After my mom broke the horrible news to me about my ex, I began to grow bitter. I was upset and all I could think of was, I don’t want to see him this weekend. While I was thinking this, I felt the Lord telling me in a small still voice, “Chelsea, you have to go because I got a plan.” After I felt the Lord telling me that, I began to tell myself, “Chelsea, God has a reason for you to be there, even though you don’t know what it is.”
Since I did not know why I was supposed to go, I told everyone I had to go because Barlow Girls was going to be there. I thought that must be the reason I have to go because they support the ministry where I found healing from my eating disorder is 2008. I told myself that I would just go, meet the Barlow Girls, and spend the rest of the time in the hotel room so I would not have to see the person who hurt me.
On Friday, I still felt the Lord saying, “Chelsea, I got a reason for your being there.” I ended up getting to Florida about 11:45 pm Friday evening, and I had to be up by 6:45 the next morning because we were going to be picking up the sound guys for Barlow Girls at the airport hotel.
Once we got to the place where the concert was going to be held, I decided I was going stay and hang out with my best friend and help wherever they needed me. We were planning on staying for the Barlow Girls sound check and then heading back to the hotel, but like normal, our plans changed.
The manager for Barlow Girls asked my dad if he would take them to Starbucks to get some coffee after they finished their sound check. Of course, we jumped at this wonderful opportunity and said yes, and my mom, dad, and I got to drive this wonderful band around to all the places they needed to go. My mom and I felt so blessed because we were able to talk to the girls and build a personal relationship with them that we thought would only happen in our dreams.
After we got back to the concert site, I decided I was going stay for the whole concert. At about 3:00, as the band my ex was part of began to set up, the drummer, who is my youth minister, asked me if I would share my testimony. I told him I would and I began to think, “Is this why I was supposed to come?” Once I finished giving my testimony, God answered that question. As I went back down in the crowd, a group of girls came to me and asked if they could tell me something. As we stepped aside, the girls began to tell me how they used to have anorexia, suicidal tendencies, and drug addictions. As we began to talk, some of the girls showed me the scares they had from either taking drugs, or cutting themselves. We ended up talking for a good while and once we were done, we gave each other our contact info so we could keep in touch.
Later that day some other people came to me and told me how much my testimony touched them. I knew at that moment, that that was why I was there. I knew I was there so I could let these girls know they were not alone.