Joyce~Part 1

Joyce.was.awesome.

The three days I spent at the Joyce Meyer conference are three days I’ll never regret giving to the Lord. I’ll never regret taking a vacation day, the heat in the Palace, not being able to chew gum (I had some serious Citrus Orbit withdrawals) and the traveling back and forth from the Palace to my home. Some of the most interesting, Biblical things she taught on were ones I had already learned from Riv and my small group. She made me laugh when she said things like, “are you giving 10% to your local church? I know, I know, you’re going to tell me the Bible says you don’t have to give a set amount. So….are you giving more?” Then, she smiled. She had me in tears. She had me opening my heart to Christ. She helped me bridge some gaps in my relationship and burn bridges to some sin areas. I am going to write about some of this so if you want to kill my joy, I dare you to try. I won’t do anything to you but be careful how you treat God’s kids :o)

It was a little strange being at a Christian Conference at the Palace. As I sat in my seat to the right of the stage, I flashed back to so many events. I remembered sitting in the 8th row, courtside for the Pistons game last December. I remember Joey and I having awesome seats at the Alan Jackson concert. Over in that section was where I got high during a Jimmy Buffett show. I got wasted at the Dave Matthews Band concert and danced in the aisles. I had really grown in the last five years. There I sat, waiting to worship God and dance to songs about His word never failing. Five years ago, this would have been icky. To many people I love, this would have been icky. But there I was, surrounded by people celebrating Christ. I thought I was free back then to do anything I darn well pleased. But now, I am truly free, free from my sins and my past.

They sang “How Great Is Our God.” I laughed and cried. Wasn’t this the song I blogged about last week? God likes to make me smile.

I still don’t put my arms in the air. There is just something about it that is still…icky. I did it all the time when I was 12 and going to a different church. That church ended up making me feel icky so things associated with it are also icky. Maybe someday I can be alright with raising my arms to heaven…but I still have the freedom not to. Of course, on Sunday when “At Your Feet” was being sung, I grabbed Joey’s hand at the lyric “I stand and raise my hands to you.” I raised our arms in the air and he smiled at me.

Oh yeah. I don’t speak in tongues, either. That can be a whole separate post if it wants to be.

So come on, Holly! What about Joyce?! Well, there are pages and pages of notes to go through. I don’t want to hog up this post with it. I will say the message was Religion vs. Relationship. The first thing Joyce said when she walked on stage was “right now, make a decision to be happy.” There will always be someone or something new to upset you but enjoy your journey now. Stop finding something to be unhappy about. Then, she talked about the five children who drowned last Sunday at a church picnic. This church was one of the churches Joyce and Dave Meyer started. Four out of five of those kids belonged to one woman. This woman got up in front of the congregation on Tuesday night and pled with the church to continue to have joy. Amazing.

Take your eyes off your problem and get them on Jesus. Your problems are not greater than God.