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Renee Swope

Encouraging and equipping moms to parent with God's grace and confidence.

Read An Excerpt: Chapter 1 & 2

Getting Up Again

“Failure can be hurtful but it can also be beneficial
because failure produces wisdom when we ask for it
and maturity when we learn from it.”

In my Proverbs 31 Ministries devotion today, I shared this truth and how God’s used it to teach me how to “get up again” when failure threatened to keep me down. I also shared about a fun give-away I have today but before we get to those details, I want to invite those of you who are new to my blog to sign up for my FREE “7-Day Doubt Diet” devotions in my sidebar.

These devotions are for friends like you! They include a week’s worth of encouragement and practical ways to lose the weight of self-doubt. And they’ll also give you a peek inside my book before it releases because they include some of my favorite parts of A Confident Heart.

I also wanted to give you some promises that will help us re-define our perspective! As I shared in my devotion, following Jesus is not about avoiding failures and being perfect. It’s about accepting our weaknesses and becoming more dependent on God’s perfect love and power at work in us.


In Chapter 12 of “A Confident Heart I’ve included a chart of thirty-one promises to replace our defeating doubts with God’s empowering perspective. Here are a few for you to print and carry with you when you need His help to get up again – in your heart and in your thoughts:
______________________
Perspective-Changing Promises

 

When I Say: I don’t know what to do.
God Says: I will direct your steps. Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Prov. 3:5–6, NIV)

When I Say: My life is too hard.
God Says: Let Me help you. I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. (Ps. 91:15, NIV)

When I Say: I can’t do it.
God Says: Rely on My strength and you can do all that I’ve called you to do. I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me. (Phil. 4:13 AMP)

When I Say: I’m too afraid.
God Says: I have not given you a spirit of fear.For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. (2 Tim. 1:7 NLT)

When I Say: I can’t forgive myself.
God Says: I forgive you. God is faithful and reliable. If we confess our sins, he forgives them and cleanses us from everything we’ve done wrong. (1 John 1:9 GW)

______________________


I hope you’ll print and carry these with you! Why not put a copy on your mirror, in your car and in your purse? Also, I hope you’ll enter to win my “Getting Up Again” give-away (a signed advance-release copy of A Confident Heart, aGoBible®to listen to God’s Word on the go, and a copy of the 31-verse promise chart from my book.) To enter, just sign up for the doubt diet and invite a friend or two to join you!

Just like a regular diet, having someone else to pray and encourage each other is so good, especially when it comes to losing the weight of self-doubt! And, here’s an invitation you can send them via email or post on your blog or FB page:

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Invite a Friend, it’s easy!

Do you want to join me in losing the weight of discouragement and self-doubt?Renee Swope, from Proverbs 31 Ministries is offering a FREE “7-day Doubt Diet”. Just click here to enter your information in her sidebar, and you’ll receive a week’s worth of devotions from her upcoming book, A Confident Heart. Let me know so we encourage one another the week they come out.

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Enter the “Getting Up Again” give-away:
  • Sign up for the doubt diet – it’s easy to do in my sidebar.
  • Encourage a friend(s) to join you via email, FB, Twitter, etc. You can use easy invite above.
  • Click on the word “comments” below this post.
  • Let me know your name, that you’ve signed up for the Doubt Diet and invited friends.
  • To find out if you win, leave your email in your comment, sign up for email updates or follow me on Facebook. I’ll announce the winner next Monday.

The “7-Day Doubt Diet” releases June 27th. For more details click here.

A Confident Heart releases August 1. You can pre-order it here or anywhere you love to buy books. All pre-orders through Proverbs 31 Ministries will be signed by me and book proceeds go back to P31. If you have any problems ordering on our P31 site, you can call our office at 704-849-2270 and they’ll be happy to help.

Comments

  1. I am excited about your new book! I signed up for your 7-Day Devotional series, starting the end of June! I hope to win a copy of your book! 🙂

    [email protected]

  2. I have signed up for the 7 day diet and I am sharing the invite with some of my friends that I think will very much enjoy this also. Thank you for the opportunity of the giveaway also! I have very much been enjoying reading your blog! Lee Ann [email protected]

  3. I have signed up for the doubt diet, I have pre ordered your book, and I have invited friends to join me on this great journey.
    Thanks for sharing your words of encouragement!
    [email protected]

  4. I am always encouraged by my sisters in faith. I love the title "devotional diet" – I think this is definitely a diet I can stick to. I have signed up for your 7 day daily devotions – thank you. Carrie ([email protected])

  7. Your book cannot arrive soon enough for me. I was molested as a child by my father and my husband was unfaithful to me, so I struggle a great deal with trusting God for good things and being confident in Him. I'm sharing this with my girlfriends on Facebook. I know they will be blessed, too. Thank you for being obedient to the calling God has placed on your life. Blessings, Debbie ([email protected]) PS: I just signed up for the Diet Devos and am looking forward to reading them. Ready to be forever changed!!!

  8. I just signed up for the doubt diet, and shared it with my "Sweet Slim Sisters" on our facebook page. There are 23 of us. We just did Made to Crave as a group and are working out as a group, I would love to win your new book to do along with my Made to Carve journey.

  9. I have a very hard time finding confidence for anything, I am so worried about failing all the time. I would love to get this book, and have invited my friend Jessica to take a look!
    [email protected]

  10. You have no idea how "timely" today's post was for me! Thank you for allowing God to pour out His truths through you to those like me. What a blessing!!!

  13. I can't wait until your book comes out and I know a few that could use it right now as well! Looking forward to the 7 day devotions also. Thank you for all you do!

  14. count me in too, pls…and than you for adding encouraging power verses to your blog…very useful instantly accessible cheat-sheet 🙂

  16. I am also sharing this with my mommy's Bible study, hoping we can do this as our next study! Looking forward to the 7 Day Doubt~all signed up and ready.
    Blessings~Jennie

  17. I'm moving to a new, more responsibie position at work, and there's plenty of opportunity for self-doubt to creep in. Very excited to receive your devotional, and for a chance to win the book! I'll be sharing with my friends on Facebook. Thank you!

  20. I have invited friends via FB and can't wait for your book to come out. Self- doubt is probably my biggest struggle. Thanks.
    Trina Ellis

  21. Love your devotion. Very excited about your new book. I always can use all the encouragement I can get! I also signed up for your promotion, either way I'm ready for your new book. Congratulations.

  22. Signed up and posted it on Facebook!

    Thank you so much for doing this. Currently my mom is suicidal and my little ( teenage) brother just started chemo, and on a blessesd note, raising my two toddlers with the help of my wonderful husband, so I'm seeking all the God-ly encouragement I can.

    [email protected]

  23. The scriptures you included in this post were so timely for me. I'm not sure where he is guiding me. I know that there is something he is preparing me to do. He has the plan and I guess I will know when I get there! I signed up for the devotional diet and am inviting others via facebook. Keep on touching our lives with your words. Blessings, jody ([email protected])

  24. Hi my name is sandy hackworth and i signed up for your 7 day devotional diet and posted the invite on my facebook page to invite others. I am recently starting my life in gods word and get excited any time someone wants to share his word or teach me how to become closer to Him. Thank you for caring enough to help the rest of us and listening to what GOD wants you to do.

  26. I can't wait for your new book! I neeed it so bad. I just lost my precious husband suddenly on April 25. I know he is in Heaven and that I'll see him again, but his wife he left behind is having a hard time here on earth! I've signed up for 7 day diet and have encouraged friends to do the same.Thanks for all that you do and share with us! God is Good!

    kearley75860 at yahoo (dot) com

  29. Renee,

    Thank you for "The Doubt Diet." Also, thank you for the dedication you have put into your soon-to-be released book. I KNOW that many will be blessed!

    I have spent the last few weeks alternately agonizing, berating myself, having a burst of confidence, only to have the devil attack my confidence, and leave me reeling.

    A LOT of changes have happened in the last few weeks…an agonizing, then victorious time at a woman's retreat, followed by a time of intense depression/anxiety relapse, a period of encouragement, followed by temptation to do self harm, (and berating myself for entertaining those thoughts!!!), applying for two jobs (AND invitations for interviews for BOTH positions!), accepting a job, and then wrestling with the doubt that I could be stable enough to handle the new job…the list goes on, but I won't bore you…lol!

    Also, thank you for the devotion, "Getting Up Again." It is good to be reminded that God does not give up on us, despite the many times that we fall.

    On 11/21/10, I declared publicly, and then wrote, "I am thankful that God uses times of struggle and failure, (even after a breakthrough, to show me the contrast between who I am, and who He is in me." Nothing inside of myself is worthy of praise, except for the ONE who lives in me. He alone, in His grace, makes me worthy."

    Holding on to HIS truth,

    Rhea
    [email protected]

  30. I am excited to read your new book and the 7 day doubt diet. I have struggled with confidence and in doubting myself and the devotionals I have read so far have really spoken to me. I signed up for the 7 day devotionals and shared with my friends so they can have the encouragement too.
    Thanks!
    Teri

  31. I sooo need this. Self doubt lurks around every corner waiting for me. I neeeed this.

  33. I am excited about your new book and couldn't have come at a more perfect time. As the Lord is asking me to step out in faith. I have also signed up for the 7 day devotion, along with my friends.
    Jackie

  34. Especially on a day when I'm feeling a lack of confidence (though those are just feelings, when my heart knows the truth of Who I can have full confidence in), I'm thankful for these words of yours.

    I've signed up for the doubt diet and tweeted about this post. Thank you for this kind opportunity! I look forward to reading your book at some point in the future.

  36. I am so excited to be included in your 7 day Doubt Diet. I can't wait to start. I have so many self doubts that at times the weight seems unbearable. I would also love a GoBible. It would be wonderful to be able to carry it with me where ever I go. I know God has forgiven me my many sins, why can't I forgive myself? I want a closer relationship with God.I want to hear his voice leading me down the right path.
    I have invited my sisters to join me in your 7 day Doubt Diet. Thank you. Erma

  37. Thanks for doing this. I signed up to receive the 7 day "diet" of self doubt and am going to encourage one of my friends to do the same. I'm excited to see what a difference it makes.

  39. A friend of mine on fb posted something about your book and I wanted to read it asap – as a group of women we will actually study this book in the fall….would love to receive a pre release copy…..can't wait to start 🙂

    And a devotional diet sounds just like the thing I need right now 🙂

  42. I signed up for your devotional diet. I'm also going to get your book….will it be available in any of the ebook formats? I am trying to figure out how to send invites by facebook lol
    [email protected]

  43. I received your email today. I have struggled with something that happened in the past that I can't let go. Your message was just what I needed. I look forward to the seven day diet. I signed up for it today and told my friends about it as well. Thank you for your encouragement.

  44. I'm excited about your new book and the devotional diet!!! I'm sure I will be totally blessed, as I have been by your other books! Sue

  46. I haven't made the best choices in my past but I'm on a good path now with God on my side. I have a good life but when things see too good I think of my past and fear it will all fall apart. I pray with faith that this "doubt diet" will help me to forgive myself to move on and grow closer to God.
    Lauren

  47. I am in so need of this..I am so defeated.Thank you for your words if encouragement.

  48. I am looking forward to reading this book. As one who has a hard time being confident in anything, the more I read about this book, the more I think I'll benefit from reading it. Thanks for the chance to win this book! Such a blessing. I'll be sharing this on my FB page too.

  49. I love the doubt diet and I so need to hear these meditations right now when I am doubting so much!! I signed up in your sidebar and will invite my friends to join, too! So glad I found your blog through the Proverbs 31 post!!

    Jennifer
    [email protected]

  50. Hello Renee! I am very anxious and excited to start your doubt diet!! I have signed up for it, and invited friends as well!! I surely hope that I am the winner of your book! Thank you for sharing so freely, and I pray that God continues to richly bless you!

Getting Up Again

“…though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again” Proverbs 24:16a

In the same way I don’t like failing, I also don’t like FALLING either. It’s painful, embarrassing and sometimes makes me want to quit trying. But God is teaching me about getting up again when I fall. He reminds me again and again that if I don’t, I’ll miss seeing Him and experiencing the amazing things and plans He has for my life. That almost happened last year during a ski trip with my family. I stood at the top of a mountain breathing in the beauty of God’s glory that morning, thanking Him for providing this trip for our family through a ministry event. Joshua stood beside me begging me to ski down a Colorado blue diamond slope with him I can’t even tell you how amazing it was – and how fast I was going. It was insane but seeing my very happy and daring son standing at the bottom watching and cheering me on made it worth it. That is, until I lost control and shaped my body into a human pretzel! I tried to stop but instead came crashing down into a barrier of un-groomed snow. I fell so hard my skis went flying, my neck jerked back, my head slammed into the ground, my legs were twisted and buried in a foot of snow, the wind was completely knocked out of me and I couldn’t get up! I decided that was it – no more skiing for me! I had fallen hard and it hurt – really bad – both my pride and my butt! I was too tired and I didn’t think it was worth it to risk another fall. I laid in the snow trying to breathe and figure out how to break the news to Joshua that the fun and adventure were over for me. I was calling it a day and heading for the warm lodge to get some hot chocolate. That’s when God whispered to my heart, “Renee, you will never see all that I have for you if you are not willing to get up from a painful fall and keep going.” Oooh, I hate it when He says something so poignant when I’m in pain. Yet I sensed He had something more for me. But I had to be willing to trust HIM by getting up again. So I got up, dusted myself off and started skiing again. I’m so glad I did! We had the most incredible day. You see, while I was falling God knew that JJ and Andrew were perfecting their skills and were ready to ski with us which they hadn’t done before. I got to ski with my whole family for hours and hours and see some of the most beautiful and breath-taking views I’ve ever seen. But more than that I saw God. I saw His provision and His desire for me to trust Him because He WANTS to bless me. If I had quit, I would have missed seeing God’s glory reflected in those mountains in a way I’d never seen before! I think about that day often – when I’m ready to quit. How easy it is to fall in life and get hurt and not want to get up and try again. Yet, what will we miss if we are not willing to get up, get back on our feet and trust Him by trying again? And again. If you need encouragement to get up again and keep going, I’ve got just the thing for you! Next week there’s an amazing on-line conference from the comforts of our own homes, to connect and inspire women in their walk with Christ and in all that He’s called and created them to be! If you can’t make the conference you can download the sessions as part of the registration! I’ve got FIVE FREE TICKETS to give away to A Woman Inspired On-line conference! All you have to do is leave a comment below this post with your email and you’ll be entered. I’ll announce the winners tomorrow afternoon! And even if you don’t want to win, I’d love to hear your thoughts on getting up again. I’ll be praying God whispers to your heart that He’s worth it – and so are you!

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The ticket winners for A Woman Inspired On-line conference are…

Timestamp: 2009-04-05 02:11:35 UT – Random numbers:

2 – Chrissy 1 – Angie 7 – Jenny 4 – Lindsey 27 – Elaine