Ladies/Girl's/Women's Prayer Group 1

One of the pivotal growth points during my Christian life has been girl's Prayer Group. Started in Tallahassee during my FSU undergrad years by a rag tag group of girls...we met to share, pray, talk, and eat. Prayer Group was known to last hours....and looking back I count those precious times as some of the best times of my life as a Christian woman. I call our first endeavors Prayer Group 1. Today through God's grace and his gifts in me I started Prayer Group 3 in Athens and it has already been a good thing:) I also was blessed to be involved with Prayer Group 2 in Tallahassee during my working years. More on those later.

Prayer Group 1 showed me so many things. It helped me see that I am an integral part of my faith. Faith does not happen to you, with you just riding along. No, the faith and truth I discovered with others girls who were growing in grace.....that was a process where I had to show up. I had to come and make the time, and soon it was not even hard to make the time because it was the place I wanted to be! I saw that the differences in our life were not anything compared to an almighty God who created us all. Who cared for us all and who gave us words so that we could talk to him.

Prayer Group 1 was our little mission. Our church was large (to me) but our group was the perfect small size. Small enough to share, small enough to have accountability. A small home grown movement that was just what we needed. And because we were all Southern we ate a lot during those times:) Today....years later, that first group has grown up and moved on. I still pray for my ladies. I still cherish them dearly. The diversity of our group continues to grow and yet our hearts connected years ago and that type of thing is something that is lifelong.

I know that I would not crave time in prayer with other women now if I had not had such a profound experience early in my adulthood. I like to think now that God bought the Prayer Group to us. That he smiled when he heard out voices lifted in prayer, thanksgiving, concern, and more.