I've Found My Voice!

I was in the 6th grade. Tall and lanky, wearing pants to short for my long legs. The teacher called my name, Cheryl Pelton. It was time to walk to the front of the classroom and give my oral report. Panic gripped my heart, as I stood in front of all of the peering eyes. I sought to open my mouth and speak. Words wouldn't come. Only shaking and tears. I couldn't find my voice. I was intensely shy an insecure. I felt anything I said would sound just as stupid as I believed myself to be.The teacher finally excused me to go to the bathroom and wash my face. I had never felt so humiliated. Out of a full class of 6th graders, why was I THE ONLY ONE who couldn't give an oral report?Social anxiety and intense shyness, coupled with sexual, verbal, and emotional abuse, had left me silent.

Fast forward 24 years.I am the keynote speaker at a women's retreat scheduled for September 27th and 28th. I have found my voice! But only through the powerful healing of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You can have that healing as well, dear ones.I have the special privilege of being on the launch team for Jo Ann Fore's book, When a Woman Finds Her Voice. I encourage you to pre-order your copy today. I trust the Lord is going to use Jo Ann's story to embolden a new generation of ladies to speak out for Him. Silent no longer.Read the words of Exodus 4:10-12 (NIV)10 Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”Will we ask Him to send someone else, or will we lift our voices and shout, "Pick me! Pick me!"