Hi Friends,

I’m having SO much fun on tour with Women of Faith this year. Maybe we’ve met in your city already and shared some laughs. Or maybe the Women of Faith tour is coming to a city near you in the next few weeks.

There’s one thing I know for sure – I love meeting new friends. If I could, I’d take you out to a café and sip my complicated, slightly high-maintenance latte drink while you tell me all about your story.

But since we’re only screen-to-screen right now, I thought I’d share some dialogue I’ve had with friends I’ve met while traveling and speaking.

I’m asked lots of questions when I meet people at conferences.

Practical questions…
“How did you get started speaking and writing?”

Hilarious questions…
“Why do you look so much better in person than the pictures on your books?”

Heart-wrenching questions…
“How did you forgive those that hurt you so much?”

We think the “typical” pastor’s wife or woman in ministry is dead. You know, that woman who had it all together, never seemed to struggle, played the piano, attended every event, and met everyone’s expectations—although she could have had some help with her wardrobe.

Those of us in ministry have heard, read and said “I’m not the typical pastor’s wife” so many times, we’ve started to wonder if she really ever existed at all, or if she really only existed in people’s minds and expectations. We spend mass amounts of time, energy, emotion, and effort comparing ourselves to a myth. And the problem is—we fall short. Our attention turns to our shortcomings and failings instead of staying focused on God and who He created us to be.

But the truth is, God knew exactly what He was doing, exactly who He was calling. He knows our shortcomings and our struggles, and He has extended His call to leadership and ministry anyway.

She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. (Proverbs 31:26 ESV)

The other day my son, a smart preteen, was up to the challenge of washing the dishes. He didn’t give me an attitude when asked. He wasn’t disrespectful. He didn’t drag his feet. So why was I battling the urge to harshly point out how he was doing it all wrong?

Because he wasn’t doing it my way.

He started with the grimy pots, then moved to the plates and silverware. Finally, he had to bubble up more water to spit-shine the glasses. While working, he stacked plastic cups in a pyramid.

Irritation welled up. An unkind reaction was itching to come out. I could easily have let my mama mouth take over: It uses way more water to wash the dishes in that order. Plus the water is filthy now! Stop playing with those cups while you work. You’re so slow.

I wanted to be a control freak. I wanted to fire off the unkind words hidden in my unspoken thoughts: The only way...

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 (NIV 1984)

I put my head against my bedroom wall, closed my eyes, and whispered, “There’s no way.” 10 years ago, my world collided with what seemed like an impossible invitation from God: adopt two teen boys from war-torn Liberia.

No matter how many times I whispered, “there’s no way,” this nagging sense of possibility wouldn’t leave me. It wove its way through every fiber of my being until I stood up and shifted everything I thought my family would be with one weakly whispered, “Yes.”

I can honestly say, there were moments of sheer joy where I felt reassured that I’d heard God right.

But there were many other moments where life felt chaotic, messy, and really hard. There were tears. There were times I wondered if I’d heard God wrong.

There were more times even after we adopted where I said,...

On January 18, 1989, my husband died. In a matter of seconds, I went from living in the light to walking in the dark.

And I’ve always been afraid of the dark.

I can give no compelling reason for my fear, but it’s there. As a child, I went to sleep with a night-light. At night I still keep the bathroom light on and leave the door slightly open. When I enter our home, I hit the light switches; the more the better. No one will ever find me walking through a pitch-black field or along an unlit beach.

It’s not just the physical darkness. I also strongly dislike being “kept in the dark.” I’m one of those people who reads the first chapter of a book to get the plot and then immediately skips over to the final chapter. Something in me has to know how everything turns out. Only then can I enjoy the middle of the book.

On that day in 1989, I began a walk having no idea how or where it would end, or how long it would take. I couldn’t have prepared for...

Grammy-winning Christian pop singer-songwriter Amy Grant performs twice in the Charlotte area this weekend: The youthful 51-year-old will join fellow gospel artists Sandi Patty and Mandisa, plus other Christian authors and speakers, Friday at the Women of Faith Conference at Time Warner Cable Arena. She’ll also headline at Wingate University’s Austin Auditorium Saturday.

Grant says the Women of Faith show came at the right time for her.

“My mother passed away last year, and she was such a consistent voice in my life,” she says. “During the time right around her death, I was involved with Women of Faith on the West Coast and then this year working closer to home on the East Coast. It has been truly a godsend.”

DALLAS, TX (AP) - On Monday, September 24, Women of Faith speaker Pat Smith, will reenter the grand ballroom arena once again, to cheer on her husband Emmitt as he keeps his eye on the mirror ball prize.

The former NFL star will compete in the All-Star season of Dancing with the Stars, hoping for the first ever two-time champion title.

"I remember the first time Emmitt got the call to be on Dancing with the Stars," said Pat Smith, former actress and beauty queen. "I thought they were calling for me but when I watched him I was amazed, thinking, this brother can dance! Look at my man go!"

In 2006, when Emmitt, along with dance partner Cheryl Burke, was named the Mirror Ball Trophy winner of the hit ABC reality show, Pat supported her husband each step of the way.

"I am so happy to be married to such a great man," said Pat. "Despite our busy schedules, he always makes his family his priority, supporting our goals and dreams. I am thrilled that he has another opportunity to show the...

Pat Smith, wife of NFL's Emmitt Smith, is a powerful speaker on this year's Women of Faith 'Celebrate What Matters' tour.

DALLAS, Sept. 19, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- On Monday, September 24, Women of Faith speaker Pat Smith, will reenter the grand ballroom arena once again, to cheer on her husband Emmitt as he keeps his eye on the mirror ball prize. The former NFL star will compete in the All-Star season of Dancing with the Stars, hoping for the first ever two-time champion title.

"I remember the first time Emmitt got the call to be on Dancing with the Stars," said Pat Smith, former actress and beauty queen. "I thought they were calling for me but when I watched him I was amazed, thinking, this brother can dance! Look at my man go!"

In 2006, when Emmitt, along with dance partner Cheryl Burke, was named the Mirror Ball Trophy winner of the hit ABC reality show, Pat supported her husband each step of the way. "I am so happy to be married to such a great man," said Pat. "Despite our busy...

Words That Sting

When you talk, do not say harmful things, but say what people need—words that will help others become stronger.
— Ephesians 4:29 NCV

When you think about the relationships in your life—friends and acquaintances, family members, co-workers, or fellow students—is there anybody who has hurt you by what they’ve said? Their words might have been an offhanded comment or a momentary attack. Their words might have been just an aside, but they stung deeply and left you reeling.

I want to suggest six principles that often help me when I’d rather react or attack instead of listening to the one who makes me feel chided. Although the pain may not go away immediately (or maybe ever), the effort to apply helpful actions will see you through and keep you from giving up on that other individual.

1. Let the person finish talking before you say anything. Sometimes all the other person wants is to make her point known.

2. State back to the person...

Journaling Your Gratitude

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.  And let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices, and tell of his deeds with songs of joy.
-Psalm 107:21-22 NRSV

I don't know what your life is like today, whether you would say you are in the best days or the most difficult days-or perhaps, like me, a mixture of both.  I want to suggest that you start keeping a gratitude journal, which is obviously a great thing to do and something that can greatly enrich your prayer life.  Rather, this is just to write down all the things you are grateful for.  Our prayer journals reflect our requests, but our gratitude journals can contain how God has answered our prayers or simply be a gateway to wonder and worship.  I find it very helpful to use my gratitude journal in prayer.  It gives me a written account of faithfulness and goodness of God.

You might think if you add one more thing to your to-do list, it...