Just thought I would share this little gem that my sister just posted on my facebook wall:
"quick story: Noah threw a coat at me and I said, "It's raining coats." Which of course led us to sing the song "It's Raining Men (Hallelujah!)." Which led to Jackson commenting that that was a ridiculous song. Which led to Jill saying, "It needs to rain men in Austin." Which led to Noah saying, "It sure would make it easier for Emily to pick one out."
Thank you.
Noah - my 8 year old nephew Jackson - my 13 year old nephew Jill - my 35 year old sister
Verge Conference. unbelievable. I still think about that weekend and am in awe of what went down. God and His power. God and His glory. SO amazing. I'm still humbled that God allowed me to be a part of leading these people in worship. It was an unbelievable time. To look out and see thousands of people with their hands in the air worshiping the same God. The one and only God. The session that sticks out in my heart was Francis Chan's message on suffering. Oh my word. Powerful. We got up after the message and sang It Is Well...then How Great thou Art....everyone was done. The room was full of the Spirit and it was so strong. Matt came up and basically said, "I have no idea what to do now...I don't want to just dismiss you to your workshops...if you want to stay...stay." He said that he had never gotten up on stage having absolutely no idea what to do! God knew. He wasn't done yet. All of a sudden people started shouting out names of God, verses, characteristics of God...people from all over the room shouting out at different times. I was in tears. Jimmy was on his face. The choir was clapping and crying. People were worshiping in a way that was unbelievable. God is SO good! For a good 10 minutes this went on...then a guy started reading scripture about God and His name that is above all other names and how His glory goes out we started cheering and clapping...Aaron then sat down and we led The Name...it.was.amazing. I couldn't even sing cause I couldn't stop crying!! I've never felt the Spirit that strong and the overwhelming feeling of God's love and His power. After that session we went down to the green room and it was completely silent. We all just looked at each other with this look of..."what in the world just happened?" Matt came down and was like "What in the world was that!?" GOD! There was a comment made that was so right "Most conferences go long because the speakers can't stop speaking...but @ Verge it goes long cause the worshipers can't stop worshiping!" YEAH!!! GOD! So amazing. Another powerful time during the conference was when Aaron and the guys got to talk about adoption and Haiti. They have a house tour that they do where they go into homes and put on a concert where they tell stories of adoption and raise awareness and talk about Haiti. It is SO powerful! These guys are amazing and I'm so thankful that they are in my life...along with their wives. My life is seriously blessed. You can watch this segment here. Check it out and be moved. At some point the video/audio will be available to check out. I seriously would encourage you to check out these messages. Life changing. If you want to see some fun photos check it out here. Here are a few of my favorites: ALL glory and FAME be unto the ONE who REIGNS!!!
So...awhile back, before Christmas, one of my good friends, Joanna, asked me if I would do her a huge favor. The Pioneer Woman had a new cookbook out and she was signing books in Austin, and apparently she is kind of a big deal. Joanna needed me to get a couple of books for her and our friend Kelli. The thing is...I had no idea who the Pioneer Woman was. But I had that night free so I agreed. Then my sisters started making comments on facebook about how the Pioneer Woman was going to be in Austin and how I needed to get her autograph and....to take it to the next level....videotape it all. (they had no idea that Joanna had already asked me about going...and that I had already agreed.) So I played it off with my sisters that I was busy and why would I got stand in line for hours for someone I didn't even know...and so on. My sisters were kidding. (kind of) But I decided to go for it, and I made my friend Wendy do it with me. So what is funny about this: I had no idea who the Pioneer Woman was... I am not a fan of getting autographs. There were lots of crazy women and hours of standing in line. BUT...totally worth it. So I made this little movie for my mom, my sisters and Joanna and Kelli to go along with the cookbooks. I gave my mom & my sisters their video at Christmas. I didn't really have any intentions of putting it out here for all to see. No sleep...no makeup...and my black hair comin' out. I look SO scrappy. sorry.
I would like to just say that I did not tell my fam at all about this until I put in the DVD and pushed play. It started playing and both of my sisters started giggling, breathing funny and making weird noises. THEN as soon as Marlboro Man came on there were screams...blood curdling screams. It was like we were back in the New Kids on the Block days. Then they both moved to the floor right in front of the TV. It was ridiculous. But hilarious. AND for the record I do have to say that I am now a huge fan of this Pioneer Woman. She is lovely and I think you should all follow her blog.
SO excited! Tomorrow night is the start of the Verge Conference!! My church is hosting this conference and it's gonna be HUGE! God is stirring and He is preparing His people for something BIG! Most of all I have no doubt that God's glory will be over all of this. In worship, in the speakers, in the breakout sessions, the the time spent alone processing. Some of the speakers that will be at this conference are Francis Chan, Alan Hirsch, Ed Stetzer, Austin Stone pastor Matt Carter...and a whole bunch of others. I'm so excited to sit under these guys and learn! I'm humbled to get the opportunity to lead worship with Aaron and the guys for this conference. The setlists are off the chart! It's gonna be sweet! If you are not coming to the conference but want to check it out, there will be a live feed of the main sessions you can sign up for. It's real easy, just go to the website www.verge2010.org I'm praying big things over this conference. AND...some sweet friends from Iowa are coming to the conference! So excited to see them!!
