What a busy few weeks it has been… Sorry I have not been doing weekly updates.

A week or so ago, I got very ill. I was constantly throwing up and wasn’t able to eat for 8 days. Went to the doctor and had no idea what was wrong. Finally I began to feel better and was able to eat again. The day I felt better, I just felt a sense of healing and joy over me. I was back to normal. I hadn’t realized how my mood changed when I as sick until I was jumping off the walls once again. So that was a pretty sucky week, although during that week, our teaching was over “Fear of the Lord.” At first, I have always disregarded that saying as I really didn’t understand what it means. I now have a great grasp on that topic and am able to live with Fear of the Lord. To me, fear of the Lord is to honor, respect, and show great awe towards God. This is something we are to live by as Christians and followers of Christ.

Another week of teaching we have had is over “Identity” and who God says we are. Don’t live life by what others say about you… Yea it hurts when someone says something mean about you, but always remember that the only thing that actually matters is what God thinks. A really good song that I highly recommend is called “You say” by Lauren Daigle. This song has been a highlight through the past few weeks as it reminds me of what God says about me. God is longing to have an intimate relationship with you, seek Him! God created us in His own image. We are “little Christs”, so act like it. Do everything in your power to do what Jesus would do. I’m not saying we can’t mess up, we are humans that don’t live in a perfect world. But if you have to think twice about something you want to do but aren’t sure it is the right thing to do, then more than likely God is convicting your heart to not do it. Another thing… Forgiveness is powerful! Stop and ask God, “Is there someone in my life that I have not forgiven?” You need to forgive them! Also, if someone tells you, “I’m sorry” for anything, your first response should be, “I forgive you.” Even if what they did, did not seem like a big deal to you, they were obviously being convicted by God to say sorry and they need to hear “I forgive you” to move on. Always remember, God is always by your side even when you don’t feel like He is there. He is an omnipresent God meaning He is everywhere all the time. I have also been reminded so much to love your neighbor as yourself. We need to do this as God created each and every person. God loves them, and because I love God, I am going to love them too!

We had a teacher this past week named Troy who came and spoke to us about identity. He is a great guy with great wisdom from God. As the week went on, he began to say specific things to students that God was speaking to him about. He then said something to me. He said “there is going to be a pearl of great price for you in Asia. God has something that He is preparing for you that He will reveal to you in Asia and when you see this, you will KNOW. Something great will happen to you in Asia that will change the direction in your life.” I am so excited to see what God has planned for me and how He will show himself in this country! I have truly been feeling peace in my heart as God has been telling me “Your plans for your future are good, but the plans I have for you are GREAT!” I am so blessed with the relationship I have with God. YWAM has helped me understand so much about God and helped me grow closer to Him.

This week we are learning about “The Life of Jesus.” I am getting a better understanding of this by hearing and reading stories from the Bible about Jesus and His life here on Earth and why He choose to come to earth.  I’ve also gotten a really good understanding of the trinity! The trinity is 3 distinct beings with unique roles so committed to loving & honoring each other that they do everything in perfect unity. We are so incredibly loved by our creator! I pray everyday that our society will know who God is and feel that love too!

As we had homeless ministry yesterday, a storm appeared. I got some cool pics.

There is always beauty in the storm!

We also went to an annual event in Madison called “Freak Fest.” It’s a halloween celebration on state street where everyone comes together, dressing in costumes, listen to music, and party… What YWAM does every year is hand out free hot chocolate and hot dogs. It was so fun to bless everyone and show the love of Jesus. I also took a friend and went prayer walking. We walked all down the streets of downtown Madison and prayed for people. I saw things that broke my heart. Relationships that were going the wrong directions, drunk people, women wearing lack of clothes in 40 degree weather, just stuff that was not of God. I expected nothing less but was still sad to see it. I approached multiple officers and asked if I could pray for them as I respect them so much and what they do. They were shocked and appreciated it so much. What frustrated me the most about the whole night is seeing these young people throw away their lives when they live somewhere where they can have it so much better. As I do mission work around the world and in impoverished countries, these people pray to have lives and opportunities these people in Madison do have but waste. It’s frustrating that people in third world countries don’t have much of a choice or option, they just pray to survive, and here in Madison, well America for that matter, they have everything but throw it away to get wasted! As frustrated as I was, I kept on praying and loving them because God loves them!

I continue to grow closer to God everyday! Processing things that I may be struggling with or peace knowing God is fulfilling the desires of my heart! God has great plans for you and He is always with you when you are struggling. You need to surrender to Him and ask for Him. He will then fill your heart with His unconditional love! God Loves You and so do I! Blessings to you all!

By His Grace

Kendra Michael ❤

 

HEY everyone! Hope you all are doing so well! I am having a great time here in Madison. I am continuing to learn more and be challenged everyday!

SO exciting news… I have found out where I will be going in January for my 2 month Outreach Trip! I will be going to a country in Southeast Asia leaving end of December and coming home end of February. I am so excited as this country is truly where God has called me to be His Hands and Feet in. My team is also so amazing! YAY! If you have any specific questions or want to know more details – you are more than welcome to text or call me and I can tell you more.

Another exciting thing going on is my local outreach, which is Homeless Ministry. Every Tuesday, my team and I go to downtown Madison and walk the streets, share stories, hear stories, and pray with and for the less fortunate. It has been an amazing experience, meeting new people, hearing their stories, and telling them how much they are loved by God, whether they accept that statement from me or not, I continue to tell them. Today, we bought pizza and gave it to so many people on the streets. It was a great way to start a friendly conversation. They loved it!

So that’s the main thing going on in my life right now, but staying busy with classes, meetings, worship, local outreach, and so much more! I miss you all so much, and I’m doing really well here! Love you all! Blessings!

By His Grace,

Kendra Michael ❤

^^^^My OUTREACH TEAM!! ^^^^

Oh and here are some fun pics that my friend Mallory took of me.

This past week is a week I will never forget. My faith was challenged, I got to lead worship, and we went on a team bonding trip. SO here we go.

This week we had a teacher who had a whole new perspective on how to believe certain things. This teachers topic was “Nature and Character of God.” So who God is by His choices and natural things. Now within this topic, he brought up whats called the Nature of Reality and what God knows. What He believes (and I respect his belief but may not agree with it) is that God knows all that is possible to know. That God only knows the Nature of Reality. So in other words, God does not know ALL that is going to happen in the future but because He knows us and our personalities so well, He can assume the choices we will make. Now, this is a whole new perspective that I had no idea was such a thing until now. God really challenged my Faith by giving me a teacher who also strongly believed in what he grew up believing. I stand strong to my faith and what I believe, even though this teaching and my belief of God’s ability to know things are different. I believe that God is omniscient (ALL knowing) and He knows all that is going to happen and the choices we are going to make not just because He created us but because He is all powerful and all knowing.

THEN I was asked to lead worship for Friday morning before we left for our trip! I was so excited when they asked me. So I gathered a team. A few people didn’t want to do this right away but I got my best friend Audrey to play the drums… Now we don’t have drums or a cajon so she just sat on the big speaker and kept a beat for me on that. She felt like a dork but I thought it was awesome and helpful. BUT she did buy a cajon knowing we needed one and she has also always wanted one. We should be getting that in the mail today! YAY. Then I asked another girl who I am really growing close with. Her name is Alaina. She can sing and play the ukulele. I thought, “we’ve got a team.” I wanted to keep this first time team slightly small, just to see how it goes. I played the piano and sang and it went so well! We had an hour and a half, I didn’t think we could fill the time but God provided and we did. Prayers were said, stories were shared, and we sang our heart out to God. It was so amazing! I can’t wait to be asked to lead worship or to even just be part of the team again.

Finally we ended the week by spending the weekend at Lake Geneva where we bonded as a team. The place we stayed at was a Christian Conference Camp. It was beautiful and fun. We had camp fires, sat by the lake, played games, ate really good food, and had an amazing race competition. I definitely stepped out of my comfort zone in one of the tasks. Well first, we had to eat bananas (and most of my teammates hated bananas), then we were blind folded and the seeker (me) had to find my teammates by hearing their voice and take them back to a certain spot. Now remember, we were ALL blind folded. This was fun but not easy. We also had to try to get everyone through the spiderweb without touching it. So lifting each other up and trying to get them through the hole. Well that was hard. By the way, every team except mine had a guy in them. SO our team was called “Winning Women.” Lastly, we had to carry each other through swamp. LITERALLY through gross, mushy, muddy, sea-weedy, disgusting swamp. I won’t go into details on the rules of this games but I stepped out of my comfort zone here as I don’t like getting muddy and I hate lakes because I can’t see the bottom and all thats living in it! Can you imagine a swamp… It was awful but we got through it as a team and really enjoyed it too! (I was wiped out by the end of the day, hence my last picture.)

What a week this was. Like I said, it was so fun and challenging! I hope you all are doing well back at home or wherever you are reading this from. I truly am loving it here at the TC (training center) in Madison. I am starting to call it home, although Larchwood will always be home too! Love you all so much! My service here is not great, so I’m not on social media much but you are always welcome to call or text me anytime. Also, Friday night is outreach reveal night where I will find out what my 3 choices are for my outreach trip in January. I will then pray about it and ask God where He wants me to go. I will rank my choices and find out on Monday where I will be going. Thank you for reading! Blessings to all of you!

By His Grace

Kendra Michael ❤

I’ve been in YWAM DTS for 1 week now. This week has gone by very fast and so much has happened. God has already touched my heart and has helped me grow towards Him. On the first day of class, we talked about DTS so I decided to break down what DTS means. Disciple is one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another. Training is the action of teaching a person, a skill or behavior. School is an institution to educate and give discipline. DTS is to accept the love of Jesus Christ and to learn how to grow in Him and serve around the world.

Through this experience, I have met so many people and have made life long friends… and again, its only been a week!!

So my day consists of waking up bright and early for breakfast, having quiet time with God, and worship. Then at 10:00, class begins and goes on until 1:00. The class “style” is through lectures where we have different teachers come in each week teaching us on different topics about God. This weeks topic was about Hearing God’s Voice. How to hear Him and to grow closer with Him by having a strong relationship with Him as well as seeking Him through the Bible. I’ve learned to treat God like He is right there next to me enjoying all that I enjoy and by my side through the struggles. He has really spoke to me in so many ways!! Through nature, people, Him whispering to me, my thoughts, and dreams. God is truly amazing. I can’t wait to see where else He guides me.

I hope all is going well where you are. Thank you for all your prayers. Blessings!

By His Grace,

Kendra Michael

Thanks for joining me! Welcome to my blog!

By His Grace… We are all equal… We are one of a kind… We ALL matter! You are important to the one above! He will never stop loving you unconditionally! Never forget that!

In less than a week I will be taking off for Madison, Wisconsin to start my journey, studying His word and being a missionary! I have enrolled myself in a 5 month program through YWAM Madison called Discipleship Training School. Through this program, I will intensely study God’s word as he leads me across the world to another country for 2 months to be His Hands and Feet! This opportunity could not be more perfect for me and what I am called to do! I ask for prayers as God opens my eyes and heart to what the future holds in the next few months!

Blessings to you all and I hope you stay tuned to what God has in store for me! I will be sharing my journey, experiences, and so much more on my blog “By His Grace.”

By His Grace,

-Kendra Michael