YC 2007!!!!

Well, it was awesome to say the least and it was exactly what I needed (in fact, a number of people we went with have said that same thing). God works. God cares. God is bigger than we think- bigger than we give him credit for. I know I will never remember all of the words said this past weekend- but one thing resounds and it said something like don't let the facts of life rule over the truth in your life. Ei: you could be having a really hard time, so the fact is that life sucks right now. But the truth is, God is with you and loves you through it. Fact is you may be hurting, but the truth is that God not only feels your pain, but heals it too. Or, you may think you have life under control but the truth is that God is the one in control of all things. I don't know if this makes sense to you, my readers, but it made sense to me. I need to remind myself of the truth and live by that, not by the facts surrounding me in my situation. And I need to remember that God loves us close. He loves us deeply.

There was a story told about a baby and how everyone loves babies b/c they are so cute, until they get stinky and then people are revolted and hand them back to their mothers, but the mothers don't hold them at a distance and try to love them from there, they hold their babies close and cuddle them and love them and change them when they need it. And the best part of the story is the revelation behind it because God does the same thing with us. People try to grade sin and like to be with people who are pleasant and "clean", etc. but they create some distance for themselves when they see the true sin behind people and maybe their bad habits, but God loves the same. It doesn't matter what your past sins are or how dirty you think you are, God will Not hold you at a distance. He holds you close, because he longs to love you deeply, like the mother with her child.

Oh, and during the course of the weekend, I am very happy to share that I had the privilege of sponsoring a Compassion Child. It is a great story because I had wanted to since Jan, but had to look at finances, etc and never got to and had forgotten about it until I was reminded this weekend out of the blue! And I wanted it to be a girl, but they did it during the huge conference, so instead of each person getting up and going to get one, they just handed them out to those who were interested and I had my hand up and as I waited for the one to be passed to me, I prayed to God that it would be a girl (since Drake already has a boy) and then I prayed that whatever child I got I would sponsor, no matter if it was a boy or girl, and when I got mine, it was a girl! Thank you Lord! Her name is Yerlin and she is from Colombia and she is 8. I am very excited to have this opportunity to enhance her life and can't wait to send her letters and receive hers as well.

What else? The girls are all crazy and barely slept and we almost lost our voices from screaming during all the concerts. We went to West Ed, and just had lots of fun in general! On the way home it was "Down By the Bay" for about 2 hours! Everyone just felt the need to sing! Thank you God for all that you did this weekend, whether we can see it now or not. You work in our hearts and I am thankful for that. May we remember your greatness as we live out our daily lives.