Colour Conference #1 Reflection

 
Colour was absolutely amazing! I had the honor of hosting during the conference and was extremely grateful for this position! As a host I got to greet the women at the door and help them find seats. It was cool for me to observe the diversity of the women in attendance.  All ages were represented; there was even a large presence of senior aged ladies. I remember thinking to myself “do these women know what they’re coming to? Will they even like it?” It was during worship though that my heart got shattered for the group of women present; this conference isn’t just a message for “leaders” but for ALL women in EVERY demographic and culture. Watching thousands of women young and old engage in worship and press into the Spirit reminded me of how universal and good the Lord is and that He is ALWAYS at work, ALWAYS healing and ALWAYS beckoning His creation to know Him more. At this point it became easy for me to serve the women; in fact I wish I could have done more! This burst of compassion compelled me to go around holding babies so that mothers could be freed to encounter God in worship!

In between preparation for the first day I was sitting in the front row of the first level with two other friends relaxing for a bit before continuing to pass out seat drops. Without being aware of their presence, Bobbie Houston and Julia La’Bell came and sat behind us. Bobbie even reached down, tapped us on the shoulder and wanted to know how we were doing. I chuckled, said I was doing fine but said “the real question is how are YOU doing!?!” -- (seeing that Colour is her baby and something that she is extremely passionate and zealous about). She looked at me with blood-shot eyes and told me how she hadn’t slept the night before but was doing well. This encounter later inspired me that night when I was exhausted and had to go through the rows picking up rubbish/resources. I remembered thinking to myself, if Bobbie Houston—exhausted, and blood shot—can push through her exhaustion and still preach and host with excellence, then I can too! What a woman that girl is! Bobbie does an excellent job of balancing between being approachable and down to earth yet maintaining the ability to become a warrior leading the beloved into battle. In her eyes you can see fierceness, focus and compassion; I love that I get to sit under the teaching and direction of this woman!

Speaking of inspirations, my new favorite person is Brooke Fraser (I know this is a little obvious but I’m late to the party—I had no clue who she was until I came here, so be patient with my past ignorance!).

 Brooke Fraser leads worship like no one I have ever encountered before; this woman is tenacious! You can tell that she takes what she does seriously; she feels the weight of her words and carries the praise of God. She is intense with her delivery and uses her gifts to usher women into the presence of God where healing, reconciliation and revelation occur. I aspire to do the same in my own life!

Obviously Beth Moore and Priscilla Shirer (the two speakers of the weekend) killed it in their designated teaching times.

 Both of these women are from Texas so I was burning with Texas pride all weekend :-) It was cool to see their preaching techniques and to compare the commonalities and differences between them. Even though both are different they both communicated the word passionately and delivered messages of truth and revelation.

Overall the weekend was nothing short of extraordinary. I feel incredibly privileged to be a part of these events and to witness all that God is doing through Hillsong Church. What’s crazy though, is that on a weekend where I had absolutely ZERO expectations for receiving anything for myself (due to my role of serving in hosting) God completely spoiled me. Not only did I cry in every worship service -- (where the Spirit was working tenaciously in my heart)—but I also received two prophetic words from two strangers that I had just met. Prophetic words in general are often encouraging but what was special about these words was that they were spot on with what God had been speaking to me in the past few weeks. A spirit of intercession also fell upon me at one point. I don’t think I’ve ever prayed that tenaciously in my life! I was speaking out words and promises of God over the women begging the Holy Spirit to move and for revelation to occur; such a cool memory that I will never forget!

The highlight of the weekend though came during the last night in the middle of Beth Moore’s talk. A prayer that I often pray is that God would bless me with the ability to communicate the gospel with clarity. This week God bean to question me, asking me why I felt like He had to wait to answer this prayer later, why can’t I believe and pray for this ability NOW! Now!?! Ugh….I donno; I always assumed that this would be something that I would grow into and receive 10 yrs down the road. I immediately saw how silly this mind-set was and decided that I would “attempt” to start believing for this ability now (not quite as bold and confident as I need/should be but hey, at least I have an expectant attitude right! Haha

There’s so much more I could say about Colour but I need to keep this entry somewhat short. Bottom line: God showed up, God moved, and God is raising up a movement of women ready to take on the plans and purposes of his will!