She Speaks Scholarship Contest For Bloggers...

"She speaks with wisdom and faithful instruction is on her tongue."
~Proverbs 31:26~

Dear Readers, I am departing a bit today from the regular Friday Beautiful Life Goals hosted by Melissa of The Inspired Room to tell you about a wonderful opportunity. In a way it is not so much of a departure as one of my goals was to seek out a conference and hopefully be able to attend. I encourage you to visit all those who have been so faithful in posting every Friday. Lysa TerKeurst of Proverbs 31 Ministries has announced a She Speaks scholarship contest for bloggers. The 8th Annual She Speaks Conference will be held on July 31 ~ August 2, 2009 in Concord, North Carolina.

She Speaks is a conference for women that encourages, equips, and gives the confidence needed to make a greater impact in reaching out to a hurting world and offering hope. Speakers, Writers, Women's Ministry Leaders, Young Women, and yes, even Bloggers will benefit from attending this life~changing weekend! To see full contest rules and how you too can enter visit Lysa's post here. To review the She Speaks Conference information in detail visit here.

This past week a stranger had a profound impact upon me though three little words. These were not words I was used to hearing in reference to myself. The more I thought upon them and reached back in my memory as far as I could go I knew they had never been applied to me in the positive way she wrote them. For days I hugged them to my heart and whispered them to myself in wonder and awe that they could even include me. My heart literally jumped with joy at the very thought of them. This woman does not know me, we have never met or spoken, yet her words were a gift of encouragement unlike anything I have ever received save that of the gift of knowing Jesus.

With three little words, a short message indeed, she opened up a world full of possibilities of believing I am capable of being or becoming anything I desire to be. She planted the seed of potential and the possibility of growth into something not yet in existence. In that moment of realization an even deeper desire to pass along the cup of encouragement to others sealed itself in my heart.

What did she write to me? "...have the potential..." It is my estimation that we often believe what we hear about ourselves and more often than not what we hear is negative rather than positive. I thought back to early times in my life when the power of words gave me the potential to become exactly what was uttered. "You dumb bunny, your so stupid!" made me think I was not smart nor could I ever have the potential of being so. "Your as clumsy as a bull in a china closet!" made me think I only had the potential of being awkward and clumsy. A classmate who barked in my face and called me a dog took away the potential of ever feeling pretty. The wounds that these words inflicted have stuck with me all these years.

With three positive little words of encouragement, support, an expression of approval, and the act of giving hope poured forth into my wounded heart and made all the difference in the world in how I suddenly saw myself. Scripture says that, "A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver." (Proverbs 25:11 NIV) This suggests some kind of a decorative piece or centerpiece on a table or a carving done in gold over silver. Either way, the emphasis is on exquisite beauty, value, and artistry which our speech should resemble.

The increase of confidence that I gained from knowing that someone who doesn't even know me, yet believes in me, made me feel valued and was a gift of exquisite beauty. More than having someone know that I believe in them is sharing the message that there is One who believes in each of us. There is One who sees potential in us far greater than we could ever dream or imagine. We may not be able to comprehend what He sees in us but when we become His girl, He will change our world. My desire is to communicate God's love through encouragement.

Attending She Speaks would give me an opportunity to gain the skills and knowledge I need to hone a written message of encouragement, hope, and healing. I truly believe there is power in positive communication to break negative strongholds and to be able to effectively share with others what Jesus and this woman did for me is the reason I would like to attend the She Speaks conference.

Blessings,
Miss Sandy