Priscilla Shirer's Blog, page 75

One Penny, Two Penny...

(***Hop on over here to see yesterday's T-shirt winners***)

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I tend to mope about as if I've nothing in my pockets.  I act as if I don't have the God-of-the-Universe on a direct line.  I walk as if I'm a pauper, when I've got a Daddy who owns a cattle on a thousand hills...

You too?

Gosh, then you're gonna' LOVE this month's Jewelry Box.  Grab your favorite beverage, steal a few minutes from your kids/sleeping hour/task-at-hand and BREATHE it in.  I promise you'll walk away thinking a little differently about your day...

Have an amazing weekend!  We Dallas folk are drying out from the rains this week...and praying for Priscilla, Jerry and Anthony as they make their way to Portland for Going Beyond...it's gonna', well, go BEYOND in Jesus' Name!

 

xx

 

annetta

Housekeeping Items

Hello ladies! (and the few 5 men that read this blog?)

Linnae here stopping in to share a few FYIs from the Going Beyond offices. Bare with me as this might be the most boring blog post you've read yet, but I want to keep you in the loop =)

We absolutely love hearing from you all whether it's through email, blog comments, or phone calls. We have noticed a few questions that keep coming up and so we thought it would be a good time to corporately share the answers with you.

So here goes . . . 

1. Are Priscilla's messages from the Going Beyond Events this year available for purchase?

Unfortunately, they are not available for sale at this time. That's not to say that they won't be available in some form in the future, but please know that we are so glad to know that they have been a blessing to you all and we will take this into great consideration for future reference. Of course, you all will be the FIRST ones to know here in our blog community if/when they do become avaiable.

2. Can I still purchase the "I Am Resolved" Tees that go along with the Resolution Revolution Book Club?

We are working on ordering some more t-shirts. We had a few complications with the printing but please know we are working hard on getting us some more. As always, we will definitely let you know when they are back up on the website, which should be in a few weeks!

3. Is Priscilla available to speak at our women's conference/church?

We are so incredibly honored that you would consider Priscilla to be a part of what God is doing through your ministry and it would be a joy to serve and be with you for your event. The 2013 calendar has been closed and we are currently taking requests for 2014. ( I know, that seems really far away, doens't it??? ) It's hard for us to imagine planning for that year as well. However, if you've been around our blog community for any amount of time, then you know that Jerry and Priscilla have their hands full with 3 super cute boys that need as much time as they can get with mom and dad. Because of this season of life, we unfortunately aren't able to accept every invitation that might come our way.

BUT, because you are our favorites and we love connecting with you as much as we can, we invite you to join us for one of our Going Beyond Events taking place this year in Portland, Lewisville TX and Amarillo TX. This is our opportunity to invite women from all over the states to spend a weekend with us in prayer, worship and studying the Bible. They are so fun and you've got to come to one if you have not been yet!

If you aren't able to join us for a GB Event and you feel led to invite Priscilla to speak at your 2014 event, the best and most helpful way for us to get your information is to fill out one of our booking forms. Once you have submitted your information we try to get back to you as fast as we can. You can usually expect to hear back from myself within a week of your submission. 

Phew! I think that's all for now. Thanks for sticking through this one with me. Promise next time I'll try to have something a little more enlightening to share with you guys.

And, because I really do love you and you are patiently waiting for the new tees to come in, we are giving away this T-Shirt ...

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We've got 2 (1 grey and 1 tan, both size Large). This is not the original one from the site, but still a good shirt none the less. Share this blog post via Facebook, Twitter or on your own personal blog and then leave us a comment with your name and email and how you shared. We will choose 2 random winners tonight at 11:00pm CST and post the winner Friday morning.

You guys are the best!

Linnae Nae

As always, you can following Priscilla on Twitter @priscillashrier and then our Facebook Fan Page "Going Beyond with Priscilla Shirer"

Hot Summer Days

Hello blog family! So glad that you are joining me today.

I'm writing you from my home - which gratefully is air conditioned because IT'S HOT IN TEXAS. I mean right this very moment I am staring at my boys who are outside with a friend playing basketball and my heart is melting for them. I mean, literally, it's melting - cause they look like they are too. The sweat is pouring down their brows, their shirts are caked to their tiny chests and their tongues are panting faster than a dog's would if he was lost in the desert.
Yes. It's hot in Texas in the summer.

I just got back from Los Angeles last night. The whole clan and I were there to serve at Oasis Church right in the heart of the city but we took a couple extra days to lolly-gag around as a family. It was a delightful, airy, enjoyable 73 degrees during the hottest part of the day for the entire weekend. The sweet, pungent breeze that whipped in from the ocean was addictive and almost demanded that you put a sweater over your bare shoulders.
In other words. . it was perfection.

The flight landed home in Dallas from Cali and my first step onto the pavement felt more like I was entering a sauna cranked up to the max rather than an airport parking lot. I stripped down to a tank top before I got to the car.
O well. . this is where I live and I love it. . . .all 100 smoking hot degrees of it.

I've gotta think of cool ways to entertain my boys this summer. Our normal hangouts - the play areas at Chick-fil-a and the local mall - are demanding that I keep my enormous boys O-U-T. They're heads are too far above the height requirement sign stuck to the wall to fake it anymore. I sure have fudged it as long as I could but now the other mothers are starting to look at me and my big brood in disgust when we arrive since we obviously pose a horrendous threat to their tender 18-mo-olds. 
So I've gotta come up with other options.
I'm praying that there is an on-slot of great kids movies that will entertain us inside the cool darkened theaters this summer but in case there aren't enough to give us one show a day, every day for the next 3 months, I might need some other ideas. :)

I'm suspecting that you could use them too?
So, let's help each other out. What are some indoor activities that our kids would enjoy this intensely hot summer?

You are loved.
Priscilla

Help Needed!

Hello everyone! I hope you all had an amazing memorial day weekend! I’m sure you can guess what the majority of my weekend consisted of?!?! 

FOOD!!! Ha!

A really good friend of mine invited me to come home (Arkansas) with she and her husband for the weekend and boy did we have a blast! The entire weekend was filled with playing games, watching television shows, eating, swimming, and just enjoying each others' company. I really hated for the weekend to end!

I arrived back home yesterday and I unpacked, fixed me a nice peanut butter and jelly sandwich with some milk and I snuggled up on the couch, grabbed my remote and was soooooo excited to watch....one by one, all of the shows that were on my DVR, but to my dismay, my DVR was completely EMPTY!!! How could that be? I hadn’t turned on my television in a week!

It was at that moment that I realized that the season for all of my shows were up! What’s a girl to do!? I literally have nothing to watch, so this is where I need your help!

What shows do you watch? Please share because I LOVE watching TV and I refuse to spend the entire summer watching re-runs.

Just in case you’re wondering, here are my favorite shows!!

Biggest Loser (I cry each episode)
The Firm
So You Think You Can Dance (If I could do life over again, I would doggedly pursue dance)
American Idol
The Voice

Side Note: Have y’all heard of a show called Duck Dynasty? I keep hearing that its a great show to watch, but for some reason I just can not bring myself to watch a show about ducks. BUT, if y’all say that its good I may give it a try!

Can’t wait to hear your suggestions!

Antrenette

Memorial Day Fun!

This weekend some girlfriends and I will be traveling a few hours south to celebrate my roommate, Dara, and her "6 weeks until she gets hitched" girls getaway.

We've been anticipating this weekend for quite some time. Mainly because we all secretly wished we lived in Austin,  but also because there will be lots of laying out, eating delicious foods, relaxing, and I'm sure we will somehow end up doing a little shopping. 

We will definitely be eating here for lunch when we first arrive:

Foodheads - YUM!

 

Then we will throw on our bathing suites and head here:

Barton Springs!

 

We will then make our way here for shopping and MORE eating:

South Congress - such a funky party of town

 

And for the rest of our time.......

 

Definitely some running here:

Lady Bird Lake Trail

 

And of course, grabbing some delicious coffee from here:

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Mozarts!

 

It's going to be so fun to get out of our usual routine and spend some time in one of my favorite cities! I can't BELIEVE Dara is getting married July 7! It's coming quickly!

What about you? Got any big plans for Memorial Day? Any place you know of in Austin that is an absolute MUST for us to go to?

We will see you guys on Tuesday!

Linnae

 

P.S. Don't forget you can keep up with Priscilla on Twitter @priscillashirer and you can also find us on facebook at Going Beyond with Priscilla Shirer

Summer, "Parah" and Back to the Beginning

In Dallas, it is SO en vogue to garden right now. I’m sure there are some of you cool mums who are WAY ahead of the times and have had your gardens rowed and ready for several years. But for us metropolitan folk, (the hipsters and vegans and organics and well, just about anyone you talk to!) all the herb-planting or tomato-growing is a brand new experience.

All this fresh plant life has got me thinking...when God first created the world, before the entrance of sin, God only gave a few instructions to ol’ Poppa Adam and Momma Eve, and the first of these instructions is to “be fruitful.” When we look at that word in Hebrew (“parah”), it carries the connotation of “to cause to bear fruit or blossom.” I love this for so many reasons...

“TO CAUSE”: I am vividly aware of my inability to do anything outside of the grace-given strength of God. Plainly, I can’t do it. I might think I’m handling something well, but my efforts are really finger-painting to God’s masterpiece. So, there’s some freedom in this: YOU (and I!) CAN NOT DO IT. Let it go. Breathe. He KNOWS you can’t do it.

But, this doesn’t mean we don’t have some stuff to do here. Far from it. When we “cause” something to happen, we are laying groundwork. We are setting certain elements in place upon which God can use us. We are responsible for being the best God-created, Jesus-lovin‘ versions of ourselves. Personally, this means I listen to worship music as I sleep to allow His message to steep in my heart for the next day...it means I CAN NOT miss a quiet time...it means I continuously ask The Holy Spirit to re-examine me, my motives...it means I submit to His Voice...it means I TRUST Him...it means I ABIDE. If He’s allowing me to be a part of His story, I wanna make sure I’m ready for His movement through me to be more about His movement and less about my weakness.

“TO BEAR FRUIT”: I love this part. YOU love this part. This is when cameras flash and spotlights hone in on us. This is where we are running in our giftings and God is making things happen. But in order to GET to this part we have to go through the 3 seasons preceeding it...Autumn, Winter and Spring. OH! How we (ME!) despise the Autumn and Winter...how I hate the process of dying to myself, of seeming to be invisible to the world...of feeling like I will never again feel whole, or used of God, or a good version of my God-created self. And then, even when the winter has passed and we feel like there MIGHT be a light at the end of the tunnel, we still have Spring to wade through...Spring, where we plant and work and persevere in discipline. When Spring (as it always does), follows heavy on the heels of Winter, it is a sad season indeed. It’s a place of pressing in and stirring up faith in God when it has been a LONG TIME since we have seen His face. It’s a time of believing in His Providence and Goodness when they seem to have expired and moved on long, long ago.

All these seasons, as painful and hard as they may be, come with the same unspoken Promise of the garden long ago..that God will walk with us.

I know we have 10 commandments and a million other commands for living right...but what’s “en vogue” in my heart right now is pressing in and embracing the season I am in. Summer, like in real life, is a short season that goes by all-too-quickly. The majority of my life is spent in one of these other seasons that He has gifted me. And a gift they are...for they all, with their cold and growth and work and pain and beauty and joy, offer depth with Him that is renewed and deepened with each passing day, should I just “to cause.”

So. Be fruitful my friend! Whether it’s in discipline or in faith, PRESS in to Him. I’m praying that your life has flowers a-bloomin’, bees a-buzzin’, all with a backdrop of green goodness sooner than later. And whatever season you are in, that you may KNOW with all your heart that He is absolutely crazy about you.

annetta

The Gift of Transparency

A note from Priscilla: The post you are about to read has profoundly impacted me. When I first read it, I was shocked not only because I didn't know this about my sweet friend Antrenette but because I was challenged to be more vulnerable and open because of what she wrote. 

If you've been a part of our blog family for any length of time then you are familiar with Antrenette. She has been a gift to our ministry and to my life and I am extremely proud of her for sharing herself with you and me in the way she has chosen to today. I trust her to share this in-depth portion of her life with you on this blog.

I know that you, and many others, will be blessed by her transparency.

Read. . . and be blessed.
Priscilla

 

Antrenette: 

I recently had a conversation with a young unmarried lady who shared with me that she was pregnant and at a crossroad. She told me how scared she was and how she was experiencing a range of expected emotions...shame...numbness...fear...confusion...sadness. She talked about her plans and her goals and about how being pregnant would severely thwart those.

There were two things that awakened my heart as this young lady was speaking. The first was when I noticed the sadness in her eyes as she talked about how disappointed her parents would be if they were to find out and the other was when she told me that she had an appointment the very next morning at 8am to get an abortion.

She probably was not sure why tears formed in my eyes as I listened to her. She had no way of knowing that her comments stirred the most intimate and tender place in my own heart.

Her story was my own.

Just with a different name. A different face.

.....a different baby.

Ten years ago, I was sitting in her exact shoes. All the emotions that I experienced back then started overflowing the depths of my heart. I felt what she felt. I feared what she feared. And at that moment, while listening to her story and wrestling emotionally with my own past, I arrived at a crossroad. I had a decision to make......keep my little secret to myself or share it with her in the hope that it might help.

In a moment, I had a decision.

I knew what I needed to do.

So, I prayed; asked for strength and then pushed my fear and shame aside and shared my store with her.

I told her the hasty decision that I was never able to reverse.  A decision that I still have to live with today. By the end of the conversation we were both in tears. We exchanged contact information and I prayed with her and encouraged her. I walked away unsure of what her final decision would be but grateful that I had given her the whole story and hopeful that God's Spirit could use it in ways I could never imagine.

The next day, I received a text message from her that stated, “I cancelled my appointment!” A few days after that, she shared with me that she mustered up enough courage to tell her parents and that she was shocked by how supportive they were.

At that moment, miraculously, all the shame and guilt that I had tucked away within the crevices of my heart, were lifted! I had intended to help her but somehow... I ended up being helped - set free. ONLY GOD!!!!

Through this situation the Lord has taught me how important it is for us to become transparent with one another. We all have a story and chapters within them we are not so proud of.  The enemy wants us to hide and conceal the very portions that can greatly impact someone else’s life. I’m not saying that we need to spill our guts to every person we come in contact with. We definitely need to exercise wisdom and only share when we feel led by the Holy Spirit to do so.

But one thing is clear: your testimony is unique and powerful my friend and someone is waiting on you to give them the beautiful gift of transparency.

The young lady I encountered was waiting on me. . . who might be waiting on you?

He comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 2 Corinthians 1:4

Praying for you,

Antrenette

The Pastor

The church is the living breathing mechanism through which God works in us, to spur us on to victorious Christian living, and through us to edify and encourage each other. The profound beauty of the body of Christ in it's breadth is staggering when you think about it.

It's so much bigger than your local church or mine. It's THE CHURCH - the global gathering of all who have placed faith in Christ.
Those whom the Lord has given us as pastors - shepherds to disciple us, encourage us, comfort us and, yes, correct us, have a big job on their hands. No church is perfect - with all of us and our junk crowding the pews every week. These courageous folks who have answered the call of God to walk beside us, as our souls are conformed into the image of Christ, have huge jobs and we should never take them lightly.

I was reminded of the importance of covering our church leaders in prayer this past weekend. I watched proudly from the front row of a crowded auditorium as a seminary colleague of mine, Ikki Soma, was installed as the pastor of City Of Refuge Church in Houston, Texas. Ikki, originally from Japan, has been like a "big brother" of mine for 15 years now and tears formed in my eyes as the men of his denomination surrounded his kneeling body, laid hands on him and spoke to the Lord on his behalf.
I was very profoundly impacted when they elder hosting the proceedings asked the congregation to stand and then asked if they would commit to pray for Ikki and his family, submit to his authority and encourage him as he serves them as pastor.
They enthusiastically responded "Yes"!

How beautiful - a congregation making a commitment to pray for their leader.

May this be a reminder for all of us to keep our pastors and their families covered and never take for granted the load that they carry.
It's a broad burden for which they have willing volunteered their own shoulders.
Bless them Jesus.

I'm praying for my pastor, Dr. Tony Evans, today. Tell me about yours.
Priscilla

Connect

I get so jazzed about relationships.  There's this energy that comes from 2 people meeting and forming a new relationship.  There are things that happen in the Kingdom that would never have happened had 2 people not met.  Think about it.  How many married couples would say, "Oh so-and-so introduced us and that was the rest of the story."  

I think God is the Great Connector.  When I've needed (like REALLY needed, not just WANTED) a connection He has seemlessly connected me.  I'm still waiting for Him to connect me to the cute lead singer of that band I heard a few months ago.  :)  There's this synergy in a connection...the connection is about MORE than me and that person.  I can do something that I couldn't do before I met that person.  There is something they deposit IN me and something I deposit IN them through our conversation, respect, care of each other...even in the first meeting.  

Sometimes this deposit is negative.  

Sometimes, it's positive.  

I recently heard John Maxwell talking about "imparting value" in people.  He was sitting on a stage, weeping because God had allowed him to pray over a group of rag-tag ministers.  He loved them.  Reminds me of another "brother" who wept and prayed and imparted value into US a long time ago...Jesus loved and respected people simply because they were God's creation.  I wonder what would happen if all of our random connections held that same value-giving...that same love and respect that Jesus had for us.  Do I GIVE in relationships or only take?  Do I strive to place value on the people God places in my path?  

I sometimes act like giving in relationships is a one-time deal.  I give or place value on a person and then am done, not really thinking about it.  But Jesus discipled the disciples time and time again, with conversation after conversation.  And with the patience only found in the Son of God.  Don't we all hypocritically wanna smack Peter sometimes, feeling like he'll "never get it" and always makes the wrong decisions?  Gosh, I feel like his story is mine...

Today.  For me.  Discipleship is about imparting value, having conversations and connecting people...time and time and time again. Proactively and intentionally.  Maybe discipleship is really a matter of imparting value on folks.  Hmmm...what do YOU think?  He called us to make disciples.  In the middle of His own crisis, about to hit the most PAINFUL and TRYING time of His life, He made disciples.  No matter where you are today, let's try an experiment...let's impart value on someone.  And then tell us what you did so we can try!!  

 

You are dearly loved this day...He is nuts about you.  And so are we.

 

Annetta

Tired?

Don't know if you can tell or not, but my boys were exhausted yesterday. A late night baseball tournament (who plans those anyway?) and an early morning were enough to put all of them into a deep coma by mid-afternoon. I just couldn't resist their sweet little angelic sleeping faces and the all-too-rare moment of car-quietness so I snapped this picture before they had enough consciousnesses to stop me.

This is the kind of thing a future daughter-in-law would love to see.

 

It's interesting that this episode of exhaustion came the very day that my doctor called to tell me that I was anemic. The test results from the blood work she'd done the day before showed low levels of iron in my blood. Certainly wasn't new news. I've been anemic for a while and, admittedly, I haven't done well keeping up with my iron supplements. My sweet doctor told me to get on it immediately and added, "If you don't, you'll be so tired."

OH!! Is that what my problem has been?

Whether from low iron, packed schedules or just a mattress too tough to induce a good night's sleep, it seems like tiredness is an epidemic. Our kids are overwhelmed, our own bodies are fatigued and our stress is mounting under the pressure of it all.

Something's gotta give, don't you think?

 

What are you doing to keep a balanced life?

I'll admit, Jerry and I are going to have to spend some time reconsidering how our spring and fall months are going to operate. With three growing boys who all want to play sports, the full load of school they have to keep up with and our ministry travel together as a family, it will be easy for the simple pleasures I WILL NOT LIVE WITHOUT to get lost in the shuffle.

Family dinner around an actual table with home cooked food.
Basketball in the backyard; parents against kids.
Enough energy in the evening to spend time with my husband instead of collapsing into bed - unconscious before my head hits the pillow.

I want to have time for those things and I know it is going to take deliberate strategy to make it happen.

Let's help each other.

Go!

Priscilla