The Summer I Dreaded - Or So I Thought - God Was In The Midst Of Everything
ps. I love how God speaks to me through my UNITED fam. It's awesome, UNITED's the best, and God's the greatest.
May 2017
May, always one of my favourite months. School ends. Summer break begins. The best, ha. May started out great, actually, it was amazing! My aunt and uncle who live in China were home, and I had the best time hanging out with them. It was special because this time when they came home, I told them I was ready... ready to get baptised. My uncle is actually a pastor, and I always looked up to him, so it felt very special that he was the one doing my baptism. After praying, and asking God where He wanted to lead me, it was towards baptism. Baptism isn't something I take lightly, and I believe no one should take it lightly. It's a serious matter, because it means that you're ready to fully surrender yourself to Jesus. & I think that it's a beautiful thing. It was definitely a big faith step for me, but my prayer has always been that God would have His way in me.
It was all pretty cool because after I got baptised, I got to worship along with one of my favourite bands, Hillsong Young & Free. I love them so much, and yeah, I have a thing for Australian people, they're the bestest.
& on top of that, my favourite band in the entire universe, Hillsong UNITED, released two new songs from their upcoming album, Wonder, which was to come out in June. They released - "Wonder," and "Splinters & Stones." The timing was perfect. The song "Wonder" was special to me because the song talks about baptism, and the salvation that we find in Jesus. & I had just gotten baptised, which made it all that much more WONDERful, haha. It's the little things like that which remind me that God is speaking to me, and working in my life.
June 2017
Wonder album launch month woohoo! Thank Jesus I didn't even have to wait a month for that album. God is good y'all! & those songs are absolutely stunning. The amount of work, blood, sweat, and tears UNITED put into that album means everything.
So, hopefully this doesn't turn into a long story, if it does then woopsies, I can't help it. God's grace and kindness was (and is) upon me, ha.
There was a gal, I think my age, or a year older than me... she messaged me on Instagram asking me how I was able to meet UNITED last summer at the Empires Tour. I didn't respond at first, cause I didn't know her. For some reason, I felt God just tell me to respond to her, and so I did. I shared a bit of how I met them, and just how God was in the midst of it all.
I then told her, "if it's really a desire in your heart to meet UNITED, give it to God. He placed that desire in your heart for a purpose, and He has a plan for it."
She wanted to meet them because, she was seeing them in a few days. She also told me that they were the reason why she started leading worship at her church. I truly think that it is just amazing how God can speak to people through music. & to get to the point, haha, she was able to meet UNITED. I gave her some advice on how she could meet the band, but all in all, it was ALL God. Ah, classic God, always at work - He continues to amaze me each and everyday.
After she met them, she told Taya, and UNITED's manager, that I said hi to them, and that they said hey back. & she said that they remembered me. I felt the love all the way from NYC to KC, haha. & to top it all off, their team told her to tell me that they were planning on coming to KC in either late July, or early August. They also told her to tell me that they couldn't wait to see me... oh the emotions.
After she told me, I had to message the UNITED team just to confirm if they would really be coming to KC. It turns out that their team was planning on it, but they wanted to keep it on the down low. They wanted her to be the first to tell me before they told me. It's funny - because this was a gal who I didn't even know at the time, she messaged me, and from there on, God was in the midst of everything. It's just crazy, and amazing how God works and speaks to me.
At the end of June, Hillsong UNITED asked fans to send in videos on Instagram to tell them which cities they should pop-up in while they were in the USA during the weeks of July 18th - August 5th. They called it #WonderInTheWild because they would be going out in the "wild" to places/cities where fans wanted them to go to. People from across the USA sent in hundreds of thousands of videos. Now where does KC fit into that?
Their team also asked me to send in videos so that they could bring the wilderness to wonder in KC. I of course sent in my videos, because hey, it's worth a shot, especially when it's your favourite band in the entire world. Haha.
July 2017
The week UNITED planned on arriving in the USA had finally come. Their team told me that for their #WONDERINTHEWILD pop-ups, they weren't going to announce the dates in advance. Instead, they wanted to do something different, and announce the pop-up the day of. So that'll allow for people to have just enough time to get to the venue. I'm a girl, so that worries me. It takes awhile for me to get ready. A 24 hour notice would've been much better, haha.
The last week of July, I went out of town with some of my family. I prayed so, SO much that UNITED wouldn't be in KC during that time. Sounds selfish, I know, but hey, I'm human. & I love my UNITED fam. I had such a great time with my family while we were out of town. It was much needed, and was refreshing for my mind and soul. It's always good to get away from things, and places you're comfortable in, every once in awhile. I feel like it gives you an appreciation for home. Home is definitely, and always will be where my heart is - there's no place like it.
August 2017
First day of August... I was never a big fan of August because this is the month that I start school. Haha. I wish I liked school more, but it's always associated with stress...well, for me personally.
Since it was already the start of August, I didn't even know how UNITED could fit KC into their schedule since they were so busy. It was August 3rd, and randomly at 3PM, I received a text from the UNITED team. It was suspicious, because all it said was - "hi." Suspicious right? Hahaha. I didn't know if they sent it to the wrong person or not, but I asked how Wonder In The Wild was going for them. They responded saying that it was going well, and that they were having the best time. So I responded back asking when they were coming to KC.
& they said, "well, we're in Georgia today. Dallas on Saturday, and we fly home on Sunday."
That was already a hint, hint, for me haha. (KC on FriYAY, woooo!)
They also said, "you should probably stay tuned at midday tomorrow. But shhhh... keep it a secret."
It's not much of a secret anymore though, ha. Oh how I love my UNITED fam. They're the best humans.
FriYAY, August 4th...
My favourites, in my city, plus a few other people - all UNITED - in the HEART of America - Worshipping GOD together. It was a stripped away Worship night... no fancy lights, no giant LED screens, no walls, and no stage. It wasn't about us, or even Hillsong UNITED - it was all about Jesus, only Jesus. What could possibly be better?
During their first song, I wanted to stand, so my niece and I made our way to the back to stand. UNITED usually plays the faster songs at the beginning, so that's why.
While we were walking to the back, UNITED's manager saw me and said, "Hey, you made it. We were expecting you."
I said, "oh yeah, I wouldn't miss it for the world. & hey, you still remember me from last year!"
Then he says, "Hannah, of course I remember you. We all love you so much."
I got to talk to him for a bit, and it was lovely chatting with him.
He looked around to see if there were any people near us, and he whispered to me, "hey, after their set come meet me. I'll take you to meet a few of the guys."
Now how could I say no to that? God... classic God. He always knows the desires of my heart. As much as I wanted to meet them, I didn't ask to meet them. Not at all, if it's God's will, it'll happen. & it did. I'm continuously thankful that God has not only allowed me to meet them once, but twice. With each time I've met them, I love them even more. & it's pretty cool that Taya remembered me, and called me - "her gal." Besties for life, y'all - ha just kidding. I love her like a sister. Also, how great is it to be known as, "The Taya Girl?" (thanks JD for the nickname, haha - love ya bro!) I get a new nickname every time I meet them, ha! All thanks to JD of course. The best part is that they kept their promise on coming to KC. & the first time I met them, they said I was guaranteed meet and greet every time I was at one of their event, and they kept that promise too. Ah, my UNITED fam is seriously the best, there's no one like them.
THANK YOU JESUS for this WONDERFUL summer! You always come through, and I'm so thankful for everything. I promise to never take any of this for granted. & thank You for putting some of the best people in my life. I gotta lot of love for my UNITED fam.
X X X
Here are some of the pictures from #WonderInTheWild. It was such a lovely night of worship. & getting to meet some of the UNITED guys and gal was amazing, as always. So glad I get to call them my dear friends. x
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| picture - The Cause Church |
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| picture - The Cause Church |
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| Taya teaching me how to pout, haha. She's actually the sweetest human ever. |
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| Always a joy getting to chat with this lovely gal. |
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| I've got a lot of love for the UNITED team... and especially for this gal xx |
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