I’ve always known it to be true, yet I was still taken by surprise over the events that transpired on June 15^th.  As it was all unfolding, I suspected that I would NEED to blog about this eventually – both as therapy to process it all myself, and hopefully as PREVENTATIVE therapy for my readers.

As I arrived at Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport on June 14^th, I was warned that if I flew

into Los Angeles, I might get stranded there for several days.  A volcano in Chili had erupted, sending an ash cloud over New Zealand’s airspace, which would prevent planes from heading in that direction any time soon.  Due to speak in Christchurch within 72 hours, I begged them to let me on that plane in spite of their warnings.  I knew my chances of getting to New Zealand were much greater if I was already in L.A. than if I were still in Dallas.

Although “acts of God” usually mean that you’re responsible for your own

lodging, Quantas was kind enough to put all of us stranded travelers in a very nice Marriott Hotel near LAX Airport.  I got settled into my room around 3 a.m., slept until 10 a.m., enjoyed a leisurely Starbuck’s breakfast, then headed to the swimming pool for some exercise since I had almost 12 hours before the next possible flight left the U.S.  I felt like I’d been given a free 24-hour California vacation, and I was soaking up every minute of it.

I’m minding my own business in the shallow end of the pool when a handsome

40-ish guy in jogging shorts, tank top, and iPod ear buds strolled by. He’d obviously just completed a jog, and was contemplating the hot tub.  He asked how the water was, and I gave him the thumbs up.

Casual conversation evolved so naturally I can’t even remember what the first

words spoken were.  I eventually asked if he was also stuck in L.A. due to the ash cloud.  Negative.  He was a pilot on sabbatical until his next flight later that evening.  He returned the ball to my side of the court, asking why I was heading to New Zealand.  I explained that I would be doing a 3-week speaking tour.  Predictably, he asked, “What do you speak on?”

I gave my standard as-brief-as-possible answer so as not to bore him to

death.  “Healthy Sexuality and Spirituality.”

Bored?  Obviously not.  Intrigued?  Maybe.  He replied, “So… if I read your books, I’ll learn how to have better sex?”

Again, keeping it as brief as possible, I responded, “Well, if you read my latest book, The Sexually Confident Wife, I guess you might could learn a few things.”

Sensing it was time to wrap the conversation up and move on, I wished him a good day and started swimming toward the opposite end of the enormous pool.

Mr. Pilot-Guy had been long forgotten in the 2.5 minutes it took me to reach the deep end.  My mind was already in Christchurch, praying that the volcanic ash cloud would clear, and that the earthquake aftershocks wouldn’t prevent my plane from landing once I actually arrived.

Suddenly I hear a deep voice chuckle, “You’re going to have to swim a lot faster than that to get any exercise!”

I look up to discover Mr. Pilot-Guy’s toned & tanned frame casting a shadow over me in the California sunshine.  He squats down, extends his arm for a formal handshake, and says, “I’m Kyle… and I was thinking it would be great to have lunch with you.  You seem like a very interesting person, and I’d love to get to know you more.  So… what do you think?”

I can’t recall ever being at a loss-for-words in my entire life, but color me speechless in that moment.  “Well… uh… I… uh… I don’t know if I’d really have time…”

He interrupted my stammering to rescue us both from the awkwardness.  “Look, I have to eat anyway, and I’d love to eat with you.  I’ll be in the hotel lobby at 12:30.  If you’re there, great.  I think we’d have a really good time together.  If you’re not there, well, I understand.”

My crushing reply?  “Uh, okay.”

And then I swam away in the other direction with a million thoughts ricocheting through my brain.  Well, maybe just 10 thoughts.  Ten thoughts that I’m going to be sharing with YOU in the coming blog posts, so stay tuned as I explain the main reasons why I DIDN’T GO THERE!!!

And why I hope YOU NEVER GO THERE, either!

And then the veil is lifted from my eyes after the sessions as women approach, tears in their eyes, confiding things like:

• After I found my husband looking at porn, I began having an emotional affair with a co-worker.  I figured what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, but now I realize this isn’t good for me or my marriage at all!
• I had two abortions before I married, and I’ve never told my husband.  The guilt has robbed me of every ounce of my sexual confidence!
• I was violently raped as a child, and now I’m luring men into my home, having sex with them, and kicking them out to feel like I’m regaining some sense of control, but I realize I am very out-of-control!

These women may feel as if they are shocking me with their confessions, but I’m pretty hard to shock after the past 15 years of speaking on these topics.  I’ve learned that even the most functional looking woman can be quite sexually dysfunctional, and when she reveals her identity and the issues that are troubling her, my heart truly breaks for her!

What is a speaker to do in these situations? I’ve asked myself many times.  I simply can’t put the rest of the conference on hold and counsel her one-on-one for the next hour or two.  Jesus can leave the 99 to go after the 1 lost sheep, but a speaker doesn’t have that luxury.  Nor can I wave a magic wand over her and remedy all of her guilt, shame, brokenness and inhibition (although I’d give anything to own one of those magic wands!).

I’ve had to learn that I’m no one’s personal counselor, shepherd, savior, magician, or miracle worker.  I’m just a fellow struggler who’s a few steps ahead in her own journey toward sexual health & wholeness.  But I’ve got my tail lights on.  And I’m leaving a breadcrumb trail that can be followed, publishing about my progress every step of the way through the various books I’ve written… the Every Woman’s Battle series about how NOT to look for love in all the WRONG places… the Completely His series about how to find love in the RIGHT place (through intimacy with Christ)… and the Sexually Confident Wife about how to cultivate the passion and fulfillment you long for within your own marriage.

I can’t help but wonder after I leave a conference what kind of steps a woman will take to find the healing and wholeness she deserves. Will she actually read the book?  Will she seek the help of a counselor as I so often recommend?  Will she connect with an accountability partner?  Will she make time for intimate quiet times with her Heavenly Bridegroom so that He can heal her from the inside out?  Will she work up the courage to invite her husband into her healing process?  Only SHE can answer those questions.  I can only cheer her on.

Tonight I take the stage at our last conference here in Auckland before returning home – the EveryWoman 2011 Conference at Christian City Church (C3).  And no doubt I’ll have that same thought tonight… These women look so normal, I must be preaching to the choir! I’m learning that even the choir needs to be reminded of these messages once in a while, so I’ll continue to press on, conference after conference, city after city, country after country, as long as God gives me breath.

Thanks for your prayers as we wrap up our 3-week ministry tour here in New Zealand!  They’ve definitely been felt!

Shannon (& Greg)

I experienced several of these aftershocks within the first 24 hours here (ranking in the 4s and 5s on the Richter scale) but I wasn’t terribly freaked out by them once I saw how much a part of everyday life they’ve become.  In fact, they’ve felt over 7,000 aftershocks here in Christchurch since the first big 7.1 earthquake last September.

As I prepared to take the platform on the first night, I was thinking of all the usual sayings that I hear when people send you off to do an event like this… sayings like “break a leg!” or “bring the house down!” or “knock ‘em dead!” Those sayings bring on a whole new meaning in a place experiencing all of these earthquakes, so I told the ladies we weren’t going to have ANY of that, but I did want to “rock their world” with a fresh revelation of God’s lavish love for them.   Hopefully they experienced just that.

The feedback has been fantastic.  I think they were all so delighted to have some sort of distraction from all of the turmoil they’ve been experiencing over the past 9 months.  It’s given me a whole new perspective on my seemingly “stressful and chaotic” life as of late.  I don’t think I really know what stressful and chaotic really feels like – at least not like these families do.  We simply can’t imagine what it’s been like for these folks for their homes to be in such disrepair and filled with the “liquefaction” that bubbles up from the earth after an earthquake, coating the inside of their homes with mounds of murky, sooty gunk ruining everything it touches.

Insurance companies have either been bankrupted, or they refuse to pay for repairs because it will most likely just happen again.  The housing market & real estate property values are plummeting.  Families are literally  “stuck” here because so much of their life savings is tied up in the equity of their home.  Businesses are failing right and left, and banks are in great jeopardy because of so many people defaulting on their mortgages.  There is talk of government buy-outs for people’s homes in certain areas that have been most affected.  Some are quite relieved about this possibility, others not so much.  Either way, it’s a tragedy for so many families.

Just within 2 blocks of the church, there are 70 relatively new buildings (many quite tall) that have had so much damage that they are having to be torn down as soon as possible.  Although the death toll has only been a fraction compared to other major earthquakes in Haiti & Japan, this series of earthquakes here in Christchurch has resulted in the most expensive natural disaster in history.  It’s estimated that it would take 9 years to rebuild the city with the numerous buildings that have been lost.  All incredibly sad.

And the loss of lives, loss of property, physical danger, ongoing threat of further quakes, and financial stress has certainly impacted many marriages.  The marriage conference we hosted was very well-attended, with over 170 people there — in spite of the 5.3 earthquake the night before!   I was amazed that they showed up.  They were amazed that I still came.  We sat in amazement together.  Certainly an experience I’ll never forget.

Very desperate times here, and much encouragement is needed.  I’m honored & privileged to have the opportunity to be here “for such a time as this” (the theme of the women’s conference).

Thank you for your prayers!

More from Auckland soon…

Shannon (& Greg)

Walking in My Shoes for a Week

I’m sipping a Starbuck’s vanilla chai latte at the Houston International Airport after a wonderful conference weekend in Guanajuato, Mexico.  The weather in the mountainside city was cool, the hospitality warm, and the spiritual climate hot, hot, hot!  (or caliente, caliente, caliente!)

One of the many things that made this trip unique was that I had a new traveling companion.  Suze Stirling has been participating in the online BLAST mentorship program (Building Leaders, Authors, Speakers & Teachers) since September.  She chose to accompany me on this trip, raising her own financial support to cover the cost of her airfare.  I was impressed with her commitment, and blessed by her presence, both behind the book table and behind the scenes.  And I also enjoyed watching reality hit this aspiring speaker as she got an intimate look at the life of a traveling speaker.

Her previous impressions may have been something like, “Wow!  That looks like a sweet deal!  Fame, fortune, and fun as she travels to interesting places, meets new people, soaks up the spotlight, signs autographs, poses for group photos, and pockets the profits from a plethora of book sales!”  (Actually, I know this Moody Bible Institute grad to be much deeper than that, but I’m pretty sure that’s what a lot of others likely assume.)  But here’s just a few of the things we encountered that’s most likely given Suze a much more balanced view of what’s required of a speaker…

• 5 days prior to departure my laptop crashed, along with all of my Spanish powerpoint slides (which aren’t easily reproduced since I don’t speak Spanish).  After four days and almost $400 paid to the Geek Squad, I managed to retrieve the files and get them updated just hours before heading to the airport.
• The weekend before the conference I realized that the power cord to my credit card machine was missing.  I must have left it in Miami last month.  My husband plays the hero and finds a replacement online.  We pay a small fortune to have it expedited just in time for this event.
• During this same “week-from-hell” we realize we are running low on our Spanish book inventory, so I place a rush order with my publisher and pay a pretty penny for expedited shipping.  (Yes, authors have to buy their own books, just like bookstore owners do.)  It arrived after sundown the night before our departure, so we spent a considerable amount of time in the cold garage counting, packing, and weighing 200 pounds of books, re-distributing them numerous times before we came up with 4 neatly packed 50-lb. bundles to satisfy airline requirements.
• As the clock ticked on that night, I’m crunching numbers on my calculator, auditing and adjusting the publisher’s invoices, preparing the declaration forms, and calculating the import taxes due upon arrival.  The last thing we need after all of this trouble would be for us to get our books confiscated by the Mexican Customs Department.
• We arrive at the airport and are informed by American Airlines that they do not accept “embargo” at this time.  In other words, all of our carefully packed bins and boxes can’t fly.  They have to be in suitcases.  We bat our eyelashes and hope for mercy.  No luck.  We’re 2 hours away from home with less than 2 hours until flight time, so a friend makes a mad dash to Wal-Mart for the cheapest duffle bags made, while we sweat bullets wondering if she’s going to make it back in time to allow us (and our books) to make our flight.  Victory, with only seconds to spare before we get left behind.
• We arrive in Mexico to a warm welcome, and a hefty tax of 16% on all books.  This tax must be paid whether the books sell or not, so it’s always a gamble as to whether or not we brought just the right amount of books – not too many, nor too few.
• So here we are in Mexico with 4 huge suitcases of books and 2 personal suitcases, and two sweet, tiny women arrive to transport us to the hotel… in a Ford Fiesta.  We tip a guy $50 pesos to help us cram 6 suitcases and 4 women into a car built to hold half of that.  Suze and I hold two 50-lb. suitcases in our laps in the back seat.  Ah, making memories together!
• We are taken to a nice Holiday Inn Express.  During our 10 p.m. dinner I offer a praise report to Suze that I’ve NEVER had to miss a speaking event because of sickness.  Not in 15 years.  Suze is amazed and knocks on wood.  Then I awake at 1:50 a.m. feeling sicker than a dying dog.  Nauseous stomach.  Splitting headache.  Watery eyes, cotton mouth.  Room spinning.  Altitude sickness, I deduce.  I drink my weight in water (in spite of all the “Don’t drink the water!” warnings running through my memory bank from previous trips to foreign countries).  I lay there for 3 hours wondering how to say “Do you have any aspirin?” in Spanish before I finally wake Suze up and ask if she knows.  Fortunately she packed ibuprofen.  60 minutes later the alarm sounds, and I feel recuperated enough to shower up and face the world with a dazzling smile (for those of you who remember that expression from the toothpaste commercial).
• We arrive at the conference lugging our 200 pounds of books (in high heels up cobblestone pathways), ready to sell to the 2,000 women in attendance.  Then we discover that our credit card machine won’t work in a foreign country.  Great.  Rushed that danged power cord delivery for nothing.  But with some ingenuity, we manage to process payments online using my laptop.  A borrowed internet stick saves the day.
• Back at the hotel that night, we count pesos.  $24,696.  Sounds like a lot, huh?  Translated into U.S. dollars, it’s $2,002.  Then we calculate credit card payments of around $400, for a total of $2,402.   Then we add together the total amount paid to the publisher for the book inventory, the shipping charges, the baggage fees, the additional suitcases expense, and the taxes paid at customs.  It comes to $2,200, for a net profit of a whopping $202.  Suze is shocked, and I suspect her “fame and fortune” bubble has just been popped.  But we celebrate the fact that we at least “broke even.”

It would be easy for someone to say, “All of those headaches, hoops to jump through, and overhead expenses — It’s simply not worth it!”  Well, if you’re thinking of becoming a speaker or author for the money, you are absolutely right.  It’s not worth it.  You’d do about as well selling corny dogs at the State Fair, or selling junk on E-bay.  But selling corny dogs or junk won’t reap the kinds of rewards that we reap on a weekend such as this.  For example…

• We fell in love with our hosts, Judith Almanza and family!  Amazing how you can spend 48 hours with a total stranger and leave there feeling as if you were surely twins separated at birth.
• I took great joy sharing from the stage about how God has so gently and graciously taught me about sexual integrity, sexual intimacy in marriage, and spiritual intimacy with Him.  The crowd is incredibly responsive, laughing when I hoped they would, and crying more than they probably thought they would when they left home that morning.
• We witnessed a room of over 300 teenagers submit dozens of anonymous questions about healthy sexuality and how to save sex until marriage.  Their hunger for truth and guidance makes us feel as if we’re doing the most important work in the world.
• Through a translator we listen to story after story… from the women who have already read one of the Every Woman’s Battle books, and how they believe it has saved their marriage… or those that have been sexually abused in the past and wonder if Every Woman’s Marriage could really help them overcome the sexual inhibitions that have driven their husbands away… or the ladies who also lived a promiscuous lifestyle in the past, and are wondering if their emotional needs could really be met by the God they’ve perceived as being so distant.  What a joy to watch HOPE birthed in their eyes!!!
• Although we could freely communicate with less than 10% of the women (those who were bi-lingual), we realized that the spirit of God transcends language barriers!  We received hundreds of smiles, hugs, cheek kisses, and teary-eyed declarations of “Gracias!” and “Dios te bendiga!” (“Thank you!” and “God bless you!”)
• Suze snaps photos during our closing ceremony as a “sea of white” unfurls before our eyes.  Every woman in the convention center waves her “white flag of surrender” (a Kleenex) to her Heavenly bridegroom, declaring the acceptance of her role as the beloved bride of Christ!
• We stroll the streets of the stunningly beautiful Guanajuato that night, in awe of the amazing architecture and festive mood.  “Always a party!” Judith declares about her hometown, as a 10-man mariachi band and an 80-something-year-old dancing matriarch entertains us on the downtown square.   Makes us wish our American culture could only be as carefree.  Then we enjoy another late-night dinner at a family-favorite restaurant, and although we discover there’s a BIG difference between “authentic Mexican” and “Tex-Mex” food, we savor the local flavors and soak up the remaining minutes we have with our beloved host family.
• In spite of the rock-hard mattresses and all of the big restaurant meals we’ve ingested, we sleep like babies that night, knowing that we’ve done all we humanly could to advance God’s kingdom on that particular day.  We wonder how many women we’ll see in Heaven who’s read one of our books, or attended one of our conferences in her lifetime.  It puts a smile on our faces, and a deep sense of gratitude in our hearts.  I go to sleep praying, “Oh, God!  THANK YOU that this is how I get to spend my time on earth!”

So if God has put a message in your heart, and you’re entertaining thoughts of becoming a speaker or writer, I’d simply ask you this one question:

Is your goal to be a celebrity, or a servant?

If you answer the former, perhaps you should just consider doing something really outrageous to get your own reality TV show.  Fame and fortune will come much faster traveling that road.  But if your goal is to be a “prophet” rather than a “profiteer,” then look past the hard work, headaches, and overhead expenses and DO IT!

If you’re like me, someday you’ll be so glad you did.

P.S.  I just learned that my connecting flight home has been delayed by 2 hours.  I’ll miss the special dinner outing planned with visiting family members.  Headache #1,001 for this trip.  But who’s counting? 

For those of you who prayed with us concerning our recent event in El Paso, TX–we’re thrilled to report it was a tremendous success!

With over 2000, primarily Spanish-speaking women from all over the U.S. and Mexico in attendance, we were a bit nervous the message might literally be ‘lost in translation’.  However, even a language barrier couldn’t prevent the truth of God’s transformative, redemptive nature from penetrating hearts!  The women responded spectacularly.  Sitting in our hotel room following the event, Shannon and I were astonished to find that we sold almost 1000 books (aka 1000 sown seeds!) at the book table over the course of a few hours.  Humbled, we thanked God for the privilege of speaking and sowing into lives and hearts on His behalf, and prayed each seed might impact marriages and families for generations to come.

A HUGE thank you to Pastors Chris and Haydee Richards of Vino Nuevo for hosting us!  It was such an honor.  http://www.vinonuevoelpaso.com/

We were so thankful for Haydee, who also served as Shannon’s translator.

A powerful close to the weekend–the ladies waving white (tissue) flags of surrender to the Lord!

http://demujeramujer.tv/general-en.htm

Then our trip to Sugarland was made even sweeter when we had the opportunity meet author Stanley Leffew (www.notjustanight.com) and his lovely wife, Jessica at a local Starbuck’s for three hours of “God-gushing” (gushing over the great things God has done in our lives, marriages, and ministries).  In case his name sounds familiar, I’ve shared some excerpts from his “Sugar for My Coffee” e-newsletters before, which I enjoy so much, and I asked if I could please, please, please share his most recent one with you as well.  I didn’t have to twist his arm very hard before he relented.  (Thanks, Stanley!)

Enjoy…

Where Are All the REAL Gentlemen’s Clubs?

“Hey Stan, me and some of the other guys are going to a Gentlemen’s Club and want you to come along. Just note, saying no is not an acceptable response.”

Such were the ramblings of a young man who thought I, like a lot of other men around us on that same work project, would jump at the chance for this kind of night out with the boys.

Knowing he wasn’t familiar with my message that teaches all about being a man in a playboy world, I just laughed at him, said no thanks, and then politely directed him to my website. Although he never asked again, I couldn’t just let his question go.

So I went there!

No, not the Gentlemen’s Club!

I went to that place in my mind that attempts to make sense of a commonly accepted term that has no rational explanation for why it is so commonly accepted.

Gentlemen’s Club!

When I think of the word “gentlemen”, I never associate it with a smoke-filled room full of men drowning in a sea of flesh, being enticed to accept a cheap imitation for the gift of human sexuality.

The word GENTLEMEN to me is a word about being noble and respectful. It speaks of one who gives honor and bears the trademark of not demeaning in value the worth of another.

“Where are the REAL Gentlemen’s Clubs,” I asked myself!

Wouldn’t it be great to have a club where REAL men go to:

• Encourage each other to see women as more than full-of-brandy-eye-candy and toys-for-boys
• Inspire one another to be men of commitment and live out their sexuality for LEG-A-CY, not how much LEG-I-SEE
• Better follow the longing of the heart to be wanted for a lifetime of nights and not just a night of a lifetime
• Remind one another that sex is LESS ABOUT RELEASE and MORE ABOUT EMBRACE
• Help each other remember that SMUT spelled backwards is TUMS
• Grow in understanding that it is called PLAYBOY because it appeals to men who still play BOY with adolescent attitudes about women as sex objects
• Challenge each other with the reality that we are DESIGNED FOR DESIRE, but we also DESIRE FOR DESIGN
• Help each other see that humanity’s greatest needs are relational and spiritual – NOT SEXUAL
• Instruct one another in the truth about how 90% of couple-relating takes place OUTSIDE THE BEDROOM
• Remind one another that the emptiest people are those living their lives for the moment and missing the lifetime

Now, that’s the type of Gentlemen’s Club this loving husband and father would be most happy to go to with the guys. I think guys could learn a lot about being a man in this type of environment. How about it men, care to come along?

©Copyright advice-for-lifetime-relationships
by Stanley J. Leffew
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED!

www.notjustanight.com

As I continue reflecting on the amazing EveryWoman Conference at C3 Church in Sydney last weekend, the theme that continues to resonate with me most is something Pastor Chris Pringle shared in her message:

Mother Theresa was a great example of this. When she was invited to participate in an anti-war demonstration, she declined saying, “I don’t care to be in an anti-war march. But if you do a peace march, let me know.” She didn’t want to be known as a rebel of war. She wanted to be known as a revolutionary of peace.

When I first started speaking in 1996, I was definitely a rebel with a cause. “Abstinence until marriage” was my #1 theme. I wanted to save young people from themselves and their run-away sex drives. I laugh hysterically at that now. It’s not that I don’t still hope that single people save sex until marriage, for that is truly God’s best plan for our lives. But I’ve come to understand that there’s a much bigger picture to the ministry God has called me to.

It’s not just about saying “no” to pre-marital sex, unplanned pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, promiscuity, broken hearts, etc. etc. It’s really about saying “yes” to a lifestyle of sexual integrity, sexual intimacy in marriage, and intimacy with God. It’s about fully becoming the glorious women (and men) God designed us to be. It’s about embracing our sexuality as a blessing rather than a burden, and being a good steward of it rather than squandering it or being afraid of it.

I don’t want to go down in history as a rebel. I want to be known as a revolutionary – a revolutionary for healthy sexuality and spirituality!

What about you? What part of the world are you called to revolutionize? Your church? Your children’s school? Your office environment? Your home?

Is your approach a negative one that leaves others feeling attacked or judged? If so, you may be seen by others as a rebel, and that’s most likely not the most effective approach. Try looking through a positive lens at how you can improve the situation. Pray about how you can equip and empower others to change for the better, and be a revolutionary that truly impacts the world for good!

I’m sitting in the San Francisco Airport, remembering why I find international travel such a challenge! We just got off of a grueling 14-hour flight with screaming babies who didn’t have a clue how annoying they were being, a loud hateful woman who surely had a clue how annoying she was being (but obviously didn’t care), and the most fierce turbulence I’ve ever experienced on a plane. I actually grabbed my 17-year old daughter’s hand (who was turning green from the mid-air roller coaster ride) and said, “Let’s pray!” What I really meant was, “Oh my gosh, this might be our last prayer ever so let’s make it a good one!” We wanted to kiss the ground when we landed. And here we sit, exhausted, emotionally fragile, and have another 4-hour flight to look forward to before seeing our special guys at DFW Airport — husband Greg, son Matthew, & boyfriend Brian (obviously Erin’s boyfriend, not mine!)

I’ve occasionally wondered if the intense international flight experiences are really worth all the effort & energy required. But once I arrive at my destination and God begins working in us and through us, I’m reminded why I love what I do.

Some of the highlights from Sydney include seeing hundreds of new bras hanging on a clothesline in front of Christian City Church in “support” of their African women’s mission: Operation Uplift (clever, huh?) and watching over 1,500 women of all ages wave white flags (Kleenex) in surrender of all of their sexual and emotional baggage – Wow!

Yeah, it’s worth having the 300 lb. man in front of me press his seat firmly into my kneecaps for hours at a time when I eventually get to see hundreds of women fall to their kneecaps in worship of the God I so love to talk about from stage. The multiple hours of sleeplessness are a small price to pay to see women inspired to go home and make love to their husbands with reckless abandon. And the bland airplane cuisine is a frequent reminder of what Jesus said: “I have food that no one knows about – doing my Father’s will!” (SEV – Shannon Ethridge version)

Am I satisfied with the traveler’s life? You bet. What a posh calling compared to some pastors & missionaries! I may be miserable in the moment, sitting here in the airport, but once I have a steamy shower… and a homemade meal… and a nice long nap to relieve the jet lag, I’ll be ready to go again, ready for the privilege of wearing God’s nametag once again.

Next stop? Sugarland (Houston), Texas for the Girls Reflecting Glory Conference Nov. 13th and 14th — which thankfully will NOT require an international flight!

Pressing on with gratitude,
Shannon