Being Small for Jesus

Have you ever thought "I want to be BIG for Jesus!" I must admit, I have! I want to write books, and speak to conferences and be BIG for Jesus. But what if Jesus is calling me to be small?

At the recent conference I attended, they put on a great skit. The woman in the skit received a gift from Jesus, a mini-coke. She loved her gift, until she saw her friend had received a 12 oz coke. She begged Jesus to also have the 12 oz coke. "But I picked your gift especially for you, because I love you." Jesus told her. She still wanted the 12 oz coke. Then another friend came by with a 20 oz coke. Now she was really mad at Jesus!

At that point Jesus gave her a 12 oz coke, "just like you asked me for, because I love you." But now the 12 oz wasn't enough, and again she was discontent. And the look on her face when the woman with 2 liter coke came on stage? Priceless!

What if God is calling me to be a mini-coke? What if my blog, and my devotional additions to compilation books are what he is calling me for? What if speaking to 50 ladies is all he wants from me?

In the parable of the sower, Jesus tells about the seeds that fall on the fertile soil. "But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matt 13:23)

Notice that all the good soil did not produce the same crops. While all the seeds were on good soil, some groups produced a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times what was sown. What if God is only calling me to a crop yield of 30?

Can I be happy with that? Can I be content? Am I willing to be small for Jesus, if that is what he is calling me to do?

What is Jesus calling you to be? And even if it small, or you willing to do it? We must, if we are to ever find contentment. So I keep spreading the seeds, as he has called me to do. And the crop, well I won't know that until it grows. But may I praise him for it, no matter what the bounty is.

Chatty Kelly's She Speaks Meme

Wow. How can you elaborate on 3 days of worship, knowledge, fellowship, food and fun? It was overwhelming, but it a good way. So I thought it would be fun to create a She Speaks meme for anyone who wants to participate. If you do, simple blog the answers to the following questions at your blog, and link back here, adding your link below, so we can all share our experiences together.

Be sure to mention this post in your blog post in case other She Speaks attendance who read your blog, but not mine, want to participate.

Here are the questions to answer:

1. What was the best advice you got at She Speaks?

2. What was the best lesson you learned in a session?

3. What are you going to do with what you learned/what is your next goal?

4. Anything else you want to share? (Good, bad or ugly?)

Now write your post. Come back here and enter your information, and let's read and support one another. No blog? Answer the questions in my comments section. I'll leave this post up all week.

(I will write my own post separately and link here too.)

Enjoy!

She Speaks 2011- Meme Answers

The Chatty Kelly She Speaks Meme for She Speaks attendees:

1. What was the best advice you got at She Speaks?

"Even if you think some else has already said what you want to say, and even if they've said it better - say it anyway. YOU might be the one they listen too." - Emily Freeman, Blog to Book Deal.

2. What was the best lesson you learned in a session?

Lysa TerKeurst's "sticky message" (speaker track) was the best lesson I learned, and I plan to start implementing it right away in my speaking! When I gave my 5 minute talk for evaluation several people noted that I was using the "sticky message" and I hadn't meant to! I wrote it before attended Lysa's session. How exciting to learn that I had "accidentally" (or perhaps intuitively) done something right!

3. What are you going to do with what you learned/what is your next goal?

I am speaking at a women's conference in October. My current focus will be working on those talks. I also plan to create a new tag line for my blog which better explains the focus of my ministry. And I hope to keep blogging and connecting with new bloggers and She Speaks attendees.

4. Anything else you want to share? (Good, bad or ugly)

The Ugly: My clothes! Well, not exactly ugly, but Friday when I came down in my business casual outfit and saw everyone in their cute outfits, I suddenly felt very insecure. I'd like to say I went back up to my room and prayed over it, got over it and moved on. *But* what I really did was convince my room mate to make an emergency trip to the outlet mall, where I bought a cute new top. Now I was ready to take on the world!

I'm so glad that I have a God who loves me not matter what I'm wearing, and puts up with my silly insecurities. And can I say, you She Speaks ladies are some sharp dressed gals! You looked marvelous!

Following Directions

"You have arrived at your destination."

My car's GPS system announced I was at the address I had entered, a large hotel in North Carolina where I was attending my first writer's conference in 2008. My actual surroundings differed however. I was right in the middle of a neighborhood, late at night, and very confused.

I turned around and headed to the closest convenience store to park and call the hotel for directions. They got me going, and soon I had truly arrived at my destination. It was strange, I had followed the GPS directions perfectly, but it hadn't gotten me where it stated it would.

The world often gives us directions on how to get to heaven. The world says all good people go to heaven. Or there are many ways to to get to heaven. Or even there is no heaven. If we follow the wrong directions, even when they seem as reliable as my GPS, we might end up in the wrong place...and very confused.

This week I'm going to another writers conference at that same hotel. Only this time I am not trusting my GPS. Instead, I've printed directions off of the hotel website. The hotel knows directions to the hotel, by definition. It will get me there safely.

Obviously, God knows the way to heaven. I can find accurate printed directions in the Bible. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. He is the only way, regardless of what the world's GPS might say.

If you want reliable directions to heaven, don't trust the world's GPS. Go directly to the source, the Bible, to find directions right to God's door.

She Speaks 2011 - Perspective

In less than 1 week I leave to head to She Speaks Writers and Speakers conference. I am very excited. What's not to love about having all your meals cooked for you, served to you, dishes cleared and washed by someone else? Your bed made (by someone else) every morning and the bathroom cleaned every day! As a housewife, this is a close to heaven as it gets on earth!

Then there is the camaraderie of being with 649 other Christian women praising God and having daily worship. Wow.

Then there is the education, learning how to be a better speaker and writer, how to be a brighter light for the Lord.

It's ironic, usually I would be so nervous and freaked out about going. I have to give 2 talks while I'm there, a 3 minute testimony and a 5 minute teaching talk, which will be reviewed and judged by my peers and a professional speaker. While that's nerve-wracking, I am completely peaceful.

After the loss my family has experienced in the past few weeks, I realize that what I'm about to experience is small in the big picture of life. It is certainly not something to worry about. It is something to enjoy and rejoice about. What a great perspective to take with me.

Are you going to She Speaks? Let me know, I'd love to connect with you.

Is God Enough?

In the past couple of weeks, my family experienced a terrible tragedy; a six-month old infant died, and the family was left shocked, saddened and confused.

At a time like this, you are left wondering why. Why would God allow such a terrible thing to happen to someone so young? Where was God? And is God the same "good" God he was before?

To find out the answer, join me over at Titus 2 in Action, by clicking this link:
http://titus2inaction.blogspot.com/2011/07/is-god-enough.html

Don't Look Back

I was recently riding in the car as a passenger in the front seat. I sat sideways and chatted with the people in the back seat. After a few minutes, however, I became quite nauseous. I think I was car sick. I turned back around and looked out the front window, and my stomach settled. I tried to look back again to chat, but found that looking back made me sick again. I had to keep looking forward to feel better.

Often in our lives we have done things that cause us pain and regret. Whether those things are accidental or not, continuing to look back can make us sick. To feel better, we have to keep looking ahead.

That's not to say you never glance back. Glancing back in the car enables you to change lanes and travel safely, so you don't hit anyone else. Glancing back to glean wisdom from your past mistakes, to come to terms with them is a good thing. As long as you are just glancing back and not looking back.

Look forward. Or better yet, look up. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Just don't look back. It will make you sick.

I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1,2