Choosing contentment

This weekend, my mom and I went to Orlando to hear the word of God taught by Priscilla Shirer of Going Beyond Ministries. You might know her from the incredible Deeper Still conferences and resources in which Priscilla partners with Beth Moore and Kay Arthur, or from her father Dr. Tony Evans  (one of my favorite radio preachers) or from her brother, singer Anthony Evans (whom I've heard in concert now three times). It's a bit of an understatement to say that I'm a huge fan of the entire Evans family. :-)

Priscilla is a wife and mom to three young kids, so she isn't dedicating her life to touring the country and speaking in this season of her life. That means that every opportunity I have to learn from her is even more precious! Priscilla blogs regularly, is very active on Twitter, and a few times a year, she heads out to bless women with her powerful, engaging, and very real teaching style. I took copious notes throughout Friday evening and Saturday morning, and absolute HAVE to share them with you in some posts. This was life-changing stuff for me.

Priscilla opened with this verse: "Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth."(Hosea 6:3) We came expectantly before God, and boy did He show up BIG TIME!

Coming to the end

When it comes to TV-watching styles, my husband is a classic channel flipper. He'll surf through the whole lineup, paying no attention to how much time is remaining in the program. I used to ask him, "Why are you changing the channels at 7:57? Everything is about to go off." After having that conversation approximately 4,635 times, I finally accepted the fact that when he is in charge of the remote, I'm going to be watching the last few minutes of a lot of shows. As a token of appreciation for my pain and suffering (which utterly bewilders him), my husband patiently sits through endless shows about women hunting for the perfect wedding dress (which I watch from start to finish, of course, like any sane person.)

The other day I was making some tea in the kitchen and listening to the last moments of a movie my husband had just flipped to in the living room. I have no idea what movie it was, but the final scene had one of those inspirational voiceover narratives that attempt to impart a Really Deep Thought. It said something to the effect of, "There is a source of wisdom that is never ending. All the truth of the ages is there."

Join the focus group for the new devotions book!

My intent when writing Awakened: Change Your Mindset to Transform Your Teaching was to later write an accompanying workbook and study guide for Christian teachers. Awakened was written for all teachers, regardless of their faith or lack thereof. But there are countless Biblical truths at its core.

The new upcoming devotional is the book behind the book. Designed to deepen Christian teachers' understanding of the principles in Awakened, the devotional and study guide elaborates on what God's word has to say about renewing our minds. For each Awakened chapter, this guide provides an opening reflection, five paragraph devotional, further scripture reading, application questions, "to do" challenge, and a prayer that invites God to help you in applying the principles to your life.

And I'm excited to announce that the devotions book is almost ready to go to print.

I really want this book to be a practical tool for teachers to use in personal transformation, and for that reason, I need a focus group of educators to test out the book out prior to its publication. And who better to invite than those of you who have been following this devotional blog and sharing the journey with me?

Compelled by the love of Christ

This week I returned from a fantastic national education conference. I wrote it about extensively on my blog, but I haven't yet shared the most profound moment of the entire weekend. In fact, it was the most profound moment I've experienced since…well, probably since I met the man on the train a few weeks ago.

Though I've attended this conference before, for some reason, I felt a little off kilter in the first 24 hours of it this year. I was among a lot of people and situations that alternately made me feel more important than I really am, and less important than I really am. At times I felt like an incredibly accomplished blogger with a powerful platform: an edu-celebrity, even. Then I'd take a look at the people around me who had ten times as many "followers" as I do, who command unfathomable sums of money for their speaking appearances, and I'd think, Who am I to be included with this group? I don't have anything of value to offer, not compared to what they're doing. I'm not smart enough, or experienced enough--what I have to say is not unique or valuable.