Thursday, May 23, 2013

The Triple Strand- Mini Update





I wanted to stop in quickly and give you all a mini update on The Pearl Event! 

Our family was hit with the stomach bug starting that day with sweet baby Preston and it has been tough here between that and the end of the school year things! 

I am planning a big post as soon as I get the pictures back sometime next week. 

I cannot wait to share them with you all! 

The speakers were incredible.

Y'all. They were amazing!!!  You all need to know these precious women! I will write and share more about them in the big post next week!

In the meantime you can connect with them through their beautiful blogs here.

Cherish, Rachel and Charity

I was so proud of them and for them.

I spent most of the day in awe of their courage and their humility and their willingness to so freely share their pieces.

They blessed every, single woman in attendance. 

And the women in attendance blessed every, single one of us! 

They were kind and loving and full of beautiful words and encouragement.

I cried all of my makeup off- just like last year.  :)

I was just so moved by how big God was in each of the speakers and in our worship team and through 

each of the women who traveled in from all over to attend the event. 

Completely blown away.

I was so grateful when they day finally arrived that I hardly knew what to do with myself!

I want to thank each and every one of you who prayed for us and who prayed for the event. 

Thank you! Thank you!

I want to thank the worship team and the speakers and their husbands and every single one of you 

who blessed us and supported us by attending this year. It all means so much.

If you didn't get the chance to attend this one or the last one...we will plan to have it again next year in the early spring and would love for you to join us! 

Thank you again for your love, support, encouragement and prayers beautiful friends.

My heart is full of gratitude.

I will share more once I get the pictures to add to the post! 



Tuesday, May 14, 2013

The Big Week





Morning Glories!

I wanted to write a quick post with a few details about the event and also wanted to ask you all for

your prayers! The Pearl Event is this Friday and we are busy preparing and organizing all of the million 

details that lead up to the big day.

Beautiful friends, I love doing this. 

I have such a passion for gathering women together to receive from the Lord and experiencing Him
saturate them with His love.

I love creating a beautiful atmosphere for God to display His splendor for His daughters.

I am so passionate about studying God's word and teaching and encouraging others. 

I also love to create opportunities for other women to teach and share their testimonies as well.

There isn't anything like listening to a woman share her God story in front of a room full of women for the first time! It is incredible! 

I truly believe that after the gift of motherhood, this is my calling. 

It is the way that I worship the Lord.

It is my offering of obedience and sacrifice.

I am so incredibly grateful and thankful and I truly believe, down to my core, that I am called to create these events to teach and encourage His daughters.

I have an unexplainable deep desire that will not allow me to give up when things get really hard.

I wanted to ask you for your prayers for this week for myself and my family and for the speakers and their families and our worship team and their families.

I wanted to also ask for your prayers for our attendees and their families. Please pray that God would meet them right where they are and minister to their hearts in the most deeply personal way.

Please pray for those Pearl Girls who desire to attend but who have not been able to work it out this far.

Please pray that God would make a way where there seems to be no way. 

Most importantly, please pray that God would be glorified in the most beautiful and amazing ways.

Lastly, if you or someone you know would like to attend and truly cannot afford the tickets, please email me and we will make it happen.

If you recently won a ticket through a blog or Instagram or received a comped seat, each person attending still needs to register and enter the promotional code and receive your tickets through email. If you are not registered, we have no idea that you are planning to attend:)

We have classroom style seating this year and we want to make sure everyone has a seat! 

You must have your printed tickets with you in order to enter the event this year. 

Thank you all so much for your love and prayers! I cannot tell you how much it means to me...

I will update the blog next week with lots of pictures from the big day! 


Friday, May 10, 2013

Details About The Pearl Event And A Giveaway





Morning Glories!

We are one week away from the big day! Yay!!!

We've had some big days here with our own family included our Macey Girl graduating from college!!

Oh beautiful friends!! 

You don't even know.

I've tried to articulate and communicate my heart about how incredible this was and is and all I do is sit at the keyboard and weep with gratitude and I am so proud of my girl that I think my heart is going to explode with love and thanksgiving! 

I'm trying my best to gather my thoughts and words and type everything into a post. It's coming soon!!

In the meantime I wanted to answer some common questions regarding The Pearl Event and also share a special Mother's Day weekend giveaway! 


What is The Pearl Event?

You can read more details and testimonies about the event on our event website here : www.thepearlevent.com

To give you a brief description:

This event is a living, breathing expression of the Father's heart for His daughters. It is a day where He displays His splendor. His love. His goodness. His glory. It is a day where women share their incredible testimonies of overcoming adversity to bring hope and encouragement to women from every type of background. It is a celebration of our identity in Christ, who is the ultimate pearl of great price. There is biblically sound teaching shared using the scriptures along with the heartfelt testimonies of our incredible guest speakers.


What is the age range for the event?

This event is perfect for high school girls all the way up to grandmother's. We have every age within that range in attendance. Love, hope and encouragement fit any age! 


What Christian denomination or ministry is The Pearl Event connected to?

The Pearl event is a non-denominational Christian women's conference.  It is not connected to or affiliated with a specific church or ministry. Last year we had attendees representing 12 different denominations (including up until the day of The Pearl Event some who listed as unbelievers! Yay God!! ) from 16 different states across the US. It was amazing!!! 


May I bring my baby or young children?

This event is a gift to yourself. It is a day to relish in and celebrate your identity in Christ and a day to draw closer to God. Your children will thank you for taking the time to fill your heart and soul with God's love and allowing yourself a break for a day. 


May I bring my husband?

Our speakers husbands are in attendance to support and pray for their wives during the event. Our attendees husbands love to give their wives a day at The Pearl Event without them:)


May I bring my camera or video camera?

Please bring your camera! You are welcome to take pictures:) Video recording of the event is not permitted by attendees. We are planning to have professional video footage taken the day of the event to record all of the talks.

Just a few more days to purchase your tickets!

www.pearlsandgrace.eventbrite.com


Giveaway Details!

I also wanted to offer the chance for you to win tickets to The Pearl Event next week! Wouldn't you love to bring your sweet Mama as a Mother's Day gift or bring your girlfriends and spend the day together? Just leave a comment and I will choose winners first thing Sunday morning and post on Mother's Day! We are already praying for you all and cannot wait to hug you in person just one week from today! 


Love,

Sibi


Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Why You Can't Give Up




You aren't going to give up are you?

You can't quit. You can't throw out the pearls yet.

You can't hold back. 

Shrink back.  

Or look back.

You could be right on the edge of something incredible! 

You could be right on the cusp of the dream coming true.

Tomorrow, everything could change.

Right now, this very minute, your new job, position, title, paycheck, book deal, dream client, good bill of health, or positive pregnancy test could be headed your way! 

Right now, this very minute, someone may be typing you an email that is going to change your life- forever.

It happens every day.

Why not you?

Right now, this very minute, people may be gathering on your behalf to help deliver your dreams.

I say this all the time- but listen....

It is not over.

Not by a long shot.

You could meet your dream guy tomorrow. Be engaged in 6 months. Be married in a year and 
get pregnant on your honeymoon.

It happens every day.

Why not you?

Remember that God is a God of "suddenly."  Need a reminder? You can read that post here.

The script, book, song or piece you've written may actually be read by exactly the right person today, even right this very minute.

You can't quit.

And neither can I.

In a moments notice we can go from merely surviving to thriving in life!

I am praying for that and believing that for myself and shared that on Instagram yesterday.

Everything can change.

It doesn't have to be the way it has always been.

The first day of this glorious brand new month can be the start of something amazing!

Today I made a list of everything and anything that I am believing God for during the month of May. 

I am believing God for the new and beautiful things!

I am attaching my faith to God's promises. 

So many times, we attach our faith to our fears. Or we attach our faith to our circumstances.

We have to attach our faith to God's promises. To His word.

Faith is believing those things that are not as though they were.  Romans 4:17

God says to write the vision and make it plain. Habakkuk 2:2

Write down what you want. Write down the vision and the desires of your heart. Whatever it is that you are dreaming about. Whatever it is that you are believing by faith to receive.

Decree it and declare it. Make the declarations until you start to believe it with everything within you.

His word tells us to "decree a thing and it shall be established."  - Job 22:28

You can read previous posts on that subject part one here and part two here for encouragement for your heart today.

We are going to start out the first day of this glorious new month believing by faith for every, single desire of our heart. 

For beautiful and life giving friendships. For every need met. For our health to prosper. For our marriages to thrive. For our families to be blessed. For divine connections. For there to be more than enough financially to care for our families and to give into the kingdom. For an outpouring of creativity and new ideas. For our businesses to be blessed. For God ordained relationships and favor and friendships. Just to name a few...

So many incredible and amazing things are waiting for you beautiful friend.

Today is just the beginning.

Don't give up. Don't quit. Keep going!

The miracle may be in your hand tomorrow.








Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Overheard







I thought I would share a little glimpse into my life as a Mother of six with you this morning.

One of the things that keeps me laughing would be the many questions I get asked.

I mean ............ hundreds of them daily.

From the time I open my eyes until I collapse each night. 

The questions that never stop are just one part of my day....enjoy!

Please note the placement of the quotation marks.

It's like one giant run on sentence! :) Literally.

"Mama, do elephants have eyelashes? 

Yes.

What color are they?

Honey, I don't know. I haven't even had a cup of coffee yet.

Let me think about it.

Are they pink? 

Maybe.

Mama?

Yes.

When Daddy asked you to marry him, did you say yes?

Yes.

Did you kiss?!

Yes.

Do you and Daddy like to kiss?!

Laughing out loud...yes. 

Mama?

Yes.

Was Daddy in the Civil War?

What???

No and for the love - why are you asking me that??

Mama?

Can I get a bunny? Can I get one too? Yeah!! Me too? Pleeeeeeease?

I want something to snuggle.

If she gets a bunny then can I get a bunny? I want to snuggle something.

If she gets to snuggle something can I get something to snuggle too?

No babies. No.

Why not?!!

Because we can't have anything else that poops. Daddy said.

Please can I get a bunny that doesn't poop? Please? I will take care of it!!

Can I get one if she gets one?

No honey. We are not going to buy any bunnies right now.

But we don't have to buy them! They're free down at The Publix!

My friend just got one.

No honey.

Not today.

Well, can we get one tomorrow then?

No honey.

Well can I go to her house and spend the night and see her new bunny?

No honey.

Mama, do dinosaurs have fossils?

Do they laugh?

Can they see us?

If they can see us, can they smell us?

Laughing with tears.

No honey.

They are extinct.

They stink?

No honey. Yes, probably. But they do not exist any more!

What? They don't?!! Yes, they do Mama!!!

I love dinosaurs!

Mama, can I have a cookie?

Can I have ice cream if she gets a cookie?

Can I have a milkshake if he gets a cookie and she gets ice cream?

No. No and No.

For the love of all that is holy.

No to everything the rest of the day.

Mama, is God married?

No honey.

If God isn't married then why are you and Daddy married?"

Picture me with a cold ice pack on my head while being collapsed on the couch by 10 a.m.

If you've emailed me and have yet to receive a response, THIS is the reason:)

I'm tending to the answering of all of these precious questions and so many more.

Happy Tuesday sweet friends...

Here's to a beautiful and blessed week !


Thursday, April 18, 2013

Be Brave



I wanted to share a little encouragement with you this morning.

For those of you who need a little nudge. This post is for you.

Over the years I have listened to many hearts share the following words.

"I'm too afraid."

In response to any number of things in life but especially in stepping out
with starting something NEW.

Sometimes that something new has been creating something or branching out into photography or starting their own business or pursuing ministry or even planning a bible study, etc.

I want to encourage you today with the following scripture.

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. ~Acts 4:13

I absolutely love the first five words of this scripture.

When they saw the courage.

Courage is only made visible when we set our faith in motion. When we act on it.

If it were easy, it wouldn't be called courage.

If we knew it was going to work out perfectly, or always work out in our favor - it wouldn't be called courage.

If we waited until everyone was cheering us on and rooting for us and supporting us- it wouldn't be called courage.

To be brave can mean a number of things, but to me, it personally means this.

Pursuing the desire of our hearts- no matter what.

With or without cheers and support.

With or without finances.

With or without approval from everyone else.

I think the less we have in a worldly sense and the less we have in the area of credentials, THE MORE COURAGE it takes to do what God has called us to do and the more we have to rely on Him as well.

I love that this scripture in Acts 4:13 says that "the men were astonished and knew that they had been with Jesus."

Why?

Because when we spend time with Him, He can make all things new. He can make us brave. He can fill in the gaps in our life. He can part the red sea in whatever area we need Him to. He can equip us, qualify us and send us out to do great work without any worldly tools and allow us the ability to accomplish great things even for His kingdom.

He can pour out His super on our natural and give us the supernatural ability to fulfill our purpose.

Many times I've listened to women share how they feel led to start something new, but they allow fear to overtake them and they allow fear to press down that desire.

I've been there many times too.

Don't you just love this scripture?

Read this part.

"And realized that they were unschooled, ORDINARY men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus."

Oh my word.

Don't you just love that God chooses regular people? He does. All throughout the bible, God just continued to use ordinary people.

Be brave. Have courage. Take a leap of faith. Set your faith in motion. Trust your heart....

The beautiful BRAVE art print listed above can be found through the gift that is Kelly Cummings.

You can check out her work here. 

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

No Comparison 2013 ~ Part Two






I took a leap of faith in November of 2011 and wrote a post about comparison and it seemed to resonate with so many of you, I've wanted to share more on the subject in a few more posts.

 You can find the original post here.

Today, I wanted to dig a little deeper and share part two.

I shared about this at The Pearl Event in Atlanta recently, mainly because I feel so strongly that comparison is the trap and the snare that will keep us from walking in our full purpose and destiny.

It will paralyze us.

It will keep us from walking in our true identity in Christ.

If we get to the root of what comparison is really all about....

It's this.

Comparison is a form of unbelief.

When we fall into the trap of comparison we are essentially telling the Lord this,

I don't believe you.

I don't believe that I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

I don't believe that you have a purpose and a plan for me.

I don't believe that my identity is in you. 

I don't believe that you are going to work all things together for my good and your Glory.

I don't believe that I have unique giftings and talents and abilities.

I don't believe that you love me as much as you love everyone else.

When we get to the root of all of these thoughts and feelings and emotions and when we uncover
and unravel and pull back the layers on all of these things.

What is hidden underneath all the rubble and is at the core of what keeps that thing alive inside each one of us is this...

Unbelief.

And if we have our eyes on everyone else and all that God is doing in and through everyone else, then there is absolutely no way on earth we will ever accomplish our purpose when we are busy wishing for what everyone else has in life.

We're just too miserable.

And misery loves company.

The sisters of comparison are jealousy and envy.

Comparison, jealousy and envy are the spiritual trifecta that will bring us down to the point of no return.

Once we've entered into this triangle of destruction, we can forget about even coming close to fulfilling our purpose and destiny.

We can barely get through a Tuesday.

Ask me how I know.

When we aren't rooted and grounded in Christ. When we take our eyes off of Him. When we are constantly looking at everyone else and holding up our little pink measuring tape to compare ourselves with everyone else in life - we can miss out on our very own beautiful life.

Jesus said this in Mark 12:24

"Your mistake is that you do not know the scriptures and you do not know the power of God."

If that isn't the honest to goodness truth then I don't know what is.

There is life changing truth in the word of God. And there is power.

Power to transform us from the inside out. Power to equip us with our true identity. Power to heal us and change us and deliver us and set our feet like hinds feet on the rock. Power to set us free from comparison and jealousy and envy and equip us with the knowledge we need, in order to deliver us from every insecurity and root of unbelief. Power to offer us the gift that is being able to truly rejoice with others and celebrate their unique gifts and talents and to truly enjoy one another instead of attempting to compete with one another - or worse, to try and crush and destroy one another with our words.

I love this scripture in II Samuel 22:25 - The Message

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes."

I think sometimes we can easily get stuck in comparison when we are walking through some really hard things in life. It's easy to shift our eyes from Him to our circumstances and the longer it takes for those circumstances to straighten out- the easier it can be for us to shift our eyes onto others and start to compare ourselves every which way known to man and then some.

When we are walking through really hard things in life, we can forget that God is the ultimate author.

We can forget that He can edit, delete, remove, start over and even hit fast forward.

Listen beautiful friends, He can rewrite our life. 

It doesn't have to stay the same. It doesn't have to remain the way its always been. It doesn't have to end the way it began. It doesn't have to end up the way it ended up for everyone else in the family. 

You can allow God to change everything.

It starts with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

It starts with the offering up of all of our unbelief and mistakes and wrong doing and heartaches and insecurities, just to name a few and then begins with the receiving of an outpouring of His love and forgiveness and mercy and grace.

It continues with this life changing truth.

Our identity is in Him.

No matter what.

It matters not.

Once we are rooted and grounded in our true identity in Him. Everything else has to fall to the wayside.
This life changing truth will hold you steady when you walk through the fire in life. It will hold you upright when others try and tear you down and try and destroy you out of their own jealousy and insecurity. It will keep you and equip you and enable you when everything else in life tries to overtake you.

Because you know who you are in Christ. 

My favorite example of this is found in the book of Ruth.

I love the book of Ruth.

It will rock your world.

I want to encourage you to read from the book of Ruth when you have time, but in the meantime take a  look at this...

"Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled, and turned himself; and there, a woman was lying at his feet. And he said, "Who are you?"

So she answered, I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative. ~ Ruth 3:9-10

I love her response. Love.

Y'all, Ruth was walking through some hard things. She had some circumstances. Ruth could have answered Boaz in any number of other ways. She had every reason not to respond to him at all. She had every reason to run from the threshing floor and never return. She had every reason to try and explain her story about how she'd lost her husband and was a widow now. She had every reason to try and compare herself to every other woman who was working out in the field and let every insecurity rise up from within her during this encounter with Boaz and ruin her opportunity.

But she didn't.

Look at her response. She said this....

I am Ruth.

She knew her identity. She knew her worth. She knew her value. 

If every, single one of us could fill in Ruth's name with our own, the next time the enemy tries to convince us to fall into the trap of comparison, or envy, or jealousy then we could silence him.

The enemy is just waiting to catch us when we are feeling like absolutely nothing- when we are feeling like a complete failure, so that he can flood our hearts and minds with a full blown identity crisis.

He wants to convince us to compare ourselves, because when we do- we will fall short every time.

But when you know who you are and whose you are- you can stand on that truth.

And you are no longer spending your days comparing yourself with anyone or anything...

It matters not.

You can fill in that blank with your name and with Godly confidence and boldness in Christ.

I am ___________.

And you can watch healing take place in your heart and soak up His love and His goodness and His mercy and His grace and watch as purpose begins to take shape and the very reason you were created begins to unfold. All for your good and His glory.

Here's to a year filled with no comparison beautiful friends.

You are fearfully and wonderfully made, full of great purpose and destiny.

Saturate your heart with that truth and fill in the blank out loud. Decree it and declare it today.

Love to you precious friends.

I am Sibi.


Thank you again to my beautiful friend Ashley Sweeney for allowing me to photograph her with my own personal pink measuring tapes in 2011. Your willingness to help me with the pictures for this topic brought this post to life for so many women. So grateful for you.  Love you sweet friend. 

Thursday, April 4, 2013

The Pearl Event III Flyer





Morning Glories,

We are counting down the days until we get to see you all in person!

I am so excited about the incredible speakers and worship team we have this year! 

The hearts of these women are absolutely beautiful!!

You all are going to be so blessed by the oil they are going to pour out on May 17...

They truly only desire to serve you and point you to Him by sharing pieces of their life along with His life-giving word to bring you hope and encouragement.

We are already praying for you! 

You can purchase your ticket here:


(Just a side note to let you know that lunch is included this year)

If you are planning to stay overnight this year,  here is a post filled with hotel suggestions based on 
proximity to the event venue. 


Counting down the days sweet friends!

I wanted to thank you all for your prayers as we move forward with this special day.


Love,

Sibi