“Is it time for the music now?”
“Are we dancing?”
The plan for the night is explained.
Smile and nervous hearts collide in the newness of it.
This is uncharted territory.
We pray.
Alone.
Then we seek one another out.
Thunder rolls in and roars.
Rain dances on the windowsill.
Lightning paints the horizon behind the glass window pane.
Soft piano music fills the room.
Followed closely by the Holy Spirit.
Pair by pair, prayers are offered up.
Desires are being unleashed.
Strengths are being called out from deep places even the woman, herself, didn’t know existed.
The Spirit is revealing things.
It’s easy to see the physical manifestation of the Spirit.
Tears well up in glossy eyes and fall down cheeks.
Faces look broken yet hopeful for the gifts they do not have, yet desire to receive.
We are asking.
We are pleading.
Double portions are poured out on us as the rain does the same to the ground outside.
Joyful laughs rip through the air.
“I love you”’s float to the ceiling.
We rotate and form a new pair.
A new partner.
A new strength revealed.
A new desire of our heart.
A new prayer sent Heavenward.
God hears the murmurs of the room clearly.
The prayers are being answered-
Some instantaneously.
Some will take time.
"Amen."
The thunder dissipates.
The rain freezes.
The lightning retreats.
Another amazing time of feedback was had.
7 women calling each other to greatness.
7 women speaking truth to one another.
This is how it’s supposed to be.
This is Christly sisterhood.
This is Team Veracity.
Tonight, we had a time of feedback. In World Race terms, that means a time of getting together with your team and sharing strengths you have seen in a person and also sharing things that you have seen that that person can grow in to be more like Christ.
Feedback time sometimes make Racers cringe. The thought of sitting in a circle and hearing people call out some of your weaker spots as you are supposed to call out theirs isn't that appealing. But that's not what it's about. It's about calling your friends and sisters (in my case) into the greatness that they can be.
Tonight, we were challenged to do so in a new way. In a different way.
And it was refreshing!
It was renewing!
It was exactly what I needed to get my other foot out of this "phunk" I've been sitting in lately. Most of it was banished when I word vomited all over my journal yesterday- all 16 pages worth!- and then some more when I poured myself into 1 Peter and Ephesians for my bible studies. But I still had a foot that was stuck and wouldn't come loose.
Well, it's free and I'm dancing now!
I found my conclusion to the blog story I wrote the other day.
I found my shiny.
I found my "happy ending".
I found my "but Jesus".
This time.
Even if it doesn't come every time, I've learned that it's okay to start a story with no ending.
It's okay to share an ongoing process with my team, friends, and family.
It's okay to word vomit with no pretty bow to tie it all up.
It's okay.
I need to share my story with those around me paragraph by paragraph and not wait for the completed book to hit the shelves and wait for them to read it and then discuss it.
I need to not be afraid to "do life" together with my teammates.
This is life. There might not be a conclusion, a "happy ending", a shiny, but it goes on and those who love me want to know.
And it's okay.
