Giveaway Winner and a Devotion

Wow, thank you, ladies, for commenting on our GIVEAWAY post! What a blessing to read your answers to the question, “When you hear Extraordinary Woman what images come to mind?"

If you didn’t get a chance to read all of the comments on last week’s post, you should take the time do so; exceptional answers from women whom, undoubtedly, are seeking to daily rise above the ordinary to become extraordinary women!

We wish we could give each of you a copy of Susie Larson’s fabulous book “The Uncommon Woman: Making An Ordinary Life Extraordinary” and a $10.00 Starbucks gift card, but we had to pick only one winner.

However, don’t despair, you have another chance to win! On our very 1st Testimony Tuesday, June 7th, we will be offering another GIVEAWAY!! That day we will be sharing a testimony from a real woman, Starla Smith, who attended Rise & Shine Women’s Retreat in both ’09 and ’10. You won’t want to miss it!

Since we couldn’t choose a winner from all of those great answers, I wrote each name on a slip of paper, put them in a bowl and had my 4 year old son draw one out. How is that for random?!  :)
And the winner is…..

Congratulations, Hannah!!

Just e-mail us your mailing address (to riseandshineretreat@yahoo.com) and we’ll get your copy of “The Uncommon Woman: Making An Ordinary Life Extraordinary” by Susie Larson  AND your $10.00 Starbucks gift card in the mail to you. ENJOY!

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So how do you think God defines an “Extraordinary Woman”? You shared some great answers, yet I also love what Susie Larson, our Rise & Shine Women’s Retreat 2011 guest speaker, wrote in her book, “The Uncommon Woman: Making An Ordinary Life Extraordinary”:

“The uncommon woman believes the wonderful truth about herself” (who she is in Christ, how He defines her). “Moreover, she has the capacity to view others from this same heavenly perspective. Bursting from her heart is the conviction to do something about the injustices in her world. She walks with a purity that allows her to see God everywhere. And the kingdom of God is so strong in her life that everywhere she places her feet suddenly becomes an uncommon and holy place -- because she’s there.”

Wow! Does that give you goose bumps or what?! Isn’t that just what all of us Christian women want?! That definition is extraordinary, definitely uncommon! (And, by the way, that’s just an excerpt from the “Introduction” part of her book, gals!!)

In chapter one of her book, Susie Larson shares that one of the first steps to becoming the “uncommon woman” (or extraordinary woman) is to humbly accept God’s acceptance, “understanding that we are everything to Him…yet we are nothing without Him”. She shares more, “Accepting acceptance means having the courage to face your foibles without it diminishing your value. Accepting acceptance means refusing to let others define you, because God already has. Accepting acceptance means cherishing the fact that you’ve been bought with a price, and thus embracing the call to become more and more like Christ every day.”

None of us are perfect, but we can be extraordinary...as we learn to humbly depend on Christ, to walk in holy confidence and daily seek a closer walk with Christ!

There’s so much more that I would love to share from the remaining eleven chapters of this phenomenal book! But, I believe this gives you a good glimpse into not only what an “Extraordinary Woman” looks like, but also into what’s in store for us at Rise & Shine Women’s Retreat 2011! I’m looking forward to Susie Larson sharing with us, aren’t you?!?! She will share more that day, October 29th, about how you and I can be that “Extraordinary Woman”; the woman God created each of us to be!

Don’t forget to come back on June 7th for our 1st Testimony Tuesday ever, to read Starla Smith's testimony and to enter to WIN another great prize!

We love YOU and are praying for YOU, dear sisters!

You can purchase the book "The Uncommon Woman: Making An Ordinary Life Extraordinary" by Susie Larson at a good price HERE.