It was quite a beautiful night last night at Church of the King’s Women’s Night with Sheila Walsh. I was so encouraged and challenged. Sheila’s message on navigating the life storms we face – expected or not – hit so close to home in my heart. The last few years have been stormy to say the least, in some ways literally and it other ways the storms of life have engulfed my heart, mind, and thoughts. Some moments sinking, other times swimming, and on occasion I’ve surfed through some of those bad boys. I loved how Sheila painted a beautiful picture that it is often those storms that draw us so close to the heart of Jesus. It’s in those close, unveiled, exposed, and intimately raw moments, we find the heart of God to be accepting and loving and healing and redemptive. Our lowest moment isn’t where he leaves us, it’s where we often realize he’s been there the whole time.

Before Sheila shared her message with us, we had a special moment at the end of worship where I was able to read aloud over our ladies the following words (end of the blog) about the woman God sees.  With such an overwhelming response from women moved by this spoken word after service, I wanted to share it with you all to read again and again and again. I just loved that of all the things I was asked to read it was something that has been my heartbeat for so long for the women in my life and this region. I preached a message to our college women titled, Be the Woman, just a few weeks back. The message was right along this same anthem. Funny how God has a way of layering things onto our heart that both impacts us and others.

Be encouraged, lovely woman, not to seek out inner strength to embrace life but to fall into Jesus’ amazing love and grace that is available to you. It’s far more lasting than scraping for inner strength and it doesn’t leave you empty, rather overflowing with LIFE.  Joy shining from the inside out comes from Him and it truly brings out beauty in the most incredible ways despite the storm we find ourselves in. Jesus beauty is captivating, influential and draws people to your heart – not your body.

I love how all these words, stories, and messages just blended together what has been brewing in my heart and the ladies hearts around me. God is moving and how breathtaking the we get to be caught up in that. In a blog just last week, I shared about my families Easter celebration and the immense gift that we now have full access to Jesus – in all moments and at all times. We are never alone and this is why we can truly be all he says that we are. Read here if you’re bored. 

Enjoy these words – they are about YOU!

This beautiful script was taken and edited from something we saw at a women’s conference at HPC a few years back- you can see their women’s conference here where they read it aloud. I think it’s around minute 35:00 when Delynn reads it.

To learn more about Sheila Walsh’s message and book, The Storm Inside, you can visit her website here for a list of places to purchase it. It’s a MUST HAVE BOOK.