Christine

So I didn't know quite what to expect. Three years ago I was invited to my first Women of Faith event. I went a little reluctantly. Not because I thought I wouldn't have a good time, I knew I would. I liked the other women I was going with, and I would be able to spend time with my mom and one of my sisters. I wasn't familiar with any of the speakers, and even though I had been assured I would love it, I wasn't totally convinced any of the speakers could really minister to me.

What God had in mind for me that weekend wasn't for me at all. I got to be a first hand witness to some long-awaited healing for someone else.

Some things are buried for a really long time, only to be brought to the light to be touched by the healing hand of God. At the conference Angie Smith told us the story of losing her daughter only hours after her birth. After the event, my mom shared about losing a child of her own. I knew about it in the back of my childhood mind, but never thought too much about it.

Mom was 26 years old and 6-1/2 months pregnant when the doctors told her that the baby was no longer alive. She had to go through labor knowing that the baby she was carrying and planned for she would not be able to take home. She was told it was a girl, but was not allowed to hold her or see her. There was no funeral. Back then, (early 1970s) things like that were not done. At 26, Mom had to go home to her family, including a 5-year-old and a 1-year-old who needed her. Life went on. In an arena with 11,000 other women, God brought healing. Mom said that it was a release of some of the grief she had been carrying. And it opened the door to conversation about her experience. 41 years later.

Her name is Christine. I can't wait to meet her.