First of all, Thank You to all who prayed, provided financially, or spoke words of encouragement to me as I prepared for She Speaks. It was totally amazing and I just wish I could have taken all of you with me! From start to finish, it was intense but so worth the experience. Let me see if I can adequately share it with you …
I left early on Thursday morning for a seven hour drive to Concord NC, armed with tons of music CDs, teaching tapes, and bottled water. I was pumped and ready for the rare chance to be alone, by myself, in the car, and for a definite period of time. (We homeschool, so my kids and I are ALWAYS together). So you can imagine how this 4-day weekend of freedom must have felt. Now – I love my kids and we enjoy hanging out, but everybody needs a little R&R sometime, right?
I checked-in to the hotel, and as soon as I entered my suite, I plopped down on the bed and sighed - ahhh. It was so clean … and so quiet … and so I just couldn’t stand it! I turned on the TV (with full-control of the remote, I might add) and proceeded to skip up and down every channel available about 10 times, and can you believe that I couldn’t find anything to watch! It was 4:00 in the afternoon – what do you watch at that time of day? Other than cartoons. Within 15 minutes I was out the door and looking for the nearest Target! How pathetic. (I can do that at home!)
Later that evening I found my way to the Charlotte airport to pick up my friend, Paula, who was flying in from Memphis to meet me. We went to dinner and had a great time just catching up on the past few years since my family moved from Memphis to Florida. We had a great relaxing time. And little did I know that would be the ONLY relaxing time for the remainder of my weekend.
The conference started early the next morning and continued until about 10 pm that evening when I finished my first speaking evaluation. This was the beginning of 3 days of fully-packed sessions and great worship, and equally full of encouragement, practical tips and ideas, and most of all - ministry. I was most impressed that it wasn’t just a conference of how-to’s: How to grow your ministry, how to be a successful speaker, how to get bookings, how to get money for bookings. It was greatly focused on growing in godly character, equipping you to do what God has called you to do, and having the character that matches that calling.
The women who shared their personal stories and/or taught break-out sessions talked about the things they have learned as they are living out the ministries God has called them to. With many of them still on their journeys as they were sharing things in the moment, they were just so real and transparent. It was inspiring to hear how they were just normal women, doing normal life, serving an amazing God who is using them in amazing ways. And He will do that for ME and for YOU! We just have to be willing and make ourselves available.
One of the key nuggets that stuck with me was something Lysa TerKeurst said, “New places (with God) have new requirements. Ask God – what do you require of me?” This statement has really caused me to look at my life from a daily perspective. If I expect God to use me in the new place He is calling me to, am I doing my part to be ready? Am I spending enough time in prayer, reading more of God’s Word, seeking His purposes? Hmmm… really gets you thinking about your priorities!
If you look at it from a business perspective, it makes perfect sense. When a person gets a promotion at work, it usually requires more of something … more responsibility, more hours, and probably more training. The person doesn’t just step-up without changing anything; he or she has to be equipped to handle the new position, and sometimes that means sacrificing something. In this case, maybe it's a sacrifice of time.
That’s kind of how I see it as it relates to what Lysa said. New places – new requirements. What a great insight, and an encouragement to us all to survey where we are (what God has called us to do) and what we should be doing to ‘step-up’ to the next level He has for us.
And how cool is that. You didn’t even have to drive to NC to hear it! (But it was worth the drive!)
