Passion 2012

How do I even begin to put into words everything that was Passion 2012? I'm anticipating this to be a novel of a blog post, so prepare yourself!

Here's what I came away with after spending four days at the Dome:

1. Hope Church is an awesome community and an awesome family to be a part of. I thought I knew this before, but spending the week with 70ish fellow Hope friends was awesome and reminded me how blessed I am to be apart of this church family.

2. Speaking of family, five people from all over the continent that you find yourself in a "family group" with CAN and WILL become a family to you. This group was the best way to process everything I was learning and experiencing and share what God was showing me and to be challenged and held accountable as well throughout the week and even now that we're back to our lives too. I never thought that five total strangers would become people that I genuinely care about and am praying for and people that I would be totally open with after such a short time, but God knew what He was doing and He orchestrated it all perfectly.

My lovely family group!

3. 45,000 people in one place at the same time all trying to move from the Dome to various other buildings nearby will take a lot of time. And you will make friends with everyone around you while you're squished up against them the whole time. And you will learn patience like you never knew before. And you also will have that patience tried over and over again. But it will all be so, SO worth it.

The GA Dome

4. Yes, slavery still exists. But so does freedom. The issue of slavery and human trafficking is huge and shocking and absolutely horrifying, but God is still sovereign and mighty and righteous in the midst of it all. We are called to love people and we are called to make disciples of every nation and that means we are called to fight injustice in the world in whatever ways we can. Seeing so many college students uniting together in the name of Christ to fight back against injustice and help break the chains of slavey was the most incredible thing. Being able to learn even more about this issue that had already captured my heart and attention was so valuable and woke me up even more to what God is calling me to in my life. He lit such a fire in me to do something not just now, but continually from now on, and I'm daily prayerfully seeking what His will is for me.

5. While there were thousands of people at Passion and it would have been easy to just get lost in the crowds, I came home with so many awesome new friendships that I know will only continue to grow. After experiencing something as amazing as Passion together, how could they not?!


6. Surrendering to Him is beautiful, powerful, challenging, and exhilarating. The few days I was at Passion were the most exciting and eye-opening times, but that doesn't come without the ability to trust in Him and surrender my own plans and own control of what comes next.

7. God has blessed so many awesome people with amazing words, music, lyrics, and messages. The speakers and performers and all the behind the scenes staff at Passion were INCREDIBLE and I'll never forget the messages and songs from those four days.

8. God is God of the whole, wide world, and hearing His name lifted high in different languages is the most stunning and beautiful thing. The world is so much bigger than just the places I've experienced, and it all was made by and cherished by our same Creator.

Basically, Passion 2012=best week ever. But even more that, JESUS is awesome and it was and is all for His name and His renown.

We lift the cross, lift it high, lift it high
We lift the cross, lift it high, lift it high


We raise our white flags, we surrender,
All to You, it's all for You

the start of a new year.

If you've seen my Facebook or Twitter the last few days, you'll know that I'm not a fan of New Years Eve. I don't buy into all the hype and all the parties and promises of resolutions that most never keep. Yes, a new year is exciting. I guess I'm just more the type to prefer staying in and reflecting on the past year and the year to come and not getting caught up in drinking and kissing and freaking out about the ball dropping. But anway. Happy 2012, everyone! Enough with the cynical thoughts about this holiday.

On to resolutions. Everyone makes them. I make them. I constantly am setting goals for myself and making lists and seeking to improve my character and grow more as a person and as a follower of Christ, and this time of year is no different. It is a new year, and with that, comes new opportunities for growth, and I embrace that wholeheartedly.

Here are my goals for this year:

1. Continue reading a verse a day and seeking the truth and application for my life that can be found in the Word. Doing this with Cole and with Kenleigh will be even cooler, as I know we'll all have different perspectives and thoughts to bring to the table, and we'll all learn more through doing it together as we keep each other accountable with it.

2. Work out more. Yes, I know this is cliche. But I know that with the history of my many knee surgeries and difficulties, keeping myself on track with exercising regularly will help my strength and hopefully prevent needing more surgeries anytime soon. I love how I feel when I work out, I just need to keep myself motivated to being consistent with it and I know I'll be more confident and happier all around.

3. Blog at least once a month. I started strong and then seriously slacked off with posting regularly. I have a lot of thoughts going on in my head and getting them typed out more often will help me process my life and stretch myself beyond where I'm currently at.

4. Take chances and be bold. I want to reach beyond myself and step out of my comfort zone. The most growth comes from the things that scare me a little and call me to rely fully on Christ and trust in Him with everything. This year holds awesome opportunities and awesome adventures in Atlanta for the Passion conference, Arizona for spring break, and a summer studying abroad in London. I want to embrace these fully and experience everything God has in store for me in the upcoming months.

5. Love more. I want to humbly, patiently, boldly, unashamedly, consistently LOVE. It's not going to be easy, there are going to be people that I just want to write off and forget about, but God didn't just write me off, He loved me and gave everything for me. If the Creator of the world did that for little old me, I can definitely love the people He brings into my life.

So those are my goals for this year. They'll change and shift with time, but I know that there's power in defining them and putting them in words that I can look back on and hold myself to.

"'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who belives." -Mark 9:23


Happy 2012, and know that all your resolutions, goals, hopes, and dreams are possible if you believe in the Creator of this world and the Giver of life.