Have you ever felt like God has something to say through you, but you felt like you don’t have a voice? Have you ever felt like God has something to say through you, but you didn’t have the confidence and courage to surrender to it? That’s how I felt when I walked into the first class of Empower Proclaim. I knew God was leading me to use my voice, but I felt like I didn’t have a voice! Even if I did, I definitely did not have the confidence or the courage! But what God showed me through Proclaim is that I do have a voice and my voice matters. Not only do I have a voice He wants to use, and my voice matters, but I have the confidence and courage to use it!

As I went through the Empower: Proclaim and did each assignment, my voice as a woman speaker began to emerge. I began to see that my voice as a woman speaker was important. As a woman speaker my voice is very different than a man’s voice and that was so very ok! I began to grow in stepping into my voice with vulnerability.

I walked into the first class with confidence (feeling certain about the truth of something) that this is where the Lord wanted me, but I lacked courage.  When we have courage, we act in spite of fear. We can step into something even though it frightens us. I knew what to do, but it was hard to step into what I knew I had to do to make it happen. I was allowing fear from keeping me from moving forward.

By the end of Empower: Proclaim I had that confidence to step into what God wanted me to do...use my voice for His kingdom. I am ready to move forward even though it scares and not worry about what others will say. I have realized that fear doesn’t mean I don’t move forward to what God calls me to do.