Up until a year ago, I was pretty good at ignoring the message. I would turn away whenever they’d flash a picture of a sad kid on the screen. I’d tell myself there’s no way I could afford to sponsor a child — that someone else would step up and sponsor them. It just wasn’t me. Until my friend, Robin, went to India with Compassion and changed everything.

And I thought to myself…maybe I could just sponsor one child.

Robin’s a great writer. She felt she needed to be a voice for these kids who don’t have a voice. When she returned, she wrote about how she was changed and wouldn’t look at anything the same way. Pedicures. Expensive dinners. All the luxuries of home. Her newfound perspective broke through my will, and I sponsored a girl with the same birthday as me.

And I thought to myself…I’m doing my part. I sponsored a child. Just don’t ask me to go out of the country.

Several months later, an email came into my inbox offering for members of the She Seeks team to go on a Compassion trip. I sat on my hands so I wouldn’t respond to it, and swiftly deleted the email so I wouldn’t have to look at it. I prayed that God would send others, but just not me. Two of our team went, and they were changed.

And I thought to myself…I don’t want to change. I don’t want to look at things differently. I’m comfortable here.

In the weeks that followed, a Compassion representative came to town. She spoke of Compassion kids and the work they are doing through the local churches in other countries. She shared with the She Seeks team how we can get those packets that represent real children to take with us when we travel and speak.

And I thought to myself…Whew. She’s not talking to me. I don’t speak. I hide behind my computer.

Though I tried to avoid it, suddenly, she looked me in the eyes. I didn’t want her to, afraid of what I would see. I saw the hurt she had for these kids. I felt her heart hurting for them. That’s when I knew.

And I thought to myself…I’m going on a trip. I don’t know when. I don’t know where. I’m scared. But I know I’m going.

And though I sometimes hide behind my computer, afraid of to face the change I fear, I know I can’t stay comfortable and safe forever. He’s asking me to care about the kids Compassion reaches. He’s asking me to go and see them for myself. And though I’ve said no many times before, I’m finally saying yes.

And I thought to myself…I’m ok with that.

Resources…

Maybe God’s just calling you to sponsor a child right now. Check out Compassion’s website and find the child God has for you.

What Happens When Women Say Yes to God by Lysa TerKeurst

Something Else…

Take a look at the video from Switchfoot and take the quiz to see if you will dare to move.

Lisa Boyd is the Tech Dudette who’s most comfortable on her computer with an internet connection and a refrigerator full of Cokes in the next room. She blogs occasionally at http://simplyhis.org

Leave Lisa a comment here.

Join Sarah this week as she is recovering from bronchitis.

Leave Sarah a comment here.

I must admit that I spent a portion of my life trying to find someone to complete me. Most of my efforts centered around my relationships, particularly romantic ones.

This romanticized idea of someone completing us fits great in the context of a movie love story, but when it comes to real life, it’s a really dangerous thing to believe.

Women are notorious for seeking out relationships with others who will make us feel more complete. We attempt this by changing who we are, talking differently, endorsing things we don’t feel good about, and obsessively being available when we aren’t.

I can’t lie: I tried this. I waited by the phone for hours for someone to call. When he didn’t, I felt incomplete.

I painted my toenails the color another boyfriend preferred. When his color preference wasn’t enough to keep him around, I scrambled to find another way to make him stay. I thought my completeness depended upon his endorsement of me.

This idea of completeness is possible…just not through human relationships, including marriage. A partner was meant to compliment, not complete another’s life. Colossians 2:10 tells us about the only way completion is truly possible when it says: “and you are complete through your union with Christ.”

I don’t know what you’ve tried to find completeness. Maybe you are like me and sought it in your relationships. Or maybe you have never found it, yet you keep on searching. If you’re looking for something needing no addition…nothing supplemental or extra, look no further.

You are complete in Jesus.

Resources…

The Bible

Behind Those Eyes: What’s Really Going on Inside the Souls of Women by Lisa Whittle

The 7 Hardest Things God Asks a Woman to Do by Lisa Whittle

Something Else…

Check out this clip from Jerry Maguire…”You complete me.”

Lisa Whittle relishes her roles as coordinator of She Seeks, family girl, and daughter of Jesus. She no longer paints her toenails any color but what she wants, which is typically a dark shade of purple. Find out more about Lisa at www.lisawhittle.com.

What have you done to try and feel complete? Leave Lisa a comment here.

Shannon shares how her definition of true beauty has been changed in the past few weeks.

Would you consider sponsoring a child?

Leave Shannon a comment here

Unfortunately, I grew up thinking that if I had worth, it had to do with how I looked. I wish that weren’t the case, but I believed this deep inside. I wasn’t a cute kid, hardly one you’d look at and say, “Wow, she’s striking.” I was homely, needy, and thin. I had dark circles under my eyes. (Vestiges of that still clings to me today, so I use concealer). Besides that, I was a fatherless girl, insatiably needy for male attention. I wanted to be noticed, and often felt overlooked.

Regardless of how I felt, sometime around puberty, attention came. That astounds me now, as I was gangly and terribly awkward. And I started that dance of fear, of longing for a daddy and looking for him on the face of boys my age. All I really wanted was for someone to hug me and say, “Everything will be okay.” I did not want to be kissed. Or looked at. Just held. Still, I worked hard at making sure my exterior attracted attention while a little bit of my soul died inside.

And yet, I searched for attention. Relished it. As I grew into myself in late high school and college, boys continued to notice. I spent time primping and flirting. I longed for a look, a tinge of interest. Anything that validated my worth or hinted at beauty.

Unfortunately, I was so damaged back then, I couldn’t receive genuine love – what I was actually looking for. Instead, I relied on my looks to conjure up “love,” yet I couldn’t allow any man access to my heart, so terrified I was to be known, and then hurt. Slowly, painfully, I began to grow into myself. I learned how to let go of that need to be seen, though it still haunts me.

Today I am loved deeply by a man who is handsome and amazing and smart and deep and spiritual. I revel in that. And yet, I still mourn losing my looks as I age. How uncanny is that? I should be embracing the wisdom that comes with age, the beauty of growing a more beautiful soul (thanks to Jesus’ interaction with my life). But I think there’s still that little girl inside me, equating my worth with how I look. And as I get older, I’m afraid.

Will I be loved? Will I have worth?

I have an assignment for you. Sometime today look yourself in the mirror. Don’t cringe or criticize. Instead, say a simple Thank You. Because, truly, you’re a beautiful creation, fashioned in love by God. Then ask God to create irresistible beauty inside, where it counts. In this moment, right now, you have a beautiful soul. Rest in that. Rejoice in that.

Resources…

Thin Places: A Memoir by Mary DeMuth

The Bible

“What you’re after is truth from the inside out. Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.” Psalm 51:6 MSG

“Charm can mislead and beauty soon fades. The woman to be admired and praised is the woman who lives in the Fear-of-GOD.” Proverbs 31:30 MSG

Something Else…

A photoshop makeover can make anyone look good. Check out the video, you might be amazed.

Mary DeMuth is a woman who is training (one agonizing mile at a time) for a sprint triathlon. She speaks and writes about turning trials into triumph. Author of nine books, she’s written candidly about image and her own struggles with insecurity in her latest memoir, Thin Places. Visit Mary and find out more at http://www.marydemuth.com.

Leave Mary a comment below.

Join Lisa Whittle this week as she shares about being present.

Share your thoughts here.

Over the last several months, many of you have poured out your heart and shared your struggles with us on this website. Various life issues have been expressed, but one common theme has bubbled up: you feel you are not close to God. You feel that He is not listening or doesn’t care. The gap between where you know you should be – with God – and where you presently stand is entirely too large.

We want you to know that we hear you.

I want you to know that I feel you – I totally get it. I am living it right now.

Blah. That is the only word to describe my faith right now. I would rather not open my Bible for my daily time with God and just “check the box.” I really don’t want to read verses that seem dry and not applicable to me at this moment. And, I seriously don’t want to pray when the distance between Jesus and me seems to grow wider every time I try to talk to Him. Blah. It’s the only word…

I really do know better than to believe that this is the full potential of my relationship with God right now, in this season. Past experience with Jesus tells me that it doesn’t have to be this way and He never intended my faith to be, well, Blah. So, I think I have come up with a game plan to lessen the gap and spice up my faith. If you are experiencing a Blah kind of faith right now, give it a try. Know that you are not alone and that most of us go through highs and lows in our relationship with the Lord.

Plain and simple: I am going to just show up.

I will just show up with my Bible, a pen and some paper to pour out my heart and express this feeling of distance. I know He will meet me there, listen and allow me to draw nearer.

I will just show up at church and sing the songs. Though someone else wrote the lyrics, those words will speak to God what I can not come up with from my own heart. I know He will meet me there and receive my worship.

I will just show up on my knees and pray; listing all the things I am grateful for and refine my perspective on life. I know He will meet me there and remind me of blessings long forgotten.

I will just show up to serve and do something for someone else less fortunate. I know He will meet me there and set a spark in my heart to rekindle the flame of faith.

You might be wondering how I could be so certain that God will meet me when I just show up. One Bible verse popped in my mind that I have based this game plan on.

“I am the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” – Revelation 22:13

God never changes. My world has turned upside down and right side up too many times to count, but my God always stands firm. No matter how flaky or blah my faith might be, He never gives up on me. No matter how much I ignore His presence, Jesus is always there. His power, love and strength are not dependent on my feelings at any given moment. Jesus will meet us when we just simply show up.

Resources…

The Bible

Faithbook of Jesus: Connecting With Jesus Daily by Renee Johnson

Becoming More than a Good Bible Study Girl by Lisa Terkeurst

Something Else…

Take this quiz to see if you are ready to {just show up}.

Sarah wrote these words and then went through with her game plan. Her faith is no longer blah. Sarah will be around all week to encourage you to just show up, so leave a comment. You also can read more from her at www.liveitoutblog.com

Join Nicki as God is taking her out of her comfort zone.

Leave Nicki a comment here.

Fourteen. That’s what the number on the back of my nametag said at the women’s retreat I was attending at my new church. I knew it represented either a group number or the opportunity to win a door prize. Desperately I was hoping for the door prize. Send me home with a flower, a book or even a cute bracelet. But please, oh, please don’t make me talk to strangers.

I am an extreme introvert. Just going to the retreat and rooming with five women I was still getting to know was a big step for me. The thought of being put into a small group with even more new women was something I thought would surely kill me.

When they announced it was time to play a game I immediately began looking for the exits. Nobody else moved. If I got up and walked out it would have been obvious. Inwardly I groaned. The game was called Fast Friends and I would have to sit in not one but three small groups and chat with strangers that night. My first stop was group fourteen.

Jean E., the leader, seemed friendly as she introduced herself and explained how the group would work. We would go around in a circle and say our names, our hobbies and how long we had been attending the church. Suddenly my mind went blank and I forgot everything I liked to do for fun – everything, that is, but the one thing I normally don’t talk about in large groups of strangers.

When it was my turn I heard myself say, “My name is Shannon, I’ve been at the church since October and I’m a writer, so I like to write.”

“I like to write too,” Jean E. said drawing me out of my shell. “What do you write?” I gulped.

“Non-fiction books for teenage girls,” I said wanting to fall through the floor. I knew what was coming next so I answered before she could ask. “I’ve published ten books in the Christian market.”

Suddenly multiple people wanted to talk to me at once. Thankfully, it quickly became someone else’s turn. I typically don’t talk about writing in first encounters with people because I feel nervous enough already. Talking about what I do tends to draw me into long conversations when I’m already trying my hardest not to hyperventilate.

When it became time to switch groups Jean E. quickly told me about an article she recently published and promised to look for me later during the weekend to talk about writing. I looked forward to it since I prefer one-on-one settings. Sadly, the weekend passed and I never saw her again. But that encounter had fueled my enthusiasm for my new church.

With no way to contact Jean E. – and no recollection of her last name – I went on about my daily life once I got home wondering about her article and where I could find it. A few weeks later, in my quiet time, I asked the Lord to provide a writers’ group for me within my new church. Since writing is lonely business it would be great to have that support. That very day Jean E. emailed me. Thanks to Google she was able to find me easily.

I eagerly responded to her message with an invitation to coffee. She quickly wrote back accepting and inviting me to join a brand new writers’ group she was starting up with some other women in our church who had been published. As soon as I read her message my eyes filled with tears.

God took me outside of my comfort zone when He forced me to play Fast Friends. But He knew what He was doing when He assigned me to start in group fourteen. Little did I know then that I would meet a friend who would become an answer to one of my prayers. God was calling this introvert into community and He did it in the most uncomfortable way.

Great things happen when we follow God outside of our comfort zones. When we trust what we know to be true about Him and choose to ignore our feelings of insecurity or fear, God can take us to places we never dreamed we could go. It was only after God brought me to a place where I didn’t want to be that He could take me to a place I truly longed to be.

The same may be true in your life today. Where is He calling you out of your comfort zone? Will you choose to trust Him or are you going to miss out because you are focused on fear and insecurity?

Resources…

The Bible

Hebrews 11:8 “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.”

What Happens When Women Walk In Faith by Lysa TerKeurst

Something Else…

Can you identify with Andy on The Devil Wears Prada as she stepped out of her comfort zone?

Shannon Primicerio really does like people even though meeting them in large groups isn’t her thing. The other hobbies she momentarily forgot include reading, watching baseball and going to the beach. You can learn more about her at www.beingagirlbooks.com

Leave a comment for Shannon here.

Be sure to check out Nicki’s {inspirational entry} before watching this week’s vlog!

What lessons have you learned while chasing your dreams?