Here Comes The Sun | Spirit Song 2014

//Kings Island
June 26, 2014

concert panoramas are my absolute faves.

So, this past Thursday I got to experience Spirit Song for the first time ever. (I've been wanting to go for, like, five years now). And let me just say...it was fabulous. 

We got to the park at around 9:30 because we wanted to spend the day riding rides before the concert actually started. 

mirror selfies for the win, am i right? 

So, once we got there we decided to hit up planet snoopy first for the little kids to try out some rides. (Just so you're aware, the yellow roller coaster in planet snoopy in the front seat is the best...at least for giggles). And after that we did the carousel. Absolutely no shame.

Once we were done there we decided we wanted to go to the racer, because why not? (Again, the best seat is the front. Just trust me on this). 

It was so much fun to spend the day riding rides and spending time with my cousins and my sister. They're beautiful and funny and amazing. I'm thankful that God blessed me with them. 

this is zoe; she rode her first roller coaster. i was proud.

my darling sister. i'm thankful for this one. 

Then we ate lunch and ya know. Boring stuff. 

But after that I took Allie to ride the beast for the first time. 

BEFORE. she was nervous.

AFTER. it was fun even though it beat us up. (ignore my excited roller coaster face--yikes).

Once that was done we went and met up for the concert. It was my first outdoor / festival type concert and it was so awesome (despite the heat). We partied extra hard. Tenth Avenue North was my favorite of the night, although the rest of the bands were fabulous as well. 

When it started to get dark, Allie and I decided we wanted to go ride a couple more rides and on the way back we danced around the park like lunatics. 

awful pictures but they really just capture who we are and i honestly couldn't love them any more. 

Ended the night with a crazy glow stick / beach ball dance party with Chris Tomlin. 

It was fabulous. 

I honestly don't know what I would do without getting opportunities like these in my life. I'm so thankful for the smallest adventures that I get to go on and the memories that I have been making. They've been pretty freaking amazing so far. 

I am blessed. 

xx Shiloh 

| In Oceans Deep

One thing that you all must know about me is that I love Jesus. So, therefore, I will post about him quite regularly. If you don't like posts about him then I suggest you just click the little 'x' right now. 

Today, I wanted to share this song with you all and kind of talk about what it means to me. It's called 'Oceans (Where My Feet May Wander)' and it's by a worship group called Hillsong. The line of the song that originally drew me in was the one that said "take me deeper than my feet could ever wander," but the more I listen to the song, the more I get from it. 

Tonight, I was really focusing on a line from the first verse of the song that says: "In oceans deep my faith will stand." And to be completely honest with you all: I'm still trying to figure out what it means to me. (That's probably what this post will turn into--me figuring it out). I know that we need to get out into the ocean; the unknown, if you will. That's where God uses us, that's where he teaches us. I know that once we're out there in the deep waters that's where we grow. We lose fear. We learn to love. 

I want to be out in the oceans. In the deep. I want to be taken to a place that is deeper than my feet could ever wander. I want to be some place where my faith can stand. Because, I'll be real with you all for a moment, I've been struggling lately. It's getting harder and harder for me to just make the time for the Lord that I need to. I know I need to change this, and believe me, I want to. I want to be so on fire that when I walk into a room everyone can see him through me. And maybe the deeper I get out into that ocean, the more my faith will stand. The more I'll be relying on the Lord instead of myself. 

I think that I'm just an eighteen year old girl who is trying to wrap her head around things. Like, I know that I believe in God. I know that with my whole heart, I just don't really understand the world yet. I want to love people with such an unconditional love, and show people how much Christ loves them, but it's so hard to do with judgement and temptation around everywhere. I need to work on myself. I need God to work on me. 

My prayer for tonight is that I will be taken out into the oceans deep. That I will be thrown in head first, so much so that I won't be able to rely on myself, and that I'll have to give it up to God. I want him to use me. I want my faith to stand strong, in the oceans deep. I need to be in that ocean. The ocean of God and his love and his mercy and his grace. I need Jesus. I need him to pull me close and teach me. Show me how to view the world. So my prayer is that I will be taken to oceans deep.