Priscilla Shirer's Blog, page 63

Amazon Gift Card

Happy Monday! 

Christmas is in t minus 8 days and we thought, what a better way to start the countdown than to give you a $30 gift card to Amazon! Because, really, what CAN'T you buy on Amazon???

So, leave a comment below telling us your favorite gift this year under $30. Annetta doesn't want me to tell you this, but she still has shopping left to do and needs some ideas =) 

We can't wait to bless someone with a little gift card! So tell all your friends (don't be stingy) to join us and leave a comment below. You have until Tuesday, December 18 at 11:00pm CT to enter. Winner will be announce Wednesday, December 19. 

Linnae's Favorites

Christmas tunes, of course

Amy Grant, Home for Christmas CD - you know you love it, too

Michael W Smith, Christmastime CD - you love this one as well. Admit it.

Anything by Nat King Cole

Mom's French Silk Pie - It has so much
sugar and butter that it’s terrible for you, BUT oh so so very thick and incredibly delicious… not like the pudding type French silk pie that most people have, which is
disgusting by the way =)

Gingerbread latte’s

Boots and scarves 

Anthropologie floor displays - Makes me oh so very HAPPY just
walking around in this store during Christmas season

Presents - I gotta admit, I love opening a present =) even
if it’s just one… I love surprises and gifts

Family - I don’t always get to be with my whole family every
single year, so I know and realize what a blessing it is to be excited about
being with family over the holidays. Love mine like crazy!

Highland Park Christmas lights - This has become a
favorite of mine since I’ve lived in Dallas. If you are ever here over
Christmas, you need to walk or drive or run through the neighborhoods when it’s
dark because it’s insanely beautiful this time of year with all the lights on
the houses. And you need to get one of those Gingerbread Latte’s from the Highland
Park Starbucks while you’re at it because Highland Park Village is so so pretty
and happy. AND you can stop in Anthropologie, too =)

Red nail polish

Advent - I love reading about the “arrival”
of Christ and reflecting on this idea through all the many resources that are
available out there. Such a good thing to think about and reflect on: a time of
repentance, hope, and preparing for Christ! So much to relate to in our own
lives. 

 

These are just some of the many things I love about this
season. What about you??

Linnae

Emmanuel

I love NYC in the holiday season.  The lights, the chill in the air, the coffee on every street corner cart...it just SCREAMS "Christmas!" to me.  I remember going to the city by myself a few years ago.  I would occasionally meet up with people, but for the most part, I was alone.  And in that city of millions of people, isolation pervades into souls like chill creeping into your bones.  I remember coming back to my hostel one night and just having this deep ache of loneliness and sadness.  I had thought the trip would be a fantastic time, jotting about the city with my own agenda as king.  But the alone-ness that seemed to nip at my heels was a constant companion.  

Last week, my community group was sharing about holiday plans.  One of the girls was commenting on going home for Christmas.  Characterizing her parents as aloof and quiet, she said that the holidays were a lonely and sad time for her as a single gal.  

For a lot of us, the holidays are full of...

Heartache.

Isolation.

Anxiety.

Just plain ol' depression.

I can't help but think of all the warm and cheery windows that we peer in to see others holiday plans.  Sometimes we see a glimpse of a person's life on facebook and it seems their life is M.  A.  D.  E.  They post pictures of a beautiful family and a successful husband...when in reality they are slowing dying inside from the desolating combination of a workaholic spouse, naggin "you never do enough" in-laws and precious, albeit clingy children.  She keeps telling herself she has so much to be grateful for...so much to really believe God's goodness over.  But she keeps feeling this deep, core-of-her-soul deep, raw ache that screams of broken dreams and unmet needs.  

Or sometimes we peek into the life of a single gal, humming and strumming here and there..."living the free life."  Deep inside her heart aches with an exponentially increasing sorrow for the dreams that have yet to come.  She quietly asks herself if she will EVER be married...if she will EVER have a job that fulfills...if she will EVER feel content in her season, or even that she simply belongs to her family of married siblings. 

The truth is, most of us wear these feelings heavily camouflaged under a net of "I'm great!  How are you?  Merry Christmas!"  We speak these things and then go home where we feel like an alien to even ourselves.  Sometimes we even sit around and ask ourselves, "HOW did I get here?"  But the energy to do something about our current state is too much.  And the easier thing is to respond to the feelings with sin...an affair...believing God is not Kind or not FOR us...

This Christmas season....we are all in one of three boats...

1. You have never felt this way

2. You feel this way now

3. You used to feel this way

So as I was thinking of traditions this season, I kept thinking, "wouldn't it be nice to start a NEW tradition of loving on someone in a way that SHOWS?"  Because of this,

my challenge for us all today is to TANGIBLY love on each other like we are sister's.   

For those of us who haven't been in this place yet OR are on the other side of this place....would you take a minute today and write a note to one of your friends who might be lonely in this season?  Maybe there is a widowed neighbor who just needs you to swing by with cups of hot cooca, a plate of cookies and an hour for talking about nothing.  Maybe there is SOMEONE in your circles that just needs you to be the hands and feet of Jesus this holiday season...bringing your old Christmas tree to decorate their house.  I remember when my best friend showed up on my doorstep one year, after I had first moved to a city.  I was lonely and sad.  She had bags of Christmas decorations that she proceeded to put EVERYWHERE in my furniture-less apartment.  

Maybe there is a girl who is just deeply sad where you are.  You know it, you feel it, but you don't know what to do about it.  Take a minute today and write her an encouraging email, pick up her favorite healthy snack, invite her to do something with you and your friends!  More than all that, pray for her...ask God to give you a deep love for your friend who is hurting.  And then maybe remind her of the verses I talk of below here...

For those of you in the midst of this place...Did you know that Isaiah was a prophet to a war-torn Israel?  He was the unpopular guy who got to go around and sing of God's hell-fire and damnation forth-coming to Israel.  In fact, Scripture calls him the "suffering servant."  If HE doesn't "get" where you are, I don't know who WOULD!  Some of my favorite verses in Isaiah are 53:1-5,

But now thus says the Lord, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel:  "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;  and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you.  When you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.  For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.  I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.  Becuase you are precious in My eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life.  Fear not, for I am with you.  I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the West I will gather you."

My heart RINGS with the truth of these verses...He is FOR you!  He ahs REDEEMED YOU!  He LOVES YOU.  You are HIS.  I love how David puts it in Psalm 68:20, "God is for us a God of Salvation" or Psalm 46:11, "God is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress."  Sometimes when I read verses with references to Old Testament characters, I tend to skim by them.  But I don't think the Holy Spirit wants us to miss a skip of a beat on this one.  He DESPERATELY wants YOU TO KNOW:  THE GOD WHO WAS WITH Jacob...the guy who made mistakes..the guy who wasn't perfect...the guy who TRIED to please God...the guy who had nothing...the guy whose fortunes were restored by GOD...THIS GOD is The One Who is FOR YOU.  He is Present in the middle of whatever you are facing.  He sees you when your soul would scream that NO ONE sees you.  I remember running in Australia, all alone on that hemisphere and weeping as my heart realized "GOD sees me."  

So can you hear this today sister?  Do you hear that The God of the universe is PRESENT AND FOR YOU?  Let the tears flow beloved.  He sees you.  He hears you.  He is coming for you.  And it just might be through another sister.

I can't wait to hear about all the healing that transpires from those of us willing to take this challenge.  I love y'all...my heart aches for so many of you today...praying...praying He SHOWS UP as ONLY He can!  

Glory BE!  

He IS Emmanuel,

GOD WITH US.

 

Love you fiercely.  He loves you more.

annetta

"Oreos in Eggshells" (and our target winner)

Merry Christmas Bloggers!  Or is it Blogg-ees?  At any rate...IT'S CHRISTMAS Y'ALL!  We at the GB office are OVER THE MOON these days.  Christmas music has been blaring since the Monday after Thanksgiving, Christmas cards are addressed, stamped and sealed, and we are taking a little trip to the cottage attic to snatch up our office Christmas tree....TODAY!!  Have I mentioned:  IT'S CHRISTMAS Y'ALL!!

In the Box house, our traditions are wide and varied.  So I thought it would be fun to share our traditions and maybe look for a new one we can engage in!  SO.  I have spent a few minutes (errr, HOURS!) on Pinterest, chatting with friends and brainstorming to find you a few fun traditions that you might want to rip off, personalize and call your own!  SO...let the merriness commence with the FIRST Box Family Tradition...

PRE-CHRISTMAS CAROLING

This is by FAR one of my favorite activites as a child.  Growing up near Chicago, we'd bundle up just to walk outside....and the evening would take on a magic of it's own as Christmas lights glittered, mimicking the stars in the sky.  We'd crunch through frosty grass as crisp air lent a silence to the evening.  So it was with an almost reverence that we'd walk into the local nursing home.  We'd go around 6:30..late enough that they'd be done with dinner and early enough that all the folks would only be napping before bed.  And we'd walk down the halls, stopping to sing a few favorite carols when someone would pop their head or wheelchair out of a door.  I loved the way tears would well up in a man's eyes as he remembered Christmas's gone by...or the loneliness on a woman's face that was exchanged for a smile as she realized she had not been forgotton.

When I was young, the words of the songs stuck in my brain with an almost alien foreignness.  The drummer boy's "rapumpumpumpumpum" was more of a tongue twister than a meditation; I'd belt out "Oooooooooreos in eggshells" instead of "Gloooooorious in excelsis"; And I'd occasionally try to slip in a "Jingle Bells" when the more sedate carols were called for.  But the song that always caught my mischevious girl attention was "What Child is This." It was sung with such eery beauty....I'd sing it with the innocence of a child, only thinking of the sweet little baby Jesus, not the adult Jesus that would endure unspeakable violence for my rebellious heart.  My young heart was an old soul, wooed by the sweetness of God made man.    

When we piled back into the car, Swiss Miss cocoa in hand from the nursing home cafeteria, we were all subdued.  And it was clear what Christmas was all about.

And so it is in light of these who are "not to be forgotten" and the way The Shepherd Baby spoke to my nascent soul that I advocate:  carol y'all!  It's good for the lungs, the bleeding heart...and it feeds your soul.

Do YOU carol?  Any stories to share (humorous or heart-warming)?  Are you a first-timer this year and need some tips?  Post below and we'll all share with the joy of the season...

IT'S CHRISTMAS Y'ALL!!!

 

Love you...

 

annetta

AND.... the winner for the Target gift card is... MIRANDA:

Haven't started shopping and probably won't until after Christmas because of the complexity of things with my family, but I still have joy!

Yay!! Miranda, email us at info@goingbeyond.com and tell us your address so we can ship the gift card to you. 

For those of you who didn't win, don't despair. We will have another give-a-way on Monday =)

Emmanuel (and our Target winner!)

I love NYC in the holiday season.  The lights, the chill in the air, the coffee on every street corner cart...it just SCREAMS "Christmas!" to me.  I remember going to the city by myself a few years ago.  I would occasionally meet up with people, but for the most part, I was alone.  And in that city of millions of people, isolation pervades into souls like chill creeping into your bones.  I remember coming back to my hostel one night and just having this deep ache of loneliness and sadness.  I had thought the trip would be a fantastic time, jotting about the city with my own agenda as king.  But the alone-ness that seemed to nip at my heels was a constant companion.  

Last week, my community group was sharing about holiday plans.  One of the girls was commenting on going home for Christmas.  Characterizing her parents as aloof and quiet, she said that the holidays were a lonely and sad time for her as a single gal.  

For a lot of us, the holidays are full of...

Heartache.

Isolation.

Anxiety.

Just plain ol' depression.

I can't help but think of all the warm and cheery windows that we peer in to see others holiday plans.  Sometimes we see a glimpse of a person's life on facebook and it seems their life is M.  A.  D.  E.  They post pictures of a beautiful family and a successful husband...when in reality they are slowing dying inside from the desolating combination of a workaholic spouse, naggin "you never do enough" in-laws and precious, albeit clingy children.  She keeps telling herself she has so much to be grateful for...so much to really believe God's goodness over.  But she keeps feeling this deep, core-of-her-soul deep, raw ache that screams of broken dreams and unmet needs.  

Or sometimes we peek into the life of a single gal, humming and strumming here and there..."living the free life."  Deep inside her heart aches with an exponentially increasing sorrow for the dreams that have yet to come.  She quietly asks herself if she will EVER be married...if she will EVER have a job that fulfills...if she will EVER feel content in her season, or even that she simply belongs to her family of married siblings. 

The truth is, most of us wear these feelings heavily camouflaged under a net of "I'm great!  How are you?  Merry Christmas!"  We speak these things and then go home where we feel like an alien to even ourselves.  Sometimes we even sit around and ask ourselves, "HOW did I get here?"  But the energy to do something about our current state is too much.  And the easier thing is to respond to the feelings with sin...an affair...believing God is not Kind or not FOR us...

This Christmas season....we are all in one of three boats...

1. You have never felt this way

2. You feel this way now

3. You used to feel this way

So as I was thinking of traditions this season, I kept thinking, "wouldn't it be nice to start a NEW tradition of loving on someone in a way that SHOWS?"  Because of this,

my challenge for us all today is to TANGIBLY love on each other like we are sister's.   

For those of us who haven't been in this place yet OR are on the other side of this place....would you take a minute today and write a note to one of your friends who might be lonely in this season?  Maybe there is a widowed neighbor who just needs you to swing by with cups of hot cooca, a plate of cookies and an hour for talking about nothing.  Maybe there is SOMEONE in your circles that just needs you to be the hands and feet of Jesus this holiday season...bringing your old Christmas tree to decorate their house.  I remember when my best friend showed up on my doorstep one year, after I had first moved to a city.  I was lonely and sad.  She had bags of Christmas decorations that she proceeded to put EVERYWHERE in my furniture-less apartment.  

Maybe there is a girl who is just deeply sad where you are.  You know it, you feel it, but you don't know what to do about it.  Take a minute today and write her an encouraging email, pick up her favorite healthy snack, invite her to do something with you and your friends!  More than all that, pray for her...ask God to give you a deep love for your friend who is hurting.  And then maybe remind her of the verses I talk of below here...

For those of you in the midst of this place...Did you know that Isaiah was a prophet to a war-torn Israel?  He was the unpopular guy who got to go around and sing of God's hell-fire and damnation forth-coming to Israel.  In fact, Scripture calls him the "suffering servant."  If HE doesn't "get" where you are, I don't know who WOULD!  Some of my favorite verses in Isaiah are 53:1-5,

But now thus says the Lord, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel:  "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;  and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you.  When you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.  For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.  I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.  Becuase you are precious in My eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life.  Fear not, for I am with you.  I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the West I will gather you."

My heart RINGS with the truth of these verses...He is FOR you!  He ahs REDEEMED YOU!  He LOVES YOU.  You are HIS.  I love how David puts it in Psalm 68:20, "God is for us a God of Salvation" or Psalm 46:11, "God is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress."  Sometimes when I read verses with references to Old Testament characters, I tend to skim by them.  But I don't think the Holy Spirit wants us to miss a skip of a beat on this one.  He DESPERATELY wants YOU TO KNOW:  THE GOD WHO WAS WITH Jacob...the guy who made mistakes..the guy who wasn't perfect...the guy who TRIED to please God...the guy who had nothing...the guy whose fortunes were restored by GOD...THIS GOD is The One Who is FOR YOU.  He is Present in the middle of whatever you are facing.  He sees you when your soul would scream that NO ONE sees you.  I remember running in Australia, all alone on that hemisphere and weeping as my heart realized "GOD sees me."  

So can you hear this today sister?  Do you hear that The God of the universe is PRESENT AND FOR YOU?  Let the tears flow beloved.  He sees you.  He hears you.  He is coming for you.  And it just might be through another sister.

I can't wait to hear about all the healing that transpires from those of us willing to take this challenge.  I love y'all...my heart aches for so many of you today...praying...praying He SHOWS UP as ONLY He can!  

Glory BE!  

He IS Emmanuel,

GOD WITH US.

 

Love you fiercely.  He loves you more.

annetta

 

AND.... the winner for the Target gift card is... MIRANDA:

Haven't started shopping and probably won't until after Christmas because of the complexity of things with my family, but I still have joy!

Yay!! Miranda, email us at info@goingbeyond.com and tell us your address so we can ship the gift card to you. 

For those of you who didn't win, don't despair. We will have another give-a-way on Monday =)

"Oreos in Eggshells"

Merry Christmas Bloggers!  Or is it Blogg-ees?  At any rate...IT'S CHRISTMAS Y'ALL!  We at the GB office are OVER THE MOON these days.  Christmas music has been blaring since the Monday after Thanksgiving, Christmas cards are addressed, stamped and sealed, and we are taking a little trip to the cottage attic to snatch up our office Christmas tree....TODAY!!  Have I mentioned:  IT'S CHRISTMAS Y'ALL!!

In the Box house, our traditions are wide and varied.  So I thought it would be fun to share our traditions and maybe look for a new one we can engage in!  SO.  I have spent a few minutes (errr, HOURS!) on Pinterest, chatting with friends and brainstorming to find you a few fun traditions that you might want to rip off, personalize and call your own!  SO...let the merriness commence with the FIRST Box Family Tradition...

PRE-CHRISTMAS CAROLING

This is by FAR one of my favorite activites as a child.  Growing up near Chicago, we'd bundle up just to walk outside....and the evening would take on a magic of it's own as Christmas lights glittered, mimicking the stars in the sky.  We'd crunch through frosty grass as crisp air lent a silence to the evening.  So it was with an almost reverence that we'd walk into the local nursing home.  We'd go around 6:30..late enough that they'd be done with dinner and early enough that all the folks would only be napping before bed.  And we'd walk down the halls, stopping to sing a few favorite carols when someone would pop their head or wheelchair out of a door.  I loved the way tears would well up in a man's eyes as he remembered Christmas's gone by...or the loneliness on a woman's face that was exchanged for a smile as she realized she had not been forgotton.

When I was young, the words of the songs stuck in my brain with an almost alien foreignness.  The drummer boy's "rapumpumpumpumpum" was more of a tongue twister than a meditation; I'd belt out "Oooooooooreos in eggshells" instead of "Gloooooorious in excelsis"; And I'd occasionally try to slip in a "Jingle Bells" when the more sedate carols were called for.  But the song that always caught my mischevious girl attention was "What Child is This." It was sung with such eery beauty....I'd sing it with the innocence of a child, only thinking of the sweet little baby Jesus, not the adult Jesus that would endure unspeakable violence for my rebellious heart.  My young heart was an old soul, wooed by the sweetness of God made man.    

When we piled back into the car, Swiss Miss cocoa in hand from the nursing home cafeteria, we were all subdued.  And it was clear what Christmas was all about.

And so it is in light of these who are "not to be forgotten" and the way The Shepherd Baby spoke to my nascent soul that I advocate:  carol y'all!  It's good for the lungs, the bleeding heart...and it feeds your soul.

Do YOU carol?  Any stories to share (humorous or heart-warming)?  Are you a first-timer this year and need some tips?  Post below and we'll all share with the joy of the season...

IT'S CHRISTMAS Y'ALL!!!

 

Love you...

 

annetta

Cookie Exchange

Sunday night all the women from our church got together for a "Cookie Exchange" party. Have you ever been to one before? This was my first time and it was actually really fun! I wasn't sure about the whole concept at first, but any time you get a bunch of friends together and a whole table of cookies, it's a guarantee win. 

If you're not familiar with the idea, everyone brings a platter of cookies and you put them all on a table and get to try all the different kinds. At the end of the night, most people take a ziplock bag and bring a bunch of cookies home with them. It's a really basic idea but is a great way of gathering people and providing time for people to spend together during the holidays. We played a fun little game after everyone was stuffed with cookies and ended the night in prayer for each other. Such a sweet time! 

So, if you're wanting to host some people for Christmas and need a good, easy way to do it: try a cookie exchange. It doesn't require a ton of effort and allows other people to participate so you don't have to cook a bunch of food beforehand =) 

We should probably have the first ever BLOG COOKIE CHANGE. What do you think?!? Even though we can't all enjoy each other's delicious treats, I know we can all stand to have a few more cookie recipes on hand for these next few weeks for all the parties we may be going to.

Here is my recipe that comes straight from my crazy, awesome cook of a mother, Roberta Hoppe. These are seriously some of the best cookies I've ever had and super easy to make!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg, beatened
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cups peanut butter chips, or heath
1 cups milk choc chips
1/2 cups broken pretzel pieces
Pretzel salt or sea salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350
Stir together flour, soda and salt
In another bowl, beat butter and the sugars until light and fluffy. On low, add egg and vanilla.
Add the flour mixture and mix until there are no streaks of flour. Stir in other ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for an hour (I don't always do this part)
Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop out well rounded spoonfulls of dough and sprinkle with sea salt (optional). Bake 10 minutes or longer depending on how you like your cookies.

 

Please do share your secrets. We want to know so we can try them!! 

Don't forget to enter the Target Gift Card Giveaway from yesterday's post if you haven't already done so. 

Happy Cookie Sharing to you today!

Linnae

Christmas Give-a-way!!!!

Happy Holidays! I hope that you are doing fabulous today! My Going Beyond office compadres are so cute! They have something to tell you. Click play and then meet me back here for a fun give-a-way and to announce our winners of the PSL simulcast!

GB Christmas Blog Intro from Going Beyond

Indeed, we are excited about the holidays and thought it would be so fun to celebrate with you. Every week day for the rest of the month you'll find a fun and thoughtful holiday post. We hope you'll enjoy and participate in each of them.

But first, I've got some business to tend to! Thanks to all of you for commenting on last Wednesday's post. We've randomly selected our five winners to receive a free registration for the Going Beyond simulcast. They and a handful of their friends will be welcome to join us - free of charge! You ladies will also have your story and photo printed in the program that thousands of registrants are going to receive.
Drum Roll Please!!!

The winners are:
1. Pat
2. Carla Brooks
3. Kelli 
4. Deborah
5. Brandi

Congratulations sisters! Please email us at info@goingbeyond.com so we can tell you what to do from here.

Let's keep the party going, shall we? Today seems like the perfect time for us to give away our first in a slew of gifts we hope to give you during the rest of the month. We thought that a $30 gift card to Target would help you with all your Christmas shopping. I mean who couldn't use a little "Target" in their lives!

To enter the drawing for the gift card leave a comment telling us how much Christmas shopping you've already done and how much you have left to do. On Wednesday, we'll select one of you to send this little card to!

Looking forward to reading your comments!
Priscilla

Joy Comes in the Morning!

"...But joy comes in the morning...", Psalm 30:5

I've been thinking about this verse a lot lately.  I woke up this morning, not particularly feeling joyful.  It seems like my thoughts are the first thing that can turn into distractions...negativity.  It definitely doesn't stem from the fruit of joy.  Reading this verse makes me think, "Shouldn't I feel joyful when I wake up?"  I feel like the action of this verse to me is more choosing to be joyful than simply receiving joy.  Things change when I start to think about the things that I actually have to be joyful about.  There is a shift in my mind and my heart opens up to all that God has for me for the day.  I have to choose this fruit of the Spirit.  It doesn't always come naturally.  In my religious nature, I think that this is something that should be automatic if I think that I'm walking with God.  But I believe He allows us to take part by consistently choosing Him every day.  

Joy comes in the morning.  I may not wake up "feeling" that way, but it's available because His Word says it's available.  It is not be based on earthly experiences but on Kingdom realities.  

It's available for me.  It's available for you.

Is it just me or do you find this relevant to your own life?

Praying supernatural joy for you today,

Linnae 

 

PS don't forget to enter our giveaway from Wednesday's blog by Sunday night. Click here

The PSL Simulcast Give-a-way

I am so excited about something that is happening this coming spring. In fact, I'm sitting on the edge of my seat in joyful anticipation to tell you about it now and invite you to participate in it then!

For the past six years, I've had the privilege of partnering with LifeWay to bring the Going Beyond Event for women to thousands of sisters across the country. These events have been the highlite of my ministry year. And recently, the LifeWay team decided that the name of the event should be changed to Priscilla Shirer Live! Can I just be honest and tell you that I'm reeling at the thought of having an event named after me? Whether it's true or not, I have this feeling that you might be giggling at the sound of it just like I did when they threw the idea at me.
Oh well. . there it is. . . Priscilla Shirer Live!
Let's just call it PSL from this point on, ok? Takes the pressure off and will make me feel so much better!

So here's the deal. . our April 27th event is a simulcast - which means if you can't get to us in Richmond, we'll come to you!  I'm so excited that the event will be broadcasted to churches, small groups and individuals like you! That's right girlfriend. . . you can have your own personal event in the comfort of your own home
. . .on your laptop
. . .with your friends
 . . in your pajamas
. . .and your fluffy socks
 . . .under your favorite blanket
. . . in your favorite spot on the sofa
 . . .with a bowl of icecream in front of you (next to your Bible, of course)

So, today, I'd like to give away five free simulcast registrations for the PSL simulcast.

In fact, I think it would be cool not only to give you free registration but to include your story in the listening guide that every single attendee will get at that event! It'd be awesome to share your tesitmony with all of our sisters in the Lord. Since I'll be teaching on Gideon and how God can demonstrate His strength in our weaknesses, hearing about how you've seen this demonstrated in your life will be extra special!

So, here's how you enter. Leave a comment to today's post including your name, email address and 100-200 words explaining how you've seen God demonstrate His strength in your weakness. How has He shown you His power? Read 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 for inspiration and then let us know!

We'll select five winners and here is what you'll win!

Free registration of the 2013 PSL simulcast for a small group of 7-14 of your friends!
A Free copy of one of the very first Gideon member books hot off the press

A special section in the PSL simulcast listening guide including YOUR story! We'll even be including your photograph right along with it!

Can't wait to hear how you've seen God move in you and through you! Your testimony is going to encourage so many others. You have until Sunday, December 9 to enter. We'll announce a winner on December 10.
Have fun and remember . . .you are fiercely loved today!
Priscilla

 

*Click here for simulcast information