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Influence

Click here for your worksheet on Influence.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
Love, Skip, Jump – Shelene Bryan
Clout – Jenni Catron
The Influence Network

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  • WE SAID YES TO... - We talk a lot about what we are saying no to when it comes to the holidays. I want to hear what those no's mean you are getting to say YES TO too!! - We said YES to a pricey night (about $200) out at The Nutcracker, which likely sounds crazy to some of y'all. But for us, it meant weeks of getting excited, dances in the living room relearning songs, Vivi "prepping" Vana, getting gussied up in their flower girl dresses, eating pizza at a "fancy" Italian restaurant and then actually going to the show and hearing Vivi jokingly whisper "Mom, when's it our turn?" like she did years before that we still joke about and Vana snuggling on my lap clapping at the end of every song. It was so fun and so worth it. - To make it happen we said no to: • Christmas Cards = $140 • A bigger tree = $30 • Zoo night = $28 - Those might be your yeses which I think is what makes this all so fun, getting to give strong no's and yeses to what light us up. - So now I want to hear, what's been your best yeses (as @lysaterkeurst would say) of the season? What are you so glad you made space for? Or what are you in joyful anticipation of that is coming that you're so glad you said yes to? - Leave a comment!
  • HERE'S WHAT'S COMING! - If you saw my Insta-stories from last night, you saw the very messy middle of getting this course going. It's pretty much the hardest thing I've ever done in business, including writing two books. But with that said, come January, I'm confident this course will be changing lives. - I had a bunch of people ask what this course is all about so I thought I'd share a few details and the branding for it that @spruceroad created for us! (It is soooooo US! More peeks in stories!) - Here are the 9 modules: • Immerse in the culture • Respect the culture • Experience different dialects • Learn listening comprehension • Use the phrasebook • Address language barriers • Practice conversational speaking • Embrace role as translator • Become fluent in prayer - Here's the thing, we know this course can thrive in community so we've made it to where groups that will watch and go through the course together only need to make one purchase. - If you think this might fit your small group or you and your bestie, spouse or if you'd like to do individually, sign up at the link in my profile to know as soon as it's available in January. We'll be sharing a few sneak peek videos to give you an idea of the content before it launches. Launch week price will be $75 instead of our regular price of $125. - Even with all the frustration I felt yesterday, I still felt an overwhelming sense that as I muddle through the harder parts, the Lord has spoken so soundly into the content. I'm so excited for you to experience this course and a confidence that comes when we develop a fluency in prayer. - Who's excited? 🙋🏻‍♀️ Also I will take all hour tech pep talks. 😆
  • A HUGE GIVEAWAY & SIGNS OF A PRAYER WARRIOR - This is my prayer journal. This is literally the first month, page 2. Since I had boxes at my disposal, I thought about grabbing a new one and rewriting what I had filled out for the month but I decided not to. Because this just represents a journal that has been used. This represents a journal that I carried all over the place, including the counter which had a ring of water on it. - When I see this, I see the tool of a prayer warrior. Even as a lover of all things fresh and clean, I appreciate this tattered journal because of what it represents. A year of prayer. A year of answers. A year of growth. A year of peace and joy in God's presence. A year of surrender. - Friends, we want to see your #tatteredtreasure. And we want to hear how God has changed your prayer life through your journal. And we think this can impact everyone who sees us share this so we're sweetening the pot. - We're giving away our prayer course, Developing a Fluency of Prayer, to FIVE WINNERS. This course is coming the first week of January and will be $125 ($75 during launch week!) and it will be something you can do with friends for the one price so tag any friend who's used the journal this year to up your chances of winning! :) - So here are the official rules: 1. Share a pic of your journal BY DECEMBER 31. Show us your most tattered page or a cover covered in coffee stains, whatever you got! 2. Share HOW God has used your VMP prayer journal this year. 3. Tag @valmariepaper and #tatteredtreasures so we can see all entries! 4. This is NOT restricted to US resident. Woohoo!!! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I cannot wait to see your journals!!! #vmpjournals P.S. Today is the last day to shop for before Christmas delivery!
  • MAKING ROOM FOR JESUS - "I love the story of the innkeeper in Bethlehem, because I can relate to his situation. He was full. He was maxed out and had no occupancy. Yet he made room for Baby Jesus. It was messy, but he made it happen." - This is an excerpt from Grumpy Mom Takes a Holiday on making time for Jesus even when we're busy mommas and I thought it was so timely to share today. - You might be feeling maxed out just like that innkeeper. Our expectations of a crisp, clean Christmas don't do us any favors. And it's not even what God asks of us. - I have often wondered how many other innkeepers had some nook or cranny that could have held the Savior but they simply weren't creative enough to make room him. - You might have to get creative this season just like the innkeeper did. - • Maybe slowing down to celebrate Jesus doesn't mean reading the Christmas story in-depth alone in the AM but around the table with your kids a few verses at a time. • Maybe it means fewer moments of solitude but bringing hope and praying with someone else in the corner of the party when they break down and tell you what's really going on. • Maybe it's worship music that fill you with wonder as you drive through neighborhoods looking at Christmas lights. - The innkeeper reminds me that even the God of the universe doesn't demand perfection or a 5-star hotel. (Hello! That’s why He sent Jesus in the first place). He wants what you have. And if what you have is a manger in a barn, He's there! We just have to let Him in! - TELL ME how are you making room for Jesus this season, even if it's messy? - P.S. If you haven't signed up yet for our 12 days of Christmas prayer series, check that out in my profile! It starts December 13! - P.S.S. The last day to order is THURSDAY! Shop our journals at the link in my profile! Literally toss a few in your cart just to have some last minute gifts on hand! - Our holiday decor: Christmas tree + stockings + fire + @lindsay_letters canvas = 😍😍😍
  • DO NOT ACCEPT MOMMY GUILT (OR ANY KIND) UNTIL IT PASSES THROUGH THE HANDS OF GOD - I've been talking with my life coach @dianakerr a lot lately about the guilt I feel for loving my work so much and how any time I have to go work and my girls aren't in school, like if I go on a random early morning or afternoon if Tyler gets off work early, I feel this overwhelming guilt. - I really think it has a lot to do with the fact that I like what I do. If I was in a painful job, I could see it strictly as providing for my family and serving them but with a job I love, it feels selfish. - She asked me what I'd tell her if she had just told me what I had told her. I already started tearing up. - I felt this overwhelming feeling that Diana is doing amazing things for the kingdom of God and those are lies the enemy is whispering to make her distracted from not just her ministry but her kid too. - It's hard to speak that to yourself which is why I got emotional saying what I'd tell Diana but never have the courage to tell myself. So friend, I’ll say it to us. - 1. Tune in to God to prick our heart when we really need to change something 2. Protect our hearts when the devil wants to masquerade and put false guilt on us. - This Saturday, I went to work and before I left I told Vivi what I was going to work on. The night before I asked her if she wanted to pray and she said she didn't know what to say. So I reminded her of that and told her I was working on some videos to help teach people how to pray when they didn't know what to say. - I felt invigorated as I left to do good work instead of guilt-ridden for leaving my family. We shared sweet cuddles with all four of us piled in bed while Papa sang. I can't help but think freeing myself of false guilt prepared my heart for the work ahead and prepared them too. - I spent 90 minutes cranking out a module I'm really proud of. Boom devil. 💪🏼 - ACTION STEP: TEST EVERY GUILT-RIDDEN THOUGHT BY TAKING IT TO THE LORD FIRST. He doesn’t want you to be paralyzed but motivated for the right change. Photo by @catherineguidry 😘
  • YOU DON'T NEED A MIRACLE - Sometimes I get jealous of those Bible time characters with their water in wine, sun standing still, raising the dead, pretty much your level-10 miracles. - I know there are still amazing miracles every day in our world but sometimes when I go looking for really obvious direction, I have to remind myself we have God's very Word! We have instruction at our fingertips every day. We have the ability to KNOW God, not in a cloud or burning bush but in the book we hold (or maybe toss to the side) EVERY SINGLE DAY. - The miracle or writing in the sky you want in your life...has God laid it out for you in His Word? Has He been prompting you to simply get quiet enough to hear His leading that might come as you read Psalms or the story of the mom in the Bible who struggled with waiting? Are we waiting for a lightning bolt to strike instead? - I don't honestly live every day like I know the Bible is alive and active today. I treat it like my non-fiction reads. Great info. Good inspiration but ultimately, still one-dimensional. - The people that I know that hear from God on a regular basis, hear most as they read the Word of God. That's what it means for the Bible to be alive. Or the fact that you can read the same story over and over again and, depending on the season of life you are in at the moment, God calls your attention to a completely different aspect of the story every time. - Do you know that John 3:16 came alive to me the other day? I share the insight in Grumpy Mom so I'll save that for now but this is only possible through the Holy Spirit. - Want more? Tozer says 'To pray for revival while ignoring or actually flouting the plain precept laid down in Scripture is to waste a lot of words and get nothing for our trouble." - ACTION STEP: If you are waiting on a miracle, pick up your Bible and read it with a fervor that you know the power it holds and listen for God and expect Him to speak to you through it. Amen? - #valintheword
  • THIS IS THE SEASON - Any else feel like they need to take a deep breath after the last two weeks? I'm kinda over talking about deals and sales and why you should pick our journals. I mean, I'll never quit talking prayer and the power of these prompted journals but $$ and deals I wouldn't mind a loooooong moratorium on. 😬 - I'm ready to slow down and ready my heart for a season filled with more Jesus than wrapping paper. - It's been my hope to create something for Advent for years but I personally use some amazing products from my friends and I didn't want to add something where there were already things meeting our needs. - But this year, I wanted to identify where I usually get the most distracted and start to let the busy in and meet us there. For me (and many others) that’s right in my work day (AKA in my inbox). - So this year, I wrote 12 prayers to pop in your inbox starting December 13 and running through December 24. They are quick and personal and something to help reorient your heart. - It's not the traditional advent but I want this to be more about catching you in that moment where busy snuck in and offers a second chance to soak in the season without sinking into church on Christmas Even thinking "next year will be different." No friend. This is the season. - Want to join in? Grab the link in stories. Just swipe up to sign up! - I WANT TO KNOW, what's the hardest part of the season for you? What keeps you distracted? Is it the shopping? The events? Grief or family issues? Feel free to share below. I'd love to share some additional prayers in stories over the next few weeks praying over the biggest burdens of the season. #vmpthisistheseason
  • FEELING DISTANT FROM GOD? - I don’t think there’s a believer out there who hasn’t felt an unnerving disconnect from the Lord. It leaves us feeling anxious and sad. It can have us unsure, unsettled and empty. At the same time though, we fight through those seasons of feeling distant and treat it as normal. - But those moments of distance can serve us if we let it. @lysaterkeurst shared a story recently about this excruciating pain she was feeling and how the doctors spent days trying to relieve it and figure out what was wrong. The pain didn’t go away from the meds but she said what a blessing that was because the doctors had to keep searching and eventually found the root cause. Had the pain gone away, she could have left the hospital and possibly died because though the pain would have been gone, the problem was still there. The pain signaled something was wrong. - So today, if you are feeling the pain of distance from the Lord, it is likely signaling the problem. - I want to suggest 6 common reasons we might feel distance from the Lord. I encourage you to spend time praying and asking the Lord what it could be for you. - Head to the blog to read the rest of the post and come back here and let’s talk about this! This is one of the single biggest issues I hear from believers and I think starting this conversation could be a huge push through.
  • HELP US REACH $100,000 - Vivi came fast to our family. We kind of expected the same for baby #2 but after 7 months of trying, we decided not to wait for a baby of our own. Our church had sponsorships available for kids in Haiti and we knew there were a bunch left. We decided that we'd bring a blank check and see if we could cover how every many kids were left. They told us and the amount was almost the exact amount we had set aside for a hospital bill for a baby delivery. - Me being the sentimentalist, I took it as a sign from God that while we had hoped that money would have gone to deliver a second baby, it was instead going to 12 kids in Haiti that I claimed as my own. - We prayed with Vivi for her Haiti brothers and sisters every night. RMI and the kids in Picot, Haiti have had a special place in our hearts for years. About two years ago, we decided to support them with 10% of every dollar VMP brought in. We had been supporting different charities for a little while, but we wanted a place to make a big impact. - Well friends, we're about to reach $100,000 given away to dozens of ministries since we started giving years ago. Can I just go ahead and say that is insane? I could not have done this on my own. That is not a humble brag, but the ever-lovin truth. YOU did this!! We are so close and I had really hoped to hit this amazing milestone by the end of the year but I think we might do it by the end of this month! - Will you help us? For, TODAY, Giving Tuesday, we want to give 15% of all sales instead of 10% to RMI. - This past year, we’ve been able to bless 450+ kids with a hot meal every school day. This is no small thing. The improvements these kids have experienced in their health and ability to learn have been amazing. We actually sold over twice as many journals as we told RMI (to be safe) so we’ve got a surplus and are excited to make an even bigger impact. - Tag that friend who loves supporting shops that give back! - #givingtuesday

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Since 2015, every purchase you’ve made has contributed to over $75,000 we’ve been fortunate to donate to charities! This year we will be feeding hot meals for the school year for kids in Haiti!

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