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

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

New Orleans Day 5

Wednesday meant that there was only 2 whole days left of the conference. :( It was also the 4th of July!!

Like every morning, we went to the gathering and then did our huddles outside.

Since it was the fourth of July, after lunch we got to spend some of the day site-seeing! We took a trolley ride down about 6 blocks, then walked through a small town. We saw a cathedral, and the Andrew Jackson statue. 

The bummer thing was, that since it was sooo humid all the time... It would randomly rain for a while, then it would cool down. So after this it started down-pouring and we had to walk six blocks in the rain, getting soaking wet. Oh well, it was definitely a memory. After the rain stopped, we made it to River Walk again. This time we had about 2 1/2 hours of free time to shop! It was a blast!

Fountains outside of River Walk

That night, at the gathering they set up small stations. This is when everyone, all 5500 students could make their way to each station, and do an activity. Here's an example of one.

This was called "The Curtain". The white sheets, were long pieces of cloth. There were 3 of them, and on all of them... messages & prayers FILLED them. It was amazing to see all the praises and prayers being lifted up to our King. Truly incredible.

After the gathering that night, the worship was incredible! Kristian Stanfill (look him up) really knew how to get over 5000 teenagers pumped for Jesus. The room just overflowed with love for our God. :)

Since it was the 4th of July, we got to go see a really small show of fireworks. They had already started them when we were in the gathering, but it was still fun to see. 

Such a fun way to end the night! Plus we were all a little hyper too... haha we are teenagers!

~Michlyn

New Orleans Day 4

This day it was Tuesday! The night before, some girls from the 7th or 8th floor were throwing ice off their balcony. We told them to stop, but long story short they damaged a car. So the Challenge staff made a rule that the balconies were off limits for the rest of the week. We were really mad because we did nothing wrong, and yet something that we enjoyed was taken away from us.

The view of our hotel from the ground.

One Tuesday after our morning gathering and huddle, we met up with the Milaca youth group. We were all going to do a prayer walk together. Unfortunately, our bus got another flat tire and we were unable to and so we waited around in the conference hall for 4 hours just hanging out.

So after we hung around for a while, we all met upstairs and got in groups so we could do prayer stations. Tuesday was kind of a boring day because only half the group was able to do the prayer station, and the other half (which included me, Beka, and my sister Erin) had their own quiet prayer walk.

We know we glorified our God the best we could, because no matter how many glitches there were - It was all to honor Him. :)

Then we had another amazing dinner. Which I just want to mention... that ALLLL of the food was incredible. The people who worked there really knew what they were doing. Such a blessing not to have to worry about what to cook for a large group.


  
Propaganda (spoken word artist)          Kristian Stanfill (singer)                   Emory Colvin (drama)

All the speakers, artists, and Emory (the only actress) were all so amazing!! You could feel the power in their words, and how strongly they felt with every topic they talked about.

But sadly the week was passing way too fast! More adventures coming soon!
~Michlyn