This past weekend was such an "empowering," uplifting, and absolutely fun weekend. I think I have heard Christina say it was the "best weekend of her life" at least five times, and that was just yesterday. As I always say, the best place to start is the beginning, so that is where I will begin.
Friday-Empowered
We have been pumped up for the Empowered Conference in Nashville, Tennessee at First Apostolic Church for quite a while now. I really didn't know what to expect, but I was totally and completely blown away by the great things God did, especially on Friday night (the conference was Friday night and Saturday morning). First of all, my little sister, Christina, made her debut as the first speaker in a fantastic lineup of preachers. She was witty, straightforward, and was GREAT! It was such a cool opportunity for her and all the other young people because she was able to get on their level and inspire them to reach out to their friends. She has so many awesome testimonies about what the Lord has done for her and how He has used her in her school. I will have to get her to do a guest blog sometime soon!
Saturday-Empowered, Sounds Game, Friends
Saturday morning we headed back to Nashville to the second service of the Empowered conference. It was great. We heard from a fantastic line-up of speakers, including Bro. Petey Tipton, Bro. Todd Fairchild, and Bro. DJ Shoulders. The really cool thing about Saturday morning was the way DJ wrapped the whole thing up. The theme of the conference was, of course, "Empowered" and all the speakers encouraged the students to live up to the power of Christ inside of them and to go out into all the world, etc. But Bro. DJ spoke about how we can be empowered, but still be bound by things in our lives. All the students went outside and wrote the thing that keeps them bound on a helium balloon, and after praying together, we all let them go. It was an awesome, powerful moment.
After Empowered,we went to the Sounds Baseball game and Britt Nichole Concert in Nashville. This was really cool because we got to take a really good group from our church. Almost every family went and a few extras. It was a really good time of fellowship and fun.
Sunday-Church Church Church
Sunday was so good. In so many ways. I have been praying for this one family for weeks now that they would come to our church. They used to come when we first built the church, but haven't been for several years now. After I found some of them on facebook, the Lord really laid them on my heart and I have been after the mom to come back to church. I mean, I have been on her every single week. She keeps telling me she will come, but she has not yet. There are five kids in this family, and I was closer to the oldest two. The third is my sister Christina's age. I haven't spoken one word to him since I have been thinking about this family, but Friday he texted my sister and told her he was coming to church on Sunday morning... and he did. Totally random, but he did. And he loved it. He came home with us on Sunday afternoon, and he came back to church Sunday night and brought his best friend with him. I just know that God is going to use this boy to bring the rest of his family back to the Lord.
Our church has been pushing for growth for months, even years now. We have had seasons of abundance, and (especially lately) seasons where we have felt like we were in the desert. However, just this summer there has been a stirring of revival in our church. We have all felt it. God is about to do something. No, God is doing something. I feel it especially in our Monday night prayer meetings. Last night, we all prayed for a while, but then it got really quiet. I knew that everyone was listening for God's voice. He spoke to many of us. I was thinking about the sermon Granddad preached last Wednesday night about humility and I felt God impress upon me that we're "going to need it" with all the great things He has in store for us. As Tina was praying she heard God whisper, "It's here." How powerful is that?
I know the Lord works all things in favor of those who love him, those who serve him faithfully, but in the past I have been hesitant to believe that for us because I never saw the fruits of our labor. But God's word is true and his promises are yes and amen. And God is awesome. That is all.
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