Permeate 2015!!

Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD." 

Jeremiah 9:23-24

I have been waiting to post something related to how Permeate went until I could post pictures from it. So this is later than I anticipated. I waited and I waited and cannot wait anymore. These pictures are curtesy of Amber Goodloe who was a special guest this year at Permeate. 

Permeate 2015 started out as it always does with a flutter of new people, old friends, moving equipment and frustrated retreat employees.

But this year there were some major changes. The retreat center had done quite a lot of updating and renovation to the place that affected us. Usually we get a conference room for our leaders' room but this year they were giving us a series of three-two story houses to use. So we housed the band and some additional leaders in one house and used the main room as our leader room. It was a nice change but took some getting used to. 

The girls' side of the retreat center was also in the process of getting a new face and so all the girls' rooms were moved into a new area of the retreat center. This was exciting but also posed some complications for the Permeate Planning Team. The up side to this new development was that there were two hot tubs in the girls' area of the campus. The down side was that leaders had to all sleep in one room where in the past we roomed with some of the girls in our designated small groups. This made the "connecting with our students" part of our job slightly more complicated.

This year we had more students attend than ever before-154!! As we continue to grow we ask for you to keep lifting this up to Father. We want it to be a place where these TCK's can truly meet with Father and connect with one another.

We had a phenomenal band this year. One student commented that one of the leaders would turn into an angel when he began to sing. Our musical team was twice the size it usually is and one of the blessings to me was that one of the band mates was himself a student at Permeate in the past. One of his dreams was to return to give back to something that had made such an impact in his own spiritual walk. 

As if one returning student as an adult wasn't blessing enough, we were doubly blessed because there were actually two returning Permeate Alumni. One was in the band as mentioned above and the other came and volunteered his time as a small group leader. 

Permeate 2015 was the 7th annual Permeate and there were some seniors who had been at all seven. One of our returning alumni had been to all seven and it was exciting to sit down with them and listen to how Permeate has changed as well as how it had changed them. 

As the resident Nurse at Permeate, I get to see a lot of things and this year was no different. As usual we also have a doctor on campus but usually the problems are minor and don't involve him. PTL!! This year things became a bit more complicated when my phone found its way into the hot tub.

One person asked me if injuries were up this year from last and I answered that I didn't think so. That same person said that he felt he just heard over and over all weekend-Do you know where Denise is? Um I need Denise. I told him that it was because I didn't have anyway of anyone getting a hold of me this year.  One young woman told another girl in her small group that she didn't want the ibuprofen that her small group leader had because she heard that Denise had magic pills. I promise anyone who asks that my pills were only ibuprofen or tylenol. I did nothing magical. The same young woman told me personally that I was worth way more than hugs. 

There is nothing like the gratitude of a teenage to melt your heart. 

We had a couple kids who had the 24hr flu and we muchly appreciated all your prayers for them.  They both were able to regain health and rejoin the larger group after rest and water.

Other than physical injuries I was very encouraged and refreshed by my junior high girls small group. Usually it is very difficult to keep junior high girls on a spiritual discussion for longer than a half hour. So imagine my surprise when I had to end our first day's discussion after and hour and 15 min. It was an amazing indepth and passionate conversation regarding-If there is no sadness in heaven will we remember the people whom we loved on earth who are not in heaven? That question spiralled into other questions they had and the girls themselves took turns posing answers based on their own personal opinions as well as some of them using scripture to back their thoughts up. It was so very encouraging. We were very careful to listen to everyone who had an opinion as well as to reassure those who didn't know that it was okay to not know. 

By the last night I was deeply blessed that one girl felt safe enough to share that up until this year's Permeate she had been living her life as a Christian because that was how she was accepted in this community but that inside she had still been an atheist. This weekend though-through the messages shared in the sessions and listening to the discussions something clicked inside her and now she believes.  Please praise Father for this young one and ask that He would grow her faith ever stronger. 

What a revelation to share!!!

A second girl shared that her life is mostly going to school and trying to get good grades and that there is a lot of stress and pressure from her home. She said that she has been listening to everyone this weekend and she thinks that maybe that having Jesus in her life would make her inner self be better.  At the time of sharing she wasn't ready yet to make a choice but she is so close. Please ask that Father would show her His way clearly and help her to see how His burden is light!

These are only two girls from my group of 12 who were impacted deeply. There are several others in my group and in others' group who were encouraged to hold tightly to what they already know and strive to press on-relying on His strength. Some other students who were struggling to know what they believed were touched by the love and faith they saw in the leaders as well as in their peers. 

One thing we would love for you to pray for these kids is that as they return to routines and normalcy they would not loose the enthusiasm and joy of their faith. That Father would ground them in His word and with His love. 

One of my special joys during this years Permeate is that my brother designed this year's Permeate logo. Every year we have a theme and this year's theme was: Boast in This. Up until this year we have always had the same woman design our logo but for various reasons we needed to ask other volunteers to submit options for a logo. I feel very blessed to know several of you how sacrificed your time and energy to submit us logo options. Thank you again!

I was excited and proud that the Permeate Planning Team picked my brother's logo out of all the submitted options.  He graduates shortly from art school and does a great job in graphic design in my opinion.