As many of you know I am heading out to the Christian blogging Relevant Conference next week. As I prepare for my time away, I have had a message heavy on my heart that I wanted to share with all of you who might be feeling insecure in your home, life and your blogging.
This little three minute video is for every woman out there, not just for bloggers. I pray that as you watch you will be blessed and most of all that you are encouraged to seek the Lord and see the power of influence in our life.
If you are viewing this post in a reader you can click here to watch.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33
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Great job! Thank you for helping us keep perspective, my friend, as well as sharing your heart! Can’t wait to meet you at Relevant…
Yes will be so fun to meet soon!
Denise, this was so awesome and you are SO right on!! Excellent message thank you so much for sharing.
{On a side note: I really need to put together a vlog…preferably BEFORE Relevant! LOL}
It’s so funny, you are just how I pictured you to be!! Your voice and tone and everything. Gentle, kind, caring, soft-spoken. You portray yourself so well through your blog.
Well I will be waiting for that vlog! Thanks for the great feedback. I just wanted to get the message out. : ) See ya soon friend.
So you vlog is the first video ever to not hiccup on my wildblue internet. Great message. Very encouraging! (can I have your flag) hee hee
Well glad it worked for you Katey. See you soon.
Something I needed to hear today! I am wanting to go to relevant so bad but didn’t hear about it until it was sold out! I have to remember God’s plans and TIMING are better than any plans I have or want to have! I hope you grow in the Lord while you are there!
Rachel,
I am sorry that it didn’t work to come to Relevant. You are not alone. There are many that had wished to come. And yes God does have a perfect plan and its so hard sometimes to see it and to rest in it. Hang in there and hopefully we will meet some day!
Well aren’t you just fabulous! Thank you for this message and especially for sharing your heart in person (well, via vlog). I’m grateful for this reminder in anticipation of Relevant next week. I have faith He will meet each of us right where we are and need Him most.
Kristin,
Yes my prayer as well. To hear from the Lord for the next leg of the journey. Happy to meet you soon.
Thanks Denise. I know I don’t have the biggest following-at least not that I now of, who knows who is following in e-mail or rss feeds-but to think that I can (And have) even influenced one person is powerful. I think God is going to use all of us to influence each other next week at Relevant. Look forward to seeing you.
Yes Amy there is an anticipation in many of us. God will be in our midst!
Denise! Thanks for pointing me to your vlog today. It seems like this is a direction the Lord has been sending several of us this past couple of weeks. I feel like you do, that RIGHT NOW women really need to grasp that truth, that God created us for a purpose and we all have influence, every single one of us. It’s time we all stop looking AROUND US– because when we do we’ll always see someone bigger, better, prettier, smarter– and start just walking in the faith we have and the skin we’re in. You just never know who is watching. Even blogs with 1 follower usually have more readers. You just never know.
Amen sister! I love that post you put up and thank you for sharing your authentic self. When we submit then HE can do big things in us. I appreciate your encouragement. See ya soon!
My Friend,
What a blessing it was to me this morning to hear your sweet voice for the first time! Your message is so encouraging – right where I am today. Feeling like my life really doesn’t impact anyone…that I am not fulfilling the Lord’s purpose for my life…that I’m speaking to blank air most of the time on my blog…etc, etc.
You’re a blessing in so many ways, not the least of which is in your walk with Him.
I know we’ve never met in person, but through our online friendship, I feel blessed to know you and call you Friend.
Have a wonderful time at Relevant!
Susan
Oh Susan, I just love you! Thanks for always encouraging me. Yes nothing you are doing is in vain. Keep seeking!
Love ya!
That goes both ways Friend! Love you too!
I love this, Denise… and it is so very true.
When I launched B90DAys on my site, I told my husband to remind me that if only one person finished, I was still used by God. Yes, it caught on a bit more than that, but much more important than the number of people who finish is the way I am influencing every person I come into contact with either online or in person.
With that comes great excitement– and great responsibility.
Each of us is a key influencer for our Father with the exactly audience He intends for us. And whether that audience feels big or small to us, each person who is a part of it is hugely significant to God.
Have a blast at Relevant! Heathahlee is organizing a B90 photo, so PLEASE find her and take part in it!!
Thanks Amy! Thank you for being a vessel and letting God work through you. The overflow of getting people in God’s word will benefit for years to come!
Bless you!
How often we’re looking down the road – and thinking of more.
God talks about 1 sheep, 1 coin, 1 son coming back to the Lord (being found) and all of heaven rejoicing! We sure don’t wanna think about just 1 do we ??
Thanks Stef- yes keeping the eyes focused on the ONE who we need to brings about more! See ya soon.
You and I have the same heart
I’m looking forward to meeting you at Relevant next week!!
Ahhh Lisa always love meeting kindred spirits. Can’t wait to see you.
what a great message…I’ve very much been in that place lately– of wanting more– and praying for more in some areas, but learning to be grateful and content in others…I just found out that I will be attending the Relevant Conference…and ironically just wrote a blog post about how God answered my prayers to go, but also how I deleted the google friends app from my blog because I didn’t want to stare at the number “20″ any longer!!! ironic that you use that number in your vlog!!!! Thanks for this encouragement…
Wow Lisa, that is amazing. Thank you for sharing with me. Please, please find me at Relevant and make sure we meet. God bless you as you follow the ONE who matters most!
Will do! I look forward to meeting you!!! I’m going to try to link up to your blog link party thingy in the next day or two…better late than never, right?!!!
Thank you! I needed that.
Glad you were blessed Michelle!
oh Denise, this resonates so much with what I’ve been praying about and things the Lord has been working in my heart lately. Especially that verse and “looking to the future”. So glad I clicked over to your video this morning. I’m so totally with ya, but I needed to HEAR it this morning. I know I’ve been floundering a bit (specifically with blogging/writing), searching for direction, and honestly feeling discouraged. You’re so right – God has given us all that we need right at THIS moment by His grace. May I truly embrace that, hear/heed his voice, be content, and see Him glorified. That’s all I really want anyway…to be an influence, not for me, but for His kingdom! He is the only ONE that matters!
This verse has been percolating in my heart for some time now: “Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain.” – Psalm 127:1
Thank you so much. I’m in tears. What a precious sister you are. I so wish you lived closer. What I wouldn’t give to sit at your feet for a bit!
Hugs to you!
Ashlie
Yes, we all fight the discouragement, as I have so many times over. God is using you just as much as me or anyone else. I have also been so encouraged by you and your words on many occasions. Keep writing, keep seeking. This beautiful comment and your one on Facebook have made me want to cry as well. The confirming words I appreciate that help me to press on for what God is calling me to do! I wish we lived closer as well. I pray we can meet in real life someday!
Blessings and ((HUGS)) sweet Ashlie!
Denise,
Thank you so much for this message. It’s a great reminder that no matter what we are doing, someone is watching and noticing our words or actions.
Pam
thank you Pam for coming to listen and read! Blessings to you as you follow the Lord.
Wow. Having never been to your site before, I noticed your link to this post on Twitter this morning and thought it might be good for me (one of the little bloggers) to see. It was indeed. I was just writing on this very topic–or very similar, at least–last night. I had decided that I need to shift my focus to using what little position of influence that my social media presence affords me for blessing and encouraging others instead of trying to boost myself, my standings, my statistics.
Thanks for putting together this video. It really was an encouragement to me today–just what I needed to confirm that I am moving in the right direction. I pray that you will truly enjoy these last few days at home with your family before you head out to Relevant. May God bless you in a unique and mighty way–something you didn’t even see coming–while you are at that conference. From my post at home, I will be praying for all of you while you are there, but especially for the ones whose hearts I’ve had a glimpse of–people like you.
So awesome to hear God speaking in your life Sherry. Keep looking upward its the best place to be. Thank you for your encouragement, and for your prayers for all of us attending Relevant. Maybe you and I will meet in real life someday!
it is important for all of us to note that whatever the spheres of influence God gives us, we are responsible. so often, we minimize the importance of the spheres we have that are the most powerful…yes, i’m talking about our spouse and children.
We also have neighbors, friends, people in our local church-those with whom we love to be with that are encouraging, those that drain us and to whom we minister, and the many others in our sphere of influence.
the end result of that influence may not be known for years…particularly if there is a lot of resistance to our “message”. (which we often have to rethink…what is the message to them. “i want you to do things my way.” or “i want you to grow up to be the person God wants you to be, not the one fashioned in my image.”) or i love you for the person God is creating vs. i want to make you into an image that I want.
learning to trust God for what HE is doing both in our lives and in the lives of those around us…even if we can’t see it, especially if we can’t see it, is difficult. It is what the writer of Hebrews was talking about he talked about when he talked about “walking by faith, not by sight.” It is what the patriarchs lived their whole lives!
Think of Abraham! He left all that was familiar and went…to a place God would show him. Can you just hear him telling Sarai about that? He lived his life as a stranger in a foreign country, with a promise that God would make a great nation of him…oh yes, and his wife was barren! Eventually, on God’s time clock, THE son was born.
But look at all the “goofs” he made in the meantime! His life of faith was certainly not a perfect one…or without major failures. yet, God’s word on him in Hebrews was that he walked by faith in many of the very areas we look at him and say FAILURE! i think we call that God’s Grace! and by grace, i don’t mean looking the other way, i mean true forgiveness to satisfy His justice in such a way that the failure didn’t even happen from His perspective.
Sorry, i never planned to go on this long. i just got thinking about Hebrews 11 and got so excited. i will have to write more about it:) needless to say, as i look back over my life, saten loves to taunt me with a movie of my failures. when he does, i remind him of the truth.
God’s grace HAS forgiven me (if I am “in Christ”). He did it 2000+ yrs. ago on the cross…for every sin i would ever commit. is that exciting or what?
Preach it Martha! Thanks for sharing all this. See ya soon
Denise, thank you so much for this! What a timely message, especially for those of us going to Relevant for the first time. I so appreciated your words (and your other helpful Relevant posts!).
Gretchen,
Yes I was brand new at Relevant last year, and it has taken a while to feel comfortable in the social media arena. Glad this was helpful to you. I know that God will use our time at the conference to speak to us. Look forward to meeting you soon.
for those of you intimidated by this being your first year at relevant, don’t forget that this is only the SECOND annual relevant conference:) those of us who have been there before can easily remember our first time. it was LAST year:) we will be kind and friendly to you this year just as we were to each other last year:)
This is a blessing to every woman who listens, Denise; thank you for sharing your heart with us. A few years after I had to retire early from teaching due to my health, our first grandson, Jack, was born, and for the past 8 years, I have had the joy of watching him grow up as well as his brother Eli, who is now 3, as well as their cousin, Maya, who is also 3. They have not always lived near us, but all three of them do now, and my husband and I spend a lot of time with them. Their parents all know the Lord, and I consider it such a blessing to now be sharing Christ with our 3 grands. In Dec., we will have another grandson join our family, and I pray the Lord gives us many, many years to share Him with all 4 of our grandchildren.
I used to feel bad that I wasn’t volunteering more at our church or in the community, but God has reminded me that I am serving Him as I babysit my grandchildren and I make a pleasant home for my husband. We are in the process of downsizing to a smaller home we are building, so that it will be easier for me to care for since I continue to deal with my health problems, and I want to use my time to continue to influence my grandchildren for the Lord. I also know that prayer is the best way i can serve him, and it is something I can do no matter how I am feeling.
Your blog lifts me up everytime I come to read; I am just sorry that I do not comment often. I’ll try to do better!
May you be blessed as you bless others, Denise,
Laurie
Laurie,
Thank you for sharing your story. You are doing the best thing ever. Right now I am in a season of not doing any outside activities at my church or elsewhere. I sometimes feel bad, but then realize with homeschooling, and just caring for a family and home is the highest calling first. Blogging even has to come after all that.
I pray that God will give you the strength and health to carry out the purpose and plans that he has set before you. Never feel pressured to comment. : ) Blessings right back to you!
Thanks so much for sharing this post and your video. It was so meaningful to me and a spoke right to my heart a message the Lord has been teaching me again and again. Blessings on you!
Lisa
Denise~
I was just going back through my “stacks” of emails & came across your e~letter. I listened to your video & was touched by what you had to say. I am at a crossroad in my life & I need to hear the Lord speak to me. I have things on my heart that I want to do, but at the same time, kinda need a job with income. God has always provided our needs & I am so thankful for that. Without going into any detail, it is time for me to focus…and listen to what God is leading me to do with this time in my life. There have been a lot of changes in the last few years for me & I am trying to find my way. Thank you so much for speaking the truth & laying it on my heart to do what God wants me to do.
Blessings,
Cindy