Well, it has been a couple of weeks since my last blog post. I had intentions to try to post somewhat regularly, and I have been very excited to post about a conference that I had the blessing of attending with my precious friend, Christy. It has now been a week since the conference began, and still no blog post. I loved this conference and came away inspired, blessed, changed and excited to share all about it. To be honest, I feel like there is so much that the Lord is doing in my heart, that I don't even know where to begin. One guy at the conference tweeted that it was equivalent to drinking from a fire hose. So, this may be the beginning of a short series of posts....maybe not even so much for anyone else, but to remind me of what God has been saying and doing in my heart. In the Old Testament, people would build an altar to remind themselves of the goodness of the Lord. In a way, this is my altar....my way to look back and remember the goodness of my God in my life over the past week.
For a while now I have had such a desperation for more of God. I think that in an earlier post, I mentioned that I was specifically praying for vision and passion. I am so tired of complacency. I don't want to waste a moment that God has given me. But, where do I begin? I want to change the world, but there are so many needs to be met and so many people hurting and desperate for Jesus.
In the middle of my wrestling with all of this, Christy contacted me to ask if I would go to a conference with her. She didn't know much about it, except that she felt the Lord leading her to attend. Now anyone who has the joy of knowing Christy knows that she is a go-getter. I so wish I could be more like her. She is warm, funny and kind and has never met a stranger. So, I wasn't too surprised when she called me back to say that she had somehow gotten in touch with one of the event coordinators to ask if this was a conference we should attend. I immediately felt the Lord tugging on my heart to go. Now, if you are anything like me, you are thinking "conferences are always a bunch of hype...you get all excited and pumped up only to come home and forget it all or go back to your old ways a few short days later." Somehow, I knew this was something I wanted to be a part of. We honestly had no idea what to expect or why we were going, but we knew we had to go. Finances were a concern, but the Lord immediately paved the way and even used some dear friends to bless us with a place to stay while in town. Our excitement was growing!
Fast forward to a few days before the conference....chaos began to errupt. I had a major computer problem at work that had to be resolved prior to me leaving and I had absolutely no idea what to do. Christy's family cat escaped from home and the family was devastated. Finances got really tight, we both began to not feel well.....you get the picture. Christy was reminded of a conversation she had with the event coordinator. He told her to be prepared, that the Enemy always attacks right before because the last things he wants is for us to show up, for our hearts to be changed and for us to leave resolved to make a difference for the Kingdom. Well, that was exactly what we needed to hear....we determinded that we were pressing through and showing up if it took everything we had, and boy am I glad that we did.
So, early last week, we made our way to Atlanta for Catalyst 2011. I will share more specifics later, but we had the privilege of hearing from some very influential pastors, business leaders, authors, and normal people just like you and me who are changing the world around them. We worshipped, took notes furiously, laughed along with the two comediennes who opened each segment, enjoyed various concerts, met incredible people from all over the world, cherished the time we had together as friends and stood in awe of what God was doing in and around us.
Words are inadequate to share the joy I have. The Lord knew that I needed some encouragement, and He saturated me in it. My heart is literally exploding with gratitude and love for Him.
Blessings!
No comments:
Post a Comment