Reflections from Family Camp: How do I walk in love and honor?
In November 2023, I was able to connect with Impact Connection, a movement among the Vietnamese Americans who have a desire to empower young people to know their true identity as sons and daughters! I was told that transformation begins at their retreats, so I signed up for their February Family Camp. I went there to learn and help, but God abundantly blessed me!
There were 26 churches represented from California, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, South Carolina, Maryland, and more. At the end of the camp, the youth shared their testimonies and my heart was so touched . There was a teenage boy who shared how he had shut down his emotions because of childhood experiences, but when he felt the love of God, he opened his heart again and began to experience the joy of the Lord!
I was also thankful for the opportunities to encourage these college sisters. One of the gals asked me to pray for her on the last night and the Holy Spirit wanted her to invite Jesus into the grief of losing her father when she was 10 years old. In addition to seeing God touch the youth, God met me in a powerful way and I was able to release forgiveness and bitterness words that had been spoken over me in my adolescent years.
Takeaway 1: Jesus can heal me from any and all soul and emotional wounds.
The camp guest speaker, Pastor Ilya shared with the adults and children that when we have trouble honoring a person, it is often because we have been hurt by this person or someone in a similar position. We are only able to truly love and honor the person when we experience the truth and love of Jesus.
If you want to learn more about the emotional healing prayer I received at the camp, you can watch this video. His teaching is powerful. Starting from 42:08, Pastor Ilya leads you through the emotional healing prayer.
Takeaway 2: When you honor a person’s position, you can receive more from the person.
Pastor Mariana taught us when you honor your parent, a child can receive more wisdom. When you honor your pastor, a sheep can receive more pastoring. When you honor your teacher, a student can receive more learning.
I will be honest that there are times I have walked in honor and times in dishonor towards leadership God has put in my life, and yet I have also experienced the transformation from shifting from a heart of dishonor to a heart of honor.
In 2018, I was struggling in this math class at Stanford and in my heart, I started to blame it on the teacher’s ability to teach. As I was developing negative feelings in my heart towards my teacher, this began to affect my actions. I started to lose interest and daydream in class. When I started to falling asleep in class, I knew that I needed to time out and check in with myself. I started to pray for God to help my teacher instead of see my teacher as the “problem.” As I was praying, I started to gain respect and honor for my teacher. Very quickly, I started to understand his lectures and laugh at all his jokes! Even though I was praying for God to change my teacher, I really believe God changed me and my heart. I learned that walking in honor transformed the way I experience life and relationships!
