How To Discover Your Spiritual Gift

March 1, 2012 By Courtney 4 Comments

Do you remember in Elementary School the “gifted” classes. I had a sister who was in ALL of those classes – she graduated as Valedictorian. I’ve always admired her intelligence – and truly she is gifted. I was the chatty sister – hence I grew up to write blogs!!! Haha!

If there was a gifted class at church it would not be exclusive because God’s word says we are ALL gifted!

Romans 5:6 says “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.” Then it goes on to list some of the gifts which include: serving, teaching, encouraging, leading, giving and mercy. (I Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4, and I Peter 4 also talk about gifts of the Spirit if you want to read further.)

These gifts are usually called “Spiritual Gifts” and they are given to us freely by God’s grace to meet the needs of the body. When we use our spiritual gifts, the body is built up, encouraged and unified.

In the past, I found myself tempted to act like I had all the gifts (this was obviously prideful – I’m being vulnerable here) – I tried to be an encourager, evangelize, teach, serve, give, administrate, and lead. Then it hit me – I was over comitted and stressed out!

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I’m contibuting over at The Better Mom today – so visit me there to read how I discovered my Spiritual Gifts and how you can discover yours!

Walk with the King,

Filed Under: Ministry

The Story Behind Women Living Well & A Vlog

February 26, 2012 By Courtney 50 Comments

Some of you may remember when my header looked like this! If you do – then you have been following Women Living Well for a REALLY long time!!! I’m still not sure how people found me that first year…my link was SO long – www.WomenLivingWell-Courtney.blogspot.com That “dash Courtney” part – who does that? lol! What was I thinking when I typed that in? Obviously I had not read ProBlogger yet! :) But that was my web address when the Rachael Ray Show found me - clearly God’s hand was in that – because they found a needle in a haystack!

So I’m all grown up now with a more mature header and a simple dot org name but the same mission and purpose for writing.

Last week I made a 5 minute video of The Story Behind Women Living Well and I’d like to share it with you! So here it is:

In the video, I shared that as a teenager my dream was to become a missionary and take God’s word to the world!!! I had read many missionary stories and I was ready to get my jungle gear and head off to far lands to do something great for God! And I failed. After graduating from Bible school with my 4 year degree, I married my high school sweet heart, got comfy in America and never went. This is something that has haunted me for over a decade. The tears sting even as I type this right now – the sting of failure…the sting of guilt - knowing my life is so cushy while many of my college friends are on the mission field now – right this very minute – facing hardships that I will never know.

At one time, I thought, well maybe it’s God’s will we just financially and prayfully support a lot of missionaries since my husband has been blessed with a good career. Maybe that’s why God gave me this burden…so we sought out missionaries to be committed to…but it didn’t scratch the itch of my teenage dream. I shoved this dream deep down inside and pressed on in life with women’s ministry in my church, evangelism in my sphere of influence and having babies!

Then one day – I started this blog thing…you know – the one with the dash and the bubble bath logo lol! Expectations were low – it was more of an outlet than a ministry…but then something happened…people started reading…more and more people…and emails started coming in from Australia, Scotland, Brazil, Japan, Egypt, Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, Argentina, Croatia, Hungary…

One day as I looked at the part of my site meter that shows a map where my readers are located…I had a full circle moment and a rush of tears! God had done something beyond my dreams…something unimaginable to me – he had allowed me to “go into all the world” from my kitchen computer! My teenage dreams were coming true – but in a way I could not image as a teenager (peeps – I’m so old they didn’t even have cell phones back then – much less the world wide web!).

So I’m living an Ephesians 3:20&21!

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

Never stop dreaming great things for God!

Every woman has a dream – from the young girl waitressing in the corner diner, to the mom with 5 kids just trying to survive the day, to the woman with the corner office. God has placed those dreams in his children’s hearts for his glory and though our dreams may not play out as we have planned in our minds – God will use those to guide us to his will for our lives. Be patient, pray and be in God’s word daily and go forward in peace “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 1:6)

Walk with the King!

Courtney

Filed Under: Ministry, My Testimony, Videos

Family Ministry and Being Dignified

February 13, 2012 By Courtney 8 Comments

Sally and Clay Clarkson with their 4 children

Yesterday I mentioned that I am headed to speak at Sally Clarkson’s Mom Heart Conference this Thursday. Here’s more from my archives of what I learned at last year’s conference…

Family Ministry:

Watching Sally’s husband and children come up on the stage one by one and sing, play their compositions they had written on the piano and share their hearts was moving. Sally said that when God called her to ministry this meant that God had also called her children and husband. I have never viewed Women Living Well as a “family ministry” but in that very moment I realized that indeed – not only is Women Living Well a calling on my life, but also on my husband and children’s lives.

I came home and immediately shared this thought with my husband and he agreed. He has shared me with my on-line friends and the entire family not only prays daily out loud for my blog but also cooperates with letting me take pictures of them and splatter them all over Women Living Well! (I must say that my extended family and closest friends are quite patient with me also – when I pull the camera out – someone always asks “is this going on Women Living Well?” lol! Bless your hearts!)

Faith:

Sally said “If you only live by what you can accomplish by yourself, you will be condemned to works for the rest of your life. Step out in faith.”

I have saturated my thoughts with this challenge…and am wondering…what is it that God wants me to step out in faith and do? Fear has been a hurdle for me in blogland – what if I say the wrong thing? What if I get a bunch of nasty emails for something silly I say lol!? What if people don’t approve of my school choices? What if my children go wayward? What if what if what if…

I must choose faith over fear – clinging to God’s great goodness and beauty. It is the only way to live thoroughly alive!

Dignity:

One of the most convicting moments of the conference for me personally, was Sally’s talk on Proverbs 31:25, “She is clothed with strength and dignity.”

I’m really not a very dignified person. I pretty much am an open book and I lay it all out there. I thought this was a strength for what I do in blogland BUT Sally opened my eyes to the fact that if I’m not careful…I could be a “blabber mouth” – OUCH!

Sally talked about how many women today in our media saturated world lack dignity. A dignified woman chooses to be dignified just as she chooses her clothing for the day. She does not live in fear, complain or have a critical attitude. She cultivates contentment, overlooks another’s sin and is known by her love.

OH I have so far to go!!! The Mom Heart Conference has both challenged and comforted me and I look forward to sharing with you next week what new truths Sally speaks into my life this weekend!! I’ll be sure to post pictures!

Walk with the King!

P.S. Don’t forget to check out RooMag this week! There will be over 50 winners of the giveaways announced Wednesday, February 22nd! Come join the fun here!

Filed Under: Ministry

I Was Contacted To Have My Own Reality Show

January 16, 2012 By Courtney 77 Comments

So this production company contacted me to have my own reality show. Okay – you can scrape yourself up off the floor now from laughing because trust me – that’s what I did too!

Back in October, I got an email and I returned the call. The company said they were interested in a documentary. That caught my attention and I was very interested. We talked multiple times on the phone as they interviewed me and learned more about my life. (I first verified that this production company was respectable with 2 people in show business). They wanted to know about my marriage, faith, daily life and my church life. The more we talked, the more the casting director became interested in the other ladies in my life – my sisters and a few other friends.

She felt we were on to something special and asked to have the contact information of 2 of my on-line friends. After she spoke with them – she was ready to fly out and meet us and she asked me to invite my sisters and these friends. So in November, we met and the intent was to see if we would be the cast of a reality show. The production company’s plan was to pitch the show to TLC and OWN (Oprah’s Network). Both networks were interested in a show of this nature. The company liked us and we went forward – laughing – laughing because seriously – if you have seen any of the “Real Housewives” reality shows – these girls are OVER THE TOP – they are wealthy, tan, outrageous and well – we are just simple moms in Ohio…we weren’t convinced there was a story line here but we wanted to be open to God’s leading. We fasted and prayed for God’s leading and moved forward.

From there, there were Skype interviews for all the women and they nailed it. Then the contract came out – and it was time for us all to sign on the line in the month of December…and this mama got cold feet. Am I ready to have cameras in my house? What if I say something accidently – there’s no taking it back. What if they edit me to be kinda crazy? What if – what if – what if? This blog post written back in November was birthed from the fears that arrived from the possibilities of this show – I was freaking out a little bit lol!

Many many prayers went up – “God is this you opening a door or is this something to walk away from”? My husband and I wrestled and wrestled and wrestled with this. Over Thanksgiving Dinner, there was a family discussion with my sisters and their husbands – should we do this? At Christmas dinner again we revisited this question but at this point my oldest sister was out and my other sister was on the fence. And by New Years dinner, my husband and I had made our decision. We would not be signing the contract.

Oh Ladies – I love you all SO sincerely much. I want to give God all of me – surrendered for his glory – but it felt so risky putting my life in the hands of non-believers to edit. The production company was SO very kind with my decision and left it in a place where there’s still a crack in the door if I changed my mind…I hated passing up this opportunity. I love being bold for Christ – but I know my weaknesses and I also know my time constraints and when we looked at my calendar and other projects I’m working on for ministry – there seemed to be no way to do it all without it hurting my family. The integrity of my writing lies in the integrity of how I live – and I could not live well with this on my plate. I’ve realized that the Duggars are very special people!

There is still a chance that the show will go on…there are 5 ladies still going forward (Clare from Peak 313 was also being pursued and has backed out.) The rest of the group is waiting to hear back from the networks to see if it can go forward. Do pray with me that God does something great here. I’d just LOVE for you to see my friends, their family’s, and my church on reality television – can you imagine?!!! Oh it’s fun to imagine what God could do!

Ephesians 3:20,21: Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Walk with the King!