Friendship Giveaway in honor of Anne

Welcome Encouragement for Today Readers. I'm having a special "friends giveaway" today. To enter, click on the word 'comments' below and follow the prompts.

If you don't have a blog, you can still enter your comment as anonymous and leave your e-mail address in the body of your message.

Last year I lost a dear friend to cancer. I miss her and catch myself forgetting she's gone. I still have her cell number programmed in my phone and have even called it a couple of times just to hear her cheery voice tell me she's not available right now.

No, she's not available and that makes me sad. I'm fully aware that her family will probably shut her phone off soon and then her voice will be gone from my life forever. And that really makes me sad.

I met Anne in the funniest of ways.

Her neighbor's Proverbs 31 Woman Magazine was delivered to her by mistake. But she found herself intrigued by the articles and decided keep the magazine for a few days before taking it to its rightful owner.

A few days turned into weeks and I'm not sure Anne ever did return her neighbor's magazine. Years later, Anne became a board member for our ministry and we laughed that she'd stolen her way into Proverbs 31... literally.

She also stole her way into our hearts and will be there forever. Her gentle voice. Her graceful nature. The way she could make a tennis skirt and pony tail look like a fashion statement. And the generous way she gave away her love, her resources, her life, and her beautiful gift of writing.

Today isn't Anne's birthday. Today isn't the anniversary of her death. It's just a rainy Thursday on a normal fall day. A day that would have been perfect to meet Anne for lunch.

We would have hit the pause button on life for an hour or so and chatted. And I would have left her with a hug and walked to my car thinking, "I love that girl."

All this got me to thinking about how I can treasure the friends I do have with more appreciation and depth and connection.

I think the answer is conversation- rich conversation- not just the quick catching up and the surface talk we're prone to. But digging a little deeper and talking about life heart to heart.

So, why not on this normal fall day, capture the gift of this moment with a friend and connect. Here are some blog posts that might serve as conversation starters: Where Was God and A Mess.

And in honor of my friend Anne, I'm doing a little friendship giveaway. All you have to do is tell me about the friend you plan to connect with today.

Then you can double your chances of winning if that friend visits this blog at some point today through this weekend and leaves a comment with both of your names in it.

I'll pick one lucky winner to win two gift packs... one to keep and one to share with a friend. The gift packs include:

2- $5 Starbucks gift cards

2- P31 Woman Magazine subscriptions

2- Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl books

Fun! Fun! Please join in!

A post that requires a little bit of math

Math is not exactly my thing. I am a words girl. But many of you e-mailed and posted questions about the pricing structure of the cruise, so I found this handy dandy little pricing chart here.

But remember give them the pass code "Proverbs 31" when you call and they will take $100 off the price you see on that chart.

And because I like my bloggy friends to be the first to know inside scoop on stuff, I am totally looking for a way to give a cruise away. I have no idea how yet... but I am working on it.

Yes, I am.

I would totally love to win the lottery and just buy out the whole ship for my bloggy friends. But since I don't play the lottery, I'm guessing that strategy isn't what I should bank on.

I'll keep you posted.

I have however scored another coupon for you that I'm totally excited about. The fine gals at DaySpring have some pretty swanky Christmas Card designs and they are offering my bloggy friends 15% off any card orders between now and December 7!

All you have to do is post a sure fire way for me to cure the stinging and swelling from the wasp that attacked me the other night.

Oh I kid. You have to do nothing except enter this code... CHILDREN15 ... when you order your cards from here.

The best part... I totally love this part!... is that 6% of all card orders using this code will be donated to the kids at Compassion Int. See those sweet faces from the Compassion button on the right hand side of my blog? Not my big head on my book... the ones below that. Yes, you'll be helping them out and getting cool cards at a discount.


Here's the card I designed. Actually, this is the card that my friend Stephanie designed that I totally copied because copying is the highest form of flattery and my wasp stings were hindering my creativity yesterday.






And by the way, did I mention I was stung by a wasp twice the other night? Once in the stomach and once in the ribs. But good thing I am being such a brave girl and not complaining or talking about it much. Courageous and tough- that's just the way I roll y'all.

I'll bring the dance moves, you bring the sunscreen

Y'all!!!

The Cruise people called!!!

Just imagine a little less than a year from now... October 14- 18, 2010...

You and I are chatting it up while digging our toes into the sandy shores of a tropical beach. We'll start in Ft. Lauderdale then go to Key West and Cozumel, Mexico.

No laundry. No appointments. No stress. No dogs choking on chicken bones.

Just an expanse of ocean stretching before us and a few days making memories we'll never forget. It's good for friends to hit the pause button on life every now and then.

We always think there will be time for things like this later. But what if later could be now? What if later should be now?

I'll admit, I struggled a little writing about all this because I know finances are tight and the last place we think we should spend our money is on ourselves. But sometimes it's a really good investment for our families if we invest in some girlfriend recharging time for us.

So, if we start saving now we can totally make this happen. The Girlfriend's Getaway Cruise has a monthly payment option. So, cut out a few lattes here and pinch your pennies there. Ask for money toward this trip for Christmas and your birthday. It adds up quickly.

And before you know it we'll be giggling together and acting all stalkerish with Karen Kingsbury, Angela Thomas, Renee Swope, Shari Braendel, Carol Kent, and several other really cool people who'll be speaking refreshing messages of encouragement into our lives.

I'll be speaking on "Becoming More than a Good Bible Study Girl" and "What Every Wife Should Know."

And for you writers and speakers... I'll be hosting a special speakers and writers Q&A with Karen Kingsbury, Renee Swope and a few others. You'll get the inside scoop like never before about getting your ministry started!

A cruise ship full of women connecting, laughing, and learning about Jesus.

Hey, I'll even teach you the MC Hammer at one of the dances y'all. As long as I remember my patch that keeps me walking straight. Or dancing straight in this case.

Anywho.

It will be fun.

And I totally want you to come. So, I arranged for a coupon. Because that's what Southern girls do. We tease our hair. We add extra syllables to our words. And we find coupons for the craziest things.

Here it is... To use it just tell the cruise lady to please apply the "Proverbs 31 pass code discount" when you call 1-800-889-5265. But don't wait because this sale price is only good until November 13th.

And please, please, please don't assume you can't go before talking with them. They are so great about helping break the price down in a way you just might be able to work it out!

On a completely different note... does anyone else have an issue with wasps taking up residence in your home during this time of year? Well, one flew down my shirt last night and stung me twice.

I'm pretty certain if you live somewhere on Earth you might have heard me screaming last night.

And, I'm pretty certain there will be no wasps on this cruise ship. Which is yet another reason we must go girls.

Anyone up for it?

_________________________________

And congrats to last Thursday's winner of my two book give-away -momof3boys32@aol.com!

I cried and then I went skating

What a weekend.

I should have known it was going to be a little crazy when I woke up Friday morning to my dog making a noise I can't quite describe. He had a cough. But not like a normal cough. More like, "I have a chicken bone in my throat and need to be rushed to the vet right now" cough.

Sure enough, as I was rushing about trying to get him in the car, I found chicken bones and splinters scattered throughout the kitchen. Bummer.

I'm happy to report that Champ is fine but must now be given 4 pills a day. Y'all. Let me let that "4 pills a day" sink in just a tad. It's not like you just hand a dog a glass of water and say, "swig 'er down boy." Oh no.

Praise the Lord for the invention of sliced cheese and my discovery that if one opens up the pills and smushes (is that a word?) all the powder into the cheese forming a doggy cheese medicine ball- life is good.

Friday night Art and I spent one hour with our son home from college. One hour. One hour where we met at a restaurant and I tried with all my might to be a big girl and not cry and carry on about how much I miss him.

I did good.

Sorry English majors. I meant, I did well.

Then the one hour was up.

And I did not do so well.

Those dang hormones.

But I had a trick up my sleeve that would give me one more hour of time with my son the next morning. The Family Christmas photo session.

Oh yes.

The joy of every fall at the TerKeurst home. I'm happy to report I didn't hurt anyone. Although I'm pretty certain several of my offspring and one husband may have wanted to hurt me with all my "but the light isn't quite right in those 15 shots and for Pete's sake why is it so hard for you people to look happy," comments.

My people are emotionally allergic to the photograph.

Mercy.

Then we had a wedding to attend on Saturday afternoon.

See? Can you feel the absolute joy my husband must have been feeling about his Saturday- a wedding and Christmas photos? Could life get any better for a man cub? All he had to miss was a little arm chair quarterbacking. Alabama was playing somebody in some big game--- football I think. And it was a really big deal. Something about rankings and status and who knows what else.

But none of that would be.

Because a blushing bride and a handsome groom had requested our presence.

Sigh. I think every married couple should have to go to at least one wedding a year. Kind of like continued ed courses medical people have to take.

After the wedding we spent our Saturday night with me smooshing (how do you spell that word?) dog medicine into a cheese ball and Art watching a taped Alabama football game. Our boys were out with friends. And our girls made up dances to teenie bopper songs and needed me to watch their masterpieces in between all my cheese ball making.

Life- I think some of that should be in the vows we take and make. I promise to love you through chicken bone emergencies-missed football games- teenie bopper performances- hormonal tears about our college son's absence-and the annual dreaded Christmas photo session.

Lastly, my weekend was topped off with a trip the Skating rink on Sunday after church. A friend of Brooke's was having his 10th birthday party.

Y'all I forgot how much I love skating.

I may or may not have danced while sporting some of my more stellar skating techniques much to the embarrassment of my daughter. And I may or may not have raced the birthday boy and won.

Oh yes ma'am.

I may or may not have thought about how I distinctly remember being in 4th grade at the skating rink dreaming of what my husband would one day be like. What my life would one day be like.

And as I was doing the hokie-pokie and turning myself around I smiled at my chicken bone choking, wedding attending, football interrupting, Christmas photo taking life.... and I sang out loud, "that's what it's all about!"

I'll post the winner of last week's contest tomorrow. And I have a BIG HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT tomorrow.

I can't wait!

In the meantime, if you live in or around Lake Charles, Louisiana...I would love to meet you at Trinity Baptist Church this coming weekend. I might even show you some of my hokie pokie moves. Or not.

Chosen

Welcome to those of you visiting from my "Encouragement for Today" devotion. The verses you are looking for are woven throughout this post below.

Today's post was taken in part from a chapter in "Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl." And I'm giving two copies away today.

Just leave a comment below by clicking on the word comments and follow the prompts. If you aren't a blogger, you are welcome to post as anonymous- just make sure to leave an e-mail address so we can contact you if you win.

And a big thank you for those who did a review over at Amazon for my book. Remember to e-mail Holly@Proverbs31.org once posting your review and you'll gain free access to my upcoming Q&A about the book. I can't wait to chat with you soon~

I was in the audience at a concert one night amazed by the size of the arena, the volume of the cheers and applause, and the excitement of being in this moment. At one point all eyes went to a ten year old little girl who was acknowledged by the singer and given the happy birthday wish of a lifetime.

As I sat there and thought about how exciting it must have been for that little girl to get the attention thousands others craved from this star, my mind wandered away from the concert.

I imagined Jesus standing up on that stage. I imagined the whole crowd fading away as He points his finger straight up to me. Little ol’ insignificant me, sitting in row 116, section R, seat 24. And then He speaks straight to me, “I love you Lysa and I have chosen you. Can we spend some time talking about this?”

I smiled. Then the reality of the concert brought real life crashing back. To the rock star the person sitting in row 116, section R, seat 24 is just another face in the crowd.

But to Jesus there is no such thing as just another face in the crowd. Somehow to God, we are all unique souls who He desires to call out, recognize and invite into a more intimate setting.

Unlike a human pop star, Jesus can give this kind of individual attention without excluding others. Every single person in the crowd could have their own individual encounter with Him. The only requirements are the desire to experience Him and the belief that it is possible. Sadly, very few people have either of these.

I know. I used to have the kind of relationship with God where I viewed Him as The One who makes sweeping glances over thousands of people per minute just to make sure no one was getting out of line. But the possibility to have God pause in the midst of everyday life to spend a little time with just me wasn’t in my scope of possibilities at all.

It almost seems a bit presumptuous to think God would want to notice me, choose me, call on me, and converse with me- doesn’t it?

Maybe the answer to this question is yes in human terms but not in Biblical terms.

In human terms the word “chosen,” sends my mind reeling back to playground kickball days. These were not some of my finer childhood memories.

“Chosen” was not at all a word I would have used to describe myself.

So, when I first heard that word in relation to God’s feelings toward me, I couldn’t process it. In human terms it did seem quite presumptuous to think that God would pause to pay attention to me. My earthly Daddy never did that. My kickball team mates certainly didn’t do that. It seemed quite upside down to think that a girl the world ignored and passed over would actually be handpicked, on purpose, by God.

The Bible is full of reassurances that this is exactly the way God wants us to process life.

Colossians 3: 12 says, “Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”

Psalm 25:12 says, “Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD ? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.”

And John 15:19 says, “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.”

I am a chosen person, with a chosen way, who has been handpicked by God on purpose to live a chosen life set apart in this world. But please don’t mistake this as an exclusive country club type membership. No, this is the truth that every person can stand on no matter their race, background, or their past. If you proclaim Jesus Christ, son of God, as your Lord and Savior, this is your chosen reality.

The problem is we have been trained to process life based on the way we feel. We think we must feel love for love to exist. We think we must feel wanted for it to be true that we are chosen. We think we must feel God’s presence for Him to really be close. But God never meant for us to feel our way to Him.

God wants us to stand on the absolute truth that He is with us no matter how our feelings may try and betray that reality. When I process life through my feelings I am left deceived and disillusioned. When I process life through God’s truth I am divinely comforted by His love and made confident in His calling on my life.

So, back to that concert when Jesus gave me the visual of Him calling out to me- choosing me, I learned something profound that night.

God made each of us with a vulnerable place inside our souls to be wanted, loved, and chosen above all others. I think that’s what ultimately drives people on both sides of an arena filled stage. The one on the stage is looking to have this vulnerable placed filled by the screaming crowd. The screaming crowd somehow thinks this famous person has it all figured out so if they can just get close maybe some of that fulfillment will rub off on them.

All the while Jesus stands off to the side and wonders if anyone realizes He’s the One our souls long for… not the fame… not the attention of the famous… and not the millions of other things we’ll spend our lives thinking we must have.

The answer to our deepest desires is not the seemingly perfect life… not the most romantic husband…not the smartest and most well behaved kids… not the bigger house… not the better job… not the awards and recognition of man and not in trying to feel our way to God.

It’s making the choice to recognize that God is close. Whether we’re at a concert, on a playground in the middle of a sorry kickball game, or sitting in a chair in our den- God is there. Loving. Assuring. Teaching. Calling. Choosing to spend time with us.

Becoming more than a good Bible Study Girl means never settling for needing to feel our way to God or to simply limit our experience of Him to those few minutes we call our quiet time.

It’s being able to sit in the noise of the arena of life with every worldly distraction imaginable bombarding you and suddenly thinking of Him- talking with Him- smiling with Him- and realizing every longing I’ve ever had in life to be more than just the girl in row 116, section R, seat 24 is already filled. By Him. The One who sees me as chosen.

A Mess

Have you ever been in a situation that seemed like such a tangled mess you simply couldn't make sense of it?

Like trying to straighten out a tangled necklace, you wonder how in heavens did all these knots get kinked and twisted and pulled so tight. And in the midst of trying to untangle a knot on one side you inadvertently form another on the other end.

It's frustrating when this happens with a piece of jewelry. And it's even more frustrating when it happens in relationships.

The other day I sat down to pray about a messy relationship I'm trying to help someone with and the knots were so consuming I couldn't even begin to make sense of it all. I didn't even know what to pray. I kept trying to think of wise words to offer up to the Lord that would surely unlock pieces and parts of this mess.

But I was completely without a drop of insight.

All I could see was a mess.

So, that's all I prayed, "Lord this is a mess."

And then I just sat quietly and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Y'all that waiting time makes a doing girl like me feel like my nerves are going to bust out of my skin and start yanking my limbs into action. So, with all might, I made myself sit and say nothing at all except, "Lord, this is a mess."

And you know what? It was stinkin' hard to sit there with no answers. No wise words to pray. My usually very verbal self couldn't express anything but, "Lord, this is a mess."

I believe it's situations like this is for which Romans 8: 26-28 was written.

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

In our weakness we can't objectively search our mind and spirit. And often in our weakness we can't untangle our knots according to God's will. We are too intertwined and tangled up in emotion and assumption.

That's why sometimes it's best if we just simply sit quietly and let the Spirit do some groaning and untangling and working on our behalf.

Like verse 28 says, there is good to come out of this. God is working and will work good out of this mess. Sometimes I think the only thing standing between our mess and His good work from it- is our need to sit quietly.

I'm convinced there's a reason the first four letters of Messiah spell mess. We need Him. Only the Messiah can take our mess and turn it into a untangled message of hope, forgiveness, and ultimately love.

Where Was God?

Sometimes things happen in life that are so horrible our minds have a hard time processing them. Even our souls don't know quite where to place the horrific. So, we pull out our trite Christian answers and hope they are good enough to keep the honest questions at bay.

But somewhere deep inside us a question bumps around our heart. A question so honest we Christians feel we couldn't ever possibly ask it. Where was God?

Where was God when the students were shot?

Where was God when my sister's 18 year old friend had a headache one day and died suddenly the next?

Where was God when my friend's baby wrapped the umbilical cord about his leg and he died days before he would have otherwise been delivered perfectly healthy?

Where was God when that precious girl was taken and found a few days later in the trash dump?

Like I said, things so hard we can hardly process them.

Sometimes we'd rather make an excuse for God than be brave enough to actually go to God and ask. I've been guilty of this. I've tried to make excuses for God. And I hated the feeling of faking my way through with plastic answers just to gloss over something my God is certainly big enough to answer Himself.

For years, I asked God to help me wrestle with this hard question.

And finally an answer came tucked away in Acts 7:54-60, the stoning of Stephen.

It's easy to read the words of the story and miss the reality of what's really happening. Stephen is being brutally murdered. Stephen is living the horrific we can't process. Yet, in the midst of his most desperate moment, Stephen is absolutely not alone.

While I hate- absolutely hate- what is being done to Stephen's body, his soul is experiencing something completely separate. And what I discovered when I dared peak inside the horrific was a miracle that makes me weep with relief.

God was there. Jesus was there. And my Jesus wasn't just sitting by observing. No, He was standing. And please forgive me for daring to make an assumption here but because I know Jesus I have a picture in my mind of what He must have looked like in this moment. With tears streaming down his face, full of the purest compassion ever known, Jesus makes sure Stephen sees Him. Locks His eyes on his.

And from what I can tell, Stephen never took his eyes off of Jesus.

In the midst of chaos and screaming and the most vicious of acts, Stephen's soul talks with Jesus. His body falls as Stephen cries out forgiveness for all who dare to hear. And with that, a merciful sleep takes Stephen away.

I know this is hard to process.

I know just reading these passages doesn't answer every question.

And might I encourage you to wrestle with this and pray about this and ask God the bold questions that knock around your soul?

I don't understand why Stephen had to die this way.

I am still horrified by all of the events I listed above.

But, I do know where God was. He wasn't too busy. He wasn't cold and heartless. He wasn't caught off guard.

He was there. And I'm convinced with holy tears dripping in the midst, He is grieved over how sin has broken this world. And He walks to the edge of eternity and reminds us He will avenge, He will redeem, He will make all things right.

Especially those we can't possibly understand right now.