Karmen Smith

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3 Things I am EXHALING from She Speaks:

by Karmen |

Sometimes, there are no words.

 

Like now.

 

But I desperately want you, my precious reader family and friends to know how immeasurably grateful I AM for ALL of your  prayers, encouragement, texts, cards, Facebook messages, offerings and gifts.

 

I revisited you and your well wishes throughout the unforgettably emotional weekend.

 

For your kindness, and His grace I am #eternallythankful

 

MANY of you helped with editing, others prayed for traveling grace, while a few designed, printed and cheered us along the crafting process of one pagers, proposals and business cards.

 

For your willing hearts and individual fingerprints along the way, thank you.  A million times plus one more, thank you.

 

You shared ideas.  We dreamed together.  You spoke truth.  YOU allowed God to use you to bless others and THAT my dear, precious friends is seriously what doing life together looks like.

 

she speaks

She Speaks saturated my soul with breathtaking, gut wrenching stories from women all over the map.

 

It was such a humbling experience to hear so many testimonies of raw hurt and betrayal, made whole through His redeeming grace.

 

In addition, the Proverbs 31 Ministries conference was out-of-this-world organized.

 

The best of the best and nothing less.

 

prayer wall

 

I cannot lie.

 

I cried and UGLY CRIED more than a couple of times.

 

My hands were clam-y from the relentless note taking.

 

AND I have never been so emotionally depleted and physically exhausted IN ALL MY LIFE!

 

It was worth every. single. second.

 

I’m certain it will take days, possibly weeks, maybe a year or more for my feeble heart and mind to process the entire intake.

 

So for today, I will share 3 things I am exhaling from my time at She Speaks:

 

—> UNRUSH ME

Lysa TerKeurst opened with a profound message…UNRUSH ME. It was a timely message to so many, but a divine appointment for me.

 

The week before the conference, on the way to the beach, I had written out all of my current obligations.

 

The list was excessive and stressful to look at.  It exhauseted me to write it out and the thoughts of living it made me want to cry.

 

The list had me quoting the movie Frozen, “all good things, all good things” …but the problem was simply, too many good things.

 

Lysa’s message and new book, The Best Yes: Making Wise Decisions in the Midst of Endless Demands, encourages us to say no to some things in order to be able to say yes to the best things.

 

That will look different for each of us.  As for me, I re-evaluated my list yesterday with my Momma’s help.

I had set my life “to the rhythm of rush,”   leaving no room for His best yes for me.

 

No more.  I realize now that I can not pour into the hearts and lives of others from an empty, exhausted soul.

 

I am in the process of stepping back and sorting through my best yeses for this season.

 

You can too!

 

–>FEED MY SHEEP

This point alone was worth the conference.

 

We live on a farm.  We have sheep.

 

I’ve marveled time and time again at how the sheep follow the quiet cowboy

(if you’re new here, that’s what I call my better half, because he’s worn slim-fit wranglers every single day for three+ decades and seriously loves horses almost as much as he loves me– like it’s a tie..I digress…)

 

Our sheep (and other critters) love him and follow him and trust him to lead them to the best.

 

They know he knows the way to the best pastures.  They trust him to take care of them.

 

Our pastures are different but the call is the same.

 

Take care of, minister to, LOVE the ones God has entrusted to YOU.

 

Do for one what you would like to do for a thousand!

 

This truth pierced my soul.

 

So often I get caught up in the crowd.

 

DO MORE. FOR MORE.

 

Truth: we CANNOT be ALL of the THINGS to ALL of the people.

 

He has entrusted to me a unique family, certain friends and a very specific realm of influence.

 

I am to shepherd well, those He has entrusted to me.

 

I am to tend to those He has already given, already assigned to me.

 

To those whom much is given much is required, right?

 

The same goes for you.

 

Our sheep are different.

 

I will never look some of your sheep in the eye, nor will you mine.

 

We are to shepherd well those He has entrusted to us. 

 

and all the people said, “AMEN.”

 

–>LOVE INTENTIONALLY

 

My new favorite word is intentional.

 

I have found that when I am not intentional, I am messy.

 

Sloppy, lazy. I miss things. I am late. I lose things.

 

Intentional= to do something on PURPOSE.

 

I want to live ON PURPOSE.

 

Parent with intention. Teach with intention.

 

LOVE INTENTIONALLY those He has entrusted to me.

 

I don’t want to miss the opportunities He has for me.

 

Do you?

 

May we look for and share intentional acts of love.

 

There is more. So very much more I want to share, and I will.

 

But for now, know this: I went to She Speaks expecting good things.

 

Mission accomplished.

 

The truth of the matter is, I went expecting good things and came back with even GREATER things.

 

I guess you could say, I went to find out if our story was a print worthy story. The answer I was given, “yes.”

 

I was particularly encouraged by Zondervan’s representative, “I love your title…and you definitely have a story.   Keep doing what you’re doing, speaking and writing for Him.”

 

I will heed her words of wisdom.

 

In addition to my meeting with Zondervan, two other publishing houses have our one pager to read  and one other took my complete book proposal.

 

I passed out lots of business cards and made LOTS and LOTS of new friends.

 

It truly was a glimpse of glory.

 

What’s next?

 

I wait and pray for His perfect timing.

 

To continue my quest in writing thel manuscript: one sentence, one story, one chapter at a time.  Choosing each day to :

 

fear not

 

Because I truly believe, the best is yet to come.

 

Love y’all…thanks for stopping by

karmen

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Filed Under: #bookproject, #iheart, blog, Everything Else, Fabulous Friends, faith, Inspire Tagged With: book project, conference, influence, Lysa TerKeurst, prayer, share Him, She Speaks, The Best Yes, Zondervan

Comments

  1. Karen Cleveland says

    July 29, 2014 at 8:10 pm

    Blessed to be one of the new friends!
    Now… Unrush and rest!

    • Karmen says

      July 31, 2014 at 5:52 am

      Amen sister and right back at ya’!

  2. Kathleen Esperdy says

    July 29, 2014 at 11:34 pm

    What a divine appointment the father made for you! He “intentionally” brought you to those who will touch you further and influence your purpose. As I pray for you during your journey, God reveals how the expression of your words will reveal His heart for us during our times of need. He is always there, He will never leave us or forsake us… You are a blessing to so many!

    • Karmen says

      July 31, 2014 at 5:50 am

      and YOU are a blessing to so many Kathleen, You, my prayer warrior friend, are cherished!

  3. Kim says

    July 30, 2014 at 1:22 am

    This makes my heart HAPPY!!

  4. Tammy says

    July 30, 2014 at 4:25 am

    I love you pal. Don’t stop believing! God is intentionally using you in mighty ways!

    • Karmen says

      July 31, 2014 at 5:50 am

      Thanks Tamela! You are loved!

  5. Jenn says

    July 30, 2014 at 1:33 pm

    You are one of the amazing women I met at She Speaks. I have already told several people of your fantastic, “Oh you and I are gonna be friends.” I am finally home and hoping to be able unpack all I learned as well. Thank you for being YOU at She Speaks. Thank you for listening to my story and for giving me the highest compliments about the place God has brought me to–“Y’all can’t fake the joy of the Lord all over you.” Your blog is amazing and I will enjoy following it.

    • Karmen says

      July 31, 2014 at 5:52 am

      Jenn the pleasure was all mine! You, and your story shook my soul! Thank you for your kindness and for following here on the blog. I look forward to hearing more and seeing all that God continues to do in and through you my friend!

  6. bonitarose says

    August 6, 2014 at 5:00 pm

    Loved reading this.. I was there too.. and it was so life giving to me. I like you have a really hard time putting it all into words. there is so much in my heart, deep in my soul.. that I am still digesting. It was life changing.. this was my first shespeaks AND I FOR SURE will be there next year.. u are right.. they did it all with excellence..every detail was thought of. I met so many great women as well.. I’m so happy to have found you and you have found me… sisters… real sisters that have only one goal.. to do what Lysa shared.. to go into the world and make His Name known.. xo love to you today!

  7. Kim says

    August 22, 2014 at 11:20 am

    I did not get to meet you at the conference, but want to say I love the ways it impacted you! Keep writing from your heart!

    • Karmen says

      August 22, 2014 at 6:01 pm

      Thank you Kim for reading and taking time to comment…Have a blessed day :O)

  8. courtney defeo says

    August 22, 2014 at 11:42 am

    my face is beaming thinking of you. still dreaming of a book tour stop at a really cute feed store. your best is yet to come. no doubt. your literally light up the hallways and people’s faces wherever you go. it’s a gift. my heart included.

    • Karmen says

      August 22, 2014 at 5:58 pm

      stop it. you are too kind…I CANNOT WAIT TO PROMOTE YOUR BOOK! Have your fancy contact me for a date!

  9. Jodie Dye says

    August 22, 2014 at 12:48 pm

    Oh my gosh I absolutely love you! You and Holly were the best roommates ever. I love all the points that you took away from this conference. They are a fresh reminder of all that God did and continues to do. I am so glad I read this through Courtney’s link up. I must have missed this post.

  10. Carissa says

    August 22, 2014 at 2:48 pm

    Wonderful post! You really communicate so well how life-changing this conference was. I don’t think I’ve EVER taken so many notes in such a short time as I did at She Speaks! My notebook is a treasure of information an deep thoughts.
    Can’t wait for next year!

    • Karmen says

      August 22, 2014 at 6:00 pm

      Yes friend, it was wonderful and unbelievable and exhausting all at the same time! Thank you for your kind words..look me up next year!

  11. Juli Bryant says

    August 22, 2014 at 4:03 pm

    Thank you for sharing. Yes, it will take a while to process all we learn. . .and we must be INTENTIONAL to do it. Thanks for the reminder.

    <3
    Juli

  12. bonitarose says

    August 22, 2014 at 5:01 pm

    It all affected me in the same ways… I’ll be back next year! Loved your post! xo

    • Karmen says

      August 22, 2014 at 5:59 pm

      thanks my friend who lives by the sea…I LOVE your pictures each day! They refresh my soul….

  13. Bobbi says

    August 22, 2014 at 11:16 pm

    I love this line ..”.Take care of, minister to, LOVE the ones God has entrusted to YOU.” Thank you for the reminder!

  14. Darcy Cottone says

    August 23, 2014 at 3:51 am

    Love your site Karmen. I could relate to so much especially coming home and finding my best yesses of the season. May God bless your endeavors in His perfect timing!

  15. Gina says

    August 23, 2014 at 4:35 am

    I loved Lysa’s message-I know it was so timely for all of us!

    And your thoughts on being intentional, that is right where I’ve been a lot lately-wanting to live life on purpose. I’m so glad God spoke to you. Just reading what everyone else has been encouraged with propels me to dig in and be more intentional as well.

  16. Mandy V says

    September 2, 2014 at 7:59 pm

    YES: “Our pastures are different but the call is the same. Take care of, minister to, LOVE the ones God has entrusted to YOU”
    Love that challenge. I do not have kids, but I do have a husband, a dog, a community, a job, a family. Those are my sheep and I must care and love them. Thank you for this reminder for this season!

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