Reflections from 3DYC...

Warning: This post is long.

At 4:50 a.m. on Friday morning, I arrived here at the church get some final prep done before heading to 3DYC in Grand Rapids, Michigan. By 5:20 a.m., we began our meeting with all of the leaders going on the trip. And by 6:05 a.m., we began checking in the mass of students pouring through the doors. After getting checked in and loaded up, we were ready for all that God had in store.

I love 3DYC for the fact that it is a great time of connection for me with the girls in my small group. Four out of the seven were going, so I was truly looking forward to the time to really pour into their lives. Little did I know what God would be up to.

Friday's evening session was on transforming our hearts. It was an opportunity for students to recognize that it begins with a choice that they have to make...to follow Christ or not. I heard many students comment on how they related with Stacey Foster's (our speaker) story. Though he came from a completely different background than many of them, they connected with his statement that "my story is your story." Cool stuff.

Saturday's morning session dove into transforming our actions. Many of us have a lot of really good things in our lives that are getting in the way of the God things that could be happening if we would only be willing to surrender our "good things" fully to Him. Again, there was some very cool stuff that was happening in students.

That evening, Stacey dove into the topic of sexual purity and transforming our relationships. "Association breeds assimilation...you show me who you hang around and I'll tell you who you'll become." That statement that Stacey made really cut deep for many students. It was an incredible night of surrender and I was blown away by the response.

So where do my girls fit into all of this? Coming into this semester, my prayer for each girl is that they would find themselves at a new level of depth in their relationship with Christ. That it would become something that they saw as personal and not as a chore or something that is dependent on a Sunday morning or Wednesday night message. However, throughout the semester, I sensed that there was some definite resistance...like they just weren't at the place yet to allow God to really break through. So, I continued to trust God, that in His time, He would bring them to that point.

I believe that the breakthrough happened at 3DYC. Not because of a speaker like Stacey Foster, not because of all of the hype surrounding the sessions and worship times, not because of anything phenomenal that I said to them. Then how? Because there is power when students come to the realization that God is in the business of transforming lives! There's power when a student recognizes that each day is an opportunity for them to make a choice to take another step further in their relationship with Christ.

Stacey made the statement that seven is the perfect number, it's a number that means completion. He then went on to say that eight means new beginnings. The challenge he threw out to students was that as 2007 comes to a close, they look ahead to 2008 as an opportunity to begin a new chapter in their relationship with Christ.

As I'm anxiously awaiting the start of a new semester with students, I'm convinced that many have come to the realization that it's time to get back to the heart of God. It's time to find ourselves reconnecting with Him & time to allow Him to continue to transform us to be more like He is.