I want to be rich (very special contest 2day!)

April 20, 2010 | Knowing Christ, Proverbs 31 Ministries

I want to be rich.

Funny, because I’m a girl who isn’t in to things. I will never own a Lexus. I don’t want a showpiece house. I don’t collect things, and I don’t want to clutter my home with stuff.

The riches I want have nothing to do with money. Instead, I want to be overflowing in faith. To believe that God is who He says He is, and to view life through a lens of possibilities.

Paul wrote this from prison, a very dark place. But he wrote it as a man of great wealth:

This is the Good News I preach. And because I preach this Good News, I am suffering and have been chained like a criminal. But the word of God cannot be chained.

I am willing to endure anything if it will bring salvation and eternal glory in Christ Jesus to those God has chosen.

This is a true saying: If we die with him, we will also live with him.

If we endure hardship, we will reign with him. If we deny him, he will deny us. If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself. 2 Timothy 2:8b-13 (New Living)

I know what poverty is. I’ve traveled around the world and seen hunger and lack.

But I’ve also seen poverty of spirit. Seeing life through a dark lens — Suz, God doesn’t see me. He doesn’t hear me. Why would God reach out to me? Falling into habit or tradition. Discounting what God can do, or who He is. Pushing Him into a small box of church attendance or a way to keep on the straight and narrow.

I’ve seen it, and I’ve experienced it personally.

What might happen if we (I) grasped the immense economy of God? There is no lack of Jesus. There is no lack of love. There is no lack of what God can do when we become aware of who and why we call ourselves believers.

Our circumstances, other people, our past failures, our striving, our feelings — none of those discount the depths of what God offers.

Take it. Let’s reach out today together and receive that gift of faith, daring to believe…

Please forgive me, ladies. I’ve been out of town working with the Christian Writers Guild (I’m a mentor) and came back only to realize it’s blog tour day! I will absolutely forward your comments on to P31.

What was my first impression of She Speaks? It rocked my world. It was an answer to prayer. I didn’t want to be just a speaker. I wanted, as a communicator, to share the message of faith in Jesus that transformed my life from that of an abused, broken girl to a strong, confident, whole woman who knew she was loved by God.

I was already speaking, and actually came to She Speaks because I needed the “iron sharpening iron” aspect of ministry. I found that, but so much more. I found a group of women who truly love each other, who are not in competition or comparison, but who are listening and praying and growing together for one common goal. 

As a P31 speaker, I have not only joined this amazing team of women, but I’ve met you. I get to share your dreams, to hear what God is sharing with you, to pray with you, and to come alongside some of you as you take huge steps of faith. 

Here is the scoop on the contest:

1. The other scholarships have been for writers, so this one is for a woman who feels called to speak, so be sure to let us know what this scholarship would mean to you to fulfill that calling.

2. We’d like to give this scholarship to someone who has not attended She Speaks before since two of the others went to graduates.

3. If you’d like to win, or try to win this for someone else, please leave a comment below sharing why you’d like to win by clicking on the word “comments.” Simply type in the white box. If you don’t have a blog, click anonymous. But be sure to include your name and email so we can contact you if you win.

4. Visit as many blogs as you can ( listed in sidebar) and leave a comment (it can be the same comment) to increase your chances! We’ll compile the comments left on our blogs through Friday at midnight and send them to our home office where a random drawing will be done this weekend. The winner will be announced on Monday on the P31 homepage.

 

It’s a Girl! {{P31 Whirlwind Carnival!}}

February 16, 2010 | Nurturing Family, Proverbs 31 Ministries

We’re celebrating Fat Tuesday in a whole different way at Proverbs 31 Ministries today.  

Tons of giveaways! A carnival of amazing posts, prizes, and best of all lots of great new friendships.

I’m so glad you stopped by today. All of the Proverbs 31 team are celebrating something today. What am I celebrating? Let me show you…

Her name is Elle and she’s my first grandchild. Isn’t she beautiful? Elle will arrive on or around July 16, 2010. I can’t wait!

I stood in awe in the doctor’s office last week as I “saw” her for the first time. She moved her mouth. She fist pumped in the air. Her little heart beat in perfect rhythm. (more…)

She Seeks

February 5, 2010 | Proverbs 31 Ministries

I love this new Proverbs 31 site! It’s for young women ages 18 to 29, and it’s cool, savvy, and loaded with fun. But it’s also deeply spiritual. The She Seeks girls are vlogging, drinking lots of coffee, talking about issues like love, The Bachelor (not in that order), changing the world, and lots more great stuff.

Last week’s topic of “career” struck a chord with many of their readers and stirred up lots of great conversation. If you haven’t had
the chance to go read this entry by Annie, you simply must. It was a wild hit and full of good insight from a member of the fabulous team!

The following are the topics She Seeks is covering for this month over at http://www.sheseeks.org.

2/1 — The Danger of Silence — Guest Post by Melanie Coughlin
2/8 — Date Night Fashion — Guest Post by Shari Braendel
2/15 — Sex Games — Lisa Whittle (lucky me!
2/22 — Anger/Controlling your Emotions — Shannon Primicerio

One guest post this week (the danger of silence) is quite thought-prokoving because it dually covers the issue of race. I loved the way they tackled this tough subject through this guest post and yet spoke to a broader audience about the bigger issue of not speaking up for something you believe in.

God continues to send amazing women to She Seeks to be a part of what they are doing. In fact, this very cool ministry is starting to get noticed and networked as a resource for the 20-something woman. 

They vlog every Thursday as a way to connect with their audience and speak back to the issue covered on Monday.

If you are in your twenties, in college, a young married, a young mom, or just seeking an amazing place to connect with women of faith your age who are living life, check out She Seeks!

P31 devo: The desires of His heart

January 18, 2010 | Books, Knowing Christ, Living Free, Proverbs 31 Ministries

As I mentioned, I’m way under the weather today but when I opened my daily Proverbs 31 devo, I smiled. God is gracious. I may not have anything to share today, but this devotional is a perfect fit for our Crossroads conversation.

What if you are in the crossroads because you are seeking the desires of your heart, and yet it’s not what God sees as your destiny?

I hope you’ll sign up for the free great devo. It pops into your inbox every day with wisdom, insight, and faith.

The Desires of His Heart

Discerning Direction

January 12, 2010 | Books, Knowing Christ, Living Free, Proverbs 31 Ministries

If you are joining me from Encouragement for Today’s devo, I’m so glad you did. Maybe you dropped by today because you are stuck right in the middle of a crossroads — unsure of where to go, or what direction or move is the right one.

 I’ve created a devo for you to print out called Discerning Direction. It takes you right to a crossroads I had to cross, and offers six questions to help you know if you are making a good decision. Download it, share it with friends, take it to your Bible study group, or just have a one-on-one with God as you go through it.

Discerning Direction (click to download)

I hope you will consider leaving a comment so I can pray with you today. I promise that I’ll pray over each person and each crossroads. Do I have the answers you need? No, but I know Who does.

I’ll also send an autographed copy of my book, Making It Real: Whose Faith Is It Anyway, to one of you that leave a comment.

Be sure to leave your email address (I’m the only one who will see it) so that I can contact the winner!

Blessings,

Suz

PS: It’s 12:47 p.m. and after reading many of the comments, I want to take this deeper. Is that okay with you?

For the next few days we’ll address some of the issues you brought up. What does Scripture have to say about it? How do you live it out the next day? Are there tangible changes or choices that can be made? What do you do when there doesn’t seem to be?

I hope you’ll come back tomorrow through Friday. We’ll dig deeper together, okay friends?

Suzie

12 days of Christmas – I’m #11!

December 10, 2009 | Interesting People, Proverbs 31 Ministries

“Are you through with Christmas shopping yet?” someone asked me last night.

I laughed out loud. “Of course not”, I said to my friend. She laughed with me, knowing that there are SO many days left before Christmas, as far as I’m concerned.

I’m not really a last-minute kind of girl, except for this. I have friends who finish thier shopping by October. I would hate that! I have other friends who have a tidy pile of Christmas gifts under their tree, a result of braving the crowds at bleary-eye inducing hours of the day. (more…)