As We Gather Together

Psalm 34:3, “Oh Magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.”  

Dear Readers,

As I write I am flying home from an amazing Women’s conference called Gather.  Gather is held each fall in Colorado Springs.  The theme this year came from Matthew 7:11, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, HOW MUCH MORE will your Father in Heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him.”

I went with an expectation to be inspired by the speakers invited to share, to be blessed by the community of women coming but most importantly, I went with a heart seeking and desiring to receive MORE from my good, good, Heavenly Father.  I was not disappointed. I am still in awe of the presence of God surrounding us with His love in each session. One of our speakers was a very wise man named Dick, who has shared about his faith in Christ around the world.  His session was powerful but what captured my heart and revealed my need for MORE of Jesus healing in my own life came through his story of his beautiful bride Mary of 55 years. I kept looking to see her in the crowd as he spoke of her and their relationship.  A relationship that Dick confessed had many trials in the first 13 years as he battled with alcohol and she struggled to love him with words of love and the physical touch of even the simplest hug.  He described her upbringing of one in a home where the words I love you were not spoken but assumed and physical touch of a loving hug from her parents never happened. Immediately, I saw myself in Mary’s story. That was exactly how I was raised. God began to show me that this was something He wanted to heal in my own marriage and as the mother of eight beautiful daughter and now two son-in-laws. I immediately thanked the Lord that hugging my granddaughter came genuinely and with much love from the first time I held her in my arms. But saying I love you and the most difficult action of hugging my children and my husband easily and often has been a battle for almost 32 years of marriage. But by God’s amazing grace ( His divine influence over my heart ) I heard the Lord speak to my heart and show me my fear of rejection due to the lack of words of love and the lack of touch in my young life. I began to weep and immediately went for prayer with a couple who wrapped me in their arms, heard my confession and cry of help for complete healing so I could love my husband and my children the way God intended and the way they needed. God met me and spoke to my heart as I was in a place( the Gather conference) to hear this story from this couple but more importantly, God met me as my heart was soft to hear from Him as I went to seek Him for more. God’s abundant love for me revealed yet again in my life.  Throughout the conference we were encouraged to look for fresh ways God wanted to pour His love on us. This was an outpouring of His love that I never could have imagined. God’s promises are true and they are life to us as I just experienced.

Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.” I never imagined it would be something so deep I did not even recognize the hurt in my heart from so many years ago and how it affected my life today.

I encourage you today to begin to seek the Lord for more in your life. Jeremiah 29:13 holds the promise that if we seek the Lord with all of our heart, we WILL find Him. Finding God is getting a divine touch from His Holy Spirit that reveals the things buried deep in our hearts. He gives us spiritual eyes to see what we need from the Lord and what He has for us.

I am so grateful to have been a part of the Gather conference and I have already purchased my ticket for next year. I am encouraging all of my friends and family to attend.  I hope that it includes some of you!!

The conference is bathed in prayer.  It has prayer teams that pray throughout the year in preparation for the next event. They pray for each registered person and their families for the entire year before the conference. The core team believes God desires each man and woman who attends to have a unique encounter with the Living God that will result in a transformation in their heart and life. I chose to use this blog to testify to the transforming touch I received at the conference.

In closing, I was touched by the blessing of gathering in fellowship with women and men who are seeking God for more and their desire to build community with one another that will last forever.

I wanted to share immediately and encourage each of you to begin praying, asking God if you are to be a part of Gather 2019!  To gather with others who have the vision to cultivate the generations who walk with God.

Gather 2019, Sept 26-28, Focus on the Family Campus, Colorado Springs, CO. Gather also has a session for men.  I strongly recommend this conference.  Go to www.GATHERCONFERENCE.ORGfor more information.