I had this scary thought the other day. When you're growing up, you always feel like you're very mature and you have it all together, even when adults laugh to themselves and say "okay honey" and let you feel like you're right. But I have hit this point in life where I'm starting to realize that I really don't know anything. It's like all at once I realized that I have barely any life experience, and I have so much ahead of me that it seems never-ending.
In the moment when I realized this I suddenly had so many worries; both little worries and big ones. Little ones, like am I going to be able to pull off this presentation well? Am I ever going to figure out how to use this audio equipment? Will I do well on my bio exam on Friday? How in the world do you write a resume? And then big, huge, looming worries. Like will I be able to get a job that I want? Am I going to grow to be the person I want to be? Am I going to be able to keep up with all the challenges that scare me right now, like doing taxes or making doctors appointments or an endless list of other things? Because right now they seem overwhelming and I can't possibly imagine how people deal with them on a regular basis.
So when I have these worries, and I start to freak out about them, I remind myself of that post I wrote right before I started college. I remind myself of how terrified I was then that I wouldn't make friends or that everything would be too hard. And I can remind myself that I'm figuring all that stuff out. And yeah things are still hard and terrifying but there's no point in wasting my time being scared.
I've gotten through my whole life so far. There's a pretty good chance I'm going to get through this, too. I just have to stop thinking about everything at one time and take it one day at a time.
Off to make a million check lists so I can feel really great when I finish something and get to check it off the list,
Lisa
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Sunday, January 4, 2015
Passion 2015: A Recap
An arena filled with 20,000 people isn't necessarily uncommon. It happens all the time at sporting events and big concerts and political rallies. What is uncommon is when every single one of the 20,000 seats in the house are filled with people who are there for no other reason than to worship and learn about Christ. And let me tell you, that's a mind-blowing experience.
I went to the Passion Conference in Atlanta, Georgia last year, and it was pretty cool. I went again this year, and it was incredible. This year's conference absolutely blew me away. There's no way I can cover all of it, but I'll get to some of the big things.
So to start out, one of the first things I realized as soon as we got to our hotel in Georgia is that I forgot my phone chord at home. But everyone has iPhones, right? Surely someone in my group would have a chord for an iPhone 5. Nope. Not a single one. Okay, well, I'd just buy a cheap charger at a gas station. Bought a charger. It didn't work. So then I thought, okay, I think I saw a charging station at the arena.
Couldn't find it.
As if God wasn't being clear enough already. It was time for me to focus on Him.
So my phone was dead for most of the weekend. And when I did finally find the charging station I only ended up with about a 40% charge, and therefore left my data off and my screen brightness down all the way unless I absolutely needed to use my phone. And so with that distraction gone, God started working.
And honestly, I have never worshipped like that in my whole life. I didn't have the chance to be distracted by the world wide web that's accessible to me on my phone and I could therefore be entirely focused on the worship, and the messages, and ultimately on God. And the one moment that sticks out in my mind is at around midnight last night, the band was playing a very intimate, acoustic set. And there was this song playing. I don't know what it's called, and I can't find it by googling the lyrics. I don't even know if it's out yet or if it was written just for this weekend. But the lyrics went like this:
"Like a bride waiting for her groom,
We'll be a church ready for you.
Every heart longing for our King
We sing
Even so come."
And the sound of people's voices wasn't blocked by loud drums or electric guitars. Our voices carried, and people sang at the top of their lungs. And I could feel the power and the passion and honestly, it felt like the roof of the arena was going to split open right then and there and Jesus was going to descend from the sky.
All day while we worshiped, I just couldn't stop myself from laughing, and then crying, and then laughing while crying because I was so incredibly overwhelmed by the love of Jesus. I was so filled with joy at being in His presence in such a powerful way that I didn't even know what else to do except sing with everything in me.
Another amazing facet of Passion this year was the community group time. Apparently this has been an integral part of Passion since the beginning, but last year for whatever reason it was left out. Let me tell you, I didn't know what I was missing.
So the community groups were decided by the color of the wristband you got at the beginning of the weekend. Mine, for instance, was red. The Red community group was the smallest, with only about 1,000 people in it. And within the community group, you ended up with groups of about 8 people that became your family group. During the community group time, you and your family group would work through questions about the message from the previous main session.
I don't know how I managed to get such an absolutely fantastic group of people. We had nine people from all over the country, with the only commonality being that we were all born in September. (We found our groups by trying to find other people with our birthdays and somehow all the September people ended up in the same spot.) And during the course of the weekend we unpacked scripture together, we talked about our own struggles, we encouraged and affirmed each other. And over the four sessions I spent with them I feel like I got to know them on a deep level. Even since we left, all of us have been texting each other almost non-stop. I'm pretty sad now, because I know the chances of me ever seeing any of them again are slim. But I am so grateful for their openness and kind hearts.
This Passion trip was changing. I learned so much. My head learned and my heart learned. And I don't think the things I learned are going away like at a lot of events like this where the "Jesus high" wears off once you're back in the real world. And I'm going to pray that I never go back to that world without Jesus.
Another thing about conferences is that you don't get much sleep. Which means now I really need sleep. Which means I am going to bed.
In humble awe,
Lisa
I went to the Passion Conference in Atlanta, Georgia last year, and it was pretty cool. I went again this year, and it was incredible. This year's conference absolutely blew me away. There's no way I can cover all of it, but I'll get to some of the big things.
So to start out, one of the first things I realized as soon as we got to our hotel in Georgia is that I forgot my phone chord at home. But everyone has iPhones, right? Surely someone in my group would have a chord for an iPhone 5. Nope. Not a single one. Okay, well, I'd just buy a cheap charger at a gas station. Bought a charger. It didn't work. So then I thought, okay, I think I saw a charging station at the arena.
Couldn't find it.
As if God wasn't being clear enough already. It was time for me to focus on Him.
So my phone was dead for most of the weekend. And when I did finally find the charging station I only ended up with about a 40% charge, and therefore left my data off and my screen brightness down all the way unless I absolutely needed to use my phone. And so with that distraction gone, God started working.
And honestly, I have never worshipped like that in my whole life. I didn't have the chance to be distracted by the world wide web that's accessible to me on my phone and I could therefore be entirely focused on the worship, and the messages, and ultimately on God. And the one moment that sticks out in my mind is at around midnight last night, the band was playing a very intimate, acoustic set. And there was this song playing. I don't know what it's called, and I can't find it by googling the lyrics. I don't even know if it's out yet or if it was written just for this weekend. But the lyrics went like this:
"Like a bride waiting for her groom,
We'll be a church ready for you.
Every heart longing for our King
We sing
Even so come."
And the sound of people's voices wasn't blocked by loud drums or electric guitars. Our voices carried, and people sang at the top of their lungs. And I could feel the power and the passion and honestly, it felt like the roof of the arena was going to split open right then and there and Jesus was going to descend from the sky.
All day while we worshiped, I just couldn't stop myself from laughing, and then crying, and then laughing while crying because I was so incredibly overwhelmed by the love of Jesus. I was so filled with joy at being in His presence in such a powerful way that I didn't even know what else to do except sing with everything in me.
Another amazing facet of Passion this year was the community group time. Apparently this has been an integral part of Passion since the beginning, but last year for whatever reason it was left out. Let me tell you, I didn't know what I was missing.
So the community groups were decided by the color of the wristband you got at the beginning of the weekend. Mine, for instance, was red. The Red community group was the smallest, with only about 1,000 people in it. And within the community group, you ended up with groups of about 8 people that became your family group. During the community group time, you and your family group would work through questions about the message from the previous main session.
I don't know how I managed to get such an absolutely fantastic group of people. We had nine people from all over the country, with the only commonality being that we were all born in September. (We found our groups by trying to find other people with our birthdays and somehow all the September people ended up in the same spot.) And during the course of the weekend we unpacked scripture together, we talked about our own struggles, we encouraged and affirmed each other. And over the four sessions I spent with them I feel like I got to know them on a deep level. Even since we left, all of us have been texting each other almost non-stop. I'm pretty sad now, because I know the chances of me ever seeing any of them again are slim. But I am so grateful for their openness and kind hearts.
This Passion trip was changing. I learned so much. My head learned and my heart learned. And I don't think the things I learned are going away like at a lot of events like this where the "Jesus high" wears off once you're back in the real world. And I'm going to pray that I never go back to that world without Jesus.
Another thing about conferences is that you don't get much sleep. Which means now I really need sleep. Which means I am going to bed.
In humble awe,
Lisa
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