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Vol 2,  Issue No. 3
 
March  2009
Focusing on the One Thing that Matters 
      My heart was heavy as I took my list of concerns to the Lord in prayer one morning. Woman praying
      "God, there are so many things on my heart right now, " I prayed. "I'm concerned about this financial matter that seems to be pressing in on us. And then there's my daughter's MRI this afternoon which will show us if she has to have another surgery on her knee. And my daughter should've had a call for a film audition by now. Please remember her in that, Lord, so she doesn't get discouraged. And Lord, I really need peace about a  disappointment in my life that is causing me to become restless." 
     My  list was long, and I was exhausted after recounting it all to God. Then my  devotional reading that morning took me to Psalm 27...a Psalm I'd read many times, and taught on, as well. But this time, it seemed to read differently to me. As a gentle reminder. Maybe even a rebuke.
     "One thing I ask of the Lord, this only do I seek..." David said in verse 4. One thing David had asked of the Lord. "This only" he sought: "that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple."
     There were lots of things I was asking God for that morning. But David only asked one thing: to dwell in God's presence, seeking His face and glory. 
     I realized right there and then that if seeking God alone had been my one request - my only request - I would not have needed anything else I'd been praying for. If His presence was what I sought first, I would've had the confidence that He is my Provider, both financially and otherwise. I would've had the peace of mind that He is the Great Physician for whatever my daughter's medical condition. And I would've had the perspective that He is the Healer of hurts and the Redeemer of all things, when it came to my disappointed, restless heart. With Him as my Sole Desire, I would be able to face whatever came my way.   
     Jesus did say, in Matthew 6:33 "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
     The rest of my prayer that morning sounded like this: "Simplify my heart, Lord, to have but one request: To know You and dwell with You intimately.
      My heart echoes the cry of David's heart later in that Psalm:  "My heart says of you, 'Seek his face!' Your face, Lord, I will seek." (Verse 8)
     Can you simplify your long list of requests to include just one? As He becomes all we desire, we will find we have all we need and all we could ever want. 
   
 
Four Ways to Reduce Stress and Simply Rest
 
 
A reader recently shared with me how she was helped by an acronym that I included in my book When Women Long for Rest. Here it is -- four ways to reduce stress and simply rest -- so you can be helped by it, too:  
  When Women Long for Rest 
R- Realize that He is in control and you are not. By acknowledging that God is in control and we are not, that is the first step in climbing out of the race car driver's seat and letting God determine the pace that we travel. Suddenly the speed at which we're traveling doesn't matter as much because we realize Who is at the helm.
E- Expect Him to come through. Not only is God in control, He also has a plan. He wants to take you there and perhaps even surprise you with it, so expect the best. Look for His deliverance and experience His peace in the waiting.
S- Surrender your strategy. When I devise the plan, I'm still acting like I'm in control.There is rest in saying, "God I don't have the solution, but I know You do."
T - Trust in His next step. To rest is to trust. And by trusting our next step to God, we have already begun to relax our shoulders and wait upon Him in faith.
 
Get your copy of When Women Long for Rest now while it's still $9.99 at 
www.StrengthfortheSoul.com. (Amazon price now $11.99)
Rejoice with Me 
 
Psalm 66:16 says "Come listen all you who fear God, let me tell you what he has done for me." I'm excited to share with you what God has done through my speaking ministry in the past 2 months:
  • 200 women attended the "Refresh, Refuel & Re-Energize" Conference at Old River Baptist Church in Dayton, TX on January 24 and by the end of the conference, 40 of them recommitted their lives to Christ or wanted more opportunities to grow in their relationship with Him. 
  • 3 women received Christ as their Personal Savior and 18 women recommitted their lives to Him at the "Seasons of a Woman's Heart" Conference at Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, GA on January 31. Of the 75 women attending, 29  also indicated they were interested in a mentoring ministry as a result of the conference. 
  • 100 women came out, despite the season's heaviest snowfall, for a "Seasons of a Woman's Heart" Conference on February 28 in Fairbanks, AK (That's Alaska, not Arkansas!)  60 percent of the women attending were military wives at Fort Wainwright or Eielsen Air Force Base. I was told later that lives were touched and hearts were changed.
  • 3 women received Christ as their Personal Savior and 27 others recommitted their lives to Him at the "Island Hideaway Rest Retreat" for 200 women of the Salvation Army churches in Northern California and Nevada on March 7 in Sacramento, CA.
      Thank you for praying for my speaking ministry. I'm convinced that God's power to change hearts is unleashed through prayer.    
                   
Where's Cindi Speaking Next?
 
May 1-3: "The Role of a Lifetime" Women's Retreat, Cedar Lake Bible Conference, Cedar Lake, IN  
May 9: "Discoveirng Your Dream" Ladies' Luncheon,  First Baptist Church, Camarillo, CA
May 15-17: "Any Road at Any Cost" California Southern Baptist Ministers' Wives Retreat, Jenness Park, CA  
 
For more information on any of these events, email Cindi at Cindi@StrengthForTheSoul.com.
 
To book Cindi for your event, (or to hear a sample of her speaking) click on speaking presentations at  www.StrengthForTheSoul.com