The Best Moment of My Life -Hattie Milligan

                I still remember the best moment of my life like it was yesterday. It was July 3, 2013. My youth group and I were in Tahlequah, Oklahoma doing some mission work. We had been roofing a house all week. The house we roofed belonged to a lady that was disabled. She had two years to put a new roof on her house or the house would have been taken away from her. We showed up on the last month of the last year. The work was so hard and it was so hot outside. My shoes literally melted to the roof of the lady’s house. It was miserable.

                Every night we had a church service. We would go to the chapel and sing, play games, and then listen to a devotion.  We always heard the staff call Wednesday night’s service “cry night” and we couldn’t figure out why. I mean we knew it involved crying but we did not know why we would be crying.

                So, Wednesday night we walked to the chapel and sat outside waiting for the staff.  When they got there we went inside, sang our songs, and played our games. However, instead of doing a devotional, the staff led us outside. When we got outside there was a cross surrounded by candles for each youth group.  We were instructed to pick up a handful of sand and stand in a circle with our youth group. Then, we were supposed to tell everyone one of our weaknesses that always made us stray from God. After we did that, we were supposed to pick up a muddy rock, and go to the cross to wash it off.

                Everyone was quiet at first. Then one of the girls in our group spoke up. After that it was like a chain reaction. Everyone started crying and confessing. I told everyone what was holding me back, I let go of my sand, I picked up a dirty rock, I went and washed it off at the cross, and then I gave my life to God. It felt like 10,000 pounds had been lifted off of my shoulders. I was so on fire. Ironically, the best moment of my life was on “cry night.”