There were some great speakers and had alot of fun bonding with each other. We always make an effort to be friendly and introduce ourselves to new people. A bunch of others joined in and we made alot of new friends, hopefully we will be able to stay in touch through the year.
Every year, (starting last year haha), I make an effort to come out onto the beach one morning and watch the sun rise. Usually no one really comes with me, but this year I made sure to let everyone know and encourage people to come. So Sunday morning I woke up around 6am and came out to see the 6:24 rise. Surprisingly, about 7 other people joined in. The pictures above are my awesome friends who woke up at the crack of dawn to come to the cold beach with me. Kim, Elyse, Hannah, Michelle, Corey, Sandra, Katherine! BUT- This year there was an epic storm the night before and the clouds hadnt moved away yet. So there was no sunrise to be seen. Quite sad actually. It was cloudy and dim, but it was still beautiful, and we told God that next year He should be nice to us and bring up the most glorious sun rise EVER! 
Alon, Kim, and I= My fabulous roommates. I love them!
This weekend I learned a few surprising things. The main topic of the conference was "The Sufficiency of the Word," and it was quite interesting. But for some reason, I always tend to catch smaller points and get the most from those. One of the speakers was talking about being a Paul and being a Timothy. The idea is that they kind of needed each other to grow through a discipleship relationship. He encouraged all the "Timothys" to find "Pauls" and all the "Pauls" to find "Timothys" and just pour into each other. Pray with each other, give each other books to read, go through the bible with each other, challenge one another with personal struggles. I can think of all the people who have impacted me in this kind of personal one on one mentor kind of way- Jen and Craig Campbell, Pastor Tim, Mrs Watkins, Mrs Attfield, Mrs McDonald, Andy and Amy Haynes, Kevin and Melissa Mckay, Karissa Tolli, etc etc it could go on and on. I know that if these people had not been in my life, constantly spurring me to pursue the truth and holiness, who knows where I would be. I think a new goal for this year is to find some Timothys and just start encouraging them to take their faith to a deeper level.
Another thing that I gained as a result of this conference was some new friends. Because of this, I randomly stumbled upon an interesting note on facebook from someone that I dont know, but it really spoke to my life.
Without copying and pasting exactly, it goes a little something like this: Girl gets something she really wants. Girl puts all her energy and focus into pursuing and holding onto that thing that she wants. She takes her focus off of God and His blessings and constantly focuses on the blessing day and night. All the time previously spent on knowing God and hearing from Him is now spent waiting around and trying to get to know her blessing.
The note then goes on to say something like this:
"God has the power to show you who God is.
And this is God showing me who God is.
He's a jealous God. He doesn't like someone else becoming number one in my heart."
And for some reason I really relate to this. I lost focus on what was really important and I was dwelling on something secondary and the more I thought I was going to loose it, the tighter I gripped. But you cant hoard things in the Kingdom of God, especially if they become what your mind obsesses over and practically worships. God is not pleased when that happens and He will not let it happen for too long before He sends you on your way, empty handed and into the land of "Hey why dont you remember who gave you this gift in the first place and worship me."
I think thats where Ive been for a few months now. In that crazy land of emptiness and realization that I have to repent of my idoltry and make God totally number one again. Even if it was just a sidetrack for a minute or an hour it doesnt matter. ANYTHING "good" or "bad" thats unchecked that takes God's place in your heart for more than a second is an idol. I think God has brought me a long way since entering this land. He has allowed me to realize what happened and that I need to turn my eyes back to Him. After this weekend and all the thinking I did, I think Im finally seeing the end of this empty and alone season and the beginning of a new refreshing one where God is the center, my portion, my rock, my sword, my shield.
Hope that all made sense.
Time to pack up and go home.
-Alissa
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