 Paula Friedrichsen
Boldly Declaring the
Goodness of God
Paula is a dynamic Christian speaker and writer living in northern California. She ministers at women's retreats, conferences, and church meetings--speaking regionally as well as nationally.
Paula's most requested presentation is The Abundant Life Seminar. It is a three-point workshop that educates, inspires and motivates women to walk in the light of God's Word in the three most important areas of their lives. It is best presented as a women's retreat but can also be given as a one day seminar, or over a series of several evenings. In addition to this, it can be tailored and reworked to fit the theme of your event.
Paula is the author of The Man You Always Wanted; Is the One You Already Have and was recently a contributing author for But Lord, I was Happy Shallow by Marita Littauer.
Jeff and Paula Friedrichsen have been married since 1984, and they have two children. They are actively involved at Church on the Mountain located in Crowley Lake, California.
Today's Christian Woman, produced by Christianity Today International,(the leading magazine for Christian women) recently reviewed Paula's book in their January/February 2007 issue, The Man You Always Wanted Is the One You Already Have (Multnomah). A friendship with her pastor that grew too intimate served as a wake-up call for Paula Friedrichsen. She needed to rediscover the husband she too often left behind in favor of hanging out with those she found more interesting. The Man You Always Wanted Is the One You Already Have chronicles the hard work and surpassing joy she and many other women experienced in their marriage when they stopped looking for perfection elsewhere and started valuing the wonderful imperfection at home.
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Seminars by Paula
 The Abundant Life Seminar
A three-point workshop that educates, inspires and motivates women to walk in God’s light – in the three most important areas of their lives.
Spiritually – You will be taught and encouraged to enjoy an intimate life-giving relationship with Christ. Aspects of this teaching include practical ways to seek God in the midst of our busy lives and how to hear the voice of the Lord in the simplicity of everyday circumstances.
Physically – Fitness and nutrition became a hallmark of my life eight years ago when my husband was diagnosed with Diabetes. I bring insight from my own life experience, combined with the word of God, to impart motivating and practical ideas for implementing a health-conscious lifestyle. This session includes everything from recipes to fitness tips.
Relationally – This message focuses on how to enter into God’s abundance in marriage, church, and family relationships, by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit! You will be given useful and solid information to help you travel from the barren desert of bitterness, to the fruitful valley of forgiveness. Find God’s peace and grace for any troubling relationship you may be facing.
This event can be planned as a weekend retreat or a one day seminar.
More Than a Conqueror
This seminar will encourage Christians to fight the good fight of faith and enter into the wonderful inheritance that God has for them!
Meeting #1 “Contend for Your Inheritance”
This message is based upon the story of Gideon found in Judges 6 & 7. Gideon was an unlikely candidate for greatness. The youngest son from the least important tribe in his country… When God called him he was threshing wheat in a winepress to hide it from the enemy. Smack in the middle of fear, oppression, and famine God called Gideon to the frontline and changed his name to “Mighty Warrior.” This session will explain:
- Contending means to stop looking back: “No longer a victim… no longer abused… no longer forsaken… no longer misused; A new name He gives to you.”
- Contending means to receive a “name change” from God.
- Contending means to press past your human limitations.
- Contending means to obey in the small tasks, so that you may receive larger ones.
- Contending means to fight with God’s resources, not your own.
- Contending means hearing and obeying the Holy Spirit’s directives.
I urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. (Jude :3)
Meeting #2 “The River of Refreshment”
I enjoy walking along a lovely country road near my home. Aspen trees, mountain vistas, and sparkling streams grace the hills that surround me. In the Spring the streams overflow, causing the excess water to run in rivulets along the road—eventually becoming motionless and moss filled. What starts out as a vibrant, rushing creek eventually dribbles down to a stagnant, smelly culvert of water sitting along the side of the road.
If I were a hot and thirsty traveler, unfamiliar with the area, I might think that the stagnant water on the side of the road was the only available source of refreshment. And I guess I could drink it, but it sure wouldn’t taste good—nor would it be good for me.
But to the person who is familiar with the area, drinking that stagnant water would be unthinkable! All you’d have to do to find a clean, sparkling mountain stream would be to veer off the road a little and hike up a scenic trail for a quarter mile.
It’s one think to hear about a beautiful rushing stream in the mountains; it’s another thing entirely to expend the energy to find one yourself.
If we are to be “more than conquerors, then we must be willing to make the effort to seek the Lord with all our heart. In order to be well hydrated with the presence of God, we’re going to have to expend a little energy to get there—spending time each day in His word… time in prayer. Meeting two discuss the importance of seeking God’s presence, and how this always leads to a breakthrough of Freedom.
- Freedom in our minds means receiving healing for:
- Obsessive or uncontrollable thoughts
- Demonic lies that play out like a DVD on repeat
- Chronic Insomnia
- Chronic depression
- Uncontrollable imaginations & fantasy life
- Addictions to drugs & alcohol, porn, gambling, smoking, eating
- Freedom in our bodies means receiving healing for:
- Illness
- Constant fear of illness
- Freedom in our relationship with Christ means receiving healing for:
- Demonic lies of being unworthy, unforgiven, ugly, stupid, unlovable by God.
Meeting #3 “Awake! Awake!”
Time is almost up. Things are “winding down” and I can almost hear the ticking clock edging toward that midnight hour of Christ’s return. How soon? I don’t know. But I do know that it’s near, and now is the time for the church to “wake up.”
The last session of our seminar will be a powerful exhortation based upon Isaiah 52:1-2:
Awake, awake, O Zion, clothe yourself with strength, put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, the holy city. The uncircumcised and defiled will not enter you again. Shake off your dust; Rise up, sit enthroned, O Jerusalem. Free yourself from the chains on your neck. O captive Daughter of Zion.
In the Scripture above there are six action statements:
- Awake, awake
- Clothe yourself
- Put on
- Shake off
- Rise up
- Free yourself
Meeting three will encourage believers to make the choice to rouse themselves and to shake off the burdens of yesterday. In many homes each new day starts with a fresh cup of coffee and a fresh jolt of bad news. Turn on “Good Morning America” and you’re met with the most up-to-date war statistics, the latest child kidnapping case, or the newest disease that could possibly wipe out two-thirds of our nation. So, is the answer to boycott the news or refuse to read the newspaper? No, of course not. Now is not the time to insulate—now is the time to wake up—although I suggest waking up with the Word of God before turning on the news. Now is the time to stand upon the promises of God found in His word—taking them as a mighty shield to deflect the ominous thoughts that come to steal our peace.
“More than a Conqueror” is best presented as a two or three day conference or retreat—but can also be given over a series of several evenings, or as a one-day event.
The Man You've Always Wanted: A Seminar for Married Women
This seminar is based on Paula's book of the same title, and is broken down into four one-hour messages.
Session #1 Fill Your Cup at Your Spring
This message begins with the story of an inappropriate romantic relationship I had with the pastor of my church, almost fifteen years ago. I will document the process of deception and explain how a happily married, reasonably intelligent, committed Christian woman could find herself in this crisis. I don't offer formulas and religious platitudes in my effort to warn others, I offer a two-fold solution. The first is to be participating in an intimate and obedient relationship with Christ. The second solution is to be participating in an exclusive and intimate relationship with your husband.
The text for this message is taken from Proverbs 5:15; "Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well." At the heart of every flirtatious or immodestly dressed woman is the need to be "filled up" with the water of any man's attention and desire. She may be overtly sensual in her attire or more likely, just subtly sexy. In a non-preachy voice, and using my past behavior as a template, I will confront this epidemic with the truth of God's word, exposing the hidden motives of the heart. This message will point out the folly and danger of having our "love cup" filled by the admiring glances of another man, or someone else's husband. The listeners will also be admonished that they won't be emotionally "thirsty" if they do fill their "love cup" at home-which will lead to meeting # 2.
Session #2 Who Keeps the Gate Key?
Our text will be taken from Song of Solomon 4:12 "You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride; you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain." This scripture speaks of the wonderful and romantic exclusivity of sexual pleasure in marriage. The Shulamite maiden in Song of Solomon is referred to as a garden. Reading further in this piece of scripture we see that she is a veritable garden of delights intended for her husband's pleasure. But many women are denying their husband's access to the garden. As I speak to groups of women at retreats and conferences, this topic is the number one in interest, producing nervous giggles, tears, confession, laughter, and repentance.
As women, we can be guilty of assuming dictatorial ownership of the garden. "Umm, not tonight I have allergies…a headache…a pimple…" This message will hit women where they live, with practical, humorous, and engaging solutions to bring freedom and joyousness to the "garden of delights."
This session will end by making the point that an important way to protect our marriages from the sexual bait that is continually assaulting us from television, the internet, and people around us, is to love our husbands in a hands-on tangible way. Guys generally aren't looking for flowers and love poems, they just want to find the gate unlocked when they come to play in the garden.
Session #3 The Freedom of Forgiveness
Using God's insightful word, and personal anecdotes taken from my own life, I will show the women the importance of forgiveness. We will start by taking a Biblical look at the reasons for forgiveness:
- Obedience to God's word (Matthew 6:14-15).
- There are promises attached to forgiveness.
- Receiving answer to prayer (Mark 11:24-25).
- Power to resist the schemes of Satan (2 Cor. 2:10-11).
- Forgiveness sets the forgiven one free (Matthew 18:18-35).
- Forgiveness sets the one who chooses to forgive free.
Recently, on my way to a speaking engagement, I came across the scarred vestige of a once beautiful mountain. Since I make this drive fairly often, I'm familiar with the devastating fire that destroyed this gorgeous summit several years ago. I steered past the still-ravaged landscape, amazed at the amount of time that it has taken for this mountain to recover. Three years after the fire, only a few pine trees are beginning to spring up. Some scrub brush can be seen growing on that mountain, but believe it or not the soil is still stained by the intense heat of that blaze years ago.
It took several years of "barrenness" before I was fully restored after my entanglement with the pastor. It took time and patience for trust to be built back into my marriage, and it would be years before I entered, once again, into ministry. It took time (and a lot of prayer) before my trust in a pastor could be restored. In fact, the reality of sin is; when you "fall hard," it's going to take a while to "get up." But I did get up! And the catalyst for this deep, lasting, and complete restoration in my life and marriage was forgiveness. Giving and receiving the forgiveness of others, and eventually forgiveness of myself.
The last thing that the women will be taught in this message is the life-changing principle that forgiveness is a choice. It is a determined action, often requiring effort. Without a constant flow of forgiveness in marriage, bitterness builds up, and our hearts soon grow cold toward our mate. This message will show the women that forgiveness is foundational in a contented marriage-and a great place to start when a marriage is on the rocks.
Session #4 Fulfillment in Christ Alone
This final message is the crux of it all, and will focus on intimacy with Christ, explaining just how this leads to a fulfilled and happy marriage. Without a doubt the most important point of this seminar will be found here. I will emphasize how a close and tangible walk with the Lord is the single most important component to a protected, committed, and joyful marriage. This powerful message will exhort and challenge the ladies to seek Him as never before.
In our final hour together the women will be submerged in an ocean of God's love. Clarity and insight will come as they begin to absorb the message of His unconditional love and favor. By the transforming power of the Holy Spirit and the preaching of God's word, condemnation and self-obsession will fall off, as women see themselves reflected in the eyes of their Savior.
The Man You've Always Wanted: A Seminar for Married Women is best presented as a two or three day conference or retreat-but can also be given over a series of several evenings, or as a one-day event. Any of the four messages would also be idea as a Marriage Conference workshop.
This is an interactive seminar and is most beneficial in the lives of women if each meeting is followed by "small group" prayer and discussion time. Discussion questions will be provided. In addition to this, Paula would welcome the opportunity to pray for individual women at the close of each message, as they feel the need.
The Joy Seminar: Taking Delight in Everyday Life
Session #1 Bloom Where You are Planted
Isaiah 61:3 will be our text for this message. We will discuss the importance of purposing to "bloom" where God has planted you-right now-right here-today. Not when you get thin and fit… not when you have children… not when you retire… not when you get that great job you've been hoping for, and not when you finally marry Mr. Right. But Right now! Making the decision that you will bloom (by the grace of God) as the person you are today-in your present circumstances.
The four aspects of this talk will be:
- God's love is the warm sunshine needed to bloom
- Thankfulness is the rich soil
- You are the clay pot (a humorous admonition about the importance of the inside of the pot-the plant-and not spending too much time on the outside of the pot)
- The Word of God is the life-giving water
Session one has some fun elements to it, and includes visual aids as well as audience participation.
Session #2 Joy Comes in the Morning
This message uses as its text Psalm 30:1-5, and begins with the powerful story of how God miraculously healed me of Lyme Disease over eight years ago. This testimony is a wonderful illustration of God's mercy and goodness, and never fails to impart hope to the listeners. This talk will highlight the three secrets to experiencing joy:
Believe
Using the story of David and Goliath, I will illustrate the number one tactic used by the enemy to thwart a believers faith.
Wait
We will read Psalm 40:1-3, and using the four stages of a butterfly, as well as personal anecdotes, I will explain the reasons why God often takes us through a "waiting season."
Receive
Sometimes the hardest thing for a Christian to do is receive from God. I find that while I am enjoying all that God has blessed me with, sometimes I feel an elusive sense of foreboding-wondering when something bad will happen. An example of this is when my husband has a great month at work financially, I may be tempted to think "well, I better not get too happy about that-we'll just see what happens."
What a foolish reaction. How much better it would be to say "Oh, thank you Lord for meeting our needs. Thank you God for a good month and plenty of money!!" God has created us to be full of faith and trust-like children. Not cynical and skeptical-just waiting for the other shoe to drop. I read a little saying recently that said, "Are you spending your sunny days waiting for the rain to fall?" And even though I'm a born optimist, I could relate to spending more then a few of my sunny days waiting for the rain to fall.
We will be ending session two by discussing just how to receive from God, and how to enjoy His blessings-without waiting for something "bad" to happen.
Session #3 Singing the Song of Joy
Using Psalm 65:8 …where morning dawns and evening fades you call forth songs of joy. We will talk about the incredible power found in making the choice to "sing songs of joy" even when times are tough. Using Biblical examples, as well as personal stories, I will illustrate three important points:
Singing the Song of Joy will open prison doors (Acts 16:16-40).
Singing the Song of Joy will put ht enemy to flight (2 Chr 20).
Singing the Song of Joy will open your eyes (Psalm 96:11-12).
The Joy Seminar: Taking Delight in Everyday Life is best presented as a two or three day conference or retreat-but can also be given over a series of several evenings, or as a one-day event.
This is an interactive seminar and is most beneficial in the lives of women if each meeting is followed by "small group" prayer and discussion time. Discussion questions will be provided. In addition to this, Paula would welcome the opportunity to pray for individual women at the close of each message, as they feel the need.
Keeping Christ at the Center of Christmas
In this Holiday presentation Paula tells of her personal journey to "search for Jesus" in the midst of our Crazy Christmas Culture.
Find out how the Lord reveals himself to those who will diligently seek him.
This talk is best at a Ladies Christmas banquet/Luncheon.
These are just a few of the topics that Paula speaks on, and she welcomes the opportunity to seek God for a specific message for your body of believers. Or, if you would prefer, Paula is happy to design a series of talks that pertain to your specific retreat/conference theme.
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