A Beautiful Collision

I've noticed something about God recently. He never lets me stay complacent for long. My favorite thing about Union so far had been that everything was so easy--I've been so happy, so content. I rejoiced in telling people that I can't really recall having bad days at Union. The last few months have been mostly sunshine and clover, a walk in the park, really.

I'd forgotten that that's not what God's about. God isn't about to let me be comfortable for long. It was nice while it lasted, but there's no growth in being comfortable. Comfortable people don't push their limits or stretch themselves. And comfortable people don't really do anything worth mentioning.

I suppose living life comfortably is what we all want. But I'm glad that God's not going to let me do that. Being in Nashville for Youth Specialties this past weekend was, once again, a huge wakeup call. My comfortable life suddenly collided with God's undeniable truth for me: that He hasn't called me to be comfortable. Instead, He's called me to radical action and growth.

I have no idea what that means. But I do know that I'm going to try to lessen up on the comfortable, and instead be more of what God wants me to be. I'm pretty sure that's going to involve getting out of my comfort zone and doing something. Vast amounts of faith will most likely be required.

If you're in the business of staying in your comfort zone, don't go to a place where 7,000 Christians are worshipping together with amazing speakers and musicians. Because if God promised His presence where two or three are gathered, He's even more there with 7,000. And in a place that saturated with His Spirit, His voice is pretty difficult to miss.



Things I learned at Youth Specialties this year:

• I'm still crazy about the idea of working for a not-for-profit. I change my mind on careers so often that I was beginning to think that this whole idea of doing PR to work for ADRA, World Vision, etc., was going to wear off any day now. But after YS, I'm even more passionate about youth work and world relief than ever. Maybe I'll actually stick with this major, and I'm excited about that.
• For a non-musician, I love music in a pretty ridiculous way. The music is definately my favorite part of YS. It's a little silly--I like it loud, and I like to be close to the stage, and when a good band plays, I just can't help myself: my feet tap and my eyes drift shut and sometimes my hands, Adventist or not, find their way up into the air. Music and worship are very intimately entwined for me.
• I absolutely positively one hundred percent completely totally cannot wait for the Narnia movie to come out. It looks to be pretty amazing.
• I knew before that I like the David Crowder*Band, but now they are definately my favorite. In my copious amounts of Thanksgiving Vacation Free Time, I've checked out their official site, read David's blog, and read the band's blog. My only complaint is that they're not indie enough--I hate knowing that I'm one of about a million fans who love them. That means that if I spend any more time or effort on this particular interest, I'll have joined the ranks of all the crazy fans in the world, and I don't like that idea. Sure do wish I could actually get to know the people who God has used to bring me so often to His feet.

• People are about the most interesting things ever. I love to meet people at YS conventions. They're all Christians, but very few are Adventists. That means that we all have Jesus in common (the only thing that really matters), but we can ignore the boring stuff like doctrine and rules and stuff (the stuff that doesn't really matter so much). And I especially like getting to know a little more about the people who are up front--the YS officials, the bands, the comedians. It's just cool to humanize the people who's articles you read, music you listen to, and DVDs you watch. It makes me wish that I could get to know a lot more people in the world.
• A year after I first got on the OneLife Revolution bandwagon (check it out here), the church still isn't responding to the AIDS pandemic in Africa in a way that even remotely resembles adequacy. There are people dying, children being orphaned and starving, and Christians are looking the other way. And I feel practically powerless to do anything about it.
• Some girls like movie stars; I have a lot of friends who really like Heath Ledger or Brad Pitt. Some girls like sports stars; I know quite a few who are into a bunch of basketball or even NASCAR stars that I couldn't even name if you paid me. Some girls are into rock stars. I am one of those girls. But many of those girls like individual artists or the lead singer from a particular band; I, however, find the backup guitarist of virtually every Christian group I see to be the most attractive of the bunch. Maybe its because I'm not a limelight person myself that I find the guy just behind the star to be the most appealing. And there's something intriguing about a person who sacrifices their personal life and privacy for their ministry in that way. (The picture is Jason Solley from DCB, by the way).
• God uses the most amazing people. At YS in the last two years, I've discovered that God has spoken to my heart through some of the most pierced, tatooed, funky people I've ever seen. Jay Baaker and Mark Ostreicher both delivered the word of God in a very real way to me, but many Adventist churches would never take them seriously, and that saddens me.
• Tennessee is going on my list of potential places to live someday. In my two experiences visiting the state in the past six months, I've been very impressed by the people, the scenery, the whole shebang. I could be a Southern girl very easily, I do believe. And Nashville, as cities go, is a winner. Live country music at any time of the day or night? Seriously? Any place that has such a prolific cowboy-hat-wearing population is okay with me. And you can't beat the buy one pair get two pairs free boot sales.
• Sometimes God asks us to jump. Sometimes He asks us to jump into something scary, and sometimes He asks us to jump out of something that we love. When He asks you to jump, it can hurt like crazy. But somehow, He makes it okay, He wipes away your tears, and He lets you know that it's okay to jump anyway--because no matter what it is, you'll be jumping right into His arms.

Youth Specialties' National Youth Workers' Convention. It's worth the money, the time, the travel, and the hard work to make up school. Aside from summer camp, its the most rewarding thing I can think of. God's there. And I'm going back next year--wanna come?