| Karen Ehman |
"Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God's slaves." 1 Peter 2:16 (NIV)
I remember begging my mom to get my ears pierced. I was in 5th grade and only one other girl in my class had hole-less lobes. I pleaded my case. "But Mooooooom! EVVVVV-ERYONE has their ears pierced but Heidi and me!"
That year on my birthday, she took me to the Meijer Thrifty Acres grocery store where a nice lady in the jewelry department pierced them for me.
The pain was worth the cool.
When I was in college, my friend Carmen got one ear double pierced. She said she did it to remind her that she belonged to the Lord; that she was His slave.
You see, in the Old Testament, slavery wasn't unjustly forced like in our modern world. It was more of an occupation; a servant with civil and religious rights. A slave worked for his master for six years and then had the option to leave. However, if he wanted to continue his servanthood, he could. As a symbol of his loyalty, his ear was pierced. Exodus 21:5-6 says this about slaves:
"But suppose the slave loves his wife and children so much that he won't leave without them. Then he must stand beside either the door or the doorpost at the place of worship, while his owner punches a small hole through one of his ears with a sharp metal rod. This makes him a slave for life." (CEV)
I loved Carmen's idea of having a small hole in her ear as a sign of life-long service to the Lord. An earring to remind her that she chose to serve God in all areas of her life. However, I am a wimp. And the pain of the first ear piercing was enough for me!
But a few years ago, while shopping downtown with some friends I had an idea. What if I wore a sterling silver toe ring as a sign of my service to the Lord? My friends and I each bought one.
I wear this toe ring everyday to remind myself that I am a voluntary slave of Christ. And that I love my Master and the things He's given me to serve, like my family, church, neighbors and others.
When I see it, it reminds me that I'm not in control, God is. And it helps me realign my preferences with His when I want to be the boss of my life and my circumstances. When I grow weary of serving God selflessly, I am reminded that I belong to Him.
My toe ring also reminds me that my relationship with the Lord is for life.
Yes, I am free to do as I'd like. There are no laws in my country against chucking my faith and running away.
However, my toe ring reminds me:
"Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God's slaves." (1 Peter 2:16 NIV)
Are you willing to commit to God with all your heart, mind and soul? To serve rather than be served? To carry out the wishes of your Master willingly and joyfully? Even though you are free, will you choose to be His slave today?
A pierced ear or toe ring is optional.
Dear Lord, may I be reminded continually that it is You that I serve, not the other way around. May my life show my love and devotion to You and my loved ones. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
If you liked this devotion, check out Karen's new book LET. IT. GO. How to Stop Running the Show & Start Walking in Faith. It will enable you to control what you should and trust God with what you can't. Click here for more information.
If you liked this devotion, check out Karen's new book LET. IT. GO. How to Stop Running the Show & Start Walking in Faith. It will enable you to control what you should and trust God with what you can't. Click here for more information.
For more on this topic, including 5 Backwards Truths for Serving God & Family, visit Karen's blog.
Would you like to bring a life-changing message to the women of your church? Click here to find out more about considering Karen as your next event or keynote speaker.
When you purchase resources through Proverbs 31 Ministries, you touch eternity because your purchase supports the many areas of hope-giving ministry we provide at no cost. We wish we could compete with prices offered by huge online warehouses, but we simply can't. Therefore, we are extremely grateful for each and every purchase you make with us. Thank you!
Reflect and Respond:
Although the term slave rightly has a negative connotation given history and current-day sex trafficking, how can the word "slave" properly describe how we should relate to God?
Although the term slave rightly has a negative connotation given history and current-day sex trafficking, how can the word "slave" properly describe how we should relate to God?
On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being never, 10 being always), how often do you react to life's circumstances with a joyful attitude and "whatever Your will is" perspective? What can you do to make that number go higher?
Power Verse:
Psalm 119:17, "Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word." (ESV)
Psalm 119:17, "Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word." (ESV)
Proverbs 31 Ministries
616-G Matthews-Mint Hill Road
Matthews, NC 28105
Matthews, NC 28105
Karen Ehman has been described as profoundly practical, engagingly funny and downright real. She is a member of the Proverbs 31 Ministries national speaking team and is a columnist for the Hearts at Home monthly magazine, an organization for which she also teaches workshops and is on the drama team. She has her own weekly radio spot on the WCIC family of radio stations in central Illinois entitled "The Keep It Simple Woman."
Karen is the author of four women's books including A Life That Says Welcome: Simple Ways to Open Your Heart and Home to Others and The Complete Guide to Getting and Staying Organized. She is also the project creator of the Hearts at Home Just for Mom's Planner an organizational tool designed specifically for the purpose of helping mothers organize their personal and family lives.
Karen has been a guest on national television and radio programs including The 700 Club, At Home Live, Engaging Women, The Harvest Show, Moody Midday Connection and Dr. James Dobson's Focus on the Family. She is a graduate of Spring Arbor University with a B.A. in Social Science and has been married for over 20 years to her best friend Todd.
She is the mother of three sometimes quarrelsome, but mostly charming children: Mackenzie 16, Mitchell 12 and Spencer 9. Before motherhood, Karen was a teacher and cheerleading coach who actually had hobbies. Now she spends her days homeschooling, carpooling, or parked in the volleyball bleachers or little league stands. Though hopelessly craft-challenged with pitiful, partially finished scrapbooks, she enjoys baking and cooking and has won several blue ribbon rosettes at various county fairs for her cookies, cakes, pies and breads. She travels from Lansing , Michigan .
Brochures
What Others are Saying about Karen
"Karen is the most thoughtful and creative person I've ever met. What a dear, funny and hospitable friend. When I grow up I want to be just like her."
Lisa Whelchel, former star The Facts of Life, homeschooling mom, speaker and author of: Creative Correction, The Busy Moms Guide to Prayer and The ADVENTure of Christmas
" Karen Ehman is an honest, funny, inspiring speaker that you will not soon forget! She encouraged me to finally get serious about losing my baby weight. Twenty-five pounds later... I'm healthier and happier than ever. If you want your women to walk away feeling empowered, encouraged, and energized - invite my friend Karen Ehman. "
Lysa TerKeurst, author, speaker, wife, mother of five and president of Proverbs 31 Ministries
Speaking Topics
Holiday
Have Yourself a Stress-free Little Christmas
Are your holidays a cozy, reflective time of making memories while making others sense their importance in your life? Or are they a frenzied blur of activities, crisis shopping and secular trappings that have nothing to do with the true essence of the season? Armed with strategies to simplify and de-stress, this year can be different! Then, when the fruitcake is finished and that last strand of lights is taken down, you'll feel blessed, not stressed! This clever and helpful message will empower you to: - Evaluate your current seasonal strategies (or lack there-of!) and identify re-occurring holiday hassles. - Set up a simple celebrations binder designed to enable you be on top of the holidays, rather than the other way around! - Acquire fast and frugal decorating, cooking and gift-giving ideas. - Be challenged with ways to teach your children and grandchildren to focus on others rather than suffer from the "it's all about me!" syndrome. - Obtain creative, doable ideas for concentrating on Christ and reaching out to others.
Consider Christmas
This holiday inspirational talk is perfect for your ladies Christmas tea or women's holiday outreach. Karen will help your attendees to focus on the true essence of the season as they take inventory of their hearts, motives and activities as they relate to the celebration of Christ's birth. This light-hearted, yet introspective message will enable them to slow down, focus and savor the season as they take a break from their hectic, activity-laden schedule.
Mothers Day, Easter, Graduation, Teen Events etc.
Please inquire about information on Karen's messages geared toward and suitable for these other important events. Occasionally, her 19-year-old daughter Mackenzie is also available to speak with Karen or creatively perform sign language or interpretive dance numbers to punctuate the message for Mother-Daughter, teen or college events.
Marriage
More Wife; Less Witch
Is your happily-ever-after not so happy after all? Do the male-female differences in your marriage have you thinking your husband has no brain like the Scarecrow, no heart like the Tin Man and is as cowardly as the Lion? And all the while he thinks you are behaving like the Wicked Witch! Throw a few munchkins in the mix and it really gets interesting! In this honest and helpful session Karen will explore with you how to overcome personality differences and get your marriage back on the "right though maybe not yellow brick road". Her humorous, yet gut-wrenchingly candid session guides women to: - Identify and embrace the differences between male and female behaviors. - Stop longing for a "soul mate" and embrace your sole mate instead. - Discover the 7 most common mistakes women make in viewing their husbands. - Bring to light God's original purpose of marriage. (Hint: it is NOT to make you happy!) - Acquire a take-home toolbox full of practical marriage enrichment activities.
The By-laws of In-laws and Outlaws
Whether it's your meddling mother-in-law, his snooty sister, or your kid's uncouth uncle, moms often face frustration while trying to raise kids under the watchful eye of extended family. But do your dealings with your extended family have to look like a sitcom gone bad? Get ready to get real about the blow ups as well as the blessings, of "yours, mine and ours." Karen's candid message will instruct you how to: - Communicate honestly and effectively with your husband about sensitive extended family issues. - Live out the biblical principles of prioritizing, building boundaries and putting your current family ahead of your family of origin. - Cleverly and successfully deal with re-occurring patterns of unhealthy behavior from extended family. - Handle holiday hassles in a direct, but loving manner. - Model effective conflict resolution to your watching children. - Finally find favor in the family--on both sides.
Parenting/Motherhood
All in the Family
This relationship-based series combines the topics of More Wife, Less Witch; Let Dad Be Dad and The Bylaws of In-laws and Outlaws listed below into a weekend experience that inspires women to be the wives, mothers and extended family members God desires them to be.
Let Dad Be Dad
f you came home after a weekend away from the kids while your husband was in charge, what would you discover as you walked through the door? With laughable honesty, Karen shares how she transformed from being a control freak about parenting the kids to a mom who encourages her husband to father his children in his own unique style. Women will learn how to "let dad be dad" and actually delight in each others strengths and weaknesses knowing together, you make a great team! This light-hearted yet introspective session equips moms to: - Explore both original extended families to detect pre-conceived notions and unrealistic expectations you and your husband have about parenting. - Understand the different ways men and women form bonds with their children. - Discern when to be hands-on and mouth-open and when to butt out and let dad be dad. - View and treat your husband as your God-given parenting partner, not a glorified babysitter. - Visually model for your children how to both love and respect their father. - Obtain 20 take-home ideas for helping forge the father-child bond.
Spiritual Growth
Multi-Message Theme Packages
Each of these packages would be ideal for a weekend retreat or conference. They include three sessions (can be modified to two or four, if desired) that all tie in with the central theme of the series. Karen is able to work with your leaders to provide small group discussion questions and corresponding door prize ideas. She is also willing to develop talks geared toward your event's unique theme as well. (Please allow 4-6 months advanced booking for her to craft new messages.)
Footloose and Fancy-Free
What is holding you captive? Are there issues and actions that keep you from living a life that pleases God and truly satisfies you? Need to drop the shackles and run free in His will? This series tackles three areas where women desperately need freedom--from the pain of the past, amidst the pressures of the present and despite the fear of the future. These practical yet powerful sessions will teach you how to: - Make peace with your past circumstances, experiences and choices. - Learn how to utilize your unique history for God's good today. - Discern God's quiet whisper in the midst of your screaming schedule. - Manage your time effectively to create ample space for the important. - Experience the confidence of living in the center of God's will despite what the future holds.
Heroes, Heartthrobs and Desperate Housewives of the Bible
Together we'll stroll through scripture as we encounter men and women who stood at the crossroads with decisions to make; decisions that would not only impact them, but others in their lives and sometimes even entire generations to follow. Why would God download these sometimes-tumultuous stories to the printed pages of our modern-day Bibles? As examples for us of what to (and sometimes NOT to) do! Through this series, you will be equipped to: - Pull the practical from the spiritual as you unearth and evaluate the actions of Bible characters. - Take inventory of your own life relationships and train yourself how to properly respond, not instantly react. - Experience the calm that results from managing your emotions in the midst of trying. relationships and sticky situations. - Decrease self-doubt and increase confident and Christ-like living.
All You Need is Love
Remember what it was like when you first met Jesus? The peace you felt; the passion you had; the excited willingness to do anything He asked of you? Sometimes when life unfolds, we tend to abandon the fervor we once felt for Christ. Why? What does it mean to "leave your first love"? And more importantly, how can followers of Christ return to it again? These inspiring messages have helped many women to: - Meander back down memory lane to reconnect with that "first love" sentiment. - Recognize the patterns, choices and habits that seek to steal or replace our zeal for God. - Employ practical and tangible tools for keeping our daily connection with God growing despite our hectic schedule. - Craft an effective plan for what we should "fast from" and "feast on" in order to live a vibrant, fulfilling and effective life for Christ.
Extreme Makeover: Heart & Home Editions
A light-hearted weekend that still packs a serious punch, this series will enable your women to take thorough inventory of their hearts and homes. Then, they will be empowered with methods for overhauling them both to make them suitable places where God can fully dwell. Karen's testimony is woven into the opening talk about the heart. The remaining messages focus on consistently seeking Jesus as we are busy "doing life." Come be taught how to effectively: - Uproot heart issues that seek to snatch your joy and make you miserable. - Decrease self-consciousness and constant comparing while you increase your confidence in Christ. - Examine your deepest motives, making them match God's desires. - Put in place easily attainable methods for home management success. - Offer your heart, home and life as avenues of outreach, kindness and care.
Twenty-Four Hours is All You Get
This practical weekend package combines and expands upon the messages of Its About Time and Keeping Your Ducks in a Row (below). This series powerfully presents women with a reflective time while providing them with a proactive plan for managing their time and organizing their homes. They will leave enabled to efficiently take care of the "have tos" of life--the cooking, cleaning, laundry, shopping, etc.--in order to free up precious time for the "want tos" of life: spending time with God, connecting with their loved ones, pursuing a hobby or interest. Great for an outreach weekend!
Why the Jones Are Overrated
Do you play the "if only..." game way too much? Catch yourself thinking, "If only I had more money, a bigger house, nicer stuff, a different husband, or more well-behaved children - then I'd be happy." Karen has rambled down this road often, but ultimately discovered that changing our circumstances rarely changes us. Her transparent message will equip you to: - Accept your unique personality and stop comparing yourself to others. - Experience contentment even during trying circumstances. - Control your emotions when you can't control the situation. - Replace negative self-talk with the assurance of God's approval. - Shift your perspective from "Why me?" to "Whatever You want, God." - Embrace and enjoy the life you now live and stop being distracted by envy.
American Idle
dol: That which takes the place of God in our life. It can be money, possessions, people, activities or status. For many women, it is food. We attempt to make an idol our friend, comfort, tranquilizer, stress reliever, and, ultimately, a god. When we remain idle about our idol, we can become stressed, depressed, and distracted; even physically overweight and emotionally unhealthy. Time to break the pattern! Discover how to: - Identify the embedded idols in your heart and mind. - Recognize and transform the destructive patterns of the past. - Replace running to the idol with scriptural and tangible steps for relying on God. - Lose that "out of control" feeling as you gain God's power over your emotions, actions and reactions. - Sense God replying to your heart's deepest prayers.
A Life That Says Welcome
Does the phrase "Company's coming!" send you running for cover? With humor and transparency, Karen relates the account of marrying into a family full of interior decorators, caterers and Bed and Breakfast owners, while she herself could hardly boil water! She set out to become skilled at "entertaining" to impress her new relatives. However, God quickly taught her the difference between entertaining and offering hospitality, a lesson she learned the hard way. This "I've been there" message will enable you to: - Recognize how "entertaining" seeks to impress others; "hospitality" aims to refresh them instead. - Identify the top five excuses for not opening your home and apply simple solutions to combat them. - Arm yourself with cooking-for-a-crowd menu ideas, make-ahead freezer meals and kid-friendly favorites. - Acquire weekly speed cleaning strategies, a proven system for de-junking your house and simple, doable decorating tips. - Obtain creative concepts for living a life of welcome wherever you are.
It's About Time
Ever feel that your busy schedule has you running on an endless treadmill of activity? Does the lack of white space on your calendar send your stress level soaring through the ceiling? How can a woman of today clear her too-full platter and actually live her priorities? Perhaps you assume it is utterly impossible to do it all without doing yourself in. Think again. Karen's time-management message will empower you to: - Honestly evaluate your schedule and identify problem time-management areas. - Avoid over-commitment and embrace simplified living through a hands-on, plate-scraping activity. - Discern the hows, whens and when-not-tos of multi-tasking. - Employ the instrument of smart sequencing to work smarter not harder. - Apply scriptural principles to the balancing of home, work and personal time.
Keeping Your Ducks in a Row
Do you repeatedly line all your ducks up in a row only to have them get knocked down again, forcing you to start all over? This practical message tackles home management and will teach you not only how to get organized, but how to stay that way! Join Karen as she coaches you how to: - Get much more accomplished in far less time. - Organize your piles and files and keep them that way by setting up a "brain-in-a-binder" for fliers, rosters, invitations, schedules and other fridge-cluttering papers! - Save both your money and your sanity in the kitchen. - Acquire weekly speed cleaning strategies and a simple, proven system for de-junking your house. - Experience the comforting calm of an ordered home.
Women's Ministry Leadership
Balancing Ministry and Family
People in ministry often feel pulled in two directions. Their ministry is their calling; however, their family would also like to know they are the top priority. How can someone who desires to serve God balance both family and ministry without falling off of the high-wire of life? This leadership message has equipped many to: - Evaluate and compare their verbalized priorities and actual time choices to see if they match. - Discover time-management tools that will enable them to generate white space in their calendar. - Determine when (and when not) to multi-task and how to practice smart sequencing . - Harmoniously and seamlessly connect public ministry with personal life. - Discern future direction as they cultivate an intimate, daily relationship with God.
First Love
Remember what it was like when you first met Jesus? The peace you felt; the passion you had; the excited willingness to do anything He asked of you? As life unfolds, we tend to abandon the fervor we once felt for Christ. And sometimes for those in the midst of ministry, we become so busy serving God and loving it that we forget to take time to love the God we serve. What does it mean to "leave your first love?" And more importantly, how can followers of Christ return to it again? This message will inspire your leaders to: - Meander back down memory lane to reconnect with that "first love" sentiment. - Recognize the patterns, choices and habits that seek to steal or replace our passion for God. - Discover practical and concrete tools for keeping our daily connection with God alive, despite our demanding ministry schedule. - Craft an effective plan for what we should "fast from" and "feast on" in order to live a vibrant, fulfilling and effective life for Christ.
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