“What burden did you bring to the conference and how can we pray for you?”

That was one of the questions during Spill the Beans in Blountville, Tennessee this past weekend.

If you’ve never been to an FGF, you may not know that not only do we give the sisters a venti size portion of fresh grounded truth, but we also find out what they want to know. We ask them to write down their questions and, then, we sit around the bistro table and answer… We spill the beans!

Usually, we get questions from “How do I know God has forgiven me?“ to “Why doesn’t God heal my child if I have prayed in faith?” to “How do you recommend I do a quiet time every day?” to “Where did you get your jeans?!”

In other words, questions range from the deeply spiritual, to the practical, to the just plain girl-friend essentials!

But, I’ve never been asked the question we received this weekend in Blountville.

When Meredith Andrews pulled the card and read, “What burden did you bring into the conference and how can we pray for you,” Stormie Omartian, Meredith, and I were all speechless.

My first response was, “How much time do we have to answer?” But, I only quipped that because we were each fighting back tears. Stormie came in with health burdens. Meredith arrived with Mom guilt and fatigue and I brought a boat load of tiredness and all the ragged emotions that come with it. There we sat around the table and we began to unload.

We were all struck by the kindness and sensitivity of those dear women in Tennessee who cared about each other and cared about us. When we shared our burdens with them, they suddenly didn’t feel as heavy.

Isn’t that what it is supposed to be like in the family of God?

We share our burdens with each other and we pray for each other.

There was a sweet spirit in that place and Stormie, Meredith, and I are so grateful we got to drop off some of the heavy stuff we carried with our Tennessee sisters — I know they will pray for us just as we pray for them.

If you’ve got a burden, share it.

Your load will get lighter when you let a sister share it with you in prayer. And, God hears our prayers and is faithful to answer.

So, Lord, I pray for my sisters reading this right now. Will you lift the burden they carry and lighten their load? Will you bring them a friend to share the load? Carry us, Jesus, when we can’t carry on.  You said in Your Word that you would give rest to those who are weary and carry heavy burdens (Matthew 11:28 NLT). Lord, please give my sisters rest in You today. Amen.

Well, last thing… God was on the move there in East Tennessee.

• 4 women received Jesus as their Savior and are living the abundant life in Him now! Thank You, Lord!
• 40 women got a fresh start in their faith.
• 59 precious kids were sponsored — rescued from poverty in Jesus’ Name through Compassion International!

Thanks, Blountville girls! You made us smile and we love you! I want to especially thank our host church, Celebration Church, and the 10 co-host churches who worked so hard to bring FGF to Blountville. You girls are amazing!

I’ll ask you what the Tennessee sisters asked us, what burden do you carry right now and how can we pray for you? Write it in the comments below and, as you read other’s burdens, write a prayer for them in the comments too. Like each other’s comments, so they will know we are praying.

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