Do you have a dream?

Hey sweet friends. I hope you had a great weekend. I so loved meeting my friend Heidi and 700 of her closest friends up in Ohio.

And if you happen to be in or near Dallas, I'd love to hang out with you this Tuesday at the James Robison show. If you missed how you can get free tickets, click here to read my announcements from yesterday.

Today, my friend Rachel is having a linky thing where you can write a post about pleasing God. I think it pleases God when we pursue the dreams He's tucked in our heart. So... here goes.

A couple of summers ago, Holly and I were vacationing with our families and decided to go for a run early one morning.

Since we were at the beach and in an unfamiliar setting, we needed to plot our course. We set our sites on a water tower in the distance and decided to make that our goal.

We wouldn't stop running until we were standing beside the water tower.

It wasn't long before my legs and lungs started protesting. They were sending lightening bolt pleas to my brain to stop and stop now. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. Stop!"

I wanted to stop.

But much to the dismay of my sweating body, I wanted to reach my goal more. We pressed on though the water tower seemed FOREVER away. There were no short cuts or easier routes. It would require step by step determination. Putting one foot in front of another and making the decision to refuse to quit.

Never has a water tower come so slowly.

But it did eventually come.

We were soon in its shadow.

Then we were right beside it.

And then we ran by it.

Reaching our goal was so invigorating, even my legs and lungs gave the thumbs up to keep going. We ran all the way to end of the road and turned and looked back.

No one step had been more important than another. Each step served a purpose. Each one was necessary to get us to the goal and beyond.

As we turned and headed back, I realized how much that morning run mimicked my life's journey toward the dream of writing a book. There were many times my insecurities or my feelings of inadequacy screamed out for me to stop.

At times the goal of seeing a real book with my name on the cover seemed so far away. So illusive. It was not easy and there were no short cuts. Just the decision to embrace each step as necessary and refusing to quit.

Then one day, I lifted up a book with my name on the front cover. And as sweet as the shadow of a dream come true was, I just couldn't stay there. I kept on running. And smiling. And dreaming some more.

Do you have a dream tucked in your heart?

I suspect you do.

Sweet sister, bring your dream, whatever it is, back out into the light of day and press on.

I once had someone ask me what was the one thing I did that finally helped my dream of getting published come to pass.

To be honest, I can't say one thing.

Each part of the journey was essential. All the rejection letters. All the prayers. All the soul searching to check my motives. All the input from family and friends. All the studying and reading and researching. All the discouragement and all the encouragement.

It was all part of it.

Step by step.

And looking back, I wouldn't have it any other way. After all, it was never really about getting a book published.

It was about gaining a deeper relationship with God along the way.

If by any chance your dream is writing book or speaking messages God has tucked in your heart, I'd love for you to consider coming to a conference called She Speaks. I'll be there teaching several sessions like "How to Write a Book" and "The Power of a Story."

Plus many Christian publishers, agents, authors, speakers and women's ministry directors will all be there to help you follow after your dream. If you'd like more information, you can click here.

Tomorrow, I'm going to tell you about a contest I'll be having next week to give away some She Speaks scholarships. So stayed tuned...

Special Announcements!

Four quick things...

1. I just joined Facebook and if you are a facebooker, I'd love to connect. Just look me up under "Lysa TerKeurst."

2. Do you live in or near Dallas, Tx? I'd love to get together with you this Tuesday night on the set of "Life Today" with James and Betty Robison. I'll be interviewed and then spend some time after the show with my friends who are in the studio. I can't wait!

Tuesday, March 16
at 7:00 p.m.

Tickets are free, but you must reserve your seat.
To reserve your seat, email audience@loi.org or call 817-354-3655.

The studios are located at 1801 West Euless Boulevard, Euless, Texas 76040.

3. I have a guest post running over at InCourage this weekend. I saw a sign on the side of the road encouraging people to REPENT! And I was annoyed. Until I realized the sign was for me...
Click here to read more.

4. Holly and her husband Dan thank you for your prayers from her post last Monday. They in turn promised to pray for all of you who posted comments as well.

Dan actually printed off each comment to ensure that he wouldn't miss a single one...more than 45 double sided pages of prayer requests! Your comments were very encouraging to them. The winner of the P31 Woman Magazine subscription was Liz from Texas! We'll be e-mailing you today.

Happy Sunday friends~

I want to feature you on my blog!

As most of you know I typically only post on the blog Mondays through Thursdays. But starting next week, I want to do some special Friday posts where I feature you.

I love the little community we have here in this corner of the Internet world. So I thought it might be fun for y'all to get to know one another a little better.

Wait, I see you sliding towards the back of the room. Stop shrinking back. Stop avoiding eye contact for fear of getting picked. You know this will be fun!

So, here's how you can participate:

~ If you've read my book, "Becoming More than a Good Bible Study Girl" tell me how it has impacted you... stepped on your toes... interrupted you... made you laugh... made you cry... made you want to throw the book across the room- whatever. I'm all ears.

~ You can tell me several different ways:

• You can write about it on your blog and provide a link for me in the comments below.

• You can write a brief version of what you'd like to say in the comments and leave your email address for me to contact you for more.

• You can record a little video, post it on you tube, and leave me a link to go and view it. Obviously, you don't need a fancy smancy camera for this as you know my videos are just about as basic in quality as they come.

• If you read the book as part of a Bible study group with the workbooks and DVD's, feel free to enter as a group!

~ Now here's the really fun part of this. Not only will you be featured on the blog for your mama and tens of others to see, but you will win a special gift pack. Kind of like when I was on the Price is Right and I won a year's supply of Monistat (yeast infection) Cream.

But I'm not going to be giving away any cream. Whew!

Anyhow, each week the little gift pack will be different. Some weeks it will be books. Other weeks it might be something from my closet that I loved, bought on sale and then never quite figured out how to make it work. But one woman's unused sale item is another woman's treasure right?

Oh how I get off track.

Where were we?

Oh yes. Featuring you on a Friday post talking or writing about your experience with "Becoming More than a Good Bible Study Girl."

I'll be leaving this post up through the weekend and I'll pick the next 4 Becoming More Friday Features from the comments and links in the comments left below.

Clear as mud? Yipppeeee. I can't wait to tell the world about you.

To leave a comment, click on the word comments or post a comment below and follow the prompts.

When my mean girl tries to come out

Do you ever have days where someone tries to rip the joy right out of your life?

I do.

And it’s stinkin’ hard. It’s a battle. The good girl part of my brain says, “Be nice. Honor Jesus with your actions. Your response is your responsibility. Self control, Lysa, self control.”

But the mean girl part of my brain says, “How dare they act that way! I’ll show you buster brown.”

One part of me says fold your hands in prayer.

But another part of me says throw your hands in the air and throw a good old fashioned Italian blooded hissy fit.

Issues.

I have them. Maybe most of us girls do. Especially that one special week a month.

But God.

I love how those two words interrupt me. Redirect me. Remind me. Comfort me. Battle the mean girl in me. And cause me to pause.

Pause. Just for a minute, pause. And it’s in that pause where we give the Holy Spirit room to interrupt the mean girl response just dying to come out and bloody the situation.

The Holy Spirit says, “Lysa stop and think. It might feel good in the minute to scream, retaliate, pitch a fit and flood the situation with scary emotions. But it won’t feel good in the long run. It will feel awful in the long run. You’ll feel the sting of regret. Come on Lysa… be rare. Be a girl who looks ahead and determines to do what’s best in the long run.”

Yes, it stinks that this other person is determined to steal our joy.

It really does.

But in reality, my joy can only be stolen if I let it be stolen.

So back off mean girl part of my brain. The Jesus girl in me is taking over. And holding on to every ounce of joy that’s rightfully mine. Circumstances can steal stuff from me. But not my joy.

And all Jesus girls say, “Amen and amen!”

And then she turned 16

My beautiful Hope.

Here are 16 things I love about you in honor of your sweet 16.

1. You will still hold my hand.

2. You have beautiful, delicate hands.

3. You know yourself very well.

4. You have a great fashion sense and are quick to tell me when I'm dressing like an old lady.

5. You don't see the need for a boyfriend right now.

6. You have your entire wedding planned out on a power point presentation... for one day.

7. You love your friends deeply and with great loyalty.

8. You are the kind of babysitter who loves on the kids like crazy and then actually cleans up before the parents get home.

9. You see people's needs and want to help.

10. You always remember birthdays and want everyone to feel special.

11. You love your Nonnie and ask every week when she's coming for a visit... hint, hint Mom.

12. You don't want to work in a store where any people ever come in... this still cracks me up.

13. You don't like trying new things yet you embraced God's call for you to spend 7 weeks in Ethiopia and you can't wait to go back.

13. You bathed in river in Ethiopia and kissed the foreheads of babies dying of AIDS.

14. You only spent $32 on your prom dress.

15. You love deeply, laugh loudly, sing beautifully, and try to boss your sisters boldly.

16. You are beautiful in every way.

What an honor to call you my daughter. My Hope.

___________________________________________________________________

Congrats to Michelle Karr. You are the winner of the Mom's Encouragement Gift pack for you and a friend. Please contact Holly@Proverbs31.org to claim your prize!

Unemployed - Our Undeniable Truth

It's a Holly Day today~


For those of you who don't know me, I am Lysa's executive assistant. We run together each morning, travel together each weekend, and work together during the week. And I love every minute of it.

A recent visit to the bank with my husband sent my little world into a nasty spin. While we were changing some of our accounts, the bank employee started asking us several questions for her documentation: address, DOB, social security number, and then employer.

She looked at my husband and asked, "where are you employed?" To which he replied, "I am unemployed."

The sound of his words resonated in my brain and sent a quiver from my head to my toes. I shifted in my seat, cleared my throat and quietly added, "umm, well, he isn't really unemployed exactly. We are still receiving a severance package."

To which my husband again calmly replied to the bank officer, "I am unemployed."

Unemployed.

In other words, no job.

It's been a long 7 months since my husband was let go after 21 years due to an organizational merger. So why did that word suddenly not sit well with me that day? We processed my reaction together on the way home.

I think it was a combination of embarrassment, shame, frustration and sadness all mixed into one moment of undeniable truth.

Being unemployed is hard. It's raw. It's full of uncertainty.

As I re-read the devotion I wrote about being unemployed that is running today through our ministry, (click here to read) I am reminded and comforted that God knows, He knew and He is still there.

He knows what we are dealing with daily.
He knew we would be on this journey.
He is still present, still active, still near.


This is where our thoughts must remain. This is where we find our hope.

I will admit that I fall off the wagon every now and then and enter into a pity party as my thoughts run aimlessly such as "Where are you God? We are trying here. Nothing seems to be working. Why is it taking so long?"

In these moments of weakness, I must remember that God is doing His work on His timetable, not ours.

So I humbly ask for your prayers. And in turn, my husband and I will pray for you by name. Leave a comment if your family is seeking employment or comfort in any area. We will read and pray over each one and also randomly choose a winner to receive the wonderful encouragement that is offered through our monthly P31 Woman Magazine! for a full year.

Lysa and I would love to meet you in person this weekend at Mount Vernon Nazarene University in Mount Vernon, OH! Click here for more info.

Love to you~

Win a Mom's Encouragement Gift Pack!

Welcome "Encouragement for Today" readers! I am so glad you popped over for a visit. See your chance to win the mom encouragement pack below.

To enter click on the word "comments" below and follow the prompts. If you post as anonymous be sure to leave your e-mail address so we can contact you if you win!

Yesterday, I talked about Philippians 4: 5-6. To catch up on that post, click here.

Philippians 4: 8, "Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things."

I like to call this verse directions on where to park my mind.

And that's exactly what Ashley has had to do with her dashed gymnastics dreams. Instead of wallowing in why did this happen, I've had to help her say:

This is my reality, now what am I going to do with it?

What can I learn from this?

What part of this is for my protection?

What other opportunities could God be providing?

What maturity could God be building into me?

Switching from the why to the what questions paves the road to parking our minds in a much better place.

Is it always easy? Nope.

But is it a way to find a perspective beyond situations where we feel God has allowed something in our lives we don't understand and we absolutely don't like? Yes.

Isaiah 55:8-9 reminds us, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts."

I pray this helps you today.

And if you have a prayer or two to spare for me today, I would so appreciate it.

I have my first E-Women conference this weekend and it's been a really tough week. I am having to live the message of not asking why but parking my mind in the what now.

Thank you sweet sisters! And if you live in Tulsa... I sure would love to meet you here this weekend.

In the meantime.... leave a comment today and you'll be registered to win a "Mom's Encouragement Pack!" "This includes the books 'Am I Messing Up My Kids?' and 'Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl' and also a Starbucks gift card!

This week's post was taken from Chapters 12 & 13 of 'Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl'.

If you would like to purchase your own Mom's Encouragement Pack click here and here for more info on these books!