My Californian adventure ended tonight. Tomorrow, at 8:30 in the morning, I will be going back to France.
It was very hard to say goodbye to the Bethel School of Worship students and to the church. I shed a few tears to be honest. I couldn’t believe it had already come to an end. But it was comforting to know that the next place I was going to was not a place of solitude. I had planned on seeing my SoCal (Southern California) friends for 3 days.
This weekend in Orange County was just amazing. I saw my friends again after a year, I was asked to pray in French to bless Newsong Church Irvine at the end of the service, I had barbecue and crepes in a gorgeous house, I was treated to many restaurants the whole time, and I went shopping, my favorite sport ever! This was an excellent way to end this beautiful experience.
I will keep on posting on this blog, so stay tuned!
Blessings
O…M…G!!! This last week has been breathtaking!!!
It started with 4th of July and the fireworks, and Amber’s birthday at Whiskeytown Lake that was a fun time.
On Thursday, I was offered a painting, a canvas, a magic wand and a necklace (Pictures to come soon). They are all associated with prophetic words: me stepping into my identity and stuff. It’s like God is saying “Seize all the promises I have for you, and run with those, they belong to you”, and man, it feels good! I also had dinner with other students, and it was a very special time for me, because of all the conversations we had, and the love that we showed to each other. I am so blessed!!!
Today, I had class for the last time here, and I spent the evening dancing to Scottish sounds. It was awesome!!! We even had a live band playing. Just the energy and the joy that was there, the life and laughters! Priceless!
Tomorrow is the last day of school, it’s gonna be basically prayers and goodbyes, and even though I really don’t want to leave, I know there is so much more to come! I am super stoked about the future!
I am feeling much better now than I was at the beginning of the week. I have been surrounded by people who cared enough to send me a message, deliver me a message from God, giving me a hug, offering to pay for my ticket back to France or raise money for me to be able to go back to France, praying with me or simply smiling at me. It was such a relief to know that people were there to support me, and to show compassion. It helped me go through the pain of grief and all these mixed feelings I had. Thank God for awesome people!
These last days have been hectic, and weird! I had classes from 10 in the morning to 9 in the evening, so the only thing I felt like doing when I came home was to lie down and do nothing…not even blogging!
Especially since Monday, between two classes in the afternoon, when I was told over the phone that my grandmother was dead. I didn’t expect it at all! So I started considering the possibility of going back to Paris before the end of the school. Problem is, I can’t afford to pay for a plane ticket. But there are a bunch of others reasons why I’d better stay in Redding (including a prophetic word), so I’m staying. It has been rough! Being far away from the family in this tragic hour, feeling sad, feeling powerless, feeling guilty, feeling overwhelmed…
But being surrounded here by people who are so passionate and so thoughtful, who create and nurture a constant atmosphere of worship helps so much. The classes keep being amazing, the teachers committed to equipping us with the best, the fellowship and worship times remain strong. A special thanks to all of them for their help, support, and comfort.
“Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering
Blessed be your name”
Matt & Beth Redman
On Monday night, we had our 90’s skating party! So funny! Unfortunately, as I can’t skate, I tried a little bit and finally gave up…well, at least I tried! Here is a picture of the outfits of the Masters of ceremony, Chris Quilala and William Irvin Matthews. Hilarious!!!!
I really enjoyed Monday and yesterday because they were two days full of emotions, tears, and beautiful encounters. Two fun and interesting days!!!
This morning, we will only have class in the morning, due to the conference that will start tonight, the “Kingdom Culture” conference! This is so exciting!!!
I think me and my roommies are going to have coldstone ice cream in the afternoon. I need to taste and see the goodness of it ;)
I love the fact that each one of my day is starting with sunshine outside, and that everytime I go to school on foot, me and my roommies find a nice person to say “Do you guys need a ride?”! I’m loving being here, amongst other artists, I feel like I belong! And two weeks a half to go! Where does the time go???
So Friday was really awesome! It started with Amber Brooks and David Vallier again, and a talk by Jenn Johnson. And in the afternoon, I took a class on ethnomusicology called “Redeeming a sound”. It was excellent!!! Dan McCollam was the teacher and he talked about the necessity to use our vernacular instruments and music, our tradition. And he explained how the addition of a modern, new sound to the traditional one, enabled us to worship the Lord more powerfully. It was essentially about embracing your identity and making the most of it, and I like that! He also made us listen to songs from all over the world, and there was one I particularly liked in Zulu that was amazing! After the class, I went to the much anticipated barbecue at the Vallottons’! OH…MY…GOSH…!!! The house is so gigantic it looks like one made by Ty Pennington! Absolutely amazing!
And yesterday was shopping day! We went to the mall in Redding. It was a total blast! Me in a mall = me happy anyway! Bath and Body Works! I had missed it so much!!! One endless year without it! So I made up for the lost time and bought ten lipsticks! I feel much better now!
In the evening, me and my roommies had a wonderful worship time in the presence of God. I feel so blessed to have found these two ladies :)
This morning, I went to the 8.30am service at Bethel. It was good! And I’m bracing myself for tomorrow and what’s in store for me this week. Tomorrow night, we have a 90’s party on a skate ring. I’m so glad I found my outfit for this! I can’t wait!!! I wanna see Chris Quilala as a host, and Kim Walker as a DJ!!!
Today is my third day at the School of Worship, and so far, I’ve been loving it!
On day 1, we were led in worship by Jeremy Riddle, one of the leaders here at Bethel, and Brian Johnson told us about having a humble heart. And in the afternoon, Dano McCollam, an amazing teacher, gave a talk about refusing to be intimidated. It was exactly what I needed to hear and when I needed to hear it because I was starting to feel so insecure about my own singing and songwriting talents. I even felt like quitting because I considered I was not good enough for the school. And this talk was really in answer to what I thought. Dano also told us about how unique each one of us is, and how we shouldn’t lose our own sound to try and resemble anybody else. This one really got through to me, so I decided I’d go to all of his classes! I want to find my own song, this is my purpose for my time here. And my purpose number two will be to step up and seize every challenge that God puts my way. I am here to be stretched in my mentality and my perception of myself and of the world.
Day 2 started with MorningStar David Vallier and Amber Brooks leading us into worship, and it was A-MA-ZING!!!!! Then, Jeremy Riddle got to share his testimony with us, and what the heart of worship is. The afternoon was so fun! We did what they called journaling: we had a bunch of magazines, and we had to cut out words or images that were relevant to us and that we felt had a meaning to us, and collage them in our diary. At first, I had no idea what I was doing, but it ended up making sense because a few themes started to emerge. I think I’ll keep doing that stuff when I go back to France, maybe a big collage on my walls! Finally, to end the day, Dano taught us about worshipping bigger than the room: worship that has an impact beyong our little person, beyond the geographical place we’re in, beyond our own realm. Worship that touches the heart of God and transcends the physical world. I really loved this class! It made me realize that my desires in Worship: to see people healed, saved, and to see them manifest signs and wonders, releasing the kingdom of God on earth, that they are perfectly in line with God’s own vision of what worship should be. Once again, it’s all about bringing God’s kingdom on earth!
Today, we’re going to a barbecue at the Vallotons’! They have a gigantic house that is able to welcome half of the students at once (this means about 250 of us). Well guys, I have to get ready for this big day, so more of it later!
I’m so glad I finally made it, and at the same time, I’m having a hard time realizing that I really am here! I mean, I’ve been waiting for months, and here it is. I’m starting classes tomorrow morning!
I took a tiny plane yesterday evening from Los Angeles to come and here I am! It is so hot in Redding I can’t believe it’s Northern California! It was 106°F outside, which is 41°C!
Today, I essentially unpacked, went grocery-shopping, and tried to recover from my nine-hour jetlag…when I think about the other French people who just arrived in America today and are starting classes with me tomorrow, I feel so sorry for them! Jetlag is really harsh on me right now! I feel like going back to sleep and waking up tomorrow! But I need to cook dinner first!
