This is the third year I attended the Women of Faith conference. Last year, I mostly wrote about my excitement of how awesome it was. This year I went in with a high expectation, and I was not disappointed. As expected, I was inspired and rejuvenated, which I really needed. I experienced all sorts of emotions during the conference. I laughed so hard that made me cough, and I cried and wiped the tears flowing down my chin and down my neck. I heard so many messages and felt that God was speaking directly to me, and I wanted to remember them all but couldn’t take notes fast enough. I almost wish I had some time afterwards, maybe even days, to process some of those things. Some of those things, I need to keep figuring out, so the purpose of this post is not to explain some of those ideas. I don’t think I could do justice trying to explain right now anyway. I did want to highlight some of the cool parts, which is much easier to explain.
On day 1, we had a couple hours of down time between the sessions, so some of us went to the Centennial Park. We had a lot of extra lunches we didn’t eat, so we gave away the food to some homeless guys. We then went to the fountain area and took some pics of ourselves being silly and debriefed about what we got out of the messages. We also had some deep conversations during our drive to and fro, which I appreciated. Then we headed back for the evening session and heard some more great messages and it was time for the concert.
Well, music is always a part I enjoy very much at these sort of events. The musical guest were Steven Curtis Chapman and Mandisa. SCC’s story is beautiful, too, but I want to talk about Mandisa because I didn’t know the story behind the voice. Wow! She really blew me away! I liked her songs but wasn’t a huge fan until I got to know her story. Her testimony was so powerful. She talked about how she had been a victim of rape and began to use food to cover her pain. But, God rescued her from that which kept her captive and enabled her to use her experience to speak into other people’s lives. It was evident that she has a joyful spirit and is living a victorious life! I love that. AND most importantly, I saw her leaving the lobby area surrounded by bodyguards and I said hi to her and she said hi back!
When I process some of those things that I think God is trying to speak into my life, I will try to write about it. For now, here are some pictures from the weekend.
‘There are not three levels of spiritual life— worship, waiting, and work. Yet some of us seem to jump like spiritual frogs from worship to waiting, and from waiting to work. God’s idea is that the three should go together as one. They were always together in the life of our Lord and in perfect harmony. It is a discipline that must be developed; it will not happen overnight.’
I’ve understood that work or school should be worship, but I didn’t think about waiting: waiting for God or for that something which you desire. That means that the time you spend waiting can be worship! It can be worship because you trust in His timing and you are obedient. And that means that waiting is not idle nor passive, but is an act of worship you can give to God.
Yesterday, I asked God for a sign about something that I was desperate to hear from God (which I usually don’t do). I also asked God that I just needed to know “yes” or “no”, and I didn’t ask “when”. So, when God gave me a sign yesterday, I was grateful in just that answer and was okay with waiting. But this morning God spoke to me that I shouldn’t just be okay while I wait, but I should worship in my waiting, and not worshiping only when the wait is over.
Last night, actually, only a few hours ago, I witnessed two children arrive to the airport to be united with their forever families. The children were brought by the escorts, and they all endured a long travel, with the last flight delaying the moment of their union. Everything seems stalled when something so important is at hand, doesn’t it? As we were waiting for the children to arrive, I saw one of the parents standing there without saying much, and I saw another fidgeting like crazy in such anxiety and anticipation. They all had their hearts on their sleeves, hoping that they would finally meet their child and not wait another moment.
It was very quiet at the airport, being close to 3 am and all, and we found out that the babies had arrived at another gate. The parents and Jason and I walked speedily to the baggage claim, but I knew, in their hearts, they wanted to run but was keeping their composure. Of course, their hearts were already there.
And then, at last, the moment they were waiting for.
They each walked to their child and waited eagerly for the escorts to hand over the baby so they could hold, touch, talk to, kiss, and embrace their child. The children began to cry at the strange and overwhelming environment, and they grieved. With their tiny voices, and little droplets of tears, they grieved. It was incredible to see that they could sense that it was a stressful time.
Knowing that those children were abandoned or relinquished, for whatever the circumstances their birth parents were in, and for them to be received into a family to be loved, reminded me of the love that God has for us. We may be, or may feel that we were, abandoned by our earthly parent(s), but our Heavenly Father will never leave us. “In love, he predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ..” (Ephesians 1:5). Those parents exemplified the love of Christ through the act of adoption.
All the while, I was attempting to talk to the parents, take some pictures for them, and make sure everyone was doing okay, but it was such an inexplicable moment for me. I expected this to affect me, but it affected me in an unexpected way. I think when you experience another life being changed in such a powerful way, it undoubtedly changes you.
I saw this video and blissfully imagined how amazing it would be if this could become a reality. I know that it could, but would, it happen?
Maybe we can’t force the world to take this initiative, but let them be accountable for their actions. Will you do something about this? How will you show love this Christmas?
I’ve never experienced a Thanksgiving morning quite like this before. This year, we’re spending Thanksgiving in St. George Island. I woke up around 6:40a.m. this morning and walked to the beach to watch the sunrise, just by myself. I spent a quick moment reading the Word, which led me to Psalm 47. Then I took some pictures of the sunrise. I walked on.
I decided to pick up some seashells to remember this walk. As I was sorting through them, I noticed that I was only picking up the unique seashells, those that stood out by their unique shape, color or size. There were many pretty shells but I didn’t pick them because I won’t remember the ones that were like all the others. There’s a reason to be confident in our uniqueness, because I believe God delights in our uniqueness. Stand out in your uniqueness, so that you can be recognized for your uniqueness and be used in the way for which God created you. Find out how you are unique.
After picking up some seashells, I started looking at the ground, looking for what other cool seashells I can find. I kept on walking, looking and searching, and I stopped looking up, failing to notice the beauty around me, and missing the big picture. We get like that, getting distracted by the small things, so focused on our next project, job, the next thing to do, the next thing to achieve. And we forget that God has the whole thing made, not just the seashells but the ocean and the sky and causes the sun to rise and the waves to roll. How much more, then, will He take care of us, too? So, look up and enjoy the works of His hands.
There was this one particular shell I picked up. It was the smallest one I had ever seen. Unbroken, smooth, and incredibly precise. It was truly beautiful, so perfect. God took the time and designed that seashell and a multitude of seashells that are so minuscule that you wonder why they were created. What use are they or for what function were they created? But I saw that they were created for God’s glory. God chose to create them, and even that tiny, fragile seashell revealed the glory of God. On my walk back to our place, I lost that seashell, the smallest one I collected, and I got sad. I retraced my steps to the entrance to see if I had dropped it nearby. Even though it was the smallest, I cared just as much as the other seashells I had in my hand. I believe God is the same way. Even though we are small, we are not less worthy in His sight, and He cares for us in an inexplicable way.
The God that created the sun and made it to rise, created me and calls me His beloved. “You were fearfully and wonderfully made.” I know we hear this all the time, but I thanked God this day for sending me this reminder through that small and seemingly insignificant seashell.
Today, I found some very interesting tidbits about our presidential candidates and democratic vice presidential candidate, in the area of charitable giving. Sarah Palin’s tax return has not yet been released to the public.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s tax return indicated that the most he has ever given personally to charitable causes was 5.8% – [...]
Sponge. My mind was a like that of a sponge the last couple of days. I attended the Women of Faith Conference, and I was blown away by so many truths that were spoken to so many women. I don’t know how many women actually “got it,” but I walked away from it being not [...]
I'd rather be with my hubby, friends, or build relationships than spend time having a spic and span house. I am a wife, a counselor, and a child of God. I'm so blessed to be married to Jason, who is my best friend and biggest fan. And I am his.
On day 1, we had a couple hours of down time between the sessions, so some of us went to the Centennial Park. We had a lot of extra lunches we didn’t eat, so we gave away the food to some homeless guys. We then went to the fountain area and took some pics of ourselves being silly and debriefed about what we got out of the messages. We also had some deep conversations during our drive to and fro, which I appreciated. Then we headed back for the evening session and heard some more great messages and it was time for the concert.
