Deborah Smith Pegues is a bestselling author of 16 transformational books, speaker, CPA/MBA, and founder/CEO of The Pegues Group, Inc., a boutique church financial consulting firm based in Southern California. Her book, 30 Days To Taming Your Tongue (over 1 million copies sold) has revolutionized conversations around the world. She hosts a weekly TV program, Winning with Deborah, on the TBN Salsa Network …where people turn to learn practical ways to apply the Word of God. Follow Deborah on FB: Deborah Smith Pegues, blog: http://www.confrontingissues.com/blog, or sign up for her book excerpts and “News, Nuggets, and Nudgings” at ConfrontingIssues.com.
Kathleen Cooke: What’s the one thing you’d like to share with women that God has recently taught you?
Deborah Pegues: The Holy Spirit is constantly reminding me to rest my confidence in the all-sufficient God rather than in my experience, intellect, or connections. During my career, I have invested heavily in courses to perfect my technical, relational, and social skills only to find that eventually a assignment or situation was greater than my ability to respond. What a relief it has been to show up in any situation totally relying on the grace of God to prevail. He has never failed me—and He gets all the glory.
Kathleen: What’s the one thing you’d like more women to know about that could improve the quality of their life?
Deborah: Although women are excelling in many areas of society from politics to business, still too many are failing miserably when it comes to handling their finances. Some women have simply resigned themselves to the fact that they just do not “have a head for figures” and put their trust in others to handle this key area. I’d like to see women abandon this mindset and take steps to learn more about investments, and begin to understand financial jargon and other aspects of money in order to make the financial decisions that improve the quality and stability of their future.
Kathleen: What have you learned about forgiveness especially when you’ve been wronged?
Deborah: When my six male siblings turned against me because my father selected me to be the executrix of his Will, I learned that I needed more than a strong resolve to forgive, to let go of the anger I felt when they falsely accused me. I needed Divine assistance. By the grace of God, I stopped rehearsing the offense and chose to become the peacemaker. It worked. Today, my first response to an offense is to immediately say, “I release that.” I cannot afford to wait for a positive feeling or an apology to begin to pray for the offender. I cling to Romans 8:28 which assures me God will bring something good out of all my adversities.
Kathleen: We all impact others lives, but what’s the one thing you’ve learned about influence?
Deborah: What I have learned about influence is that it carries a heavy responsibility because others are watching your behavior to emulate it. I would hate to think that I caused someone to stumble because I fumbled. Further, influence brings a hoard of people who want to “pick your brain” and know the secret to your success. Managing these requests can put a strain on your already limited time. A key strategy is to have answers to frequently asked questions already written or recorded and ready to be shared electronically at the press of a button.