Greetings, Dear Friends!
Susie Larson here...

And to those visiting, I say welcome! I post every Wednesday and my sole purpose is to nourish your soul along the way.

If you take the time to post on my blog in May, you may win a $10.00 gift card to Caribou, Target, OR Dairy Queen! Your choice. So drop me a note and say hi!

Now on to my topic...

I recently returned from speaking at the first ever, "Beloved" conference hosted by South Union Christian Church in Indiana, and I'm telling you, we had a wonderful time!

The event hosts treated me with absolute love and care. In fact, they bathed the whole weekend in prayer and we enjoyed a powerful time in the Lord's presence.

My reason for sharing this with you is because they they did a skit that is still affecting me. And though this at first glance may appear to be a post directed at women, there's something here for men too.

Prior to one of the sessions, the lights went down, the spotlight went up, the music played, and one at a time, women marched down a model runway, each wearing different banners that represented where their value came from. One banner said, "Ambition", another, "Model", and another, "Educated" and so on and so forth. One at a time, the women strutted down the runway with an empty but prideful look in her eyes. During this portion of the skit, the large Power Point screen displayed one timeless quote after another; each depicting true beauty; inner beauty and value.

Off to the side, judges sat on tall chairs, whispering and jotting down their remarks on each woman.

Once the women had done their walk, they disappeared back stage. A minute later, they all re-appeared wearing jeans and a "Beloved" t-shirt. They lined up on the stage, all looking very much the same. The judges approached the first girl, crowned her and hugged her. She jumped up and down with excitement and headed down the runway, this time with great joy and humility and celebration. The music was fun and upbeat and everyone celebrated her.

Then the next girl was crowned and celebrated and did her walk/dance down the runway. Everybody cheered. Everybody celebrated.

Every girl in the cast was crowned, cheered for, and celebrated as if to say, "You win. And, You win. And You win. And so do you, you win!"

And so it goes with you.

For the LORD your God has arrived to live among you. He is a mighty savior. He will rejoice over you with great gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will exult over you by singing a happy song (Zephania 3:17).