It is truly amazing what God will show you when you are acting on His plan for you.
On Tuesday morning, I touched down in Oklahoma City to start rehearsing for the Celebrate What Matters Tour. It's an opportunity I'm truly blessed to have, and it's begun better than I could ever have imagined. From the minute I got off the airplane, people have been so friendly and so supportive, and it seems as though everybody is ready and focused on doing God's work. I am so incredibly humbled that God chose something so special for me.
It comes in the midst of an incredibly eventful time for my family, with my husband Emmitt about to embark on another season of Dancing With the Stars and my children being weeks away from important years of school. But like always, when you're in the middle of doing good for God, the Enemy has sprung an attack on us. Our 13 year-old daughter has been in the hospital, battling a virus that put her in the emergency room over a week ago.
Like all mommies, I hate leaving my babies for any reason, but these circumstances made it really tough to pack my suitcase. I had to find something to lean on for this trip, and I found it in Exodus 33:14.
And He said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.
And the moment I got here, that rest came because I felt almost overcome with purpose from God. I do not know much about Oklahoma City. I have never been involved in a production so big and so elaborate (I've done things on TV before, but I'd barely even dreamed of being on a stage as big as Chesapeake Energy Arena!). But I feel at peace because I am on the path that God gave me, the one He put me back on. The best part is, He used Women of Faith to put me back on it a few years ago.
When I attended my first Women of Faith event just under a year ago, things could not have been any more different in my life. I felt silenced in my marriage, sitting in the background, in my husband's shadow while his public career had a second wind. I felt my dreams and ambitions slipping away from me.
I didn't think about it in these terms at the time, but I really just felt apart from God, cut off from what I felt was His plan for me. Going to Women of Faith with my dear friend Brenda Warner changed that. It planted the seeds for my ministry, for Treasure You, and for the work I do with Pat & Emmitt Smith Charities. It even renewed the love that I have about my family.
I know the next few weeks are going to be crazy - rehearsals starting at 7am, figuring out travel and logistics and schedule and somehow trying to stay connected to my five beautiful babies! But so much of the hurt and brokenness I felt when I first discovered Women of Faith has been replaced. And it humbles me so much to think that God wants me to do the same for all of you!
In just a few short hours, the Oklahoma City event kicks-off. Please pray that God's work is done here and that all of the fabulous musicians, speakers and prayer warriors are blessed with good health and clear messages that serve His purpose. I am so excited!!!
With Love,
Pat
P.S. Don't forget to "Treasure You"!
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