Over 3,000 girls swarm the stage as the drums kick in and the lights flash. I’m mostly surprised more people don’t trip as we sprint down the aisles, cheering and clapping to the beat of ‘Washed’ by Elevation Rhythm. Crowded against the stage, everything else fades away. People laugh, high-five and raise their hands with girls they’ve never met before because coming together as sisters in Christ becomes the only thing that matters.
I started attending the There{4} Teen Gathering in eighth grade and within minutes it became one of my favorite weekends of the entire year. Friday evening and all Saturday, high school girls and mentors come together to worship, listen to messages from prominent Christian speakers and talk about Jesus. This year, girls even travelled from countries like Switzerland and Ireland to attend.
On February 27, I rushed to my home church from taking marching band pictures after school, changing lightning-fast and scarfing down Chick-fil-a before piling into my mentor’s car and starting the hour-long drive to Bent Tree Bible Fellowship in Carrollton. We waited outside until the doors opened, eventually checking in and shopping merchandise until we could scramble to choose our seats, my best friend and I snagging the two on the aisle so we could rush to the front when worship began.
Worship – by far my favorite part of the weekend. I started listening to the carefully curated T4 playlist right when it released in October, so by the time February rolled around the lyrics were ingrained in my brain, ready to be sung at the top of my lungs. Some songs, like ‘Goodbye Yesterday,’ bring the energy, and I think the amount of jumping on my tiptoes gave me shin splints (that’s probably a joke). Other songs like ‘Center’ and ‘The Blood’ elicited a sea of hands being fully extended, with girls surrendering everything and letting the tears flow. That’s the beauty of music – it can make you feel a wide range of emotions and help you experience the overwhelming peace and presence of Jesus.
Between worship, the conference invited speakers including Sadie Robertson-Huff, a popular Christian speaker and social media/TV personality, to give messages that covered purpose, worth, self-image and insight into how we are all priceless, the theme of this year’s conference. After six speakers spread throughout the two days, my hand hurt from scribbling down pages upon pages of notes. In between sessions, three speakers would come out and answer hard-hitting, anonymous questions in the segment “Asking For a Friend,” and “Talk it Out” segments provided three questions and fifteen minutes for you to talk about the answers with girls sitting around you. The way the conference isn’t afraid to address the hard questions feels like a breath of fresh air, and getting time to open up and talk deeply about my faith and experiences with my mentor and my best friend truly helped my growth throughout the weekend. The Bible emphasizes the importance of who you surround yourself with and how they shape your character. Being surrounded by 3,000 girls willing to support each other and grow in faith with each other doesn’t happen often, proving the importance of this weekend in building community.
Closing the weekend felt so bittersweet. Running on four hours of sleep spent on a mat in Building D of my home church and a singular can of Dr. Pepper (not nearly enough if you ask me), I felt physically exhausted but spiritually refreshed. In the months prior, the pile up of junior year school work and extracurriculars had me hanging on by a thread, perpetually stressed and on the verge of a panic attack. Now, I can (for the most part) peacefully move through the rest of semester – not because the workload lightened, but because I was reminded that I don’t have to carry it alone. I could write pages upon pages about how much fun I have each year planning outfits, sleeping over at church and finding the best spot to take pictures, and while those parts make the weekend so fun, they aren’t what gives it meaning. Not just posing near the stage, but kneeling before it, overcome with the Holy Spirit. Not just laughing with your friends, but crying with them, too. Not just going to curate the perfect Instagram post that reflects the Christian lifestyle, but living in a way that reflects the unconditional love and amazing sacrifice of Jesus Christ and brings other people closer to Him.
