Journal Entry April 30, 2006 7:10 am

This is the story of my conversion, told in the best way I can.

Now I shall talk about Battle Cry. It was AWESOME!!!! Seriously. It was soo cool to see God working in the hearts of so many teens. There was one point on Friday night where they had us wait till that perfect moment, then stand up and shout, “I want the Cross!” I sat in my chair for five or ten minutes, shaking with the burn in my stomach growing by the second. I gripped the armrests of my chair and listened to the voices of my friends and relatives shouting, “I want the Cross!” I squeezed my eyes shut to stop the tears, but it was no use. The struggle going on inside me was hard, I think that if God wasn’t on my side I would have broken. I know that there was a serious struggle going on inside my head and heart. God and the Devil were duking it out over me. I’m not exactly sure about anything being said, but I could defiantly hear a battle. And finally, God won and He was able to break the Devil’s death grip on me I stood and shouted with all I had left, “I want the Cross!” Then burst into tears. I stood there, crying and shaking till Ron Luce said to walk down the stairs to the stadium floor. The Michael Gungor band was playing that one song, “Take me to that place, Lord, to that secret place where, I can be with you…” It was so cool, I was walking down the stairs crying and singing, I finally got to the ground and couldn’t wait anymore. I dropped down on my knees and poured myself out to God. And then, after waiting, Ron Luce prayed, and I felt so free. I had needed to do this since the first A.T.F we went to, but I hadn’t because I cared too much about what other people would think of me, I don’t care anymore. And as we walked back up, Ron Luce said that he didn’t want anyone getting back to their seats without at least 10 hugs. I probably got hugged by at least 30 perfect strangers. There was one guy, who, as he hugged me, said, “God loves you.” And I replied, “He loves you too, man.” That night was the first time I ever remember hugging Nate-o and my cousin Thaddeus. Oh, and Rick Scott, ad we were walking back to our seats, he just attacked us in this huge embrace, and I knew I was free.