Fun Contest

Ok...so I've already been putting in my plugs for Proverbs 31 ministries. Beyond that, you simply must go to Lysa TerKeurst's blog/website. She is the president of Proverbs 31. She is sponsoring a fun Christmas contest with lots of giveaways. All you have to do to be entered in the various contests is comment on her posts.

Just click on the image to go to her site. Good luck and have fun!

Proverbs 31 Cont'd.

I forgot to mention in my previous post. I receive P31 daily email devotions and their monthly magazine. I can not tell you how many times God has used a devotion or article in the magazine to speak words of truth to me. I often hear their daily radio spots, and they touch me as well.

This ministry is awesome! I can't say enough good things about it. Be sure and check them out.

Thankfulness, Part Deux

While on the topic of thankfulness, I need to detour again and post about a ministry for which I am heartily thankful. Proverbs 31 Ministries. If you haven't heard of them, you simply must check them out. They can be found here.

I first came to know of Proverbs 31 a few years ago when I had the privilege of hearing its president, Lysa TerKeurst, speak at a women's conference. That weekend changed my life. Lysa was so sincere and genuine. There were times when it seemed in that room of several hundred women that she was speaking only to me. I knew this woman truly loved the Lord and had been sent by Him to speak to us that day...to speak to me. Little did I know.

While at the conference, we had the opportunity to learn more about the different aspects of Proverbs 31 Ministries. One such offering is a conference they hold each year titled She Speaks. It is a conference for women who feel led to speaking and writing in women's ministry. After I heard Lysa speak in April, I began to feel that God was calling me to attend the speaking track of She Speaks later that same year. And, so I did.

Now, I must digress for a moment. Attending this conference and driving to Charlotte alone was a huge leap for me. I am not that great with directions. As a matter of fact, when my husband and I met, I didn't even know how to read a map! The horror! The shame! My husband, who travelled a lot growing up couldn't imagine anyone not knowing how to read a map. He asked me how I ever got anywhere before him. I informed him it was really quite simple. First, my family did NOT travel that much like his family did. Second, one either knew where one was going, took someone with them who knew where they were going, called and asked for some sort of directions, or you simply didn't go. Maps? Who needs them? I had managed just fine before him, thank you very much! As a side note, you may be relieved to know that I do in fact know how to read a map now. My husband insisted upon it. It was either that, or he makes me drive! Alright, thanks for indulging me in that little side trip. Back to P31.

So, going to Charlotte (which is about a 3 hour drive for me) alone and rooming with a total stranger was a leap for me in and of itself. But, as is always the case when we trust the Lord, the rewards were so much greater than anything I could have imagined. For as I have said before, He knows the plans He has for me. How much better off I would be if I could simply remember this, trust, and then obey.

The conference was amazing! It was so obvious that God was present, and the women who were a part of this ministry were sold out to the Lord. It was apparent that they wanted us to experience God and to know what it is like to find your purpose in Him and then fulfill it. I came away that weekend standing on the spiritual mountaintop.

Now, I would like to tell you that I discovered my calling for God that weekend and have been revelling in it ever since. However, that is not the case. But...that was simply because my timing is not God's timing. He knows the plans HE has for me. They don't always line up with my own vision of how things should be or how quickly they should happen.

As I mentioned, I attended the speaker's track. However, a speaking ministry has never really come to fruition...well, perhaps until now. Two years and three months later, I think I just may be beginning to see what God has planned for me.

I attended She Speaks in August, 2005. In February, 2006, I was presented with the opportunity to become a Mary Kay Consultant. Now, if you knew me, you would know that was not something I would have ever considered doing if I had not felt that God was calling me to do it. I discussed it with a friend of mine, and she said that perhaps this was the right time in my life for this. She had been a Mary Kay Consultant and felt that it was a ministry opportunity. It would also afford me the opportunity to speak in front of other women on a regular basis. I wouldn't have considered that had she not pointed it out, and while I was still extremely ambivalent about doing this, I jumped in because what else could I do but obey?

Did I mention that I jumped in kicking and screaming the whole way? I may have been obedient in answering the call, but I haven't been obedient in moving forward. I have done very little, actually. Why? Fear. Pure, unadulterated fear. Of what, you might ask? Well, I'm still trying to answer that question. Fear of failure, fear of success. I don't know. The truth is, I don't know how to do this. I can't do it in my own strength, and I haven't figured out how to do it in God's. I have prayed. I have cried. I have wailed. I look at other women in the company. I see their success, and I just can not envision it for myself. It has been a brutal 18 months. It's as if God and I were at an impasse. I couldn't go backward because I knew God had called me to it. And yet, I couldn't go forward because I was too afraid. And then, a couple of months ago, enter Kay Arthur's book, Lord, Teach Me to Study the Bible in 28 Days.

I noted in an earlier post that I became a Christian at age 11. I have been a Christian for 26 years. (You can do the math on this...I'm not actually going to announce my age. :0)) I don't feel like I have ever truly learned to simply study a book of the Bible for myself and glean the truths it has for me. I have done countless Bible studies and have learned much from each one. But to just study a book on my own...not so much.

So I found Kay Arthur's book and began to do the study. Oh my gosh! It has profoundly impacted my life! During the course of the book, we were using Kay's inductive study method to study the book of Jonah. Ahhh, the truths I have gotten from Jonah. First, I learned that I was Jonah. In Chapter 1, Jonah flees to Tarshish instead of going to Nineveh as God instructed. If you have ever looked at a map of this, you would have seen that Tarshish is in the opposite direction of Nineveh. Jonah was attempting to go as far away as he possibly could from where God had instructed him to go. God told me to join Mary Kay. While I did get on the boat, I made sure that the anchor was set, and I am still sitting at the dock.

Jonah, also in Chapter 1, God causes the storm to come. The other men on the ship are very frightened. Jonah knows the storm is because of him and tells them to throw him overboard. They do, and he is swallowed by a great fish.

Jonah, Chapter 2. While inside the belly of the fish, Jonah cries out to the Lord. While studying this chapter, Kay Arthur has the reader write a prayer to God. I did, and like Jonah, I cried out to God in my distress. I begged God for forgiveness for my disobedience and asked Him to help me carry out the mission set before me. And while I may have taken the long way around to get there, I am now back to what all of this has to do with Proverbs 31 Ministries.

When I attended in '05, there was a breakout session hosted by a wonderful woman named Shari Braendel. She did a Christian version of What Not to Wear. Since I am all about fashion, makeup, and the like, I couldn't have been more in my element. When I heard Shari speak, she had not joined the P31 team. She since has. Later, on the day of my plea to God, He brought Shari to my mind. I knew that she had a website but couldn't remember how to spell her name. I found her through the P31 website, and upon visiting her site, saw that she had a blog.

I began to read through her posts, and saw that she had talked about a team of ladies she was forming who were interested in doing what she does. She had gone forward to the powers that be at P31, and they agreed that God was doing something. Next year, there is going to be a track at the She Speaks conference for women who are interested in doing Image Ministry. What? I must read this again. God, what are you doing? Is this the answer to my prayer? Are you trying to tell me something?

My head was spinning, and I couldn't put words to an email fast enough. I contacted Shari via email not knowing whether or not she even saw her own email. While I wasn't sure whether or not I would even get an answer, so badly did I feel the need to talk to her that I included my phone numbers in the email and asked her if we could talk! And you know what? Less than 30 minutes after I sent the email, she had called me!

I explained how fashion, color, makeup, etc., was something for which I had always seemed to have a knack. I told her about Mary Kay. I told her about trying to figure out what God wanted from me, and that she may just be the answer to my prayer!

Two weekends ago, I had the privilege of attending an event where she was speaking and assisting her while there. It was the most incredible experience! I highly recommend her for a What Not to Wear event for women or her Modest is Hottest event for teen girls. You can check her out here.

Soooo, I think I may be on to something. I am starting my own Image Consulting business with a Christian perspective. Shari is mentoring me. I hope to attend another one of her conferences next month. I plan to attend the She Speaks Image Ministry track next June. And yes, I'm still in Mary Kay. I want to help women with the entire body image and glamour/skincare is a big part of that, so I think I may have found how to make it work for me. More importantly, I think I may have found how to make it work for God.

I can't say it enough. He knows the plans He has for me. I need to ask, listen, and then obey. He will provide the answers. I heard it said one time that God doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called.

He is using Proverbs 31 Ministries to help equip me, and for that, I am thankful!

Thankfulness

Since today is Thanksgiving, it seems to make sense to depart from the Christmas theme and consider thankfulness.

I heard a pastor say once that if God took away everything and everyone, but we still had God, we would still have everything. Wow! At first thought, that's difficult to swallow, and yet, isn't it so true?

I have thought often about Job. He stands out in the Bible for me as one whom I would like to emulate, but I don't really know if I ever could. Job lost nearly all of his family and everything he owned. He lost all ten of his children, his livestock, his servants. Job's response..."The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!" (Job 1:21b NLT) And then, God gave Satan permission to affect his health. He developed painful sores "from the soles of his feet to the top of his head." (Job 2:7 NIV) His wife, the only person in his family still alive, instead of supporting him in his worst hour, encouraged him to curse God and die. Job, however, did not do this. The Bible says in Job 2:10b that "...Job did not sin in what he said." His friends suggested that maybe he had some sin that he needed to confess. While Job did curse the day of his birth, he did not blame God for all that had befallen him.

I shake my head in wonder at this. While I would like to think that I would respond as Job did because isn't that what a "good Christian" would do, I know how whiney I get when I have a cold! I haven't ever lost anyone really close to me, nor have I had everything I own taken away.

Things have not been so easy, though. I have suffered much. I came to the realization a few years ago that I had been unhappy for most of my life. The question was, why? Why had I been unhappy?

I became a Christian when I was 11 years old, but I think I was in my late 20's before I knew what it meant to have a real relationship with the Lord, to walk with Him daily. Even then, I did not make Him my everything. My eyes were mostly focused on my circumstances, and consequently, I stayed unhappy. Unhappy and ungrateful.

God has been working with me on this, though, and I think we're making some progress. A good example would be the most recent development in my life. Last week, my husband found out that his job is going away at the end of this year. Of course, I was shocked. I didn't see it coming, and it took me a couple of days to process what had happened. Two days after my husband's news when the reality had just begun to settle in, my father-in-law was laid off. But then, God's promises came ringing through loud and clear...."Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5) "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11) I can not explain it, but I have perfect peace about this. I haven't always been able to say that, but maybe God and I have made some headway. I know that He is in control of this situation, and He knows the plans He has for my family and me. Beyond that, I don't have to know anything else. How freeing.

And you know what else? I feel happy...and oh so thankful!

Santa Claus

So, my daughter, who is 6, asked me about Santa Claus this year. I totally didn't see it coming. I first tried to side-step the question. She wasn't having it. After a couple of attempts to divert her attention, I told her the truth.

To be honest, I always felt a little weird about the whole Santa Claus thing anyway. Yes, I believed in Santa Claus when I was younger, until about age 8, actually. My mother got the idea that it would be cool to put gift tags on our "Santa" that year. She had never done that before, and she didn't bother to change her handwriting. That was my "aha" moment. So, I asked my dad if Santa was real. He responded in much the same way I did to my own daughter. And, like my daughter, I wasn't to be diverted (I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree :0)). When I asked him point blank about the gift tags and Mom's handwriting, he said Mom was just helping Santa out. Yeah, right. Good one, Dad, but I wasn't buying it. And that was the end of Santa for me.

I know that Santa adds an element of joy and fun to Christmas, but what's the right answer where this is concerned? As a Christian, do I perpetuate this myth with my child? I don't know. I have allowed her to believe in Santa, and I HAVE perpetuated the belief....but....I always felt weird about it. I was lying to her, and that made me uncomfortable. What did God think? He says we are to tell the truth, and isn't Christmas about Jesus' birth? Doesn't our real joy come from the fact that the greatest gift ever given came in the form of an infant who would save the world from itself? The answer in my mind is an unequivocal YES!

So, where does that leave Santa, and was I right to tell my daughter the truth when she asked me? My mother-in-law says that none of us can really know the truth. Perhaps, but there is one thing I know for sure to be true, and that is I want my daughter to know first and foremost that we celebrate CHRISTmas because of a baby named Jesus. He is the one and only Son of God who came to this earth in human form, lived a blameless life, and took my sin, her sin, and the sin of the entire world upon Himself so that we would never know the punishment for that sin if we would but accept His free gift of salvation. Santa can't do THAT!

Entering the Blogging World

Well, I can't believe it, but I have finally entered the blogging world. I'm not really sure why I decided to give this a try. I don't journal. I don't consider myself to be much of a writer. I don't really know if I have anything to say that people would be interested in reading, but I just wanted to do this, so I am.

Since I've chosen to start with a Christmas theme designed by the very talented Dawn @ Barefoot Blog Designs, maybe I will enter the blogging world with a Christmas story I wrote recently. Before sharing it, though, a brief comment about its creation. I am a HUGE Clay Aiken fan! He is having a contest right now whereby fans submit their favorite, or not so favorite, Christmas memories. He is reading each story himself and picking several to be read by the writers at a concert they will be attending. Unfortunately, I will be unable to attend, but I was prompted to write the following story anyway. Let me know if you think I should submit it.

The Hope of a Tree

I can still see the tree in my mind’s eye…artificial, six feet tall, with red, white, and blue balls hanging from its branches. Large multi-colored lights of orange, green, blue, red, and yellow were draped carelessly around the bottom sharing the spotlight with their smaller counterparts up top. The smaller lights blinked every few seconds as if to say, “Look at me!” Silver tinsel placed very carefully from top to bottom so as to be spaced exactly evenly and not ruin the effect. Handmade ornaments decorated the bottom forming a perfect circle just above the red and green tree stand. A crocheted red and white candy cane, Mr. and Mrs. Claus made from red and white yarn with felt pieces for facial features. And not to be outdone, adorning the very top of the tree, a sliver tinseled star with one each of red, green, blue, and yellow blinking lights. Lastly, icicles, silver icicles.

It paints a beautiful picture, doesn’t it? And yet, it was not, for this is where the colors of my painting begin to run.

There were only two of us kids, my brother, four years younger, and myself. Each year, hope for the season would spring anew. Hope that this year, things might be different. Hope that maybe Mother would decide this year two weeks of having the house decorated wouldn’t be enough, that she would long to see the beauty longer than that. Hope that while stringing those beautiful lights upon the tree that our father wouldn’t curse and scream at my mother about how much he hated it. Hope that Mother wouldn’t begin in September to remind us yet again how lean things were financially and that there wouldn’t be much for Christmas this year. Hope dimmed in the blur of colors running together as each year things remained exactly the same. And yet, the colors never dulled enough to completely extinguish hope for….

I have a new tree now…seven to eight feet tall, a real Frasier fir. The scent of pine fills the air. Its branches are still covered with those beautiful red, orange, blue, yellow, and green lights. Large one’s on the bottom and smaller, blinking one’s around the top. Their placement isn’t haphazard, nor is there cursing when they wind their way around the tree each year. The ornaments are an eclectic mix of Star Wars, Star Trek, Gone With the Wind, and Disney. Scarlett in her green velvet curtain dress. Rhett in his gray pants and white shirt when she visited him in jail. The Death Star. The Enterprise. The X-Wing Fighter. They all come down from the attic the day after Thanksgiving, for two weeks ISN’T long enough to enjoy the beauty. The tinsel is gold musical notes. Icicles. No tree is complete without icicles. They are red, my favorite color, the color of hope, the color of Christ’s precious shed blood. An angel, glowing in white, sits serenely atop this colorful masterpiece. Its colors are brilliant and vibrant and hope is no longer dim.