Veritas.

Oh my, where do I even begin?

             How about the beginning? That's usually a good place to start, huh?!

Okay, so this weekend was really awesome. I spent Friday evening/night, ALL DAY SATURDAY, and Sunday morning with about 1300 (United Methodist) Youth from across the state of Arkansas at an event called  Veritas in Hot Springs, AR.  I have to admit that at the beginning of the trip, so the days prior to Friday, I wasn't very excited about going (even though when people asked, my response was of course "YES!"). I'm not sure if the lack of excitement was due to the amount of school work I would be returning to Sunday afternoon or if it was that I just wasn't excited about this event at all. Or if it was the list of things I had to get done before leaving. And I'm still not sure of the answer to that question. Anyways, as Friday approached and the "to-do" list was slowly finding things being checked off, I began to get more excited about the weekend I had ahead of me. (No, I'm not saying the list was the cause of my un--excitement....) But I was definitely able to actually think about what I was getting ready to do for the next few days and not just go. So, the excitement was growing on me and eventually reached the point of almost ridiculousness. I made a few rules for myself this weekend.

1. NO SCHOOL WORK --I was actually thinking about taking some school work with me so I could do some studying while I was away, but decided I needed the break from the academic world. 

2. MINIMAL CELL PHONE USE-- I really feel like that for the most part I stuck to this rule. I used my phone a little Friday night, I think I uploaded a photo of Worship on Saturday to Facebook (but it was too awesome not to share with everyone!)...But for the most part, I only used my cell phone to communicate with the adults/youth I was with and to check the time to make sure we were where we needed to be when we needed to be there.

3. READ GOD'S WORD-- This is something I HATE to admit, but I am horrible when it comes to picking up my Bible and reading it. I make excuses and usually find a way to avoid reading it for any length of time (yes, I'll read a few verse here and there but I, unfortunately, have not picked up my Bible to read it, to learn from it in a while)...This weekend, I read the entire Book of Matthew! along with some other verses including Psalms, Revelation, Mark and 1 Corinthians (probably more but those are the main ones)...

4. BE OPEN-- This rule meant a lot of things. To be open when I saw people I didn't care to see. To be open to a new experience (going to an event like this is so much different as an adult than it is a youth, this was my first time at Veritas as an adult!) To be open to the Holy Spirit. This weekend, I experience the Holy Spirit in a way that I've never experienced Him before. Okay, so that's partially a lie...The "feeling" I got was the same, but my understanding of it was different.

Taken from ACCYM Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/accym

As I stated above, the experience you get as an adult and as a youth are totally different. The socializing is different, the perceptions are different, etc. I spent the weekend making sure our youth (and others, well kinda) were where they were supposed to be, making sure our youth were behaving as they know they should, etc. Our kids were AWESOME...Anyways. the speaker, Brent Gambrell (www.brentgambrell.com) was pretty phenomenal, I thought. I know I sure did get a lot out of his messages! The band, Two Empty Chairs (www.twoemptychairs.com) was awesome! The experience of seeing the lives of youth change because of our Great and Powerful and Wonderful God was something I will never forget.

It was SO nice to get away from my crazy, busy, noisy, non-stopping, stressful life for a little bit. In fact, I would have been totally fine with staying longer...At some point in worship yesterday the thought "I could so do this" entered my thoughts..I know what this means...some of you may not, and that's okay. Ask, and I'll gladly share, if you don't get it by the time I am done with this...Any who, basically, I was referring to living a life, surrounding myself with people who are like me. Who are in love with Jesus, etc.. cutting myself off from the "real"world, so that I could live a life filled with nothing but worshiping, honoring and praising God... And then I heard this very quiet, very small but very stern voice say "Nuh-uhhhh.. That's not what you're called to do..." My first response was "Oh yeah, God? Well..what exactly are you calling me to do, because I STILL don't have an exact answer to that..." After my initial thought passed, I realized that that voice was right...I'm not called to become apart of some "cult" that only opens itself up to those who are like themselves. (BTW, totally not calling Veritas a cult, because I'TS NOT, this is a GENERAL statement and really has nothing to do with Veritas other than that's where this all went down!) I'm not called to be apart of a group that removes itself from the WORLD when there is much to be done in the world.

[Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you." Matthew 28:19-20] 

((Okay, so I do have more to write, but this is a good place to stop...because I.AM.EXHAUSTED...So before I begin typing in "sleep-deprived" lingo, I'm going to end this post here and continue within the next day or so!)