Lessons from choir-singing.

Shelley Giglio tweeted this picture of choir practice.

I told you last week that I had musical news to report. The report, which you're aware of if already, is that I'm so humbled to get to be a part of a movement that's turned my life upside-down since sophomore year at Samford.

Passion Conferences unite a generation--mostly college-students--for Jesus's fame and reknown. This year? The Georgia Dome opened doors to 40,000 pairs of feet shuffling in for opening session.

Whoa baby.

The Passion choir--all 200 of us--is but a drop in the ocean of 40,000, but this experience of ushering in some of the hymns of our generation just stirs my heart. 

Because the thing is, I'm not that great at singing. Sure, I can carry a tune in a bucket and avidly cheesed it up in Samford Step Sing, but I'm talkin' we are backing Chris Tomlin and Christy Nockels. Let's just say that not every ounce of blood from the two Baptist ministers of music in the family trickled down to me.

But that's the blessing in this.

We are baby ants up there!

Looking out over a wall of faces in the Georgia Dome last night, seeing things from the flipside I'm not used to, it hit me. It just makes you just wanna bless, free, and speak truth over that generation of students--in a desperate kind of way.

"If any message, whether in print or person, was truly His idea and doused in His anointing, 

He has tested it meticulously on His messenger."

- Beth Moore, So Long Insecurity

Remember that advent season? That time of experiencing (still experiencing a bit) a time of binding and captivity? Time of experiencing battle with the enemy? I was just there. That season was doused in His annointing for such a time as this.

Because yesterday, today, and until Thursday, I can sing out and look over faces and declare louder than I could six months ago the freedom that is knowing Christ. It's a sharper image to me. It's a story I can actually tell now because God tested that message meticulously on me, the messenger.

I never desire that these posts be about me. I don't. Sometimes, I really don't know how to tell the story otherwise though than through just messily explaining what God's teaching me. But I still think He doesn't want me to keep this lesson to myself.

The one about meticulous testing.

'Cause when the clouds start to unblur and the sun peaks through, testing always begins to make a lot of sense. I know we all know this, but sister, it's a reminder I think we're going to need to tell each other a lot in this life.

At least someone can keep reminding me!

Click here to watch a live stream of this year's conference or to learn more!