God is in the Details

I'm going to make you wait until the very end to read about the thing that gave me major goose bumps yesterday, but it all fits in with the detail work.

Women's events are saturated with details, aren't they? It's what we do. And that was so true of the retreat we worked this past weekend. All the little touches of pretty made us feel loved and worth it, you know?

I adored the little craft they had for women to make throughout the weekend if they wanted. You could make your own little succulent planter to take home! (I had to take pictures of the whole process so you could see how it works. You know...in case you want to borrow this for your own event.) They'd thrifted a whole bunch of beautiful little cups and saucers, so you could pick the one that fit you best:

Then you did all your prepping/choosing/planting:

Surely...surely...I can keep this thing alive, right?

I love this little reminder so much and will think of this group every single time I walk by it in my house!!

As I've told you before, this dear lake means SO much to me, and God granted me the great privilege of getting to see a beautiful sunrise and sunset over the lake on Saturday. During that sunset time, I sat on a bench beside the water, listening to geese fight over who-knows what, and I had a great conversation with the Lord and one with Ryan, too. I took pictures and video, because when a girl gets to see the sun set over the water, she preserves it to take home.

Beauty in the details.

But here's what I loved so much. The goose bump part.

Almost always, when I speak, I take a door prize of some kind. (Sometimes the setting isn't appropriate for that, but if it is, I do.) And when I put together the door prizes, I pray over what to put inside and I pray over the winner. Sometimes I choose a winner by a drawing and sometimes by a marked seat or even a question (like who had the most recent birthday).

I've always had the practice of praying over the winner, and a couple of years ago, I had a winner tell me she almost didn't come to the event that night. She'd been struggling in her heart didn't feel like showing up. But God nudged her to show up and she did...and she won. And the contents of the prize that night (I don't remember now what they were) were perfect for her at that station in her life.

It happened again this weekend. I prayed over the gift basked, I prayed about what to put inside, and Ryan drew my winner Sunday morning before the final talk. (I make him draw because it's too much pressure for me.)

Last night, I read a social media post written by the winner (and it was a public post, so I'm not giving away her secrets here), and she shared about all the many details God worked in for her this weekend. Among them? "There was a giveaway that you could enter the whole weekend. There was one prize to win and about 65 women in attendance. Guess who won the prize? ME! God filled me that much more with His love and blessing, because He knew I needed it. He knew I needed the confirmation of love and acceptance in a room of people who started as strangers and left as friends. He knew I needed the devotion book that was in that prize."

One of the things I specifically pray over the prize is that whoever wins will feel seen, known, and love just in the mere winning. I trust God to make sure it gets into the right hands, and He absolutely did, didn't He?

I'm encouraged. I'm encouraged by little plants...gorgeous sunsets...and perfectly-chosen prize winners. He's in the details.