You and I were created to lead, create, and make a difference in the world.

We can choose to sit with the fed (and fat!) or take some steps (even baby ones...) to a place we’ve never been before. At some point here, after we have studied and discussed our purpose, we have to start living it. Yes, it requires risk, yes, we will make mistakes and yes, we will give more than we wanted to, go where we never dreamed, and eventually be who we’ve never been before.

I know what you’re waiting for. You want the right man, the marriage to get stronger, the bank account fatter, the last child a little more stable. And besides, you need more training, maybe a degree (or a more impressive one) before you live the real life you dreamed about. And what about the fact that there’s not enough time, too many commitments, and the stress is out of control. But have you noticed that the “right time” just keeps being pushed out there? So, when?

I know there is Esther and Mary the Mother of Jesus, and Queen Noor, and Condoleezza, but how many of us measure up to those iconic women? Give me Leah…you know, the cross-eyed, unloved, imperfect one in the ancient pages of the Bible. The one whose father had to trick Jacob into marrying and who, in the end could never compete with the size two, beautiful Rachel who seemed to have it all. Leah lived in a tent near her husband and his other wife. (You think your life is bad??) When she had a passel of sons, it turns out they were not perfect but, in fact, caused their parents much grief through deceit, manipulation, and murder. Dinah, her only daughter was raped and her husband preferred another woman to the end of his life and favored her sons over Leah’s.

So she was never going to be the loved, beautiful, model wife with the perfect children and a cushy income. Give it up. There is a lot more to life than focusing on having a perfect one. In the end, you and I are who we are, where we are, what we are. And as it turns out, that is all we have to be for now; nothing else... This is our starting place for the next season of extreme productivity where our creations change the landscape of the world.

Leah ultimately produced leadership that multiplied into families and then nations. Most of the Patriarchs came from Leah’s womb. When you consider the faith that was handed down from our forefathers, you can thank Leah. From this imperfect woman with an imperfect life, kings, leaders, and ultimately Jesus, the Christ came from her womb and lineage. Tribes and nations had their beginning in her and you and I have our strong faith because of the patriarchs who came from Leah (the cross-eyed, ugly, imperfect one).

Incredible isn’t it? One cross-eyed, unloved woman did all this! Maybe, just maybe, God doesn’t always choose the shiny, the beautiful, the perfect. Maybe He delights in the bruised and the used of the world and says, “I think I’ll choose her." Maybe we don’t have to have everything we want. Maybe everything we are is much more important.

Leah teaches women everywhere that:

· women can create and be fruitful even while going through tough times
· women are strong and endure
· women can lead
· women can birth multiple leadership
· women can impact nations

The question is, will we? We can use who we are and what we have to reach out to other women around the globe. Life may not be perfect for us, but we don’t have to wait to start living it at maximum strength. We multiply the best part of ourselves by looking for ways to give the best in us away…