(To start from Part One click here. And if you can’t see the images click here.)
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Congratulations to Dawn for winning the Christmas set giveaway! If you still want the set or anything else I’ve talked about in this series you can find it on DaySpring.com and get 20% off with my friends and family code. (holley20)
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And now for the rest of the story…
For several years I spent most of my time at DaySpring on cards and gift items.
I also got to be editorial director for Blessings Unlimited, a direct-to-consumer division of DaySpring (think Pampered Chef or Mary Kay).
We’d meet as a team to brainstorm, pray, and ask God for new creative ideas. He always answered and this beautiful catalog is an example.
I love working with Blessings Unlimited!
Then a year or so ago God began nudging my heart in new directions. At first I didn’t know what it meant. I just had a vague sense that I wanted to be closer to something, someone. And then one day I realized it was YOU.
As I explored the social media world more, a dream began forming in my heart for a community of women online that was about every part of us—spiritual, emotional, social, and even practical! I began talking about this possibility with other women and found they shared this dream too. In particular, my coworkers Stephanie and Lainie also felt a passion for a new way to build a relationship with you.
Over the next year we spent hours talking about what this meant, praying about what God had in store, and moving in that direction without even knowing where we were going exactly.
All of that eventually became a new site called (in)courage. I hope you’ll take a moment to read the whole story here.
(in)courage was never a corporate initiative. It was a calling.
And it has become an amazing God-sized adventure that has knocked my socks off.
(in)courage has convinced me that God can and does do the impossible.
Come closer, and I’ll whisper to you why that’s true. In less than three months, we’ve had well over 100,000 unique visitors to the site from almost 170 countries. Our page views are on track to hit half a million this week.
And, y’all, I just don’t think that happens without Jesus.
We have a team of almost thirty amazing women who write and create products for the site. They are the heart of what we do and I’m honored to know and work with each of them. You can get to know them here.
That’s the latest chapter in my God-story with DaySpring. I’m so thankful that you let me share all of it with you. If you take anything away from it I pray it’s this…
If God can use me then He can (and does) use you. And there is nothing that can get in the way of His plans. It doesn’t matter what anyone says—not a publisher, not people, not the pulpit—God is the author of your story and He gets to write the ending. Period. There is no mistake too great, no weakness too big for Him to overcome, no obstacle too complicated for Him to get around.
Find out what He created you to do and then do it. You + God are unstoppable.
I wrote this piece for Blessings Unlimited and I’d like to close this series with it because it expresses my heart for you…
You are a woman of strength—
more than a conqueror,
able to do all things,
a warrior and princess
in the Kingdom of God.
You are called to fight,
to minister, to pray,
to change the world.
The Lord has given you
all you need
and made you
all you need to be
for victory.
So go forth, strong sister,
With a smile on your face,
a heart full of hope,
and a determination
to never stop until
you receive every
blessing God has for you.
I can do everything through Him
who gives me strength.
PHILIPPIANS 4:13 NIV
