wow, i got burned

but I don't really care. I'm back from Florida, and I must say, that it was even more amazing than I thought it would ever be. I absolutely adore everyone that I got to spend the last week with, and I feel so blessed to know all of them, and to have had the opportunity to get to know them better. It was a brilliant week. I am more broke than ever before, and my legs hurt from how red/burned they are, but it doesn't phase me. The Lord worked wonders while we were in PCB, and I'm so thankful. It was beautiful outside for the majority of the week, and 75 and sunny in Florida beats 50 and sunny here in Madtown any day. It was a great time wearing shorts and tank tops and actually swimming in the ocean. The beautiful weather for sure gave us plenty of opportunity to talk to people, which was the point.

It was incredible to see how much craziness was going on. MTV, beer pong on the beach, conversations with people that were drunk/high/some combination. Yet, through all of that, God helped us to have some fantastic conversations with people, about Him, and about His Son, and about His love. I wouldn't have dreamed it was possible, but people (for the most part) were so open, and so receptive, and so into listening to what we had to say. I had several people thank me for caring enough to talk to them. I saw them genuinely smile and talk to me with honesty. He works in wondrous ways.

Almost 1000 students came from all over to go to this conference to watch God change lives. I made some new friends (like I did at TCX) and on the beach, it was so encouraging to see our Cru kids. None of us were alone, ever. I found that I genuinely love good southern accents, and have started saying the word "beau" instead of "boy" because of Matt. Honestly, I could've listened to him talk for hours. He probably thought that I was trying to stalk him. Whoops. ;)

I'm so glad that I went on this trip. I doubted that I would be able to go out and share my faith with people. I thought that I would get rejected. I was holding onto this idea of needing others' approval, and before I got there, I was scared to death. As the week went on, I saw the Lord break down the barriers that I had put up, and it was so incredible. It no longer scares me. I realize that if I want to love people, I need to tell them why. Tell them why I'm so excited to be alive, tell them why I'm so happy to have this in my life. Share with them.

Penn (from Penn/Teller) said it the best. To paraphrase the video that Roger Hershey showed us: "If you honestly believe that there is a Heaven/Hell, and that what you know will get you there, how much do you have to hate someone to not tell them about it?" How tragic is that? How much do I hate them? I don't hate them! Then why aren't I telling them? Fear, most likely. But, with Christ, we can overcome that. Woot. How brilliant is that.

On a completely separate note, I think I've given up. Not that I want to. I really, really, really, don't want to. But at the moment, I can't see any other alternative. How am I supposed to know? And, I want Ovetchkin. Freaking A.

Anyway, I hope that you had a wonderful spring break. Or week in general if you weren't on break.
I <3 you.