passion

it's been awhile since i last posted, simply because i really had nothing to say and there wasn't a lot going on. so i just became silent.

we've been on christmas break for the last two weeks (today was the first day back), which was wonderful. it's always nice to have time off, and being on a teacher's schedule is soo good! these last few days of the break, however, i was at passion. i have never been to passion before, and i really wanted to go this year (strangely, i've never really wanted to go before). just in case you're unfamiliar with it, which i doubt for those of you that i know read this blog, passion is a conference for 18-25yr olds, focused around making God known. the key verse they use behind the passion movement is isaiah 26:8: "yes Lord, walking in the way of Your truth we wait eagerly for You, for Your name and renown are the desire of our souls."

from the passion website:

"passion exists to glorify God-uniting students in worship and prayer for spiritual awakening in this generation....seeks to gather college and university students across the nation and around the world to seek the face of God, asking Him to ignite in our souls a passionate pursuit of Jesus Christ and a desire to spread His fame to everyone on earth...we believe God is calling out a generation of college students committed to the glory of His name in all things. God longs to bring awakening to every campus, mobilizing the students of today to finish the task of global evangelization in this generation. God is calling us out for this purpose, in this moment, for His renown."

i had some friends volunteering for passion, also, who said i could stay with them. my original plan was to volunteer with them, but technically i wasn't old enough to (you have to be 26) and i couldn't be there all 4 days. so, even though i was a week away from being too old to attend, i decided to sign up and attend the conference.

and i'm so glad i did. the speakers (louie giglio, beth moore, francis chan, andy stanley, and john piper) were absolutely incredible and the worship was just as wonderful. 22,000 college-age students (and some who are older) simply learning and worshipping God. being challenged, in thinking, worship, matters of justice, and so much more. 4 days (or, for me, 3ish) of concentrated learning and worship and friend-making.

there was so much said and done to process and remember and so on, so i may have more to say later, but here are some of my favorite moments:

*getting to see steph and annie (and meeting annie's friend becky) and having a chance to spend some time with them

*hearing beth moore live and in person. i love listening to her videos, but i've never seen her live. it was wonderful.

*walking around the city again. oh, how i've missed walking everywhere, but i guess God knew that because my community group was a good 3-4 blocks at least from the arena. plus walking up and down lots of stairs, to and from venues to hotels....and now my body is sore because i'm out of the habit :)

*watching the audience at the lecrae concert...lecrae himself was good, but watching the audience was cool.

*finally sponsoring a compassion kid

*hearing a beliver from china pray over everyone in the arena in chinese (having no absolute clue what she was saying) and then hearing a recording artist from brazil sing "God of this city" in portuguese while everyone else was singing it in english. truly, completely amazing.

*walking from the arenas to our community groups in complete silence. all 22,000+ of us.