Crowned

This past Friday night, I went with several girls from our youth group at church to an event called "Crowned."  A young man named Matt Pitt spoke to the girls about purity and conducting themselves as the princesses they are - as daughters of the King of Kings.  He stressed, in his own energetic and comical way, how valuable we are in God's eyes. Something we all need to hear from time to time, no matter how old or young we are. It was a powerful service. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house.

Here are our girls as we were waiting to get into the auditorium. Aren't they beautiful? 

The photo above was taken during a drama they were performing during the service (sorry for the poor photo quality). I wish I had a video to show you.  It was awesome!

And here are the girls with Matt after the service.

Oops, we left out Kyla....

See why the kids love him! 

What amazes me is the tremendous gift Matt Pitt has been given to reach our youth.  He went through a period of his young life with drug and alcohol problems.  His parents found out he had a problem when they visited him in college. They promptly took him home to get help.  Then, one night in their basement, after his parents had come to the conclusion that there wasn't much more they could do to help him, his dad sat him down and gave him an ultimatum.  That very night, in the basement, Matt was led to the Lord by his father.

After that night, Matt began inviting friends to his house, to the basement, so they, too, could experience God the way he had. What began with about four people gathering in his basement worshiping together turned into a huge gathering of hundreds, if not thousands, of youth, moving from church to church to accommodate the growing numbers.

Now, this group meets at The Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, Alabama. The event is known simply as "The Basement." 

Lives are being changed. Droves of kids are being led to Christ and it's all because God has used the life of this one young man. God led Matt from a life of hopeless addiction to a life of ministry. Truly amazing.
 
We should never under estimate our trials because who knows what wonderful things God has planned as a result.

For more information on this wonderful ministry, you can visit their website here.  I've not been to a regular service before, but I plan to go with my kids over the summer. Maybe I'll see you there!

Blessings,