Main Event 2007

I'm not used to coming straight back to school after something like this. In high school, Acquire the Fire or In-Depth were always over spring or Christmas break, which allowed me several days to reflect on the experience and soak it all in before being thrown back into the realms of academia. I did sleep most of the seven-hour drive home, so I'll dedicate the next 30 minutes or so to trying to organize my thoughts as best possible for you before starting a long night of studying, essay writing, midterm-taking, report developing, and PowerPoint presentation creating.

Main Event was in Cedar Falls, IA. I was so excited about going and kept telling people, "I've never been to Iowa!" until I told my mom and she reminded me that I had been to Iowa City last Christmas break to watch Cornell play the University of Iowa in basketball. Oops. Anyway, I had never been to Cedar Falls before, and Iowa is just incredible this time of year when the leaves are starting to change colors and the temperatures are cool. I know I have little experience with the state, but I'd definitely consider living there. It seems nice.

Anyway, I'll quickly touch on some of the amazing things God showed me this weekend. First off, the speaker, Kevin Wilkening, spoke Saturday morning about the Word of God. One thing he said that really stood out to me was that God shows the greatness of Christ only to those who seek Him in His Word. We can't expect that God will open our eyes without looking at the Word. Basically, you can't find God where he's not. Kevin put it simply: It's like you're planning hide-and-go-seek with God. He says, "Hey, I'm going to go hide myself, and you have to find me. But hey...I'm hiding in my Word!" How ridiculous would you be to go searching other places when God tells us that He will be revealed through His Word? Anyway, a good question to ask yourself is Where are the places I'm seeking God that aren't where he's at? I didn't do a great job at wording that, but I know for me I'm often falling into this ridiculous habit of looking for God in places other than the Word. For me, this means me turning to other people or things of the world when I'm seeking comfort or love or fulfillment of my need for relationship, when I should be turning to God for those things. I guess I'm looking for God in those other people which is ridiculous because other people aren't consistent: they get busy, they let us down, they don't understand. They can be great, but I have a Father who is always faithful. He always knows my thoughts and my heart and understands me more than I understand myself. He's always available and promises to meet our every need. But no matter how many times I am disappointed with the things of this world, I keep going back to them instead of seeking God whole-heartedly. I blamed this on the fact that when I am upset, I want immediate, tangible comfort; I want to feel someone's arms around me and I want to hear encouraging words. I start doubting that God is enough, which is completely ridiculous. So, I'm striving to make it a habit to turn first and foremost to Him, to my Creator and Savior, whose love and grace surpasses all understanding. If you want, you can pray that I learn to find hope and comfort and peace in Christ alone.

So, more than 250+ KSU students went, which was pretty incredible. There's a ton of other stuff I'm still trying to absorb from this weekend and I have pages and pages of more notes to reread and soak in. For now, I'm afraid I must get some homework done. (I feel like all I do is homework! Yuck!) Have a good week!

Day 234. Praise God.