Secret Keeper Girl

Suitcases, giggles and gangs of women filled every corridor of the Marriott by mid-afternoon. The elevator has become an interesting excursion since their arrival! I’m not complaining…not really, but it didn’t take forever to get one before they were here. Then again, we didn’t have fun playing a New Millenium’s version of the 1950’s telephone cramming fad. That game has nothing on a True Woman elevator stuffing! It’s a planned method of bonding, I’m told by the True Woman planning team. There are women from 34 countries and five nations represented here in Chattanooga at our first True Woman 2010 event. (The two this fall are in Indy and the Dallas area! Join us!)My day started with a very peaceful solo ride on the elevator to join my dear friend from the Southern Baptist Convention, Karen Cole. She interviewed me for their big convention in July. What an honor that I’ll be addressing the Southern Baptist Convention by way of video as they seek to address the issue of sexual brokenness in the Church. This turned into a flurry of interviews in the media hall, in which I began to find my formerly vacationing self awakening to the task at hand. (I even used a few big words here and there.) Then, it was off to meet the team and get our hearts ready to greet the Elevator Stuffing Crew. Something that I love about Nancy Leigh DeMoss’s leadership is that what happens behind the scenes is so much more important to her than what happens on stage. Today before all the women arrived, there was hardly any place I went where I did not see heads bowed in prayer. The hostess team was gathered in the foyer praying. The media guys were praying. And this afternoon the entire teaching team convened to seek God’s heart and pray for two hours. What drives this? Nancy read a quote from Hannah Whithall Smith that said, “The evaluation of everything in your ministry should be: was God there?” I guess that brings me back to elevators: if we send a fervent prayer up, God is certain to bring His Spirit down in a very real and tangible way. (If you do not believe this, test Him in it. Ask him for something and see. What to really get blown away? Ask Him to feel him. You may be surprised.) More than we are crafting great speeches and presenting motivation videos or world-acclaimed songs, we are praying here in Chattanooga. We want God to be here. So our elevator prayers are ushering him in. Pray for me as I prepare my heart for tomorrow as I host and teach during Lies Young Women Believe LIVE!, our teen track. I would ask you to ask God to be here, but He already is. So, let me ask you to do this. Ask Him to be near you tonight. Let me know how that goes.

Maybe the word “bust” isn’t the best choice of words for me today. I have a cruise under my belt…LITERALLY! In two hours, I’m headed to Chattanooga for True Woman. I don’t know if you can identify with this…but none of my pants fit. Goodness, one of my skirts doesn’t even fit and it takes a lot to offend the forgiving spirit of a free-flowing skirt, but I have succeeded. That cruise food from last week apparently DID have calories in it. (And that concierge told me that cheesecake smothered in raspberries and chocolate sauce was calorie-free! Never mind the fact that I was fairly sure the Lobster smothered in butter was not.) So, in a last minute attempt to maintain modest standards (and my seams)…I’m headed out to buy a quick pair of larger dress pants and a skirt. (This, I might add, is great for a woman’s confidence!)My travel partners for this trip are Eileen King (my wonderful assistant) and Lynn Nold (one of my board members). Both are dear friends and prayer warriors. Pray for all three of us as we travel today. (And I won’t mind if you pray that there’s a good smoothie bar during my flight stop so I can go liquid today!)The irony of this all is that part of what Erin Davis and I will teach to the teen girls Friday, is that the world’s standards of beauty are vain and unforgiving. Could it be that the  Lord is letting me remember just how very frail our female emotions can be when it comes to weight (something I’ve not struggled much with), skin problems (something I have), and clothing. Oh, Lord….let me feel what you need me to feel so I can reach these precious girls with truth!If you are praying, and I  hope you are, consider praying for these girls to begin to believe God’s standards of beauty and value.

Posted by Dannah Gresh, Creator of Secret Keeper Girl Hey Secret Keeper Girl moms and daughters! I just got home from two weeks of much needed vacation time in the Caribbean. It’s been nearly three years since our family took a real vacation, so we made this one a long one. While I spent most of two weeks time doing nothing, I am very proud to say that I took one afternoon in St. Marteen to “captain” the Canada II America’s Cup Sailboat in a Regatta. My boat won! I have photos of some very ugly black and blue marks to prove it!

 Other than that day of activity, I was lazy to the end. My favorite day was sitting on the cruise ship and soaking in the beauty of the British Virgin Isles. Imagine two hours of this…

To say I am relaxed doesn’t quite touch the level of numbness that I feel. The whole world around me is in a scurry and I’m not sure why, though I am much aware that I left State College two weeks ago I too was on full-steam ahead.Why am I telling you? Because tomorrow morning I depart for Chattanooga, where I will join up with some great women of the faith like Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Kay Arthur and Mary Kassian to bring the first of three True Woman 2010 events into being. What an honor it is for me to work with the teens in forming their view of womanhood as it is bombarded in a crazy culture! And in between I’ll get to hear the keynote addresses of these women who I have grown to love all the more as I get to know the inner-workings of their lives and hearts. It’s generally a bit much for this central Pennsylvania girl who struggles all-too much with an overdose of insecurity. (Though captaining my first sailboat team to a victory was good for the soul!) I have to say that this time it’s a little bit more overwhelming for me than usual. The thing is, I wasn’t captain of my spirit last week. It wasn’t like I was doing insane and crazy things. I was dining with the dearest people on earth each night and making new friends, reconnecting with my husband, and resting. But I wasn’t digging into God’s heart and so I feel….a little unprepared as I pop open my powerpoint and begin to mull over my notes. If I’ve learned anything in ten years of ministry it is this: stay close to God and he’ll do the rest. I’m not far from him, but I’ve not cuddled near as I normally do. (Do you do that on vacation, too?) I’m a little full of lobster and cheesecake as can be attested by the fact that I could not press myself into my pants today (which is always good for one’s confidence), but very starved for some worship and Truth in the very center of my being. So, I’ve decided to recruit you to be my prayer partners. Pray for me as I minister, and I’ll keep you updated directly from Chattanooga. (Who knows! Maybe I’ll tell you what Kay Arthur orders for lunch or what Nancy Leigh DeMoss has to say in our behind-the-scenes prayer times! I’m just newsy enough of a girl to do that!) Stay tuned…(and it’s not too late for you to join us for our fall events in Indianapolis or Fort Worth. Today you can pray that the Lord will give me favor in multiplying my time as I try to catch up from vacation emails and get myself packed for tomorrow!