Stretched!

I am currently preparing for a journey of the heart and soul kind and recently boarded a plane to spend the weekend with a group of people I had never met, to begin planning a trip to a place I have never been. All of this required me to step way beyond my comfort zone and embrace so very many unknowns. It stretched me! ... And in that stretching I learnt that when we are willing to allow ourselves to be fully pliable in the Masters hands, he draws out and extends us in ways we never thought possible.

When we are still so consumed with the here and now, He is already in our tomorrow, has already seen all that we will be and all that we should be! As I sat there, amidst that group of people I didn't know, I was struck by one thing, how different we all were. I thought about it and began to see what He saw, the fragments of the past, all of the lives and the hopes of tomorrow drawing together, humming its own unique song. Side by side, all of the years, the people, the sum of all our stories and lives intermingling and strengthening each of us. All of our meetings, the people we meet, the lives that touch us, the lives we touch in return, all so very intentional. It may seem random, the chance meetings, it might seem inconsequential, but I am sure they are not. Each experience shapes us, pushes us in new directions, forces us to admit truths about ourselves. Sometimes we are confronted by the rawness of ourselves and forced to change direction, attitudes or perspectives. Long held beliefs are challenged and we can learn to see them as we have always seen them or choose to view it in an entirely different way. The beauty of every new experience is that we get to decide each day, with every new encounter, how we will respond. And as I sat there, I contemplated this stretch. What if those things that seem too hard, too scary or too beyond us are the stretch that we need, the stretch needed to help us reach forth, lengthen and extend our capacity. What if, those things are the very experiences we are supposed to grasp and lean into? That maybe the tension we face, yields us a reach way beyond ourselves and our capabilities! Maybe the stretch is entirely purposeful and specifically intentional!

That weekend I met with a group of people, all different, but united in heart and vision. I found myself surrounded by a room full of people intent on the same mission. The same heart, and the same vision drawing us from all walks of life. All of us different, yet sure of one thing, that Hope will lead us on. Hope calls to each of us, if our ears are open, if our hearts are tender. There is nothing quite like meeting a group of people all bent on achieving the same purpose. There is power in that coming together, power in the uniqueness of every individual and each life represented, power in such purposeful unity.

If one woman can change her world, IMAGINE what one company of women can do?