Priscilla is our special guest for the next two weeks to talk about the “Resolution for Women”series and package following up on the movie Courageous.

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consider this resolution to devote

myself completely to God’s priorities

for my life it’s the fifth of 13

resolutions

that’ll pave a path to greater

usefulness to God and more joy and

fulfillment in the life you’re living

priscilla shirer was asked by the

Kendrick brothers who produced the movie

courageous to provide this helpful

resource the resolution for women what I

didn’t know is that Stephen and Alex

first asked you to act in the movie

Priscilla and you turned him down well

I’m not an actress but you know the main

reason was just because I would have had

to be away from home for quite an

extensive period of time a few weeks and

it was right at the end of the school

year when the boys are getting out of

school and when we were diving into the

summer months together and so the timing

just didn’t work out well you know the

Lord had other plans anyway because it

was several months later that they

decided they needed a companion piece

for women to go along with the movie and

the resolution for women is what they

asked me to partner with them in writing

you were telling me that you were

reluctant to say yes to this because you

typically do whether it’s a Bible study

on tape or a book and you’ve done many

books and Bible studies it comes from

your own heart yeah this was something

from the outside why did you say yes

well I said yes because I loved the

theme the idea that that women are

coming together around a set of

resolutions that will reshape us and the

women that God has called us to be I

mean that’s all of what I believe God’s

ministry that he has for us and has

entrusted to us that’s really what it’s

about but also because I met the

Kendrick brothers and I met Michael cat

and I sat with these gentlemen around a

over dinner and we talked about the

project that was coming the movie

courageous and then the accompanying

books and when I saw their heart for the

Lord their genuine love for his people

their desire not for the lights and fame

of Hollywood but really to see how they

could use maybe that vehicle of

entertainment just to impact people call

marriages back together and call women

and men to be who God has called them to

be when I saw that I was on board right

away

mmm and we’re so glad that you said yes

wonderful book now your dad’s a

well-known pastor Tony Evans

and you know that the number one

question that pastors are asked to

respond to is how do I know God’s will

for my life yes

you and your husband Jerry have made

some courageous decisions and it’s

rooted in a love of God and a commitment

to prioritize according to his good

pleasing and perfect will yeah how do we

make that grabbable for people you know

that’s really what this this particular

resolution is all about giving my best

because a section of that resolution

says to give the best of ourselves in

our time and our talents to the

priorities that God has for us in this

season see that’s the dividing line

there it’s making sure that you know in

this season what he’s called you to give

your best to otherwise you’re spreading

yourself so thin nothing’s getting the

best of you

and so really determining what that is

and honestly it has been it does mean

making some hard decisions it’s meant

that for my husband and I particularly

for my husband in one specific area in

that you know he came from a line of men

that were not responsible in their

family life they he did not grow up with

a father in his home grandfather did the

same thing uncles really were not really

responsible to their families and yet he

decided he was going to be different for

his voice and what that meant was

leaving a very prestigious high paying

executive job in order with Hilton Hotel

yeah okay to say that yes it’s okay he

had a great career there great friends

there was really on an upwardly mobile

path and yet the hours that would be

spent in the office and away from his

children once they started having once

we started having our boys he just

determined that wasn’t the kind of dad

he wanted to be because the residue of

having a father that was not present was

something that he remembered and was all

too familiar with and he just decided he

still didn’t even though he woods it

wasn’t leaving our family he didn’t want

to be in the home and still not be

present because he was so busy at a

demanding career and so he really did

sort of give up a lot and yet he thinks

that he has gained so much more and that

is an opportunity to invest so fully in

his boy’s life and pass on a blessing

that only a father can pass on to a son

and that’s something he never had and I

just love the fact that he’s willing to

give that to our boys I what stood out

to me when he was with us last Wednesday

on the program yeah it it was the

reality that he was leading the house

before the boys

awake yeah and coming home after they’ve

gone to bed when he had missing he was

literally missing the whole day and so

he would come home and I would be half

awake you know from the day with the

kids but not really if the boys were

already bet he’d kiss him I’m at the

time one was just very very little he

would kiss him and then come and talk to

me for a few minutes and then we were

both out for the night and he just

decided that was not the legacy he

wanted his boys to have and so he made a

very courageous decision by choosing to

come and work with going beyond

ministries he really formed and founded

going beyond ministries and made it what

it is today

which again is your Minister yeah

together we get to partner in ministry

together and the boys get to see a

father who’s very busy definitely

productive and working hard and yet he

has time to be at breakfast with us in

the morning and to take his boys to

school and to pick him up in the

afternoon and to have dinner with us

around the table you know when the

school calls and says you know we need

one of you to come up to the school

something’s going on

well me or his dad or their dad can come

and that’s a gift that so many people

aren’t able to give to their children or

don’t determine and decide and resolve

to give to their children and I’m

grateful that Jerry has so picture dad

finishing breakfast with mom and the

boys and going to the office in a

transform barn yeah on the back of the

property I love that I’ve seen that kind

of arrangement yeah yeah it’s just a

barn and his office is upstairs and he

goes there and we do the work of the

Lord from from that little 2,000 square

foot bar and that’s what we do and

that’s what this this resolution is

really about about giving your best to

whatever the primary roles are that the

Lord has called you to in that season

for you it might be being a single woman

or being a mother of small children or

being a grandmother and investing in the

life of your grandchildren what is it

that he’s called you to do right now do

it 100% give your best I love your

emphasis on seasons and you know

discerning what season of life is this

because you know maybe you’ve got to put

career on the back burner right now for

kids it’ll come to the front burner uh I

I think it’s safe to to say that God’s

priorities are very clear and that it is

God first yeah yeah and then if you’re

married your husband is next

I mean slinky will gets the grease so

the kids are going to call for it more

but it’s husband first then children and

then work absolutely it’s so hard in

this culture

to keep the proportions in the right

place you are so right it gets out of

balance so easily and so quickly which

is why a resolution like this is so

important because unless you resolve and

determine and plan and strategize as to

how you’re going to keep those

priorities in place then it’s not going

to automatically fall into place you

really have to say if my husband’s first

if he’s primary then what does this look

like in a month of our lives how am I

going to schedule and plan in and make

sure that he feels like and knows that

he really is significant to me wow I

wish we had longer on this one this one

is very they’re all on wicked spent some

time all the time on this but let me

show you the words of the resolution the

full meal deal the graphic here says I

will seek to devote the best of myself

my time and my talents to the primary

roles the Lord has entrusted to me in

this phase or season of my life it’s a

good word seasons of life yeah cuz the

seasons change just like they do in our

weather patterns they will change and so

right now maybe you have to say no to a

whole lot of things so that you can

devote your say yes and devote yourself

fully to what it is God has called you

to

and those knows feel like a big

sacrifice well just like in the weather

the seasons will change and pretty soon

those nose will become your yeses and so

if you’ll just give yourself fully to

what the Lord has called you to right

now you will see that in the right time

you’ll be able to devote yourself wholly

to the next thing that the Lord allows

to come into a new season of your life

you know I met a woman very recently who

was an investment very well paid job and

her daughter was struggling in high

school years with really serious

depression yeah and she left her job and

ky4 her daughter who thanks her today

for that sacrifice but it’s very

interesting that out of that obedience

because she felt God calling her home

her daughter and who was in need God

birthed first through her and now her

husband has come on board to help manage

her jewelry business Wow and it’s

growing like crazy I hope we’ll be able

to tell her story but it is

an illustration of God rewarding

obedience you never go wrong when you do

what he says isn’t that the truth and

you know even in our own lives we have

one son now that struggles a little bit

in traditional schooling and we’re just

looking at that a little bit more

closely and seeing what that means and

Jerry and I have really had to take a

hard look at our lives and at each other

and say you know what if this calls for

a total shifting and transformation is

what we’re doing right now with school

and and how that looks if we need to

bring everybody home and hold a home

school and what is that going to look

like and are we willing to devote

ourselves fully and completely to the

season of life that God puts us in

regardless of if it looks completely

different than what we had in mind

originally hard questions to ask myself

you know I’m going to squeeze this in

because it’s so eye opening Jesus said

in Matthew 5:48 and you bring this out

because we’re talking about my best yeah

jesus said be perfect even as your

heavenly Father is perfect we’ll talk

about intimidation yeah especially for

people on a performance track exactly

you enlighten us about the meaning of

that well you know I I so felt that that

was so important we were because the

call to be your best the resolution to

give your best well automatically for a

perfectionist you know that just kind of

sends your heightened you know

senses up in terms of wanting everything

to be more best and perfect more

pressure and that’s all you need you

know that’s all we need is women is more

pressure and so when we think about the

scriptural command and encouragement to

be perfect we need to understand that

that word actually meant to be whole and

complete and lacking in nothing and so

when we when we go along with the Lord’s

command to be perfect it is not a

complete to be fault less it is not a

command to be faultless and for

everything to be completely straight

with no mess and no chaos what it means

is that we want this area of our life to

be whole and complete to come to

fruition as God planned it and so when

we’re looking at it from that sense it

doesn’t mean that we do everything

completely accurate and that there are

no problems and hiccups in life I mean

who’s that going to happen for we’ll

drive ourselves nuts trying to make that

happen but if we say Lord what does the

complete picture look like what does it

look like when all the puzzles of this

thing fall into line help me Lord to be

someone that can help this project this

season

my life to end up in a way that is whole

and complete and lacking in nothing

there is so much more in this picture

you need to get the book or books the

resolution for women the resolution for

men look at this I want to know what God

expects of me the resolution for men by

Stephen and Alex Kendrick strategically

inspires men to reconcile with their

past re-engage in their present and move

forward with a bold resolution for the

future the resolution for women by

priscilla shirer

challenges all women to be intentional

about thriving in God’s calling on their

lives to bless and change things in

their world for the better

the resolution for men and women is a

movement intended to help strengthen

your family community and our nation to

become fully resolved it’s our thanks to

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