Did you know that your life can change in one sweet breath and all you can do is stand in wonder?
I just returned home from Charlotte, N.C., and reality is starting to set in. I love going to our triennial conventions and gatherings, and this year my granddaughter Savannah came with me. I knew we would be filled with the Spirit and meet wonderful women from around the world, and I had hopes of being re-elected to the executive board.
As happens many times, the Holy Spirit blew through the plenary hall and changed my plan, and I was elected president of this fantastic women’s organization, an organization that changes lives all over the world in the name of Jesus.
Most of my life has been about change. Starting at the age of eleven, I went to work at the local diner washing dishes after school to help my mother support me and my sisters. I had great plans of traveling the world and meeting new people, yet my plan was changed when I found myself divorced at 20 and the mother of two with no child support and alone.
Yes, I had great plans until one day I found myself screaming at God because my life was not what I had planned.
I can still hear Him to this very day saying to me, “Patti you always try to do everything your way; It has to be my way.” As I continue to try and comprehend the plans in my life, I hear the Psalmist’s words, “Be still and know that I am God.”
I am excited about this opportunity to create positive change in this wonderful organization that has been so instrumental in my journey of faith. I believe God has set our course and given us everything we need.
Change. I love change it means that God is at work in our lives, each and every day even when it’s not our plan.
Patti Austin is the president of Women of the ELCA for the 2014-2017 triennium.
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Photo by Women of the ELCA/ Elizabeth McBride. Pictured are Hilton and Patti Austin with their granddaughter Savannah following Patti’s election.
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