You Build More Than You See – FGF Highlights, Gainesville, FL

Sara stood on stage and told the crowd of women in Gainesville what happened over 30 years ago. She described how she was a young atheist who attended a Christian college. She explained how a young man, who was a few years older than she was, told her about Christ. She even recounted how vivid her memory was of the very place where one of their conversations took place—it was a place she remembered because it was a conversation she would never forget.

Thank you to Zach Jernigan for the beautiful photos. To see the entire Facebook photo album, click here.

At FGF Gainesville, we were encouraged to remember that we build more than we see! [Click to Tweet]

Years later, that young atheist Sara Chauncey is a pastor’s wife and leader of the women’s ministry at Westside Baptist Church. And, over 30 years after the conversations with that young man, she was the Local Conference Coordinator for Fresh Grounded Faith Gainesville! What an incredible testimony, and a big thanks to her for all her wonderful work this weekend!

Now, why do I share this with you? Because, that young man—well, he’s not young anymore—is my husband Phil, the man who co-founded Fresh Grounded Faith and is my partner in ministry.

He never knew how Sara responded to the gospel back then. But, wow! Partnering with her three decades later showed that Phil built far more than he could see at the time.

What a sweet picture of what we talked about this weekend—we build more than we see. Sometimes we don’t see the fruit of our labor. Sometimes our labor feels like it’s in vain. But Sara and Phil’s story proves that God is faithful. Some fruit takes a while to blossom, and we do build more than we see. So that’s why we take courage.

Oh, this weekend was such an encouragement to all of us. And speaking of encouragement, Liz Curtis Higgs made us laugh and think. She showed us the bravery of the woman who was covered in shame, yet Jesus covered her with grace. Michael O’Brien also helped us focus on the goodness of God, His grace, and His peace. We really were all so blessed by every moment of the weekend.

We’re also so grateful for all of the wonderful volunteers from our host church, Westside Baptist Church, and all our co-host churches.

We rejoiced at 4 new sisters in Christ and 22 women who chose to renew their commitment to the Lord. Thank you, Jesus! This is just further testimony that God is at work.

So, I’ll tell you what I told the ladies this weekend—take courage! Trust God with the stuff you can’t see because He is with you. Be faithful to your Lord and your calling because God honors your faithfulness, and you build more than you see.

Blessings,

Jennifer and the FGF Team!

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