"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10

I used to think my path was so crooked that it wasn’t worth much. Today as I was reading through some of the daily devotionals I get in my in-box, a couple things took hold. The first was that the path I’ve taken is exactly the path that God laid out for me long before I ever came into being. The second was that I need not wonder about the how’s and why’s of my path or where it is leading because it is in God’s hands. Those are some pretty freeing and peace-giving thoughts.


The verse above from Ephesians was the Scripture reference for today’s Encouragement For Life devotional from the Proverbs 31 ministry. After I read through it, I was able to stop and read more thoroughly through the entire 2nd chapter of Ephesians. I’m glad I did. It reaffirmed that I never want to forget where I came from before the grace and mercy of Jesus saved me. It also reminded me that because of that grace, I am to honor God by using the gifts He’s given me and follow the path He laid out to bring Him glory.

My next stop was Lysa TerKeurst’s blog. I’ve written about Lysa and Proverbs 31 before. Lysa is the founder and director. Lysa has us spending time in Colossians – which I am also working through with her readers.

However, at the end of today’s blog was what really grabbed my attention. If you’ve read my blog, you know that I believe I have a call on my heart to do more for His kingdom with my writing. What that is, I’m still waiting to find out. But what I do know, without a doubt, is that I am supposed to attend the P31 conference, She Speaks, being held this summer. My previous entry on this topic (originally posted February 16 and re-posted March 10) recounted when God made it ever so clear that I am to pursue this opportunity. I also have asked family, friends, Facebook friends & Twitter followers and anyone who happens to stumble upon my blog to come along side me and help sponsor my entry fees. While I work full-time, my husband is working very hard to get his baseball academy off the ground and it's taking time and patience before we see paychecks. And in the last couple days on her blog, sweet Lysa said that she's having a contest for scholarships to the event!

I’ve said for years that I believe a book is living within me. I’ve got a few thoughts on what the story is and I’ve even written a few thousand words of the semi-autobiographical fiction option. And, who knows, perhaps God is using this blog and my very crooked path to write a non-fiction story of His love, redemption, purpose and encouragement. Giving hope to others and hopefully leading them towards a relationship with Jesus would be the best story I could write.

So, why do I want to go to the conference? Well it's something that I have prayed about for a couple years because I need to "learn the ropes" about the publishing world. This conference would be the perfect opportunity to learn more about the process, meet some of the top folks in Christian publishing and speaking, find encouragement to forge ahead along this path that God has clearly shown me and maybe, just maybe meet Lysa and give her a hug of thanks for being the inspiration she is.