books for women i read

For my friend,

I hope that your mom and sis can read these books too :) and I hope the list will be kept updated!

I agree with you that women do have our own circumstances..and men (as husband, boyfriend, father, brother, uncle, son) might need extra effort to understand.

And for women, we need to do extra effort too, to help men to understand us.

So..if u asked any books for Christian women to read, I would recommend books about relationship too..

Here they are, books for women I read so far :

Tuhan Masih Menulis Cerita Cinta by Grace Suryani and Steven Halim

Let Me Be a Woman by Elisabeth Elliot

Fit to be Tied by Bill and Lynne Hybels

Passion and Purity by Elisabeth Elliot

Beautiful in God’s Eyes by Elizabeth George

Lady in Waiting by Jackie Kendall and Debby Jones

Broken into Beautiful by Gwen Smith

The 10 Best Decision a Woman Can Make by Pam Farrel

Experiencing God’s Power in Your Ministry by Mary Southerland

Life Management for Busy Women by Elizabeth George

A Woman After God’s Own Heart by Elizabeth George

A Woman’s High Calling by Elizabeth George

Loving God with All Your Mind by Elizabeth George

Following God with All Your Heart by Elizabeth George

I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris

Boy Meets Girl by Joshua Harris

When God Writes Your Love Story by Eric and Leslie Ludy

Warisan Cinta Kasih (A Legacy of Love) by Ruth Graham

The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman

God Chicks by Holly Wagner

Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow

Creative Counterpart by Linda Dillow

Preparing to be a Help Meet by Debi Pearl

Boundaries in Dating by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend

God bless you and all women you love :)

i hate veggies? not anymore!!

Last week, a friend of mine asked if I could recommend any books for his mom and sis. To be honest, I am not confident enough to do this, 'coz I am not a reader at all! I read not because I love to read, but because I have to!

I would be super confident if I was asked "how to play with kids?" or "how to talk to strangers?" or maybe "how to sleep like a pig?" -- but, "what to read..?" All I could think of is how I used to hate reading.. and for me, reading was the most boring activity to do! It's just impossible~! >.<

If some people grew up reading comics. Me? haha.. only all ballet series, and yeah..not because I loved reading, but I love anything about ballet. Doraemon, only several pages each part, wasn't burdensome at all! And, that's all!

(when people knew I went to Japan for college, almost all of them reacted ...."waaaaah...MANGA!!! you're lucky, lyn!" i was like, "yeah rite!!!")

Magazines? I didn't read the articles, oh maybe the main points only.

Reading books had been my new year resolutions for almost 7 years, since I graduated high school. I struggled a lot, 'til I finally could finish one book in (what?) a year, maybe!

It's like eating veggies for small boy = impossible, "I don't like it but I am forced to eat it" ..

Eventually he got used to it, not because he liked it- ! and, he saw the good things veggies caused to his body. *hopefully* Then, he will look for veggies himself.

In my case, I wasn't forced by anyone to read. Just a "look" from my sis, she couldn't understand me at all! (btw, my sis reads everything, even nutrition facts written in any boxes at home! See? I didn't understand her at all either! For me, she's freak!)

By His grace, I realized, in order to grow more each day, I need to read! I need veggies~~!! I read Bible, of course. But I wanted to learn more. I wanted to see how God worked in other people's lives, and how it could be applied in my life too. I wanted to learn, to share and to teach.

It wasn't easy at all to start, seriously! Really, a book a year??? I kept on trying, another resolution on the following year, on and on. I could give up anytime, and say "ah, reading is just not me!". But, I decided not to!! I decided to keep on going...to read, to enjoy reading, to read and to read!!! 'til finally I could answer people "what did u do last weekend, lyn?" --- "oh, I read all day long! and I am glad I did"

I used to get upset if I got books for my presents - "does this person not know me at all???" - but, now..I am so grateful, honestly~! (God really works in me ^^)

'coz the more I read, the more I learn, and the more I share... and I love it. Again, not because I love reading, but because what books do to me!!

So...how did this "I hate veggies" girl find good books to read? I started by asking reliable people, which veggies were good! From one book, it recommend another book and so on.

I also searched within me "what God wanted me to learn", asked Him to help me find good ones. Really, He is God who works in every single little thing in our lives. Most of the time He did lead - show and even give them to me in His surprising ways :D

Now, I could ask my sis, "ci, have u read this book? I just bought it, and finished reading it. There, read it! :D :D"

For all who have been reading from kids, ooh.. I envy you.. I have wasted most of my time for not reading. Keep reading good books, and please encourage people like "old me" to read!

For all who're struggling, I was there, and sometimes I still do too! Keep focusing on your goals -learning more and more- and never give up!

For all who still "hate veggies", please do eat! It's good for your health! I am much healthier than ever before!

a quite heart is content with what God gives

(From "Calm My Anxious Heart", by Linda Dillow)

Prescription for contentment:

* Never allow yourself to complain about anything - not even the weather.

* Never picture yourself in any other circumstances or someplace else.

* Never compare your lot with another's.

* Never allow yourself to wish this or that had been otherwise.

* Never dwell on tomorrow - remember that [tomorrow] is God's not ours.

Contentment is rare, but it is possible.

Contentment can be learned.

I am strong for all things in the One who constantly infuses strength in me.-Apostle Paul-

At all time, in all circumstances, Christ is able and willing to provide the strength we need to be content. Contentment occurs when Christ's strength is infused into my weak body, soul and spirit.

To infuse means to pour, fill, soak or extract.

He infuses contentment into us through His Word. As it seeps into our minds, it transforms us.

Just as a cup of tea gets stronger when we give it time to steep, so we become more content when we spend time in God's Word and allow it to seep into our lives, transforming us to be like Him.

Contentment is essentially a matter of accepting from God's hand what He sends because we know that He is good and therefore it is good. J.I Packer

Love is a Gift

(From "Let Be Me a Woman", by Elisabeth Elliot, chapter 22 Commitment, Gratitude, Dependence)

Many couples have shared this loyalty (a loyalty not only to each other but a common higher loyalty - loyalty to God, that is a sound basis for marriage) and have found that their marriage was far from ideal. As long as we are "in the flesh" we'll have trouble in the flesh. But God knows the purpose of the heart. He sees the direction a couple has taken when they have made up their minds to seek "things which are above". There is a whole world of difference between those who look only for their own happiness in this world and those who know that their true happiness lies in the will of God.

When they encounter trouble they know where to turn, for they know that they are still under the command of God, they are not forsaken. They know that they are insufficient in themselves, that human love breaks down, and that there is never a point at which they can say, "we've arrived," and are no longer in need of grace.

You know, I am sure, that your love is a gift. And if it is a gift you are grateful to the Giver. To acknowledge your gratitude to Him is also to acknowledge your dependence, to acknowledge above all the authority of Christ.

Let Be Me a Woman, by Elisabeth Elliot

We are called to be women. The fact that I am a woman does not make me a different kind of Christian, but the fact that I am a Christian does make me a different kind of woman. For I have accepted God's idea of me, and my whole idea is an offering back to Him of all that I am and all that He wants me to be.

Christian woman, whether she is married or single, there is the call to serve.

What this society needs is more emphasis on the need to serve others, and provide tenderness, compassion, cooperation and love.

It was God who made us different, and He did it on purpose. Recent scientific research is illuminating, and as has happened before, corroborates ancient truth which mankind has always recognized. God created male and female, the male to call forth, to lead, initiate and rule, and the female to respond, follow, adapt, submit. Even if we held to a different theory of origin, the physical structure of the female would tell us that woman was made to receive, to bear, to be acted upon, to complement, to nourish.

Every normal woman is equipped to be a mother. Certainly not every woman in the world is destined to make use of the physical equipment but surely motherhood, in a deeper sense, in the essence of womanhood. The body of every normal woman prepares itself repeatedly to receive and to bear. Motherhood requires self-giving, sacrifice, suffering. It is a going down into death in order to give life, a great woman analogy of a great spiritual principle (Paul wrote, "Death worketh in us but life in you"). Womanhood is a call. It is a vocation to which we respond under God, glad if it means the literal bearing of children, thankful as well for all that it means in a much winder sense, that in which every woman, married or single, fruitful or barren, may participate - the unconditional response exemplified for all time in Mary the virgin, and the willingness to enter into suffering, to receive, to carry, to give life, to nurture, and to care for others. The strength to answer this call is given us as we look up toward the Love that created us, remembering that it was that Love that first, most literally, imagined sexuality, that made us at the very beginning real men and real women. As we conform to that Love's demands we shall become more humble, more dependent - on Him and on one another- and even (dare I say it?) more splendid.

Psalm 144:14 says, "May our daughter be like corner pillars cut for the structure of a palace." Pillars uphold and support. This is a woman's place, and all of us need to know what our place is and to be put in it. The command of God puts us there where we belong. We know our "creatureliness," our dependence. If there is a command for us we know we are recognized. We know that we fit into God's universe, we know our relation to the rest of mankind, tot the family, and, if we have one, to a husband. Meekness, I believe, is the recognition of that place. To be meek is to have a sane and proper estimate of one's place in the scheme of things. It is a sense of proportion.

We've been cut to a certain size and shape to fulfill a certain function. It is this, not that. It is a woman's offering, not a man's, that we have to give.

Mary is the archetype of human self-giving. When told of the awesome privilege which was to be hers as the mother of the Most High, her response was total acceptance. "Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it unto me according to Thy word." She might have hesitated because she didn't want to go through life being known only as somebody's mother. She might have had her own dreams of fulfillment. But she embraced at once the will of God. Her "Be it unto me" ought to be the response of every man or woman to that will, and it is in this sense that the soul and the Church have been seen throughout Christian history as female before God, for is the nature of the woman to submit.

It is a naive sort of feminism that insists that women prove their ability to do all the things that men do. This is the distortion and a travesty. Men have never sought to prove that they can do all the things women do. Why subject women to purely masculine criteria? Woman can and ought to be judged by the criteria of femininity, for it is in their femininity that they participate in the human race. And femininity has its limitations. So has masculinity. That is what we've been talking about. To do this is not to do that. To be this is not to be that. To be a woman is not to be a man. To be married is not to be single - which may mean not to have a career. To marry this man is not to marry all the others. A choice is a limitation.

Self-Discipline and Order

(From "Let Be Me a Woman" by Elisabeth Elliot, chapter 12 Self-Discipline and Order)

We are the creatures of a great master Designer, and His ordering of our lives is sure and certain, yet many people live without any visible order or peace or serenity. The way we live ought to manifest the truth of what we believe. A messy life speaks of a messy - an incoherent faith.

...............................

Self discipline.

"If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

Freedom begins way back. It begins not with doing what you want but with doing what you ought - that is, with discipline. With "continuing in the word." To be a disciple means to be disciplined.

.................................

The way you keep your house, the way you organize your time, the care you take in your personal appearance, the things you spend your money on all speak loudly about what you believe. "The beauty of Thy peace" shines forth in an ordered life. A disordered life speaks loudly of disorder in the soul.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 = Never Stop PRAYING

From Purpose Driven Life.com = Keep on Praying

"Why be persistent? How come my answers sometimes don't come immediately? Why should I keep on praying when the answer doesn't come in my time table?"

Keep on praying when there's no answer, because persistent praying helps me focus on God. God wants me to remember that He alone is the source of my answers to prayer.

The Bible says in Philippians 4:19, "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

God wants us to see Him alone as the source of our needs.When we have to pray about something over and over, who do we look to? We look to the Lord. Persistent prayer focuses our attention. Have you discovered that we like to look to everybody else to solve our problem except the Lord? We look to our friends, we look to our family, we look to counselors, we look to the government, we look to anybody -- except the Lord. God often delays an answer to force you to focus on Him.

Persistent praying also clarifies my requests. A delayed answer a lot of times gives me time to clarify what do I really want. Time separates deep longings from mere whims. I've prayed for things and sometimes during the delay decided I didn't really want them after all.

God delays the answer to test you. It's not that He doesn't want to give it to you, He wants to know if you really want it. Do you want it enough to keep praying? Jeremiah 29:13 "You will seek me and find me when you seek for me with all your heart." Nothing worthwhile is accomplished with half-hearted prayers.

Persistent prayer will prepare me for the answer. God usually wants to do more than you are praying for. Surprise! God wants to do it greater and He needs time to get you ready for it. There are changes God wants to make in you. Ephesians 3:20 "Now glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us, is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes."

People say, "Prayer changes things." Of course we know it is God who does the changing. But prayer changes you. And God is more interested in you than He is in circumstances. Often as soon as you've made the change in your life the doors of heaven open and the answer comes. Expect a miracle.

Persistent praying strengthens and develops your faith. A mark of maturity is how long can you wait. Galatians 6:9 "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." God’s saying, "Hang on! Be patient! The harvest is coming. Don't give up! Look up!"

be back and get real!

Inception
Film yg gak mgkn aku nonton kalo aku sendirian. *bukan karena horror*

Dulu2, aku itu tipe orang yg agak2 berbicara *bertanya* kalo lagi nonton. Walau aku tahu, yg nonton barengku juga belum nonton, but I “feel secure” kalo aku bisa actually talk about the movie during the movie. Yang paling setia adalah koko dan satu uncle’ku. Yes, aku emang annoying, tapi mereka selalu ladenin. Namun lama-lama, semakin gede, yah lebih tau diri lah, dan udah lama banget gak nonton ama mereka, jadi bener-bener “berpikir” sendirian.

Inception
Sudah direncanakan aku bakal nanya sepanjang nonton, karena “warning” dari yang dah pernah nonton. Tapi kenyataannya, hanya beberapa patah kata saja yang keluar, I even didn’t blink my eyes *lebay*.

Inception
Bicara tentang mimpi sampai bertingkat-tingkat, dan mempengaruhi pikiran dengan memasukkan ide ke alam bawah sadar orang lain.

Sebagai tukang mimpi sejati, *bahkan tidur siang yang hanya 15 menit pun aku pasti mimpi*, aku cuma pernah mengalami mimpi 2 tingkat, jadi saat aku bangun, ternyata aku masi bermimpi. Awal-awal mengalami mimpi gitu, cukup frustasi, “saya mau bangun!!!!!!!” tapi setelah beberapa kali, jadi actually bisa enjoy dan geli sendiri.

Selesai nonton kemarin, aku gak sabar pengen tidur tuk lihat aku mimpi apa yah, dan jadi mikir, sebenernya apa sih yang mempengaruhi mimpi itu.
Kalo di inception kan, kita bisa merancang mimpi kita sendiri. Seru makanya itu, creating our own world.

Berdasarkan pengalamanku selama ini, tidak selamanya mimpiku terdeteksi penyebabnya. Walaupun kadang-kadang banyak mimpi yang terjadi karena aku memikirkan tentang sesuatu atau seseorang sepanjang hari, dan bermimpilah di malam hari. Menyenangkan yah?! Namun sering kali, orang maupun peristiwa yang tidak pernah terpikiran sebelumnya, masuk ke dalam mimpiku, dan membuatku berpikir ketika bangun, “How is she/he?” etc.

Bedanya di inception itu adalah, kita bisa memilih untuk terus hidup di dunia mimpi kita. Kalau udah bosen, tinggal “mati” dan kembali deh ke dunia nyata. Kalo emang suka dengan mimpi kita, selama-lamanya hidup di sana >.<
Sedangkan di dunia nyata, kita tidak ada pilihan, kita harus bangun, kecuali kalo kita jadi tidur selamanya alias “bye2 dunia”.


Inception
Hari jumat malam, hujan, Jakarta! Apa itu?
Maceeeeeeet!!!!!
Rencana makan sebelum nonton pun, ter-loncat menjadi setelah nonton. Pulang jadi lebih malam. Dan aku mungkin masi “setengah bermimpi dan belum sadar2 banget”.

Baru tadi pagi, pas bener2 bangun dari mimpi’ku semalam, di ranjang, pas buka mata, aku berpikir bahwa sering kali aku hidup di dalam “mimpi”, di dalam fantasi ku sendiri. Aku membuat scenario hidupku, dan itu sama dengan “bermimpi di tengah hari bolong”. Though, setiap hari aku menyerahkan hariku dan hidupku ke Tuhan, namun sering kali juga aku berusaha menjadi sutradara, berusaha mengambil kendali supaya jalan cerita sesuai dengan scenario ku, berusaha memasukkan artis2 lain supaya hasil akir menjadi seperti “mimpiku”.

Dan aku menyadari, ketika aku sadar bahwa “I’ve been living in my own fantasy” *puji Tuhan, bisa sadar juga*, aku punya pilihan, apakah apa mau get real, and menyudahi fantasi itu. Or aku mau tetap meng-entertain myself dengan hidup di “dunia maya nan indah”?

Getting real dan menyudahi fantasi itu, seringkali cukup “menyakitkan”, karena itu sama dengan menghancurkan rancangan indah yang selama ini kita tata. Tapi, it’s real! Dan itu adalah kenyataannya. Buatku, biar bagaimanapun, eventually aku harus bangun dari mimpiku, it may be really hurtful ketika aku do the u-turn, tapi at least, I am back in the real game, the real world.
The real game! The real life! With the best of the best Director yang punya Master Plan ttg kita! The best scenario ever!
Bedanya, kita hanyalah pemain, mengikuti arahan Sutradara Agung, and kita gak tahu jalan cerita sampai ujung. Kita diarahkan selangkah demi selangkah, melalui setiap scene yang benar-benar unpredictable. Tapi Dia berjanji, kita gak pernah sendiri, dan hasilnya pasti terbaik.

Ini janjiNya, “Sebab Aku ini mengetahui rancangan-rancangan apa yang ada padaKu mengenai kamu, demikianlah Firman Tuhan, yaitu rancangan damai sejahtera dan bukan rancangan kecelakaan, untuk memberikan kepadamu hari depan yang penuh harapan.”

Ya, semua orang berhak punya “mimpi”, tapi jangan biarkan “mimpi” itu menguasai kita dan membuat mata kita tertutup terhadap dunia nyata yang Tuhan anugrahkan bagi kita. Kita jadi lupa bersyukur dengan apa yang ada, karena bagi kita, “ini bukan “mimpi”ku, aku gak mau!!!”.
Mungkin kita berpikir, “Hidupku akan lebih indah kalo aku punya ini.” “Semuanya akan berbeda kalo aku bersama/ masih bersama dia.” “Hidupku akan berarti kalo aku bisa bekerja di perusahaan ini.” Aku tidak bilang itu salah, tapi bedakan “mengejar mimpi” dengan “hidup di alam mimpi.”

Pagi ini, setelah aku benar-benar bangun dari mimpiku, aku juga tersadar bahwa “aku harus bangun dari ‘mimpi’ku yang lain”. Yeah, it hurts. But, I choose to wake up and get real!
Karena aku percaya, Dia punya a bigger picture yang jauh lebih indah dari yang pernah aku “mimpikan”.

ketika tamu kuatir mengetuk

“Janganlah hendaknya kamu kuatir tentang apapun juga, tetapi nyatakanlah dalam segala hal keinginanmu kepada Allah dalam doa dan permohonan dengan ucapan syukur”

Ini salah satu ayat favorit.
Apalagi lanjutan-nya….
“dan DAMAI SEJAHTERA ALLAH YANG MELAMPAUI SEGALA AKAL akan memelihara hati dan pikiranmu dalam Kristus Yesus”
Kekuatiran (mungkin kita lebih kenal dengan STRESS OR PARNO) diganti dengan damai sejahtera yg melampaui segala akal, siapa yg gak mau?!?!?
Mauuuuuuuuu bgt, Tuhan! :D :D :D

Beberapa saat belakangan ini, hampir setiap hari, ada tamu setia yg mengunjungiku, kekuatiran dan keraguan ttg certain things. Walaupun tetap, pada malam harinya, aku selalu list ke Tuhan dan bilang “Tuhan, eyn kuatir ini eyn kuatir ini……..huhu”. Selalu besok paginya, muncuuul lagi-muncul lagi, capeeee deh >.<, karena emang masalahnya belum kelar-kelar. *masi musim ujian*

I know that being worry is a sin, I couldn’t help though; worries are all over me >.<

Akirnya aku bilang ke Tuhan kemarin, “ok Lord, eyn gak bisa handle “this worry”, but this what I am gonna do, setiap kali worry eyn muncul, eyn akan berdoa, udah itu aja deh, eyn akan tukar worry-eyn dengan doa, ya Tuhan yah? “

Aku rindu punya His peace which transcends all understanding, sungguh! Aku gak suka ketika aku harus dealing with worries *emang enak dag-dig-dug?*, namun kondisi belakangan ini sungguh “mendukung”ku tuk worry. Duh!

Walaupun Tuhan berulang kali ingetin, “Jangan kuatir, eyn! Jangan kuatir, eyn!” And juga, aku berulang kali ngomong ke myself, and repeat verses about worries, on and on. Tapi tetep aja, masi kuatir >.<

1 Petrus 5:7 Serahkanlah semua kekuatiranmu kepadaNya sebab Ia yang memelihara kamu.
Matthew 6 “Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need. So, don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
Indah bukan?

Ada kala dimana aku menukar worry-ku dengan doa sambil tersenyum, ada kala dimana aku menukarnya sambil menangis… karena sungguh, aku merasakan ketidakberdayaanku. Merasakan betapa hanya Dia-lah yang mampu menghandle semua ini.

And today, Matthew 15:28, a super simple verse…
“Dear woman,” Jesus said to her, “your faith is great. YOUR REQUEST IS GRANTED”~~~!!!!
I felt somehow He talked to me, not that I am saying my faith is great, boro-boro, saat ini aku lagi “lemeeeeeeees” gak kira2. Tapi Yesus dengan penuh kasih meyakinkanku bahwa, alasan kenapa kita harus gak *tidak boleh* worry, and present our request to Him itu karena He is the one who’s gonna grant the request. Dialah tempat yg tepat untuk kita minta!! Jangan kemana2….!!

Memang tidak selamanya yg kita “minta” diberikan, karena Dia lebih tau yg terbaik buat kita, dan Tuhan memberi yg kita butuh, bukan yg kita mau. Dan percaya deh, ngeri juga kalo semua yg kita mau dikasi.. >.<

Rick Warren bilang gini, “There's a difference between needs and wants. God's not going to give you everything you want; you'd be spoiled to death.”

Tapi kita tahu, ketika tamu kuatir mengetuk pintu, hal terbaik yg bisa lakukan adalah menyerahkan SEMUANYA itu kepada Allah yg memegang kontrol atas SEMUANYA!!

Dan kita akan mendapatkan hadiah pertama...DAMAI SEJAHTERA ALLAH yg melampaui segala akal.

True peace is not found in positive thinking, in absence of conflict, or in good feelings. It comes from knowing that God is in control.

Do you want to worry less? Then pray more! Whenever you start to worry, stop and pray!

how we need His touch!

From Crosswalk Women: Five Areas of Woman's Life that Need God's Touch by Cindi McMenamin

My heart was convicted as I read in Scripture of a woman who was so desperate for God's healing in her life, she was willing to do anything to just touch Him (Mark 5:24-34).

I had to ask myself, how desperate am I for God's touch on my life? There are times I might be desperate to feel and look younger, to be thinner, to have more in the way of peace and happiness. But how desperate am I to be whole and complete in every way?

After surveying nearly 100 women, I found several common areas in which women, myself included, need the touch of God to be whole and complete. I also found that Scripture addresses these areas of a woman's life so that we can receive His healing touch. See if you can relate to needing God's touch in these areas of your life, as well:

1. Our Hearts - So They Can Be "Set On Things Above"
Women often stress over the temporal - bills that must be paid, whether or not a man will come into our lives, if we'll be able to have a child, what someone is saying about us, how our body looks, and so on. At times we are more concerned about what the scales say than what God says. Our heart is closely attuned to our bank balance, rather than our life's balance.

Yet God instructs us in Colossians 3:1-2: "set your hearts on things above." If our priorities were in heaven, not on this earth, we would not only be happier and healthier, but less financially drained and emotionally spent. Matthew 6:19-21 tells us not to "store up treasures here on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven ....For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." It takes God's touch to clear our hearts of what this world says is important and focus it on the things above.

2. Our Minds - So They Are Transformed and Renewed
It's amazing how many women profess to know God and follow Him, yet their thinking patterns are just like those of anyone else in the world. Scripture commands us: "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is" (Romans 12:2, NLT).

Furthermore, God's Word instructs: "fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise...and the God of peace will be with you" (Philippians 4:8-9, NLT). What mental anguish we would spare ourselves from if we would let God transform our mind and renew our thoughts to think as He would.

3. Our Mouths - To Be Wholesome and Pleasing to God
Because women tend to be communicators, we can cause much damage with our mouths if we do not bring them under God's control. Whether it is gossip, criticism or unkind remarks, our mouths can be instruments of righteousness or unrighteousness. In Ephesians 4:29 we are told to "not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up, according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." God's touch on our lives can make us women whose words heal and encourage, rather than distract and destroy.

4. Our Bodies - To Be Pure and Holy for Him
Are you one to worry and stress about what the scale says, how many calories you took in, and whether or not you can still fit into a certain size? God's command to us is "Give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice - the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask?" (Romans 12:1, NLT). It is important that we keep our bodies healthy and in good shape (as we are His temple), but God says our most prevalent concern should be that we keep our bodies holy. In fact, God calls keeping our bodies holy our "spiritual act of worship" (Romans 12:1, NIV).

One of the ways we can keep our bodies holy is by how we choose to dress. People can tell much about us, and whom we love, by how we dress. Do we call attention to ourselves or the God who made us? If the way we dress says "Look at me!" we may want to rethink how we dress so that others can see Christ through us. Can others see Christ in you or are you getting in the way?

5. Our Emotions - To Be Calmed with the Peace of God
There are days when, hormonally or just circumstantially, we need God's touch to calm our frazzled emotions and level out our lives. Philippians 4:6-7 says "Don't' worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and request to God. Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel" (CEV). A woman who is controlled by God's peace is not on the edge, but in the spacious place of His embrace.

I believe if we seek God's touch in those five areas of our lives we would rarely have reason to feel we are going over the edge. For instance, when you get frustrated in a relationship, go back to the principle of letting God transform and renew your mind to only think on whatever is pure, right, lovely, good, and so on. And when you are about to lose it over finances or something that takes you by surprise, remember to not be anxious about anything, but to pray about everything...keeping a heart of thanksgiving for what you've been given. And when your heart begins to desire something that you cannot attain, remember to set your heart on things above.