hear us roar

Tomorrow I'll get on a plane with three of my good friends, winging our way to Texas for the Esther Call. The MOG and I have been involved, in various ways, with theCall for a long time, but this is the first one that is focused on women.

I started getting the heart of God for teen girls when the MOG and I became youth pastors at the ripe age of 17. I began to understand His love for them (and me!), and His desire for them to be who they were called to be. So often as women we get sidelined by everyone else, every voice coming at us, telling us who we are. I used to talk to my girls about a canvas that God was painting, and He knows where the picture is going, but other people come in and smear paint around, in the shape of what they think we're supposed to look like, and we keep all that input, and it gets all smudged and gray and confusing, because of all the voices.

We have to come to a moment where we let God get out the cleaner and just wipe away all that negative input- we have to hone our vision to see who we are to Him, how He sees us. Because you know what? God thinks you are GREAT. He can see through the big red X's you've put on your nose, or your arm flab, or your tendency to talk too much, or your past. He sees exactly where He's going with you. And it is going to look GOOD.

My sister has been on a historic trip with 38 other women, walking from the largest abortion facility on our side of the world to the courthouse where Roe v Wade was fought. 250+ miles in the sun and the rain, and yesterday, tornados. She and the other women have been touched by abortion, some post-abortive, others have lost siblings, and other ways. You can read about what they've been doing and why at http://www.backtolifemovement.com. Their trek ends at the Esther Call.

I watched some of the final videos they'll do on Leah's (my sister) blog and wept today. (Go read about her journey!) I feel a shift coming, and it has to come to women. We have to get the understanding that we are worth so much more than promiscuity and the lie that abortion helps women. Abortion hurts women. It only hurts.

We've got to take hold of the authority that we have inside, and we stand up for our sisters and say, "This stops NOW. No more stealing from my sisters. No more lying." It's time to roar at injustice.

If you can get there, join us for The Esther Call. If you can't, pray with us and join the webstream. It's a history-making day for women, and I am beyond blessed to be a part.

(Special MEGA thanks to Brooke's mom for sharing her air miles and the lovely Podqueen for providing our hotel stay, and to our husbands for holding down the forts. PS: Guys, please hold down the forts.)

Late breaking update: flight cancelled! overnight roadtrip for the win!