DTR's are almost as exciting as spiritual warfare!

Hey!

Today was very different than yesterday! But, let me first start with last night!

I went to bed feeling very very sick, emotionally and physically exhausted and ready for a good night’s sleep (even though I had to wake up at 4:30 for surfing). But, as soon as I got in bed I woke up…I couldn’t get my mind to stop thinking and let me sleep! After at least an hour or laying there I finally fell into a half-sleep. Then around 1 o’clock in the morning I woke up to noises. I couldn’t make out what they were so I assumed they were just coming from the room next to me. Then my legs kept twitching and becoming really restless – I couldn’t calm them down enough to go back to sleep and the more I thought about it the more I woke up!

I finally thought to ask God if maybe he was telling me to get up, so I asked Him and the answer was “yes”. Well, I didn’t want to get up – for a few reasons, one because I was scared (LaChelle and I are sleeping in our own room for a few nights so it’s new territory and I’ll admit…a little scary), two because I really wanted to get sleep because of my early morning coming up, and three because I just thought I knew better. So, I rolled over and prayed that God would help me get to sleep – but no luck.

This went on for about an hour – I’d ask God if He wanted me to get up and walk around, He’d tell me “Yes!!!” and I’d make an excuse that it was just my imagination, roll over and force myself to stop thinking. It was miserable!!! I was on the verge of tears and incredibly stressed out! Finally, after an hour of this I eventually fell back to sleep.

I woke up at 4:15 by accident (I thought it was 4:45) but by the time I realized my mistake I was already up and dressed. So, I went upstairs to the kitchen, alone, to make myself some breakfast. On my way upstairs I walked by the front doors (made entirely of glass) and saw that on each one there was a large handprint in the middle of each, and they were all dripping…I thought that maybe it was someone playing a prank earlier that night but then I touched them and realized that they were from the inside!! I immediately ran downstairs and found LaChelle brushing her teeth.

We then realized that the handprints were from oil, anointing oil! (Why does anointing have to be so creepy?!) We figured someone had been woken up in the night and told to anoint the doors so we just waited for Simon (my legal guardian/DTS school leader/ HUGE Samoan guy/official surf-bus driver/awesome person) to wake up and we'd ask him what happened.

So, we all piled in the van (3 of the guys including Jo stayed home b/c they didn't want to wake up, especially b/c there was a high chance of rain) and got ready for a pretty good explanation to our question. Apparently at about 1 o'clock in the morning most of the guys in my school got this feeling that something wasn't right. So, they all met up and decided they should start praying, they had the right heart but didn't really have any guidance as to how or what to do. Well, just so happens that at the exact time they met up outside to pray Jo and Simon were walking around the base making sure all the doors were locked because they both had the same feeling that something was wrong.

With that confirmation they all grabbed a bottle of oil and started anointing every square inch! And, no joke, there was some major warfare that took place! It would take a really long time to tell everything that happened, but just believe me when I tell you that the Holy Spirit showed up and showed off! After about an hour or two of praying and rebuking they all went to sleep.

How weird!! At almost the exact same time that all of that was going on God was telling me to get up...I really wish I would have obeyed. I talked to one of the guys who was a part of the prayer last night and he told me that while he was praying I kept coming up in His mind and He didn't know if He was supposed to pray for protection for me or what, but that He prayed really hard for me.

What a preparation for outreach!!! I was JUST talking to my mom before I went to bed, warning her about how spiritually dark Vanuatu and the specific village of Tahiti will be! She told me "You know, I named you Clancy because I liked the sound of it, but I really think that you're going to step into the real meaning of your name while you're on outreach." My name means son of a red headed warrior, or ruddy warrior like David! I'm bummed that God gave me an opportunity to step into my name last night I just didn't listen. But, I'm so glad I found out what happened, 'cause now I know what to do next time! :)

Well, it's pretty much needless to say that the guys on our DTS are fully prepared to protect us while we're on outreach, from anything!! How encouraging!

I can't believe that with such an exciting night the day could have gotten any more exciting - but, it did!! We went surfing (which was kinda a dud considering it was FREEZING and raining...) and I got a very special and important phone call.

I'm really really really learning a LOT about the power of prayer - both the power of prayer from others to me and the power of me actually speaking out the desires and prayers of my heart. God keeps on surprising me with how sweet He is AND how powerful He is! Oh my goodness, I love it! :) He's making it so easy to trust him! :)

The rest of the day wasn't exciting enough to blog about EXCEPT that LaChelle and I had an official "DTR" (define the relationship) and the verdict is in....we're officially best friends!!! I was so excited when she said it that I accidentally spit orange juice on her...good thing it was AFTER we had the conversation. :) And, Jo and I had a good heart-to-heart, too. I really appreciate having good guy-advice without any side-thoughts, you know?

There's a little bit of drama where one girl is talking bad about me to other people and they're all giving me mean looks. It's hurtful and annoying, but I've been really alright with the fact that as long as I have a clear conscience then I don't really have to care about what they think. But, it's easier said then done! :) I thought that stupid girl stuff ended when I walked across the stage and turned my tassel...but apparently I was wrong!

Well, I'm sure some of you have stopped reading by this point - this is pretty much a novella BUT for those of you truly committed I want to say thank you SO much for prayer!! I really appreciate it, and I KNOW that it is working in my life! I still have hard moments - and hard days - but there is a LOT of comfort in knowing that I'm being thought about and prayed for!

THANK YOU!

G'Night! :)


OH, PS: Just a little observation - this week is our "Spiritual Warfare" week (that's the topic for this week). I don't think that it's a coincidence that all of that stuff happened last night, just a few days before we start on this new topic. So, any added prayer for safety is MUCH appreciated! :)