I sat in the circle with my sisters today.
One recent glorious afternoon, beneath a clear blue sky, I fellowshipped with my sisters in our Circle of Faith. For some of us, it was “hello, again.” For me, it was finding the piece of myself I never knew wasn’t there. I encountered friends I knew and friends I didn’t know I didn’t know.
Let me tell you about our circle…
To my left and to my right, across and beside, beauty abounded. I witnessed mature friendships, and connections being birthed as time passed. God was a Gentle Wind passing between us while we laughed. We spoke out our visions, our faith, and the journeys on which we have been led.
The Holy Spirit tarried in the midst of our circle.
I witnessed women sharing their hearts for God, and God-sized dreams to bring His Message to a wounded and weary world. We talked about wounds, and about not feeling safe enough to expose those pains. We long to create that safe space, believing there are more of us in need, desperately seeking places to reveal our brokenness while we lean on one another, also leaning into God to be made whole.
We desire to create a broad and expansive circle of faith. <<Click to Tweet
We deliberated over the beauty of Grace, and perceiving it in the world. My sisters shared stories of pilgrims washing their feet before prayer, of glimpsing the sacred alongside the profane, and the diversity of ways and times we see and hear and commune with God, disagreeing with laughter, on when and where we see it.
I watched ideas take shape. I got inspired. While I wanted to be in the moment, present, I urgently wanted to steal away and consider, to sit a spell with what I’d witnessed, and then to write, sharing the fervor I saw.
In my circle. God was there.
Circles of Faith, once not much more than a dream, is coming to life in our hands, before our eyes. Lord, with Elise and Kimberly leading, You manifest, in this way, an ever-widening circle around us, where we pledge to serve You humbly and with joy. Let this be the place of Isaiah’s prophecy, wherein he entreats us to…
Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide,
do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities. Isaiah 54:2-3 (NIV)
We are not in lockstep. We are not the same, though we serve the same God. From many places, many experiences, many times, we are one drawing into this sacred circle. Join us?
Chelle blogs at Treat Me to a Feast about her life lived forward, reviewed backward, through the lens of faith. She’s a PK (Pastor’s Kid), who’s been a Baptist church musician since she was five. Always a dancer and athlete, as an adult she turned to liturgical dance to deepen her personal worship. It worked. Rochelle laughs a lot, is married to her first love and prom date nearly 20 years ago. Together God gave them two children and a boxer who is the other love of her life, confidante, therapist, and physical trainer.