Who Speaks to Your Heart?: Tuning in to Hear God's Whispers

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Who Speaks to Your Heart?Tuning in to Hear God's WhispersBy Stacy Hawkins AdamsZondervanCopyright © 2010Stacy Hawkins AdamsAll right reserved.ISBN: 978-0-310-29271-5 ContentsIntroduction..................................................91. Who Is Speaking to Your Heart?.............................192. Walk Before You Run........................................253. When "Perfect" Is a Bad Word...............................344. Letting Go of the Life You Imagined........................425. Embracing Silence..........................................596. Appreciate Your Baby Steps.................................657. Unexpected Blessings.......................................738. Competing Voices...........................................789. What Matters Most..........................................8710. Losing to Gain............................................9311. Eyes on the Prize.........................................9912. Standing Alone............................................10513. Grace for a Sister's Journey..............................11214. Take Time for You.........................................11715. Feeling Invisible.........................................12116. Don't Despair.............................................12717. Your Red Sea Calling......................................13318. Succeeding Scared.........................................13819. Dancing to Life's Music...................................14420. Living Courageously.......................................14821. Follow Your Leader........................................15222. Trusting That Voice.......................................15923. Recognizing His Will......................................16324. Listening in the Valley...................................16725. Soaring...................................................17326. Whispers to Your Soul.....................................179Final Word....................................................183Acknowledgments...............................................185Chapter OneWho Is Speaking to Your Heart? I am the mother of a middle school-age daughter. Yes, please pray for me! I say that partly in jest, but mostly because if you have raised or spent much time with teenagers or preteens, you know firsthand that nearly everything you do or say is an embarrassment to them. If I'm driving down the road singing along to a song on the radio, I embarrass my daughter because someone in a car traveling nearby might see me. If we're in a restaurant and I ask the waitress to correct a problem with my meal, she's mortified that I've drawn attention to myself, and thereby to her. She can't wear the same jeans or T-shirt to school or camp within a ten-day span because one of her friends will remember, and if she misses the premiere of a made-for-TV movie she's been longing to see, the world might stop rotating. My little woman leaves me exasperated many a day, but when I'm on the brink of losing my patience, I remember taking my own mother through most of the same changes. Don't let God fool you-he has a sense of humor. Revenge (or vengeance) does belong to him, but if you're a parent, you'll find that he reaps it on your parents' behalf through your children. Just as I'm about to launch into a speech to my daughter about the foolishness of peer pressure and wanting to be like everybody else, a memory flashes across my mind's eye of some of the things I said and did to Mama that now explain why she spent so much time at her bedside, on her knees in prayer, every morning and evening. What's clearly going on with my daughter is what development experts will tell you is normal: the rank of who influences her is gradually shifting from her parents to her peer group. That means that what her friends say and think means more to her on some days than what her dad and I insist is the truth. She eventually acknowledges that we're right, b