When I spoke at Women of Faith last weekend, it was all the more enjoyable because of being on my home turf, Seattle, and having Reneé with me (and Hannah, the only one of my kids who could be convinced to come!).

If you’ve read my book, you know the important role Reneé plays in my story. I try not to miss an opportunity to tell people how amazing she is. Last Friday night was no exception—and better yet, she was right there to hear the applause and affirmation from 4,200 people (mostly women) in attendance.

Reneé is truly a Proverbs 31 woman. I can give countless examples of how she anchored our family during both good times and bad (lots of these stories are in the book!). One of the key moments I like to share is when God called me to World Vision. I was a reluctant recruit. Reneé wasn’t. “If God is calling you, we go,” she said. “The only safe place to be is in God’s will.”

As I told the Women of Faith audience, this meant giving up our dream house in Pennsylvania and uprooting from the community and church family we loved. Not every wife would accept that so willingly. But Reneé had yearned to “open her arms to the poor” (Proverbs 31:20) since she was a little girl. She knew that God was calling us both.

If you’re struggling to discern God’s call in your life, a key source of help might be right there in your own home. Your husband or wife is likely praying for answers, too, and he or she might bring clarity when you’re most conflicted. Listen to your spouse … I always have, and she’s never steered me wrong.

The average yearly salary of baseball’s All-Star players at last week’s game is $7.3 million. New York Yankees’ Derek Jeter is the highest paid—$21.6 million for 2009.

Sports heroes are revered icons. There were 14.6 million viewers who tuned in to the All-Star game.

I’ll admit it was a great game (and I didn’t even notice President Obama’s jeans), but numbers like these leave me wondering: Where are our priorities?

I met a man named Esatu in Ethiopia earlier this year. He’s not famous or rich. He’ll never make millions or be known by millions. But he’s a true hero.

Esatu is a World Vision project manager. His community has an old problem. To avoid paying a traditional dowry for a wife, men abduct and rape girls. The girls, then “spoiled,” have little choice but to marry the man.

One girl was abducted while walking to school. She lost her shoes in the battle, and was marched for miles, shoeless. She was held captive in a dark room for 40 days and 40 nights.

Until the girl’s grandmother went to Esatu for help. Community elders told Esatu to stay out of it. Esatu did something that had never been tried in this community—working with police to take the abductor’s parents to jail.

The girl was freed, and is now back in school. Her grandmother calls Esatu a great man.

We need to rethink our priorities. Do we value people for how entertaining they are? Or do we value people for what they stand for, for the way they love God and love others?

How can Christians change a culture that idolizes people for the wrong reasons?

Last week I was in our nation’s capital, speaking to about 50 people at the offices of the ONE Campaign. This is a hive of advocates for social justice and the poor, located just a block from the moneyed lobbyists of K street on one side, the U.S. Treasury Department on the other, and three blocks from White House. What a neighborhood!

This neighborhood has been shaken up a bit by the new kid on the block. ONE is an advocacy organization with more than 2 million members committed to fighting extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. I was one of the “midwives” who helped birth ONE in 2004, so it’s gratifying to see how the movement has grown in just five years.

While the folks in the room with me were like-minded on poverty issues, they weren’t all necessarily believers. But whenever I talk about my book, I can’t avoid sharing the gospel, because that’s what it’s all about. My call to serve the poor comes from God, as it does (or should) for all Christians. The audience was receptive … at least they laughed in all the right places!

One point I brought up was that everyone, regardless of religion, can agree on is that technology and travel have broadened our definition of “neighbor.” Americans can no longer say we don’t know about the suffering around the globe. Whether or not we have taken to heart Jesus’ words to “love your neighbor,” we are now aware that our neighbors are in distress—and we have unprecedented access and ability to do something about it.

This is ONE’s message, and it’s increasingly joined by many voices. But if you’re a Christian, be advised: This is no trend. “Love God. Love your neighbor”—that’s what Jesus asks of us. It’s my “job description”—and yours, too.

I find Luke 6:46 to be one of the most chilling verses in the Bible: “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”

Last weekend we celebrated the Fourth of July. The convictions of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence drove them to revolutionary action—and it cost them. Some were imprisoned. Two saw their sons captured or killed in battle. Many had homes and property ransacked and looted in the Revolutionary War.

Have your convictions ever driven you to action—even if it cost you?

Luke 6 makes me uncomfortable—and that’s good. We read a verse, hear a sermon, or feel deep joy at worship, and are convicted that God wants more of us. But how deep is our commitment to respond, and what do we do about it?

You don’t have to be a missionary to India to be a completely devoted follower of Christ, but you cannot turn your back on Christ’s call to surrender all.

Christ sent us into the world as His hands and feet to change it, claim it, redeem it and reform it…for Him. But we retreat into our churches and stay in our comfortable routines instead.

Here’s just one uncomfortable question: Is it right and fair and biblical for people in Africa to be starving while people in America are dieting because we eat too much?

It starts with surrender. There are lots of people who care, who are convicted, but then do nothing.

In addition to our free study guide, we’re working to develop more tools to help you, your small group, and your church answer the question many of you are asking: “Now what?” I’ll share more on that in a few weeks.

Meanwhile, what is God calling you to do? It’s a personal answer for each of us, uniquely designed for us. How do you translate conviction into action?

Last week I was in St. Louis to speak at another Women of Faith event. Have you ever been to one of those? Speaking to thousands of women is kind of terrifying to me. Most men struggle to communicate even with their wives, let alone thousands of women they don’t know. I asked the men in the audience to give a shout, and it was silent until one guy screamed at the top of his lungs!

Actually, the Women of Faith speakers—Patsy Clairmont, Luci Swindoll, Sheila Walsh, and Mary Graham —have been very encouraging and supportive. I’m looking forward to joining them again on several more of their events.

In St. Louis I asked the audience the same questions I ask in the book—the same questions God used to change my life: “What does God expect of you? Are you willing to be open to God’s will for your life?”

You see, the gospel is about love. It’s God’s grace, expressed to the world—His love in action. And we—each of us—have been called by God to demonstrate His love to a hurting world. That’s why the gospel is such good news.

If any of you feel overwhelmed by poverty and the challenges in the world, if you think you are too insignificant to make a difference, please think again. Why? Because it’s not about you. It’s about God working through you. That adds up to so much more than we can do on our own. If we give Him everything, then we are firmly in His will. There is no better place to be.