Lysa TerKeurst - Far from Ordinary: A Young Womans Guide to the Plans God Has for Her

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

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Far from Ordinary

Copyright 2022 by Lysa TerKeurst

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97408

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Formerly published as What Happens When Young Women Say Yes to God

Note from Hope pieces contributed by Hope TerKeurst Houser

ISBN 978-0-7369-8579-6 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-7369-8580-2 (eBook)

The Library of Congress has catalogued the edition as follows:

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

TerKeurst, Lysa.

What happens when young women say yes to God / Lysa TerKeurst and Hope TerKeurst.

p. cm

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-7369-5455-6 (pbk.)

1. Christian womenReligious life. I. Title.

BV4527.T4645 2013

248.843dc23

2012043873

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CONTENTS

W e are about to discover how Gods love shapes our hearts and our individual paths of purpose. Its an amazing journey. We wont want to miss any of the messages He has for us. In this book you will discover the following features. Each is created to make the truths and wonders of faith more three-dimensional in your life.

Youre Invited

Each chapter has a special invitation to say yes to God in a new way. Take time with these and pray about how youll respond to the call to embrace Gods best.

Gods Word for You

God speaks to us through the Bible. Scripture is not a gathering of material meant for people ages ago. It was written for you . This feature includes questions for group or personal study, reflection points, and verse explorations to get Gods Word from the page to your heart.

Living Y.E.S. (Your Extraordinary Story)

Only you can live your story. No one else is designed by God to live this moment and all of your tomorrows. These insights and journal questions will help you understand the uniqueness, incredible value, and power of having a heart for God.

Yes Prayer

A yes prayer opens you up to what God has in store for you. It prepares your heart and spirit for God to work through you and to create your far from ordinary life.

A Note from Hope

My daughter Hope shares four personal accounts of listening to God and following His lead. My prayer is that these glimpses of another young woman facing the difficulties and delights of obedience will encourage you to put your yes into action daily.

M ost of us long for something better. Different. Special.

Far from ordinary .

We desire something more meaningful than day-to-day survival.

And the amazing thing is that even before we can name this desire, God has placed it within us and is drawing us closer to Him through that desire. Our hunger to be special and to do special things is our spiritual hunger to have an extraordinary relationship with God.

But how do we leave normal behind and head toward extraordinary?

We start a journey! Its the amazing, transforming, anything-but-normal journey youll begin the day you say yes to God and to the amazing faith life He has planned for you.

Lets begin at the starting placeright here, right now. Imagine with me that this is your day.

Beep. Beep . The notification of a text message wakes you up before your alarm. Its a friend reminding you to bring money for the school fundraiser and asking if you will make signs during lunch. As you sneak into the kitchen hoping to grab a bagel and glass of cranberry juice without being spoken to, your parents greet you with good-mornings and then insist you walk the dog before school.

You get to school with only a second to wave to friends. You settle into the assigned seat of the first class and do a mental happy dance because you finished your project early. The celebration is squelched because the teacher asks you to help a student who doesnt understand yesterdays assignment.

During lunch you finally get a chance to catch up with your best friend, but she still wants to talk through every event leading to her breakup with her boyfriendfive months ago. You listen for a while and pat her on the back for consolation, but youre thinking, At least you had a boyfriend. My parents wont even let me date .

The list goes on, right? A regular, ordinary day includes a lot of requests from a lot of people in your life. There are expectations. And even when you know the right thing to do, you dont have much joy when you follow through. Whats the point? you think. Its all so ordinary and leading nowhere .

Even if people want good things from you and of you, its tempting to say no. Nope. Uh-uh. No, thank you. I helped yesterday. Ask so-and-so. The dog ate my homework and my backpack and my computer.

There are lots of ways to say no.

When God asks you to do something, it can spark the desire to act as if you didnt hear Him. Its tempting to rattle off your memorized top five excuses for getting out of something that might be challenging, humbling, or out of your comfort zone.

In fact, sometimes God asks us to do things that seem a bit crazy at the time. We cant see the big picture the way He does. We cant imagine how our one yes during an ordinary day can become something extraordinary when He uses it for His purposes.

But, you see, this is where we get confused. When we say yes to God, our days are no longer ordinary or normal. In fact, there is no such thing as a typical day. Once you make the leap of faith to say yes to God, you will discover the power that answer holds in your relationship with Him, others, and yourself. Theres nothing ordinary about whats ahead for you. Are you nervous? Are you looking around you and thinking, Maybe normal is okay? What is God going to ask of me when I say yes?