Passion 2010

I started the year off right this year, with a road trip to Atlanta, GA with 4 of my best girl friends! On January 1, Maegan, Callie, Ali, Andrea and I piled int0 Maegan's SUV and began the 900 mile trek to Atlanta. We listened to It's My Wedding, WTH???, a CD of clips from one of the local radio morning shows and laughed a lot. We played "My Daddy Runs the Grocery Store," a game where one person thinks of an item in the grocery store and says "My daddy runs the grocery store and he sells the letter... B (or whatever letter the item they are thinking of starts with)" and everyone starts guessing items in a grocery store that start with that letter. The person who guesses correctly gets to think of the next letter. We also played that game where someone says a celebrity's name and the next person has to say a celebrity name that starts with the first letter of the last name of the celebrity name that was just said. For example, I say Faith Hill, and the next person says Hugh Grant, the next person says Gerard Butler, Beyonce Knowles, etc. you get the picture. If you repeat a name that's already been said, you're out. We didn't get any flat tires, no one got punched in the face, and we laughed a lot. Success. Why Atlanta? We went to Passion 2010 to refocus on our true priority in life, the glory of God. The conference was amazing; 25,000 young adults, ages 18-25, praising God and lifting His name high. Speakers like John Piper, Francis Chan, Beth Moore, Louie Giglio and bands like David Crowder Band, Chris Tomlin and Hillsong. There were three main things that my eyes were opened to at Passion: 1. My pride is digusting and needs to be dealt with. 2. We are guaranteed suffering in this life. 3. Our greatest joy is found in the glory of God. At Passion, they had a center called "Do Something Now." The goal was to raise $500,000 for 12 different non-profit organizations pushing back the darkness in the world. That's a steep goal for poor college students and post-college students with loans to pay back. Through God, the goal was met and far exceeded. Over 4 days, we gave (not pledged, gave) $668,597.95. A married couple who were guests at the conference were overwhelmed by the outpouring of money from "kids" that they wrote a check on the spot and matched the donations dollar for dollar. Praise God! We teach our kids in Little Village that God is in charge of everything and only he can perform miracles and it was awesome to be able to experience one first hand. I was blown away and in awe. The trip was great and I came back refocused, rejuvinated and refreshed.

Here are some pictures from our travels. We stopped in Birmingham, AL on our way there and ate dinner at Mellow Mushroom - the best pizza I've ever eaten, no lie. We took a self-guided tour of Alabama's campus and got an indepth look at their Christmas tree. Enjoy!