Nicki shares what she got out of this week’s {inspirational entry}.

Leave Nicki a comment here.

** Special Note from Lisa Boyd, Techie Girl **

I have found out that there are issues with links to She Seeks if you are reading this in Yahoo email, Yahoo’s reader and Google Reader. I’m working hard to try and find out why these links are getting hi-jacked, because they do not come here. If you are reading this and having trouble reaching our site, please go to your browser and type in http://sheseeks.org/find-truth/ to get here. I hope to have this fixed very soon!

Up until a year ago, I was pretty good at ignoring the message. I would turn away whenever they’d flash a picture of a sad kid on the screen. I’d tell myself there’s no way I could afford to sponsor a child — that someone else would step up and sponsor them. It just wasn’t me. Until my friend, Robin, went to India with Compassion and changed everything.

And I thought to myself…maybe I could just sponsor one child.

Robin’s a great writer. She felt she needed to be a voice for these kids who don’t have a voice. When she returned, she wrote about how she was changed and wouldn’t look at anything the same way. Pedicures. Expensive dinners. All the luxuries of home. Her newfound perspective broke through my will, and I sponsored a girl with the same birthday as me.

And I thought to myself…I’m doing my part. I sponsored a child. Just don’t ask me to go out of the country.

Several months later, an email came into my inbox offering for members of the She Seeks team to go on a Compassion trip. I sat on my hands so I wouldn’t respond to it, and swiftly deleted the email so I wouldn’t have to look at it. I prayed that God would send others, but just not me. Two of our team went, and they were changed.

And I thought to myself…I don’t want to change. I don’t want to look at things differently. I’m comfortable here.

In the weeks that followed, a Compassion representative came to town. She spoke of Compassion kids and the work they are doing through the local churches in other countries. She shared with the She Seeks team how we can get those packets that represent real children to take with us when we travel and speak.

And I thought to myself…Whew. She’s not talking to me. I don’t speak. I hide behind my computer.

Though I tried to avoid it, suddenly, she looked me in the eyes. I didn’t want her to, afraid of what I would see. I saw the hurt she had for these kids. I felt her heart hurting for them. That’s when I knew.

And I thought to myself…I’m going on a trip. I don’t know when. I don’t know where. I’m scared. But I know I’m going.

And though I sometimes hide behind my computer, afraid of to face the change I fear, I know I can’t stay comfortable and safe forever. He’s asking me to care about the kids Compassion reaches. He’s asking me to go and see them for myself. And though I’ve said no many times before, I’m finally saying yes.

And I thought to myself…I’m ok with that.

Resources…

Maybe God’s just calling you to sponsor a child right now. Check out Compassion’s website and find the child God has for you.

What Happens When Women Say Yes to God by Lysa TerKeurst

Something Else…

Take a look at the video from Switchfoot and take the quiz to see if you will dare to move.

Lisa Boyd is the Tech Dudette who’s most comfortable on her computer with an internet connection and a refrigerator full of Cokes in the next room. She blogs occasionally at http://simplyhis.org

Leave Lisa a comment here.

Check out the video by Switchfoot. The lyrics will challenge you to move just as Lisa did in her {inspirational entry}.

~ Will you take the dare?

~ What is one thing you can do today to just move?

Share your thoughts here

{quiz}

Be sure to watch the video above before taking the quiz.

Join Sarah this week as she is recovering from bronchitis.

Leave Sarah a comment here.

I must admit that I spent a portion of my life trying to find someone to complete me. Most of my efforts centered around my relationships, particularly romantic ones.

This romanticized idea of someone completing us fits great in the context of a movie love story, but when it comes to real life, it’s a really dangerous thing to believe.

Women are notorious for seeking out relationships with others who will make us feel more complete. We attempt this by changing who we are, talking differently, endorsing things we don’t feel good about, and obsessively being available when we aren’t.

I can’t lie: I tried this. I waited by the phone for hours for someone to call. When he didn’t, I felt incomplete.

I painted my toenails the color another boyfriend preferred. When his color preference wasn’t enough to keep him around, I scrambled to find another way to make him stay. I thought my completeness depended upon his endorsement of me.

This idea of completeness is possible…just not through human relationships, including marriage. A partner was meant to compliment, not complete another’s life. Colossians 2:10 tells us about the only way completion is truly possible when it says: “and you are complete through your union with Christ.”

I don’t know what you’ve tried to find completeness. Maybe you are like me and sought it in your relationships. Or maybe you have never found it, yet you keep on searching. If you’re looking for something needing no addition…nothing supplemental or extra, look no further.

You are complete in Jesus.

Resources…

The Bible

Behind Those Eyes: What’s Really Going on Inside the Souls of Women by Lisa Whittle

The 7 Hardest Things God Asks a Woman to Do by Lisa Whittle

Something Else…

Check out this clip from Jerry Maguire…”You complete me.”

Lisa Whittle relishes her roles as coordinator of She Seeks, family girl, and daughter of Jesus. She no longer paints her toenails any color but what she wants, which is typically a dark shade of purple. Find out more about Lisa at www.lisawhittle.com.

What have you done to try and feel complete? Leave Lisa a comment here.

This one line from the movie, Jerry Maguire, has become famous and is almost guaranteed to take any girl’s breath away. But as you watch, think about how easily we can get caught up in the idea of someone other than God “completing us.” No matter where our love relationships take us, we were created to have Him be our everything and no one else.

Check out the clip:

Human relationships are so fragile.

~ What qualities in human relationships do you long for yet can’t seem to find?

~ Do you think God truly completes you?

Share your thoughts…

{quiz}

Be sure to read Lisa’s {inspirational entry} this week before taking the quiz.

Shannon shares how her definition of true beauty has been changed in the past few weeks.

Would you consider sponsoring a child?

Leave Shannon a comment here

Unfortunately, I grew up thinking that if I had worth, it had to do with how I looked. I wish that weren’t the case, but I believed this deep inside. I wasn’t a cute kid, hardly one you’d look at and say, “Wow, she’s striking.” I was homely, needy, and thin. I had dark circles under my eyes. (Vestiges of that still clings to me today, so I use concealer). Besides that, I was a fatherless girl, insatiably needy for male attention. I wanted to be noticed, and often felt overlooked.

Regardless of how I felt, sometime around puberty, attention came. That astounds me now, as I was gangly and terribly awkward. And I started that dance of fear, of longing for a daddy and looking for him on the face of boys my age. All I really wanted was for someone to hug me and say, “Everything will be okay.” I did not want to be kissed. Or looked at. Just held. Still, I worked hard at making sure my exterior attracted attention while a little bit of my soul died inside.

And yet, I searched for attention. Relished it. As I grew into myself in late high school and college, boys continued to notice. I spent time primping and flirting. I longed for a look, a tinge of interest. Anything that validated my worth or hinted at beauty.

Unfortunately, I was so damaged back then, I couldn’t receive genuine love – what I was actually looking for. Instead, I relied on my looks to conjure up “love,” yet I couldn’t allow any man access to my heart, so terrified I was to be known, and then hurt. Slowly, painfully, I began to grow into myself. I learned how to let go of that need to be seen, though it still haunts me.

Today I am loved deeply by a man who is handsome and amazing and smart and deep and spiritual. I revel in that. And yet, I still mourn losing my looks as I age. How uncanny is that? I should be embracing the wisdom that comes with age, the beauty of growing a more beautiful soul (thanks to Jesus’ interaction with my life). But I think there’s still that little girl inside me, equating my worth with how I look. And as I get older, I’m afraid.

Will I be loved? Will I have worth?

I have an assignment for you. Sometime today look yourself in the mirror. Don’t cringe or criticize. Instead, say a simple Thank You. Because, truly, you’re a beautiful creation, fashioned in love by God. Then ask God to create irresistible beauty inside, where it counts. In this moment, right now, you have a beautiful soul. Rest in that. Rejoice in that.

Resources…

Thin Places: A Memoir by Mary DeMuth

The Bible

“What you’re after is truth from the inside out. Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.” Psalm 51:6 MSG

“Charm can mislead and beauty soon fades. The woman to be admired and praised is the woman who lives in the Fear-of-GOD.” Proverbs 31:30 MSG

Something Else…

A photoshop makeover can make anyone look good. Check out the video, you might be amazed.

Mary DeMuth is a woman who is training (one agonizing mile at a time) for a sprint triathlon. She speaks and writes about turning trials into triumph. Author of nine books, she’s written candidly about image and her own struggles with insecurity in her latest memoir, Thin Places. Visit Mary and find out more at http://www.marydemuth.com.

Leave Mary a comment below.

Watch this digital transformation of a normal looking girl. After all the retouches, she is transformed into someone else. Would she even recognize herself?

~ Now that you see how technology perfects the “imperfect,” how do you feel about the images of celebrities in magazines and on television?

Leave a comment here

{quiz}

Join Lisa Whittle this week as she shares about being present.

Share your thoughts here.