Gathering of Girlfriends 2007 Photos

from Sunshine Loveland

If you attended the Gathering of Girlfriends and want to share your photos, send an e-mail to Sarah Austin for instructions or burn them to a CD and leave it in the LPC office.

Girl Time in KC: LPC Ladies Travel to Beth Moore Conference

by Heather Gilion

On 9 September 2005, some of the ladies from LifePoint Church, packed their bags and headed for Kansas City. For some, it was quite a sacrifice. They kissed their husbands and kids goodbye, left their jobs early, and gave up a relaxing weekend at home to leave time with "the girls." But all those sacrifices became a blur as we approached our destination. Those who had never been to a Beth Moore Conference probably couldn't fathom all they were in for, but those who had witnessed the power of the Word proclaimed through this woman anticipated life-changing, God-transforming moments.

Smiles crossed our faces as we headed down the road. Giggles filled the vans as I heard many moms breathing out sighs of relief as they felt a little free from life's responsibilities. The giggles grew as they imagined what their husbands might make for dinner. Friendships were established as strangers became immediate companions on this journey. I loved stepping outside of the circle for a moment and witnessing what God was doing. The unity was beautiful. We were celebrating the simple joy of one another's company. It was—in its truest form—girl-time! We could talk about anything our little hearts desired … and we did.

By the time we arrived, settled in, and had a quick bite to eat at the Cheesecake Factory (are your mouths watering) we headed towards Kemper Arena. The lines were long and some of the women were ruthless as we struggled to find seats together, but all the frustrations of the moment quickly faded away as the music sounded and our conference was fully underway. Although we were all from every which way, there was still much in common, as Beth pointed out, “estrogen, the color pink, and Capri pants.” Worship was sweet as the voices of 15,000 women filled the arena. It was the sound of a mighty choir joining in one voice in adoration to their Savior, their Lord, and their Friend. I wondered many times what God must be thinking, how he must have been savoring the moment.

Beth Moore took her time as she laid before us what we'd be diving into. There was no mistaking the fact that God was there and he had a word for us. He wanted us to come face-to-face with fear! At first many of us had the same reaction, “I'm not afraid.” But the Lord used Beth to illuminate the areas in our lives that say otherwise. She said, “Fear can single-handedly rob us of the fullness of his promises.”

What are the areas that we live out of fear and not out of our belief? She said, “Fear is a manifestation of unbelief—an emotional outburst of unbelief.” When do we not believe God can do what he says he can do? When do we not believe God is who he says he is?

God challenged us in that moment. He asked us if we wanted to be free! Habakkuk 3 was his challenge:

“The Lord God is my strength [my personal bravery, and my invincible army], he makes my feet like hinds' feet and will make me to walk [not to stand still in terror, but to walk], and make [spiritual] progress upon my high places [of trouble, suffering, or responsibility]!” Habakkuk 3:19 (amplified version)  

A woman's greatest fear is a loss of relationship. A man's? Failure. What was God revealing as our greatest fear? What is yours? Some of us have experienced the picture that Psalm 23 beautifully displays. We have walked through the valley of the shadow of death, but we have feared no evil because he was with us! But when we are in that valley it is hard sometimes not to fear. It is hard not to let the circumstances of life make us cower under pressure, but he is faithful and speaks to our very souls that he is as near as our skin and he is indeed with us. We can believe he is who he says he is, and he can do all that he says he can do! Psalm 23 reveals that he doesn't always rescue us from the valley, but he does promise that he's there with us, walking with us, carrying us if need be.

Beth said, “Faith is not denying reality. It acknowledges that God can change our reality.” She helped us examine three areas in our lives where the enemy commonly gets us to fear, which hold us back from making spiritual progress. Those areas are trouble, suffering, and responsibility. Life is full of all three, and sometimes we find ourselves in all three at once!

Trouble may have become our reality because of consequences to our own actions or maybe from other's actions, but when we find ourselves in trouble, fear is quick to entangle us from all sides as we struggle to know what to do now!

And then there's suffering—we are desperate, hurting, calling out to God for answers, for help! Maybe its physical, maybe it's emotional, maybe it's financial, maybe we've lost someone who meant the world to us. Whatever suffering we may find ourselves in, it's real, and it's easy to fear tomorrow.

The final area that can keep us from our spiritual high places is that of responsibility. We're overwhelmed with duty, with family, with positions at work, and with relationships. We live in fear of what could happen—how we might fail others or ourselves. In our conference, she had us stand in response to those three: trouble, suffering, or responsibility. Our hearts broke for others that stood. By their tears you could sense that many were carrying quite a load. An overwhelming amount of women stood overloaded with responsibility.

As we left that night, she encouraged us to think on the everyday fears that bombard our minds and what scares us most. We climbed in our vehicles and waited to get out of the parking lot. I know what you men are thinking, “Aaah!! All those women drivers!” And I'd have to say, yes, it was quite a scene.

Although it took over an hour to get to our hotel, it gave us time to communicate what God was speaking to our hearts. In our van we shared our thoughts and our fears; in our vulnerability, we disclosed our hearts. It made the time bearable as we waited for our turn to move an inch.

The next morning we arrived to begin the healing process! So how could we leave free? How could we live in total belief and not let the enemy taunt us when we're weak? We were all so hungry to experience this freedom; we became like sponges soaking up all that we could in those next few hours. She spoke on those three areas pouring Scripture over our hearts. We laughed, we cried, we wrote down these truths as quickly as our pens would move. She taught us how to “Take Courage!” God is more than willing to give us his (Matt. 14:27). She showed us who is in charge, displaying our “personal bravery and [our] invincible army.”

As women, we have worry down! We do it well and we do it often. It is a stronghold for most of us. She said, “If worry would keep loved ones well … worry! If worry could keep our teenagers safe … worry!” But we all know the verse, “And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life's span?” (Luke 12:25)

Could we be freed up from our own fear of death? Paul cured that by saying, “I died already … with Christ!” (Col. 2:20).

Could we be freed up from one of our biggest fears—being unloved? First John 4:18 speaks to this fear: “Perfect love drives out fear.”

I can't speak for all the ladies, but I left knowing that God is madly in love with each of us and that his desire and plan for our lives is for us to make that spiritual track on our high places—experiencing him in real and supernatural ways. Believing him could be the very key to putting to rest all my fears that are keeping me and have kept me from journeying up the mountain with feet like hinds' feet.

Could I roam higher? Could I run faster? Could I experience more of him? That is his promise to each of us! And his Word was clear that day and the challenge still remains. Will I simply place it in my pile of sermon notes that were good, or will I take it in and let it change my response to things such as where my mind goes, what I dwell on, and how I view God? Will I simply take this seed of truth and devour it and say, “That was good!” Or will I take the seed and plant it in my heart and wait to reap a harvest? Beth's words were a challenge to us, but it was God's voice that resounds in my mind—higher.

We returned, and before a week had passed Lori O'Dell called on us to come together and talk about all that God had revealed to us that weekend. We all desperately wanted to plant this seed deep within our hearts. I wish you all could have eavesdropped that night. We were sharing our fears and believing God for freedom at last. Husbands, your wives were giving you over to God. Children, your moms were giving you over to God. Friends and family, we were giving you over to God. We need not fear what tomorrow brings. We simply need to believe he is who he says he is. He can do what he says he can do. And our Perfect Love will be our personal bravery to experience the high places. In our hearts we were catching a glimpse of what “higher” meant.