Special assignment for All Access, Pam and I, had the privilege this week to get to Dallas for a behind the scenes (literally, see photo below) view of Priscilla Shirer as she taped her top secret, much-anticipated, new Bible Study, 'One In a Million,' that will release this summer.
We felt like two gals in a million with big hair as we watched Priscilla teach her socks off with sassy outfits and really cute hair. She BROUGHT it about how God does some of His greatest miracles in our lives when we are in a wilderness season. So true. Her sweet 90-year-old Grandma was in the audience and Pam and I got to meet her. We are blessed. But we didn't wear our cheese heads.
We also got to squeeze the newest Shirer, Jude, and carry him around some while his Momma brought the Word! Maternity leave is over cause not only did she just tape a 6-week Bible study but next weekend, Feb, 6-7, Priscilla is going to launch her Going Beyond Events with LifeWay in Atlanta with a brand new message on Jonah. She'll hit the west coast after Atlanta with an event in San Jose, CA on February 21-22. Yes, maternity leave is officially OVER. AND she has lost the baby weight in three months. She is our hero. In spite of an inch or so of ice in Dallas and snow in Nashville, we made it home with little drama (other than the drama we bring by just being together) in our travels!
If you are in ministry in any shape or form, you need to check out WIRED: Women Intentionally Reaching Expanding Developing. WIRED is for any woman in ministry who is a "seasoned" leader seeking to move her developing ministry to the "next level." If your ministry is at least 5 years or older, this training if especially for YOU! This leadership event is coming to St. Augustine, FL on February 27-28.
Click on the video below to hear more.
I realize I never got back to y'all with my thoughts on Week 1 homework from "Esther", but I have been on two road trips in four days and have returned to a house that is in desperate need of a cleaning lady.
Sadly, I am the cleaning lady.
But I wanted to share a few thoughts I had on the week before it was next week. Does that sentence even make sense? Let's pretend it does.
On Day 2 of Week 1, Beth talks about the incredible party that King Xerxes has thrown to celebrate himself and his kingdom. It's definitely beyond the scope of any fancy event I've ever attended, mainly because in my world "fancy party" means there will be barbecued ribs and potato salad that isn't served out of a styrofoam container.
The Bible describes the scene this way, "For a full 180 days, he displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and glory of his majesty." Esther 1:4
Beth discusses how phrases like that are usually in reference to God, but King Xerxes was very taken with himself and his own greatness. All his hope and trust was in his earthly riches.
She contrasts v. 4 in Esther with Psalm 96: 4-6. The specific part of that passage that stood out to me was v. 5 which says "For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens".
It's kind of like the old saying "You can't take it with you when you're gone". All the material things that seem so important in our society are nothing compared to the incredible splendor and majesty of God.
And sometimes I need to be reminded of that.
I can get caught up in thinking some new clothes or granite countertops would make me happier than I am now. Our entire culture is built on the premise that more is better, but what I need is more of God.
Only in Him will I find the peace and contentment I am looking for. The best part is it's the kind that lasts. And as we soon see, King Xerxes with all his finery and 180 day party wasn't a content guy. In fact, he banishes his beautiful queen because she didn't play into building his ego.
The whole thing reminded me of some scripture I've been praying from Proverbs for the last several weeks.
"Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise I may have too much and disown you and say 'Who is the Lord?' Or I may become poor and steal and so dishonor the name of my God." Proverbs 30: 8-9
The only splendor and glory I want in my life is the fullness of His presence and to know daily that He alone is my daily bread.
I'm sitting in a hotel room outside of Atlanta right now, and Travis Cottrell finished the live recording of his new worship CD (at First Baptist Church Woodstock) about an hour and a half ago. I'm still a little keyed up from the whole thing, but I thought I'd share a few thoughts before I try to settle down and go to bed.
1. The whole night was awesome.
2. No, really. It was seriously awesome.
3. I think there were about 6,000 people there.
4. And those 6,000 people were flat-out praising the Lord.
5. Travis and his praise team, band and the FBC Woodstock choir did a phenomenal job leading us in worship.
6. Look! Travis' shoes!
7. The shoes held up beautifully.
8. Beth Moore spoke about worship. And it was a mighty good word. SHOCKING, I know.
9. All in all it was just a really special time with sweet friends.
10. And if you weren't there, we totally missed you.
11. You'd better be there next time, I'M NOT KIDDING.
Right now I'm sitting in our dining room while the rain falls outside. The sky is gray, and everything outside looks like it's about six shades darker than normal. I call days like these Pajama Days - days when I just want to stay inside and snuggle up on the couch and stay warm. If this afternoon goes as planned, I'll do just that. Just the possibility of it makes me smile.
Truth be told, our lives have felt sort of gray for the last few days. Grown-Up Stuff has consumed us just a little bit, and we're having a hard time figuring out how to walk through the unknown.
So as I sit here - surrounded by gray on the outside and, if I'm honest, on the inside, too - there's a part of me that's tempted to climb back in bed, pull the covers over my head, and escape from the Grown-Up Stuff. I like it when everything feels Okay. When everything feels Good. When everything feels Comfortable.
But there's a bigger part of me that knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is in control - as cliche' as it may sound. I've seen Him do some incredible things in our family this past year, and I know that He's not going to abandon us now - even if His road map doesn't look exactly like what I have in mind. He's Jehovah Rohi, our shepherd. He's Jehovah Jireh, our provider. He's Jehovah Shalom, our PEACE.
And I know that even as we flail a little bit, even as we feel some uncertainty about what's down the road for us, we can rest confidently in the knowledge that HE IS WITH US. He will not leave us or forsake us. We can trust Him.
So today, while my head hurts just a little bit as I try, in all my limited understanding, to figure out what the days and months to come will look like, my heart sings these words:
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus' Name.
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
It's Friday which means it's time for our weekly roundup of thoughts about "Esther: It's Tough Being A Woman" except this week I'm going to let y'all go first and share your thoughts in the comments and I'll chime in later.
Doesn't that sound good?
So, here's the real story. I'm in Houston right now after attending a fun event with some blogging friends and I forgot to bring my "Esther" book with me.
And you know what would help me talk about what I learned from "Esther" this week?
Having my workbook.
I'll be back this afternoon with my thoughts on the week. I know I loved it, that much is certain.
How about y'all? What did you think of the first week of homework?
As I've sat and watched all the inaugural events this morning, I am reminded how blessed we are to live in a country where the transfer of power is peaceful and filled with prayer.
It's a blessing that I often take for granted, but today I want to stop and thank God for all the blessings He has bestowed on this great country. Yes, we have huge problems facing us, but we have a God that is bigger than any economy or terrorist group.
God, pour out your blessings on this country and on our new leader. Bless us and keep us, make your face shine upon us.
Please join us in praying for our country and our President today.
"All mankind will fear; they will proclaim the works of God and ponder what he has done. Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in him; let all upright in heart praise him!" Psalm 64: 9-10
Thank you for your entries into our "Life Change. One Woman at a Time" Blog Contest. Your stories were so touching, moving, challenging, and compelling! Wow, it's awesome to hear what God is doing in and through the lives of women everywhere!
My little boy loves to sing. Sometimes the songs don't actually, you know, EXIST, but that doesn't seem to stop him. He'll just make up lyrics as he goes along, filling in the blanks with whatever pops into his mind.
A couple of days ago, however, I heard him singing a song that he learned in choir. I hadn't heard it in forever - like not-since-children's-choir-back-in-the-80s forever. The melody was instantly recognizable, but I was a little fuzzy on the words. So I asked him to sing it again - and as I listened, I started to smile. And then my heart pretty much filled to overflowing.
It's funny how the old hymns mean so much more when you're older, you know?
Sing the wondrous love of Jesus,
Sing His mercy and His grace.
In the mansions bright and blessèd
He'll prepare for us a place.
When we all get to Heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We'll sing and shout the victory!
While we walk the pilgrim pathway,
Clouds will overspread the sky;
But when traveling days are over,
Not a shadow, not a sigh.
When we all get to Heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We'll sing and shout the victory!
Let us then be true and faithful,
Trusting, serving every day;
Just one glimpse of Him in glory
Will the toils of life repay.
When we all get to Heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We'll sing and shout the victory!
Those words have encouraged me so much today - hope they encourage you, too.
At the beginning of the year I decided to join up with the 1st and 15th Siesta Scripture Memory Team over on Beth Moore's blog. There are over 2,000 women participating, and the premise is pretty simple: each participant chooses a new passage of Scripture to memorize on the 1st and 15th of every month.
My first passage was I John 3:18-20, and it says, "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything."
That last line has been running on repeat in my brain all weekend long: "For God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything."
He knows everything.
He knows EVERYTHING.
He knows our sins, our struggles, our resentments, our weaknesses. He knows our pettiness, our temptations, our shame and our selfishness. He knows all the stuff we feel guilty about, all the stuff we wish we could wipe away.
I can't tell y'all how excited I was to start the first session of "Esther" on Wednesday night. I've been looking forward to this study since the first time I heard about it and judging from the introductory session, it is not going to disappoint.
Also, I am totally going to start using the phrase, "I don't need the whole Megillah" because it makes me happy.
The biggest thing that stood out to me this week was the fact that God's name is never mentioned in the book of Esther. I've read it many times and I'd never really thought about it. I just knew that His hand was in the middle of that whole situation.
But isn't it interesting how I can read Esther and see God's hand all over it, yet sometimes wonder if His hand is all over my life? Does He really care about all the little things that make up my day?
I loved that Beth pointed out that this is a Bible study where no obvious miracle comes. We never see Him, but we know He's at work.
That is where I'm living right now. It's trusting Him for the day-to-day stuff. There are no big miracles or revelations. It's just His faithfulness in giving me my daily bread.
And I'm clinging to Phillippians 2:13 "God works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose." As Beth said, "If you seek Him, God's will will find you."
How about y'all? I'd love to hear your thoughts and input on this first video session.
Some of you may remember that way back in October I went to Nashville to be a part of the taping for the "Five Conversations You Must Have With Your Daughter" Bible study DVD's.
The Bible study won't be out until late Spring, but the Five Conversations book is already available and I can't say enough good things about it. If you have a daughter, then I will tell you that this book is a must-read.
In fact, I plan to keep mine on my bedside table as a handy reference manual for the next 15-30 years.
But you know how sometimes you read a book and wish you could ask the author a few questions or continue the discussion? Well, Vicki Courtney is giving you the opportunity to become part of a community of mothers who are all trying to raise our girls the right way with the right values.
Do you want to "go beyond" in your spiritual journey? Well, we want to offer you the opportunity to do just that. You can join nationwide speaker, Bible teacher, and best-selling author Priscilla Shirer as she leads women to go beyond where they are to a new place on the journey at one of our Going Beyond events! Would you like to attend one of these events for FREE?
You will experience renewal and refreshment as Priscilla challenges you to abandon the everyday, ordinary life for a vibrant, soul-satisfying walk with Christ. Plus, Going Beyond offers more fuel for your journey with special musical guest Vicki Yohe and moving worship led by Alex Williams.
So, you want to know more about the FREE part? Here's how: We're sponsoring a blog contest called "Life Change. One Woman at a Time." Simply respond to this post and tell us how your life has been changed by the influence of another Christian woman in your life or how God has used you to bring about life change - one woman at a time. We want to hear about how God has been working in women's lives throughout this nation (and even the world). A team of us will review the posts and choose one of the submissions to offer a FREE pair of tickets to attend a Going Beyond event of her choice! Deadline for submission is Friday, January 16. I'll announce the recipient of the FREE tickets on Monday, January 19.
Pray about your posts and then submit your comments to this essay contest "Life Change. One Woman at a Time." By the way, we're not judging grammar, essay construction, or any of that kind of stuff. We simply want to hear how God has been working in your lives. You don't have to be a writer to make a submission. So, tell your friends. We want to hear from you. We'll all be blessed by your posts.
Remember back in December when I mentioned that my Bible study group is doing Beth Moore's "Esther: It's Tough Being a Woman" study this spring and mentioned that it might be fun if we discussed it once a week in the comments here?
And then remember how I never mentioned it again?
Well, I'm proud to announce that I now have a plan in place.
My group is having our first meeting next Wednesday, January 14th. Our plan is to watch the first session, eat some chocolate chip cookies, and discuss our hair. Not necessarily in that order.
Anyway, I'll jot down my thoughts and share them here on Friday, January 16th and then you can add your thoughts on the first session in the comments.
Rinse and repeat every Friday until we're done with the study.
Does that work for y'all? I think it will just be more fun to share everything we're learning and seeing what stands out to different people.
A couple of months ago I looked over on the LifeWay Women's Events page to see if there was anything coming up in my neck of the woods. Since I'm in Birmingham, I always find it super-handy when there are LifeWay events in Nashville or Atlanta or even Memphis, so the first thing I did was look for those cities.
I kid you not: I flipped my 2008 planner to the very last page - where they print those teeny tiny calendars of the upcoming year - and marked the Going Beyond dates. Because I'm obsessive. And because I forget things.
See?
That would be some photographic proof of my crazy.
A couple of nights later I went to Bible study and told the girls there about the event, and since many of them had been wowed by their first exposure to Priscilla's teaching through our Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed Bible study, they were tickled to know about the event. And we talked about how we'd love to go.
Well, guess what I found out today?
I'm going!
(Beyond, as it were.)
And I'm beyond excited.
What about you? Any plans in the works for an event or two in 2009? Any of you going to Going Beyond?
Over the last five or six years worship music has become a big - no, make that huge - part of my life. Back in 2002 (-ish) my husband started looking up some of the songs we sang at church, and eventually we noticed that worship music was taking up more and more space on our iPods. There is something about Truth set to music that moves me way down deep in my soul, and now, on the occasional day when I don't have the chance to crank up my music in the car, I can feel the difference in my heart.
So.
All that to say.
You can imagine my delight when I found out that Travis Cottrell is recording a live worship CD on January 25th in Atlanta. God has blessed Travis with incredible musical talent, and He's also given him the unique ability to lead worship and somehow get completely out of the way at the same time. There's not a single ounce of pretense with Travis, and his humility in worship has ministered to me at more LifeWay events than I can count. He is the real dadgum deal.
If you're within driving distance of Atlanta and want to spend a Sunday night in some straight-up, flat-out worship, you should absolutely drive over to First Baptist Woodstock and hear Travis and his praise team live. The super-talented Cindy Morgan and Shaun Groves will be there, too - not to mention a girl named Beth Moore. You may have heard of her.
My husband and I have had this date on our calendar for months - we absolutely cannot wait, and we would love to see you there!
This past weekend I spent a lot of time by myself. Some of that time was spent in productive ways such as trying to purge the house of Christmas excess, but if I'm honest I have to admit that a lot of the time was spent worrying about the upcoming year.
It would probably benefit my worry lines greatly if I would just stop watching the news and reading the financial forecasts, but it seems like everywhere I turn I hear about all the things I'm supposed to be worrying about and so I worry about them.
I start to freak out and calculate numbers in my head and try to figure out if I can feed my family on nothing but Hamburger Helper for a month and before I know what's happening I'm just one big ball of nerves with a side of bad mood.
As it just so happens, I'm participating in the scripture memorization going on at the Living Proof blog. Beth put up a post asking us to leave the scripture we planned to memorize in the comments and I took some time to pray about what scripture I needed to commit to memory.
Later that day, I was trying to finish up some reading for my Bible in a year plan (Which has turned into the Bible in a year and about twenty days. Don't judge.) and read 2 Corinthians 10. Verses 3-5 really hit me over my thick head.
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
I knew they were the verses I needed to memorize because not only do I need to take every fear-filled thought captive, but I need to remember that, although I live in the world, my weapons and my security are beyond what the world can comprehend.
In Christ, I am secure. And when I make my thoughts obedient to Him, I remember that.
So in addition to giving vs. getting, here are the other two things God has been teaching me over the holidays:
2) Demanding vs. Asking - We've been discussing this concept a lot lately with our little boy, who seems to be increasingly prone to statements like, "Get me some more milk, Mama," as opposed to "Mama? May I please have some more milk?"
So we've been talking almost every single day about asking for something as opposed to demanding it.
And God has been all over me about how I do this in my own life. Especially with Him. Because my prayer life, if I'm not careful, can become a laundry list of demands: God, I need you to fix this. I want so-and-so to change. I want such-and-such to just go away. And so I'm going to make a concerted effort to ASK God to keep me in the center of His will, to ASK Him to give me the grace to walk humbly through whatever circumstances surround us.
Sometimes I need to remember that God is God and I'm not. He doesn't need me to tell Him what to do.
3) Quick Fix vs. Digging Deep - I am a fan of peace. I don't like conflict and I don't like confrontation - because oftentimes I don't like the consequences of those two things. So I tend to go for the quick fix in certain situations. I look for ways to just patch things up and keep the peace and move along.
I don't think my peace-loving nature is inherently bad, but more and more I'm seeing how it enables me to gloss over issues and problems that require a whole lot more than a band-aid, a smile and a funny remark.
So I want to dig deeper - in the Word, in my relationships, even in my failures. I recognize that in the past I've put band-aids on some things that maybe needed some stitches - and I can't change that. I have the scars to prove it. But I also recognize that I don't have to be the band-aid girl anymore. I pray that I will have the courage and the strength to dig deep - even when it's painful.
I get emails all the time (okay. maybe not "all the time." maybe more like "once a week." but for the sake of narrative, let's pretend.) asking me how Melanie and I met. People assume that we grew up together, or we went to college together, or we both live in Texas.
But oh, the real story is quite the 21st century tale.
Melanie and I actually met because she left a comment on my blog that warmed my heart and made me laugh out loud. So I emailed her, and she emailed me back, and we realized we had tons in common. And now this is all sounding strangely like a commercial for an online dating service, but that's just a risk I have to take because apparently you really can make lifelong friendships by reading blogs, and quite frankly it would be a shame if I didn't give the world wide web the credit it deserves.
Y'all, the internet is a wonder.
Anyway, now that we've known each other a couple of years, we've crossed from internet-BFF into real-life BFF territory. Melanie is one of my very best friends, internet or no. We talk all the time. Talk about all the stuff we could never, ever blog about. Don't think a thing in the world about calling one another from the Target to share an exciting Mossimo or Xhilaration discovery. We're in this deal for the long haul.
And I say all that to say this: over the last year God has taken Melanie and me waaaaay outside of our comfort zones. But what has been so cool is that He has given us the gift of walking through those changes together. It has been one of the biggest blessings of my life. We've seen over and over again that Paul is not one bit kidding about that Ephesians 3:20 business, and so when Mel told me this past Sunday night that her pastor said something in his sermon that made her think of me, my ears perked up. She knows my battles, knows my frustrations - she's even my accountability partner in an area where I'm trying to improve this year.
When Mel shared what her pastor said, I 'bout near wanted to crawl under my kitchen table. It made me squirm because it was so dead-on. But even though it made me a little twitchy, I was so grateful that Melanie spoke that truth into my life. I love her times a million.
So I wonder: who's the person in your life who's not afraid to share an uncomfortable truth with you? Who's the person who doesn't shy away when it's time for some gut-level honesty? Who prays for you and encourages you and doesn't run away when you wrestle with the same problem for the 296th time?
Can't wait to hear all about it in the comments. See y'all there.
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Melanie
Melanie
Sophie
Sophie
Pam
Pam
Paige
Paige
Kris
Kris