This past weekend I took a road trip to Greenville, South Carolina for the Allume conference. A drive through the mountains, dotted with trees in various stages of transforming their summer coats to Fall, is a deep soul breath in a busy world. I traveled with a friend, who was attending Allume for the first time, and soon my vision filtered through new eyes ready to soak in all the weekend would offer.

We chose to go a day early to allow ourselves some deep exhales before the hotel would fill with new and old friends. When the conference began on Thursday, I immediately was drawn in by the symphony of voices that filled the lobby as well as the ballroom.  Beautiful altos mixed with whispery sopranos and a tenor intermingled here and there as voices joined in unison for worship. But it wasn’t just the pitch of the voices that stopped me in wonder. The voices could be seen in rich color, depth of purpose as well as gentleness of spirit. The voices became a kaleidoscope of God’s creation that moved and blended as each person interacted and soaked in the words that God ordained for this weekend.

Allume 2015

[Tweet “A kaleidoscope of voices blends into God’s creation as the Spirit blesses the union of women.”]

At times the voices lifted in unison and other times the voices were a cacophony of noise that sounded like dissonance until you were drawn into a conversation. I found that my voice blended beautifully with the others and the sweet moments of real life hugs and conversations were my favorite. The blending of voices turned into a union of hearts that beat together as stories were shared and God bound us together in love and friendship. Other moments my voice was quiet, as I processed and began to seek my place in the crowded room. Where does my voice belong and why does God bring us together for such a time and place?

The patterns of the kaleidoscope were intricate and detailed as each speaker added his/her words on the theme “together”. The varied backgrounds of young, older, women, men, white, black and everything else added to the beautiful details that made this kaleidoscope of voices richer with promise than you would think possible. Together is not just a mixing of voices, but a union of hearts that choose to work in unison toward a common goal. This weekend the goal was finding the common thread to tie our stories, seeking and asking for the Holy Spirit to guide us, letting God interrupt our day to show Him the glory and recognizing that we cannot change the world until we change our world first.

Allume 15 friends

Allume 15 friends 2

Allume 15 friends 3

 

A kaleidoscope of voices came together in clear detail as God orchestrated the meeting of 400 women in Greenville, S.C. to learn, grow and interact with Him and the other women who were intentionally chosen to be part of the weekend. The harmony of hearts beating as one as commonalities were discovered became the praise we lifted back to God in the moments of worship, prayer and quiet acceptance of God’s presence.

Together this group of women raised their voices in praise to God and became the body of Christ. Everyone joined to become the pattern in the kaleidoscope as the Spirit bonded us as one.

When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. Acts 4:24

God brought us together in this time and place as a beautiful reminder that with a few twists and turns our voices will blend as an intricate kaleidoscope of unity.

In grace and peace,

Mary

A big thank you to Logan Wolfram and the Allume team for making this weekend a wonder, a time for learning and a joy-filled event.

 

Linking with:

Jennifer Dukes Lee at #TellHisStory

Beth at #WeddedWednesday

 

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