Leslie Parrott - You Matter More Than You Think: What A Woman Needs To Know About The Difference She Makes

Also by Leslie Parrott

If You Ever Needed Friends, Its Now

God Loves You Nose to Toes (childrens book)

Marshmallow Clouds (childrens book)

Resources by Les and Leslie Parrott Books

51 Creative Ideas for Marriage Mentoring

Becoming Soul Mates

The Complete Guide to Marriage Mentoring

Getting Ready for the Wedding

I Love You More

I Love You More Workbooks

Just the Two of Us

Love Is

The Love List

Love Talk

Love Talk Workbooks

Marriage Mentor Training Manual for Husbands

Marriage Mentor Training Manual for Wives

Meditations on Proverbs for Couples

Questions Couples Ask

Relationships

Relationships Workbook

Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts

Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts Workbooks

Saving Your Second Marriage Before It Starts

Saving Your Second Marriage Before It Starts

Workbooks

Video CurriculumZondervanGroupwareTM

Complete Resource Kit for Marriage Mentoring

I Love You More

Love Talk

Mentoring Engaged and Newlywed Couples

Relationships

Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts

To the daughters of my Friday Friends
(and the daughters of two long-distance friends I just couldnt leave out)

Kristin Stendera

Rachael Mitchell

Kimi Brann

Sarah Zorn

Danielle Zorn

Hanna Osborne

Kaylee Hagen

Meg Lunn

Sophia Daniels

May you never forget that you matter more than you think.

ZONDERVAN

You Matter More Than You Think
Copyright 2006 by Leslie Parrott

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan.

ePub Edition January 2009 ISBN: 978-0-310-54377-0

This title is also available as a Zondervan audio edition.

Visit www.zondervan.fm.

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Parrott, Leslie L.

You matter more than you think : what a woman needs to know about the difference she makes / Leslie Parrott.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-310-24598-8
1. Women Religious life. I. Title.

BV4844.P323 2006

248.8' 43 dc22

2005033566

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: TodaysNew International Version. TNIV. Copyright 2002, 2005 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

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

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

The Paradoxical Commandments are reprinted with permission of Kent M. Keith, Copyright Kent M. Keith 1968, renewed 2001.

Published in association with Yates & Yates, LLP, Attorneys and Counselors, Suite 1000, Literary Agent, Orange, CA.

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contents

Sincere thanks to...

Scott Bolinder, Lyn Cryderman, Sandy Vander Zicht, Becky Shingledecker, Michael Ranville, Joyce Ondersma, Jackie Aldridge, and all the rest of my Zondervan team. I cant imagine doing this project without you.

Kevin Small and Sealy Yates for infusing your gifts and graces into my vision and mission.

Janice Lundquist for your friendship and your magical way of making my life easier. You are a treasure, and I count my blessings for you daily.

Robin Small for your honest feedback and deep insight on the initial draft of this book. I so appreciate your wisdom.

Ramona Tucker for giving me a jump start and going the extra mile to help me on this writing journey. You have an amazing heart.

Jim Gwinn for the privilege of serving with you at CRISTA Ministries and your unswerving dedication to me.

Randall and Bonnie Davey for your friendship, coaching, and encouragement on my journey to the reunion.

Sheri Stankorb for prizing my poetry and especially for reminding me that, For us, there is only trying. The rest is not our business.

Mom and Aunt Jill for your prayers and your tender love.

John and Jackson for being, hands down, the joy of my life.

And to my husband, Les. I have never relied more on your wisdom, strength, love, and laughter than I have during this season of my life. Time and again you astonish me with your insight into my soul.

To each of you, as well as the many friends I have talked about in the pages of this book, I say thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Ive written and rewritten every paragraph of this book with you in mind. And along the way, Ive prayed that you would sink yourself into the idea that you really do matter more than you think.

Ive prayed that you would not hold this message as just an idea in your head or a sentiment in your heart, but that you would work it out in every detail of your life.

And Ive prayed that you would never settle unless you are settling for nothing less than a life abounding in love.

Ive tried to imagine you reading this book, whether youre on your own or reading it in a group. Of course, I dont know how old or young you are.

Married or single.

Restless or content.

Wounded or strong.

But I do know that if you want to make a difference with your life, we have that in common.

Ive written several books, but never a book like this. For the first time, rather hesitantly, Im publishing some of my personal poetry in these pages. And I do mean personal. Theres nothing more difficult to pen, at least for me, than words that reveal my soul when I know others will be reading them.

I sometimes cringe at the thought.

Its one thing to write prose. But, for me, poetry comes directly from the heart, and thats exactly where the message of this book comes from too.

What I am about to tell you in the chapters that follow is the result of a long personal journey for me. You wont find many references to research in this volume, but you will find journal entries and personal revelations.

As I said, Ive not written a book quite like this before, but I believe so strongly in its message and what it might do for you and other women like you and me that Im willing to lay my soul bare.