Work it til it hurts!

Okay...I prayed, worshipped and cried out to God...all in an effort to get myself to go to Healing Place Church Women's Night. It took some effort, but I'm glad I went.

I'm not well equipped for spending an even with beautiful, smiling, well-dressed, articulate women. I'm much more comfortable handing out roses to street prostitutes at midnight, or moving heavy things for extended periods of time. I'm not good at small-talk and I have no idea what to do with lotion that smells like frosting. I'm not good at being fluffy, but I am trying.

Somebody that knows me saw me there and said they were surprised that I came. I explained to them my new philosophy about HPC Chick events. It's like going to the gym: it's hard to make myself go, I know it's going to hurt, but I'll feel better about myself once it's over. That philosophy proved true again last night.

Pastor DeLynn is delightful. I know I should probably use a different word to describe one of my Lead Pastors, but that's just her. From the stage she's genuine and transparent, whether she's leading worship or delivering the Word. And then she steps off the platform and continues to be genuine and transparent. I love that about her! Too often I have met people whose personality is dictated by their audience.

Her message was about being a confident woman. Looking around I wondered if the message was exclusively for me, as all the others already seemed confident. I sometimes have to remind myself not to judge my insides by someone else's outside. I have been in plenty of situations where I have outwardly 'pulled it off' and inwardly felt like I was dying. I thank God that my confidence is in Him, not in myself.

So, I survived another trip to the gym (aka HPC Chick event). I'm not sore today, but I certainly have been stretched. Hopefully one day I'll be able to attend without having to talk myself into it, but for now I guess I'll just follow Joyce Meyer's advice and 'do it afraid'.

All glory to God!