i woke that morning all ready to go, except everyone else was still asleep. we didn't get to bed till about 1am the previous night but i was just really excited and ready to go. so while kinda waiting for everyone to get up, i got to meet and chat a little bit with Stephanie, who stayed at the same place as us.
as we were talking, she suddenly looks at me and goes "wow, you're all ready to go. i can just see it. there's this light on your face." i didnt even know how to respond to it. i was like "maybe it's too early in the morning or something" because i couldn't quite get how there could be light on my face because it would have shown since we were in a rather low lit area. i dont even know why i waited, but i did and i didnt leave until she said "well, run along now". and i was excited, like a little kid who was allowed to go and play. pretty much bounded out the front doors and happily skipped to the shuttle stop. the weather was suppose to be cold outside, but i was feeling more or less warm and toasty. it was only after i got onto the shuttle did i realize that the warmth was from the inside, not because of how cold or warm it was outside. the closer the shuttle got to the convention center, the more excited i got.
the morning's worship session was really a lot of fun. i was so filled with joy, it was overflowing out of me. God really is so much fun. i learned that it is one of the most beautiful things to know that when you worship God, He really delights in you and responds to your worship. during the worship, i saw a picture of God as a loving Father, and i was a little girl and we were playing in the garden. i was in His arms and He was spinning me around, making me laugh. i felt so happy.
during the "lunch" and "dinner" breaks between the different sessions of the conference, they have what is called info meetings about different things and this afternoon, we went to the one about college students movement. i was shocked at the number of college students in that meeting. college students that knew God, who were committed to prayer. it was awesome! the tips we got in regards to starting prayer furnaces on campuses all over the US were also very practical and it was really exciting to know that there is so many like minded college students who are all willing to work towards one goal: God's kingdom.
later that evening, i got done with dinner early, and so i decided to head to the prayer room for the rest of the time before the evening session and little did i know what was coming. i stepped in and the prayer room was filled. i'm talking about hundreds of people. all just worshipping and then before you know it, we were having this massive dance party praising God and it was AWESOME!!! it had been so long since i got to dance before God like that. i felt a little stupid at first but after a while, it was like what the heck! and plus there were so many people all doing likewise, we even busted out some kind of a dance routine and it was just so much fun. it was like there was a release of freedom and it felt good.
during the session that evening, Mike began to talk about the asians and how God was wanting to use us and all that, and so he asked us all to stand, and because there was way too many of us to fit in the front, he told us to go into the aisles as well and there was so many of us it was incredible!! thousands and thousands most likely cos we jammed packed the aisle. what was more powerful is that everyone else got to lay hands on us and there were prayers said in several different asian languages. it was just a true blessing that so many other people, from all over the world, would come together to pray.
while standing in line for the shuttle after the session that night, my friend Carol and i met Chuck. we got to chat for a long time, mostly because there were so many people in line (we were probably in line for about 45mins) he told us he had previously worked with IHOP - KC for 2.5 years and we just had a good time sharing about how God had been working in our lives through the conference. he asked if we ever considered doing an internship with IHOP, but because of timing clashes, i told him i was most likely going to go to Colorado this summer to do a worship internship. he gave me his card, and told me to email him if i do head that way for real cos he's based there now and has friends at the IHOP in Colorado he'll love to help hook me up with. i'm so freaking excited cos i didnt even know that Colorado had an IHOP! at the end of our time together, Chuck also blessed Carol with the first dollar towards funds to go to IHOPU at some point.
i love it when God sends people to just bless you in more ways than you can imagine.
