Psalm 40:1-3 NIV
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!
Today I want to celebrate my beautiful mother Janette. All day long I've been thinking about just how blessed I have been my whole life to have such an amazing woman to love & lead me through the twists and turns of life. She has celebrated the joys and hugged me through the hurts. But most importantly my mother has always shown me Jesus! Always grace, kindness, compassion and mercy! She has greatly influenced my life because her focus has always been protecting my heart...developing that true inner beauty. I honor you Mom! Your value and worth to me are beyond words. You not only have influenced my life but your grand-daughters' lives as well and countless other women. Thank you for quietly and graciously leading so consistently, for wisely speaking the truth in love and for really showing us how to love God!
You are a my hero...keep talking Mom!
♡ I'm still listening and learning!! I love you!! ♡
Influence:
The capacity to have an effect on the
character, development, or behavior of
someone or something, or the effect itself
One of the greatest gifts God has given woman is the ability to influence her world. We see this in the lives of the women of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Most of the time this gift is used for good but occasionally...not so good. The big difference is always found in the heart focus and motivation. This scripture reminds us that our capacity to change the world around us begins with developing inner beauty first. It begins with protecting our hearts and allowing the Word of God to be our guide in character and behavior. YOU can influence your world. Allow the fruit of the Spirit to wrap around your heart first and then rise to the surface to reach out and touch the people and circumstances of your life.
I say,Maya Angelou
To all the beautiful, strong, elegant and full of purpose women out there, how about if we start the year with that woman who challenges us in every way...the infamous Proverbs 31 woman! She seems to have it all together, perfect in every way. Her husband adores her, children sing her praises, dinner's always on the table, 
feeds the poor, shops wisely...you know she can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan and never let her hubby forget he's a man. Because she's a W-O-M-A-N! Some of you may cringe every time you hear the perfect woman mentioned and some of you stand and shake your fist defiantly at her challenge. Rest easy girls; she's not our enemy! She is our friend! So who is this Proverbs 31 woman really anyway?
Let's start by looking at the the question posed at the beginning of the passage:
Who can find a virtuous woman?
It appears to be a simple enough question but it brings a few more questions to my mind. For instance, who is the who looking for a virtuous woman? Where are they looking? Does she know she's being sought after? Does her knowing or not knowing change her character or behavior? Where is she? Is she really that difficult to find? It doesn't seem as if she is playing some silly girl game of hard to get but rather that she is rare and therefore it takes a bit of searching to find this virtuous kind of woman.
The question also causes me to reflect on the fact that it is a virtuous woman who is being sought. Think about it for a moment. It doesn't say that just any woman is hard to find but specifically distinguishes her as virtuous. Being female alone is not the qualifying factor here. Being virtuous is! The word virtuous is more than a simple word adding flare or description to the sentence. The adjective adds so much more to the meaning of the question. Virtuous gives this woman definition, direction and purpose.
Virtuous not only means moral excellence or righteousness, it also is defined as potent, strong and efficacious. Which means that a virtuous woman lives a morally sound life based in the righteousness of God. Living out the righteousness of God demands that we know and walk in His Word. A virtuous woman knows that she must discipline herself to allow the Word of God to renew her mind. As she does this it becomes a powerful tool in her hand enabling her to be effective in whatever she sets her hand to. In other words she has the ability to get the job done. It removes fear and replaces it with faith. She becomes a real force to be reckoned with.
Defining a virtuous woman also gives direction for her journey. Choosing to walk in righteousness clarifies her pathway. There are simply positions and places she cannot go. Why? Because they are outside the commands, and yes, sometimes demands, of righteousness. Walking the way of the Word is not always easy. It takes discipline, courage and perseverance to do the right thing. It takes these not just to do the right thing but to BE and REMAIN in virtue.
There are so many distractions pulling on our hearts and minds in today's culture. It can be uncomfortable from time to time staying on the right path. But sometimes we have to take off our cute stilettos put on our scruffy hiking boots and climb over the obstacles of our flesh. It's not always easy and we might not like it but staying focused and allowing the power of the Word to work for us is what keeps us moving forward effecting change on our world around us.
When the v
irtuous woman knows who she is, what she believes and where she is going suddenly purpose shows up. That thing for which she was created becomes apparent. We spend a great deal of time these days talking about purpose and destiny. And we should. After all God has created us with purpose and we have a responsibility to discover and live that purpose out. The dilemma in my opinion is that we have it turned around. We think we must fully understand the specifics of the unique intentions of God for our life before we begin to be and do. The Word of God teaches us that it is only IN Christ that we begin to realize purpose. It's in our becoming Christlike in character and putting our hands to Kingdom work that purpose gradually is uncovered. The one thing in common you will hear from women who are walking in purpose is that it didn't all just show up overnight. It started as a small passion that emerged as they set about to bring good by doing justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with their God. Purpose has a way of rising to the surface as we walk.
In a practical light as we set about to do good we will actually find there are things we are really good at and things we are not so good at. Even in discovering these gifts, skills, likes and dislikes we are uncovering purpose. God equips us, gives us grace and passion for those purposes He has intended for us. If you volunteer in a children's ministry and find you are not particularly passionate or equipped for it well, you have done some good in the lives of the children for the time you were there and also moved a step closer to fully realizing your unique purpose.
So, back to all those questions I started with. Where do we find this sought after virtuous woman? We find her serving, loving and living right in the middle of God's house and will. Does her character or behavior fluctuate because she knows she's being sought? It better not! Her virtuous life must be an overflow of her personal relationship with God and not because of what (or who) she is trying to attract. Who is searching for her? The rest of the passage goes on to talk a lot about the virtuous woman in the role of a wife and mother. One of the most noble roles a woman can take on is that of a wife and mother. But can I be so bold as to say that not only are Godly men [Sidenote here: who by the way are the only kind of men looking for truly virtuous women therefore don't throw your virtue on the streets to be trampled on girls...keep it in the house because that's where they should be too! Let it serve Kingdom purposes!] looking for virtuous women so is the hurting world around you. I never ceased to be amazed at the power one focused, anointed, virtuous woman has to bring lasting change and heal injustice and pain around her. And I am completely in AWE of that same power unleashed through the collective lives of a company of God's virtuous daughters.
Let me end my thoughts with this question to all God's daughters...do you know you are being sought for? Are you aware that the world around you is waiting for you to rise and live out your God purposed virtuous life? You have been filled with the power of heaven. Determine today to walk a virtuous life. Determine to be the kind of woman the world is looking for, waiting for...let's rise up and get the job done!
Until next time...
Living & Loving!
Kathi
country of Mexico. On this trip in particular I was so moved by all that God has done, how the network has grown and is gaining influence and momentum throughout Mexico. My heart was so stirred at God's faithfulness! Seven years ago God connected the hearts of Pastor Ofir Pena and his beautiful wife Tere` with the vision of Cornerstone Toledo and my husband Bishop Michael Pitts. Five years ago with a small number of churches and a few hundred people the vision expanded to Mexico and with Pastor Ofir leading the way the first Cornerstone Mexico Network Conference was held. What a joy this year to see over 40 Cornerstone Mexico churches representing 13 different states in Mexico and to see a crowd of 4000+ gat
her. Each church is growing and working to reach out into their community and make a difference. We are proud of each of them. On Friday afternoon we had the opportunity to meet with the pastors at a Network luncheon planned just for them. You could feel the excitement in the air as the pastors were encouraged and challenged by both my husband and Ps. Ofir.
There is nothing more encouraging and empowering than VISION. Proverbs reminds us that without VISION we wander aimlessly but Habakkuk tells us with it we RUN. I so loved watching the pastors' hearts be stirred to keep running as they listened to this year's dreams and challenges. 
declared strength and strategy to our pastors and on night three we saw miracles. Broken bones were healed, ears opened and we believe many were set free from bondage of every kind. We prayed for women who were experiencing problems with fertility - I can't wait to hear about and meet all the new miracle babies next year! 
