She Speaks Conference and Scholarship

If anything positive came out of the disastrous season of "The Bachelor", it would be that I was officially introduced to BooMama's blog. This woman is something else! I've never met her but she makes me laugh no matter what kind of day it has been. Her recaps of each episode were dead on and when I found she has a love for "The Office" as well, I was officially hooked. Into the favorites menu her blog went.

As part of my unwind a few days ago, I was checking in on several blogs and of course, I clicked over the BooMama. Something in her sidebar caught my eye and there was a button that looked like this:

I decided to check it out. Apparently, Proverbs 31 Ministries puts on an annual conference entitled She Speaks. This conference is geared towards helping women that feel led to lead in various women's ministries. They focus on five main areas: speaking, writing, women's ministry leaders, blogging, and next generation. In a nutshell, they hold sessions on everything anyone interested in serving women in these areas might need to know. Everything from preparation, presentation, booking, peer evaluations, design, do's and don'ts, and so much more! I sat and read through every detail that they gave with an excitement building within me. What an amazing opportunity to sit at the feet of those who have been there and done that with success! What amazed me even more is the Next Generation track that works with girls ages 12-17 who want to make an impact in their generation! What a blessing to these girls! As I looked at the dates and the cost involved in attending, I felt a little of my air being taken from me. The dates are fine but in trying to be a better steward of what God has given me, the cost plus additional airfare had me pulling in the reigns a bit. Something to think about for sure but not to go all in on yet.

One reason that this conference has grabbed my attention so significantly is that I really believe that God has been really working to get my attention in the past few months. In the past, this usually has meant that He has some work that needs to be done with me. This time is different though. I'm by no means finished being worked on but this seems to be the next step. Between the ladies retreat, Surprise Me, and the book Sacred Pathways (see tomorrow's post), God has been opening my eyes to a significant truth in two different ways. The overall theme of this year would have to be "It's Not About Dana!" For one thing, God has done some amazing things in my life and sometimes, we just need to step back and let others have the same experience of being woo-ed by God. The other thing is definitely the more significant. I have become convicted that whatever God had entrusted to us in this life serves two purposes: 1) to draw us to Him and 2) to use us to draw others to Him. God has been going before me every step of the way and now He wants to use this beauty that He made from ashes to bless others. Not for any talent or good that is in me because that is not the case. Instead, He wants others to see what life in Him looks like. I cannot tell you how worked up I get wanting people (specifically women) to know of the intimate, loving relationship we can have with God Himself! It chokes me up everytime I encounter it and I trip on myself trying to verbalize it! It is become more and more a passion for me and I have no doubt that God is giving me this for a reason. I'm not too sure how it will come to be but being open and communicating Him is definitely a part of it. Now I've unexpectedly run across this conference that is designed to equip women for this serving. To be able to be trained to prepare and share what God has put on my heart would simply be amazing! However, it might have to wait for another year.

A few days after it began rolling itself over in my mind, I checked in on BooMama again to get a good chuckle. To my surprise, there was a link to Lysa TerKeurst's blog. Lysa is a major part of Proverbs 31 Ministries and she announced a scholarship being offered for one woman to attend the conference 100% covered (minus airfare)! All you have to do is get the word out about the conference and share why you would like to attend. If I've learned any lesson besides that above, it is that the answer is always "No" if you don't ask or try. So here I am trying. :) I've looked at some of the other women attempting to earn the scholarship and there are some pretty amazing women out there. I have to doubt that whoever is chosen as the winner will be walking through a door God Himself has opened. What a blessed woman!

So if you are interested, check out the conference! There is something for everyone there that is looking for a way to reach out to women around her!