Wednesday Worship: It Is Well

The music at the Women of Faith conference was awesome.

Although I was familiar with both Nicole C. Mullen and Natalie Grant, I wouldn't have called myself a fan.

I do now.

Both women were just astounding in their energy, their vocal ability and their heartfelt worship.

So it's fitting to share them with you.  Today, Natalie Grant singing "It Is Well".

I was so astounded I didn't actually record her singing in Tampa.  From the moment she began, I was caught up in worship. 

This video is from a different city, but the best one I could find online.  The experience was very similar. 

Ignore that this clip was shot from a distance and starts into the song.  At least this woman had the presence of mind to record something.

Close your eyes and listen.  Tell me that you don't get chills. 

Off to find a Natalie Grant CD...

Peace & Blessings,

Patricia

We Matter To God

Lest you think the only speaker at the conference was Sheila Walsh, there was a whole cadre of other speakers, all of whom had wonderful, insightful things to say.

Lisa Harper, she of the southern drawl mixed with Western twang, started out by asking, "Have you ever seen something with the naked, natural eye only to find out later that it wasn't at all what you thought you saw?"  (If you ever meet Lisa, ask her about the naked man in Pulpit Rock Park, Colorado Springs, CO.)

I can't believe I didn't get a picture of Lisa, but since I didn't, the IMAGINE sign works well.  Because the entire weekend was about imagining ourselves to be more than we know or believe in God.

Lisa's message was about the holes in our heart, holes that only God can fill.  Using illustrations from her own life, Lisa offered a number of quotable phrases, all of which I scribbled down for future reference. 

Consider these:

"God had saved me, but I thought he tolerated me.  I didn't know He delighted in me."

How's that for mind-blowing?  How many women were punched in the gut upon hearing this because they too thought the same thing?

More from Lisa:

"Little girls with Daddy issues grow up to be women with intimacy issues."


"The Bible is not a rule book, not a textbook.  It's a love story."

"God loves messy people."

Most of all, Lisa implored us to remember that God knows everything there is to know about us, every detail and He knows because we matter to God.

"God knows every detail about us because we matter to God."

Do you realize just how much you matter to God?  Can you make the leap from believing you're tolerated to believing you are a delight?

Peace & Blessings,

Patricia

Resting On God's Promises

I'm going to continue to post from the Tampa Women of Faith conference throughout the week.

Sheila Walsh, who I could not get enough of, after her very first session, asked, "What is always true, not just for a season?"

We all know about seasons.  We go through seasons in our lives.  People come into our lives for a season.  We endure certain circumstances for a season.  We think "If I get just make it through this season..."  because there's always another season coming.

But what is true in and out of season, across all seasons?

Do you ever wonder whether the troubles in your life stem from some deficiency in you?

It's hard to express this without the entire context, but I think you'll understand.  Sometimes we think, deep down, that the root of the problems in our lives is us, that something dark and secret about us is the reason for the bad things that happen to us.

But God is sovereign.  For always and forever.

Sheila read a portion of Psalms 91 to highlight her message about the promises of God, about what He has promised to do for us when we find ourselves in a world of difficult circumstances and hurt, but I'm going to post the entire thing here.  It's that powerful.  In it, you will find more than one or two promises.  There's a whole bunch of them, so many that if we only focused on the promises in this one passage of Scripture--although you may want to find out about others the Lord has made, that you may have the totality of His grace--we'd be doing ourselves a world of service.

Note, however, that's there a promise in there that we must make as well.  (Hint:  It's on the 2nd line.)

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,

nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

If you say, “The LORD is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling,

no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;

they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

“Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him;

I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble,

I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

Did you catch all the promises, all the things God said He will do for you?

Now you know what God will do for you. 

What will you do?

Connecting in Healthy Ways

Friday afternoon's message from speaker Sheila Walsh was no less powerful than her morning talk.  The theme for the afternoon--for the day, really--was about having healthy relationships, healthy connections.  Connecting with others is vital, but we have to learn to do so in healthy ways.

Sheila began by telling us, "Guilt says, 'I've done something wrong.'  Shame says, 'I am something wrong.'"

Peace, at least the peace of God that passses understanding, comes from a Greek word, eirene.  Peace is the total security and well being because God's presence is with us.

Circumstances can remain the same and God's peace still works, "because the peace comes not from the absence of trouble but from the presence of Christ."

Illuminating the Bible story, in which Jesus, after his peaceful sleep during a storm was interrupted by fearful disciples, Sheila went on to say, "Whether Christ speaks to the storm outside your life or inside your life, it doesn't matter.  They both have to obey."

Finally, Sheila talked about unforgiveness.  Unforgiveness is a prison that will bottle you up worse than any guilt or shame.  But sometimes, in the midst of really difficult circumstances, we may feel as though we have nothing left to give, not even forgiveness.

"Fair doesn't live here, but Jesus does...Forgiveness is God's gift to us as we live in a life that's unfair."

Do you struggle with unforgiveness?  Have you found God's peace?

Peace & Blessings,

Patricia

Q & A with Sheila Walsh and Dr. Henry Cloud

Mid-afternoon on Day 1 of the Women of Faith conference, there was a Q&A session with Sheila Walsh and Dr. Henry Cloud.  Attendees were invited to drop anonymous questions into baskets from which the questions were chosen.

I couldn't see Sheila and Henry during this portion to take a picture since they were seated and I was stuck behind one of the monitors that circled the stage.

But here are some of the notable quotes that came from the Q&A session:

"To make any marriage work well, you have to be part of a community." -- Dr. C.

"You don't want anybody in your cage (your community) who doesn't want to be there." -- Dr. C.

"A burden is bigger than a person can carry." -- SW

I tweeted this yesteday but I'll requote it here:

"Somebody can hand their stuff to you, but you don't have to take it."  -- SW

"Marriage is one of the most perfect places to learn to be more like Christ." -- SW

"When you can draw boundaries and live with the uncomfortableness for a while, you will end up with something worth fighting for." -- SW

"'No' is a complete sentence." -- SW

"Identity is always about saying 'no'...You will never find yourself by starting at the top...Try a bunch of stuff...You will find your gift in your heart." -- Dr. C.

The two were full of wisdom and humor, and together gave great answers to some complex, intriguing questions.

I have so much more to share.  Stay tuned...

Peace & Blessings,

Patricia

Blogger/Phone Problems

Blogger (or maybe my Galaxy phone) stopped being friendly via smartphone about modway thru Friday's session of Women of Faith. But I took copious notes so I'll post more summaries as soon as I can.

Necessary Endings #womenoffaith

Life is about beginnings and endings.  Not all endings are alike.

Endings are prunings. As with a rosebush, prunings are necessary to reach full vitality.

-- When the rosebush produces more roses than it can sustain and reach its potential

-- When the rosebush has branches that are sick and not going to get better

-- When the rosebush has dead flowers or branches that are taking up space

We hold on because we are hoarders. We believe deep down, like people who hang on to a bunch of junk because "I might need that."

What we really believe is "I don't believe anyone can or will provide for me." and "No one gives to me."

Sometimes it's because we're stuck in the past. But we can't be in two places, in abundant life and in unsatisfying conditions, at the same time.

You may need to prune patterns of behavior, patterns that keep you from having satisfying relationships or a sense of prosperity, that is, of total well-being.

God is calling us to take some risks in order to have the necessary endings that will lead to new beginnings.