The scene on Saturday morning could be described as nothing short of raw and unbridled excitement as 74 youths, parents, and volunteers met at Centerpoint Fellowship, organized, loaded and departed for a youth conference at Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.  The travelers eagerly anticipated an exciting time, filled with laughter and fellowship while all sought for God’s revealing of Himself.

At the first session, the Centerpoint youth made their presence known in a variety of ways that included making up raps about each session, and loudly cheering and enticing other groups to watch and listen.  Outside of the meetings we continued our enthusiasm with yells of "Roll Tide" every time someone said 14 [the number of National Championships for Alabama Football] in Mr. Gatti's Pizzeria, bringing looks of amusement from some, and occasional distaste from rival team fans.  Centerpoint’s enthusiasm was clearly displayed on the first night.

Rush of Fools led us in every session, pumping-up the crowd with Godly musical worship.  After the Sunday morning session, we were ready to see downtown Gatlinburg.  Hamp Freeman kept several of us girls laughing with his marriage proposals (all in jest), but the joke was on him when realizing that now he’s engaged to numerous young ladies.  After a great visit to Gatlinburg, we returned to the hotel for a quick break before heading into the big session with "10,000 of our newest and closest friends."

At the evening session, the excitement was so intense upon entering the conference hall that we could feel the love of God all around.  From Newsboys to Lecrae, the worshipping was unbelievable. The Skit Guys provided an awesome message of how to share our faith--and how not to.  By the end of the evening, everyone was so exhausted that the bus ride to the hotel was surprisingly quiet.  The next morning’s session (our final day) had the best speakers who challenged us to step out of our comfort zones and live for God.

With all the excitement and lack of sleep, one might expect our bus ride home to be silent, but this wasn’t to be the case, as we performed a freeze mob in the middle of the Chattanooga mall.  All in all, this trip changed our lives through the forming of new relationships, and our old bonds were strengthened.  The memories of this life-changing experience will remain with us forever.