I know, I know....

ALRIGHT. I know I haven't updated in over a month and I know that some of you check back often to see if anything new is up.....I apologize for the extended absence. I will TRY to update on a semi-regular basis. I do LOVE blogging, but sometimes I just don't feel like I have anything worthy to share. I was going to try to do a Hunger Games post once I finished the third book......well, that hasn't happened yet (I'm only on the second chapter.....please no one kill me). I did finish the first book in two days, so please don't think that I hate them. I seriously love those books as if they were a part of my soul (kind of.....maybe...), but I just haven't sat down and READ the last book. Maybe it's because I was kinda upset with the ending of the second book......I just wanted to put it down and not even look at it because I was so annoyed. Anyways, as SOON as I finish Mockingjay, I WILL have an official Hunger Games post that will most likely go on and on and on and on and on forever and ever and ever and ever....Amen.
By then the movie will be out (7 DAYS 2 HOURS AND 8 MINUTES FROM NOW!!!!), and I will have more to talk about.

UNTIL THEN.......

Yet ANOTHER Passion update! YAAAYYYY!!!!!
Okay, EVERYONE (and yes, I mean you) needs to GO BUY the new CD that just came out this week!!!! It's called "White Flag" and it has live recordings of all the songs we sang at the Passion conference (so when you hear the crowd cheering, remember that I'm one of those voices!! :D). It's only $10, and you can buy it on itunes or online:

http://268store.com/store/product/852/Passion%3A-White-Flag/

GO. NOW. BUY IT. YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT.

These songs get you so pumped up for Christ and the many truths about Him and what He has done!!! So get your copy, play it in your car, roll down your windows, and sing at the top of your lungs. (Also share with your friends :D)

Have a fantastic week!!!!

P.S. If you aren't planning on it already, go see the Hunger Games on Friday, March 23rd.
May the odds be ever in your favor. :)

Verse of the Day

It's really cool how God works sometimes....He makes it work out where you read just the right verse in His word at just the right time. I had a moment like that this morning, so I thought I would share.


No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

1 Corinthians 10:13


P.S. Listen to this song today too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQHi4Q7eMAo&feature=fvst

PASSION

in photos...

That's Lecrae! :D

in words...

Well, there are no words really. To describe the true Passion experience is impossible. You just have to go and see for yourself.

For now, I will do my best. :)

Passion consisted of 8 main sessions (one on Monday night, three each on Tuesday and Wednesday, then the last one on Thursday morning). Each session included worship sessions led by AMAZING artists like Chris Tomlin, Kristian Stanfill, Matt Redman, and Christy Nockels (some of which are pictured above). All of them were fantastic at leading worship and so excited about praising God!! You could just see it in their movements and the expressions on their faces....they were so passionate about the God they were lifting their voices to.

In each session, there was a speaker (or speakers). The evening sessions were all sermons, and the morning and afternoon sessions were usually about Do Something Now (the movement for freedom for 27 million slaves in the world). They showed a Freedom film in parts that had former slaves telling their stories from different parts of the world. There were also speakers who told us about organizations they worked with that helped free people who were being trafficked. Each one of them had an amazing story and had such passion in their hearts for these 27 million slaves.

All of the 45,000 students in attendance could go to the Freedom stations that were set up around the dome and the Georgia World Congress Center to donate money for the cause of freedom. As I mentioned in my last post, we raised over 2 and a half million dollars. One couple who was at the conference gave $500,000 on their own, pushing our total over the $3 million mark. Our God can do amazing things through one group of young people.

The messages in the evening sessions were all convicting, inspiring, and worth pages and pages of notes. My favorites were Francis Chan, John Piper, and Louie Giglio. Especially Piper. One of my goals in life was to see John Piper preach before I died....or before he died, whichever came first.

Piper's message was spot on. It was all about our freedom in Christ and what that means. It was PERFECT. Absolutely brilliant. In short, he explained how we are born in sin, and when we are saved, God takes our sinful nature and brings us out of that bondage (our slavery to sin) and makes us free. Now since we are still sinful, we can't be perfect. But when we are doing the will of God and have the desire to please Him, God has given us the ability to obey Him and please Him (made us free from sin) and we will experience joy because we are doing what we want to do (freedom) and we are doing the will of God. Now the part that just made me over-the-top excited was how Piper talked about heaven. When we get to heaven, we will be completely, 100% SINLESS. There will be NO taint of sin in our praise to God and there will be no HINT of sin left in our lives. We will be made NEW and our desire will be to please God and to give glory to Him forever. There will be no more sinful world to distract us, and since there is no sin, we will WANT to give glory to Him and we will be FREE to do that forever and ever. This will be perfect freedom in Christ and we will have perfect joy as a result. How COOL is that???

So anyways....back to the conference....

Probably my favorite part of the whole thing was not even part of the conference itself. On Wednesday night, my whole group gathered at our hotel and I asked them to give their testimonies of their salvation. Some of those stories were the most beautiful things I had ever heard. I could pinpoint ways that God had worked in each of their lives before they came to Christ, and I couldn't help but be amazed.

I could keep going, but I think this is long enough already. :) I'll leave you with the charge that Louie Giglio gave us on Thursday morning before we all left.

Wherever you are (high school, college, work, looking for work), don't be constantly asking yourself "What am I gonna do?" if you are in a place where you're not sure about your future. WHEREVER YOU ARE, God has placed you there for a reason and right now it is GOOD for you to be there. And most importantly, be FEARLESS in spreading the gospel in whichever situation you are in. I know that there is at least one person in your life who needs Christ, and they could be 7 days or 7 years from becoming saved....but all they need is ONE person who is fearless who can give them gospel. Just keep that in mind...

One last thing: Please, PLEASE register for Passion 2013 if you are 18-25 years old!!!  It will be at the GA dome again, and this time they are opening more seats. So be sure you check the website for the dates for next year!! (the link is up there under "Stuff you should see")

P.S. Happy February!!

Passion, Resolutions, the Hunger Games, and the End of the World

What's up everybody? Gosh, it feels like the last time we talked was last year or something . . . oh wait . . .


We're only at January 21st, but a LOT has happened this year already! Here's a little summary:

FIRST: I went to Passion--probably the BIGGEST thing that's happened so far. For those who don't know what that is, it was a conference in Atlanta during the first week of January. Over 44,000 young adults all gathered together at the Georgia Dome to worship God, listen to some AWESOME speakers, and raise money for Do Something Now (donating money to organizations that help stop human trafficking). It was the most beautiful week I have ever experienced. I went with a group (pictured below) from the Chick-fil-a where I work.

That large hand behind us was built during the week, and it represents freedom for the 27 million slaves in the world (that's right--27 MILLION, which is more than ANY other time in human history). Our goal was to raise $1 million over the course of 4 days for Do Something Now. On Thursday (the final day), Louie Giglio (he's the one who started Passion) told us that our grand total was $3,066,670. It blew us away. How great is our God!

I'll spare the details, but there's a lot more to tell (and more pictures to post)! I'll probably devote an entire blog post to the Passion conference in the near future. So you'll just have to wait until then to hear the other good stuff. ;)

Second thing (somewhat related to the first), I figured out my New Year's Resolutions! :D I have three this year:

• Most importantly, I want to be FEARLESS in telling others about Christ. I want to spread it around my college campus (which is very big and not a Christian college). I want to give God all the credit and not let myself be puffed up with pride (as in "I love Jesus, so that makes me better than you.")
• My goal is to eat only ONE dessert a week. Just one.
• (Not sure if this is gonna happen, but I will definitely try) I want to have a flat belly by 2013.

These are probably the hardest resolutions I've ever had, but they will all have good results if I stick to them. :D

Third thing that's happened this year: I started reading the Hunger Games. Technically I started them in December, but whatever. The point is these books are the bee's knees. I finished the first book in 2 days and I've got two chapters until I finish the second. They're SO GOOD. I could go on and on and on, but I think I'll leave that for another day since I have more than an entire blog post's worth of stuff to say on the subject.........but I love Peeta. OKAY. That's all I'm saying.

Also, with this being the first blog post of 2012 n' all, I figured now would be a good time to address the "End of the World" thing. Now I just KNOW that you woke up on January 1st and started freaking out because you thought the world was ending, then you remembered it's supposed to happen on December 21st, then you started freaking out a little less than the first time (but freaking out nonetheless). Well, to ease your mind, I found this charming little video by a British fellow with a beautiful smile. Please watch and be comforted (both by his words and his smile):

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to finish those last two chapters....

P.S. You may have noticed a few changes to the blog recently. . . if you have feedback, I would love to hear it. Or read it, rather . . .

New Year's Eve

So. What are you doing on New Year's Eve?

I think you should find a ukulele and a handsome man with a guitar and play this song together.



P.S. Zooey and Joe are secretly married...I just know it.

For a laugh

Just to brighten your day...

P.S. What's the difference between the alphabet and the Christmas alphabet? The Christmas alphabet has no L in it. Ha....haha....

Piano

So lately I've been obsessed with piano music. I don't know if that's just because I'm on break (which has been fantastic by the way), or if I've just been in that kind of mood for the past week or so...but anyway, I thought I would share a few songs that I am learning or want to learn to play.

This first one is a piece I am learning and it is coming along quite nicely. :) It's from the movie Howl's Moving Castle, and it was composed by Joe Hisaishi. If you haven't seen the movie, I highly recommend it. If you have access to a netflix account, you can watch it instantly on there. So go watch it. Right now. But first, listen to the main theme:

It's not quite as hard to play as I first thought...but then again, I think I have a slightly simpler version. :)

This next one is by Balmorhea, a group of musicians that play mainly orchestral pieces (I don't think any of the songs have words...but then again, I haven't heard a whole lot of their stuff). But anyways, the instruments they use complement each other really well and the songs are beautiful. Here is one example (it's called 'Baleen Morning'):

Doesn't that just make you wanna go out on a walk on a rainy day? It's so simple and elegant...I imagine this to be a song someone might play for their wedding march. :) If you want to find out more about Balmorhea, check their website. (Oh, and I haven't learned to play this one...I haven't found the sheet music yet.)

This last one is my most recent obsession. I've been listening to it every day for the past week or so. I found some sheet music for it, so I will begin learning it shortly. I'm so excited! It's from the movie Amelie, a french film that came out in 2001. I've never seen the movie, but it's apparently very good. The soundtrack contains a lot of piano pieces, but this one caught my attention. It's simply the best. Have a listen:

Well, I hope you enjoyed these fantastic compositions. They are excellent background music for reading/writing/studying/life in general. :)

P.S. Christmas is 6 days away...does that freak anyone else out? It snuck up on me this year...