SEATTLE (BP)–The young redhead crawled out of an old Jeep Cherokee with a backpack on her shoulder and a Bible in her hand. “I am in need of a God break,” she said as she walked into the Seattle-area church.
Tiffanie Maney, a student at Moody Bible Institute’s Spokane, Wash., satellite location, needed time away from responsibilities at school, home and ministry, driving more than three hours to a DayBreak event sponsored by LifeWay Christian Resources held at Overlake Christian Church.
DayBreak events are designed for young women between the ages of 20-35. With a shortened schedule tailored for today’s woman on the go, this DayBreak gathering featured biblical teaching from Priscilla Shirer and Angela Thomas and worship led by Kelly Minter in a relaxed setting.
Women of all ages and walks of life — students, singles, marrieds — joined together for worship and a time of renewal.
DayBreak participants began the afternoon with a season of prayer followed by breakout sessions to interact with the speakers. A late afternoon panel discussion provided a concluding opportunity for participants to ask specific questions of the speakers about life and ministry.
Women’s ministry speaker Priscilla Shirer, author of “He Speaks to Me: Preparing to Hear from God,” told of the challenge she received from God concerning the words in Matthew 11: “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
To come to God, you have to come away from something, Shirer said. Based on her study of the entire chapter of Matthew 11, Shirer challenged the DayBreak participants to come away from being tangled in the temporary; from dabbling in doubt; from being caught up in customs; and from gambling with God’s grace.
Worship leader and author Kelly Minter challenged participants to “come away” from modern-day idols in her breakout session, defining an idol as “anything that you look to find life in.”
Fear and lies attach people to idols, whether self-sufficiency, relationships, achievement, appearance or approval, Minter said.
“People are in pain, so they run to idols,” she said. “They experience loss and think their false god will fill them. They are burdened and think they will find relief in their idol.
“The Lord has been setting me free because He is where I will find life,” Minter noted.
Angela Thomas, author of “Living Your Life as a Beautiful Offering,” shared how God had set her free from being a “wallflower.” Striving to be the “perfect Jesus girl,” Thomas eventually came to a breaking point when she cried out to God, “Do you think I’m beautiful? Is there anything about me that is pleasing to You?”
Since that prayer, Thomas has learned that “when God is in the room, all the wallflowers get to dance. He looks into your eyes and sees the woman He dreamed of when He made you. He says to you, ‘I didn’t bring you here to stand around and watch. I made you to enter in. Let’s dance.’”
Reacting to Thomas’ comment that some women feel they are “too tired to dance,” DayBreak attendee Tiffanie Maney understood. After becoming a Christian at the age of 5, Maney spent much of her youth living a fast life.
“I used to be rebellious against God,” she said. “Now I am a rebel for God.”
Maney said she needed time alone with God away from daily responsibilities and had found the rest she needed at the DayBreak event.
“I have so much going on that I have to take weekends like this,” she said. “This event was quick enough to [allow for] other things but also a refresher and a good reminder to continue the battle.”
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Additional DayBreak events planned for 2006 include April 22 in Baltimore; June 3 in Decatur, Ala.; Aug. 5 in Denver; Aug. 19 in Austin, Texas; and Nov. 18 in Little Rock, Ark. For more information, visit www.lifeway.com.
