DAY.TEN> This little light of mine..

The minute I stepped foot outside it was about 8:30am. I was hit with a crisp autumny-winter breeze unmatched by any I had felt all year. The wind was sure of itself and had nothing to hide. The rain however, was afraid to show itself to the hundreds of people that still chose to be outdoors and came down ever so slightly as if it was trying to pour but more than three quarters of the water was being stopped halfway. Now TBE is always an amazing time that needs to be 4 days but is packed into a day and a half. Everything happens today. This morning as I walked towards the lake I see hundreds of students gathered around in prayer. What an awesome thing. Who does that? We believe it .. we act on it. Remember?

Throughout the day there are so many things to learn, so many names to remember, and so many responsibilities to be fulfilled. I've never been great with names but within my group, I picked up the names in a snap. Maybe it was the air. Or not. As I looked around I saw faces a glow with love for each other and a special kind of love for God. It got me thinking.. I'll get to that in a second. Imagine a community - closed off from the outside world (in the middle of nowhere) that said hi to each other in the morning, stopped and introduced themselves randomly, engaged in deep conversations, and loved you for who you are no matter where you were from or what your story is. A community where there is no judging but everyone is constantly looking up to God as to thank Him for being awesome. This is TBE, and I imagine that it is a little piece of heaven.

So I was thinking - why is it that we can be so ON FIRE on place and then go back to "real life" and then be put out so quickly? I think its the people we surround ourselves with but also the distractions that we let enter into our lives. Would you rather live a dim life or a life that shines so brightly that everybody else gets curious and tries to figure out why you are burning? I'd like to shine - here's the thing. We all have a fire within us that can burn, a light that can really shine. The problem is that we hide it!! What a stupid thing to do. Why are we trying to contain a fire? Instead of letting it catch on? (It's a good fire!) Why do we continue to hide this little light..."