Book Club Thursday- The Confident Woman Chapter Fourteen

This week's chapter is "Choosing Boldness". Although some of us are not born naturally bold, we can choose to be bold. Some consider boldness to be a reflection of one's confidence, however, that one does not equal the other. Some people are bold in order to hide their lack of confidence. It is a way that some chose to protect themselves. For others, boldness can be a pride issue. They are bold about sharing their opinions, making sure that their voice is heard, and will boldly pat themselves on the back for always being right. However, these types of boldness are not pleasing to God.

As Paul said, "we are self- confident in His confidence." Our self-confidence has to be a direct result of knowing who we are in Christ. Any other confidence that we may have in ourselves and our abilities is sin. We can be confident because Christ first loved us, because of the shed blood of Jesus we are in right standing with God the Father, and because greater is He who is in us than he that is in the world. This is where our self-confidence needs to stem from. This kind of Self confidence is much different than being confident in your self and your abilities. We will all eventually fail or fall short in our looks or abilities. If that is where our se;f-confidence lies then we will be devistated the day we no longer measure up.

We love Tigger and Pooh over here. On morning, Addie and I were watching the episode where Lumpy was learning to ski. It was very cute (the imaginations of the creators just astounds me at times), but one part bothered me. Lumpy thought that his scarf was what was helping him ski. As he went down the hill one final time, the scarf came off. He began to sway and lose his balance as he raced down the hill. Darby (she has taken over Christopher Robin's role in the show) called out, "You can do it! Just believe in yourself!" I turned to Addie and said, "If he believes in himself he will never make it down the hill!" We hear it all the time from many different directions. "Believe in yourself." However, what good is that going to do if someone has a low self esteem. They will be believeing in someone who feels inferior to those around them. By believeing in Jesus and His love for us, we can boldly state that our confidence is a direct result of knowing Who our confidence comes from.

My favorite verse has always been, "But by the grace of God I am what I am and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, yet I labor more abundantly than they all, yet not I but the grace of God which was with me." 1 Corinthians 15:10. It has always been a great reminder to me that anything I do or accomplish, I can only do it because of the Grace of God which is with me. I guess you can call it a grounding verse- one that keeps me from getting a big head and floating away.

For those who think that being bold is just something you can't do, remember God's command to Joshua when he was given the great responsibility of leading the Israelites. Joshua 1:9- Have I not commanded you? Be strong, vigorous, and very courageous. Be not afraid, neither be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. God commands us to be strong, vigorous, and courageous. And we can be because He is always standing beside us or holding us during the rough times.

As a Book Club Update regarding this topic of boldness, I had mentioned not like confrontation and my dilemma about Addie in the nursery. On Tuesday while I was spending the day (having a great time, I might add!) with Cathy and Kennie (who Addie did not want to leave!) I got a call from the Children's pastor regarding working in the nursery. Okay, so I could not hide from the situation anymore. Because I had let the message go to voice mail, I needed to call yesterday and explain (I really don't like making those types of calls!). I spoke with the Children's Minister, who was very understanding and is one of the sweetest, soft-spoken people I have ever met. I explained our situation and our decision to keep Addie in the service with us. She understood, and we talked about the timeline for Addie to move up into the next class. I told her that when Addie had moved up, we would put her in the class and I would be there to help out whenever they needed me (like I had been doing in her "current" class. Our conversation ended well, and I believe a good relationship has been established.

This week, remember to be bold and confident in Christ. And don't forget to read Kristi's thoughts on today's chapter. See you Saturday!