I just returned from the National Student Conference in Evansville, Indiana. It was amazing. I went to several workshops that really made me think. The trip in itself was just long, and very exhausting both mentally and physically.
Friday we left Greenville at 8:00 a.m. and picked up the other three NC schools in Chapel Hill...we stopped basically every two hours which was absolutely ridiculous, but the fellowship on the way was good =). We stopped in Grayson, KY Friday evening and then got up early Saturday morning to drive the rest of the way to Indiana. Saturday evening Mark Nelson (standingonthedesk.blogspot.com) started the conference out with the thought of "shalom" meaning "peace"--it was really a great sermon speaking on having peace within our relationships. Our relationships with Christians and non-Christians. He also spoke on the verse that says "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me"--everyone seems to interpret that as a very harsh verse...meaning...we have to go to Christ. However the awesome thing is Christ comes to us and meets us where we are...shalom =).
Sunday started the workshops and I went to "Loving Outside the Box" which was really awesome. One of the things that really stuck out to me in this workshop was that America has some of the loneliest people. We are all so closed in, and we bottle stuff inside us...we won't talk about stuff. But we don't look for the lonely and the hurting...those are the poor people along with the homeless. It taught me to watch for the lonely...the hurting...the hungry...the homeless. It was absolutely awesome. People are hurting everywhere. Who am I to judge? I just need to love like Jesus. I also went to "God's Will..debunking the myths" which basically spoke on how our lives are not mapped out by blue prints. We can not say we know what we're doing in our lives...We have to stop looking at the big picture...and trying to figure out our futures...and start living day-by-day. When we look at the big picture we start to focus on ourselves, but when we focus on day-by-day we start focusing on God and his will starts to open up to us. I then went to a workshop called "What does God really think is important" and it basically talked about the emergent church. It was good but went way over my head.
Those were the main workshops I went to...I also went to one about accountability and learned a lot about how to be accountable to people and hold people accountable without making them feel bad, and without making them think it's a court session. Overall the things I learned were great and really made me think. I know God will use me, and already is. We left Wednesday morning, and then our group spent the night in WV. We left WV this morning and made the rest of the trip home this morning. Today I spent a lot of time in thought...chewing on what I learned this week...and kind of having a quiet conversation with God about how he'll use me this year. I had my ipod in, my praise and worship music on, and for the five hour trip home it was me and God. It was pretty awesome.
This was my week...it was awesome and I know those of us who went can teach others also.
While in Indiana I bought a book called "the shack". It is probably the most amazing book I've ever read. It's a Christian novel, but it takes away all the cliche ideas of a Christian novel. It talks about an intimate relationship with God and seeing God's three intity's...when I finish reading it I'll write a post about it and try not to give it away.
