There are only a few memories from my childhood that stand out over all the rest. Some of these memories are good, some I wish that I could live them again, and some of them I wish I could forget. One that I remember more than any is the time that my small youth group and I traveled to Missouri for a Christian event. Every year in December, there is a huge gathering of thousands of Christians all across the world that come to worship Jesus together in Kansas City and celebrate their faith. During this event, called “Onething”, you will witness miracles happen before your eyes, hear radical sermons about Jesus, and listen to Christian bands play upbeat music. It all started with a new pastor being hired at our church. Her name is Patricia,
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Before this time I had never traveled out of Michigan. It took around 13 hours to get to our destination, and by the time we arrived we were all exhausted. Since this was a four day event, we had to get a hotel room. My friends from the youth group and I all just slept on the floor, leaving the beds to my pastor and some other older women who came along. That night when I went to sleep, I realized there was a slight soreness in the back of my throat. When I woke up, I found myself with a terrible cold. My throat was so sore that morning that I couldn’t drink water because of the weird feeling it …show more content…
I was nervous and excited all at the same time. As I looked around me, everyone started speaking in a strange language that I couldn’t understand. The leaders were shouting praises to God for giving the gift to these people. I tried and tried to receive this “gift” like everyone else was, but nothing happened to me. A leader noticed me standing silently looking around, so he came up to me and started praying and telling me to just accept the gift. Again, I tried as hard as I could to be open to it, but nothing happened. Why couldn’t I receive this amazing gift just like everyone else was? Was I not as important? Was I doing something wrong? Was everyone else just faking it and I was the only one being real about it? The man continued on for a long time insisting that all I have to do is “let God in.” In that moment I felt extremely pressured and as if I were letting people down from my youth
Before this time I had never traveled out of Michigan. It took around 13 hours to get to our destination, and by the time we arrived we were all exhausted. Since this was a four day event, we had to get a hotel room. My friends from the youth group and I all just slept on the floor, leaving the beds to my pastor and some other older women who came along. That night when I went to sleep, I realized there was a slight soreness in the back of my throat. When I woke up, I found myself with a terrible cold. My throat was so sore that morning that I couldn’t drink water because of the weird feeling it …show more content…
I was nervous and excited all at the same time. As I looked around me, everyone started speaking in a strange language that I couldn’t understand. The leaders were shouting praises to God for giving the gift to these people. I tried and tried to receive this “gift” like everyone else was, but nothing happened to me. A leader noticed me standing silently looking around, so he came up to me and started praying and telling me to just accept the gift. Again, I tried as hard as I could to be open to it, but nothing happened. Why couldn’t I receive this amazing gift just like everyone else was? Was I not as important? Was I doing something wrong? Was everyone else just faking it and I was the only one being real about it? The man continued on for a long time insisting that all I have to do is “let God in.” In that moment I felt extremely pressured and as if I were letting people down from my youth