Thursday, March 25, 2010

Getting Out of the Holding Pattern - Or why I want to attend the 2010 She Speaks Conference



Have you ever had a season in life where everything comes to a stop? Life gets messy and things get in the way of your hopes, dreams and plans. You desperately try to arrive to a destination you feel sure God has led you to, but you just can’t seem to get there. It’s so close. You can see it. It’s almost within your reach, but you haven’t quite arrived. You are just hanging out, waiting to land. That’s where I’ve been recently - in a holding pattern.

Several years ago, I clearly felt God was calling me to speak to others about the wondrous and miraculous things He’s done in my life. So, being the organized, methodical, take control person that I am, I began to research how to become a speaker.

Several training opportunities were available, so I signed up for them and off I went to learn how to become a speaker. One such opportunity was the She Speaks Conference which is part of Proverbs 31 Ministries. I attended the conference and was blown away by the teaching, encouragement and inspiration I received. The women who are part of the Proverbs 31 team share openly about their struggles and successes and offer friendship, advice and encouragement to the conference attendees. I came home and quickly put much of the information I learned to use, not only in speaking as part of a group I am involved with called Epilepsy Advocates, but sharing my testimony in many churches and women’s groups.

Then, life happened. Just as things were going really well, my son who has epilepsy (you can read more about his story here) began to have a great deal of health challenges. He made a trip to the hospital for about 17 months in a row with status seizures, so everything else sort of stopped. My speaking engagements stopped. My writing stopped. But, my desire to do those things didn’t.
So, I’ve been waiting and looking for opportunities to get back into the groove; to get excited again about what I know God has called me to do. So… when I read Lysa’s blog post about the Cecil Murphy scholarships that were being offered for the She Speaks conference this year, I thought “why not apply”.
Thankfully my son’s health is much better and we have much better seizure control for right now. So, I’m ready to move forward with whatever God has planned for me. The last time I attended the conference, I participated in the Speaker’s track. I would love to return to participate in the Writer’s track this year. I’m confident attending the conference would help move me out of my holding pattern to arrive at the destination God has planned for me.

If you would like to enter to try to win a scholarship too, you can click here to get the details and link up your post. To find out more about the conference, click here. To find out more about Proverbs 31 Ministries, click here.

4 comments:

Kimberly said...

Hi, Amy! I smiled when I saw your name listed on Mr.Linky over at Lysa's this morning! :)

I am so glad that Spencer's seizures are better under control. And I am so glad that you are feeling led to pursue more with your writing!

Praying God's will for both of us...and hoping His will includes us getting to hang out together at She Speaks!
Love you!

Christina said...

Glad to hear you are getting back out there. Hope your son is doing well, I'm praying for him.

Karen said...

Bless you as you pursue this training. I am so thankful for your son's improved health. I also would like to improve my skills as a writer, speaker, and intercessor.
Thank you for sharing about this.

achildoftheking said...

Amy. I've been feeling the call and tug on my heart to speak. I have been tossing it around for about over 6 months. God's been showing me things to push me more in the speaking direction. I am listed on Lysa's blog about the scholarships. We'll see what God has in store. Praise HIM.