The walls MUST be torn down!

Why...my 15 year old asks? It seems like something that wouldn't be that hard to attend.....he continues.

And then I had a thought...what if Microsoft had a "newbie" group before everyone of their conferences...now THAT would be silly....but a newbie group for a Christian women writers and bloggers conference...not silly at all. Let me tell you why....

First off...the reason I started the original group for the 2012 conference...you can read about some of that reason here...in the post where I debriefed my 2012 experience. Now here is the other half of it...get ready...because it is super spiritual...I created the group last year out of pure selfishness. I didn't want to be the one walking in not knowing anyone, head spinning from feeling out of my element and not good enough to be amongst these "real" bloggers. You know...the bloggers who actually blog regularly...the ones who actually make a small amount of cash from their work...or even better they provide the soul income for their family...the ones with thousands of followers...the ones who use perfect grammar and punctuation and don't continually use "..." marks when they write...yeah...those people. Those people who intimidated the begeesus out of me.

What I didn't see coming is that I was not the only one to have those thoughts. I didn't know that I would be involved in creating a whole other level of community within this already amazing community. I had no idea what to expect really...I just knew that I was so excited to be going to this event that I couldn't wait until the conference to start connecting with these people. I didn't really recognize myself as a true blogger or writer...but what I did recognize is that I was in love with the community. It felt so good to be amongst a group of other like minded people...people who didn't look at you like "blogger huh? What exactly is a blog?" It was an environment where I didn't feel like I had to explain anything because they just got it!

So then comes Allume 2013. I went ahead and started the facebook group with the blessing I thought I had from Sarah Mae from the previous year...without knowing that the conference ownership had changed hands to the lovely miss Logan Wolfram. (Sidenote...if you start a group with a name in it that belongs to an existing company and is trademarked...you should probably make sure you have 100% permission before doing so) Anyhoo...oops. However...Miss Logan was very gracious and recognized that I was operating in my realm of gifting by being a part of this group...so I was made an official Allume team member.

Ok...focus..back to the question..why a newbie group? So here is why I think it was so important to have this group...especially this year. Within the Allume team we all felt it...this strong anointing that was coming upon the Hyatt hotel in Greenville, South Carolina the last weekend in October. There was a stirring in us all. One that lead to being awoken with dreams...and visions of women on the knees crying out to Jesus. Visions of the heavens breaking open and pouring out onto this community. The stirring...it was so strong that some of us could not shake it. We came expecting something to happen...we didn't really know for sure exactly what would happen...but we knew to expect something extraordinary.

There were over 200 of you in that newbie group...which means that just about half of the attendees were new to this setting. I believe that because we were able to air out all of our excitements..fears...anxieties...prayer requests...have our informational questions answered...etc in that little space of the interwebs...leading up to the conference...because of that we were able to walk in the doors and just "be". We were able to allow ourselves to be drenched in what the Holy Spirit had to pour out on us. We were allowed to concentrate on the words that were spoken and not whether we would be "liked". We were able to let go...and let God! I firmly believe that because those little details were all laid out before hand....women were able to set aside their worries and allow themselves to be broken for what breaks His heart. We were allowed to take in the beauty that was surrounding us in each of the unique individuals that we were meeting. We were able to focus on listening to their stories...we were able to get beyond the superficial and get to the super spiritual realm of community. Deeper connections were made.

There is unity in humility. {Phillipians 2:1-4}If everyone walked around looking like they always had it together what would that accomplish? How would hurts be healed if we didn't first admit we have pain? How can God help you if you don't reach out your hand and ask for help? How can God get past the superficial in your life and into your spirit if you don't allow Him to do a work in you? You see....when us 200 women hung out together online for 8 months admitting our faults and fears to one another...we created a union in our humility. Our humility that none of us are above or below one another. We opened ourselves up to being real. Because of that cracking open in each of us...God was able to step in...in a major way at Allume. I am hearing it over and over and over again...."I still can't bring myself to process everything that happened at Allume". I believe walked away with the feeling of..what was that? What just happened? I can't explain it all...I just know it was wonderful...and I want more of it.

My desire for all of us is to take what we learned about creating unity in humility by being a part of that group....and how we learned to build a deeper community amongst ourselves...and take that into our own communities. You can achieve those very same things in your own churches...in your own homes...in your own small groups and big groups and all around. Tear down the walls of superficial and get REAL with one another...TEAR DOWN THOSE WALLS...So that God can clear the paths of junk that we have put in between Him....and His ability to fully get into our hearts! How do I know this is needed? Because my heart is beating out of my chest as I type this...because I wish I was standing at the top of a mountain shouting this message...because I would give anything to know you are hearing these words! You are worthy of experiencing God's love to His fullest potential...but the WALLS MUST COME DOWN!