Day 13 - 2015 - PATIENCE

The word for today is "Patience"; I am not a patient person!  I ask God - over and over and over - for patience...


But, today I am sharing the result of being patient; of waiting for the right time...God's right time!



{And please forgive me for not following the rules; but this post will not be written within the Five Minutes allotted for a "true" Five Minute Friday post!}

For many years, the women of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the Florida Region have attempted to have retreats, conventions, meetings and other events with the Hispanic women of the Church.

We would plan a meeting; they would plan a meeting...

And each group would invite the other to attend "their" event; we were together, yet we were separate.

We have prayed and longed for an event that would bring us all together...in fact, for years we have prayed and longed for such a meeting!

Over a year ago, a plan was put into motion: an event was scheduled for the Fall of 2015.  It was prayed for, planned for, prepared for, dreamed of, thought about...

By women from both groups!

And we began to believe that with God and all of our prayers and plans and preparations and dreams and thoughts...

It would be possible!

The moment we pulled into the almost full parking lot on the day of the event, called "The Women", I knew this day would be...

One of the most amazing days I have had in a very long time!

As we walked across the parking lot to where the women gathered, I stood amazed at the numbers that had come from all around Florida for this event!

Our speaker would later share a story from her experiences, describing a group of travelers coming from different directions headed to the same destination...that is truly what happened as the women came from different areas of our state (some even from out of state).

I continued watching as one woman would joyously hug another; old friends reconnecting.  And then another would excitedly see someone and run to give them a big hug!  This happened over and over as I stood there watching.  It was such an exciting sight to see!

I moved into this excited group of women and found myself among those who were hugging each other... finding friends I had not seen in a long time; and friends I had just seen a few short weeks earlier.

After registering and greeting each other, everyone made their way into the sanctuary; and that is when we realized the awesome numbers that were in attendance...

There were over 300 women (and a handful of men); English speaking, Spanish speaking, even a few French speaking from the Haitian women.  It was amazing!

Photos taken by Glenda Harper

Pastor McCarrick of Winter Park Christian Church stated a few days following the meeting:  "Our inaugural gathering of 'The Women' was held at Iglesia Cristina del Norte Church.  The Fellowship was awesome; the Holy Spirit was abundant; and God's blessings too numerous to count.  But what else would you expect from over 300 women of God!"

During the hours that followed, we listened to the inspirational words of our speaker, Sheila Spencer; we laughed, prayed, and praised God together.  And we shared Communion at God's Table.

As we sang praises to God in all three languages - sometimes singing one language in unison, and other times singing all languages at the same time - it became clear what an amazing event this was!

As I raised my hands in praise, and tried singing in Spanish from the printed song sheet, my eyes filled with tears...I was moved by the mass choir that had come together for this amazing event.  I could hardly contain my emotions!

And, as we continued to worship and praise God, to hear His Word spoken in the different languages, I remembered Esther's words in chapter 4 verse 14:  

Found on Pinterest

Shared by thenester.com

For Such a Time as This!


I realized that we - "The Women" - had patiently waited for God's perfect timing!  What we were witnessing was the fulfillment of our prayers and our plans and our thoughts and our hopes and our dreams...

And the assurance that this was, indeed, "our inaugural gathering of 'The Women' ", for there would surely be more gatherings like this in the future - but perhaps none as amazing as the inaugural gathering!


Praise God for His Perfect Timing!








This is Day 13 of "31 Days of Free Writes", linking up with Kate Motaung and the Five Minute Friday group.  Check out all of my "Free Write" posts in this series here.  For more information on the "Write31Days" challenge, click here.