by Donya Dunlap | May 13, 2013 | Guest Posts, The Spiritual Life
Today, I invited a friend, pastor’s wife, and brand new author to share with us. Leah has been a great encouragement to me through the modern miracle of social media. I am thrilled about her book, Expecting Grace, and I am so glad she has taken the time to share her heart with us. If you like what you read here, visit her blog at embracingrace.com or click over to Amazon and get her e-book for only $3.99!
Sunday morning, in the church foyer, two little girls chattered. Like magnets, Tiny Daughter and “new girl” had found each other and had stayed together all morning.
I listened in as Tiny Daughter’s voice chirped out a phrase of friendship: “You can be my new sister!” she pronounced with gusto. She didn’t even know her name yet.
New Girl smiled. Tiny Daughter went on, “You can come to my house with your mommy, and your mommy and my mommy can be friends. You can even stay in my room. You can be my new sister!” She proclaimed her intentions loudly, and I marveled.
Marveled at how easily Tiny Daughter makes friends…how she reaches out to other little people she doesn’t even know. No walls in her heart; she doesn’t know that people are “supposed” to have walls. (I’m so glad) I watch my little one and realize that she found the door in this other little person’s heart.
She goes farther than “hello,” skips over “how are you, I’m fine,” races past “will you be my friend?” and goes right to “you can be my sister.”
In 1 Thessalonians 2, Paul writes about the deep care he had for the folks in the church at Thessalonica, “But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children: So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.”
Isn’t that a beautiful picture of the encouragement we could be to each other as women?! So many soft words in those verses: gentle, affectionate, cherish, willing, dear. My heart is often heavy for women everywhere who are hurting. As a pastor’s wife, I see the situations. I do the counseling. I hear the stories. My heart breaks with each one. Women suffer heartbreak from many different sources, and they desperately need gentle soul care.
We are called to give our very souls to each other through earnest prayer and encouraging, edifying words. If we’re looking for them, we’ll find many opportunities to be affectionate toward each other in meeting practical needs (this means we have to take the time to find out what the needs are!). In truth, everyone needs a soul sister.
“He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3
God understands the heartbreak of the people He created. He wants to meet you in your pain. Pour in oil and soothe the hurt. He wants to use other people to help you heal, and He wants to use YOU to help others heal. God put us on the earth together for a reason- because we NEED each other.
Today and every day, minister intentionally to other women. Reach out to perfect strangers that God brings across your path. Sometimes a simple smile or kind word can revolutionize a person’s whole demeanor. God can use even the tiniest things to open doors of further opportunity to build friendships and to share the Gospel. And while you’re looking for those “appointments,” celebrate with fellow believers the blessings of being women of God. Share Scripture with them, build them up, write notes to them, hug them, cry with them, laugh with them, pray with them. Infuse encouragement into them. You know the God Who heals, so let Him use you to be a balm in someone’s soul.
The precious part? While you’re reaching out, God will be healing the wounds in your own heart.
You will be amazed.
Leah Highfill accepted Christ as her Saviour and became a child of God at the age of 18. A United States transplant to Canada almost 8 years ago, she enjoys serving in full time ministry as a pastor’s wife and a mom to two medical miracles. She homeschools her 6 year old and teaches private piano lessons on the side. When she’s not involved with family or church, she can be found writing/blogging, playing the piano, or ice skating. She considers her life to be an ongoing testimony of God’s incredible grace! Leah has a passion to inspire and encourage women in their walk with God, to reach out to other pastor’s wives, and to support women who are facing difficult pregnancies. Her first book, Expecting Grace, has just been published. Expecting Grace is the story of Leah’s experience and survival of a life threatening pregnancy, and of many miracles along the way. Join her journey at Embracingrace.com.
by Donya Dunlap | Oct 28, 2012 | Guest Posts, The Spiritual Life
Several weeks ago I had the privilege of guest posting on the blog of the amazing Joseph Iregbu (To read that post click here.) Today I am privileged to have him sharing with us here. He has been an encouragement to me since meeting him through the book release team for Wrecked by Jeff Goins, and I know he will be an encouragement to you too.
Writer Joseph Iregbu
The Bible is full of extraordinary accounts of grace
like Ruth, Paul, Zacchaeus, Peter, Rahab and many more. What God did in their lives can often be described as:
Unfathomable
Unimaginable
Unthinkable
‘Absurd’
It’s a God Thing
But isn’t that what makes it a God thing?
Isn’t that what makes us a wonder to ourselves?
“A Holy God interested in the lives of unholy mortals, seeking to draw them to Himself, seeking to sanctify, purify and shape them…”
Grace is stupendous by nature. Whether we can fully understand it in this life, I couldn’t tell. And seriously I don’t want to – there’s eternity ahead to do just that. In the meantime, we should stand in awe.
Consider Rahab
Consider Rahab in Hebrews 11:31. Her story should continue to marvel us. There are some words you don’t naturally expect to see in the Bible, harlot being one of them. But Rahab would later be mentioned in the lineage of Christ. ‘Absurd’ grace!
This is good news for us. We are grace misfits in every possible way, naturally alienated from God but bought by the blood of Christ. This is beyond human wisdom but it’s good news. And good news are to be spread, shared and proclaimed.
Hope, Courage and Strength
Draw hope from the fact that God is the One that makes us ‘good enough’.
Draw courage from the fact that, being justified by faith, we have peace with God.
Draw strength from the fact that it’s not about your past record of shame and sins, but forgiveness by the One who shed His blood for you.
And if you haven’t experienced this wonder, I urge you to come in by faith. Come in and dine on this ‘absurd’ grace.
Do you remember when you first experienced God’s stupendous, ‘absurd’ grace? We would love to hear your story in the comments below!
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About Joseph
Joseph Iregbu leads on purpose and is passionate about raising the next generation of leaders. He blogs at http://josephiregbu.com and is a Coach and Mentor to young leaders. He is the author of a book (Even in the Well), husband of one wife and father to a gorgeous daughter. He lives in Germany. Connect with him on Twitter , Facebook and read about his Story of Hope that has inspired many to live bold.
by Donya Dunlap | Sep 28, 2012 | Guest Posts, Making a Difference
I have the privilege of sharing with you today a brief, but invaluable five question interview with author, blogger and speaker Jeff Goins. If you have been following my posts recently, you know that Jeff has written a book called Wrecked: When a Broken World Slams into Your Comfortable Life. The book was an Amazon bestseller for two weeks and went into a second printing the day after it was released in August. If you have yet to get a copy, I hope that this glimpse into Jeff’s heart and the core of Wrecked will encourage you to get it soon.
Jeff, thank you for taking the time to share with us today!
Jeff Goins, Writer
Wrecked talks a lot about finding your passion. What is your passion in a nutshell?
My passion is words. To communicate messages worth spreading. I’ve done that my whole life — with music, theater, art, and now writing — and I love helping others do the same.
For the longest time, I minimized this passion, because it felt too small. I had friends who were traveling the world, and here I was, writing about it. But recently, I’ve had a change of mind: I’ve come to grips with the power of words.
Words can bring life or death, and my hope is to live a life in which my words bring hope and wholeness to people. Some say talk is cheap; I no longer believe it.
When did God first start stirring your heart in this area?
About two years ago, a friend asked me what my dream was. When I hesitantly told him it was to be a writer, he looked at me funny. Then he said, “Jeff, you don’t have to WANT to be a writer… You ARE a writer; you just need to write.” So I did. And that changed everything.
Was there a catalyst to this stirring? (ie: personal prayer, fasting, sermon, song, event, trip, etc.)
I had been working with a ministry, helping other people find their passions and pursue their dreams, and I was wondering, “Do I have a dream?” It had been so long since I’d asked that question, I was afraid of the answer.
After attending several conferences, I had to come to grips with the scary realization that I did, in fact, have a dream.
Was this always a dream for you or did you have a different desire at one point that God redirected?
I think it always was, but I didn’t know it. My experience with dreams is we get them often before we need them. So we have to go through a season in which the dream dies, which is exactly what happened for me. For five years, I served somebody else’s dream. So when the dream came back, it felt selfish and like betrayal. But at that point, my motives were more pure and I was ready.
The dream was now bigger than me.
Did you respond immediately to God’s tug on your heart? If so, how? If not, why?
You know, it took me a long time to see the spiritual implications of dreams and passions. It all just felt kind of selfish to me. When I was in college, I had some pretty dramatic experiences that led me to believe my life was going to be about more than me. I was called to serve others.
And so when I had the chance to write a book and pursue a platform that attracted an audience, it felt a little weird. I was scared of that much influence. So I avoided it for awhile, but eventually I came to see it as an opportunity to serve others (as I had been called) with the gifts God had given me. I’m continually surprised by how much impact a few simple words can have on people. So I guess I’m still getting used to it.
As I share in the book, our callings often come to us as surprises, and that’s exactly what happened for me. Discomfort is what causes us to grow; this is a lesson I keep learning throughout life.
When I was 23, the most uncomfortable thing I could do was go downtown and hang out with homeless people, so I did. When I was 28, the most uncomfortable thing for me to do was sit down and write. So I did — albeit, begrudgingly.
The abundant life, it seems, is about making choices we’d rather not make, but understanding that there’s more at stake than our own comforts.
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by donyadunlap | Aug 21, 2012 | Guest Posts
Lauren D’Alessandro, Co-founder of The You Are Project, graciously offered to read a preview copy of Forgetting the Fairy Tale and write a book review of her thoughts.
I was really excited when Donya Dunlap allowed me to read and review her soon-to-be-published manuscript, Forgetting the Fairy Tale. Now as I write this review, I’m a little intimidated—I’m not sure where to begin, or how to do justice to this book that just unexpectedly became a part of my top five books by Christian authors.
Forgetting the Fairy Tale is more than just a fluffy, feel-good Christian book about womanhood. It is a call to action, a call to truly let go of the elusive pleasures we seek from men and from this world and to turn to Christ for love, strength, and our sense of self-worth…
Click here to read the full book review.
Lauren D’Alessandro, Co-founder of The You Are Project
