Snowball 2015

Every year, my church does an all girls retreat called Snowball. Typically, I'm not super excited about this get away, but I was so excited this year.

This year, I served on the leadership team with about 15 other girls, and together, we planned the entire weekend. We planned the fellowships and recreation time and every aspect of the retreat.

In quick recap...

FRIDAY NIGHT

Friday started off with pizza at the church and then we loaded the buses and headed to Double Head Resort in Town Creek, Alabama.

Upon arrival, we went to worship where Rachel Chan lead and Amy Pierson spoke.

Then, we had small groups and hit the hay in our very full cabin.

SATURDAY MORNING

2 cups of coffee and a bowl of cereal later...

Saturday morning started out with small groups on the dock

and then lots of picture taking before worship.

 After worship was recreation.

The recreation we chose was a scavenger hunt race kind of idea. My group planned this activity specifically and I did most of the physical work for this, so I found it really ironic that my team came in dead last....

But it was fun and that's all that mattered! 

SATURDAY NIGHT

We had another small group, more picture taking, and then dinner.

During dinner, I got to talk with Amy and Rachel and they absolutely won my heart. They are two of the sweetest, most funny, God-loving women ever and it was so obvious in everything they did. 

I got to talk to Amy one on one on our way to worship and she is so full of wisdom and grace and good ideas. If you ever get the chance to talk to her, take it. 

Following dinner, we had a prayer experience, which is pictured above. We had candles and mason jars (thank you pinterest!) for decoration, which helped set an incredibly relaxing mood.

Snowball has ALWAYS had a dance party on Saturday night and this year was no exception. The theme was what you wanted to be when you were 5. 

There were lots of doctors and lots of princesses. I was dressed up as a football player, but in all reality, I wanted to be Kk.

SUNDAY MORNING

On Sunday, we worshipped one final time, packed up, and headed home.

In the final worship, we actually partnered with an organization called Every Girl Counts for a mission project! Every Girl Counts sends feminine products to girls in Africa so that they don't have to suspend their education! For more information about Every Girl Counts and how to get involved, check out everygirlcounts.com! We've partnered with them for the past 3 years, and this year, we donatated products as well as we wrote notes to the girls who will recieve them!

All throughout the weekend, we studied Mark 8:34 and the book of Ruth.

At each worship session, Amy broke down Mark 8:34

She focused on what it means to deny yourself, dethrone yourself, and follow Jesus in daily life. 

In small groups, we read and studied Ruth 1 and 2, which is the story of Naomi, Ruth, Orpah, and Boaz. We analyzed and learned about each one's character traits and how God was at work at each and every one of them. We used SWORD method to break down each passage, which means we answered each of the following questions in the study.

1. What do I learn about God?

2. What do I learn about man?

3. Is there an example to follow?

4. Is there a command to obey?

By using this, discussion was so much more natural and open, since the leaders didn't have the "answers". I'd definitely  recommend reading any passage this way, even on your own! It analyzes so many different aspects of every story. 

This weekend showed me just how many ways God is at work and reminded me how lovely walking with Him is.

xo,

Lauren

I NEEDTOB(r)E(athe) at Sam's Place

Sam's Place was most definitely the place to be on Sunday night if for no other reason because Emma and I were there. 

But really, it was incredible

Sam's Place is when one Sunday a month, the Ryman returns to it's original purpose as a gathering place for worshipping believers, also known as a church. I don't know if many of yall know this, but Tom Ryman actually built the Ryman as a church for Sam Jones, the Reverend who lead Tom Ryman to Christ. Sam lead Tom to Christ during an outdoor tent revival, and from then on, Tom promised Sam he would never preach from under a tent again so he built what is the Ryman Auditorium to us today. (If you're interested in learning more about the Ryman and how it came to be, there's a ton more information here! http://ryman.com/history/captain-tom-ryman)

But anyway, Steven Curtis Chapman, the host of the night, decided to return the Ryman to it's original function and it was hands down one of the coolest concerts ever. 

The curtain came up and SCC came out and kicked us off with a song of worship to "Do Everything" and being in a room of believers all singing about glorifying God in all aspects of their lives was super cool. 

It set such a great tone for the rest of the concert. 

SCC and Amy Grant are such good friends that SCC couldn't just introduce her like normal, so he got out his handy dandy ukulele and sang a song about Amy's career and all the breakthroughs she's had as a female Christian artist, which are absolutely remarkable.

Amy came on and sang "Better Than A Hallelujah" and "If I Could See" with some jokes about hot flashes in between. Amy is an artist that's always been played in my house. She was my mom's first concert as a teenager and just a classic artist in the Reed family and honestly, I was really disappointed in her performance. I had these great expectations built up that came down by the end of her songs. She has an unmistakable stage presence but her voice wavered in and out and seemed a bit pushed to me. 

Despite the rougher performance, Amy and SCC sang a last song together: Thy Word, the classic hymn.

It was phenomenal. Absolutely incredible. They did SCC's version from his hymns album and it was amazing. Their harmonies and their voices go together so easily. Unforgettable.

They also sang "More To This Life" which was good as well because their voices are heavenly together.

And then David Nail came out. 

David is such a quality act. He came out and you could see the nerves from a mile away. From the moment he opened his mouth, you could tell he was so nervous to be on that stage. He shared a little bit about himself and then sang "In the Ghetto" by Elvis Presley, after providing a backstory of how that is and always has been one of his go to songs. David's first song, Red Light is one of his more popular songs, so of course, he sang that one. Then, with shaky hands, he drank some water and shared another 10 minute story about home before singing his last song. The last song he sang was actually a brand new song to be on his next record and was super cute. It's a sappy song about going home and it is so good. I'm super excited for his next album. David is a crazy talented artist. His voice sounds exactly like it does on his albums and I definitely want to see him again.

After David, it was Laura Story's turn to be introduced by SCC, and his method was via "story." He gave us her life leading up to that moment in under 3 minutes, which I personally found very impressive.

Being a bluegrass player by tradition, Laura took the stage with her handy dandy up right bass. 

"If I couldn't be the most talented one tonight, at least I could have the biggest instrument."- Laura Story

Laura sang "Indescribeable," "I Can Just Be Me," and "Blessings," which were all amazing. The words and the meanings of each of those songs are incredible and so powerful, plus the tune and talented singer didn't hurt.

Using his hosting skills, SCC came out and sang another hymn, much like Amy did, except they sang "How Great Thou Art" and it was just as incredible. The version they did was bluegrassy and ah. I just loved it.

After a very short intermission, the Isaacs came on. Due to my age, I was not familiar with them, but they are a bluegrassy family band so I absolutely loved them. Their harmonies were SPOT ON. So much talent in one family is insane.

In between the Isaacs and the final act of the night, SCC took a moment to share about Show Hope, which is an organization that helps families qualify for financial aid to help adopt. SCC has such a passion for adoption that the proceeds from the tickets are donations for Show Hope! Show Hope was founded by him and his wife and they've helped countless families bring home children from over 50 countries! It is a great organization, and everything that they're doing is making such a positive impact. SCC actually brought 2 guests out to talk about everything adoption means. First, his daughter Stevie Joy came out. Stevie Joy was adopted by Steven and his wife and has found her place in her Forever Family and spoke from the child's point of view of adoption. Then, SCC brought out a family who had partnered with Show Hope to bring home a little boy and they explained about their journey of adoption and thanked Show Hope for they do. To find out more about Show Hope, you can go to showhope.org.

Once Stevie Joy and SCC left, the long awaited Bo and Bear Rinehart of NEEDTOBREATHE took the stage. 

It. Was. Incredible.

Bo and Bear came out and began singing Wasteland in the microphones, but by the end of the first verse, they had unplugged and come to the front of the stage, doing a purely acoustic, raw version of the song. 

You know how they sound on the radio/album? That is EXACTLY how they sound life. In tune and insanely talented. Honestly, I was shaking. I will never forget such a cool moment.

As they sang, the entire building was silent, but on the chorus, the entire room was filled with people declaring that if "God is on my side, who can be against me?" which was beautiful. It was breathtaking.

The nature of the night was like a singer-songwriter night where you hear about the song and then they preform it, and NEEDTOBREATHE's most recent release is called "Brother." Bear explained that Bo wrote it for him during a huge fight and it saved their relationship. The performance of such a significant song resonated in everyone I'm pretty sure. Though not always a biological brother, everyone's got someone they need to be there for and Brother explained that perfectly.

Steven's adoration for NEEDTOBREATHE was so obvious. Before they took the stage, he talked about how they were the first band he wanted to invite to Sam's place, and SCC proceeded to bow down at their feet once "Brother" ended.

The adoration seemed to be a pretty mutual thing from both sides, so Bear and SCC played "When You're A Soldier." (Fun fact: When they were younger, Bear and Bo actually played "When You're A Soldier" in a school competition and won with it.) Bo and Bear are SO talented. If you haven't seen them live, I wholeheartedly recommend doing so. I'm so seeing them again, even if I have to pay an obnoxious amount of money.

No concert is complete without a grand finale of course, so to close out the night, all the artists came back out and the congregation rose for a group sing of "I Saw The Light."

To me, seeing people using their God given talents to glorify Him will never get old..especially if it involves music. 

xo

lauren