Stephanie Shott

"For who has despised the day of small things." Zechariah 5:3

Do you sense God has called you to bigger and better things? Has He given you a vision for a ministry that is beyond you, yet you know it is for you? Are you stuck in neutral as you are waiting for it to unfold?

Sometimes we want the prominent before we walk through the petty; we seek the splendid instead of the small. But serving God is seldom a battle for position rather an aligning of our will to His. How, where and to what extent we serve is entirely up to Him.

While it's part of our DNA to desire to accomplish more, the goal is not to do more. The goal is to know Him more each obedient step of the way and let Him define the extent of our accomplishments.

This has been a hard one for a girl whose favorite quote is, "Attempt great things for God, expect great things from God." ~ William Carey. But the ultimate purpose in attempting great things for God must always be motivated by a heart that knows Him and desires to make Him known.

It's an odd phenomena, but those who have been called into the ministry must be very careful that their work does not become the object of their worship. It's so easy to get wrapped up in the grandness of the call and neglect to focus on the greatness of God.

Small things may be where He choses to leave us because we'd crumble under the weight of something bigger. But small things are just as important to God as the big things.

He gives significance to extending a cup of water in His name, to serving dinner to a stranger, to comforting a hurting heart. These are small things, but in the grander scheme of things, God gives them significance.

Yes, small things may be stepping stones to bigger things to come. But He reminds us that our faithfulness to fulfill His call to small things is a determining factor to His willingness to call us to bigger things. He doesn't call us to bigger if we haven't been faithful to the small things first.

'Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.' Luke 19:17

Have you missed God's call to the small things because you can only focus on the big things? Are you content to know that our faithfulness to fulfill His call to the small things is as important as accomplishing the big things? Do you know you've been called to something bigger than yourself, but you've struggled with each small step on the way? I'd love to hear about where you are in your ministry - what God has called you to - what challenges you have met in your journey.

I'd love to spend part of my week with you. Click here to subscribe and join me for a journey that may look much like your own.

(That's my man with the drums!)

With a drummer for a husband, you know I couldn't resist saying, "Drum roll please." But I'm very excited to announce the winner.

And the winner of Rachel Olsen's new book, It's No Secret: Revealing Divine Truths Every Woman Should Know and a $5 gift card to Starbucks is Jennifer. Please be sure to contact me at stephanieshott {at} me {dot} com and send me your mailing address.

A big THANK YOU to all who popped in, pulled up a chair and spent some time with us as you read the interview. You have blessed me by your presence. I know that even though you may not have won the book, you'll be heading out to your local bookstore this week to get a copy of your own.

CONGRATULATIONS JENNIFER!

It's no secret that I'm thrilled to have Rachel Olsen share her heart with me in my little corner of cyberspace. Rachel has a new book out entitled, It's No Secret: Revealing Divine Truths Every Woman Should Know. So grab yourself a cup of coffee, sit down for a few minutes and spend some time with us as Rachel gives us insight into her new book and her heart.

Rachel, as the editor of the Proverbs 31 Encouragement for Today devotions and a university professor, you have lots of experience writing and editing, but this is your first full-blown solo book. What prompted you to write it?

One verse. Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 13:11 there are secrets in the kingdom of God, and that His followers can grasp them. That statement excited me. I was captured by the notion that God has secrets He is willing to share with us. I wanted to find out what these God-Sized secrets were.

With this book I share twelve of the divine secrets I’ve found,so they can empower others’ lives just as they have empowered mine. And I included Bible study sections at the end of each chapter so my readers can dig into the Bible for themselves and find it’s gems. The Bible holds the most sublime secrets – divine revelations every woman should seek. It is simultaneously a love letter, a mirror, an instruction manual, a treasure map and a window into God’s heart!


The book is titled It's No Secret. Can you give us a glimpse into a few of the secret topics it covers?

Sure, Stephanie. I uncover the Secret to Responding to God, the Secret of Interdependence, the Secret of Handling Conflicts Biblically, the Secret of Living Generously, the Secret of Perfection in God’s Eyes, and the Secret to Growing Through Trials, just to name a handful. The whole list can be seen online in the table of contents when you “look inside this book” at Amazon.

To put it more succinctly, this book will help you:

* Overcome the competitive urges that leave you lonely

* Grow spiritually despite life's setbacks

* Discover how to make what you give away ultimately return to you

* View rest not as a have-to, but as a gift

* Handle conflicts or criticism with grace

* Relax unrealistic expectations in favor of emotional stability

* Discover a key to increased spiritual vitality

* Find adventure as you yield wholeheartedly to God

Your subtitle talks about revealing divine truths every woman should know. What importance does truth play in a girlfriend's life?

Truth is crucial. Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." So it matters where we get our truth from. I hold to the conviction that if God created life, He alone gets to define it. He is the Reality Maker. And His Word, the Bible, is our reliable source of truth. When we dig into it and follow it, our minds are renewed, our lives are transformed, and we grow in freedom. I’m confident It’s No Secret contains biblical truth that can do that for you.

Jesus, by the way, is the Word Made Flesh - He is truth in action! That’s why knowing truth always begins with following Him.

What is the most important “secret” that women must understand in order to move past their to-do lists and into more meaningful relationships with Christ?

It’s difficult to declare any single one the most important because I’ve found at different times in my life, each of the twelve divine secrets I outlined have opened up to me a new level of living in Christ. So the answer to that may depend on where someone is at spiritually at the moment.

But if I had to state a fundamental secret to a more meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ, I’d have to say simply coming to Him, regularly. And coming to Him on His terms. My core conviction is if God created life, He alone gets to define it. So if you believe God created you and gave you life, then let Him define you, let Him define your life. Come to Him for your definitions in life – for your definitions of what is true and what is false, what is of value and what is foolish, of what will please you and what will please Him. That’s ultimately what this book helps you do.

What is your greatest hope for women out there who read your book?

My hope echoes the apostle Paul’s. I started the book with a blank page before the introduction with his words from Colossians 2:2-3, “I want them to have full confidence because they have complete understanding of God’s secret plan, which is Christ himself. In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

My goal for my readers is that they would become God’s secret-keepers and His secret-revealers – that they would embrace the “secret way of living” revealed here, and show others this empowering way to live as well.

You are offering a giveaway to my readers today. Tell us about it!

If you look at the cover of my book, you’ll see one of my favorite things: coffee! I’m a decaf (pumpkin spice) latte girl in the winter, and a coffee-frappe girl in the summer. What I really wish I could do is meet each of my readers weekly for 12 weeks over cups of coffee and talk through the contents of our lives and of this book. But I can’t - I don’t have that many frequent flier miles! So I’m offering the next best thing in a giveaway: a free copy of the book and a $5 Starbucks gift card to buy the drink of your choice.

To enter to win, check out the table of contents on Amazon’s preview of the book and tell us which chapter interests you most and what you’d order at Starbucks.

Be sure to write your response in the comments section of my blog for a chance to win. The winner will be announced on September 27th.

Where can find Rachel and her book:It's No Secret: Revealing Divine Truths Every Woman Should Know

Rachel is a Women's Speaker and Devotional Editor for Proverbs 31 Ministries

On a personal note: Rachel's heart for God and God's girls comes through everything she writes and speaks. I highly recommend you visit Rachel's site, follow her blog and enjoy drawing closer to your Savior as you read her new book It's No Secret.

Today and tomorrow, my post on Scripture Dig is "Why the Cross?". I have to tell you that as I am writing this, I am so excited, so humbled and so thankful by the extent of God's sacrificial love for us.

I want to encourage you to pop over to Scripture Dig to read the rest of this post and tomorrow's post, as well.

If you have a loved one who doesn't really get the cross - or if you know someone who is struggling with what they believe about Christ - please let them read this post.

The Scripture Dig team is praying for souls to be saved! For the souls of those we know and love - for the souls of those we don't know and love. For your daughter, for your son, for your mom, for your dad, for your friend. We are praying that God would use this month's dig into the topic of salvation to reach those who may never cross the threshold of a church.

You may want to go back and look at the previous posts for this month and print them out for your friends. But we want you to know that we love you all and are praying for those you know to be saved.

Here is today's post:

Have you ever wondered why Jesus had to go to the cross? Or what the cross has to do with your life today? How can a 2,000 year old event possibly be relevant to us?

It’s rather complicated, yet clearly simple.

Man was created to live with God forever but he disobeyed God’s simple command to abstain from eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam’s sin placed all of mankind under the curse of sin and left us all in need of a Savior. The cross was God’s preordained response to our need for redemption. That’s why Jesus came…to reestablish our relationship with God that had been broken because of sin.


That’s the short version. But Scripture Dig doesn’t exist to sum things up. The passion of our heart is to thoroughly convey the truths of God’s Word as we all seek to grow and know Him more (at least to the extent our small space in cyberspace will allow in a blog). So, we’re going to take a walk through Scripture to get a thorough understanding of the plan and purpose of the cross.


It all began in the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve lived the dream life. They had everything they could possibly need, Beautiful rivers flowing through jewel laden lands; food for the taking and the presence of the Living God. Certainly, beyond anything we could ever imagine.


But there was one stipulation – God told them they could eat from any tree in all the land, except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. His warning was clear. “…for in the day you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Gen 2:17)


Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before the enemy of our souls came dressed in snake’s skin with destruction on his heart and lies on his lips. Eve succumbed to the enemy and Adam succumbed to Eve. And that was the beginning of the end.


The forbidden fruit brought an awareness of their own nakedness. They quickly clothed themselves with fig leaves and tried to hide themselves from God. “Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, ‘Where are you?’” Gen 3:9


The Lord knew where they were and what they had done, but it was confession time for the not-so-dynamic duo. The fig leaves may have covered their nakedness, but their sin and their shame remained.

After a couple of attempts to pass the buck, they knew they had to face the consequences. It was immediate death. Not physically, but spiritually. They were given the knowledge of good and evil and found themselves on the wrong side of the track.

With Adam and Eve standing there wearing nothing but their sin, shame and a couple of fig leaves, the Lord came to their rescue and clothed them in a coat made from animal skin. Since the skin of an animal is not available unless blood has been shed and death has occurred, it was obvious what had taken place. The animal’s life was sacrificed to cover the culpable couple’s sin and shame.

Genesis 3:21 says, “The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.”

Please click here to continue this post at Scripture Dig.

By the way, sweet sister, I'd love to have you subscribe to my blog and allow me the privilege of sharing part of each with with you. Click here to subscribe and join me for a journey that may look very much like your own!

I'm often amazed that God allows me the privilege of serving alongside women who truly inspire me! He did that when He put me with the Scripture Dig team and now, He's done it again. He has given me the tremendous opportunity to be part of a unique and much needed ministry, called Mommy Missions.

Mommy Missions was birthed in the heart of Tara McClenahan who has been serving moms throughout the world as a Mommy Mentor at ibloom. Tara's focus is helping Christian moms have an impact on their children’s spiritual development by being a Godly example and nurturing them as God gives us guidance in His Word.

If you're a mom on a mission to see your children grow and know God, Mommy Missions is for you! As a mom of two adult children and a veteran homeschool mom of eleven years, I can testify to countless hours researching resources and seeking out suitable material to intentionally train my children. Whether you're a homeschool mom or not, you've probably done the same.

No matter where you are on you 'mommy' journey, Mommy Missions has something for you!

Connect and grow with other mommies at Mommy Missions.


A little something about Tara:

Tara McClenahan is The Christian Mommy Mentor and writer associated with iBloom and is the honored & humble mommy to “Little Man”. Tara’s program, Mommy Missions (www.MommyMissions.com) is causing a lot of buzz in the Christian mom world! Mommy Missions is designed to help busy yet determined moms to intentionally nurture the spiritual development of their children in little ways every day.

Tara’s writings and teachings have been featured on iBloom, Heart of the Matter, Seeds of Faith, Cindy Rushton’s Time for Tea, the Ultimate Women’s Expo and the Ultimate Homeschool Expo. She can be reached at tara@ibloom.us.

Links:
www.MommyMissions.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/MommyMissions
www.twitter.com/taramcclenahan
Email: tara@ibloom.us

So, it seems as though my Feedburner account fed a random post to my subscribers this past weekend. I'm so sorry if you were a victim of this little cyberspace glitch, but obviously stuff like that happens on the world wide web.

Glitches happen. They happen with all things computer and they happen with all things life. You may be the most organized event planning maven in town, but glitches are regular wrench throwers into the best laid plans. Even as I'm writing this post, I've had a couple of glitches on my way to clicking "publish."

So what do we do when we hit bumps in the road? How do we handle the little interruptions of life and the big detours on the way to our destiny?

In Acts 20:24, Paul said, "But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God."

Paul faced much more than a Feedburner malfunction - he faced persecution, prison and death. These were more than bumps in the road on his way to fulfilling God's calling. But his face was set like a flint. He pressed toward the goal for the upward prize in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:13-14); he was determined to finish his race with joy.

We all experience glitches on this journey called life. We hurdle obstacles on our way to fulfilling God's call. There are mountains we must climb, valleys we must walk through. But when we fix our eyes on the prize we realize that every glitch is worth the glory that will be revealed in the last day.

Are you struggling with the glitches that keeping popping up on your way to fulfilling God's calling on your life? What mountain is standing between you and your God-given destiny? Perhaps the hurdle you face is your own fear? Maybe it's your lack of faith? Maybe you've had a hard time climbing over someone else's discouraging words.

Whatever it is, sweet sister, I pray you will see the destination is worth the difficulties that come your way. So be brave enough to climb that mountain, to hurdle those obstacles, to trudge through that valley and get over that glitch. Move forward with the dream God has tucked away in your heart. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him (Phil 2:13).

I'd love to share part of each week with you. Click here to subscribe and join me for a journey that may look much like your own.

My backstory isn’t a pretty one. In fact, I didn’t even begin life as an sweet little planned bundle of joy. My mom was raped and I was the result.

I was adopted by two wonderful parents who loved me and raised me as their own. But from the age of 3 until about the age of 12 my concept of love became skewed and shattered as I was repeatedly molested and raped by two different people in my family.

I was pregnant at 17. Then married. Divorced and a single mom at 19. I spent the next five years looking for love in all the wrong places – which is exactly where I met my husband – in a bar. He was the drummer in the band and our lifestyle was a reflection of the whole rock and roll band scene. Not a pretty picture. But then again, no picture is pretty without God in the middle of it.

Sitting in my apartment one afternoon, I watched a tele -evangelist share a message I had never really heard before. Or maybe I had, but this time it began to make sense. I wanted what he talked about. Salvation. Eternal life. A real relationship with Jesus. But I also wanted my life to remain mine. And so it did. Even though I cried, prayed and thought I was saved, my life remained my own and I remained unchanged.

But about two years later, at the age of 24 I was ready. Ready to surrender all I was for all Jesus is. I knew He was the only one who could save my wretched self, and this time, I was not only ready – but I was willing.

Please click over to Scripture Dig as I share the rest of my testimony. What a sweet reminder of a painful past that ended happily ever after...

Guest Post by: Shelley Hendrix

If you find yourself dealing with the pull to be something you're not, in order to gain the acceptance of someone else (perhaps even God), I hope you'll take a few minutes to consider what Paul had to say to some real people who had to live real lives--just like us:

Galatians 6:4-5
"Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don't be impressed with yourself. Don't compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life." ~ The Message

"Who you are"~Notice that Paul said that it's really important that each one of us takes responsibility for finding out who we really are. And how can we do this? By finding out who GOD says we are! Invest your time and energy into discovering who you really are based on what Scripture says. Read what the New Testament teaches about the Believer's Identity in Christ. We live out of our understanding of our identity--not necessarily out of the reality of our identity. So make sure you take the time and energy needed to find out who you are.

"The work that you have been given"~ Commit yourself to the work God has given you to do with bold confidence. If you have embraced Christ in faith, then HE lives IN you to equip, enable, and empower you to do the task He has given you to do. You have everything you need today to do what God has called you to do today. So, "Sink yourself into that!"

"Don't compare yourself with others"~ Oh my. This gets the best of us, doesn't it? We are all so prone to comparing ourselves, our lives, our jobs, our homes, our cars, our kids, our marriages, our not-marriedness, our no-kids status, our bodies, our financial portfolios, our intelligence, our education level, and on and on... with others. This inevitably leads to a lack of authenticity in our relationships because out of comparison rises a sense of competition. And, when I set myself up as your competitor, I'm going to be guarded in how much of myself I offer in relationship (and visa-versa). If I believe we're competitors, I'll either feel "less-than" you or "greater than" you. This is NOT what God has called us to. If I choose to trust God with who He says I am, and how much He loves me just as I am, this frees my heart to be who He says I am, live out of that reality, and in turn, love you just the way He made you.

"Take responsibility...do the creative best...with your own life..." ~Choose to take personal responsibility for whatever God has invited you to be a part of. Bring all of YOU to the table--imperfections, liabilities, flaws, as well as your creativity, gifts, energy, resources, etc. Have fun! Be intentional! Be YOU in what God has called you to do--remembering that He is in you giving you everything you need to accomplish what He has given you to do.

And, in all of this, remember something very, very important: The journey is always more significant than the destination. Each step along the way is vital. Even when that step is called "failure"--you are never called a failure by your Heavenly Father, but sometimes failure is a necessary part of the whole journey. It is never meant to be a stopping forever point, though. How you choose God, yourself, and your calling in the midst of failure will determine how long you hang out at that stop sign.

So, know who you are; discover your purpose; give yourself fully to it; be responsible to do your best; and trust your very good, very loving Heavenly Father with every single bit of it.

And then enjoy this never-dull-often-frightening-adventurous-hang-on-to-Jesus-for-dear-life-that-will-outlast-you Life!

Do you struggle with being who you really are? What steps are you taking to becoming who you were created to be?

Shelley Hendrix is the founder and teacher of Church 4 Chicks, inc. based in Atlanta, GA. Church 4 Chicks is a ministry devoted to creating and cultivating environments of grace for women of all ages. She is also a conference speaker, author, and TV talk show host. In her own words, Shelley says, "I am an imperfect, can't-get-it-all- together, wife and mom who loves Jesus, is thankful for His grace, and loves being a part of this generation of people who will not settle for religion as we've known it."

P.S. Shelley and I decided to have a little fun and switch blogs for the day. After you're done reading her inspiring post, click over to hers and read mine. Then be sure to subscribe to hers, as well! :-)

I know you'll be blessed by connecting with Shelley:

Blog

Website

Twitter

Facebook

I hope you'll allow me the privilege of being part of your week. Click here to subscribe to stephanieshott.com and join me for a journey that may look much like your own.

"Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.'" Matthew 16:24-25

In a world where everyone is trying to find themselves, believers are to be in hot pursuit of losing themselves. When we receive Christ, we receive His life working in and through us. The goal is that He would increase and we would decrease.

In fact, we're much like salmon who swim upstream - against the flow - away from the other fish - striving for the place that will ultimately be the death of them. That's us - living contrary to the world, striving to die so that we might truly live.

Striving to die when our flesh cries out to live. Like Paul described in Romans 7, we're constantly swimming against the current of our culture and of our own depraved desires to let the life of Christ prevail.

Look at Galatians 2:20 in the Amplified: "I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

It may not make sense, but our lives are often an oxymoron.

We are saved to die, yet we are saved to live
We are to turn the other cheek, yet we are more than conquerors
We forsake all so we can obtain all
When we give, we gain
When we lose ourselves for His sake, we find ourselves

Only Jesus can make sense out of what makes no sense at all. He is forever righteous, forever holy, forever pure, forever lovely, forever perfect, forever faithful, forever good, forever God!

And because of Who He is, I willingly lose myself for Him.

How about you? Have you lost yourself for Him? Have you found yourself in Him? Do you struggle with letting go of your idea of what's best for you and relinquishing your will...your plans for his?

I'd love to share part of my week with you. Click here to subscribe and join me for a journey that may look much like your own.

"And let the beauty and delightfulness and favor of the Lord our God be upon us; confirm and establish the work of our hands--yes, the work of our hands, confirm and establish it." Psalm 90:17 (Amplified)

I have to admit I'm a big fan of the Amplified Bible. It gives depth to words and phrases we often gloss over. Our familiarity with the precious Word of the Living God can sometimes minimize its significance and we begin to casually read what God intends that we study. Oh, may it never be so. May it never be so!

I remember a not-so-distant time when I was really seeking God's will and direction in my life about a specific calling that I was sensing from the Lord. I wasn't sure if I was hearing from Him correctly. And because I tend to be Gideon-like, I began asking the Lord to clarify His call.

I began praying Psalm 90:17 in the Amplified and asking God to establish the works of my hands. To ordain them. I didn't want to walk through a door that wasn't mine to walk through. I didn't want to long for something that wasn't mine to do. I wanted Him to establish my works and confirm them with His favor.

Then I realized that I wanted the same thing for my hubby and my children. I wanted God's beauty, delightfulness and favor to be upon them - I wanted the Lord to confirm and establish the works of their hands, as well.

That was about 5 years ago and I've been praying that beautiful prayer for my family ever since.

What about you? Do you have a specific prayer you pray for your family? Did this prompt you to begin praying this for your family too?

I'd love to share a portion of my week with you. Click here to subscribe and join me for a journey that may look much like your own.