She Speaks... With Wisdom!

"She opens her mouth with wisdom and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue!"

Proverbs 31:26

WOW! This is definitely a characteristic to strive for! 

5 years ago a friend e-mailed me a daily devotional written by Lysa TerKeurst of Proverbs 31 Ministries. I was immediately touched by this concept. God had blessed someone with the gift of encouragement and she is using it to impact others in this way. As time has gone by, God has been cultivating the desire of writing into my heart, to "speak" encouragement and His TRUTH into others lives! I love to interpret my soul's stirring and inspire the very hearts of God's beautiful creation, to refresh others so I may be refreshed! My journey has been full of experiences that I believe God wants to encourage others with and He is leading me to do so through writing and speaking. As I started my journey into 2011, I felt God guiding me into a season of growing. I know beyond any doubt this is my year to LEARN, my year to GROW, my year to EVOLVE as a servant for HIM! 

This July, Proverbs 31 Ministries, will be hosting their "She Speaks" conference. It is an opportunity for women who are gifted with the passion for speaking, writing and leading to GROW! To be equipped to serve Christ to our fullest potential! The workshops will provide the following tools:

1. How to deliver and develop a message while fully engaging your audience.

2. Discover and develop your writing voice. Learn how to develop portfolios and engage your readers from start to finish.

3. How to effectively cast vision, build a team and engage others in your Women's Ministry.

Proverbs 31 Ministries is also providing 2 Cecil Murphy Scholarships! To learn more about the She Speaks conference go here:http://shespeaksconference.com/

This is an AMAZING opportunity through She Speaks! I believe in the very heart of Proverbs 31 Ministries and hope to be apart! http://lysaterkeurst.com/2011/03/she-speaks-scholarship-contest-2011/

With my EVERYTHING let the words that I SPEAK be pleasing unto you Lord!

I hope to see you in July at "She Speaks"....

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OUR DAY OF DIAGNOSIS

"Excuse me, but we are The Lewis'"... a statement that runs through my mind frequently when I think back to "OUR DAY OF DIAGNOSIS"....

All too unfamiliar, all too unexpected... Are we ever ready for a diagnosis... Are we ever prepared for a diagnosis... in my opinion NO but then again as a believer in Jesus, YES...

"Will you journey with me through OUR diagnosis?... I promise for it to be painful yet inspiring... confusing yet hopeful... uncertain yet eternal"... This is what I felt the Holy Spirit whisper to my soul as we encountered that very day... maybe I couldn't quite explain it that way at first but through a very ORDAINED journey God revealed His miraculous to me... as a matter of fact, He still is...

It was an exciting day, early morning, that we labored and delivered a 6lb 4oz little blue eyed boy... Christopher Michael Lewis... he was charming at first sight and our baby boy... he would be ALL that a man and woman could dream of in a little boy... a star athlete, a true gentleman and certainly he would carry on the family name... not even 48 hours into his entrance into this world... did our lives, including his, change forever more... what started as breathing issues quickly ended in a DIAGNOSIS... as countless nurses and doctors entered our room to check on us and inform us of our baby's progress we grew more and more anxious of what the future would hold for our family... NO ONE is ever PREPARED for the whirlwind of a diagnosis yet somehow during ours PEACE permeated my presence... UNEXPLAINABLE I know and SCARY at the same time... was it shock, was I dreaming and soon I would awake or maybe- just maybe God was going to perform a miracle right before my very eyes just as He had done for others COUNTLESS times before...

Down Syndrome was our diagnosis and Topher is our miracle... 10 years later and miles beyond our start, God has created a MASTERPIECE and exceeded our miracle... LIFE took on a new meaning and DIAGNOSIS gave us a new outlook on life... have there been up & downs... have there been uncertainties & painful encounters... YES... but my Creator has journeyed EVERY step of the way with us... sometimes He has carried us... sometimes He has pulled us... sometimes He has silenced us and sometimes He has pushed us... BUT EVERY TIME He has equipped us to carry our cross and He has carried our burden and made our load light... He has really cared for us WELL!

So what do you do with a DIAGNOSIS... you embrace it, you carry it, you allow it to become apart of who you are... Why... because it's a part of your journey... an ordained, appointed place for you... sometimes it is a place you will visit for a short time... sometimes it is a camp-out... and sometimes it's your destination... God has an appointed PLAN for you... you have been given your DIAGNOSIS because you are the only one who can carry it and carry it well...

For me our diagnosis is our destination... we will carry it until we are ushered into eternity... where PERFECTION will be completed and His ultimate purpose will be revealed... so until that beautiful, appointed day... we will continue to behold, embrace & carry our diagnosis... for He is ours and we are His!


"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for WELFARE and not for evil, to give you a FUTURE and a HOPE!" ~ God (Jeremiah 29:11)

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FREE! NO STRINGS ATTACHED!

Sarah Young, the author of Jesus Calling, does and AMAZING job of scripting TRUTH from the very heart of Jesus... As if He is sitting right in front of you having a conversation over coffee!

God's word is ALIVE & ACTIVE and the pages of this devotional will captivate your soul and give your spirit a deeper hunger for God's TRUTH!

He really is ALL we need! He really will SPEAK to you if you will only open your heart & listen!

I have been incorporating Jesus Calling into my day for sometime now... one day it occurred to me that I was keeping too much of Him to myself and decided to start sharing excerpts with my virtual community... YOU too have been captivated by His TRUTH!

Today I want to GIVE AWAY a copy of Jesus Calling...  FREE... with no strings attached!

All you need to do is leave a comment telling me the MOST influential statement ever spoken to you! On Monday I will randomly draw a name and contact you!

Let's GO... let's be influenced by the TRUTH... Jesus IS Calling...

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ARE YOU A WINNER?

I absolutely despise roach bugs... they give me the CREEPS! I can accept that they are a part of God's beautiful creation BUT I absolutely want them to stay in their own territory!  Needless to say, when they step into my arena, IT'S ON...

Just recently I happened upon one in my home... I couldn't reach a napkin soon enough to grab it and SQUISH it! I have NO REMORSE for them... once I get them in my grasp I squeeze and twist... I get pleasure out of removing them from my clean, safe & healthy environment... I did NOT invite the roach in & trespassers are NOT highly favored!

The same with difficult people... I don't usually invite them into my space, they usually are not highly favored & I often want to squish them... BUT they too are a part of God's beautiful creation... often I think maybe God allows me to cross paths with the difficult ones to SHARPEN me, STRENGTHEN me, HUMBLE me, GROW me and INCREASE my PATIENCE! I WELCOME all of these opportunities for growth into my life but I wouldn't necessarily choose the process through DIFFICULT PEOPLE.

We ALL encounter difficult people. For some they are family members, co-workers, a neighbor, someone in the grocery line, a church member or maybe even someone you live with.  The next time you encounter that DIFFICULT PERSON remember they are crossing your path for a specific reason... whether it's to sharpen you or God showing His sovereignty to them... most of the time, them being difficult, is NOT a reflection of you... it's an inward image into the chaos of their soul... SO REMEMBER THIS...

1.  You CAN CHOOSE how you let their actions & words effect you... sometimes you have no other choice than to love difficult people with the cross in between you!

2.  You CAN'T CONTROL how difficult people act towards you BUT you CAN CONTROL how you react to them...


CHOOSE LOVE... LOVE ALWAYS WINS!

" Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF!"( Luke 10:27)

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Feeling Vulnerable...

 All this week our family has been struck with the flu...YUCK!... That's right, 3 out of 5, down and OUT... not sure how I managed to function as wife and mom BUT my house IS still standing... notice I said standing NOT clean... the groceries are bought, the linens are washed and I am back on my feet again...


Then I let my mind wander... as I do QUITE FREQUENTLY... how in the world did WE end up with the flu... 3 out of 5 of us at that... I'm germ conscious, I load my kids up with vitamins, we stay quarantined from those we know have been sick, we eat as healthy as possible & drink our vitamin C, etc. etc. etc... No matter how combated we were our bodies were vulnerable somewhere & sickness crept in... it took over like the plague & it fiercely wiped us out... Somewhere along the way, in all my preparations to secure VULNERABLE areas, I MISSED a spot! YIKES...


How often do we leave VULNERABLE areas in our spiritual life unsecured... open freely for the enemy to creep in... we know for sure he prowls around like a lion waiting to devour us - attack us - WIPE US OUT!... he doesn't care how prepared we THINK we are... he's waiting and watching... ready to drag us down into a nasty-slimy pit... and destroy us... FOR SURE we are all vulnerable in one way or another... BUT we have been given POWERFUL tools to SAFE-GUARD the enemy from sinking his nasty claws in us...


1. Purify Your Innermost Places ~ Psalm 139:23-24 (ESV)
"Search me O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 
And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!"


2. Speak Life With Your Words ~ Proverbs 18:21 (ESV)
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
 and those who love it will eat its
 fruits."


3. Guard Your Heart ~ Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)
"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it!"




Let's start today claiming POWER over our VULNERABLE areas!

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Control Freak Breakdown

... this pretty much describes my feelings over the weekend!

Marybeth, my oldest daughter had a dance competition in Atlanta... once we received the news that her performance time had been changed to 8:20 a.m. we decided to leave Friday night instead of Saturday morning... this was PERFECT, we would already be in Atlanta... we could be at the convention center early... kiss her and wish her well before she performed... get a few pictures... sip on some coffee to ease the nervous jitters...

Much to my dismay it DID NOT go that way at all... we left the hotel at 7:15 a.m. with the impression that our destination was only 6 minutes away... upon pulling up to the EMPTY parking lot my heart dropped to my feet... we were at the WRONG convention center... we were directed to the right place with minimal directions... after 8 stops to ask, a NON-FUNCTIONING GPS & many wrong turns later...

WE MISSED HER DANCING!

I tried everything I knew to do... NOTHING was working... I just laid my head on the steering wheel and cried... disappointed that I was missing my girl dance... that my mother & mother-in-law were missing their only chance to see her and the weight of what was taking place was falling on me... we found our destination exactly 25 minutes beyond performance time & the reality that "Life Doesn't Always Go As Planned" had set in...

How many times do we go through LIFE thinking we have it all planned out... we place our hope and trust in our schedules, our agendas and our different forms of technology!

We have no control... we may have the freedom to make the choices... to be prepared & organized... to choose to forgive ourselves and learn from our faults instead of falling into the pit of self-pity & despair...

BUT we have NO CONTROL... 

Without deep dependence on God we give way to despair... without His presence  we give way to dependence in things that WILL fail us... without His positive we are left with our negative... without His direction we will ALWAYS end up lost...

WHO OR WHAT IS IN CONTROL OF YOU?

"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God"

Romans 8:14

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WHO KNEW?

Who knew- that God would BLESS me with the opportunities that He has... no the stars didn't have to line up... He ordained my every step before time even began...

Heck yea, I'm striving for His BEST for me... I live my life in full pursuit of it... you know what?... it's not an empty journey... challenging at times BUT well worth the RIDE...

Seek Him with all your heart and you WILL find Him... and your pursuit of life... as far as I'm concerned it doesn't get any BETTER than that...

I hope as you awake to Friday and enter into your weekend that you find His FULLNESS... whatever the days may bring that your pursuit of Him will fulfill your pursuit of Life...



My pursuit this weekend will be loving on these cuties...

HAPPY FRIDAY!




Tab

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