Last winter, I befriended a lady who has an incredible passion for women. She has a ministry called Crowned by the King, which is a women’s ministry that reminds them she is a daughter of the King, they have a purpose, they are loved, and they are beautiful. When you are “crowned,” you receive a necklace with a crown charm as a reminder that the woman is God’s beautiful daughter and He loves her.
Judy, the founder of Crowned by the King, had a vision of these necklaces being dispersed all over the world. Loving her passion for women and her heart behind it, I decided to take some of these necklaces with me on the race. Before I left, I prayed over them and asked God to show me specific women who need to be reminded that they are a precious daughter of our King.
We are here in Honduras, working with an amazing church and being so blessed by several members. The pastor of the church has three amazing kids. They are about the same age as us and can speak very well English, so it is easy to talk with them and get to know them. On Tuesday night, they took us to the mall in Tegucigalpa. This mall was bigger than any mall in Arkansas! Four stories, a huge food court and a cinema. We walked around, got coffee and frosty’s from Wendy’s, and ended up sitting down and talking to them. Sofia, the pastor’s daughter, opened up to us about her recent break up from her boyfriend last week. She was broken, she was lost, and she felt like she had a huge hole in her heart. She didn’t feel beautiful, she didn’t feel loved, and she felt hopeless. She was sharing how she had good friends to keep her going and how she was doing a little better. During this time, God was preparing my heart. He knew what she needed. After finishing up our conversation, we invited them back to our house so we could pray for her. The other three girls on my team felt like she needed to receive this necklace, confirmation to me that this was going to happen…I was going to hand out my first Crowned by the King necklace.
While most of us were downstairs in the kitchen learning how to salsa and swing dance, I ran upstairs with one of my teammates to watch Judy’s vision behind the necklace and pray before we went downstairs to pray for Sofia and give her this necklace. It was time…it was time to put my words aside and let God speak through me to Sofia that she is so beautiful, that she is loved, that she has a purpose, and that she is God’s beloved daughter. I walked downstairs just as they were about to leave. I walked up to her and started speaking…it was a bit shaky but I do believe God spoke the words to her that she needed to hear. I put the necklace around her neck and we all prayed for her. Then her and her brother left.
It was a good night, we laughed, we cried, and we prayed. God worked in her life and I cannot wait to spend the rest of the month getting to know her more. God worked in me too; He taught me that when God lays something on my heart to not hesitate but do what God asks me to do. I know in these 9 ½ months God is going to ask me to do some uncomfortable but rewarding things, like give another crown necklace or pray over someone. I will just have to put my shaky and nervous flesh aside and just go with it.
If you want to know more about this amazing women's ministry, go to their website: www.crownedbytheking.com.
…You will be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord. Isaiah 62:3
