Prayer Letter

July 2007

Dear Family & Friends,

I’m getting married!!  Later this month on July 28th, I will be getting married to Mark Ayala, who also works with Long Island Youth for Christ.  He does Student Led Ministries in the South Suffolk area of Long Island.

We have been planning our wedding for 11 months.  And it has been such a long process!  The time, stress, and finances that it has taken to get here has made this year a very intense time.  We have gone through six months of pre-marriage counseling and 11 months of planning with the catering hall, limos, photographers, and florists.  A lot of effort has gone into choosing bridesmaid dresses and tuxedos, wedding favors, and a wedding cake.   

So much to do for ONE DAY!! I never knew how much it was going to take to prepare for our wedding day!  But I know that when our wedding day comes, that it will all have been worth it. 

Preparing for my wedding day and marriage has reminded me of how the church is called the bride of Christ.  We should be preparing ourselves; much like a bride prepares herself for her groom and the wedding day, for the day when Christ comes back for his bride. Spiritual preparation cannot be bought or done at the last minute.  Our relationships with God must be our own and we should always be working on it.  We don’t know the day or time but we do know is that He is coming.  But all of our preparation is worth it- we’ll be with Him for eternity!

It is at times difficult for teens to understand that.  We are living in a world where we can get anything, quickly at any time.  We are able to jump onto the internet to order something which can be on our front steps the next day.  We pull into a fast food drive-thru and they guarantee that we won’t wait in line for more than 60 seconds.  In a culture like this, it is can be hard for teens to understand that our relationship with God is a work in progress.  And that it takes a lot of time to prepare our hearts.  They also can get frustrated if they don’t see results right away.
 
So during the summer, I will be spending a lot of time with students.  These days are so valuable because through a close relationship with them, I can share with them how incredible it is to be a life-long follower of Christ. 

My prayer this month is that we all would continue to prepare our hearts, serve the Lord diligently, and await Him patiently. 

God Bless,
Rachelle Gilles (the last time I use this name!)
Friday Night Live Director