It was an unusual idea – a worship camp? I had heard of soccer camp, cheerleading camp, even band camp, but never a worship camp…
But with the help of a few friends and a pastor who graciously made their building available, Heart Exposed Music held their first worship camp. Can I just say that it was amazing?! It was definitely an Ephesians 3:20 kind of weekend; it was “immeasurably more than I could have asked or imagined!”

The students were incredible and from our first worship time together, I was blown away by the intensity of His Presence! Honestly, it took me off guard. That morning after hanging out with Him in worship, we talked for a few minutes about the importance of listening. That was a central theme throughout the weekend both musically and spiritually. You can’t be a musician without listening to what you and those around you are playing. The best musicians have a disciplined ear! Likewise, you can’t be a worshipper or a worship leader without listening to Him and hearing what He’s “playing!”

Okay, before this turns into a very long narrative, let me share with you some of my personal highlights.

*Watching the students jump into worship – and worship they did!

*Watching the students interact with their instructors during “team time” – the hands-on training time when they practiced and learned about playing together. I heard a definite improvement from one day to the next!

*Watching them do their team-building activities – learning the importance of working together and encouraging one another!

*Watching Bobby (our drum instructor) set-up three drum kits on the platform, and seeing the drummers get hands-on training from an incredible drummer. (We had sectionals for all of the instruments there – it was cool!)

*Friday night….I loved Friday night! Worship was sweet!!! After worship, I spoke on Breaking out of our boxes and Breaking into our potential. At the end, we encouraged everyone to write the labels of their boxes on a piece of paper, then crumple them up and throw them into our big box at the front of the room, signifying that they were throwing away the labels and things that have contained them. In exchange for the labels, they received a glow stick. Breaking isn’t always a bad thing. In fact, breaking is a necessary thing when it comes to a glow stick. Glow sticks don’t glow until you break them. Before they broke their glow sticks, though, we encouraged them to listen to who He says they are and write that down. Then, they broke their glow stick, symbolizing that they would break into their potential. All of that was amazing, but even more, was the hour that I watched everyone soaking in His Presence during that exchange time, seeing tears flow down their cheeks, writing, listening, praying for one another, worshipping, and coming into a place of recognizing His acceptance and love of who they are and who He intends them to be. I don’t know that I’ll soon forget that site.

*Saturday afternoon was another beautiful moment as Jen Shawley, my co-leader, and I tag-teamed to speak on the power of our song. We gave them a stone and challenged them to never let a stone steal their song. We prayed with each student individually and watched Him do some amazing things!

I’m grateful for His unusual – okay – “weird” ideas! What a great weekend He gave us!