Life Is So Good

**WARNING: This post has way too many words and way too many pictures...read at your own risk**

Home Sweet Home…

Oh…where to begin when describing Christmas Break? This break was packed FULL of amazing memories, moments, laughter, and lessons. I truly am baffled at how amazing it was. Every day brought a new adventure full of family/friend time and so much relaxation and laughter. Goodness. Just about as close to perfect as it gets.

My Top 5 Highlights of the Break Were:

1. Mom’s Surprise 50^th Birthday Party

With the help of precious friends, we were able to throw mom a surprise 50^th birthday party on New Years Eve. Goodness, it was SUCH a blessing to be able to celebrate mom in such a big way and be surrounded by friends and family as we welcomed in the New Year! SO much laughter, celebrating, dancing, and storytelling…what a perfect way to bring in 2012!

2. Mom and Dad’s Birthday Extravaganza Evening

In order to properly celebrate mom and dad, we decided to plan a special surprise evening for them full of fun adventures! We went and saw “We Bought A Zoo” (which was adorable!), went out to eat, went ice-skating downtown, and finished the night by chilling at home and watching another movie. Celebrating two amazing people with my favorite people…doesn’t get any better than that.

3. Family Game Nights/Movie Nights

While the break was crazy busy, we still found time to relax as a family and watch movies and play games. These nights were definitely a highlight as they resulted in some hilarious comments and an insane amount of laughter as well as time to be lazy and enjoy each other’s company. So wonderful.

4. Swing Dancing

What did my family decide to do on a Thursday evening? Go swing dancing of course! My goodness gracious, talk about a fun night! After convincing several of our precious friends to come as well, we drove to Covington and attempted to learn how to swing dance…the result was a whole lot of laughter and pure entertainment. It’s amazing how much fun you can have when you don’t care how ridiculous you look. I so enjoyed learning how to swing dance alongside my precious friends and family. Fun(ny) memories were made.

5. Christmas

How I love Christmas time! It truly is “the most wonderful time of the year.” This Christmas was special on several accounts. First, I took the time to read and reflect on the Christmas story from Mary’s perspective. As a teenage girl older than Mary was, I cannot fathom the fear she must have faced and the amount of trust and courage she exhibited. Absolutely amazing. The two songs that touched my heart most this season were “Labor of Love” and “Be Born In Me.”  Both are such beautiful songs that paint a picture of the imperfect night that our perfect Savior was born on. This Christmas was also special because of the recent illnesses my grandparents have endured. This year, I wanted time to stand still so that I could savor every moment I had with my amazing family. It was such a joyful day of celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ and of celebrating life and the countless blessings the Lord continually showers over us.

Passion 2012…

I was blessed with the opportunity to travel to Atlanta, Georgia and be one of the 45,000 18-25 year old students who attended the Passion Conference. My goodness, my heart was broken, my eyes were opened, and a fire inside of me was ignited to live a bold and intentional life in the name of Jesus. It was interesting to go back after going the year before, as my expectations were already high and I already knew what to expect. This year however, was a completely different experience for me. After completing my first semester of college, my heart and mind are in a totally different place than they were as a senior in high school. I absolutely loved having such a different experience this time and am thankful that I was able to relate on a deeper and more intentional level.

Because there was SO much that happened during the trip, I’m going to give my top 10 Highlights of the trip:

1. How Great Is Our God

This was definitely the most defining moment for me at Passion. The lyrics of this song have always touched my heart- throw in languages from around the world AND the African Children’s Choir and you get one emotional Emilee and a whole lot of  “not cold” cold-chills. Wow, words really can’t describe how beautiful that moment was. I wanted time to stand still so that I could watch the amazing moment (and admire the beautiful faces and shining smiles of those precious children) and cry out to our GREAT God.

2. Worship

Amazing. Incredible. Breathtaking. Inspiring. Beautiful. Worship was absolutely phenomenal this year. Having the opportunity to worship alongside thousands of 18-25 year olds and some of my closest friends was an experience that moved me to tears several times throughout the conference. I loved stretching my arms up to the Lord, reaching up to Him like a child reaches up to her father. I love envisioning the Lord with His arms outstretched as well, ready for me to run into His loving embrace. You know worship was amazing when you are physically exhausted afterwards. 

Some of my favorite lines of the songs (that I can remember, ha!) were:

• “We raise our white flags. We surrender all to you, all for you. We raise our white flags the war is over. Love has come, Your love has won.”
• “In my life, Jesus You are the One. You are the only One.”
• “The cross was enough, the cross was enough.”
• “How I love you. Love you, Jesus.”
• “We’ll be that city on a hill burning brightly. We’ll be a light to the world, shining your glory. We’re not ashamed.”
• “The cross before me, the world behind me, I will follow you.”
• “You took our sin you bore my shame you rose to life you defeated the grave and a love like this, the world has never known.”
• “On the alter of our praise, let their be no higher name, Jesus Son of God. You laid down your perfect life you are the sacrifice, Jesus Son of God.”
• “I believe every heart needs a healer, someone to walk through the fire. All I need I have found in you.”
• “It will be my joy to say, Your will, Your way.”
• “Great God wrap your arms around this world tonight, around the world tonight. And when you hear our cry, sing through the night and we will join in your song and sing along.”

3. Teachings

Gosh, I LOVE having the opportunity to learn from men and women who are so on fire for the Lord and who both talk the talk and walk the walk. Each sermon inspired me to dig deeper into the Word and experience the Lord in a new way. The “theme” of each session was about becoming alive again in Christ and boldly proclaiming Him as Lord and Savior. Absolutely amazing.

A few of my favorite points or scripture from the sessions were:

• “Jesus is the majesty among the mess.” –Louie Giglio
• “We weren’t bad, we were dead. But, because of His love we are alive with Christ. By grace, we were saved.” –Louie Giglio
• Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” –Ephesians 5:14
• But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions- it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. –Ephesians 2:4-6
• Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desires of our hearts. -Isaiah 26:8
• “We think God cannot make time for us and has finite abilities, but the reality is we cannot use Him up.” –Beth Moore
• “You cannot be unclean enough to mess Jesus up.” –Beth Moore
• “To be made clean, we have to admit that we are unclean.” –Beth Moore
• “We cannot explain everything about Jesus. Once we can explain, we can master and we cannot master the Lord because He is the Master.” – Beth Moore
• “Be careful of your own heart- you fight for what you desire.” –Francis Chan
• “Satan questions God’s ability.” –Francis Chan
• “Seeing and savoring the supremacy of Christ frees us from the slavery of sin for the sacrifices of love.” –John Piper
• “You cannot make yourself saved.” –John Piper
• “There are two kinds of people: slaves of sin and slaves of righteousness.” –John Piper
• “Freedom comes when we are mastered by God.” –John Piper
• “A light cannot shine where there is not darkness.” –Christine Caine
• Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel. –Ephesians 6:19
• “By not knowing what we want to do, we allow Jesus to come and do His work.” –Louie Giglio
• “Brokenness is the bow from which God launches the arrows of healing.” –Louie Giglio
• “We don’t have to wait for the plans of God- they are happening right now. His plan is for us proclaim His Word…that is His will.” –Louie Giglio

4. Hillsong United Concert- With Everything

Goodness, I absolutely love Hillsong United and worship to their songs often. What did we do at 11:30 at night after having only a three-hour “nap” the night before? Went and worshipped with Hillsong, of course! Sleep was totally overrated. Wow…it was amazing how my absolute exhaustion melted away as soon as the music started playing. My favorite moment of the worship experience was the last song “With Everything.” Gosh, the song was amazing on multiple levels. First of all, it was amazing to look down (from the top balcony) and watch people dance and surrender with arms lifted high and hearts abandoned. I was also moved to tears as I watched men and women sign the line “with everything, we will shout for your glory. With everything, we will shout forth your praise.” My goodness. These men and women, who cannot verbally shout, were shouting from the depth of their souls and proclaiming God as their savior and laying down everything at His feet. This song was also a convicting song for me as I strive to truly give Him everything.

5. Walking in with 45,000 Students

No description is really needed for this other than the fact that it was unbelievably amazing to walk into Georgia Dome and be surrounded by 45,000 fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. It was so humbling to be one of the 45,000. I caught myself scanning over the crowd multiple times during the conference and admired how beautiful it was to see so many arms reaching up to our Father and so many voices singing praise to the One who deserves it all. Amazing.

6. Candlelight Prayer Night/Do Something Now

The “Do Something Now” exhibit and main focus of Passion 2012 was about bringing awareness to, raising money for, and putting and end to slavery. Over 27 million men, women, and children are currently enslaved…that is more than there has ever been in history. During the conference, our generation raised over 3 million dollars to put an end to this injustice. Throughout the week, we had the opportunity to walk through the “Do Something” exhibit and write prayers/scripture on items made by slaves. These items were then taken and used to construct a structure of a hand. On Wednesday night, everyone was given a candle and special instructions to reflect and pray for the men, women, and children that are enslaved and the brave men and women fighting against slavery until midnight and then to light our candles. At midnight, the candles were lit and songs of celebration and surrender began. It was certainly a beautiful scene and one that I will remember for a long time.

7. Triangle Praying

Praying at Passion is absolutely amazing. They believe in praying out loud and in triangles. The first night, I got to pray with Heather and Lauren and loved having the opportunity to surrender together and pray for the Lord to reveal Himself to us in new ways. Tears and laughter were both involved…and it was amazing. Both of these beautiful women are such blessings in my life and I can’t imagine sharing that special moment with anyone else.

8. Lecrae

Well, as many of you know, I'm about as hood as it gets. Word. Okay…maybe not. BUT, one of the highlights of Passion was dancing to Lecrae with my hilarious and awesome friends. I absolutely loved acting ridiculous and dancing like a goofball as Lecrae rapped. So much fun and so much laughter.

9. Van Ride

Van rids are always a highlight for me...so this trip was no exception. It’s not about what you do but who you are experiencing life with. This trip we spent a lot of time in the van, so we had a ton of quality time and opportunities to share stories and laugh together.  I seriously laughed so hard on the trip and made so many memories...too many to even begin to list. 

10. Family Group

I absolutely love that you can be grouped with perfect strangers and have an instant bond because of your shared love for Jesus. My “family” was made up of seven amazing college kids that came from all different walks and backgrounds and were all different ages. It was absolutely amazing to come together and talk about how the Lord was working in each of our hearts and be a source of encouragement and accountability for each other. 

Honorable Mentions (Inside Jokes): Standing in the freezing cold outside of the food court (Mary Did You Know/Mary Had A Little Lamb), staying with Mrs. Nina and Mr. John, sleeping on a loveseat, taking “naps”, Lydia being left and locked in the van after “waking up”, falling in the van and hitting the horn, “offspring anyone?” Varsity, Ben sleep talking/making faces, mermaids, radio show, “my buns are burning”, corny jokes, Chip Bowl, rubbing elbows, “my fingers are tingling”,  "oh my (At)lanta", van mishaps, bottom teeth smile, taco stain, Simon the mascot, “I’m not ashamed”, “that right there, is a crazy feline.”

Goodness, Passion 2012 was a life-changing experience that I am still trying to process and figure out how I can best use the fire ignited within my heart to serve others and glorify the Lord. As I start this next semester, I am excited to see how the Lord reveals Himself to me and uses the passions and abilities He has instilled within me to further the Kingdom. At this point, I am working to hand Him the reigns of my life and surrendering to His will daily and trusting that He will use this broken and ordinary person to achieve extraordinary things for His glory.

“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” –Jeremiah 33:3