of the year party w/ inflatables!!! (school year)

June - In the beginning it was rough. This was probably the worst part of 2012...I shared that we had lost our youth pastor, but were preparing to leave for one of the biggest youth conferences EVER in 4 days!  This trip ended up being soooo amazing! God really pulled through, and I'm super excited to go back in a couple years. I REALLY encourage you to watch the video of our trip right here! :)

(Some clothes I was loving [still am] from Pinterest)

July - This month I finally got a Pinterest! Wooohooo! I absolutely love it! If you want to follow me, you can click on that button in my sidebar. :)

August - I celebrated my 1st blogiversary & my 200th post! My blog has come a long ways, and now I have 44 followers! It's been a great ride so far and I hope to keep blogging for a long time!!

>Here's volleyball, school, and instagram all in one!< :)

September - It was the first full month of my Sophomore year! I love school & seeing my friends! I just hate homework and presentations. haha :) I also started playing volleyball and got an Instagram. Some of you have asked, but I haven't wanted to share yet...Anyway if you want to follow me now you can at michlynk_fisher.

October - This was definitely a break month for me, and I got a lot of sweet comments that people were missing me. So I brought you some pinterest faves, school moments, & a little of my life.

November - I turned 16 this month! I did share though that it wasn't exactly a sweet 16. Since this is also the month of Thanksgiving, I started "Insta-Week". So through Instagram for a whole week, I posted a picture of something I was thankful for. Here is day 1, and then you can just go to the next one from there if you want. I also decided I was going to get a haircut.

December - This month was soooo busy! I can't even believe that it has gone so fast. I'm kind of glad it did though. My sister and I played some powder puff & volleyball ended for me. I also told you some stuff you didn't know about me and welcomed you to the northpole. Since school projects were due, and I had numerous things to do...I took a little week vacation until Christmas break arrived. My best friend Beka & I have been best friends for 2 years. Then I brought you my crazy blessed Christmas!

Here's to another great year ahead! May God bless you in many ways!
~Michlyn

New Orleans Day 7

We traveled through the night, driving through Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee. We arrived in Missouri at about 7 am. Many of us still sleeping on the seats, laying on the floor, talking to our friends, or staring out the window. Our eyes still looking sleepy and our bodies not ready for a busy day yet.

 

Matt wearing 8 pairs of sunglasses - Fun times! :)

Once we ate some breakfast, we met back in the bus for another 4 hours drive to our next destination... Six Flags!! For those of you who have not heard of Six Flags, it is an amusement park. There are several throughout the United States, but the one we got to go to was in St. Louis. The thing was... Friday was 106F outside, with strong humidity. We all had to drink one water bottle before we headed in our small groups. We also had to each have a water bottle, be checking on each other for headaches or nausea, put lots of sunscreen on, and drink even more water.

 

 

*Thanks to Kayla for the Six Flags pics*

It was a great day enjoyed by all, and tomorrow we would all arrive home to our families. God had worked on every single one of our hearts, and we couldn't thank Him enough for the amazing opportunity we gave us. This trip was incredible! A video coming soon of our fun trip... it's just not quite ready. :)

~Michlyn

New Orleans Day 6

It was the last day of the conference. :( It had been one of the best and amazing weeks ever! We learned so much, and grew closer to God in our faith. It was Thursday, and the night before we had been busy packing.

Our room was sooo messy... *ahem* hint: 3 teenage girls.

Erin hiding from the mess :)

Everything had to be packed, and ready to go before we left for the Convention Center Thursday morning. Our rooms had to be checked over, and clean. It was a pretty hectic morning. Even though it was our last day - The gatherings, huddles, food, music, and speakers were all still amazing!!!!! We spent most of our day outside, and we weren't quite ready to say goodbye to New Orleans.

We heard Shane Stacey that night, and he was such a good speaker. He talked about really good topics, and it was a great way to end the week. Plus we got to sing our praises with Kristian Stanfill one more time too.

*Photos by Challenge Staff*

Thursday night, we all gathered in a conference room to go over the plan, and then head on the bus for home.

Good bye New Orleans, we'll miss you!!

Bus adventures and Six Flags tomorrow!
~Michlyn