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Heaven came down at Deeper Still

Sophie - June 14, 2010

When Melanie and I found out that our sweet friend Holly was going to be at Deeper Still Denver, we agreed that she would be a perfect person to write a recap. I think you'll be touched by her tender heart and her love for the Lord. We're so grateful that she took the time to write this post, and we hope it encourages you! We'll post part two in a couple of days. -Sophie

Lately I've been feeling like the lemonade cooler at the end of a fourth of July party--used up and left with a few unpressed pieces of lemon pulp at the bottom still bursting with juice. As a wife, mom of four, daughter, friend and neighbor who has recently started working from home to help our family financially, I have felt pressed by life, perplexed without answers, crushed by time schedules and persecuted by my own guilty conscience for not being more or doing better or finally getting a handle on it all for goodness' sake. But I have not been destroyed, crushed, abandoned or left to despair. Honestly, I think the Lord just wanted to get my attention--and yours--to strengthen what remains. (Revelation 3:1-3) He has a Word for you and me--and it all comes down to thing, "What you have received and heard, obey it and repent. Don't just act alive, sisters, BE alive."

This past weekend, as I drove out of my driveway (the third time, for I forgot things the first and second times) and drove to Denver to meet some friends and attend the Deeper Still conference, I felt exhilarated, free, hopeful and excited to hear from God without distraction--and I looked forward to the unpacking of all we learned with my friends who are dear sisters. From the ones speaking and leading in worship over the event to each individual who made it happen, I found myself thanking everyone I saw--for without their diligence, I wouldn't have heard from the Lord as I did. They were the hands and feet of Christ to me. And I was not disappointed in what God came to say to me and to you, dear sisters.

Arriving at the arena, I settled my spirit and focused wholly on my Jesus. I felt His palpable Presence. In worship, Travis Cottrell and his team led us as we sang many hymns that I have known since I was a little girl seeking Jesus on my own. When we got to "It is Well" and sang all five stanzas, tears coursed down my cheeks as I confessed to the Lord then and there that really, it had not been well with my soul. Then and there I chose to say, "It is well and I am done, Lord, with my excuse-making. It is well." I felt the pressing of the Lord, which He used to press out all the last dregs of my lemonade cooler and refill me with a new spirit--Himself. He empties. He replenishes. We are still and let Him--all the while, He whispers peace to our soul.

Kay Arthur began her time reminding all 49 million of us (Travis spoke of the number we would impact, I think, right Trav?) of the lasting and eternal dividends we have in knowing and studying the Word of God. Like broken pieces of pottery, we are surrounded by the sharpened shards of our lives all around us in a world that is unsteady, hard and difficult. She said we cannot just settle for "Bible light," as in weightiness, not the miniature night-light you may use to read at dark. Then Kay posed some questions that I think you should let settle into your marrow: "Are you prepared? Can you live through shattered dreams when life is not what you've expected? Hurt runs deep when dreams are shattered."

Kay taught me that knowledge of my steadfast, immovable and always abounding God is the key to abundant life that pours out and lets Him replenish when I've grown dry and useless. I always write notes to myself when I listen to any message, and when Kay spoke, I felt God whisper, "Your labor is not in vain, Holly." Then as Kay walked around, she looked directly in my eye and spoke these words, "You are a valiant warrior." I took that personally, as a word straight from the mouth of God to my soul. And I smiled last night as I remembered the words to Twila Paris' song, The Warrior is a Child: " They don't know that I go running home when I fall down. They don't know who picks me up when no one is around. I drop my sword and and cry for just a while, 'cause deep inside this armor the warrior is a child." For my little while of crying has been over a year now. The fight in me has been waning. The Lord was telling me and is telling you, too, my sisters, "Get up, child. Know my Word. Know Me. Pick up your sword and Fight."

Kelly Minter spoke and sang Saturday morning (actually her new CD sang me home and I LOVE it!). Kelly described getting a call right after she'd finished several days of writing and during the Nashville flood. A woman named Carla had just moved to Nashville from New York and she had no connections. The doors were literally gone from her house, as Kelly walked in calling her name, "Carla? Carla?" Carla walked through the rubble and sitting water, looking completely undone and devastated. Wearing the discouragement of brokenness, Carla needed a God who would come and rebuilt the walls of her broken life (Nehemiah 4:10). Kelly and her church are rebuilding Carla's home. And God is rebuilding Carla's life. Anyone can build something, but only God can come and rebuild something lasting.

I thought of the rubble in my own life lately--financial ruin, extended family discord and brokenness, disappointment in the church, sadness over the death of a friend, desperation for a God who I need more than I need my next breath--and I prayed then and there, "Lord, rebuild my rubble. Make my walls strong again. What remains is Yours to use. I am Yours. Pour me out as you will and refill and do what only you can do."

We'll continue with part two in a couple of days, but in the meantime, we'd love to hear your reactions to Deeper Still Denver in the comments. How was your time there? What did you learn?

Category: Events