Women's Meeting

By Lynette Showalter, Goshen, Indiana

Longing for Egypt (where life just has to be better), pitching a tent (not again!) and plugged up wells (I'm so tired . . . ) were a few of the images used at the women's meeting. The theme was "Wherever You Are, God Is." The women's meeting at Conference 2003 was certainly no exception.

Audrey Miller challenged us to worship God by living lives of surrender, resignation, and "pleasing God in whatever we do" instead of pining for greener pastures. You can tell a person's priorities by her daily patterns. The author Nouwen was given a simple but profound response to life's complex problems: Adore your Lord one hour a day and don't do anything you know to be wrong. We practiced building the altars Audrey talked about as Barb Miller led us in worship throughout the day.

Making our homes strong in the storms of life was Eileen Lehman's encouragement as she spoke on pitching a tent (building a home). In whatever community we find ourselves, God is there and there are people with whom to share our tent. "Mi casa es tu casa" (my house is your house) - Eileen could speak about that from much experience.

"Beware of the barrenness of the busy life," Mim Musser warned us as she spoke about three kinds of wells-plugged up, stolen, and wells of abundance. My well runs dry if I don't stay close to the Fountain.

There were many other special images of the day:

• Gloria Bravo's life journey - a story of God's faithfulness read by Esther Helmuth
• Being reminded of the specialness of not only childbirth, but continuation of life as Lois Orozco expressed gratefulness for layette bundles for new mothers and babies in Nicaragua. Because of the high infant mortality rate, newborn babies are often not named until they are a month old.
• Thelma Nisly's experiences with God as the "holder of the agenda" as she looked for God on the wrinkled page. The best (but not necessarily the safest) place to be is in the will of God.
• Women greeting old friends, meeting new ones. Veteran women helping newer ones feel welcomed. Women who wondered in the morning if they belonged at this meeting looking more relaxed as they day progressed.
• Reminders of the frailty of life-women who would normally have been present, but who were absent because of illness or grief. "Let us pray for each other, not faint by the way . . . "
• The last image of the day - groups of women all over the gym sharing a burden for a sick family member, a troubled neighbor, a difficult personal decision, a grieving church member, and praying together. It was reminiscent of pitching a temporary tent, making an altar, and drawing nourishment from the Well that never runs dry.

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