September 2011

It is a really cool moment when God decides to put an exclamation point on your calling.

I had already paid in full back in March. So even though life was fast and furious and it was hard to wrap my mind around leaving for the weekend, I packed my bags and headed to the Beth Moore Conference in downtown Baltimore with the women from Crosswind.

I was looking forward to a getaway with some of my closest friends and knew that it would be impossible to leave uninspired from a conference taught by such a great teacher. Friday night Beth Moore talked about the nets of shame that we wear for different reasons. Right in the middle of her teaching, she paused and said… “There is someone here who feels very strongly that they are called to write, but you constantly carry the net of shame because this is just not the season in your life for that to be a reality.” She went on for a few moments about this topic. It was like she took a BIG YELLOW BANNER WITH MY NAME ON IT AND WAVED IT ACROSS THE STAGE. Not to mention all of the ladies from Crosswind who know my passion just staring at me.

That was a very cool moment that I discussed over the dinner table with my friends. Saturday morning we had a great time of worship and then Beth Moore started off her session on the main floor of the Mariner Arena instead of the stage, stating that she wanted to take a few minutes to hear from some of the ladies about what the Lord had spoken to them the night before. All of us from Crosswind were sitting two sections up from the main floor. Immediately my heart started racing, and I knew that I needed to be one of those ladies who gave my testimony, but Beth Moore was beyond reach of her seeing my hand. But instead of calling on someone, she proceeded to walk and talk about the power of us sharing our testimonies with each other. She walked down the middle aisle of the main floor, up a set of stairs, turned right into my section, up the stairs of my section, until she was standing on my row… three people away from me. She then said… “Okay, somebody raise their hand if they would like to share.” I paused and looked around and all of the women of Crosswind were glaring at me – they knew, too, that I had to take this moment.

I raised my hand along with a dozen other women all around me, and Beth Moore just handed the microphone directly to me. I spoke about my testimony from the night before and she followed with this… My friend Margie thought she was taking a picture and instead she pressed record.

Another confirmation from a totally unexpected source. Another exclamation point!

Jacqueline