Faith and Connection: a recap of Social Share Unplugged

August 19th was my birthday and while I loved all the celebrating and the gifts. I gotta say, my favorite moment of the weekend festivities would actually be the day before I turned 28.

My last day as a 27 year old I was blessed with a sweet gift, the opportunity to share my testimony of faith with women of different ages, backgrounds, professions and denominations. We all gathered together for the Social Share Unplugged event hosted by Beatiful Purpose where I was asked to bring the keynote message. The room filled with beautiful ladies from all over the Houston area and though most of us didn't know one another well...

what united us was our faith.

Event photography by Julia Rocio at Nostalgia Photography!

Danelia Argueta, founder of Beautiful Purpose, opened with a welcome and shared the origin of this organization. Beautiful Purpose was created with the mission to empower women to live a purpose-filled life by creating a safe space for sharing and healing, offering resources, personal development workshops, and by building a supportive community.

Previous events hosted by Beautiful Purpose have invited business women, entrepreneurs, and the like to share their stories and experiences. For this specific Social Share event, Danelia asked me to share my faith story: how I came to know God and how my faith has played a huge role in my life since.

WORSHIP

Having worship before the keynote message was something Danelia wanted to include for this event. So, I asked a fellow worship leader to lead the woman in worship with me, unplugged style. Abby Florian of Iglesia Funte De Dios in Katy, Texas led us in songs as I played the guitar. The women gathered did not hesitate in lifting their voices and worshipping God along side one another. It was a beautiful thing to see and to hear. Listen, the presence of God was there! I was reminded that you don't need the big stage, lights, full band, or projectors to usher in the presence of God. As our praises go up, His presence meets us wherever we are.

FAITH

Along with my testimony of faith (how and when I came to know God) I shared about a trying time in my life where I had to be obedient onto God and take a leap of faith in a new direction. Here is a quick recap of what I shared with the ladies!

When we confess with our mouth and believe in our hearts... we truly place our faith in God.

Though I had attened church as a pre-teen, prior to really giving my life to Christ, I shared with the ladies that faith in God is more than church attandence and memorized phrases. Like it says in Romans, I had to confess with mouth that Jesus is Lord and truly believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead. The Gospel had been spoken all around me, but it wasn't until the moment I truly realized my need of a God who had paid the price for my sins, that I could fully place my faith in God. And that was just the beginning.

We must run the race marked out for us... and throw off all that entangles us.

As some do, I wandered from my faith. In college, I was going through life chasing other things I thought would satify me. I began to form idols out of relationships, boys and a false perception of love. I lived a double life, thinking I could still show up for church and say all the right things when my heart had wandered from God and my faith was struggling.

Finally, I took a step of obedience and a leap of faith. Though I didn't know what my life would look like after letting go of all the sins that had entrapped me and the relationship that had hindered me, I renewed my faith in God and left behind the life I was living. Sometimes faith looks like God asking us to take that first step of obedience, even when we don't know how it will turn out, even if we have to take that first step on our own.

As we continue in faith... we must fix our eyes on Jesus - the author and perfector of our faith.

Lastly, I charged the ladies to keep growing in their faith by keeping their eyes on Jesus, not their circumstance or this world. After walking away from the life of sin I was living, I ran after God with all I had, fixing my gaze on Jesus and all He had fro me. Since then He has continued to write my story and mature me, perfecting my faith, day by day. I read these words in closing:

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Hebrews 12:1-2

CONNECTION

This was hands down one of the best parts of this event. Before when asked to speak, after I exit the stage and the event eds I do my best to stick around and make myself available to any ladies needing to or wanting to talk. However, at Social Share events, women gather in circles and share their life experiences with one another in corelation to that event's topic. Danelia encourages us to gather in a group of ladies we don't already know and answer questions pertaining to the keynote message shared. Being able to sit in a circle, united with other women I hardly knew, and discuss what faith has meant in their own lives was encouraging. Women shared the joys and trials of life and how their faith in God has helped them overcome. Yes, the tears came, but so did the hugs. Both the tears and smiles were genuine. We connected, we shared and it was absolutely beautiful.

Thank you to everyone who came out and to those who prayer for the event! I must say that time and time again, I am so incredibly humbled by you all's support in my writing, speaking, and ministry endeavours. So thank you!

It truly was an overall amazing event and experience as I was incredibly honored to share my personal testimony of faith and stir on women in theirs. Partnering with Danelia of Beautiful Purpose was a joy. If you'd like to learn more about Beautiful Purpose or Danelia, visit www.beautifulpurpose.me or follow them on Instagram at @beautifulpurpose.me!

Have you shared your faith story with someone? How has connecting with other women of faith impacted your life? I'd love to hear your thoughts in a comment below! And as always, if this post encouraged you in any way, feel free to share it by clicking the bottom right arrow.

Thanks for reading, friend!

               - crystal -