S.H.E. S.P.E.A.K.S.

The other day I posted about my first mission trip to Guatemala I mentioned a contest I am entering through a ministry of Proverbs 31.  You know my new favorite author, writer and speaker is Lysa TerKeurst (see her blog link to the right).  For me, she just may surpass Beth Moore (GASP!!) I said "may" ladies…MAY!   I first heard Lysa speak earlier this month in Tulsa at the Extraordinary Women conference. She is the president of Proverbs 31 Ministries and every year they put on an event called "She Speaks."  

This is a rather impressive, and expensive, conference in North Carolina.  In the readings and prayers that I've been doing lately, I keep finding the Lord stirring my soul…stirring my heart to continue to seek and do His will for my life.  I've recently finished reading Lysa's book "The Bathtub is Overflowing but I Feel Drained: How to Deal with Mommy Stress."  I thought…"Hey! I've got stories like hers!  I've been to seminary and been a missionary and  a preacher."  So I thought I'd get out some of my old writings and sermons and re-visit them and have been posting them here on my blog.  (See links to the lower right about what I've posted already.)

Here is a little bit about why I want to win the scholarship for the She Speaks Conference and what She Speaks is about. Please click around, follow the links, and read my stories. I've used the letters for SHE SPEAKS as an acronym for why I want to win the scholarship, go to the conference and what She Speaks is about.  Thanks for reading and thanks for glimpsing into my heart.  

Stirring…that is how I know God is talking and working within me…I've got that "stirring." In the process of revisiting my call story and old sermons, I've found that "stirring" again. I know what happens when I get that feeling….it means change is coming, God is working, and we'd all better hold on for the ride.  Remember the Bolivia call story and Guatemala? I’m just sayin'…. Someone asked at the EWomen's conference in Tulsa, "how do you know that the Spirit is talking to you?"  Her answer was that it is either an "uh-huh"  or an "uh-oh."  It's that feeling when you just know. I call it a stirring.  She Speaks conference describes it as a "tug at your heart."  She Speaks is about sharing your stirrings; sharing the stories God has laid on your heart with those around you to lead them closer to Jesus.  

Heart of God.  We all want to live in the presence of the heart of God.  How's the song go…"come and make my heart your home."  That's what I see as my goal in every writing and every Bible study I write and lead...for others to be led to the heart of God.  I think this conference could help me develop that more uniquely.

Encourage and equip women.  This is what the She Speaks conference is about and this is one reason why I would love to be able to attend….how nice to be encouraged and equipped so I could come back home and do the same in my church and town and state!

She Speaks conference is in Concord, North Carolina on July 30-August 1!  Any place in late July has got to be a tad "cooler" than Oklahoma, where the famous song has a line that says, "where the wind comes sweeping down the plains." Forty mile an hour winds, 105 degrees, and 95% humidity in July is reason enough for me to be willing to travel half way across the country for the conference.

Peace, perspective, and purpose.  The mission of She Speaks Conference is to bring God's peace, perspective, and purpose to busy women.  Can I get an amen, sisters?!  Proverbs 31:26 states, "She speaks with wisdom and faithful instruction is on her tongue."  There is only one way to do that my friends and that is with God's peace, perspective and purpose!  Amen? Amen!

Every generation is welcome at the conference!   This conference is for any speaker, writer, or women's ministry leader of all ages. They even have a track for young teenage writers.  What an exciting opportunity to gather together an eclectic group of women from numerous walks of life!

Apply God's Truth to every area of your life.  When I wrote the WOW Bible study, "Women of the Word: How to Study the Bible" last fall for my church, I found myself constantly challenging the ladies to make it real to their lives.  I tried to teach them how to observe the Scripture, interpret it and then to apply it to their daily lives.  What a blessing they were to me!  But now what do I do with that material?  God placed that ministry on my heart…what's next?

Kids.....I love my children...they are a gift from God and that I get to stay home and be with them is a blessing! They are also why it has taken three days to write this post and be creative about it!!  I'm writing between fixing french toast, doing a load of laundry, pushing "play" so we can watch Handy Manny and feed the dog! But my husband and I are committed to doing God's will for our lives not only for our own spiritual lives, but for our children. One of Proverbs 31 principles is that they work with and encourage women so as to"nurture the next generation, shaping and molding the children who will one day define who we are as a community and as a nation."And that is why Dusty and I are so committed   about raising our children in a Godly home.  Yes, there are dirty dishes, dirty floors, and dirty clothes. But I want to spend any time that I can becoming the woman God  created me to be so that I can teach that to my children!

Seeking to explore the calling on my life.  My calling is still there. It doesn't go away…even if you try to ignore it.  But it has changed and grown, and morphed, and been lived out many different ways over the years.  Maybe this is something new that God is leading me in; in the direction of more intentional women's ministry, more speaking, more leading.  Driving four hours home from Tulsa a couple of weeks ago I didn't turn on the radio.  God didn't let me.  He wanted to know how willing I was to obey Him…that was the question He placed upon my heart.  It might have been a simple thing as not turning on the radio.  But it was more than that.  It was being willing to do what God has placed before me.  How willing am I? Willing enough to enter a contest, that numerous other women far more gifted and talented than I, are entering as well.  Willing enough to obey His tug at my heart.  Willing enough to be vulnerable with my faith stories and to share them. So ask the question, "How willing are YOU?"