She Speaks Conference

She Speaks!

I am thrilled to announce that She Speaks Conference is June 20-22, 2008 and is officially open for registration right now.

Lysa Terkeurst, founder of Proverbs 31 Ministries and leader of this awesome conference is offering a scholarship for this year's conference. To find out more, please click here.

It has been my dream to go to She Speaks Conference because I love to share with women about God's great love and awesome power. I've always wanted to be a speaker since high school, but didn't know what to speak about. And now, He has given me the reason to speak about Him, the great I AM. But, like some women, I have one stipulation: I lack the friendship abilities, confidence, and faith in myself (okay, so that's three). I really want to find out what it takes to speak for Him. I believe God will reveal the answer to me at the 2008 She Speaks Conference .

Let me tell you why I'm so hype about this conference. It is not just another seminar. It is an inspiring-by God-friendship building and opportunity knocking event. It is for writers, writer-want-to-be's, speakers, speaker-want-to-be's, and women in leadership roles as well as those who believe they are called to minister to women. Who knows, you might get an offer to write a book (shhhhhh-there will be publishers there-looking for writers and fresh thinkers). Oh, yeah, don't forget to bring your queries and manuscripts. Well, instead of me yapping it away, just click here. Go ahead...Seatings are limited. Don't believe me? Well, last year's conference sold out before deadline and you guess it, I didn't get to go. So, don't wait. Find out right here.

Good luck to all of you!

My visit with Grandma

One relative of my husband, I call her grandma. She had stroke three months ago. We have not visit her so while we were there near her town, my husband brought her up suddenly. We decided to pay her a visit. I knew that her stroke was severe, but how severe I was not aware. I was not even thinking straight. I was not planning to lecture her. I just wanted to visit her. She has a very special gift of healing and massaging people-curing infertile and pregnant women (who may be on the verge of losing their babies due to miscarriage). She massaged me when I was pregnant with my last baby girl. My baby was in the wrong position and caused much uncomfortable pain. She turned my baby back to the rightful position. I was very grateful, so I brought little Elizabeth with me so she can see the product she saved.

While we were visiting and chatting, I asked her how she was feeling and she said she felt like her life was not worth living but she couldn’t die. She was upset about her son’s divorce. She said, “I’m sad that I don’t have a good looking son to take away her breath, so that she would not look at another man and treat him worthlessly.”

“Grandma, that’s wrong thinking. His looks and his features are out of your reach. You may have given him birth, but that’s all you did. God was very satisfied when he made your son. He said, ‘it is good.’ He created you just the way He likes because He enjoys you. You are who you are and he is who he is because God likes it that way. Don’t criticize God by saying that your son is not good looking. God made your son that way because he brought God satisfaction as His masterpiece. Be happy.”

She smiled, “I supposed you’re right.”

I couldn’t help, but noticed how she kept on holding onto a hand-knit hat with her right hand as though she was trying to hide her right hand. Every once in a while she’d move her right hand with her left over her lap then it would move back by itself. I watched her as we conversed, and I finally asked her, “Grandma, why are you holding on to the hat, is your hand cold?”

Grandpa had just walked by me as I asked the question. “Her whole right side was paralyzed. Recently, she’s regained some mobility with her right arm, but she doesn’t have total control of it yet. Sometimes, she would grab onto something with her right hand,” he demonstrated by holding on to the chair in front of me, “but then she wouldn’t be able to let it go, so she’s trying to control it by holding on to the hat and not let it hold onto anything else,” he said.

“I am so mad at my right hand. Sometimes, I yelled at it because it won’t cooperate with me. Sometimes, I slap it and tell it that it’s not good because it doesn’t listen to me. But, then I looked at it, and my heart cries out with love for it,” grandma said.

“Grandma, do you really want to be healed?” I asked. “Do you pray for healing?”

“You know, my daughter told me to have faith in God and pray, but I told her that prayer doesn’t seem to make a difference these days. God doesn’t answer prayers anymore,” said grandma.

“Grandma, if you really want to be healed you have to believe. There’s a big difference between believing that God can heal and believing that God will heal. God loves you and He would love to heal you but you must first believe that He can and He will heal you. Don’t be disappointed. You know, I heard that there was a woman who was predicted by doctors to only have a few weeks to live, but she was determined to live so she walked around her house declaring God’s healing power and memorizing Bible verses, and now it’s been more than 20 years and she’s still alive and well. Do you read your Bible?”

“A little, it took me so long to read a few paragraphs,” she chuckled. “Where do you find those healing verses?” she asked curiously.

“I’m going to go home and do some research and send you some verses to listen to and read. You must memorized them and claim them to be your promises.”

Her eyes were staring at me with great sparkles of hope. She shared that her brother, who is a great gospel singer, was disappointed that she didn’t show much faith. She didn’t understand it. She felt that God doesn’t care about her anymore.

“Grandma, God loves you. He wants what’s best for you. How do you think you healed so many people with herbs and your massages? You saved so many women from having miscarriages. You practically gave lives to many people who had no chance without your help. Do you think that that came from you or was it God’s gift?”

“It was God’s gift,” she said as she smiled at me.

“You must change your thinking. You must hold on to your faith. You must view yourself as an important being. God said that we are His masterpieces. He has a very important mission for each one of us. He loves us and He enjoys our presence and praises. Grandma, you are His masterpiece. There’s only one you. You are a child of God, a citizen of Heaven. You are not of this earth. You were chosen by God out of millions of human beings. John 6:44 said that no one can come to Jesus Christ without God drawing him or her. You accepted Christ as your personal Savior?”

“We accepted Christ before we were married,” grandpa interjected.

“Oh, I think I was only about your daughter’s age,” said grandma, eyeing for my 13 year old daughter who went outside with Elizabeth.

“That means that God loved you enough to draw you to Jesus. And you made a decision to accept His invitation. You are His child. He loves you much more than you love your son. He wants to heal you, but only if you really want to be healed. You must believe in His greatness for your life. Instead of yelling at your hand, caress it and tell it that God is working and healing it. Tell it that you love it.”

“Pastor’s wife, I have heard many teachings, but it has never pierced me like it did today. I thank you for sharing His love with me. May God bless you for sharing His words of truth with me,” she said as she laid down on her bed. “Today, I finally understand His massage.”

“Praise the Lord! His goodness never fails. I’m believing that He wants to heal you.”

As we were getting ready to leave, I asked my husband to come and pray for her. She confessed to my husband that she didn’t believe that her prayers would make any difference so she didn’t pray and she didn’t read the Bible as she should. When she’s well, she will be God’s witness for His glory. And grandpa asked my husband to record some sermons for him to listen. Then we prayed and said our good-byes.

I felt happy that she understood me. Instead of being upset for lecturing her, she thanked me for sharing God’s love with her. Her eyes were filled with hope. My heart was satisfied that I was not rejected for being preachy-although I went unprepared to lecture, the opportunity was there and I took it. There was hope for both of us: Hope that she will be healed and hope that there’s a place for me to serve God. God is, indeed, good.

Stay for A While

Dear All,

Thank you for stopping by. I posted many devotionals and encouragements, please take the time and read those that are of interest to you.

Please, remember to pray for our church. There has been two death's from the families of the members in our church. A little child was stillborn. And a young man with great expectations of a bright future-lost his life to cancer.

Another family-the whole family is sick with the flu.

Reasons names are not revealed, has no permission from them to post. My heart cries out with love for them. I know God knows. So, if you would pray for them, I very much appreciate your kindness.

Yesterday afternoon, I met with a woman who had stroke; her right side was paralyzed. Her right arm was able to move, but she could not control it. Once it holds on to something, she could not take it off. She was so frustrated. Her hands and feet were so cold. Anyway, the Lord spoke through me to her with much love and affirmation. She confessed to my husband that she has sinned against God by not having faith in her healing. She told me she has never understood God's love for her as she did yesterday durig our conversation. She thanked me and blessed me. That, in itself, was a blessing-to know that God's loving message was clearly conveyed and understood. Praise the Lord.

I will come back and post later on in the week, but right now, I must go and put out the fire of life.

God bless you all, and remember to pray for these three families at our church.

Rise Up, Darling

“My lover spoke and said to me, ‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me. See! the winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of the doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me” (Song of Solomon 2:10-13, NIV)

I’ve never acknowledged Song of Solomon as love relationship between Christ and our human soul. I’ve dismissed it as love conversations between human lovers and never took it personally. However, God revealed a beautiful message that gave me a new meaning from the above passage:

A woman of noble character recognizes her worth. God calls her His “darling,” His “beautiful one”. Wow! He says, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one...” What a wonderful value He has placed her. As a woman of noble character, she recognizes her worth as dearly loved, cherished, one who is highly valued.

A woman of noble character recognizes that she is His masterpiece, His workmanship (Ephesians 2:10). And He created her for His enjoyment, for His purpose. She is His beautiful one. That means He loves her. He loves her. And now, He’s calling her to rise up. He wants her to get up from whatever problem she may be drowned in. His command is firm and loving. He’s calling her to rise up, get up. She recognizes that she’s not glued to the ground, to her problems, or her situations. Get up. Arise! No matter how she looks at herself, she is His darling, His beautiful one and He calls her to rise up.

A woman of noble character recognizes His instructions. His second command was to “come with me.” “Come with me,” He says. He doesn’t just want her to get up and stand there. He wants her to come with Him. He wants her to take action; follow Him. He has many things to show her. And, she longs to see God’s vision for her life. She wants to see what God wants to show her. If you are that woman, follow Him. He’s saying “come with me”.

A woman of noble character recognizes the end of her winter season. She knows that her rains are over and gone. “See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.” Whatever her problem is, it’s gone. It is done with. Her season of troubles is gone. There’s no more. Therefore, rise and come with Him.

This message reminds me of a time when my children played tags, my oldest son grabbed a hold of my baby girl’s shirt tail. He wouldn’t let her go. She pulled a couple of times, but couldn’t break free. So, she stood there and wailed. After a few minutes, I commanded him to let her go. He let go, but she stood there and cried as if he was still holding on to her shirt. I called out to her to come, but she stood there and cried pitifully. I kept on calling, and it finally dawned on her that she was free. Sometimes, we are like my baby girl. We stand there and cry. If that’s you today, God is telling you that your “winter is past; the rains are over and gone.” Rise up and follow Him.

A woman of noble character recognizes her spring season. “Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.” Wow! God reminds her that after the winter, spring does come. And He calls out to her and reminds her that it is time to get up and see the flowers bloom and smell the fresh fragrances. She recognizes that there’s sunshine after the rain. She understands that in the spring, flowers bloom, trees bud, grass turns green. She understands that every circumstance brings with it many benefits. After every crisis; she’s wiser, she gains knowledge, finds directions. She receives the answer to her prayers. A woman of noble character recognizes her spring season and rises up to follow God. She hears His voice calling out, “Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me.” And, she follows.

Father God, You’re awesome. Thank You for reminding me that I am your darling and beautiful one, that You love me. Help me to recognize Your calling voice to come with You; to recognize that my problems are behind me. Help me to see and enjoy the benefits of springtime. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

A Woman of Noble Character: A Genuine Hug

I’ve had a rough start for the first couple of weeks this year. I fell into the “Am I sure of my calling?” I kept on praying for His presence to shine in unexpected places. I have received numerous blessings beyond my imaginations, but one that made a mark on my life was a hug from a little girl whom I didn’t expect would do so. This girl waits for the bus with my children everyday. Most days, we would get there, then, she and her twin sister would show up shortly after. She would always say “hi” from a distance. But, on this dark and cloudy morning, I saw a little thin figure approaching me. She didn’t stop where her sister had stop, she looked at me straight in the eye as she approached, gave me a hug, turned around walked back to her normal spot, and turned around to look at my reaction. I looked at her in dismayed and said, “Thank you. If I knew you came to give me a hug, I would hug you tighter.” She just smiled and went on as though nothing had happened.

I looked up into Heaven thanked my Lord for the hug so much needed to affirm me of His love. How a girl I didn’t even know her name and she didn’t know mine, came and gave me a hug (without her intention). I knew at that instant that it was a hug from my Father, letting me know that I’m okay and acceptable to Him. “The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace” (Psalm 29:11). He was letting me know that no matter what the circumstances were, He was already there and He saw everything. He was doing everything for my good. He was surrounding me with His peace and the hug was to let me know He knew what I needed at that moment.

Then, I said to God, “Lord thank you for that hug. I needed that hug. I wish I had hugged her back.” And, the next day, she came back and gave me a second chance to hug her back. It was such a blessing to know that God wills, even a child, who He pleases to show me His love. When He did so, all I could do was stand in awe of His mercy and grace being shunned upon me.

My dear sisters in Christ, whatever your circumstances today, look to the Lord and He will give you whatever you need for the moment, whether it would be a hug, a special phone call, or a meal to just get through the day. Don’t give up. “The Lord is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one” (Psalm 28:8). He loves you and all He wants to do is comfort you. God bless you and may your day be filled with love and peace in ways you can’t even imagine.

A woman of noble character: Quillow recipe

To those who cherish our used clothes and baby receiving blankets, I challenge you to a peaceful project that will be cherished longer. Van, this is especially dedicated to you, sister. I want you to know, writing directions are much more challenging than preparing a sermon. Just kidding. I just hope you can understand the instructions.

Materials need:

1 45”x 72” fabric (for backing)
54 8 ½” squares of your cherished clothing or you can also buy new fabrics (45” x 72”)
Scissor
Batting (twin or full size)
1 18” x 18” square block for backing
1 18” x 18” square block, (design or leave blank, your choice. But, this is your pillow when you fold it up, so you want some kind of special design on it.).
1 Quilting pin (or you can machine quilt, you can also quilt it after you flip it, by hand, but it looks much prettier by using a quilting pin.


Pillow (18” x 18” square)
Cut 18” square of the batting and lay it down
Put bottom block right side up on top of the batting
Put the designing block, with the right side down next. The two fabric pieces need to be right sides together with wrong sides outside.
Sew them together leaving a 10” opening, so you can turn it out.
Turn it out and you should have a nice pillow, seal the opening seams together.
Then quilt it as you desire. And, put it aside.

Quilt
If you use the squares, sew the squares together with 6 squares across and 9 squares up & down
Then, make sure your 45 x 72 is evenly trimmed
On the right side of the back piece (45x72), sew the pillow piece with the right side (designed side) facing the big piece on the middle bottom. You may want to sew it twice since this is where you would soak your feet in.
Cut a 45 x 72 square inch batting
With the batting at the bottom and the two pieces right side together, sew all three together (you may want to pin them together or hand-sew it roughly together first, before you sew them with the sewing machine), and leave about 10-12” opening for you to turn, the bigger the opening, the easier to turn, but takes longer to seal.
When you’re done, turn it. Seal the opening with threaded needle.
Then lay it out on the quilting pin (make sure your quilt is nice and tight on the quilting pin) and quilt it. I quilt mine in diamonds, you can mark/stencil yours in any design you like.

And, there you have it. A nice quillow full of memories. Enjoy! Any questions, consult Googles: “quillow”. Others may have better directions and they also have directions on how to fold the quilt into a pillow.

A woman of noble character: “I wrote you this letter so you know that I love you.”

Children never cease to amaze me with their words and phrases. Last week, my little five year-old came to show me one of her letter. It had a picture of a house (our address number on the door) and three stick figures and a balloon coming out of the little figure in the middle saying, “I love you”. She pointed to the words and said, “Mommy, I wrote you a letter. This is daddy and this is you I wrote you a letter so you know that I love you.” Awesome!

By launching this ministry, it has taken so much of my time and I have not spent much time with my children. Most of the time, my oldest sits in the living room watching them while I am in my room with closed door trying to learn and teach at the same time. Every time I came out of my bedroom/office, my children always have a story to tell me. I’ve enjoyed their encouragements. They have drawn pictures, wrote letters, and kiss me good nights. However, even with all of those encouragements from them, some times I felt overwhelmed with the heavy load. In those times I sat down, closed my eyes, and meditate through His words of wisdom: He wrote them so I know that He loves me.

I know He inspired the authors of the Bible to write these scriptures. The Bible says that every word of God is true and will not return to Him void. He has instructed them: “…write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it” (Habakkuk 2:2).

Whether you’re overloading your days with your to-do-list, or overworked on your job. God has written you a letter (the Bible) so you know that He loves you. Won’t you take the time to sit with Him today? Drink your coffee, hot chocolate or tea, and meditate on His Word. Let it comfort you and bring you joy. Because, I promise you that if you read it, you will know that He loves you from the moment you were conceived.

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“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness” (James 3:17-18, NIV).
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You cannot know Him if you don’t spend time with Him. You can only experience intimate relationships when you have spent considerable time with those who you desire the relationships. How can you respond to Him and be sure that it really is from Him if you don’t learn to recognize His voice. If I hadn’t taken the few seconds to look at that beautiful letter my daughter wrote and listen to her reasons, I would never have known that she wrote it, so I knew that she loved me. Take the time to read His letter and know that He loves you. God bless you.

A woman of noble character: Dodging bullets

Welcome to MrsProverbs31. Glad you stop by. Hope you had a great week. Mine was awesome despite the few bullets (not literally) I was dodging. God was gracious to save me out of that misery.

What I like to do today is just to relax. Be me. Talk about the silly things of life while maintaining my noble character.

Okay, so you’re here and you’re wondering why I call myself MrsProverbs31. So, let’s get this straight. I am not Mrs. Proverbs31 by any chance. I may have the desire of being Mrs. Proverbs 31. Yep, that’s it. Mrs. Proverbs 31 is a dream character for (should I say) some Christian women. Am I so bold as to name this site Mrs. Proverbs31? Let’s see…several months ago this was my conversation with God:

“Mrs. Proverbs 31? Are you sure, God?”

“Trust me.”

“I want to, but I’m scared. I’m not sure how people would react to this bold name.”

“Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified of them, or I will terrify you before them. Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land-against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you…’ declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 1:17-19)

I wish I can say that I have the humbleness of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. But, I would be a big liar. And, I’m not a very good one.

“Why me? Don’t you have enough women in ministries? Besides I have six children. Remember?”

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5).

“Really? That’s a B-I-G word, ‘prophet’ I mean. Oh, Lord, you know I’ve always wanted to be famous, to become a missionary, to have lots and lots of money, but a prophet?”

“If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands…the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth…the Lord will grant you abundant prosperity-in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground-…” (Deuteronomy 28:1,11).

“I don’t understand, Lord, come again?”

“I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth” (Exodus 9:16)

“Please, Lord, I don’t want to be a guinea pig like Pharaoh. I want to be a good person.”

“I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there’s no other” (Isaiah 45:5-6).


“HHHHHH” I sighed.

I’m moving. I’m moving. Did I say I’m moving? Yeah, I think I did. I know I did. I know I did. Am I obedient? I don’t know. I wonder so much about that. I’ve been praying this prayer: “Lord, give me an undivided heart so that I may fear your name” (Psalm 86:11). I know He wants me to talk about Him. But, I’m no virgin or prophet or great king, queen, not even a great mother. I’m just an average mother living a below average life with a wonderful husband who seems to think I’m smarter than he is and six wonderful kids who forgives me time after time.

I can hardly encourage people. Oh, don’t go there. That was the very reason why I was dodging bullets this week. I attempted to encourage some of my colleagues. It came out offensive. And, well, I’ve been dodging the bullets since. It’s a matter of fact I spent the majority of this morning crying my eye balls out, because I was singled out of over a hundred people (no, not a hundred people shooting the bullets (not literally), but just 4 or 5 people). I was told to stop preaching. They heard enough from their husbands. They just want to sit there and let loose about how terrible their situations are. I’m not kidding. Seriously there were lots of positive things about this group. They meant well, we just didn’t see eye to eye. They wanted to talk about misery. I wanted to talk about Jesus and happiness.

So what’s next? I don’t know. All I know is God promised me He will tell me what to say, what to do and how to do it.

Friends, if you are facing some difficult situations today. God has heard your cry for help. He knows. He’s working behind the scene to get it all perfectly fit for you. You may be very ready and wonder why God is still not acting, but let me tell you why, the people who is part of your dream puzzle is not ready. Be patient. His presence is already there. God bless you.

Oh, I forgot, here’s a message:

“The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry…The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; He protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken” (Psalm 34:15, 17-20).

Have a great weekend.

A woman of noble character: 2008 Goals

Happy New Year sisters. May all your dreams come true in 2008 and may you be filled with God’s glory, blessings, and mercy.

As always, I’m a little behind and beside myself. Always aiming for more than I am capable of accomplishing, so here I am a day behind the New Year. But, it is fairly new. It is only the second day. Right?

Here are my goals for 2008. Now, the list is not complete, but it will give you an idea of what I’m going to do for 2008 so that you will keep me accountable, especially for the first ten.

Goals:

Develop a more intimate relationship with Christ.
Get up earlier for devotions and prayer
Listen to CDs-sermons and encouragements
Get involved in more church activities
Write in devotional journal – promise verses of God


Have daily prayer and devotions with children.
Prepare a verse each day to share with the children before evening prayer time
Pray for them before sending them to school.

Tuck my children in bed every night
Make sure each child gets a hug before bedtime.
Check their bed and sheets before they go to bed.

Complete autoresponder form (this week)

Write one article a week
Be on the look out for words and phrases to help with writing
Start writing on Monday mornings
Revise throughout the week and look for possible publishers

Send one article for publication – one a week-Friday

Start bi-monthly newsletter in February
Begin writing on Tuesdays
Invite women who have stories to tell to submit articles for newsletters

Increase blog to twice a week
Monday
Friday

Write in journal every day – focus on accomplishments and insights from God.

Complete copywriting course by May 2008.
Complete invitation for lunch by January 7, 2008
Complete research and outline by February 20, 2008
Read one letter a day-analyze it’s purpose-follow tips given by Michael Masterson

Complete Emma’s quilt tops by end of January 2008

Complete mom’s quilt by end of February 2008

Attend She Speaks Conference
Sell quillows to raise money
Work for N. Txiaj Toog

Visit my mom – Early August or maybe September

Write more “thank you” & Encouragement notes
Look for opportunities to encourage people
Prepare some thank you post cards (Personalized) to send to people
Prepare an update family newsletter to send out to friends and family bi-yearly

Well, there you have it in a general sense of what I have in mind for 2008. I am flexible to change just as this site is also in process of review and possible change. But, I will still be here, blogging away.

My heart’s desire is to develop a heart that fears God by becoming a better wife, mom, friend, and teacher; practicing patience, kindness, goodness, joy, peace, love, self-control, and gentleness. I believe that if I can accomplish this task, then I am one step closer to developing a noble character.

Becoming a woman of noble character is every woman’s dream. However, most of us feel inadequate. But God says, “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes” (Isaiah 54:2).

God bless you all.

Shoua