A Day of Splendor.

Hey everyone! I hope you all have had a great weekend so far. I personally have had an absolute amazing weekend so far. Yesterday was what I would like to call a day of splendor. I started off my day in anxious excitement. I was so ready to go prom dress shopping with my best friend and then see Kari Jobe and Rend Collective in concert that night. I spent some quiet time with Jesus before I left. My prayer was just that his favor and anointing rest on us that day and that He is just glorified in our day, and He so was. I found myself noticing Him in the little things. We got to Orlando safely, found our prom dresses within an hour of being at the mall (extreme favor), got to the concert safely, found a good parking space, and drove home on a busy highway in the middle of the night safely. I see Jesus in all of this. Even though they were each just little things I see how he watched out for us, provided for us, and showed His love and glory. And then there was the concert. Beautiful, magnificent, glorious, powerful, anointing, these are just some of the words to explain the atmosphere last night. God literally changed the House of Blues into a House of Worship. It was incredible and breathtaking. There were moment when I thought I couldn't stand up any longer because the presence of God was so strong. It was altering and has left me hungry for God and His presence. Worship is beautiful. Rend Collective was amazing, they had everyone dancing like crazy and praising Jesus. It was so much fun! And then Kari Jobe just blew my mind. Jesus is so real and there is no way that you could've walked out of that room and not believe that there is a God in heaven fighting for you and loving you. Oh and did I mention that she sang in Spanish (I almost passed out it was so amazing). There were moments when I thought that the House of Blues was just going to come crashing to the ground, it was so full of God's presence and shouts of praise. Besides Kari singing in Spanish and Rend Collective throwing a huge party, one of the highlights of the night was towards the end of worship. The House of Blues is a bar and because of the kind of concert it was not many people, if any, were buying drinks. Kari Jobe said something along the lines of this. "Those bar tenders back there haven't made any money tonight, why don't we just be Jesus to them and go leave them tips even though were not buying drinks. How cool would it be if they made more money at a Christian concert than any other." At the end of the show everyone flooded the bar (including me) and handed the bar tenders money. It was literally one of the coolest thing I've ever seen. I was so blessed. People also got the chance to sponsor kids around the world with money to provide them with food and water. I got to see my best friend sponsor a child from Kenya which is so awesome! Yesterday was magical and wonderful all because of Jesus. If you ever get the chance to be in a room of hundreds of people worshiping  Jesus do it. It will change you from the inside out. 

  Sing to Him, sing praise to him; tell of all His wonderful acts. Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. ~ 1 Chronicles 16:9-10

           Love,
              Sofia

                

Hillsong Concert

Hey everyone! So last night I got to have  a extremely amazing experience, I saw Hillsong United and Young and Free in concert! When I say it was amazing I mean AMAZING. One of the most beautiful things I've ever seen is people by the thousands lifting up the name of Jesus and getting crazy for Him. I had a great time dancing and jumping around to all of my favorite songs (can I just say Christians know how to party), belting out lyrics to Jesus, and spending time with my youth group of course, but one thing that struck me during the show was a lyric from the song Aftermath."For You chose to take the sinner's crown as You placed Your crown on me." The image of Jesus taking away my sinful, dirty, shameful crown placing it on His head and in return giving me His sinless, glorious, and shameless crown flooded in my mind, and I became overwhelmed with His love. I mean who does that? Jesus does. He carried our shame so that we can have life and so that we can come to know the power of God's love. Isn't that amazing! Another thing I really loved about the show is that it would get quite for a few seconds right after a song and someone in the sea of people would randomly just shout out "Jesus!" and the whole arena flooded with shouts of praise. It's hard to explain in just words but I literally felt like Jesus reached down inside of me and said"Sofia I love you so much." The whole night I just felt peace and overwhelming mercy. I think I was at the humblest state I've ever been in my life. The last thing I would like to add is this. The world hates us, for loving God and following Christ. We will constantly run into people who will question us and try to defeat us with what they think is truth and knowledge but here is something interesting In the book of Acts when Peter and the other apostles were brought before the high priest who started yelling at them for teaching people about Jesus something really cool happened. A pharisee stood up and said 
            “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men.  Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing.  After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered.  Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail.  But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”  Acts 5:35-39

   "You will not be able to stop these men." The kingdom of God is unshakable. Being at the Hillsong concert put that in perspective for me. It's been over 2,000 years since Jesus rose from the dead and people's lives are still being changed, arenas are getting sold out and filled to the brim with people in love with Jesus and wanting to pour their hearts out to Him. This isn't something of human origin. What I experienced at that concert isn't something that us mere humans could just make up. It all comes from God, and because of that we can not be stopped, we can not be shaken. God is alive, the cross is real, and the grace that comes from Jesus is overflowing and abundant. 

This picture was taken by Hillsong Young and Free at the concert! I know, it looks like  a lot of fun. It was. Like I said Christians know how to party.

Picture from the concert! One of the funnest nights ever! This is revival.
(P.S. -If you haven't listened to Hillsong before go check out their new albums Zion and Young and Free they are amazing!)

    Hey guys!! It's been weeks since I've last posted. The first few weeks of Summer have been crazy. I started my new job and my family moved into a new house! As crazy and busy as the past weeks have been, I can't help but be so amazed and grateful for what God has done in my life. My parents bought their very first house and it is amazing! I love this house so much and it really is a true blessing from God. Throughout the past weeks God has not only blessed my family with a new house but has given me a new understanding of patience, kindness, and learning to rely on His strength. Moving is hard. Actually it's one of the most difficult things I've had to do in a while. Through the whole moving process God has created in me a renewed patience and kindness that could only possibly come form Him. It's always amazing to see the Fruit of the Spirit produce in my life. So now my family is finally starting to settle into our new home. We still have a lot more work to do but the hardest part is over. Last night I got a huge break from the stresses of moving and working and got to go to a Lecrae concert with my youth group. It was amazing! To feel the Holy Spirit while rapping and dancing along to Lecrae was awesome. The energy, the message, and the presence of God was so strong I almost felt like I was the only one at the show. It was such a blessing and exactly what
 I needed. I feel refreshed and the spark in my heart for Christ has been reignited. Hopefully now that my computer is set up I will be blogging more often. I miss talking about fashion so that will be coming soon!

                   "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me- the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace."- Acts 20:24


                                                                                 Love,
                                                                                    Sofia.

We were so close to the stage!!! ( I bought the same shirt he's wearing. I love it! Look out for it in a future post)

Here is my amazing youth group and youth leader before the concert!

This promise is so evident in my life. God has shown me so much compassion and I find Him being gracious with me every day. Waiting for God is so worth it. He longs to give us His love and great things. And it excites me to think that He has so much more for my life.