This afternoon, I was part of a Marriage Panel at a local women’s retreat. It was such a blessing! The two other women on the panel had completely different life experiences from mine, yet we all overflowed with the same theme: Jesus Christ transformed our lives and holds our marriages together through every season.

I didn’t know that the keynote speaker for the retreat was Amy Carroll, from Proverbs 31 ministries. That particular ministry has been in my mind since I’ve been reading Renee Swope’s book, A Confident Heart and, through it, God has been rocking my world and building my confidence in Christ. (More on that in another post.) Renee Swope is the co-host of the Proverbs 31 Ministries radio program. Anyway, when I saw that Amy was connected with Proverbs 31 Ministries, I told myself to get a little gumption and introduce myself. I asked her for five minutes of advice about this journey I’m on. She was so warm… and very supportive.

As it turns out, SHE IS THE FOUNDER of “Next Step Speaker Services”, which could be a helpful resource for me as I am, you know, taking the next steps in developing my ability to speak. I couldn’t believe it.

Amy highly recommended attending the She Speaks Conference, which is held in NC ever July. (I’ll have a 4-month old baby, but maybe…??)

She also highly recommended reading Andy Stanley’s book Communicating for a Change.  (I can do that! Even with a baby-on-the-way.)

Meeting Amy today was a completely unexpected blessing. It was a sweet gift from God that felt like a nod of confirmation and a right-hand of help. It was encouraging to connect with someone who has tons of experience doing the very thing I’m learning to do. Yay for today.

Don’t you just love when God does stuff like that?