Greetings from the DMC!
The day began as a typical day in the life of an AE girl, pilates performed at wee hours in the morning, followed by devotions headed up by Lauren. I often wonder if we are all awake or just merely sleep walking, and Lauren is the only one with clarity of thought. One only knows. By breakfast we were all full of jitters and nervous groans, because we knew what was coming next. Panic filled the breakfast table. Only by the dreaded word: speech. AHH!! But with God’s help we did conquer, with flying colors actually. Grace said she was rather impressed and even had lower expectations for us. That was rather encouraging to say the least.

It’s amazing to watch God blossom us into effective communicators, so we can go out and influence others for Him. Leadership, Influence and World Changers: that was the topics for our speeches, as well as the theme of the whole week. Every speech was motivating as we realized that what we do and say does influence, whether for good or bad, whether we want to or not. We are all leaders, influencers and world changers!

Excitement is on the rise this evening as we pack and prepare for our team-building camping trip. We’ll be heading out in the morning right after breakfast. Mr. Bell will be the faithful bus driver. You have to feel sorry for him being trapped in a van load of fourteen girls. Although he did state that he was looking forward to our trip.

Please keep us in your prayers as we go on our big, exciting Adventure.

-Erika Walker

As I sit and think, my mind is plagued with questions. Deep questions. Hard questions. Questions as thick as molasses. Questions stacked so high, I can't possible reach the answers, even if I had them. Questions so . . . so . . . I don't know! Let me show you what I mean.

Questions of who I am at the very core; questions of the future, questions of the unknown: why am I who I am? Who am I supposed to be? What will I become? Will it be real greatness or just normality? Will I ever get to change the world or must I resort to the small influence of my family at home?

Questions of feelings, questions of unsure emotions; questions of fears: Will I ever see these friends again? Will I ever get to spend time with Chrissy and Grace? Will I get another chance to experience life with them? Will I ever get to laugh with them again? Is this getting close just to fight the battle of separation?

Questions of past hurts, questions of previous failures, questions of possible future disappointments: Why does home scare me? Is this all to be lost upon returning to reality? On arriving home, will it be worse than before? Are all my good times limited to being experienced at the DMC? Will this amazing life continue or flee with the change of the next season? Will this ever happen again? Is this as good as it gets?

Life must continue despite my private crisis. In fact, it will carry on with or without me. But must I always walk with so little confidence and assurance?

I know You have all the answers, but these uncertainties make living life hard. Give me something God, something to know You have heard my questions and that You will keep them until I am ready for their answers. Give me something Lord, anything! A phrase, a song, a deed, a word. Anything, Lord! Just give me something! What is it Lord?

"Trust."

-Amy Young

Hello Everybody!
Welcome to the AE blog. My name is Rachel, I am 18 years old and I am from Oklahoma.
Well, yesterday was amazing. Mr. Novotny came and talked to us about Dream Teaming. Basically, Dream Teaming is learning how to build an effective team and learning how to communicate with those around me.

Later that night, for team time, we all shared the things that God had taught us the past week. It is so interesting to see how God is working on everyone. Each one of us has a different story to tell but each story has been put together by God. It is absolutely amazing. I can hardly wait to see what god has planned for the future.

Good day to you all! Thanks for reading the AE 17 blog. If you don’t know who I am, my name is Alaina Butler. I’m 19 years old, from northeastern Oklahoma, and an EXCEL 31 graduate.

Today started off as all Friday’s do with an invigorating round of Pilates. Today Grace upped the usual to include leg-lifts and push-ups. Very fun! Now if only it wasn’t at six in the morning…

At nine o’clock, we started off our adventure into the wonderful world of color, aperture, mega pixels, sharpness settings, ISO, principle of thirds, lines, depth and all around becoming better photographers. Mandy Novotny and Whitney Lindsey teamed up to teach us Prize Winning Photography Lite. It didn’t take very long for most of us to figure out things about our cameras that we didn’t know existed, and how to properly use the many settings our little point-and-shoot’s possessed.

After our date with God time after lunch, we piled into a fifteen-passenger van and Grace’s little four-door and it was off to downtown Dallas to take 25 pictures using the techniques we had learned. We split up and teamed off in order to cover more ground and have some more freedom. It was ‘super cool’ as Mandy would say, and Emily Nicholson and I had heaps of fun photographing all over the place. The only catch was that we could ONLY take 25 pictures, and we couldn’t delete any of the pictures that we had taken… no matter how bad they were! The purpose of that was to make you think before you shot, and especially to analyze the image. Taking into consideration how you wanted it to look, and what you wanted to focus on. It worked really well, you think pretty hard when you know you can’t delete something if you don’t like it.

The other goal of the photo shoot was to have a bit of fun with a ‘contest’. If we wanted to, we could take pictures of something that said ‘grand’, something that said ‘spring’, and then a ‘pic-of-the-day’. After that we headed back to the center for another session before supper. We all learned a lot that would have helped us earlier in the day! We also learned about purposefully blurry pictures and how to take them properly, and how to take stop-motion pictures. The other hands-on project was depth pictures. One picture of an object with the entire picture in focus, and another of the same object when only the object was in focus so that the rest of the picture faded into the background. ‘Super cool!’

After dinner we headed out again, this time to Opening Bell, the coffee shop that’s sort of down the street from us. It’s a favorite AE hangout and we went there to get coffee (of course!) and to review and critique the pictures that we had taken that afternoon. We divided into two groups and we’d look at somebody’s pictures and either Mandy or Whitney would look them over, and tell us what we had done correctly, and what would be improved. We had just gotten started when live music started (Opening Bell has live music every Friday) and we had to go out into the hall so that we could actually hear the critique.

I’m not quite sure where Mandy’s team ended up, but those of us in Whitney’s crew settled down in the basement. It was tons of fun! The concrete floor, walls, and ceiling worked together to make some amazing acoustics! Well, it wasn’t very long before all of our prima donna tendencies came out and we were belting out a miriad of songs at the top of our lungs. Oh my word! It was so much fun!

Today was a really wonderful day, at least for me but I’m pretty sure the other girls were having a good time too. The end of today marked the half-way point of our time at the Dallas Ministry Center. We’ve all learned so much, and come so far. It’s been wonderful, deepening friendships that I already had, and making new ones. We’ve become a team. A unit. We’ve seen each other grow. We’ve laughed, cried, and learned together. As I look around at the amazing young women surrounding me, I am so profoundly grateful that God wrote them into this chapter of my life, and that He placed me here “for such a time as this.”

Blessings all and tons of love to my family!

~Alaina Butler

Dear Friends of Advanced Excel,
In the general busyness of life our blog posts got a little backed up. There are two posts for today that girls had written slightly earlier in the week. I think we're back on track now but I wanted to make sure you didn't miss a post. Thanks for supporting our girls!
-Advanced Excel

[Edit: My apologies to our readers and Hannah. This post was written by Hannah Coggin, not Jamie. The name change has been made at the bottom. -Lauren]

Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. John 15:15-16

Thus the day begins as any other, alarms go off, skirts are donned, and half asleep girls stumble down creaking stairs to face the bitterly cold Thursday morning. Once out of the building everything becomes a blur, sights, sounds and smells engulf us. But not for long, we begin to walk and talk amongst ourselves until gradually the group is split. One by one you see them, walking alone, or so it would seem. But we are not alone, we are all walking and talking with out best friend, the one who has called us and loves us for who we are. One who always listens and is there whenever you need Him. And so our day begins.

Cold hands and red faces emerge back through the doors, and we descend down another narrow set of stairs where the rest of our group waits. Some awake and others asleep but all have gathered for the same reason, to begin the day in the word, and encourage one another. Questions are asked and some are answered, but most are left for you to ask your friend, the friend who was not long ago out in the cold talking with you, and the one who is still standing beside you.

Quietly as possible everyone returns to her room, silently scurrying about to make sure everything is in place for the day. Then they sit down with that trusted friend yet again and spend time just getting to know them. Breakfast comes and goes, verses are quoted and papers are gathered for class, all along your friend never leaves your side.

Continually, I find myself talking to Him throughout the day. Asking Him random questions, or just speaking my mind. Voicing my frustrations when my computer would not cooperate during class, or trying to decide on a layout for a presentation. He brought everything together thoughts, passions and a message to share. Not only did He give the message, He included the skills and channel to share it.

Thankfully, it did not stop there; the day has only become better and better. Again we were reminded of the friendship that we have, and how thankful we are for it. Choruses of voices filled the lowest parts of the building, voices singing praises to their best friend, each expressing love in a different way, through uplifted hands and closed tear filled eyes these words rang out sweet and true.

I love you, Lord
And I lift my voice
To worship You
Oh, my soul rejoice!
Take joy my King
In what You hear
Let it be a sweet, sweet sound in Your ear

Have you talked to this friend lately? Are you reminded throughout the day of all He has done? When was the last time you thanked Him? Take time today and remember all that He has done for you, spend a few moments with Him. He is waiting; will you go?

- Hannah Coggin

I am so amazed at the incredible things God is doing in each of our lives. He is truly “busting boxes” wide open! Every Sunday night we have “sharing time”. It’s very rejuvenating to hear the progress of each girl from week to week. It’s also reassuring to see that God is changing and molding us.

As I was writing in my journal during my “date with God” today, I suddenly realized that I had been believing a lie about myself for quite some time. Our Scripture memorization for the last three weeks comes from John 15, where Jesus talks about abiding in him. God used the concept of me abiding in him to conquer that lie. It was very freeing!

In writing class today we learned of the wonderful gift writing is, and how our lives can live on through it and we can impact others even after we have passed. I am so excited and anxious to continue to discover more of God and what He has for my life in the next couple of weeks.

- Erika Walker

Today, for me, was a rather slow day. Maybe it was because the sky was grey and gloomy that I didn’t really even want to get out of bed but I did. Bright and early at 5:35 to get ready for a morning run before team devotions. The run was enjoyable and did help me to wake up some. Later on in the day we had speech class with Grace Gallagher. We took a quiz…..I don’t like quizzes and then we each gave our speech on How God led us to Advanced Excel.

The speech had to be at least 5 minutes long and no longer than 7 and considering that we are being graded for everything in our speech including having points docked for being under or over I was nervous. But my speech ended up being 10 seconds short of seven minutes! I think I did okay though I am not that thrilled with my concluding statement. I am actually very excited about this class though because even though I do get semi nervous before each speech, once I actually get up there and start talking I love it.

We also had our interior decorating class with Kristin Young again. So once more we threw on our scrub worm attire and headed to room 317 to do some painting. I am excited that the room is FINALLY almost finished!! The walls are this beautiful, soft brownish tan. It almost reminds me of a cappuccino. It doesn’t take much to remind me of coffee though. Anyways so we spent most of the day painting and trying to finish up the room. I also got to experiment a little with Wall Magic. It weird how easy it is to make your walls look like they have depth and texture. I have already taken a ton of before pictures and am going to take a ton of after so maybe by chance we will l get some on here.

This week isn’t really even half over but so far it has been really good. God has been really honing in on key areas of our relationship and just taking me far deeper than I really ever thought I would go during my time at A.E. This past week really hasn’t been about dealing with past hurts or lies; it has just been falling in love with God. Realizing that I can take the small day to day things to him and that he really does care about them. I have noticed that as I have been finding myself falling more in love with God and deepening my belief in commitments that I made a long time ago Satan has been trying to stop this and I have begun to really feel his attack against me these last few days as I draw closer to Christ.

I would encourage anyone reading this to just pray for the girls here. As we surrender areas that we used to cling to over to Christ and start to take back the ground we have let Satan control for so long uproar seems to start. There is a battle going on every day, whether you are aware of it or not. The battle is simply this: Satan hates you because you belong to God, and as you strive to give your life to Jesus and you begin to discover the lies that you have been believing, Satan will try everything within his power to destroy you. Wherever you are weakest he will hit and if that doesn’t work he will keep going down the line until he finds what does.

So please pray for the girls here. We have all been discovering lies we have been believing and also realizing the truths that are and have been setting us free. But with that we are now all, at one point or another, going to face obstacles by the devil and doubts that we will have to overcome. So please keep us all in your thoughts and prayers!! Thank y'all in advance and may God bless you with peace and his unfailing joy.

+ Jamie +

5:15 am
Beep, beep, beep . . . Loud and distinct, the alarm clock's undeniable voice broke into my sleep reaching my subconscious mind and encouraging me to roll out of bed. The darkness of the pre-dawn sky did not keep me to feel wide awake. However, summoning my body to comply I sat up and began to get ready for the day.

5:55 am Pilates
Out of our room, across the hall, down the elevator, and into the AE (Advanced Excel) room, all seventeen of us went, gathering in the basement for our early morning pilates session. After clams, the hundred, side teasers, and many more exercises our muscles were ready for a break.

6:30 am Wisdom Search
We got encouragement for the day as we read a devotional called On the Anvil. Then, up to my room I scurried for "presto change-o" and prepared for breakfast.

8:00 am Breakfast
From the kitchen the delicious aroma of Apple Cinnamon coffee cake called us to come and delight our senses by enjoying a piece.

9:00 am Remodeling
Into our grubbies we went in order to tackle the rest of the painting and complete the project we started in room #317. Brushes flew, not one person or brush remaining idle, and we made good progress, finishing the first coat of paint on the trim and restoring most of the hardware to its correct location.

12:00 noon
Lunch, our "date with God," a session with Lauren, and we returned to paint the final coat on the trim.

4:30 pm Life Purpose Planning
We ditched our painting clothes and returned to the AE room for a session with Grace Gallagher. Tired and slightly stressed, we attempted to focus our complete attention on her. Then, from behind her chair she brought forth a treat; Strawberry Shortcake and Chocolate icecream bars! Joy! The sweet, refreshing taste brought smiles to our faces and chased all of our cares away. (Temporarily at least!) Relaxed and happy, we were all able to listen attentively.

7:00 pm
Team Time completed our day. We enjoyed making a cornice board for above the window in room #317, and pestering Kristin Young with questions about interior design.

10:00 pm Lights Out
I crawled into bed. The softness of the mattress and the cozyness of the covers felt wonderful as I began to doze. Wrapped in my Heavenly Father's love, I allowed myself to fall deeply asleep.

Thank you, God, for such a wonderful day!

-Sarah Poss
II Corinthians 3:4-5

Hello!

Well, we’ve been here for 13 days now and I have learned so much I’m not sure where to start. Mrs. Speed came and really seemed to get the ball rolling as far as helping us to break down the walls and become open and broken before God and others.

We’ve also had Mike and Mary Davis from the IMI (International Ministerial Institute) come and teach us this week. They really helped us to expand our vision of who God is and to not just believe everything we hear others say. They taught us to look it up for ourselves in the Bible and ask, “What does the Bible say?” Mr. Davis really helped hit home the fact that Christ lives in us and we live in and through Christ. Without Christ, we can do nothing and through Christ we can do everything.

Today we started interior decorating with Kristin Young. We are fixing up room 317. Painting, sanding, mudding, cleaning, taking off doors, labeling screws for the doors, and taping drop cloths to the floor is what we did today. We’ve definitely been enjoying ourselves!

Please be praying for us as we keep learning about God being open to His work in our lives. Also pray for wisdom and discipline to work on our assignments and for unity of spirit as a team while we grow closer to God and each other.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

-Kristin Stevens

Psalm 147:3

Today started bright and early (or should I say dark and early?) with optional running/walking at Old City Park across the street from the DMC at 6:00 a.m. Our group was a little smaller this morning. Lack of sleep is really starting to hit everyone.

We had our last sessions with Mr. and Mrs. Davis today. They have really challenged us to search the Bible and prove that what we believe is actually scriptural. They have also stressed to us the importance of meditation. One thing they taught us today (which I thought was really neat) is that without Christ we are alone, but that Christ came to the cross to atone. As Mr. Davis said this, he put a line through the “l” in alone on the marker board, and changed it to a cross, making the word atone. He also told us that the word atone was originally “at one,” so that through Christ we are at one with God.

This afternoon we had another altering class with Miss Amy Elam. Clothes are beginning to change shape under her skillful instruction! When she let us out early everyone was excited because we got time to study. Tonight Grace, Lauren, and Chrissy sent us up to our rooms early from our team meeting so that we can squeeze in a little more study time and get to bed earlier. Our assignment deadlines (Monday and Tuesday) are approaching rapidly.

Tomorrow we get to start remodeling. We’re starting out with painting, but I am sure you will hear all about that later.

In Christ,

Lisa Dzimianski, for all the girls at AE

Well, we have had quite a week so far. Last night the tornado warning sirens went off when we were all about to go to sleep, so we all (AE, Excel, staff, etc) traipsed down to the basement to await further instructions. Mr. Bell came down after a few minutes and told us that everything was okay and to go back to sleep. We had all just settled down and were almost asleep when the sirens went off yet again. Another trip to the basement, another declaration that everything was okay, and we went back to bed. We somehow managed to do this all with laughter and make jokes about the stories we can tell when we get home. This made it a rather late, exciting, and (thankfully) uneventful night. The AE girls had the option of not doing Pilates at 6 this morning. Several of us took advantage of this to get a few more minutes’ sleep.

Our sessions with Mr. Davis started at nine this morning. We were all very tired today from lack of sleep, but eager to hear the word of truth. Today we talked about covenants. How they were instigated, what happened in the ceremony, and why a blood sacrifice was so important. We then talked about the New Covenant and how we are in a blood covenant with God, sealed with Christ’s blood. We have greatly enjoyed our time with him, and are looking forward to our sessions tomorrow, which include a question and answer time. Mr. Davis definitely challenges you to examine what you believe and be sure that you are basing everything on Scripture.

We also began the altering class with Amy Elam. We mainly discussed what alterations were needed for the garments that we brought. We’ll start the actual work tomorrow afternoon. At lunch and dinner the AE girls sat with the Excel girls, getting to know them and trying to encourage them. After all, we were Excel girls at one time too. We have learned how important it is to cultivate good relationships and that these friendships will last beyond the 8 weeks.

Our homework assignments are also staring us in the face, demanding our attention amidst everything else that is going on. We never seem to have quite enough study time to get everything done that we want to. Please pray for good use of our time and for mental blocks to be eliminated.

I am personally just beginning to see why God had me come here to Advanced Excel. I needed to know, really know, who God is and who I am in Him, before I could even think of doing any ministry opportunities. There is no way that I could counsel someone who was struggling with knowing God or even knowing themselves, if I had a false idea of it all myself. While I can’t say that I am confident in everything yet, I am beginning to understand far more. I am praying that God will reveal himself to me in new and glorious ways during AE.

Please continue to pray for us, as we pray for y'all too!

In Christ,

Anna McElmurray

For all the girls of Advanced Excel 17

Today was crazy! So much has happened. We had a speaker, Mr. Davis and his wife, come and talk about lies that we as Christians are force fed from a young age and have come to accept as truth. He definitely opened my eyes to some things I may have never thought of before. It was also great to get alone, afterwords, with God and pray to God for discernment and wisdom on everything he talked about. The Lord definitely revealed a lot to me. I am so excited because I am becoming way more aware of God's loving guidance and just how much He love and takes and interest in my life. God is so awesome!

Later on that night, after dinner, we each went back to our rooms to discover a note attached to our door, telling us to grab our money and purses and head downstairs. Everyone rushed about and scurried downstairs to a waiting van. We all piled in and drove to our surprise. A shopping trip! All us girls spent over an hour shopping and laughing our heads off. Oh! And God totally blessed me . . . everything I bought ended up half off! We got pictures and everyone piled once more into the van. We all thought we were going home. Wrong! We headed to Starbucks for a late night yummy, gooey, caramel frappe goodness. So fun!

The excitement didn't end there though. Once we got back we all headed to our rooms and started settling in for the night. Our window was open and my roomy and I glanced at each other confused as a LOUD alarm ring came from somewhere nearby and slowly grew louder. A few seconds later we were told to head to the basement. A tornado warning was in effect. We were in the basement no more than 20 minutes when we were told it was safe to return to our rooms. An hour later, we were once more back in the basement. We were only there for maybe thirty minutes and it was the last time we had to go downstairs. After that we all went back to our rooms to attempt to go to sleep.

All in all, it was a fun and crazy day. I am so excited about what God is doing and about what I'll learn in the next few weeks.
God bless y'all.
-Jamie

Fear and trembling before impromptu speeches, uproarious laughter in the DMC basement, and tearful sharing of past hurts and present freedoms—our experiences the first week of Advanced EXCEL have been varied and unforgettable.

The evening of our arrival we established our class spirit immediately. At dinner we reminisced about outstanding memories of EXCEL 31 and nearly lost a few amused members to hyperventilation. It was a hilarious meal; for my own part, I laughed so profusely I cried.

The following morning Mr. Bell welcomed us, exhorting us to enjoy ourselves, and to preserve a mature manner (at least when the EXCEL girls are watching). This we have endeavored to carry out. Ask the leadership for results.

Our mornings are early. Several minutes before 6 am, we gather in the DMC basement or back entry, bleary-eyed and bereft of makeup, ready to run, walk, or stretch ourselves into alertness. At breakfast we again appear, unrecognizably beautified, ready for morning sessions. After lunch, we have daily dates with God, afternoon sessions, and study time. Our evenings are relaxing and enjoyable. Studying and homework are banned. We read Hind’s Feet on High Places, discuss the day, and work on handwork projects. Personally, I have used up an astonishing quantity of yarn on my crocheted afghan.

Tuesday and Wednesday we received our first writing and public speaking assignments. Thursday and Friday, Mrs. Speed shared with us about lies, fears, and “openness and brokenness.” Saturday, Mr. Ballmann spoke on personal finances, we visited a local coffee shop, and all of us fixed dinner for the training center (burgers and fries).

Sunday evening we had a time of sharing what God had done that week. As every one of us told what God is doing in our lives, the struggles we are experiencing and the victories He is giving, we were struck by how perfectly God had orchestrated the week to touch each of us.

Today in particular (Monday, Feb. 9), we had our second public speaking class. We learned about audiences and gave impromptu speeches to the rest of the class. Grace Gallagher outdid herself coming up with subjects—from cups to dollar bills, to holidays (my own subject J), to handles! We stumbled, laughed, and clapped through the morning. During one of the breaks, we took pictures in our spiffy suits (in speech class we are graded on appearance) in the gazebo.

Over lunch we discussed the importance and value of St. Patrick’s Day. I had, in my impromptu speech, advocated abolishing such an unnecessary holiday, thereby unintentionally broadsiding the approximately eight people of Irish descent in the room, including Grace, my evaluator. (I haven’t gotten my grade back yet. . .) In all fairness, Grace very magnanimously conceded that I had challenged her to reconsider her presuppositions.

After our dates with God, Chrissy Sanborn taught our second writing class. (Lauren made our afternoon by interrupting with coffee, chai tea, and hot chocolate!) Then we descended to the basement and engaged in an hour-longer-than-expected conversation on our identity in Christ. We had to break off for dinner, but it’s a conversation we’ll continue. Dinner, by the way, was magnificent, and the best part, “in my humble but correct opinion” (as Chrissy says), was that we ate outside in the parking lot.

And now here we are in the basement during team time, reading Hind’s Feet and having “light bulb moments” left and right. Every time we back up a paragraph and start reading again, we have to stop and share new thoughts from the same passage we just read. I (the only one with pen and paper) have already filled up almost a whole page of newly-minted quotes for us to remember.

God is doing great things among us, above what we could ask or think! He has freed us from fears, broken lies, and opened our eyes with “the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.” Pray that we continue to be sensitive to His voice and obedient to His will.

God bless you all!

Emily Nicholson, for Advanced EXCEL