When Meredith Andrews stepped on stage on Friday night of Fresh Grounded Faith Little Rock, she was in a tizzy of technical trouble! Her ear monitor wasn’t connected, and as she fiddled with it, she commented that there was a lady backstage who gave her the silent treatment when she asked for help. She wouldn’t help Meredith at all!

Well, I must admit, I was confused and so was the audience. We didn’t know what she was talking about until Saturday morning.

At breakfast the next morning, our Local Conference Coordinator, Shannon Calhoun, sat by me and explained why this woman had given Meredith the silent treatment the night before. The lady’s name was Rocksanne (pronounced “Roxanne”), and she didn’t help Meredith because Rocksanne is a mannequin!

Yep! She’s a life-sized mannequin used by the church’s tech team to determine lighting and camera angles! But, it was dark backstage and Meredith couldn’t tell that Rocksanne was not real. So, she had a full-blown conversation with her!

We all laughed so hard when I told the ladies about Rocksanne and Meredith, and we determined that Rocksanne needed to come out from her dark perch backstage and join us on stage Saturday morning.

So, there she was in all of her lifeless glory! She wore a black jacket, some kind of shawl around her waist that served as a skirt, and she even wore a wig. Ha! No wonder Meredith thought she was a real person!

It was a hoot, and we all felt better about Meredith’s story once we met Rocksanne! Her full name, by the way, is Rocksanne Creekmore, and she’s named after our wonderful host church, The Church at Rock Creek.

Well, thankfully the women who joined us at Fresh Grounded Faith were a ton more responsive than our silent friend, Rocksanne! These women were so engaged and all-in, and it was a joy to share God’s Word with them.

Kelly Minter taught from Nehemiah and shared her story, and she even pulled out her guitar and sang. Oh, girl, I just loved being with Kelly who is such a gifted Bible teacher … and a talented musician!

Meredith was so fun! And her voice? Oh, my … what a voice! She led us to worship the God who gives us life.

And finally, we got to hear from Nora who shared her story of how she was released from poverty in Jesus’ name through Compassion International. It was so moving that even Rocksanne could have broken into dance over it!

It was a great weekend, and I’m so thankful for my spiritual family in Little Rock. I’m thankful for Shannon, all of our co-host churches, the volunteers, and the many women who came together to be a light in their community.

This is what Fresh Grounded Faith is all about—bringing churches together in a place that connects women to each other and to God. And as we came together seeking the Lord, we trusted Him to work out His purposes for this event.

And He did! Our God is faithful, and we got to see His work in the hearts of women who attended. We celebrated 3 new sisters in Christ, 32 women who chose to renew their commitments to Christ, and 50 children sponsored through Compassion International! Praise the Lord!

It was a beautiful weekend, and I’m so grateful for what God did in our midst!

Unlike Rocksanne, there was life in the women who gathered this weekend—eternal life given through the Holy Spirit. And we weren’t silent either. Oh no, we weren’t silent! We lifted our voices in worship and our hearts cried out with praise to the One who deserves all the glory!

I’m reminded of what Jesus said when the Pharisees wanted to stop the crowd from praising Him. Luke 19:37-40 says:

…the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, shouting:

“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord;
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” But Jesus answered, “I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!”

So, even if we were silent like Rocksanne, Jesus would still receive the praise that’s due Him. But we were not silent, my friend. We were overjoyed to worship our Lord and were blessed in doing so.

Blessings,

Jennifer and the FGF Team!

BONUS: Kelly Minter joins me on the 4:13 Podcast

Would you like to hear more from Kelly? She joins me on the 4:13 Podcast and talks about how God is working for your good even when things aren’t so good.

Listen to the podcast episode with Kelly Minter here.

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Plus, you can join me over on my 4:13 Podcast! Each week, you’ll get biblical encouragement as we answer a question about how to live the “I Can” life of Philippians 4:13. Go here to listen to the latest episodes.