This year I had a chance to attend a Professional conference where Leymah Gbowee was going to be speaking. To be perfectly honest, I had never heard of her until I received an e-mail that explained that she was a Nobel Peace Prize Winner who had organized the women of Liberia to demand peace from endless war. The e-mail said that these women were determined to PRAY THE DEVIL BACK TO HELL.
Right then and there I decided to attend the conference because that sounded like someone I should be listening to and Leymah Gbowee was not a disappointment. I decided I attended that conference to hear her say these words
After she said that, I knew why I attended that conference. That was the message I needed to hear.
Mighty Be Our Powers
Of course at that conference I picked up Ms. Gbowee’s book “Mighty Be Our Powers” so that I could learn who this woman is that had certain belief that a group of women could bring peace to her war torn country of Liberia.
Well as I read the book, I had to stop several times because as an American I do not understand the horrors of war in my country. Reading the stories of murder, rape, and hopelessness made me so angry. Reading about the conditions in the refugee camps made me shake my head in disgust and reading about the way these “relief” agencies gave the opposite to the people was unbelievable.
What really moved me was the faith of Ms Gbowee and the other women. This wasn’t a faith in a religion of rules or a church. It was Faith in something bigger than themselves. It was faith in the supernatural spirit that empowered them to DO CRAZY. These women did not sit in a church and pray for something to happen while they complained about all of the injustices around them. They took action and they did crazy along the way. So many young women in Liberia are without hope and all they want is to be able to go to school. They want to have other options other than getting married, getting pregnant, or being sexually assaulted. It’s opened my eyes even further that there is so much more and I’ll leave it at that.
I was so touched by her story because she had to overcome so much to even get to the point of organizing for peace. She’s a domestic abuse survivor, a former single mother, and you just need to read the rest of the story to get the point.
It was a Life Changing Message for me.
Live Out Loud
It made me determined to LIVE OUT LOUD and not quiet down because it makes people uncomfortable. It made me resolute that if I want to leave a legacy then I need to get out of the comfort zone and have certain belief in these deep seeded stirrings that I have within me.
A life that is worth living is not one that should shut up and sit down. We are capable of so much more than we know if we get over the fear and LIVE OUT LOUD. If you want to leave an IMPACT and live a life that MATTERS, then you have to dare to stand out and go away from the crowd.
Mighty Be Our Powers
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