Yahoo! Just Desserts! is over and God really showed up and showed out. He always does more than I could think or ask and He certainly did that at Just Desserts! this year. My prayer was that He would move among our women and not allow one person to leave there the same as she came. His Spirit was so evident and His power so strong that one could not sit there and not be changed–I know I was. What powerful stories of God's love and grace! Women were weeping. Women were praying with other women. God was the main topic of conversation afterwards. I stand amazed in His presence! Thank you, Lord, for reminding us that you are working through our lives to reach a lost and dying world and change individuals even in the midst of adversity.

His Spirit among the women of Lake Pointe is more evident than ever before. I receive phone calls, emails, and notes daily about what He is doing in someone's life. It is such an encouragement to hear how God is continually making women into new creations in Christ. Be sure to share your story with me. Who knows, God may want to use your story for one of our gatherings like Just Desserts!

Story is powerful! Our individual story is one way of discovering our part in God's Grand Story. When we review our past, assess the present, and continue to walk hand–in–hand with God, we are embarking on a journey worth pursuing. Life is too short to be lived unintentionally.

This year we are becoming intentional about learning to discover and understand God's purpose and use the power of story. While this began with Just Desserts!, it does not end there! The Women's Leadership Team is going on retreat this month and we will be discovering our stories through Life Mapping. Then, on April 17, all the Women's Ministry Representatives (WMR's) who attend the annual WMR Retreat will be working on Life Mapping to discover their stories. Our hope is that from this small beginning women in Life Groups, Growth Groups, Bible Studies, and interest groups across all Lake Pointe campuses will allow me to assist you in beginning this journey of story too.

After all, storytelling is one of the most powerful tools you and I possess. Story is a kind of incarnation; it gives form to what was once invisible and lends voice to what was once inaudible. Story reveals meaning without overtly defining it. Story was the method Jesus most frequently used to communicate abstract truths. He constructed concrete pictures through words and phrases. He drew out emotions and gave body to once unformed hopes with His parables. His masterful storytelling always drew a crowd and equipped His listeners with Heavenly truth wrapped in earthly pictures.

Like Jesus, we too are powerful in our communication when we engage in story. It draws a memorable picture for our listener, which is not soon forgotten. Mere words, lists, and pontifications are often lost after they are spoken; not so with story. It's not easy to forget the pictures drawn in our minds by a masterful storyteller. When the story is recalled, the truth represented by that story is also recalled.

Your story or my story is important, not because it is ours, but because chances are others will recognize that in many ways it is also their story. Maybe nothing is more important than that we keep track of these stories of who we are, where we have come from, and the people we have met along the way. I have long believed and often said "The importance of knowing and sharing story is because it is through our stories, with all the details particular each one, that God makes Himself known to each of us most powerfully and personally."

The story of salvation is a story of one, but it encompasses each of us individually and all of us collectively. Even in the darkest moments, love and hope are always possible.

"Nothing is too big for His power – nothing is too small for His love."

Join me on this journey as we experience the Power of Story!

Because of Whose I Am,

Simone Monroe

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