United

We went to see Hillsong's United on Tuesday. I already knew they are an amazing worship band, so I went into it with a lot of high expectations.

At first I just thought they were really good, and was kinda just listening to them and watching them. But then I glanced over at Amy who was deep in worship and remembered, "Oh yeah, this is a worship band." They said it themselves that they didn't want to put on a show for us. They wanted to worship with us. Amy, thanks for reminding me and displaying it for me.

So, then I started trying to meet with God. It was a bit difficult because I was surrounded by junior highers who had seriously bugged me the hour and a half before while we all waited and they fighted for their spots closest to the stage.

But, as the songs progressed, they led me closer and closer to the throne room of God. Pretty soon they had me worshipping God and being very very excited about being in his kingdom. They played for maybe 1 1/2 hours after which their pastor got up and preached for a bit.

Once he came up, I realized that I was spent...I had nothing left. I already sang as loud as I could, jumped as much as possible, and shouted my heart out. I didn't even put my earplugs in until he came up. His voice was harder on the ears than the band!

Then the band came up again. For the first couple of songs, I was doing my best to worship. But, I couldn't. I literally had nothing in me. I had a pounding headache, and I think I really injured my vocal chords. It hurt to sing anymore. I decided to just close my eyes and try to enjoy and engage...still, not very easy.

But, their last three or four songs got really exciting. Everyone around me was worshipping with everything they had, so I decided to give it one more try. I sang, shouted, and jumped some more.

It was worth it, but afterwards I was a zombie. I have never worshipped with everything in me before. This time I can honestly say I gave God my everything, physically. The crazy part is that I probably could've give him more with my focus and heart throughout the whole night. But, I'm learning.

(Carlos captured some of it on video. Check it out).