trust your story

one of my favorite stories of all time is The Help, by Kathryn Stockett.  surprisingly I loved the movie just as much.
for those of you unfamiliar with the story, it’s set in the 60’s during the time of the civil rights movement. a young white journalist name skeeter wants to write a book compiled of stories from the point of view of the black maids. for obvious reasons they didn’t want to share their stories. aibileen & minny carve out some courage & see the power in their stories. power to change the way things were. power to encourage others.  the turning point in the movie for me was when dozens of others, inspired by aibileen & minny , decide to be courageous and tell their own stories too. they join forces and while things were not easy, they were brave & things did begin to change, both in their community and in their lives.
the power of
ordinary people tapping into what is extraordinary about themselves.

I know each one of us can think of a book or a movie where we resonate with a character.  From Cinderella, to Elizabeth Bennett, Rose & Jack in titanic or even Elle Woods.   We love cheering on the underdog and the overcomer. Yet for many of us, our own stories are trapped inside. trapped maybe not due to cultural limitations as in The Help, but maybe it’s because we see ourselves as insignificant.

Like meg ryan in you’ve got mail:

"Sometimes I wonder about my life. I lead a small life. Well, not small, but circumscribed. And sometimes I wonder, do I do it because I like it, or because I haven't been brave? So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around?

I don't really want an answer. I just want to send this cosmic question out into the void. So goodnight, dear void."

We think our lives are small & somehow we equate small with insignificance.

YOU HAVE  A STORY TO TELL!

maybe you see your story as being defined by the moment he walked in & said I don’t love you anymore & I’m leaving you.

maybe you see your story as being defined by failure.

Or abuse.

maybe you know the dark secrets of your past & you think while you’ve been forgiven & set free, if anyone knew about the premarital sex, the affair, the abortion, the whatever, it would discount where you are now. You feel the scarlet letter is tattooed on your forehead for all to see.

guilt & shame sit on your shoulders holding you back from sharing the hope of where you are today.

or maybe the chapter you’re currently in is threatening to take you under. you’re on the front lines of a battle.  you aren’t afforded the perspective from the “end” yet.  maybe you’re in survival mode.  you can’t see how “it all worked together for good”.

the grief of your situation seems to overshadow a future that has a positive,dare I say happy ending.  you’re in the midst of a chronic illness or you’re watching a loved one slip from this world.  you’ve buried one of your babies or your husband and the thought of sharing that pain, is too big for you.

or maybe you look in the mirror & see a scarless face, one without battle wounds. you wonder how your story could ever inspire.

i want to encourage you to trust your story. not a chapter.

the last thing my heart desires is to minimize a chapter or what seems like an epic portion of your story. that's not my desire at all.  last weekend i heard stories of heartbreak, abandonment, betrayal. stories that boggle my mind.

our heavenly father never wanted our lives to be filled with, much less defined by, cancer, divorce, abuse, anger, sickness.

his plan was not for approximately 160 million children to be orphans

or 27 million to be currently enslaved.

his original story was set in a beautiful perfect garden. free from shame. free from guilt. free from the filth that resonates with many.

so, what do i mean by trust your story?

the one he promises to complete. As promised in philipians 1.6 ~~

being CONFIDENT of this, 

that he who began a good work in you 

will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus

personally,i learned more about my heavenly father during the hardest time in my life than in all the good chapters combined.  it was in those chapters and the chapters afterwards that i learned he loves me. that i needed him. that i was in the palm of his hand. that he wept with me. that i was never ever alone.

what I want to share with you is that you have a father that loves you. that no matter where you are in your own story, he hears every prayer and sees every tear. we have a father that is not distant from us.  it’s my prayer that if the chapters in your past include failure, or divorce, or sickness, or some sin that you think is unforgivable,  that he is writing a story that does define you.

one of wholeness in him. & that you can trust Him.

more important that trusting your story

is trusting the author.

i'll share about that soon!

 

i meant to share this at the pearl event & it just got away from me.

a couple weeks after sibi asked if i'd join her in the journey,

i stumbled upon this bracelet. i've been wearing it ever since as a confirmation

to trust where the lord is leading me.

many days that doesn't come easily but it is my hearts desire.

michelle verbeeck who created the cuff

has offered 20% off

if you'd like to purchase one this week.

enter the code TRUSTYOURSTORYFCP

{{please note, you MUST enter your wrist size!!
michelle is getting loads of orders without size}}

~~~

 oh , i almost forgot...

jessica , from grace & gratitude,

you are the winner of the Sparrow & Blossom pillow!!

congratulations!

she calls me minny & she's my skeeter

 i know for me, when something seems monumental

i'm a little intimidated to tackle it or break it down.

i sure don't want to overwhelm ya'll with what the lord's been doing in my heart

& what He did over the last several months

& then brought to fruition the past weekend,

but i'm still struggling with just how to verbalize everything.

well, that & i don't want to saturate you with multiple posts.

i have 33 posts in my drafts & yesterday i sat down to write about my friends

& the pearl event

& walked away thinking that i should just slap one of those up instead.

so...my disclaimer in advance,

there'll be more than one post.

ok, now that i've got that out the way let me start at the beginning...

sibi sees the good in people.

she loves on 'em, makes a fuss over them & verbally affirms them.

she dreams big. with chandeliers and gigantic roses.

despite a past that i only know a fraction of

with stories of abuse and abandonment,

she longs to share the story of her savior

& how he filled her years & years of brokeness with wholeness.

she shares about the pearl:

  formed inside the shell of certain mollusks as a defense mechanism against a potentially threatening irritant, or an attack from outside.

& longs to tell women that we are His pearl

a metaphor to describe how priceless & valuable we are.

i love this friend of mine. we've been url friends

that became real life friends.

when she asked me months ago to come & speak at her event

i had no idea that, once i said yes, the lord would do such a work in my own heart

while i prepared to share with 200+ women!

i was running one day & thinking about how on earth i was going to turn down sibi's request

(with all my sweetest southern manners possible.of course)

when he put a reminder in my heart,

to always be prepared to give an answer to everyone 

who asks me to give the reason for the hope that i have.

(1 peter 3.15)

 i knew i had to share my story ( not just "the sad" chapter)

but the story of how i learned my God would come through always.

that when i lift my eyes up, my help comes from the lord.

not from a self help book or positive thinking,

not from anything i did myself or from sucking it up & just doing it.

the part of my story where despite living such an easy and blessed life early on

that i truly learned more about the lord's love and provision

 during the saddest darkest time of my life.

thank you sibi for seeing something in me

that i didn't know was there.

thank you for being a woman that not only has a gentle & quiet spirit

that listens for him and to him,

but then acts on those words.

thank you for covering this event in prayer and fasting.

for showing me what living a life sold out to him 

looks like in real time.

thank you for sacrificing so much to make the pearl event a reality.

i considered it one of the highest honors 

to stand beside you last weekend.

i love you pearl...

i spent a long time looking for a video that i thought would be a great intro for my talk.

my theme was trust your story, trust your author 

& find your voice.

being a lover of so many stories, i spent some time looking at you tube videos

for my one of my favorites.

originally thinking i would share the trailor, i 'bout did a standing back handspring

when i saw the following.

perfect!

(maybe you'll see why she calls me minny...
& i call her skeeter, "the person helping bring about change")

alrighty, for all you fans of "The Help", enjoy....

trying to unpack an amazing event....

the girls are getting ready this morning to head back to school.

i have no idea what they're gonna wear because i'm certain

all of our clothes are in a pile waiting on me in my laundry room.

yesterday was a holiday for them

& today is back to reality.

i'll be honest ya'll, i hope we'll still be friends

& ya'll will stick around with me because it's gonna

take me a few posts 

or atleast a few days

to unpack what occured in my little world this past weekend.

(& because i captured the entire weekend on my iphone

not my wonderful camera...so i apologize in advance for any blurry shots!)

my friend sibi...

i'm having a hard time coming up with words for how much i love & respect this woman.

so that'll be one post.

that edie?

ya'll. she's the real deal.

if i could pick only 3 blogs to read, actually 2 blogs,

she'd be on that list...& has been.

that'll be another post.

the powerful stories of jane & sarah blew me away.

the worship was beautiful.

the stories of the women i met,

& the online friends that i'm now real life friends with

were amazing.

the list goes on.

since talking about shopping doesn't require much mental effort

i'll start with that!

we headed out early friday morning & drove to Franklin Tennessee.

i've wanted to visit Franklin for years.

i lived in Nashville as a little girl, but since that was 428 years ago,

i don't remember much.

the music city is home to many famous musicians

& so is the charming town of Franklin.

we were on the look out for Keith Urban & Taylor Swift

and during lunch, we were certain there were several music talks, things, intereviews

whatever they're called, going on around us.

we didn't have long to shop but found a couple shops that i fell in love with.

could you die?

in the immortal words of sibi, rapture me up right now!

 savannah was out of town & sadly couldn't join us.

we took our sweet abby & warned her that we were kinda boring

& that someone may or may not snore friday night

crammed her in the suburban

& then proceeded to feed her fast food all weekend.

i'm sure she had the time of her life.

the town was so darn cute

& driving by pastures with gorgeous southern homes 

& fields of horses....

i've officially added Franklin to my list of possible future hometowns!

it was priceless to have my girls & my sweet man with me 

this weekend. 

sibi & i have a handful of phone calls planned to catch up

& relive the weekend.

so i promise i'll be back with some details & stories

of how great our God is!!

~~~

Noonday giveaway & The Pearl Event!

 it's hard to believe it's finally here!!

we're packing up & heading to Nashville

for the event that has been prayed about for months & months!!

i can hardly wait to be there & meet these women

hug my precious dear friend sibi

& see some encouraging new sweet faces!

for all of you that have sent encouraging emails & facebook messages

thank you thank you!

to know you're behind us & praying for us is so encouraging

& such an honor.

i'm humbled by the outpouring of love by so many of you!

~~~

in other exciting news

i have a $50 gift certificate for one of you 

from the Noonday Collection!!

one of my current favorites

is the zoe necklace

created by our exclusive artisan group in uganda.

here's little zoe

who the necklace is name after.

she is now malaria free

after receiving medical care 

thanks to noonday purchases!!

zoe's mama & daddy are jalia and daniel.

after jessica ( our founder) spent the day with them, this is what she journaled :

Jalia & Daniel.

They believe in miracles.

They believe in healing & deliverance.

They are God fearing.

They love the name of Jesus more than their own name.

Their lives are dedicated to serving others.

They understand others because they’ve been there.

They’ve been so poor they had to sell their only bible to buy food.

They know what it’s like to be content: to be in want & to have plenty

They, like Paul, are content.

They set their minds on things above.

one night when we were visiting with Jalia,

she asked us if we would pray that her children aren't orphaned.

can you imagine?

jalia & daniel are receiving a sustainable income

thankfully due to purchases made through noonday.

& their children are NOT orphaned!!!

so....

leave a comment & tell me which piece of jewelry 

you would love to purchase if you were to win

& 

maybe tell me which story touches your heart.

~~~~

"I will see You as You are
Love You with unsinning heart
And see how much You paid to bring me home
Not till then, Lord, shall I know
Not till then, how much I owe
Everything I am before Your throne"

matt redman

always be ready to share your story

no way. 

i'm not a public speaker.

everyone has already heard my story.

what if no one comes.

what if only four people come & out of the four people, three of them don't know who i am & so they get up and leave when i start to share.

what if i use poor grammar

or god forbid, start to cry.

what if the one person that stays to listen to me share decides she likes me better behind my blog than in real life.

these were my immediate thoughts months ago when sibi called & asked me to join her for The Pearl Event.

no way.

thank you moses for the "i can't do it Lord, inspiration" right?

days later i was out running. trying to train for the half marathon i signed up for months ago.

that same half in which i am significantly behind.

& i felt the Lord reminding me

that i should always be ready to tell my story

to tell where my hope is from

to tell the good things the Lord has done for me

{Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to 

give the reason for the hope that you have. 1 peter 3.15}

i called sibi, in tears ( me not her )

& said

of course i'll do it.

even if only one person wants to hear what i share

that i'll share what the Lord has done for me

with her.
i'll share what the Lord can & will do in her too.
that He loves her & is carrying her in His hand,
no matter the current chapter she's in
within her own story.

that my soul magnifies Him

& He has done great things for me.

it's easy for us to think that our story is insignificant

or that we can't effectively communicate our story.

that we should keep private things private.

that people will think, heaven forbid, that we're weird

or obnoxious.

but i want to encourage you 

that first of all...those are all lies.

those are lies that will hit you right where you're most vulnerable.

& if you listen to them, believe them

then he wins. 

the enemy wins.

the one who wants to kill your dreams

steal your hope

destroy your relationships with others & relationship with Him.

so whether it's with your neighbor

or your children.

whether it's with a sunday school class

or through your blog & your tweets....

share your story.

the one He is writing in you.

if one person is listening, or thousands

boldly proclaim the hope you have!

incidentally, turns out more than four ladies will be there in two weeks
( truth be told, it's almost sold out)

& if only one person came to hear me share

i will give reason for my hope...
while completely out of my comfort zone
hopefully not with poor grammar

i will share the reason for my hope!
& if you're coming,
i can't wait to hear your own story!!!!

"Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, 

words may be given me so that I will 

fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel"

ephesians 6.19

we finally meet!!

i've shared secrets with her

we've cried together

we text all the time

we chat all the time

we laugh. a lot.

while her glass is eternally half full, she's shared some of her heartaches with me.

( i consider that quite a privilege)

sure 'nuf,

i told her i'd do the wildest thing ever,

come speak at an event she's whipping up.

an event that is truly about encouraging each other

& reminding YOU of the beauty within you.

the hope within you.

an event that has been in her heart

& soul...

she has a heart like none other.

a heart to build up, encourage, bless,

pray for, & love on.

she's like no one i've ever met.

she's selfless & kind & warm and real.

anyway...

we talk about our college age girls

& our babies

our tall dark & handsome hubbies

& sweet tea.

she's stunning~

a drop dead gorgeous blond

with grace & poise.

she's wonderfully drippy sweet 

southern as they come.

her sayings crack.me.up.

all the time.

i love this girl & am honored to call Sibi my friend.

the only thing we hadn't done

was actually meet in person

& get some serious hugs, laughs, tears & maybe

just maybe

a squeal or two.

she texted me friday afternoon & said she was coming to atlanta

the next morning with her sweet girl

to get some work done,

so, we hooked up for a quick visit at

none other than the Varsity

(who says i don't have class)

&

had a ball!

 

i'm going to do a little shameless plug here for 

The Pearl Event.

for more information,

please swing over to sibi's 

& here too

or edie's.

we'd love to meet YOU in nashville on march 10th!!!

oh my!!

~~
"& let everything be lost in the shadows

of the light of your face

let every chain be broken from me

as i'm bound in your grace"

christy nockels

my friends....&The Pearl Event

we met through blogging.

we have become the best of friends.

we've laughed together and cried together too.

we share secrets & a love for seaside

we love pearls & all things southern

we love our families like crazy

but the thing that knits our hearts together

is our love for jesus.

Sibi is the real deal ya'll

she is an encourager like you've never known.

she has a heart that wants to glorify the Lord, no matter what the day holds.

her perpetually half full glass 

&

her love for her family truly  inspires me...

well, we've been keeping a little secret.

today as i hurried down stairs to check my texts & my inbox

i felt like a little girl on Christmas morning, wondering if Santa had come.

was "it" real...

well it is ....

it is with just about every possible emotion

that i announce

The Pearl Event II ~ the Double Strand!!

Saturday, March 10, 2012

9:00 ~ 4:00 

The Opryland Hotel

Magnolia Ballroom

Nashville, Tennessee

& guess who else will be there....

EDIE!

lord have mercy !!

i can't say enough about how much i respect this wonderful woman!!
my girls & i , we all have a little crush on her
& would love to move in with her!

i'll be honest,
when sibi first asked if would come,
i almost laughed in her sweet face. actually, i did laugh.
sat at dinner that night & explained to my hubby how many reasons why i shouldn't go
not the least of which included
"BUT I CAN'T DO PUBLIC SPEAKING!!"

he looked at me and said, what day is it on?
i'll be there...
(actually i'm not sure boys are allowed...wink!)

i called her later and told her , with tears of course,
i'm in.
there's a story there that i'll share later...

there will also be two of Sibi's other friends there,

Sarah Cantrell

her tender story is here

& Jane Matthews.

it's the desire of our hearts

to encourage you & love on you.

& share some of our stories.

we will have more information about the event very soon

but for now you may register here!

Please head over to Sibi's to learn more

meanwhile...i'm so excited...and nervous...and giddy....and overwhelmed...

&feeling kinda awkward....and blessed
...and in over my head...and tickled....
and my comfort zone is no where in sight!!!

xoxo