A season of closed doors, confusing opportunities and less than stellar results had left me at a place of despair and extreme displeasure. As I sat at this crossroad one night, my husband looked at me and gently spoke words from Gods Heart…

“I only wish you could see yourself as I see you.”

Something fluttered in my soul. COULD I really be something other than the picture I saw reflected in the mirror? Was it possible I had become so accustomed to  this reflection I thought I was supposed to see that I was overlooking the image God saw? An image created by him and for him.

“Be still and know I am God”… a comforting passage that began to be whispered deep in my heart.

“Come away with me and be STILL“, he gently encouraged.

Still waters invite reflection and I realized the Arise Conference in 2015 would be the opportunity to intentionally “Come away with God.“  Although I had already registered months before, I became very aware of what God was asking me to embrace by attending. 

“Will you Arise and leave the comfortable room you have enjoyed and created and walk through the door into a room I have designed for you?”

Somehow, I knew if I said yes I would be begin a transformation in my own purpose.                

It. Was. Scary.                                                                                                                                                                     

Leave a place I knew well?  After all, I had decorated this room I called My Identity. It was my space! Uh oh, yep…it hit me. God had been patiently waiting on me to realize the pitiful success of my hands and fully entwine and embrace HIS identity, purpose and destiny for me. I began to intentionally seek Him and my next step in this process.

“Ok God, I am yours. Show me what I need to see. A new reflection.” I was desperate to find this person God saw and I pressed in over the months preceding Arise. It was so quiet. I wasn’t hearing anything. Why was God not showing me what I was seeking?  I continued in my quest undeterred but also somewhat disappointed. As the conference drew near, I was determined to posture myself in a place of servanthood and adding value to women I encountered. I do love to serve Jesus to others in anyway I can, so I poured myself into this and “shelved” my own personal agenda. I heard my pastor years ago instruct.” If you are not sure of your next step, serve God somewhere…He can find you!”  This was my endeavor for Arise..to serve God and if He had a fresh vision for me He would find me!

But God..( so much power in those two words!)  still had an open door for me.  He began to gently remind me of his desire to serve me this weekend. Would I open up fully? Would I be willing to surrender to Him? “Immerse” he quietly speaks to me.

As the conference began and I eagerly embraced Gods gentle whispers, IMMERSE was one of the first ideals presented from Pastor Lynette.  My attention was grabbed! It continued to elevate from the very first night. On three different occasions,  three different women walked out of their comfortable rooms to obediently speak the words to me God had ordained. Women I had not previously known whom God used  to speak His  poetry created in me. Words I would have never used to describe my reflection. Words I began to embrace and live by. For you see, Words paint pictures!

BOLD. FIERCE. LOVELY SHEPHERD. SKILLED. EDIFIER . PASSION FOR THE TRUTH. A DRAWING PRESENCE.

This was the identity God was calling out to me. Words that created the image of how He saw me.  As He called out my identity and purpose, I am now able to call out Light and Purpose to women in my life everyday. THIS was the room he so eagerly beckoned me into. To ARISE and enter the beautiful space of my purpose. My journey shifted that weekend as I took the messages and words spoken by my Father and allowed him to build and transform.

This year , 2019, will you attend Arise as a wonderful weekend of ministry with dear friends?  A weekend of anticipated “adult time?”

All good. 

But I believe God has a much more beautiful room for you if you will be intentional about His purpose in bringing you to this conference. My prayer and encouragement to you , dear reader, is to embrace the loving arms of your heavenly Father and allow him to reveal his picture of what this weekend has been designed to be for you. To encounter God as his precious and lovely daughter.

Will you ARISE and embrace the joy of the next room He has waiting for you?