It’s only 9 days until She Speaks, and I want to urge you to start praying for The One Thing.
The first year I attended, I was an absolute WRECK before the conference. I had literally made myself sick by the time I arrived. I let myself become too focused on preparing in my own strength, and I had no idea that God would use the weekend in such an enormous way in my life.
That year Lysa told a story in one of her messages that changed my life forever. In the story there was a man who was sitting beside a road watching people walk by. He began to notice a group of workers transporting bricks and became curious about their project. After watching for a while, he stopped a worker and asked him, “What are you doing?” The man responded, “I’m carrying bricks” and continued trudging along.
Soon a second worker approached. The man watching beside the road, stopped the worker and asked, “What are you doing?” The worker replied, “I’m building a building” and continued on his way.
The observer scratched his head in confusion and then asked a third worker, “What are you doing?” as he passed. The last worker stopped, looked the man full in the eye and with his face full of joy answered, “I’m building a kingdom.”
That story pierced my heart as I recognized myself in the brick-carrying first worker. I had approached each new speaking opportunity as my “last”. I was afraid to think about a higher calling, so I trudged along full of fear.
That year, God clearly spoke The One Thing to my heart. I was to lift my eyes, open my hands and unleash my heart to be a Kingdom builder.
My tip this week is similar to last week’s. This conference can be overwhelming if you allow every piece of information to be your One Thing. One by one the things you learn will become a weight that seems too heavy to carry. But if you will begin to pray and ask God for The One Thing that He wants you to carry home that transforms your life, He will be faithful. All the other information will then fall into its proper place and perspective.
Today start praying for Your One Thing.
This is the last post that I’ll be doing before She Speaks. I absolutely can’t wait to see you there! Please come back on August 2 or subscribe today in the subscription area of our sidebar so that you don’t miss a thing.
Sarah Elizabeth says
July 16, 2011 at 11:58 amThank you so much for sharing this post with us, Amy! I’ve been sitting in my room bawling my eyes out this morning because I’m so nervous about not being a good enough writer…comparing myself to other writer’s, etc. I’ve been asking what can I bring to the table through my writings, but now more than ever I realize that I want to know what God can bring to the world’s table through the words which HE will give me to write. I don’t want to be that brick carrier. I desperately want to be that Kingdom builder. I’m not sure yet what my ‘The One Thing’ will be, but I know that if I sit here and worry over what I think I can’t possibly do I will surely fail at receiving what blessings the Lord has been preparing for me to receive, hear and experience at this conference.
I can’t wait to get to She Speaks, and to see what the Lord is going to do within me and all of the other wonderful ladies that will be attending this year!
Sue Molitor says
July 14, 2011 at 11:34 pmThank you so much for all the tips you have given to help prepare us for the weekend!! I am really looking forward to it and looking forward to what God will do there and the “One thing” I He wants to show me! Thank you!
Melissa Morgner says
July 13, 2011 at 12:25 pmAmy, this ministers to me right where I am! That’s exactly what I’ve been hearing the Lord say to me. I’m coming with expectations that HE will reveal to me that ONE THING, because I have dozens of things on my own agenda that can be done in my own strength. But it tires me out to think of doing that. I know HE will show up and show me that ONE THING. It’s a little unnerving not knowing, but that’s the life of a child of God. Trust. Wait. Obey.
Thanks so much for the encouragement! Hope to meet you there!
Debbie Wright says
July 13, 2011 at 12:03 pmAmy,
Thank you for your post. It says it all. We get anxious and caught up in what we are writing, what we may have to speak, and what program is the right program. God forbid that we ever lose focus on the purpose for which He has called us each to these things. It’s all about the Kingdom and bringing other to the Lord Savior, Jesus Christ. Of course, we know that but as deadlines come and our plates get fuller and fuller we tend to get that focus on the “stuff” we are doing. Talking to me louder than anyoneelse. Praying that all of us will come expectant to see what it is HE has prepared for us to assist us in the callings on our lives to help build the kingdom. Praying He will keep our focus on Him.
Thanks for all you and the staff there at Proverbs 31 are doing.
Heatherly says
July 13, 2011 at 8:48 amAmy, I so appreciate all of your advice. It is wonderful to feel like someone is coming up beside you. I wish I had found your blog BEFORE last year’s conference. Looking forward to seeing you in NINE DAYS!
Love, Het
Leslie Rowe says
July 13, 2011 at 8:34 amThanks for your heart and words and life you are giving us. I just dumped out a few bricks.
Marty Holcombe says
July 13, 2011 at 7:03 amWhat a great reminder, Amy. Yes God, speak clearly and concisely to our hearts. Help us to “get it,” and not muddy the waters with distracted, over-cluttered hearts. Cause us to remember and apply what You emphasize to us during our concentrated time at SS when we return home…
And as we pray about the “one thing” he wants us to carry home from the conference, let’s also continue to be women of “One Thing” by His grace all our lives through:
“One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple…” (Ps27:4)
Thanks again, Amy!