Julie Clinton - 10 Secrets of Extraordinary Women: Finding Gods Dream for You

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Verses marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

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Verses marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

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Julie Clinton is represented by the literary agency of Winters, King & Associates, Inc.

Mary M. Byers is represented by the literary agency of Alive Communications, Inc., 7680 Goddard Street, Ste. #200, Colorado Springs, CO 80920. www.alivecommunications.com.

Cover by Left Coast Design, Portland, Oregon

Cover photo Subbotina Anna / Shutterstock

Formerly titled Extraordinary Women

10 SECRETS OF EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN

Copyright 2007 by Julie Clinton

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97402

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Clinton, Julie, 1961-

[Extraordinary women]

10 secrets of extraordinary women / Julie Clinton, with Mary M. Byers.

pages cm

Rev. ed. of: Extraordinary women. c2007.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-7369-5987-2 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-7369-5988-9 (eBook)

1. Christian womenReligious life. I. Byers, Mary M., 1962- II. Title. III. Title: Ten secrets of extraordinary women.

BV4527.C57 2014

248.8'43dc23

2013043545

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To the women who hunger after God and dare to be bold in their faith and to the loving memory of my father Clayton Ray Rothmann (19382000)

Since Ive been little, Ive always wanted to write my thoughts and share my heart in words. But I had no idea what kind of effort writing a book like this would require! God has been so good to me! He has surrounded me with a wonderful, godly family while I was growing up, including a loving father who left this earth for heaven far too soon. I miss you, Dad, and I deeply appreciate your love and the life lessons you taught me.

I want to thank my heavenly Father for bringing into my life the people, the resources, and the opportunity to complete this work, and I offer it to Him for His glory.

A special thank you to Harvest House Publishers for your support and encouragementespecially to Terry Glaspey and Carolyn McCready for believing in me and this book.

Thanks to Mary Byers for teaming up with me and diligently assisting with the writing of this book. I love your heart and passion for women!

Likewise, a special thank you to Dr. Joshua Straub for the many long hours in research, writing, and editing.

To Tom Winters, and his assistant, Debbie Boyd, a huge thank-you for introducing me to the wonderful world of publishing.

Thanks to the women who filled these pages with heartfelt stories of their love for life.

To team Extraordinary Women, God is awakening the hearts of women to do His good work all over America. The best is yet to be!

Thanks to my mother, who faithfully prays for me and has taught me the holy Scriptures since I was little.

And to my loving husband, Tim, and to our two children, Megan and Zachyou bring so much joy to my life.

Contents

I first met Julie Clinton at an Extraordinary Women conference. Her passion for God and her deep desire to point women to an eternal perspective instantly bonded my heart to hers. She is an extraordinary woman of influence for Gods glory. I know her spiritual authenticity, her knowledge of Gods Word, and her commonsense practical applications throughout this book will provide you and thousands of other women the life lessons and practical how-tos we all long to know in order to be more effective Christian women.

As a teenager I told God I wanted to live for things that mattered. I wanted to come to the end of my life knowing I had lived with purpose, with conviction, and with a heart determined to follow His call, regardless of where it took me. At that time I thought my commitment might mean overseas missions or perhaps teaching highly motivated students. I didnt know that path would lead me to writing books and speaking at womens conferences. As Ive followed His call, Ive learned that life is not always idyllic, tranquil, and without problems. But this book teaches you how to be an extraordinary woman even when circumstances are less than ideal.

As you read, youll learn how the supernatural person of Christ gives us the ability to see with different eyes, to perceive purpose and meaning in the middle of our daily, imperfect, and disappointing life experiences. Julie has unlocked the secrets to capturing the dream God has in mind for you. This dream may not look like the one you once wrote on a goal chart with carefully developed smaller steps that led to the big picture. The real secret of this dream is that God looks at you, flaws and all, and says, For I know the plans I have for you, says the L ORD . They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11 NLT ).

Thinking of yourself as an extraordinary woman might seem arrogant to you, but thats how God designed you. You are a one-of-a-kind woman with a distinct personality, unique gifts, and the potential to make a mark in this world that is different from any other. God loves you with an everlasting love, and He will never walk away from you. Unlike many people youve encountered, He offers a love that is sticky, resistant to rejection, longsuffering, and pure.

Extraordinary women have many things in common. They look at the world differently. Instead of seeing roadblocks, they visualize the finish line. They replace negativism with optimism. They instinctively realize that problems are solvable and that difficult people are rarely out to get themtheyre just struggling with their own issues. Extraordinary women know how to dream beyond their current challenging circumstances and believe God has a plan for them that surpasses the finest scenario they could imagine.

The book is uniquely designed to teach you how to embrace Gods love, discover His purpose for your life, develop meaningful relationships, understand men, get through tough times, and live with passion, balance, purpose, and joy. The surprising truth is that extraordinary women dont necessarily live easy, uncomplicated, predictable, and financially wealthy lives. But they do respond in extraordinary ways when life hands them extraordinarily difficult circumstances. (Youll learn about my own challenge in this regard when you read my story, which begins on .)