Life is all about relationships. Friends. Family. Husband. God. Each one demands a lot of personal time, energy, and heart. And with online communication and cell phones you would think we’d somehow be better connected. But we’re not! We may be connected on the facts of life but not on the issues that really matter. It’s those meaningful, deep conversations with one another that create closeness—over time…that we seem to have less and less of.

The lack of relational time, I believe, is a spiritual problem. If the evil one can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy. In order to grow in love for others and love for Christ, we must slow down and stay connected to Him. The Bible says to “come near to God and He will come near to you.” We cannot change the number of hours in a day…but we can change the way we spend our time. Be with others. Listen carefully. Have meaningful conversation. Eat a meal together. Make the moments count. Especially with your Heavenly Father.

Our willingness to give ourselves to others is what really leads to meaningful connection. It builds loyal friendships, trusted family ties, and loving relationships. But loyalty, trust, and love only come when we give ourselves to God and others—over time.

When you look in the mirror, what do you see? God’s daughter?

Self-hate, rejection, and an inability to accept oneself as special and unique prevents us from becoming what God has planned for our lives. Do you feel like a failure? Are you too hard on yourself?

We all need grace. None of us are perfect. But, we are made in the image of a great God. It’s time to treat yourself better. The Bible says to treat others as you treat yourself…but it starts by treating yourself well! Do something today to remind yourself that you really are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Here’s a test. The next time you tell yourself that you’re no good, a failure, unlovable—all lies from the devil—ask yourself this one question. “Would I judge a good friend in this way?” If the answer is “no”, you are not being fair to yourself.

Jesus described God’s loving concern for you, explaining that “the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” He added that because God cares even for small birds—“not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will”—imagine how much more He cares for you (Matthew 10:29-31).

He loves you! Yes—you.

Extraordinary women are faithful in the small things, and that enables God to entrust more to them as they mature and grow in their faith. When we are young women God uses us in small ways. If we are faithful to follow and do his will, he will entrust us to greater goals and achievements, far beyond what we can imagine.

When I was growing up in Montana, I never dreamed God had plans for me to be serving Him the way I am-as president of Extraordinary Women. Standing in front of audiences always unnerved me. It still does. But I’ve learned that God’s dream for my life did not exactly match mine. I’m still amazed when I consider the way God blesses this ministry and empowers me to lead the team of wonderful people who make it all happen. God’s dream for me was certainly bigger than the one I had for myself!

Listen carefully to God’s voice leading you. Be faithful and follow. He will take your dreams far beyond what you could have ever imagined!

Have you ever decided to do something or not do something because you decided to obey God instead of going along with the crowd?  Maybe you were with a group of people who were gossiping and you decided to walk away.  Whatever the circumstance, obedience to God at that moment seemed to hurt because others didn’t respect you for your decision.

If you have experienced this or are currently facing such times, let me offer the hope of your loyalty to Jesus Christ.  As Oswald Chambers states, “If we are in love with our Lord, obedience does not cost us anything, it is a delight, but it costs those who do not love Him a good deal.  If we obey God, it will mean that other people’s plans are upset…we can prevent the suffering; but if we are going to obey God, we must not prevent it, we must let the cost be paid.”

Many times, however, loyalty to Christ brings about feelings of loneliness and isolation.  It is important to realize that sometimes God allows suffering to come into your life in order to strengthen your faith.  Suffering provides the opportunity to trust God.  You can rejoice because of what God will do in your life and what He promises for your future!  “Be not ashamed…glorify God.”  (1 Pet. 5:16)

We’re living in uncertain times. Terrorism. Economic down turn. Unemployment. Foreclosure. Nuclear armament. Identity theft… and that’s just the beginning. With so much to be afraid of, it’s hard not to worry. We all know what Jesus said about not worrying, but what do I do when the mortgage payment is due and there’s no money in the checkbook? Let’s face it, in the midst of the fear refocusing on Christ and realizing that He really does understand what we’re going through is just not easy.

When fear begins to creep into your mind and drain your soul, it’s easy to lose focus on the One who gives courage. To truly feel His love, we need to remind ourselves that He is the God of the angel armies and that He is called Jehovah Jirah, (meaning “The Lord will provide” Genesis 22:14) for a reason. He does care.

In the face of the fear and unpredictability of our day you can be certain of one thing - the One who cares for you is God Almighty, the Most High, the Lord of Hosts, Jehovah Jirah. He is a God of the impossible. Nothing is too hard for Him.

Lay your fears at the cross. And watch what God will do.

We are constantly reminded of the inevitability of change. Yet, we also have the tendency to get so comfortable we forget about it. When positive change happens, we allow our emotions to take us to the mountaintop. If all remains good we get comfortable. Then, all of a sudden – Bang! Something changes…we are thrown into utter shock…and we tumble into the valley.

What has come barreling into your life with no warning? What has drastically changed the way you approach life? What brought you crashing from the mountaintop dream to the dark valley?

King Solomon came to a point in his life when he recognized that there was a time for everything. Life is all about seasons. A season to be happy. A season to be sad. This is why it is so crucial that you place your complete faith in God. You will never know what might be in front of you. Sometimes life makes you laugh and sometimes it makes you cry. However, God is in control. With this promise, you can wake up each morning ready for what lies ahead!

When we are blindsided by the storms of life or face difficult, life-changing circumstances, we can react two ways. We can flee from the pain or face it head on with extraordinary courage. Pain and adversity can easily strip us of energy and heart. The crippling illness, the war injury, the devastating accident can leave us discouraged and exhausted. We can “curse God” and flee from him in our pain, or we can rush toward Him seeking His shelter, His love and hold on tight to His promise that nothing is too hard for Him.

Whether you’re in difficult circumstances or not, the power of choice and courage is a combination that all extraordinary women wield wisely. Problems are not the real issues in life; rather, what we choose to do with them will determine the future. When the storms rage, press in close to Jesus—He will safely guide your steps and walk with you, “even into the valley of the shadow of death” (Psalm 23). Fear no evil. For He is with you.

If you have children there’s something about rocking them to sleep at night and looking at them—admiring their eyes, hair, skin tone, and the shape of their nose. You wonder who they look like. Their daddy—or if they’re lucky—their mommy.

Have you ever wondered what it really means to be made in the image of God? Does that mean hair color? Eye color? Your height? Weight? Or is it more?

Really. It’s a lot more. It’s about what you have the ability to do and not to do. God fashioned you in a way to understand right from wrong. It’s about your freedoms and capacities you have as a human being to be in a relationship and honor one another by doing what’s right. Even Jesus said to be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48).

But often the dreams or expectations we have for our own children sometimes falls short because of the choices they make. It’s that way with us too. God’s dream for our life falls short because of the choices we make.

His dream for you is that you would understand who you are in Him. And that you would be like Him in everything you do.

Zits. Bad hair days. Fat days. Ugly outfits. Being a woman is difficult. We often define ourselves by how we look and what we believe others think of us. We also believe we’re a success or a failure based on what we do…on our performance as a wife, mother, co-worker, or whatever our role may be. That way of life is all a prescription for disaster.

I have come to believe that most women don’t believe God really loves them. We say we believe He does, yet in our heart we don’t. Think about this—if we really believe God loves us, gifted us the way we are, and cares for us more than a cage full of canaries, why would we constantly compare ourselves to others? Comparing leads to coveting - envying others for what they have. And, eventually we become angry because our life is less appealing than others.

The way to stop the cancer of insecurity is to find contentment, to live out the truths of who we are in Christ. Our focus must be on Christ and what He sees in us – “Fearfully and wonderfully made.” Remember, your Heavenly Father if enthralled by your beauty. (Psalm 45:11) Meditate on those words and on His confidence in you. Being secure in His love is being secure in His beauty – you!

My kids make me laugh. They are so much fun to be around. Have you ever thought about when God laughs? (Psalm 59:8). Or does he seem too serious to you? I think that God is amused by us like we are about our children.

Laugh with God. Humor shows the joy of the Christian life. While worldly humor glorifies sin, puts down others, ridicules righteousness, and hurts the spirit – Godly humor encourages, honors the Lord, and heals the soul.

Admit it – the best source of humor starts at the tip of your nose! The ability to laugh at ourselves is a sign of maturity, of healthy self-esteem, and of having our priorities straight. A woman once told a story to Liz Curtis Higgs, an author of Christian fiction. Someone had given the woman a plant. So she watered it, fed it plant food, and even set it outdoors to get sun—only to discover two years later that she had been watering a silk plant! Her family still gets a laugh out of that story today.

We’ve all been in high-stress situations where we turn to the next person and sigh, “Someday we’ll laugh about this.” I say, why wait? Lighten up and laugh it off, today!