I have a bracelet I bought from an annual Christian Women’s conference called Shine. It is a silver charm bracelet with a star at the clasp with the word “Shine” engraved in pretty cursive. Each year as I attend Shine, I buy a charm for it. The charm changes from year to year, representing what the conference means as a whole that year.
This bracelet is one of my dearest possessions. Sure, it is just metal fashioned in one form or the other, and if I lost it, I could probably find most of the exact charms either at the church or online somewhere. However it is not the bracelet itself that makes it so special. It is the meaning and the memories associated with the bracelet.
The bracelet as a whole means freedom for me. Freedom to be who God created me to be. Freedom to be a woman, freedom to be passionate, freedom to cry, and freedom to worship. Without those things, I am not me. These conferences over the last four years for myself has helped open up the vision of what a woman really is. Embracing not only her own life, but those around her. How pleased God must be when He sees a woman truly grasp the purpose for which He created her for. I bet His Smile is so Big that the universe can hardly contain it.
For me, each charm holds a memory of the year’s experiences. Some of family relationship healing, some of getting to serve God in simple and encouraging ways, and some very important encounters with God. I have gotten to choreograph and dance at many of these conferences and each year God shows me a new facet of why he has me serve in the capacity that I do. I have seen through dance practices, and prayer, dancers give their lives to Christ, getting free from things that have had a grip on them, and relationships form that are God-breathed. People would come to dance for just another performance, to experiencing Christ in a real way, that is not hokey or fake.
So when I wear this bracelet, or even look down and see each charm dangling from my wrist, I see moments of laughter and joy along with prayer and weeping during dance rehearsals for the event, I see my mother’s face smiling up at heaven with tears streaming down her face experiencing the Love of Jesus for the first time in a real way, I see women dancing on the After-Party dance floor having the time of their lives enjoying each others’ company in a non-threatening way, and most importantly I see the chances God has given me to dance for Him, to serve Him, and to grow me to be the woman and daughter He has chosen me to be.
