Happy 100th! & Michael W. Smith

Guess what?1 It's my 100th post here at OceanWideLove! Yahoo! Thanks for sticking with me through all my jibber jabber, it really means a lot :) It's a great feeling to know you are heard.

And what a better 100th post than this one here.

Two Friday's ago (man, has it been that long since I blogged!?), Justin and I got to experience something amazing.

Our friends had told a few weeks back that Michael W. Smith was coming to the UAE, and we were so excited! I grew up listening to Michael W. Smith and I remember my mom had the biggest crush on him (who wouldn't!). Every summer we would go to a concert called Jesus North West (I think it's now called Creation), it had tons of Christian artists all at the same place, and they would sing and worship all night. It was awesome. I remember one of the very first ones we went to, Michael W. Smith was there (I was maybe 4 or 5) and I fell asleep on my moms shoulder. Give me a break, I was little! This time I knew it would be different.

The concert was held outside in the middle of The Armed Forces Hotel. I wish I could explain to you the feeling that was rushing through me that night. God was so present it was unbelievable. Here we were standing in the Middle East, singing worship songs up to our Father. Just think about that for a second.

We are in a place where no pictures are to be taken at the backside of the Burj Al Arab because it looks like a cross. We are in a place where my students last year constantly mocked me because I wore my cross necklace. Where are in a place where we are not really allowed to talk about Jesus or mention His name. We are in a place where a call of prayer goes off 5 times a day for Muslims to go and pray at a mosque. Realistically, we should not have been allowed to be there doing what we were doing. But we did.

Worship is a very emotional time for me. Music speaks to my soul. It plays such a big role in my life and my feelings; it is when I feel God the most. As tears streamed down my face and I lifted my hands, it was so apparent that God was in this place and in me. It was so amazing. I was just 1 of hundreds of people, but I knew God was with me. He was standing right next to me. Isn't that AMAZING? You are important to God. He loves you. Not the fake person you pretend to be, or the person you wish to be, the person you are right now. I can't say much more than He loves you, He loves you, He loves you.
It was such a great experience and I was so blessed to be able to go. I will never forget those moments. It has definitely made my top 10 events that have happened while living abroad. If you are having a rough day or maybe you're a little too exhausted today, rest in the peace of God's love; it's the best place you could possibly be.

God bless!