So Long Insecurity - Week 8

This post is from the discussion about from Beth Moore's book, "So Long Insecurity: You've been a bad friend to Us" and the Living Proof Ministries blog.

For this week the topic is about Chapters 14, 15 and 16. Chapter 14 discusses how women are the influence for another generation of women. Chapter 15 discusses how we can look out for each other and try not to perpetuate insecure stereotypes. Chapter 16 is about looking past ourselves and discovering our passions or setting goals to achieve our passions. Here is my contribution to the discussion.

1) Briefly describe someone who is worth doing what it takes to you to live abundantly and effectively in Christ. Help us picture her so that she inspires us, too. Needless to say, don’t share more than she’d want you to.

There are many - - the known and the unknown. Most significantly, my daughter Cammy and my daughter on the way – Chloe Alejandra. I wrote about my daughter Cammy once, we were sitting in the car and got home late and she woke up from her nap in the car. She’s about to be 3 soon. And it must have been the moonlight but I looked into her little tired eyes and her eyes looked so dark like shiny onyx gemstones and for a split second I could see her all grown up and mature. She had the most beautiful smile - a smile that gets handed down from generation to generation. It’s the smile that my mother has. It’s also a smile my sisters have. Others say I have it too! My little one in the womb even though I can’t describe how she looks, I can describe her temperament. She is a going to be a hula dancer like me. Sometimes I think she is dancing in there.

2) Name a couple of ways pertinent to your sphere of life and influence that you could look out for your own gender in our battle with insecurities. How are you prepared to do that?
1) My actions instead of just words - how I treat others keeping in mind we all have insecurities.
2) Ministry – seeking and spreading the words of Jesus
3) Improving myself and my communications with others - sharing my testimony. I’m taking a class on Neurolinguistics programming and just the beginner class alone has allowed me to improve so much on my communications with others. How to effectively read another person’s body language so as to respond to them in a manner that’s comfortable to them and inspires relationship building and rapport building. A great site for NLP is with Susan Stageman at http://www.nlptrainingconcepts.com/aboutNlp.php
4) Blogging and utilizing social media and my own examiner column to set an example for other women to follow their passions, creativity and empowerment. It doesn’t matter if you have an audience of millions or even just 1- it’s still an audience.
I see a lot of it working already – my positive and productive relationships have grown and matured. The ones that have been negative have naturally fallen to the wayside. It’s has been a wonderful experience so far and the fact that this discussion group has been in the background makes this book so much more valuable and powerful.

3) Based on Chapter 16 and the challenge to look past ourselves, what is your passion? What is something outside of yourself that you feel passionate about?

There are a few things that I’m passionate about and in all of these things God and Jesus is ALWAYS there to hold my hand, to let me rest my head on their shoulders sometimes. It’s how I have the will to continue whether the progress is a millimeter or a whole mile.
1) The evolution of myself – I understand that life is constantly evolving and while I may have the best laid plans, God himself is determining a fate for me that I may not completely understand but I surrender to. I make the best of all of this and have been blessed so much along the way. I have been blessed to be shaped by the experiences, events and people that come into my life.
2) Reading and Writing – I am passionate about writing – whether it’s fiction, non-fiction, cultural events, business theory, basically anything that I am exposed to and have a talent for. I have tons of notebooks that are lying everywhere around me just as there are a ton of bibles at my grasp since the bible is at the top of my list for inspiration. I want to become a prolific writer one day to serve God in a way that no one else has. I have experiences that need to be communicated and testimonies that needs to be delivered and for the next year I’m building the foundation of both reading and writing. Then when God says it is time, it will be for me. Reading exercises the mind and allows my mind to explore areas that I has too insecure to tap into. Writing releases the glorious things I have learned and day by day it evolves.
3) Connecting people – It is through my evolution and my communication that I have met people and worked hard to connect people to those things that they need the most. Those needs maybe a relationship with God, tips on a job interview, social services, etc. While I can’t be the expert at everything, I want to establish relationships and understand people’s expertise so I can fulfill my passion to help people who have a need by introducing them to people that can fulfill that need honestly, with integrity and with God’s purpose.