My Junior Journey - Part 1

This past weekend (January 30-31, 2015) I went with a few close friends to Benton, AR to participate in Praizfest 2015. Going into this weekend I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into. I was honestly having bad feelings and was super nervous about going. It wasn't until my mom reminded me to grab my bible that I felt an odd sense of relief. 
left to right;
William, Me, Casey, Claire, Dodger, Levi, Tommy, Mary Cassidy, Briceton
After a 3/4 hour drive (not really sure, we were having fun just hanging out together) we stopped for dinner, then we were off to the Church! 
When they keep you waiting.... you play duck, duck, goose.
....unless you're lame, you sit and watch the others play duck, duck, goose.
After our break, we went to the Sanctuary to listen to our speaker, Bill, for the weekend. He spoke on Matthew 4:18-22. (ESV)
18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”[a] 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
What he kept reiterating was how when Jesus tells us to "Follow Him" (vs. 19) We don't follow real Jesus. We make our Jesus small. We turn him into a "pocket Jesus". We make excuses upon excuses and say "ya know what Jesus, it's really hard to follow you, why don't you come with me. I'll put you in my pocket, and when I need you, I'll pull you out. When I'm struggling, I'm gonna take you out of my pocket and pray to you. When I go to church I'm gonna pull you out and make you my best friend. But when i'm done, I'm gonna put you back, okay?" A relationship with Christ is one of the most rewarding, but the hardest relationship to maintain. You get out what you put in. If you fill yourself with worldly things, you're gonna be disappointed. If you fill yourself with Jesus, dear friend, you will be so rewarded. Stop following pocket Jesus and follow real Jesus. 


Back to what Praizfest is.... basically it's a worship service that 250 youth participated in on Saturday afternoon. It was like nothing I've ever experienced before. We practiced for a couple of hours on Friday night, then all of Saturday morning. The music was SO GOOD. Our director was amazing!!!! 

All in all it was a wonderful experience. Fun was had. Friendships were strengthened. New people were met. I wouldn't have wanted to spend my weekend any other way. 

Go do good things,
Hanna Grace <><




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