Attention readers: This Compass note has been hijacked by me 😀 , Kim Alexander.
Have you ever had one of those days where you knew something special was happening? You just know it is somehow set apart, anointed, something you were going to remember for a long time to come? For me this past Friday, May 9th was one of those days. I was so excited to have Tricia Lott Williford come to speak to the women of our church. I had heard her share her story, read her book, shared it with others, and I just knew it would be great to have her with us.
I drove to Tricia’s hotel to pick her up; the plan was to share a meal together and get a bit more comfortable with one another before the event that evening. From the moment she said hello I knew Tricia was the real deal. She has that ability to make you feel like you’ve been friends forever. We shared lunch. Conversation came naturally. We laughed. We cried. We talked about woes of motherhood and the complexity of Mother’s Day.
The group of us, five ladies in all, found a commonality. We represented an average group of girls. But, the average girl, today’s woman is anything but average. We are sensitive and brave, adventurous and simple; we love our work both inside the home and out. We don’t want to be patronized by the image a women eating bon-bons, watching soap operas and listening to Amy Grant. We want to be challenged to step into all of the greatness that God has uniquely designed us to be. And in a moment of clarity, while sipping diet coke and listening to Tricia share about what God had laid on her heart to say later that night, God made it abundantly clear that He had set this day apart. He had a divine plan, His hand was in it and He was the reason it was going to be one of those truly unique days.
You could hear a pin drop as Tricia shared with us later that evening. There was a stillness in the room and we listened to her carefully recount the moments of a day that was so tragic. Tricia lost her husband suddenly and tragically. One day he was with her, the next he was not. But she had a way of letting us come as close as we dared to our greatest fear in life. She spoke to every woman in the room. All too many knew Tricia’s story on a personal level. But, so many more could see themselves in it through any number of challenges. As she closed her message we were challenged to trust God more. To find hope in His faithfulness even when it seems like He is far away or that the pain is too difficult to bear or that the miracle we had prayed for was given to someone else. That in those moments God is looking us in the face and saying, “I got this! Trust me! It’s gonna be ok.”
Ladies, it was a privilege to have shared this day with you. Thank you for inviting your friends to come. Thank you for being women who want to be challenged, who want to be the best you can be wherever God has you at this time. For me, a broken, trying, hopeful girl doing my best to love God and others, I am truly grateful for you.
Kim