{Day 7}

Worship by Gabriel Wilson this morning. Really, really good. I like the way he does his songs. For anyone who knows the style, they could totally rock "New Song." And his passion is awesome. He lived up to his teaching yesterday.

Kim the Awesome & Adorable

Kim Walker-Smith spoke during Main Session. Highlights:

• "Worship is a constant pouring in and a constant pouring out." - Kim Walker-Smith
• "We are created to respond to Him, and to respond to His love." - Kim Walker-Smith
• This generation of teenagers is "fed up with fake! They are fed up with production! ... One glimpse of God's love, one glimpse of passion, and they are hooked!" - Kim Walker-Smith
• "If you can find a way to find that passion and put it on display, people will come running." Kim Walker-Smith
• Biggest things that come against worship teams:
• Perfectionism
• Criticism
• Judgment
• Jealousy
• If you want more creativity, start eliminating judgment and criticism.
• When you honor, you are inviting favor.
• "One day I will live in the fruit of this moment."
• "God, I desire Your presence more than I desire the answers."

I'm stopping there. There's more. :) Next I went to Judy Franklin's {Bill Johnson's assistant} heavenly realms talk. It was pretty cool. I found out that I'm not weird in my previous experiences with Jesus, experiences that I was pretty sure weren't just my imagination...but not quite. This was an affirmation of that. She called Close Encounters of the Third Kind one of the most prophetic movies ever made. Dad - keep your ringtone. :) {This is a hard class to detail on a blog. If you want more on it, talk to me on the phone or when I get back. It was good, though.}

Then we took Jerry Aaronson's testimony of how he is a Native American evangelist - both to the Native Americans, and from the Native American culture. So good. It resonates with me, even though I feel a bit weird being 1/4 "Indian" and 3/4 European. I'm going to ask him about that. He mostly had inspiring stories, not as many one-liners. He's part of a Christian Indian group that goes around the world. They got to go to a New Age festival in Israel - located where the tribe of Manasseh did something stupid and were told they would always be serving other gods - to honor the First People of First Peoples, and to spread Jesus' love. New Agers would come up to their hill and tell them that it felt so much better there than the other places. There were such cool stories, and I would love to detail them...but not now. That's a lot of words. Another thing to talk to me about in person/phone. :)

the ceiling

the center of the ceiling

Then Amber, my Alabama roomie, and I went to the Alabaster House. We told each other we would be in there an hour, tops. We were in there an hour, but it didn't feel that long at all. Just to sit there and soak, it was great. There's quiet music going, and a fountain in the middle, and windows on every side. I'll try to get some real pictures later. For now, all I have are pictures of the ceiling.

Tonight we sat out and talked way longer than I was anticipating, but it was good.

Oh, and I finished my journal today! {Or, the front of it. I've decided now why not put stuff on the back, eh?}

my journal cover. metallic pink water bottle not part of cover. words say "HIGHER," "State of Grace," "Every child is treated like royalty," "Nowhere is life richer," and "It's a different culture, a different world."

{Oh, and Kim Walker-Smith took off her shoe and smashed a spider on the podium. That was a pretty epic moment. She "doesn't like bugs."}

Also, I got ahold of this MUCH BETTER video from yesterday's worship and the new "My Dear" song. Still not sure if it's a Bethel song or not, but it's good. Listen and enjoy. The quality here is pretty sweet.