Baptized!

Hey everyone!

       I'm so sorry about the extremely long gap of time between the last post and this one. There has been a lot going on and I just haven't always found the time to blog. I hope you guys can forgive me. :)

       I have some exciting news which may possibly make up for the lack of posts the past 3 weeks. I was baptized today! I am so happy! Having it here, at Ellerslie, made it extra special! So today I declared, before the Body of Christ and the Kingdom of Heaven (I rubbed into the face of the enemy too!) that the old Dorothea is dead and I am now a new person in Christ Jesus, who is seated at the right hand of the Father with everything under His feet, and He is in me! What a glorious knowledge! I have access to the throne of the King of kings and sin no longer has even the slightest dominion over me! Thank the Lord for paying the price on that Cross! He shall be ever praised! Oh, how worthy He is!

      I am so dead! And I am so excited about that! I'm sure people think I am insane for that - but you may go ahead and think that. It's Christ who now lives in me. I don't matter whatsoever - it's all about Him! And that brings me such joy!




      I've had a really great weekend in general! It was quite amazing actually. Probably one of my favorite weekends I've ever had thus far. And I am expectant every day now, because I serve an amazing God, who always has something up His sleeves. ;) But when you serve such a God, every day is more incredible than the last.

     So anyway.. on Friday I was in the group that got to go to the Ludy's house in the evening. That was great fun! I loved the decor in the kids' rooms and the entire house actually. I'll probably upload some pics eventually, but I can't do that as of yet since everything that happens at the Ludy's house is kept a secret for those that haven't gone yet. :)

Warning: may only be interesting for girls. ;) ---

     Yesterday we has an amazing SetApartGirl day! That was seriously awesome! It started with a morning walk at 5:30 (that probably sounds really awful to most of you. lol!) during which we watched the sunrise. It was just really neat! We had a lovely breakfast together at 7:30 and individual study time up until noon. We had an awesome "winter picnic" inside (blankets on the floor) and some testimonies were shared by the staff/intern girls.
     On the way in to that we wrote our names on a slip of paper and on the way out we each took one of those slips. The next hour or two were spent praying for and writing a letter/note to that person. I really enjoyed it! Then, up until 5 we had free time. We took some pictures, played a little soccer (at least a few girls), and read.
      At 5 we had a delicious dinner and some more testimonies. Then there was dessert! Oh.. dessert! All kinds of delicious things like banana pieces, strawberries, pretzels, etc. which we covered in chocolate from a chocolate fountain! Talk about yumminess! ;)
      The rest of the evening was spent watch The Hiding Place! Such and incredible movie about Betsie and Corrie TenBoom. I absolutely loved it! :)


      Anyway... I do hope you all enjoy this post. I will try to update sooner than I did this one. :)

                                                            Blessings in Him,
                                                                            Dorothea

First 5 days of Ellerslie!!

       So it’s been really exciting! Right from when I stepped out of the shuttle at Ellerslie, when the young men came rushing out to help all the ladies with their luggage, when I began to meet new people, getting my room settled in, it’s been an amazing time! The stories of how God brought people here and the mutual hunger to know God fully and intimately has been so enthralling. I’ve loved every minute of it, though there was some nervousness to cope with at some points, it’s actually been so easy going.. just about everyone here is so open and full of joy, that it makes it extremely easy to just come up to someone and start talking with them. It has been  a lot of “My name is.. I’m from.. I heard about Ellerslie through..” But hearing everyone’s different stories has been very interesting and everyone is getting the hang of remembering people’s names. I got to know several girls on the shuttle who are now in the same dorm as me, so it’s nice to have people you somewhat know already. Every person is unique and very special in some way, so it’s just an amazing experience getting to know each one.

        So.. just to tell you a little about what I’ve been doing here since I got to Ellerslie on Saturday.. first was the registering, where we got our room keys, a nice letter from Mr. Eric Ludy, a daily schedule, plus a schedule just for the first weekend, password for the internet – which we can use about 3 times a week, I believe – and some homework. These were supposed to have been sent out to us before, but they had been very busy these last few weeks. So the homework is listening to three of Eric’s sermons: Dangers of the Untamed Tongue, The Most Unlikely Heroes, and Christian Work Ethic. Some of us girls in this dorm are planning on listening to them together, so we’ll see how that goes. J

       After pizza dinner we had what Ben Zornes (the student life director) called: The Pre-Orientation Orientation. This being called so is because we had orientation on Monday, but this was just a little something about how to get ready for orientation. He also spoke on keeping all distractions away during this time that will take time away from God. It was a really neat message.

       It was off to bed early for me(between 9 and 9:30), being so tired… Plus, mornings are early here. Some mornings the first thing that I have to be(that’s if I want to be) at is breakfast at 7:15, but on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Friday’s  we have prayer at 5:30, so I think I’ll keep my bedtime around 9:00. J I haven’t really felt tired, even though it’s been pretty busy.

     Sunday morning we had service at 10:00. There are two shifts for lunch and then two shifts for dinner. We have specific tables to be to keep it from getting awkward trying to find a table to sit at. After lunch we had campus tours in groups where we also had pictures taken for our name tags. At 6:00 PM we had the banquet. That was really beautiful. The men had already set up the chapel while the girls got ready and met in the Lakehouse. As the girls came up to the chapel doors there were two men that opened the doors for us. Once in the hall there were another two men who opened the doors to the chapel. Inside these doors we were each handed a few small roses. From there a young man escorted us to the table we had been assigned (we got these at registration) where we had a lovely dinner and lovely conversation.

      So I’ll just touch on some of the specifics of each day.. Monday was orientation in the morning and in the afternoon we had meetings to go through the handbook. The guys in the guy’s dorm and the girl in the chapel (yes, there are more girls than guys). They wanted to get that over with as soon as possible.

Tuesday we had our first real day. After breakfast was corporate stillness, in which you can do whatever you want in the chapel: read, study the Bible, pray, while soft music is playing. It may sound strange, but it’s actually a really special time. Everyone is together, but each is spending time with God. Then there is a short devotion by a staff or intern. Then there is WORSHIP! I really love worship time here. So anyway.. we had our first session from 9:30 to 11:30. After the two lunch shifts are over we have our second session. Tuesday is also my suite mates’ (my roommate and the room next to us that we share the bathroom with) cleaning day. That’s just to do our laundry and clean our rooms.

Tuesday evening is KIDDO NIGHT! That was really sweet! J I enjoyed it. Memory verse, drama, crafts, devotions in groups, worshipping, and lots of playing. Some of us played duck-duck-goose with the kids. I haven’t played that in a long time! Some of the kids warmed up to us really quickly. Avy (Avonlea) Ludy and I were eventually chasing each other around. She’s so cute!! Kiddo Night consists of all the kids that come to Sunday service, since the campus church does not only include the students. I think they said there are normally around 30 kids there.

I’m excited for next Tuesday. This time it was mostly observing, but next week I’ll be able to really participate. We had a meeting today for those who want to be a part of that. I will actually in a drama for the first time. I decided to stick with a small for this, so I will be Pharaoh’s daughter’s maid. My lines, you ask? “Yes, Princess?” Yup… I got those down. I’m really fast at learning my script. ;)

Yesterday was another day basically like Tuesday. Two intense sessions that are somewhat overwhelming and yet so amazing! Time is going by so fast! It’s already been 5 days that I’ve been here! In some ways it seems like I’ve been here for a really long time though.

I’m excited to see the things God will be changing in my in the next 9 weeks! I will try to update within the next week again. Maybe a little more detail on what exactly God is doing in me. Right now it was just an overview of what I do during the day. Tonight we’re having a “Embarrassing moments of Eric and Staff” evening. Now that should be fun! J