Lysa TerKeurst's Blog, page 39

The First Step

Have you ever wanted to do something but weren’t sure of the first step to take? First steps can be scary and uncomfortable. Doing something new can evoke all kinds of insecurities, doubts and questions.

If this is something God is calling me to do, will He really help me do it?

What if other people don’t believe in me?

What if I fail?

I’ve asked these questions. I’ve been afraid to do many of the things God has called me to do. But one thing that’s given me great courage is having people in my life who speak God’s Truth to me on a regular basis. The more we hear the Truth the less loud Satan’s discouraging lies are.

One of those people is my Pastor, Steven Furtick, who you heard from in yesterday’s video interview. We’ve been talking about his new book, Greater. It’s an amazing message filled with Biblical perspectives and rich teaching from the prophet Elisha.

In today’s interview, Pastor Steven is unpacking how to take that first step in whatever God is asking you to do today. Maybe you are supposed to teach a Bible study this fall or consider going on a mission trip. Or maybe yours is more of an internal act of obedience, like have a new attitude toward someone or saying you’re sorry.

Whatever it is, there’s such good advice in today’s video interview. One of my favorite quotes? “It’s not what I do–it’s the heart I do it with.”

So, watch the video and leave me a comment below. I’m giving away three signed copies of Greater!

And the winners of last week’s give away are Melissa Chambers, Jennifer Rasor, and Elisha Morris. Please send your mailing address to jennie@proverbs31.org. Congrats!

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Published on September 05, 2012 07:40

Dream Bigger, Start Smaller

Today my Pastor, Steven Furtick, is releasing his new book called, GREATER–Dream bigger. Start smaller. Ignite God’s vision for your life.

This is one of those books you’re going to be tempted to highlight so much, there will be more yellow lines than not by the time you’re done.

It’s just that good.

Honestly, I think we should all use it for the next month alongside our Bible for our morning devotion time. Maybe you’ve hit a dry spot in the rush of finishing up summer and trying to get geared up for a new school year. Or maybe you’ve felt a little lost in how to really follow hard after God’s vision for your life.

Well, read GREATER and I think you’ll see it’s the exact kick in the pants you’ve been wanting.

Not only is it the most engaging Bible teaching on the stories of the prophet Elisha I’ve ever seen, it’s also the roadmap your soul has been craving to better navigate God’s vision for your life. GREATER will show you how to dream bigger and start smaller as you learn to follow God like never before.

But instead of me just gabbing on and on about this amazing book, I thought I’d let you hear from Pastor Steven Furtick for yourself…

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Published on September 04, 2012 04:44

The Second Unglued Webcast Replay is Live!

What a fun time we had last night talking about conflict resolution. I talked about the choice we have to follow the path of humility or the path of pride.

I am challenged by this choice especially in times of conflict. I may or may not have admitted on the webcast dumping water on my husband in bed once when we were having a particularly interesting growth opportunity. Oh my.

My amazing friend, Tonia, led Kelly Stamps, Courtney Joseph, Dr. Tim Clinton and I in some insightful conversations about resolving conflict.

This is one you’ll want to watch with your family and friends. Think of it as one of the best counseling sessions you’ll go to, only it’s FREE!

Click here to watch the webcast replay. It will be available until the webcast next Thursday!

Once you watch the webcast, leave me a comment here to let me know what resonated with you. And to celebrate having over 14,000 viewers last night, I’m giving away 3 copies of the Unglued Bible Study DVD.

I’ll announce the winners Tuesday. Have a happy weekend!

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Published on August 31, 2012 08:54

Thanks for watching the second Unglued webcast

Thank you so much for attending the live webcast tonight! I hope you were blessed by what was shared.

I’m looking forward to the webcast next Thursday, 8pm EST right here with Pastor Steven Furtick. The theme next week? Identifying where things fell apart in an Unglued situation. You don’t want to miss this message!

The webcast from tonight will be available for replay first thing in the morning. Check back here for more information.

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Published on August 30, 2012 18:21

Second Unglued Webcast Tonight!

The second LIVE Unglued webcast is tonight at 8pm EST right here!

Special note: If it is 8pm EST right now and you see this on my blog,

you must reload the page!

Last week we had a bit of a traffic jam as everyone tried to log on to view the webcast. I guess you could say K-LOVE’s server just came Unglued! This week we will be streaming from my website and are ready for round 2! So bring on the traffic at www.lysaterkeurst.com!

On this webcast I am going to tackle the topic of Conflict Resolution. My special guests will be two sensational bloggers we all love, Kelly Stamps and Courtney Joseph, as well as the President of the American Association of Christian Counselors, Dr. Tim Clinton!

And best of all, you can watch in your PJ’s from the comfort of your own home!

All you have to do to tune in is come right here, www.lysaterkeurst.com, at 8pm EST tonight.

But that’s not all!

There will be some partying going on! Facebook and Twitter parties that is! I have some sweet friends who are hosting the parties and giving away free Unglued stuff all throughout the webcast.

Not sure how to party on Facebook or Twitter?

There will be 3 different Facebook parties going on during the webcast. You are welcome to join any of them!

Brooke and Erin from The MOB Society (Mother of Boys) are hosting an Unglued Facebook Party here.

Jennifer from Unveiled Wife is hosting an Unglued Facebook Party here.

Lisa and Kristi from Melissa Taylor’s Online Bible Studies’ Team are hosting an Unglued Facebook Party here.

So, how do you join?

Pick a party. Click on the link. Click the Join button in the upper right corner of the screen. Then check back tonight at 8pm EST. The hostesses will be posting questions and you can comment for a chance to win some really cool Unglued stuff. You will see comments appear immediately, but every so often you will need to refresh your screen in order to see any new questions the hostesses have asked. Yeah, we know it’s a bummer, but that’s how Facebook does things.

For the Twitter party:

Follow the Twitter hashtag #ungluedbook and look for your hostess, @AngieBCombs, to tweet questions. Tweet your answers and be sure to include #ungluedbook in your tweet!

And certainly, you are welcome to Facebook, tweet, text, or call your friends and invite them to join in as well. The more the merrier.

I’ll see you tonight!

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Published on August 30, 2012 04:30

Conversations She Will Have About Me With Her Therapist One Day

A month ago my youngest daughter presented my husband and I with a proposal. An i-movie proposal. Complete with dramatic scenes and credits that rolled at the end.

“Please homeschool me.”

Oh my heavenly days, no.

No.

I’m not a teacher. I’m not patient. I’m not even nice some days.

No.

I tried homeschooling this darling in kindergarten and honestly thought I was going to lose my ever-loving mind. I would watch other moms do this thing right. They were organized and scheduled and undistracted.

Me? I looked like a dog’s tongue when he’s got his head stuck out the window of a truck going 70 miles per hour. Messy. Flapping about. Not pretty to look at.

Can you imagine the conversations she will have about me with her therapist one day? No, let’s not add homeschooling to the list of things Mom didn’t do well.

But then I got to thinking. You know those 3am crazy thinking times when you should be sleeping but can’t? Yes, I started having lots of those. What if I just took a year of adventure with this beautiful young woman? What if I just hit the pause button on all things typical and just took a year to do things differently. With her. For her. Could I do that?

Okay, God if you want me to take a year of adventure with Brooke, show me.

Then I met a math teacher who got all excited about coming to my house to teach her math a couple times a week.

And then a fabulous reading and writing tutor just happend to have a couple days a week to do the same.

Of course an email then showed up from Shaun Groves asking me if I’d like to go on a missions trip to Peru with Compassion International. “Can I bring my daughter?” I asked. And what do you think he enthusiastically replied back?

My friend, Kristi, asked if Brooke could be in her small group Bible study this year.

My friend, Renee, asked if Brooke wanted to take cheerleading classes at her gym.

My friend, LeAnn, agreed to help teach Brooke some cooking classes.

And I’d already been planning a trip to Sea World.

So, the year of adventure started unfolding in front of me. “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope. Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” (Lamentations 3:21-24)

I have no idea how this year will turn out. I might royally mess up my child’s education.

But I have a feeling it’s going to be one we will never forget. One where we are going to grow and be stretched and learn. Together. This, the year of adventure.

What kind of adventurous thing could you do with your kids this year? Pick something small. One thing.

Maybe it’s the year of them learning 12 Bible verses–one per month. Or maybe it could be the year of everybody making their bed at least 3-4 times per week. Or maybe it’s the year of letter-writing, where you have them write one letter per week to brighten someone’s day.

One thing. One year. The adventure is waiting. No pressure. Just intentional fun. Let’s talk about it in the comments below.

And if you’re like me and need a little mommy pep rally to help your mornings go better, click here to read what I’m chatting about over at InCourage today.

And there just might be a little giveaway you may want to know about over at Kelly’s Korner and Courtney’s Women Living Well with some cool yellow bags.

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Published on August 28, 2012 06:14

Turning My Twit Around

Last week my husband made the decision to have a tree cut down in our front yard. He’d consulted with a professional who told him the tree was sick and one good storm could cause the tree to break and fall. Plus, this tree has been dropping these prickly gum ball things that drive my husband crazy.

So, with one swift decision and a few strong men, the tree was gone.

I wasn’t in any of the conversations about the tree.

I didn’t know it was sick.

I didn’t know it could fall during a storm and damage our home or our cars.

I didn’t mind the prickly gum ball things.

All I knew is I walked out my front door and a tall, lovely, shade providing tree was just chopped down. My heart seized at the sight. What in heavens? I called my husband in a panic.

His calm and reassuring explanation didn’t make me feel better. Every time I looked outside, all I could see was the stump. The gaping hole in the typical landscape of our front yard. The shade that was missing.

I was hyper focused on what was missing rather than seeing the bigger picture.

Now here’s the crazy thing. We live out in the country and have countless trees all around our house. Lots and lots of trees. But the more I got all in a twit about that one tree, the less I noticed all the others.

Distracted by one wrong thing, I was missing out seeing many right things.

I think this is a tactic the evil one uses against me. Against you. Against us.

The Devil loves to make us focus on the little that’s wrong so we miss the big picture of all that’s right.

So, today when this starts happening, I’m going to follow everything up with a “but” statement. If I catch myself focusing on something that’s wrong, I’ll stop my negative hyper focus by saying, “but”…and start listing things that are right.

My front yard is missing a tree, BUT my husband has promised to plant a new one. One that doesn’t drop prickly things and isn’t sick.

My husband didn’t talk to me about the tree before it was chopped down, BUT he was being my family’s protector. One who cares enough to just take care of what needs to be taken care of. One that I can trust.

I have a tendency to get in a twit about little things, BUT today is a new day with new possibilities. If only I will remember how good a BUT can be.

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Published on August 27, 2012 05:13

Unglued Webcast Replay

I know, a blog post on Friday-surprise! I usually don’t post on Fridays, but I thought that I would let you all in on a little information.

We have been receiving lots of questions about last night’s live Unglued webcast with the ladies of K-LOVE.

The good news is a huge crowd joined us.

The bad news is so many tried to join in and we crashed the K-LOVE server. Yikes.

But never fear, it’s fixed now.

If you couldn’t get through please know it broke my heart when I heard this. Ugggh…We did so much pre-planning so that very thing wouldn’t happen. But I had to take my own advice and not come UNGLUED over the server coming UNGLUED!

Somebody say Amen! And by the way have I mentioned how lovely you look today

We are so sorry for those of you who couldn’t get in, but are also excited to tell you that you can still watch!

Please visit www.klove.com/unglued to view last night’s webcast. You can tune in anytime.

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Published on August 24, 2012 06:34

Unglued Webcast Tonight!

I’m so excited about the first LIVE Unglued webcast tonight at 8pm EST. We’ll be wrapping up around 9:00pm.

Tonight, you’ll learn what kind of reactor you are and the one question you must ask yourself when your next conflict arises.

Also, you don’t want to miss getting to meet the voices you hear on K-LOVE: Amy Baumann, Amanda Carroll, Kelli Caldwell and Lauren Lee along with Proverbs 31 Ministry’s Renee Swope.

And best of all, you can watch in your PJ’s from the comfort of your own home!

All you have to do to tune in is log onto www.klove.com/unglued at 8pm EST.

If you want to join in the twitter conversations, use the hashtag: #ungluedbook. And certainly, you are welcome to facebook, tweet, text, or call your friends and invite them to join in as well. The more the merrier.

I’ll see you there!

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Published on August 23, 2012 04:39

Unglued Blog Tour – Let’s Stick Together

Writing Unglued was a scary thing for me. Putting my crazy tendencies to stuff and explode on paper for the world to read wasn’t easy. There’s this weird tension inside me between honoring God and being honest sometimes.

If I really say it like it is, is that dishonoring to God?

Sometimes the answer to that question for me, is yes and I have to reign it in.

But most times, I think my reader friends find it refreshing to know we can love Jesus like crazy and still get tripped up by the messes of life.

In the end, I decided being honest about my very imperfect progress not only honored God, but could help others who feel a little unglued at times too. If you’ve read the book, you know I’m not the hero of this message. I’m just a messenger of hope. If I can make better choices in the midst of my crazy, so can you.

Today, I have a really fun thing to announce-the Unglued blog tour!

A wonderful friend, Amy Bayliss, helped me gather up some blog friends to all post about Unglued in the next 2 weeks.

I have loved getting to know these ladies through their blogs and I really think you will too! These women are amazingly smart and witty and the kind of girls I wished lived next door to me.

On my better days.

Not on my “stand in my driveway and come unglued days.” Have mercy.

So, we are excited to be starting the Unglued Blog Tour today. Take a few minutes, and hop around the linked blogs below and enjoy! You might even get to win a copy of Unglued.

And for heaven’s sake, if you’ve blogged about Unglued and didn’t get on the blog tour list below, please put your link in the comment section below so others can visit your posts as well. I don’t want anyone getting left out.

Have a blast!

And thank you for all your support. Us unglued girls have fun sticking together, right.

Here are the ladies who are posting today.

Lots of Scotts

Big Mama

A Holy Experience

Karen Ehman

Baby Bangs

Cajun Joie de Vivre

Faith Barista

lil light o’mine

Jennie Allen

The Coconut Robot

Exemplify Online

I’m Just Sayin’

The Good News Girl

Pat Layton