Hi there bloggy friends and She Speaks attendees! Lysa is hosting a Mr Linky for She Speaks attendees so we can all get to know each other before we get to the conference in just 3 short weeks! I can’t wait to spend a whole weekend together laughing, learning and experiencing God in an amazing way.
I wonder how many of you are excited to be going but also really nervous about the whole thing. Feeling a little hesitant about being in a room with 500 other women, wondering what to wear, wondering what to say, wondering what to write, wondering what you were thinking when you signed up for the leadership sessions, etc.
Well, you are not alone. Just this morning I woke up with a cloud of DOUBT hovering over me about my messages for She Speaks. I have three weeks to finish two brand new messages. With all we’ve had going on with our move and everything that happened in between, I feel behind and a little overwhelmed. Oh, and guess what my Saturday night message is on? DOUBT, of course!
I even thought about calling the office and changing my message to something I’ve done before but it’s too late, the notebooks are at the printer and my outline is in it! Then I got an idea, I can get my friends to help me. That is where you come in…
Whether you are coming to She Speaks or not, I’d love to hear about your doubts – what area do you most often doubt yourself? I’d love to know if you have specific doubts about being a speaker, writer, woman in ministry, etc. What are the words of doubt that whisper in your ear? Do they make you retreat? What do you think causes them and what have you found to be a cure for them? Please click on comments below or send me an email with your thoughts. I really value your perspective.
Isn’t it amazing how the things we struggle become the very things God calls us to share about. It’s His power perfected in our weaknesses that draws others deep into His abiding love. So, whatever you are feeling today – joy, hope, doubt or fear – I’d love to hear about it. And my prayer is that together we’ll press into Jesus, asking Him to speak to us through it, as we become vessels of Grace and Truth equipped by Him to speak about it!
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Wow, Renee. So glad you listened to the Holy Spirit’s prompting to write this post.
I was just telling my husband the other day that I wished I hadn’t signed up for She Speaks because I don’t have anything to wear. 🙂 I hate dressing up, and it was stressing me out.
I always forget that I’m not alone in my doubts. Thanks for the reminder.
Hi Renee. I will be attending She Speaks this year. I attended the speakers track in ’05. This year I will be with Shari Braendel on the image ministry track.
Doubts? Oh, most definitely! Fear? You betcha!
Since attending in ’05, I can’t really say that a speaking ministry has come together, but then, that would be in my vision of how things should look. That does not mean they are not panning out exactly the way God intended for them to, though.
Three years ago, I attended Shari’s session as a guest speaker and now she is a member of the P31 team! She has become a friend of mine.
And, if I am honest, God is showing me steps that I need to take to progress along the path on which I believe He has set me. It’s those nasty fears and doubts that haunt me almost daily that are probably causing me to not be further along than I am.
Rather than posting it all here, it would be easier to give you the link where I posted about my experience at She Speaks last time and what has happened since then.
http://godzgalzimageconsulting.blogspot.com/2007/11/thankfulness-part-deux.html
I have given my testimony countless times, so I’m feeling pretty okay about Friday night, but Saturday…I have no idea what I’m going to talk about. Although, last time I went, God didn’t give me the scripture passage and topic until the Monday before I was scheduled to leave on Friday.
To be honest, it didn’t really go as well as I had hoped, but even then, God knew exactly what He was doing. One of the women in my group came looking for me as soon as she had the opportunity to speak with me. She said that something I had talked about had struck her to the core because it was something with which she was struggling at that very time. Not only that, her sister was there with her, and she was struggling with the same thing!
Praise the Lord! I may not have thought the talk went very well, and honestly, my speaker review was only average, but I was encouraged that day because He had a message for those women, and He used me to deliver it. I couldn’t have been more humbled or blessed!
I think I have been rambling, but I hope you can make some sense of what I have said.
I appreciate this post because I have been dwelling on the fact that I have no idea what I am going to talk about. I’ve also been thinking for the past two months that I should have canceled my registration. This was a great reminder that I am not alone, and it also helped me to remember how God can use us even when we don’t think we have done a very good job.
I can’t wait to meet you in person at She Speaks! See you then!
Blessings,
Dawn
Thank you, Renee and bloggy friends. I share the same doubts as most of you. I just need to focus on the One that called me to She Speaks and anticipate with excitement what He wants to accomplish in me while there! I want to be just as I am, transparent and all ears. See you there!
Sara Powell
[email protected]
Hey Sweet Friend,
Oh how I am going to miss you at She Speaks this year. But, I do know you have no reason to doubt, I will be praying for you from home and you always do a great job! You need to read what Beth Moore posted on her blog on Sunday, June 1st. Basically, it boils down to this, “When you worry its like waving a red flag to the enemy saying that you do not have faith.” She says much more on this, but what is doubt besides worrying that you aren’t good enough, you can’ do the job, etc. She also talks about CONTROL and whew was that for me! Read it when you get a second.
And remember I will be praying for you.
Hugs,
Margaret
My doubts seem to be about whatever area God is using at the moment. Years ago when I’d secured my first book contract (which should have been evidence that someone thought I could write a book) the last thing I heard before I drifted off to sleep and my first thought in the morning was “You can’t write a book. You can’t write a book.” Once that book was done, that voice never returned.
Later, when I was receiving speaking invitations I had one complete breakdown where the message I thought I was going to give really wasn’t right, but God hadn’t given me anything else either. Finally, at 12:30 am, less than 12 hours before I was scheduled to speak, God gave me an entirely new message. I was a little freaked out that I wouldn’t be well-prepared.
The next morning it was clear just how perfectly he had orchestrated everything, from the music selections to the opening comments and finally my talk. I didn’t know it when I walked out the door with a “This is the last time I’m ever doing this!” comment to my husband, but that was one of the most blessed events I’ve had the privilege to attend.
I won’t be attending She Speaks (it’s on the wrong side of the country for me!), but I will pray that you’ll know his blessing and provision in the same way I did on that occasion.
(And of course, my current area of doubt has to do with raising my boys and supporting my husband. While doubts can keep us dependent on the Lord, if our focus isn’t right they can certainly immobilize us and make us completely ineffective!)
Renee,
I was surprised when I read your post today! I guess I just figured that you are so polished and used to speaking that you would never have any doubts….I have them all the time myself. It’s good to share your feelings with people and let them see that we’re basically all just alike in our inner core.
I’m not gonna be one of the girls at “She Speaks” although I’m sure I would love to be! I’m hoping some of the ladies will give us non-attendees some testimonies on their blog when they get home after it’s over.
Some of my doubts come when….I have studied and done my best presenting a Sunday school lesson and when it’s done I have this sinking feeling and the thought runs through my head…”Did ANYTHING I just said make any sense???” Or….when I am talking to a young lady at the crisis pregnancy center and witnessing to her about the saving grace of God…then sometimes I doubt that I can explain salvation throughly and she might be led astray. I doubt that I am able to have much influence on anyone. BUT…beware because a lot of the time it’s just the devil trying to make you give up serving God!
A few weeks ago within the span of 2 or 3 days my husband and I had something very interesting happen. First a thirty-ish age man stopped my husband while at the flea market and told him that he just wanted to thank my husband and me for taking time with him while he was a teenager when we attended the same church. My husbby would go and take him squirrel hunting, etc. because he didn’t have a Daddy. He said, “I think that helped keep me on the right path and keep me from making some wrong decisions later in my life.” We were dumbfounded because we never really did anything out of the ordinary for this kid (then a kid) except try to show him some Christian love.
Then the next day or two a young woman…also in her mid-thirties….came up to me in Taco Bell and said…”You’re Marilyn aren’t you? I want you to meet my family!” She had a handsome hubby and two cute kids with her. She told her husband and kids that my husband and I led our youth group at church when she was a teenager. She told us that she would never forget what a great influence we had in her Christian life. She named off a lot of the activities we had done during that time….things that I had totally forgotten about until she mentioned them.
I know I have been long-winded but I said all that just to say this: You may feel like what you are doing is small….but if you are doing it for the Lord, He will turn it into a big thing! You may not ever even know just how big! He may not want you to be a published writer….but he may use your blogs to reach someone who would never pick up a book or a magazine. He may not choose you to be a nationally or even locally known public speaker…..but He may ask you to speak to your neighbor about Him. No matter how small or how big….it’s obedience that He wants. Never doubt THAT!
God bless you Renee…..and all you other ladies who will be going to She Speaks. I’ll be thinking of you!
Marilyn
Hey Renee!
Unfortunately, I will not be attending the conference this year, maybe next year. I recently wrestled with the doubt of whether or not I would be a good public speaker. Some of my “girls” from my youth group asked me to be the commencement speaker at their graduation. I was honored and terrified at the same time! Speaking in front of a bunch of teenage girls is okay for me, but in front of other people, my age and older was extremely intimidating! God gave me an awesome message for these young ladies, but I still wrestled with the doubt of actually being able to deliver it. I have silently, for the most part battled anxiety attacks for nearly 5 years, and my biggest fear was getting up there in front of everyone and battling one. I had to trust God and take a huge step of faith. I quoted every scripture I could think of that dealt with fear and doubt, and had some close friends and family be praying(some that knew of my struggles and some who didn’t). By the grace of God, I got through it, and God’s heart was revealed to His precious daughters. Even though my heart pounded throughout the whole speech, and my mouth was so dry I felt like I could not move my lips over my teeth,( very strange I know )people in the audience commented on how calm and comfortable I appeared the whole time. It was God, not me!
After I sat down I waited for relief and the “I did it” feeling to come, but instead I clearly “heard” God speak to my heart “Don’t get too comfortable” I found out what He meant when I was asked to speak at another graduation 1 week and a half later. I still battled with the doubts, but once again God came through as I stepped out and did what He asked me to do. That was last night, and I still feel like God is telling me that this is not over. I know that whatever He is calling me to do, He will equip me to do. I just wish I didn’t battle the fear and doubt beforehand.
Okay I know this is really long, but very quickly, I am now having doubts about raising my children. From infancy to up to age 4 I was fairly confident in my child rearing. But now that they are older, I wonder if I am really cut out for this. Of course some days are better than others and I feel like “Okay I CAN do this” But they seem to be growing up so fast. I want to do my best and I want the best for them. I have to keep remembering that God gave me my children, and He has equipped my husband and I to raise them. Sorry this is so long! God Bless, April