On the way home this morning from Austin I felt my stomach gurgling and giving me grief over the rich foods I’d eaten all weekend. Neal and I had a fantastic stretched out ‘date night’ and it was exactly what we needed!
However, ‘free time’ was over and I had an event I needed to be in top game for this evening. I was speaking in Tomball at St. Anne’s Catholic Church to the teens in their LIFENIGHT program on healing. Specifically the guidance of the curriculum was centered around the healing of the paralytic and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
I ate pretzels to settle my stomach and tried to rest before heading over to Tomball but it didn’t seem to be working. In the car I did the only thing I knew best and that was to pray.
With the Christian Contemporary playlist going on Pandora I prayed and sang my little heart out. But the time I made it to the church I was feeling better and excited about the night.
When I do these speaking engagements I prepare an outline of what I believe I feel ‘called’ to speak about, or which stories to tell, etc but often when I’m in the thick of the program the Holy Spirit nudges me and at times veers me in a direction I wasn’t planning to take. Tonight was an example of this. I still worked everything around the healing of paralytic but gave them more personal stories than I had planned. Stories that expressed how we can need ‘healing’ but it might not be as apparent as a physical ailment.
For 45 minutes the teens looked me in the eye as I spoke and towards the end I asked if anyone had any questions. One young lady raised her hand and said, “How do we get in touch with you if we think we could maybe use your help?”
She sat smack dab in the center of the group and before 100+ teens she put it all on the line and admitted she needed help. I was both elated and in awe. Then other girls began to raise their hand and ask questions even in front of the guys.
Finally it was time to go into small groups and afterward I had some of the Core Adults come tell me that there were kids in their group that hadn’t spoken all year and tonight they had a lot to say.
In the back of my mind I kept hearing one of my favorite songs, “Our God“: Our God is greater, Our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other. Our God is healer, awesome in power, Our God. Our God. …. And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us and if Our God is with us then what could stand against?
Our God is greater than my sour stomach. Our God is stronger than any young girls insecurity. Our God is a healer and awesome in His power. PRAISE GOD!
What a way to close off a fabulous weekend! I’m blessed beyond measure.
Blessings
Shannon