Little Victories

I was recently having a conversation with dear sister in Christ. She was sharing the blessing of a recent conference that she had attended. One of her favorite take always was a suggested prayer outline (that of course I jumped on board with right away). One of the sweetest parts of the conversation and break out session was when the speaker talked about little victories.

The speaker set out to pray for five minutes every day out loud. As we all know it can be difficult to focus in on prayer and by saying it out loud this was helping to making it a more focused and deliberate use of time. She completed an entire year of praying out loud for five minutes daily. Her new goal as a new year approached was wait for it... Six Minutes. I know I was waiting for ten minutes, but six. She is choosing to take the little victories in life. She is setting herself up for victory instead of failure. She is experiencing the blessings of deep, thoughtful, out loud prayer. I loved this. I love that some of the most meaningful things we will do in our walk with Christ will be simple. I think the more we over think the more we set ourselves up for failure. Had she set the goal of ten minutes daily, she may have succeeded with great success, but I fear there may have been failure. She set a realistic goal for herself that brings her closer to her Lord each day, yet challenges her and her faith each day.

I am thankful for the little victories in my walk with Christ. I know I am often looking for or striving for the big things; but by doing that I think I have missed out on the blessings of the little things.

So here to the little victories through Christ and a future full of little and big victories, all in the name of Christ.

S.O.A.P

I wanted to give a recap of the S.O.A.P outreach that my mom and I participated in on Saturday. As you know I have a heart sex trafficking. I am still not sure how God will continue to use me in that ministry, but when He presents an opportunity I take it.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to serve with a few friends and many brothers and sisters in Christ with the S.OA.P Outreach. Click Here to find out what S.OA.P is all about! Mom and I headed about an hour north of where we live to a church, literally out in the middle of no where. We hear the testimony of a young women who had been caught in sex trafficking and how she was rescued and her recent involvement with S.OA.P. Lunch was spent labeling bars of soap. After lunch our group headed out to Rockville Road to deliver our soap.

It was such a blessing to minister in this way. Our goal was to educate the hotel staff and drop off the soap. All within a timely but not rushed manner. I have a little experience with this as mom and I helped last year with the Super Bowl outreach, but I was still a little nervous.

S.O.A.P is not a gospel centered ministry. Their primary goal and purpose is to educate and provide a means of rescue for these victims. However I love that no matter what you do you can make it gospel centered. The last time I participated in this outreach one of our team members took the time to talk and pray with a couple of the hotel staff. This truly touched me. I sometimes pray in public but not usually with strangers, however the kindness of the act and intentions scream Glory to God. I wanted this ministry to have the same objective for me. I wanted it to be gospel centered. So going way outside my comfort zone our group did the following. At each hotel we introduced ourselves, talked about S.O.A.P and provided them with many materials. At the end of our conversation with each hotel we asked if we could pray for them and with them. I was the chosen one to lead prayer all four times. This was a huge deal for me and I am so thankful for the growth that God provided even in that hour.

Please be in prayer for the outreach and outcomes. And please think on the hotels on Rockville Road and near 70 in Plainfield. May they have been touched by the gospel, may there have been a seed planted.

BOOK REVIEW: Praying for Your Future Husband

Praying for your Future Husband: Robin Jones Gunn and Tricia Goyer

This book with through different aspects of praying for your future spouse. The two co-authors shared their own stories and others throughout the entire book making it easier to relate to. The book also had thought provoking statements and questions at the end that made you think. There where also prayers at the end of each chapter, a demonstration of how you can be specially praying for the issues they just addressed.

This book was super fantastic I loved every part of it. I loved how they integrated both of their own stories into the book. It gave it more dimension especially depending on what situation you are coming from. At the end of chapter there where questions and thoughts and prayers. I loved this. I pray for my future spouse, Lord willing that their is one and I really found those prayers helpful. Although I have been praying they gave more direct ideas of ways to pray. I also found the book to be challenging in the manner of challenging me to act as I would want my future to be acting. Not just thinking of the ideal godly man, but I need to be focused on being a godly woman!

A free copy of this book was provided by WaterBrook Multnomah through Blogging for Books.