| Win a Free Copy! |
Thanks Robin Marsh and Lauren Nelson for including me as a contributing writer! This is such a relevant book for teen girls. Post a comment on this week's blog post for your chance to win!
 Written in a language young girls can relate to, each daily devotional begins with a "text message" to God about an issue teens deal with today. The "text response" from God is a scripture and a "daily app" describing how she can apply the word to her situation. I'll pick a winner next Monday, April 30.
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| VIP at Edmond Santa Fe |
 I used to be so intimidated by high school students, but speaking to the Junior and Senior high school class at Edmond Santa Fe for Victim's Impact Panel was the highlight of my Easter weekend. I shared my story about Jake and encouraged them not to drive under the influence. When I asked how many of them had lost loved ones due to DUI accidents, at least 50 hands went up. They all have their own stories of grief and tragedy.
 When I told them that Jake would be their age now and that I hadn't had a "Jake" hug in forever, so many of them flooded the stage afterwards, saying things like, "My name's not Jake, but I just want to give you a hug." I love these kids! |
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Life Church, McAllaster, OK |
 Bre, Me, Shinista and Barb
Last week at Life Church in McAllaster I shared a message, In the Meantime, the place between our dream and destiny. No one I know likes their meantime. It's a place of waiting and testing. It's the place where God prepares and equips us. It's the place where we experience growing pains. Isn't that funny...growing usually hurts! Even so, the Holy Spirit ministered to many of the ladies.
Helen Wheeler and I
Helen found me online about six months ago. Who says you can't find great relationships online? Thanks for inviting me to McAllaster, Helen! |
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| Hey Friend, |
If most of us were totally honest, I believe we'd all say we long for approval. It's human nature to want others to like us. As Christians, our main desire should be to please God and win his favor, but is it wrong to want the favor of people too?
In today's devotional, Can I Have Some More Approval Please?, we'll take a look at what scripture says about approval and applause. Can popularity and humility mix in with a Christian walk? When is desire for approval acceptable and when is it out of balance?
Praying you receive His favor!
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| Awaken Me Girlfriend Conference Saturday May 5 |
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Can I Have Some More Approval Please? | |
When I first accepted Christ, I had heard how much God loved me. I was the apple of his eye. I was his beloved. Right? Not so much. The truth was that those scriptures were really just idealistic verses of poetry to me. They sounded romantically religious, like lines in a Shakespearian play where lovers bequeath their love for each other. It was years before the Biblical truths blasted past the concrete barriers of my mind and found their way into my withered heart. For the first decade of my conversion, they were merely fragments of head knowledge floating around my injured intellect. Like verses a kindergartner memorizes in Sunday school, I could recite them, but they did nothing to change my reality. Despite how much God supposedly loved me, my lovesick heart was still lovesick. I still desperately craved approval.
For years, I continued to pursue my worth from friends and relationships. Because of the deep void in my soul and my nagging insecurities, I was in constant pursuit. I needed large daily fixes to sustain my wounded soul.
It wasn't until I completely exhausted all other means of filling my soul that I finally looked up and asked God for his help. He was my last resort, not my first. But he waited patiently. He didn't even seem to mind being last, and, interestingly, he held nothing back. When my soul awakened to how satisfying his love and favor can be, I never craved a substitute again. In one divine encounter at the end of my rope, I discovered how madly God loves me. That's when he completely liberated me from the opinions of others. From that day almost twenty years ago, sitting on my worn out beige sofa from Oklahoma Discount Furniture, my heart felt rich. It really no longer mattered what others thought of me. As long as I had God's approval, what others thought barely mattered. I was no longer a kindergarten Christian. I finally got it. I understood his love. As a grown up believer, it somehow sounded more mature to say I didn't care what people thought about me. The desire for applause was a weakness. And that's been my stance for years.
Until this week when an article about me appeared in the Religion section of The Oklahoman.
I'm not going to lie. I've loved.......
Post a comment for your chance to win a copy!
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