God is not scared of our weakness

It’s hard to admit a weakness.  No, hard is not the right word.  Perhaps excruciating.  Terrifying.  Embarrassing.  I have experienced all of these emotions as I have shared with the world my struggle to believe that God will heal me. I can stand on a stage and teach God’s Word with great power, but then I go home and struggle to believe God’s Word.  It’s a weakness.

As a speaker and leader, people view me as a Christian woman who has it all together.  It has been so freeing to let people in on my secret…that I am far from perfect.  I am far from living up to God’s standards.  I’m far from living according to His Word.  I’m far from measuring up to the expectations of most of the people in my church.

weakness

But really, when are honest enough to admit it, we are all broken.  None of us measure up.

(more…)

Sharing is caring. If this post encouraged you, will you share it on Facebook so that it could bless your friends,too? Thanks for helping me to reach more struggling women with encouragement, hope, and grace.

Your crushed spirit attracts God like a magnet

I was alone at Duke Children’s Hospital.  My 4 year old son had been whisked off to a private room and I was left alone with the nurse.  She delivered the devastating news that the colonoscopy had revealed that my son had Crohn’s Disease.  And then, in a moment that I will never forget, she went on to describe to me what his life would be like with this ravaging disease.  She described side effects of medications, how his appearance would be changed, and even how the hairs on his head would respond.  And then she handed me a little pamphlet and left me alone in the room.

crushed

Duke Children’s Hospital

Tears flooded my eyes as the gravity of the diagnosis settled upon me.  My precious son.  My only son.  A devastating disease and a precarious future.

I was crushed.

(more…)

Sharing is caring. If this post encouraged you, will you share it on Facebook so that it could bless your friends,too? Thanks for helping me to reach more struggling women with encouragement, hope, and grace.

Jesus came for the weak and heavy-laden

Hey, you!  You, hiding under the covers!  Yes, you!  You have pulled the covers up over your head, begging Jesus to take you home.  You are pleading with Jesus to just put an end to your misery.   Sadly, you may wondering if there was a way that YOU could just put an end to your misery.  You are at the end of your rope, and there is just nothing left to hold on to.

Untitled design(1)

(more…)

Sharing is caring. If this post encouraged you, will you share it on Facebook so that it could bless your friends,too? Thanks for helping me to reach more struggling women with encouragement, hope, and grace.

Today’s weakness yields tomorrow’s strength

The praise and worship was wonderful, and I was enjoying every minute of it.  But the men who comprised the worship  band were an unlikely combination.  The twenty-something pianist and drummer had a hippie look going on….long hair and a scraggly beard.  The teenage guitarist had a youthful, boyish face.  Then there was the middle-aged and straight-laced backup singer.

He stuck out like a sore thumb.  The other band members were sporting their ratty T-shirts and blue jeans, and this gentleman had on a brightly-colored ironed golf shirt and neatly-pressed slacks.  His hair was closely cropped and at nine o’clock at night he did not even have a five o’clock shadow.

One of these things was not like the others.

Band (more…)

Sharing is caring. If this post encouraged you, will you share it on Facebook so that it could bless your friends,too? Thanks for helping me to reach more struggling women with encouragement, hope, and grace.

True confessions of a captive bondslave

As I sit at my Bible study desk (which is also where I write my blog posts), I wonder, what am I doing here?  The fact that I am sitting her poised to write baffles me.  I now have a blog.  Which means that I have to write blog posts.  Which means that I have to have something to say.in my weakness, or lack of something to say, that God will show Himself strong and speaking through me_Have you ever been in a position where you asked yourself, “What on earth am I doing here?”  Maybe your found yourself sitting in a corporate boardroom surrounded by people who were more educated or experienced than you.  Or you were in a neighbor’s house when she had an emotional breakdown and looked to you for comfort.  Perhaps you are slated to speak at a women’s ministry event and you are questioning if you have any thing to say.

I am questioning if I have anything to say.

(more…)

Sharing is caring. If this post encouraged you, will you share it on Facebook so that it could bless your friends,too? Thanks for helping me to reach more struggling women with encouragement, hope, and grace.

What does “Celebrating Weakness” really mean?

What does “Celebrating Weakness” really mean?

I have never been to an “AA” (Alcoholics Anonymous) or a “NA” (Narcotics Anonymous) meeting, but I have seen enough TV shows and movies to envision what they might be like.  Imagine with me a room set up with a circle of chairs.  The chairs are filled with brave but broken people, and they take turns saying their name, and their weakness.

I’m Joan, and I’m an alcoholic.
I’m Nicole, and I’m addicted to prescription drugs.
I’m Megan, and I’m addicted to meth.

The room is a safe place for brave but broken women to publicly acknowledge their weakness.  CelebratingWeakness.com is a safe place for brave but broken women to publicly acknowledge their weakness.

(more…)

Sharing is caring. If this post encouraged you, will you share it on Facebook so that it could bless your friends,too? Thanks for helping me to reach more struggling women with encouragement, hope, and grace.