She Speaks…A God-Stumble

Lysa TerKeurst, President of P31 Ministries. Look out for her new book, UNGLUED.

I stumbled into something big! Proverbs 31 Ministries? Lysa Terkeurst & Renee Swope? Liz Curtis Higgs? I had never heard of any of these people or this organization until February, 2012.

I heard the call into women’s ministry and Bible teacher equipping in September of 2007. “STUDY~PRACTICE~TEACH” from Ezra 7:10 is more than a tagline for SHINE Ministries. It is the my call to study the word, put into daily practice, and then teach it to others!

I had been searching for women’s ministry equipping opportunities and took a God-stumble right onto the Proverbs 31 website. My eyes were drawn to the “She Speaks” conference link – an equipping conference for speakers & writers. “Hey – I am a little of both of those!” I said in my head. And so it began…

As I patiently awaited for the conference registration link to be sent out, I investigated the cost a little more and then I was sad, sad, sad…it was pricey…and it didn’t include airfare to Charlotte, NC. But God is faithful! Upon encouragement from a friend to go ahead and register and trust God for the rest, I took a leap of faith and registered for the pre-conference & the main conference!

Liz Curtis Higgs – well what can you say? She is like a big hug from Jesus! Her new book, Ruth: The Girl’s Still Got It!

One of the cool things that happened was how God provided the funds. A few of my faithful friends supported me with financial donations because they believe in my calling. My sweet husband totally supports my ministry and generously provided the majority of the conference fee.  I also am a diligent Advocare customer and distributor. Being a distributor brings with it the opportunity to make extra income. Well, because of some mishandled paper work, I had not received any of my payments for the past year. I had not really noticed it because it was not a great deal each month and I thought I just hadn’t met some level of sales. Well, when I finally got the paper work corrected, my first deposited check was over $500! God had a “secret” piggy bank set up for me just for the purposes of attending “She Speaks”. God knows me so well! I would have totally piddled away that money if it had come in dribs and drabs!

My speaker group evaluation leader was Jill Savage from “Hearts at Home”.  Jill had the special ability to speak the truth in love to our 8 member group. We brought our dreams and calls into our little evaluation room. We were fragile – but we were in some gentle, capable hands. I could tell from one night to the next that we had all been masterfully sharpened in our speaking abilities. Thanks Jill!

The whole “She Speaks” experience was incredible! My head is spinning from all I learned. My main take away is that we have THE most important message in the world to share. As women called to share with other women, we need to sharpen the gift that God placed within us so we can serve God with excellence. That is exactly what this conference did for me. Not only were the keynotes tremendous, but every breakout session provided very relevant pieces for women’s ministry.

What a privilege to have sat under the great teachings of Lysa, Renee, and Liz. And lest I forget, have you ever heard of one Whitney Capps? Oh my – she gave our group the inaugural commission into women’s ministry. God used her mightily in our midst and she left us with the rally call – “HE IS WORTH IT!”

One last thing – I made some “forever” kinds of friends at this conference. It is a comfort – not a competition – to know other women have a similar heart and passion which is expressed in very unique ways! I am so glad I took an appointed “God-Stumble” into “SHE SPEAKS” 2012!