My girlfriend and I attended a women's conference a few years back. Road trip to Louisville! Honestly, we could have just jumped in the car and driven three hundred miles to a Cracker Barrel and it still would have been a worthwhile trip. Because hey, no kids, hours of uninterrupted conversation in the car and fine dining. We enjoyed the conference though.

Liz Curtis Higgs spoke at the event. I was familiar with her as an author but had not heard her speak before. What a testimony! Mixed in with humor and singing. She really does break into song right in the middle of her talk. Many things she shared that day have stuck with me. One in particular. She talked about how sometimes she compares her Bible studies and talks to other women speakers. It can be deflating. But when she does this, God always reminds her,

"You are all different but good. They are called to go deep, but you can go wide." (Higgs)

She spread her arms out to her side, emphasizing w-i-d-e. Now, realizing wide can mean a couple different things... she wasn't calling herself wide. She went on to explain what He was saying to her was that her humor, her ability to break out into song, the way she makes her audience feel like they are hanging out with a girlfriend - these qualities reach out to a wide audience of people. Save the deep theological approach for others.

A few months ago, I was introduced to Melanie Shankle, aka Big Mama. She started out blogging, then wrote her first book, "Sparkly Green Earrings." Last month, she realeased her second book, "The Antelope in the Living Room." And folks, she is funny! I laugh out loud in like every chapter. Embarrassingly loud. It's not that what happens in her life seems all that unusual. We have similar stories to hers at our own house. The angle in which she tells it adds the humor. Goodness. Read her.

"Anyway, this is about me trying to live the life of motherhood with some semblance of grace and dignity, yet still managing to knock over large quantities of produce while grocery shopping." (Shankle)

 

Then we have Ann Voskamp of "One Thousand Gifts" fame. I read an article in which they called her a modern-day psalmist. 

“And when I give thanks for the seemingly microscopic, I make a place for God to grow within me.” (Voskamp)

 

A lady in our church suggested we start an online Bible study. I loved the idea and went to work finding a book. We have several involved and have had some good discussions. A few months into the study, I asked the lady if she was learning from our time of study. She said yes. Then hesitated. She said that she really enjoyed Ann and how she could make everyday things seem so holy. She appreciates how this author reminds her to look for the sacred. Maybe our online Bible study could incorporate some of that?

Well... these authors are all fine and good. Wide enough to reach out to thousands of women. Funny enough to keep us from taking life too seriously. Poetic enough to remind us holiness is all around us. But none of them are me. And I was currently the one writing the online Bible study. Unless one of them was willing to take over. For free?

I love these women. I learn from them and appreciate the gifts God has given them. I try hard not to compare myself to them or other successful ladies. But I most admire they have found their own voice. Perhaps that is the biggest lesson they have to teach me. All of us. God gifts us with talents that can draw others closer to Christ. Every post I create, I look for it. Traces of my own voice.

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Day 6 of the 7 Posts, 7 Days Challenge.