Hey y’all!!!
It’s been a while since I posted, I’ve had several different topics to choose from, which has been hard for me to write about but I figured to take it easy and simply update you guys on my recent summer activity. From July 21-24th, I went to Chicago. It was amazing. About 2 years ago, a friend of mine spoke to me about a Christian conference called “Legacy”. At first, I was under the impression that it had to with christian artists who were interested in partaking in workshops that would help them develop their artistic skills, for instance, dance, drama, spoken word, art, rap, singing etc. lol Ummm but yea it was nothing like that. It was actually way better than what I understood it to be.
So as usual, I loafted on attending to this conference and last year I had told myself, that I was going to go no matter what in 2016. And so ladies and gentlemen, I actually went (* claps for myself*) lol and I realized that it was a life-changing experience. Legacy is about building disciples regardless of your past, your struggles and your circumstances. When I first researched about the conference, I thought to myself, wow 84 workshops (which was extremely hard to choose from) , so many cool christian artists providing some deep teachings on the scriptures, but will be like all the other ones I’ve gone to in the past? What will really make this conference a different one? I wasn’t feeling to convinced as I ought to be. I also felt like I have consumed myself in several christian conferences that it all became repetitive and familiar to me. “What is really going to change now, Anita?” I said to myself. But one day, I was in my room, reflecting on life and I had to be honest with myself. This christian walk has been an up and down journey for me and I have been feeling stuck in the mud, unable to remove my feet from this stagnant position because of comfort, procrastination and laziness! I just know that my relationship with Christ has been on a wave, and something had to give. So I prayed to God and said ” you know what, you know I am not at the place I want to be in my life right now, financially, mentally, physically, emotionally and most importantly spiritually, so if I am going to this conference, you have to speak to me, show me my next step in life.” That what was it, unfortunately I didn’t have a moment, where an angel came down and spoke to me lol but I did feel the assurance of the Holy Spirit telling me, it will all work out and to just trust in God. And so, I went trusting that God will reveal a different perspective of this Christian walk to me.
Once I reached there, I felt like I went to a different planet, people were over welcoming, loving, real (like they kept it 100) lol , kind, and sharing their testimonies to me and with me without a single shame. I mean these are people who have gone through some dark moments in their life and are still going through some dark challenges, and yet they set aside their trust issues, fears and anxieties to share how God has touched their lives . My friend Nana and I actually started to feel overwhelmed by all the kind gestures and open arms that we received which we aren’t really used to. Take note that it wasn’t just citizens of Chicago or other people from other states that we met, but people all around the world such as Jamaica, Germany, South Africa , London England, Bermuda etc. It was crazy!! As I write and reflect about the conference now, it was just so cool seeing Christians across the globe serve the same God!
What did I learn?
I learned about the importance of discipleship, discipling others to be apart of the kingdom of God. I learned about the importance of resolving conflicts with anyone whether they are just a friend, a partner, a co-worker etc. (this one really hit home for me). It all comes down to how you come out of the situation and the types of mechanisms you use to grow from those conflicts that you face. I learned about the misconceptions of the gospel through urban apologetics led by Thi’sl (this was a whole new lesson for me, very informative and helpful); dealing with doubt as a Christian and the importance of enduring through the faith and lastly I learned about cultural engagement. The way in which God intended culture to be represented as, but due to sin and the fall of men, culture is used to detach us from God rather than bring us closer. However there were several suggestions tied in with biblical examples to help Christians maintain culture within the church and outside the church. All of the teachings touched upon the many social issues that we are currently experiencing in life and practical ways on how to live through these series of events. I would love to elaborate on any of the topics above if you are interested for more details, just let me know in the comments below!
Stay tuned for some fun pics on my next post! I’ll be sharing some of my shots from my birthday shoot and how to stay classy and sassy without breaking the bank !
Love y’all and keep the faith !
thehardtruth 