Colour Conference 2017. Another fabulous year of gathering in His wonderful name as a company of women seeking His heart, His ways, His Kingdom come. It was stunning, as usual. But, for me, this Colour took a whole new level of awesomeness because, this year, my daughter came. This was her first experience of entering a very unique space that breathes life and value into womanhood. At 12, it was a huge ‘coming of age’ moment for her – and for me – and I knew that God would do something special. But what He did took my breath away. On the opening night, they put up a gorgeous slide of some photography that had been done especially for the Conference. It was one of many that would be shown over the course of the conference. For most of the women sitting there, it was just a spectacular vista over some peculiar-shaped mountains with a beautiful girl standing in the foreground. Another ‘sigh’ moment as we felt our hearts fill with the love of our Father. But it was something entirely different for my girl. These were the mountains of Guilin, China – the birthplace of my daughter. At six days old, Charlie had been found on the doorstep of a police station in Guilin. She was taken to an orphanage where she joined the hundreds of Chinese children abandoned for the cause of the One Child policy in China. She had no idea that her heavenly Father had not missed a beat, but was carefully watching over her as He moved to answer our desperate prayers for a daughter – all the way in Australia. She was found in a very different field. Yet, 12 years later, God would remind her that He was the one who found her, at a women’s conference with the theme: “Be found in your field.” As if that wasn’t profound enough, the guest speaker, Lisa Harper, shared her story of adopting a daughter from Haiti. The theme of being ‘found in His gaze,’ rang sharp and true. Jesus made my daughter feel both special and normal in a magnificent concert of sight and sound. Both messages are what we all need to know – that we are unique and valuable, and that we belong to a collective. But, for her, He seemed to have gone to extra effort. I felt so overcome with emotion as I marveled at the lengths He will go to, to pursue us. Psalm 139 paints a picture of this: O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. 2 You know when I sit or stand. When far away you know my every thought. 3 You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment you know where I am. 4 You know what I am going to say before I even say it. 5 You both precede and follow me and place your hand of blessing on my head. 6 This is too glorious, too wonderful to believe! 7 I can never be lost to your Spirit! I can never get away from my God! 8 If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the place of the dead, you are there. 9 If I ride the morning winds to the farthest oceans, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your strength will support me. 11 If I try to hide in the darkness, the night becomes light around me. 12 For even darkness cannot hide from God; to you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are both alike to you. It truly is an epic love story that we are part of. His unrelenting pursuit of our hearts, His faithfulness and kindness, His plans and purposes for us are expressions of a kind of love we were made for. Charlie was found in her field, aching for a family. We were found in our field, aching for a daughter. And God was found faithful, bringing us together. I don’t think either of us will ever forget Charlie’s first introduction to the Sisterhood. I was so grateful that she had been born in such a time to experience the strength of so many precious women who have been found by God,
and represent thousands of stories of how the love of God finds us and changes us forever. He is pursuing you, too, beautiful girl. Be found. x
