God did something very amazing this morning. I spoke at Chapel to around a hundred or more kids. I was nervous and uncertain about my speech. What did I have to say? I didn't have a dramatic testimony nor was I a dramatic youth group speaker. We started off Chapel with singing praises to our God and King and after that it was my time to take the stage. Before I got up to speak I prayed for God to show me if this was where He wanted me to be and if He was near. I asked Him to use my mouth to tell His Word, that His Holy Spirit would be in me and stir the hearts of the listeners. I started off my speech by introducing myself and jumped into how I ended up in Sebring, Florida from Moscow, Idaho. I told them how my heart was filled with selfish wants, desires, and plans. And how the mission trip changed my life when I visited a poor dying man. How after singing to him and praying over him he told us he wanted to give us something but he had nothing to give, but that he would be praying for us that the Lord would bless me and show me His mercy and love. I realized then and there that I had so much to give but I had forgotten the Lord. This was how my life was changed. My roots were ripped out of the earth and God planted them in Heaven so that the fruit I produced would be reachable to the hungry. I told them that I have given myself and everything I have to Christ. To Him be the Glory!!!
When I finished and Chapel was over two people came over to me and thanked me for what I had said. All I could say was that it was the Holy Spirit and nothing that I had done or said. I noticed a girl I had never met before... she was talking to the girl beside me. I introduced my self and immediately she pulled me aside and started talking to me. She said, "I enjoyed what you said and halfway through your speech God told me to tell you that He knows you, you're in the right place, that He is going to bring you out of your comfort zone to bring glory to Him, that many people are going to come to Christ through you, and that hardships and troubles are in your future but don't forget that I (God) will always be there." She concluded by saying "I was scared to come over and talk to you because I'm only 13, but every time I resisted something pushed me towards you" I started crying because this was exactly what I had prayed for. He has a huge plan for me and He told me so through a 13 year old girl who I had never met before. God has told me that I do have trials and hardships in my future, but He will be there and get me through all of it. Praise be to God! I learned this morning not to underestimate prayer because God does hear and answer prayer. He is my comforter, my king, and my God. As soon as I gave my whole self up to Him and started living my life to glorify God, He showed me that He is there, right beside me. I cannot explain with words what I felt or what I am feeling. All I want to do is praise God!! I keep my eyes fixed on God on His throne and to see Jesus with open arms saying "you did it, you made it, my good and faithful servant"

In His holy and precious name,
Stacey