Magazine Winner

Thanks to all of you who shared your "One Woman Matters" story!  "Journey for Life" you are the winner of the magazine subscription.  Hooray!!  Please email me at amy@proverbs31.org with your address, and I'll make sure that you get signed up.

I'm off to She Speaks today, so I'll look forward to updating you next week.  :)

Encouraging Words

Just a reminder...if you'd like to be entered for a free subscription to P31 magazine, please leave your "One Woman Matters" story here before 9:00 am EST Tuesday, July 17th.  Click here for all the details.

Today I wanted to share the words of one of my favorite people, Barry Lane.  Barry was my pastor when we lived in Burlington, but he is currently the founder and director of Encouraging Words.  Please follow the link to read more about reaching out to the world through indigenous ministries.  Barry also coordinated and lead our India trip in Nov.

His words challenged me, and I hope they reach deep into your heart too.

" . . . encourage each other with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:18

All of us have probably heard it said to us at least once in our lives:  "Stand up straight."  Standing up straight takes concentration and work.  It's much easier to let gravity and laziness do their thing.  Yet slouching can lead to poor posture, aches and pains, and even debilitating health problems.  We can apply the same principle to our spiritual lives.

God calls us to walk with Him and make a difference in the world around us.  He asks that we measure up to His higher standards and not give in to the lesser expectations of the world.   We can hear His challenges in our hearts:  "Don't be lazy.  Concentrate.  Don't slouch.  Head up.  Shoulders back.  Stand up straight."  God's standards are ramrod straight, not bent or leaning.   God's standards, by which we are measured, are straight up, precise, and solid.   

"Then the Lord said, "Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; . . ."  ~~Amos 7:8b

God is holding the plumb line of His expectations and standards up to us this morning.  He desires that we stand upright in a crooked world.   God gives ten basic commands for us to live in relationship with Him and with others.  Jesus, the carpenter/stone mason, holds the plumb line and sums them up with two:  Love GOD; love OTHERS.  [~~Matthew 22:36-40]  How are we measuring up?  

This week, commit to love God and the many others around us.  Stand up straight and be measured by His standards.


Partnering with Jesus and you until every knee shall bow,
~~Barry L. Lane

Magazine Give Away!

Good morning, friends!  I woke up in a sunny mood today, and I want to spread the bright rays!

Some of you may know, but Proverbs 31 Ministries has a magazine.  It's one of the great pleasures and honors of my life to have the opportunity to write occasionally, and July's issue was my turn.  Here it is:

I especially loved getting to write the feature article this time, because God is doing such a revolution in my heart.  He's shoving me right out of my comfort zone and helping me see my responsibility to hurting women around me.

He's showing me ways to reach out with His love that are both big and small.  And I'm not the only one that He's speaking to this way.  I was amazed to find out that my friends Luann Prater and Suzie Eller even talked about it on their Encouragement Cafe radio show.  You can click on the highlighted link to listen to their show on the topic.

So I want to issue a challenge with a potential prize today.  Would you share how God has led you to show that One Woman Matters?  In the comments, tell about a time that God nudged you to do something to show another woman that she matters.  It can be big or small.  Nothing is insignificant here if it's done out of obedience to Jesus--bake a cake, give a hug, pay for groceries...the possibilities go on and on.  Don't fee like you're bragging on yourself here.  Brag on how Jesus moved you to help another daughter, and we'll all glorify Him.  You can also share about how someone else made you feel like a woman who matters.  That's important too!

From the comments left here from now until Tuesday at 9:00 am, I'll randomly choose a winner.  The winner will receive a free year's subscription of P31 Magazine from me.

I can't wait to hear your stories and learn from you!

Building Hope with Trades of Hope

Maybe you've been reading my Monday blog posts for the last few weeks, and sighing as you close your computer. You might feel just like my friend Heatherly:

"How could I, with little disposable income and small children, possibly save the world? I wasn't Super Woman. I was just a mom. Just a wife. Just someone who looked into the eyes of these women: women like me who just wanted dignity, who just needed to know their purpose, who just wanted to be able to care for their children, to keep their families together."

She wanted to help, but she just didn't believe that she had the means. (To read the rest of Heatherly's story, click here.)

Heatherly found a way to not only help women across the globe through free trade but also to partner with them as she helped contribute to her own family's finances.  Trades of Hope is an organization that allows American women to join hands with women in poverty around the world.  In partnering, they find that they have far more in common than differences.

I am LONGING to have a Trades of Hope party at my house, so if you become one of their reps in the Raleigh, NC area, make sure to let me know first!  Here's how you can be a part:

Be part of the "Trades of Hope" adventure! from Holly Wehde on Vimeo.

Celebrate Freedom!

God Made Work, Work Don't Hurt :)

Although it's been a lazy morning, the boys and I have finally eaten brunch, cleaned up and moved on with the day.  I love summer!  Slow mornings with coffee and a book are a blessing.

   

But I can tell you that by the end of the summer I will be more than ready for some structure.  I love rest, but there's a part of me that also loves a schedule and a to-do list. 

Thinking about our God reveals that work is part of His nature and therefore part of ours as His image bearers.  He's put a longing in each of us for the purpose and significance that comes from meaningful work.

I'm still reading The Hole in Our Gospel and processing the complicated nature of poverty.  One of tragedies of poverty is that there is often a lack of societal structure to even generate and support significant work. 

One of the things that I particularly love about India is the industriousness and ingenuity of the people there.  Kolkata is a city of 13 million people.  Can you even imagine?  In the rush and hussel and bussel, the streets are lined with small businesses of every kind.  This little shop in on the street across from Agape school is just one example.

You can also see people with grills and restaurants set up on the sidewalk.  Food carts and rickshaws fill the streets.  People are working to find and make work of every description.  India may be a poorsociety, but the unfair stereo-type of laziness as the root of poverty is shattered here. 

I love the idea of helping to alleviate poverty through helping people with a desire to work.  There are a couple of fairly new ways to give in this way:  fair trade businesses and micro-loans.  I'll talk about both in the next few weeks, but I'll start with fair trade this week.

Today I'd love to share about the Story Company, a fair trade company that sells beautiful goods online.  This video tells the story best, but make sure to check out the whole website by clicking here and reading this blog post.

Action Item for the Broken-Hearted:

I'm going to plan ahead for birthdays and Christmas to try to give as many fair-trade items this year as possible as gifts.  I think my family and friends will love these beautiful international gifts!