Do you see God and grace in your story?

We all have a story to tell and the more we reflect on our own life path the more the appearance of God’s grace becomes evident. Many books are written as a reflection for the author and a hope for encouragement for the reader. I know that when I first set out to write Finding Joy it was more for my personal reflection but soon became a story I knew would help others struggling to find more than just survival in long distance relationships.

God’s Grace in Your Story

What is your story? Do you have one that is marked by the loss of a loved one or a family/personal health crisis? Are you geographically separated from those you love? Does the one you love not love you back? Do you wrestle with God’s goodness, existence, faith? Are you the caregiver for someone and struggling through exhaustion or perhaps depression? God’s grace is in your story.

For the longest time, I could not see God’s grace in my own story. My daughter’s illness blinded me to His goodness. You can read about how it all started at Our St. Jude story, how it began.

I’m giving away a copy of my story Finding Joy: The Year Apart That Made Me A Better Wife along with a copy of Your Story Matters (keep scrolling to enter the giveaway).

Book Review

BookCrash sent me Your Story Matters by Emra Smith in exchange for an honest review.

Emra Smith shares her own story of heartache and growth. She doesn’t shy away from telling you the raw not so perfect moments of her story and in doing so points to the God who redeems all of our stories. I encourage you to visit her blog www.EmraSmith.com where she gives voice to other women’s stories. In fact, if you’re up for it, send her yours.

What I love the most about this tiny book is that it lives true to its title. YOUR STORY MATTERS. And it does! Each of our stories are so full of God’s grace, His redeeming power, His love for each and every one of us. Whether you see it in the moment or not God loves you and is weaving His grace throughout your life.

Each and every story matters. Emra Smith explains the why and begins the process of how to tell your own story. I’ve decided to pass on this tiny book to one of you, my readers, in addition to a copy of my own story.

Giveaway

Giving away two books:

• autographed copy of Finding Joy: The Year Apart That Made Me A Better Wife
• autographed copy of Your Story Matters

My Journey of Faith Encourage Weekend

If you are in Arkansas, or anywhere nearby, April 29-30, 2016 then I highly encourage you to attend this event. I’m sitting in El Paso, TX wishing I was closer. For the last several months I’ve been in the background group listening in to the planning of this event and let me tell you this weekend is going to be extraordinary!

The women who have poured their hearts into the planning and praying behind the scenes just want to empower and bless other women. There is power in our words, in our stories, in our lives. You can read these women’s hearts over at My Journey of Faith Online Magazine. The writers for this online community are the ones building the framework of how to encourage other women to know and share their stories, to embrace the freedom found only in Christ, and to live in strong bonds of community with one another. (That’s how I got a sneak peak behind the scenes. I’ve had the opportunity to contribute to MJOF before. I may not be in Arkansas anymore but Conway was my home for many years and still has a part of my heart.)

My Journey of Faith Encourage Weekend is a two-day, one-night retreat that centers around three specific goals for the women in Arkansas:

1. Encouraging Women to have Freedom in Christ
2. Encouraging Women to Know and Share their Stories
3. Encouraging Women to live in Fellowship with One Another.

Encourage Weekend will have teaching from local Bible teachers, speakers, and leaders, as well as personal testimony from women living in Arkansas. There will be time for you to reflect on your personal story, build your testimony, and engage in solitary time with Jesus. By the end of Encourage Weekend, it is our hope that you feel empowered to live in the freedom of the grace of Jesus Christ, which allows you to live authentically in your own life and in your own story, leading you to feel free to use your journey of faith to encourage one another and ultimately share the gospel of Christ.

The cost for the entire weekend (meals, lodging, and t-shirt) is only $38.91, and if you don’t need meals, lodging or a t-shirt it’s even less. Check it out and register HERE

Grace - Our Fight Song

We each have a story to tell, one of struggling and triumph. Our communities empower us to find strength in the most difficult areas of that story, they help us realign our hearts to Christ and refocus on the future. Each of us is on a journey, somewhere different along the way. Sharing our stories doesn’t just empower us, it empowers those around us.

Before you go grab a copy of the Emra Smith’s book and download Fight Song!