The Day My Heart Exploded

Today was one of the greatest days ever, my sweet friends.

I want to share with you about our chapel service at Faith that was so incredibly beautiful, overwhelmingly amazing, heart-touching, and Spirit-driven.

For a couple of months now, Coach Skoda (whom I love with my whole heart) kept telling me that soon we would have a “split” chapel service where the boys would have their own service, and the girls would have their own service. He asked me if I would be willing to speak to the precious 7th-12th girls of Faith during that service and asked me to speak from the heart (from where the Lord was leading). And, he told me the overall theme would be about being God's princesses. Of course I agreed and was super excited to share my heart, but little did I know how HUGE of an impact this service and these girls would have on my life.

After Coach Skoda asked me to speak, the Lord started preparing my heart and the message He wanted to speak through me to these precious, precious girls. Immediately, I knew I wanted to express to them just how loved and beautiful they are in Christ.

Fast forward to this morning. I was not nervous at all because I knew it was the Lord's word and not mine, and I told myself that no matter what, I would not cry (because I tend to be one of those that when I cry and talk at the same time, it's more along the lines of gibberish, hehe). 

Funny how the Lord sometimes has a completely different plan than what we do, right? ;) 

As I was sitting with my sweet 7^th grade girls and worshiping with all the awesome ladies (both teachers and students), I felt the tears coming. Worship was so incredibly intimate and beautiful, and the last song we sang was “Oceans” by Hillsong. That song gets me every.single.time.

As I was singing, the Lord and I were having an inner conversation together, and I said, “Alright now Lord, you need to stop all that because you know I don’t want to cry when I get up on that stage…” Guess who lost in that conversation? Hehe. He gently spoke to my spirit and said, “Don’t worry, sweet child. I’ve got this.” "Yes Lord, who can argue with that? Speak through me, Jesus."

Mrs. Bagwell and Mrs. Jester spoke first and brought a Spirit-filled word, and they both did so awesome. The Lord spoke directly through them, and I know they both touched my heart and the hearts of those girls sitting in the audience.

After they finished and I began my walk up to the stage, I was chanting on the inside, “DON’T CRY, CLAIRE, DON’T DO IT! STICK TO THE PLAN, HOMEGIRL.” As soon as my feet hit that stage and I looked out to those beautiful faces sitting in the audience, I lost it. It wasn't nerves that was getting to me. . . I was just so completely overwhelmed with how many hearts in that audience were hurting because of things Satan was trying to use to tear them down: broken relationships, abuse, neglect, negativity, making them think they are not beautiful or loved, and so on and so forth. I so desperately wanted them to take hold of the beauty and love they have in Christ Jesus and how much He adores them from the inside out.

I am so thankful the Lord allowed me to share His word for those precious ladies. Each person that spoke in the service pointed those sweet ladies to Jesus and reminded them that they are precious daughters of the one true King. Each and every one of them is His princess whom He loves SO much that He died on the cross to protect her from the enemy. There is no greater love story than that. Praise God that He loved us enough to sacrifice His only begotten Son for our sins and transgressions. Hallelujah and amen.

To round out this beautiful service, two of our Godly male teachers at Faith, Coach Skoda and Mr. Smith, had a wonderful idea. They purchased beautiful crowns for each and every 7^th-12^th grade girl. To make this so incredibly special, Coach Skoda had the 11^th and 12^th grade girls choose 30 or so “Men of Honor” from the junior and senior class. These awesome fellas dressed up so nicely in their ties, and they individually escorted each girl, starting with the seniors, to the front of the sanctuary where all of the female teachers awaited to crown them. Each girl could choose which teacher she wanted to be crowned by, and the men of honor escorted them to be crowned. This happened for every single girl in that sanctuary.

It was beautiful. It was overwhelming. It was God showing His princesses how much they are loved and how beautiful they are in His image.

I don’t think there was a dry eye in the House. Praise be to Him. 

If you’re still reading, YOU ARE AWESOME and are to be applauded because I have one more quick story that I want to share. J

So, as if this was not enough to make my heart completely explode with love and joy, I had another Spirit-filled time in the presence of the Lord at First Wednesday at South Coast Church tonight. Worship, communion, prayer, the Word… and that was all in the first 30 minutes. And then, Pastor John brought a word directly from the Lord that has already changed me.

His message was on spiritual warfare. In essence, we are spiritual beings in a spiritual realm fighting a continuous spiritual battle.

I think we can all agree that the world we live in has become a pretty dark place. Satan tries to use every open door, every vulnerable place in our lives, to sneak in and steal, kill, and destroy. After all, that’s his sole purpose in life. He wants to do everything he can to tear us away from our Creator and the abundant life God has for us.

This message really spoke to me because you know what? I’m tired of Satan trying to mess things up. Not only am I tired of him trying to mess with me, I’m tired of him trying to mess with my loved ones, my friends, my coworkers, my students; I’m tired of him trying to mess with YOU.

So, how can we walk in authority and defeat darkness and Satan? Pastor John beautifully laid it out in a way easy to understand:

1. Submit yourself to God. We are only as powerful over darkness as our relationship with the One who gives us that power.
2. Close any open doors in your life. Don’t let the choices we make each day open us up to the enemy.
3. Take a stand against the enemy. Rebuke him in the name of Jesus (It’s so powerful, y’all!)

I for one want to live in the authority and power I have through Jesus Christ. I’m tired of sitting back in my comfort zone watching as people all around me are broken and lost and desperately need Jesus. I want to stand strong through His Word and reach people for His Kingdom -- from every thought in my head to every word out of my mouth to every action I make. I want others to see Jesus in me, through me, and all around me. Jesus, I want more of You and less me. Lead me where my trust is without borders, where my faith will be made stronger in the Presence of You, my sweet Savior.

My sweet friends who've stuck with me through a very long blog post: 

Thank you for reading and for listening to my heart. Will you pray for me -- that I can be bold in sharing Jesus with those who need Him so desperately? Can I pray for you in return? 

Can we make darkness and Satan flee in the Light of our Savior?

I think we can. No, I know we can.

You are loved. You are cherished. You are prayed for. You are His.

 Love & Blessings,
Claire

💚