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Teen
Revivial
God will hold you
By Kalista King & Alexis Minnich
The past two weekends have been incredible, life-changing weekends for
me and many other teenagers who attended Youth for Christ's annual "Go
Mad" conference two weeks ago and for the girls who attended the
"Untangled" girls retreat last week. In my last article, I shared about
Go Mad and the effect it had on me and the other teens who went.
This week, I am going to share about the "Untangled" retreat in which
twelve girls from Darke County attended at Matt Light's camp in
Chenoweth Trails. The retreat was put on by two ordinary teenage girls
who felt a calling to organize a retreat dedicated to untangling
teenage girls from the things that we so easily get too caught up in.
This retreat involved a great amount of time digging into the Word of
God and discovering the truth that the enemy covers up with his
deceitful lies to keep us from the love of God. The girls who went on
this trip, myself included, had a lot of time to reflect on what things
of this world have entangled us and how we can get untangled from them.
We all became very close on this retreat, practically like family, and
there is one girl in particular who I have gotten very close with since
"Untangled."
Her name is Alexis Minnich and she attends Greenville High School with
me as a junior. Alexis made some very powerful decisions last weekend
that will have an eternal impact on her life. As she shares her
personal experience with you, I hope you will remember all the times I
have said, revival IS happening in Darke County! Alexis has added to
our number of fully committed followers of Jesus Christ, and I think
anyone can attest to the fact that she is a brand new creation. This
girl has been radically changed by the transforming power our Lord and
Savior.
Alexis: Hey guys! As Kalista shared, I made a pretty big decision that
will forever change my spiritual walk with God. I was struggling with a
past boyfriend who still had bits and pieces of my heart. I was never
fully wanting to give up my relationship with him, but I could feel God
starting to tug at my heart around the beginning of September. I told
God I wanted to change to further my walk with Him, but still wasn't
ready to give up my relationship with my ex-boyfriend.
As the weeks went by I began to go into a depression. All I thought
about was my ex, and I didn't really have a good relationship with God.
A close friend of mine had passed away in early October changing my
outlook on life. My friend was full of joy and always brought a smile
to people’s faces with just his presence. I realized I was sick of
being so sad all the time and wanted a fresh start.
I refocused my relationship with God and began to enjoy all the things
I had before my breakup. Around that time Kalista and some friends
shared about this retreat with me coming up called, Untangled. I heard
that it was just to get away from relationships, stress at school, and
anything else that was holding us back from our relationship with God.
Agreeing to go was the best decision I had made in awhile. A few weeks
ago I packed my bags not knowing that my life would be forever changed.
We had many great lessons and speakers throughout the weekend. One that
stood out to me though was a message by Mary Riffle called, "When will
my life begin." I had always felt like I was going through the motions
with everyday life. One thing that she said was, "when something is
based on a lie, it begins to tangle you up."
That hit home for me because I was personally dealing with the
entanglement feeling of my ex-boyfriend. I felt like I needed him and
that there would be no one else for me, at least for a while. That was
satan's lie to me. She also said that there was something in our hearts
crying out for freedom and satan would do whatever he could to imprison
you. My imprisonment by satan was holding on to past experiences and
love that I once had with my ex.
I realized that I needed to move on because I wanted my relationship
with God to grow. Mary told us to go into any area of the room and just
ask God, "What/Who needs to go from my life, so that I can build a
relationship with You?" I knew my answer from God already, but I was
kind of afraid to give my relationship up. In the end, I decided it was
for the best.
On the last day of the retreat I made a commitment that not only would
I be saying goodbye to my ex, but that I would be committing a single
life at least until graduation. I wrote out that I was fully committed
to God and that I was His until He was ready to share me with an
amazing guy that loves Him (God) more than me. I had girls on the
retreat sign this piece of paper that I wrote my commitment on to keep
me accountable for.
Right before we left the retreat I called my ex and explained to him
that I needed some time to myself and that I would be needing to quit
talking to him for awhile to clear my heart, so that I could focus on
God. He seemed confused, but understanding. I cannot explain to you the
JOY I felt when I hung up that cell phone. I wanted to scream at the
top of my lungs that I am free and I am Yours FOREVER! I was pumped!
God's presence was there and it was real!
It has been less than a week, and satan has tried to pull me down in
many ways, but for anyone else struggling, you HAVE to stick to His
Word daily and pray to him in your time of struggle. A really good
verse if you are struggling is found in Psalm 34:18-20, "God will
uphold you even if and when you stumble just don't let go of his hand."
Thanks!!
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