passion

There are moments in life that I often wish I could slide behind a piece of glass, encompassed by a frame and keep them forever in order to remind me of the things I cherish and desire when my memory becomes too foggy to remember them. I attended the Passion 05 conference in Nasville, Tennessee this past week. I cannot even begin to explain the way that God met me this weekend. Surprises all around... And just when I thought I had received an unconceivable amount of grace from God, He continued to bless my pants off.

For those of you who didn't know that this is where I was headed this past week, here's the story... I have a friend who works full time at a church down in Racine, WI. He is the new leader of the young adult ministry there, and decided to take a group of college students down to the Passion Conference in TN. I have always wanted to attend one, and realized this is the last year I could go due to the age limit they have. So, I asked my friend if I could tag along, and he graciously obliged. So, last Saturday, at 11pm, 20 college age students hopped into 4 vehicles and hit the road. Little did I know what lay ahead...

Most of you know me pretty well. I thought I knew myself pretty well too. I considered myself to be fairly shy. I mean, honestly, my stomach gets tied up in knots when it comes to meeting new people. And here I was going on a trip with a whole mess of people I didn't know. I thought by the end of the week, I would end up being another one of my friend's appendages because I just didn't think I made friends that easily. However, I was blown away by the peace God granted me when it came with interacting with this group, and by the end of the trip, the love He had given me for them was amazing. I was able to reconnect with a girl from high school, and we shared some amazing conversations about things we had been going through in life, and struggles we had faced. Such a great time of openness and honesty. There were a couple of other girls who didn't think twice it seemed to make me feel extremely welcome and included as part of the group. It was awesome to see how God stretched me relationally...

Then there was the conference itself. Most of you know I'm not a huge Beth Moore fan, and she was one of the main speakers, along with John Piper. They were both pretty good, but the speaker who really spoke to my heart BIG TIME was Louie Giglio - the main guy who runs Passion. He was such an amazing speaker, and the things he spoke about totally resonated with me. I would have been satisfied if he had been the only speaker! Then, there was the worship. I mean, how often can you say you sat under Matt Redman, David Crowder, Chris Tomlin, and Charlie Hall within a 4 day period? How amazing is that. The first full day we had, I was baffled by the schedule I had gone through that day. Here was what it looked like:

Morning session: Worship with Matt Redman, John Piper spoke
Lunch
Breakout session: Joshua Harris
Dinner
Evening session: Worship with Chris Tomlin, Beth Moore spoke

The next day was similar - filled with worship with Charlie Hall and David Crowder, followed by a David Crowder concert. Craziness. So much amazing Christian leadership all within a short amount of time. I felt so spoiled.

I think the most amazing part of the weekend though was just the renewed vision I had of God. I had been equating God with things He didn't deserve to be equated with, and forgot to appreciate Him for the amazing God He truely is. It was one of those things where I didn't come away from the conference on this spiritual high, but rather, I came away from it being able to say, "God, You are real, You are active, and You are like none else." I was able to again feel His presence when it felt so distant for so long. And I was able to see Him in a different light, allowing me to love Him in a way I had not been able to in the past.

So, in case you haven't picked up on this just yet, it was an amazing weekend. One I am forever indebted to my friend for letting me tag along on, and forever grateful to God for meeting me there. What faithfulness, hey?
Rock on God.

I leave you with words that Chris Tomlin wrote in one of his songs that has just nested within my soul.
"You see the depths of my heart and you love me the same... You are amazing, God."