January 30th: Night to Remember

Have you ever been doing something one night and just think to yourself: "im never gonna forget this?" Tonight, I had one of those...except even more powerful than that. I'll never be the same after tonight.

I walked into the second night of my church's "Sex, Love, and God" event confused and lost about certain things in my life. I was alongside friends of mine who are struggling through their own things and we all just came tonight feeling broken inside, like something was just not right. We all had our pains and our doubts, but little did we realize what God had planned for us tonight. Sitting down and worshiping alongside my friends and listening to our hilarious pastor talk about love and relationships, I couldn't of asked to be in a better place on a Friday night. (wow, i sound like a nerd? hahaha) At the end of the worship and the speaking, they set up tent like structures in the front of the auditorium. Under all the fabric were people from the church standing ready to pray for anybody that needed it. Worship began and people slowly began to go to the front. I felt like God was pushing me to go up there, yet I couldn't get myself to go up. I had so much I wanted to let go of, but it was holding me back. I was sitting in my chair leaned over with my hands in my face, praying about everything that was on my mind. the minute my friend put her hand on me, tears came rushing down my face. These weren't the types of tears you can hold back and there was no part of me that wanted to hold them back. My friend whispered in my ear to join her under the tents, and I immediately agreed.

As soon as we got there, a girl came up to us 3 and put her arms around us all and asked us what was on our minds. All huddled in a tight circle, we told her what it was that we were struggling with. Arms crossed and heads down, she began to pray for us. These words were not your average prayer. I knew they were coming straight from God because each and everything she said made complete sense to me and all my current thoughts. It was like God was talking it out with me, and putting the words into her mouth. All three of us continued to cry and tears were streaming down our faces, yet we kept our heads down and gripped even tighter to each other. Once she said Amen, we all just stayed in a huddle, crying and not afraid to show it.

Surrounded by college students being prayed for and people worshiping. Can I

just tell you how awesome of a feeling it is to see people just like you going through the same things and realizing that you're not alone. Knowing that God was there tonight & knowing that He is working to fix every single individual in that room that is broken, is pretty powerful stuff. To be able to set every one of us free and to praise him together, not something you get to experience every night. There was so much brokenness in the auditorium, so much tears and pain, but it's amazing how God can heal each and every one of them. We all came out of the auditorium clean and restored, and completely saved.

Tonight i was prayed over, I was held, I was reminded of a God's love that is greater than any other, I was forgiven for the things I've done to steer away from Him, I was listening to God speak to me, I was crying my eyes out, I was praising Him, I was set free, I was alive, and most of all, I was saved. :) saved by a God who is always there, one who is always ready to start fresh and who makes all things new.

....this may sound hilariously cheesy & may just be because im still running on a high from the night, but i know for a fact that im never going to forget the night that i truly felt God talking to me & living through me. My God is mighty to save, and mighty to rescue. It feels great to know that I have a God that loves to stick by me and go through all the tough stuff with me.

"God wants to do more than just forgive, He wants to restore."