ROCK!!

This past weekend, I had the amazing privilege to chaperon for the ROCK conference with the chapel at A.P.G. The three days there are some that I will remember forever. Right off the bat, the unity was purely formed by the Spirit. The first night we had been there, all the kids and adults were getting to know each other. There were so many different faces and personalities going on this journey together. On the way there, the van I was in was not silent the whole way. Everyone was singing, rapping, talking, and playing GAMES. Yes. Most of these were mind games that were quite a challenge, but it bonded the group so well! After getting settled in at the hotel, we went to the first session. The speaker was Stephen Gallagher, and his talks were amazing. He, being a college professor, uses lots of big words. I was kind of afraid some of the teens wouldn't be able to follow his sermons. But I was most definitely wrong about that. They followed him so well, or should I say, their ears were open to hearing what God was telling them through Stephen.

The next morning, my sister, Imani, and I woke up and watched the sunrise. What a wonderful view of God's love first thing in the morning! Seeing the water tumble onto the shore and hearing it loudly crash. SO beautiful! Through out this second day, the group became more of a family. The cool thing was that, even though we had so many differences between us, there was no fighting going on, no drama between the girls or guys, no bad attitudes, and no laziness. Everyone used their gifts for God to express unity and bring encouragement to their fellow brothers and sisters.

"How good and pleasant is it when brothers live together in unity." (Psalm 133:1)

Our form of transportation was one of the most fun. Every time we went to a session, we had to take the bus. We would wait at the bus stop, sometimes longer than others. While we would wait, though, there would always be a song or a rap or a game going on. This helped there to be few complaints!

After some of the sessions, we would go back to the hotel and talk as a group about our thoughts. What an amazing time this was! The youngest girl, Cammy, said something in one of these times that astounded me. She was asked, "If someone asked you why you're a Christian, how would you respond?" 11-year-old Cammy said that she would say that Jesus loved her so much that He died for her, and that, now, she wants to live for God. Cammy said what many of us know, but not so many of us live out. Her words spoke to me so much.

One of the sessions we went to was all for girls. The speaker was Jenna Lucado, and, I tell ya, she spoke into ALL of us girls hearts. God used her so much! She spoke about how everyone has a "Life Dictionary." She asked questions like this:

How do you define yourself (dumb, smart, popular, lonely, not enough, overlooked, pretty, athletic, fat, "his girlfriend", loved, dirty, forgiven, victim...)?

Who has impacted the way you see yourself?

How would you define what a beautiful "you" should look like?

How do you define your relationships with others - relationships with girlsfriends, relationships with boys, and even relationships at home (full of drama, sarcastic, fun, awkward, loving, stressful...)?

Who has impacted the way you see your different relationships?

How would you define what beautiful relationships should look like?

How do you define your relationship with God (confusing, up and down depending on how I feel, strong, distant, boring, full of life, just okay...)?

Who has impacted the way you look at God?

How would you define what a beautiful relationship with God should look like?

These questions all ate away at us girls SO much. Then, Jenna brought up an interesting point that had never been fully considered in my mind before. She said that the main influencer in a girls life is her father. The light bulb went on...duh! Of course fathers are the main influencer in a girls life! Then she gave many different family life examples that could relate to so many girls in our group. It hit home for me and made me realize how truly thankful I am for my dad. He has helped me SO much. Then, Lucado brought it even farther. She reminded us that no matter what kind of dad we have, not one of them can compare to the love of our Heavenly Dad!

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." 1 John 3:1-3

That evening at ROCK, two of the girls came to know Christ! The rest of the group in some form or another recommitted themselves to the Lord! Salvation came and unity came! And this is still present among us! Praise God! Unity looked like this this weekend:

"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." Acts 2:42-47

We all got back on Sunday not wanting to leave our new found unified family. What an Awesome God we serve!

"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching!" Hebrews 10:25