A young man responding to God’s touch at the onething09 conference.

It’s confession time.

Forgive me readers, for I have sinned.

It’s been 15 days since I last blogged.

And I’ve blogged out of order.

And with that out of the way, let’s get on with some images. :)

As I have in past years, I was one of several photographers with the privilege of documenting the yearly onething conference put on by the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. It is a four day event, running from 9am each day until late at night. From a photographer’s perspective, it’s HARD WORK! Rewarding, yes, but at the end of the conference, I can barely walk! Next year, I’m wearing tennis shoes. I don’t care if they look dorky.

The thing that makes the long days and tired feet worth it is being able to witness and photograph lives being changes by the love of God. I also personally had frequent encounters with God’s love as I reunited with old friends and made new ones, and was embraced over and over again and affirmed not only in my gifting as a photographer, but in my value as a child of God. His love is tangible in things like lattés from Christina, sharing meals with “the Steves” (Willis and Offutt) and others, and impromptu prayer and prophetic ministry from people I have never met until we sat down at a table together to share lunch (thank you Cate and Pat!).

For this event, I become part of the marketing team, and this year, I needed each one of them, as I wrestled with several difficult heart-issues that came up in the process of documenting the conference. I’m so grateful for how they prayed over me, held me up, and cared so well for my heart. Because of them, and by the grace of God, I experienced maturity and growth in the midst of pain. I truly felt like I was part of the team, and even more than that, I felt like part of the “family” of IHOP, a privilege I do not take lightly.

Okay, enough mushy stuff, on to the photos…

To set the stage for you, over 20,000 people attended the event.

Misty, always my favorite.

Sweet Jill, whose wedding I get to photograph this weekend! :D

IHOP’s very talented dance team performs each year at the conference. It’s one of my favorite things to photograph.

I literally got goosebumps when this happened.

Dancer with dreadlocks.

Cory Asbury – such a fun guy and great musician.

If I remember right, 700 people were baptized over the four days of the event.

Used a little off camera flash for this one, just for fun (thanks, Jordan, for being my light stand)!

There is a kid’s conference alongside the onething conference. I got to spend a few hours photographing the kids – and left that room feeling my heart had been touched.

A display of Misty Edwards’ latest CD, feature my photo of her from last year’s event on the cover!

Young adults dancing in a steam of light coming into the conference center.

I have a story for this photo. This young woman was standing in that same light as in the above photo, and I took probably a hundred photos of her. Not only was the light beautiful, but I could see she was engaging her heart with God, making he even more beautiful. As I was finishing taking the photos, the worship time came to a close and I gave her my card, telling her I would send her some photos. I got an e-mail about a week later that made me cry:

Hi Shelley,

I just wanted to say thank you. The Lord used you in a mighty way the other night.

During the exact time you were taking pictures I was praying:

“Father see me, see me Lord, me right here. Show me you care”

So. In you coming to me He spoke saying, “Baby, I do. I do see you. I do care. I love you.”

So thank you.

Amen.

In Him,

The girl in the Light.

To me, that’s more important than any photo I could have taken at that event.

I love the flare my 50mm 1.2 lens creates in stage lighting.

Two of my partners in…well…crime and severe goofiness: Jordan and Jarrod. This must have been near the end of the conference. We were all tired and loopy.

I zoomed as I took the photo to get this effect, if anyone is wondering.

One last story to reward you for reading this far. :) The guy in the striped shirt was not wearing this shirt when I walked up to him. He was wearing this shirt (iPhone pic):

I walked up to him and said “I NEED THAT SHIRT!” (I’m a recovering perfectionist). Not really meaning to imply he should actually give me his shirt, but that’s exactly what he did. He gave me his shirt, and it’s a reminder to me that I need NOT be afraid of my imperfections.