When It's Quiet (memory verse challenge #3)

It's quiet around here right now.

Chad has taken advantage of the beautiful day and hit the park for a run. The girls are riding bikes, and playing basketball with their friends down the street. It's me and the dog. (Who is whimpering like crazy because he catches a glimpse of the girls on their bikes every few minutes.)

It is so quiet and today I do not like it. Too many thoughts running through my head. Too many concerns, and for me concerns easily turn to worry if I'm not careful.

It all started when I looked at my calender this morning. January was full. All good things, but F.U.L.L. We are one day away from February and each weekend is already full. When did that happen?!?!?! Don't get me wrong, we have some fun stuff planned, and we are really looking forward to the company we are expecting, but my goodness the month is going to fly by!

So here I sit in this quiet, a little overwhelmed, already feeling some stress and I hear Him. He's whispering my favorite verse of all time. It will be my next LPM Memory verse challenge verse because I need to spend the next two weeks meditating on it.

It's Deuteronomy 33:12

"Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rest between his shoulders."

Between His shoulders. Is there any better place?

A Shameless Plug for Our Favorite Cousin

Chad's sweet and beautiful cousin Emily (on left in the picture above) and her handsome husband Jeffrey are making their television debut tonight.

Last summer after J. finished law school, they moved back to our hometown. At some point in the process they were approached by TLC to be on an episode of "My First Home".

SOOOOO, if you want to see a precious couple and a little bit of a beautiful city...check out TLC tonight at 9:00 est.

(I love this photo of Emily and Emma at Emily and Jeffrey's rehearsal dinner.)





Have a great Saturday!

Playing Dress Up

Monday morning after we waved goodbye to our weekend guests, the girls and I settled in for some morning chores, a little school and just general fun. (we did not observe MLK day last week so we could have a fun day this week)

Not long after I sent the girls upstairs to gather laundry, I heard giggles, squeals and then one of them said..."Let's put them on!". They came to the top of the stairs each wearing a jacket and carrying the rest of Fran's hanging clothes.

I grabbed my phone took a picture sent it to Fran asking if she forgot anything. :) Then grabbed my camera to take a 'real' picture. It was just too fun not to.



While Chloe has grown out of the playing dress up stage, Emma is STILL there. (This is the child that becomes Panty Girl when she thinks we need a laugh.) It was funny to watch them oh so carefully take Mrs. Fran's jackets off and hang them up.

While the girls were strutting their stuff in these very fine jackets...my mind got to thinking about how cute they looked. You can see the jackets are LONG, but the arms are what were so funny to me. The sleeves hung down around their little knees. They didn't fit...no way...as much as my girls pretended that they did...Mrs. Fran's jackets were not made for them.

Later in the afternoon I was preparing my notes to lead Bible study on Tuesday evening. (Sidenote: my ministry team Freedom's Call is doing a Bible study geared toward artists...they asked me to lead this one.) This was the first week and the chapter title was "How to keep your passion alive."

Deep in that first chapter the author talks about our Christian life being an adventure, a one of a kind God planned adventure. Our ministry team has a specific adventure that God has planned just for us. YOU have a specific God planned adventure! However, sometimes we are so captivated by someone else's adventure that we miss our own. You know what I mean?

We look at someone else and think I want to do THAT. Why can't I do that? I'm just as talented, just as capable...I could probably do a better job.... Are you still with me? Maybe it's just me that does that!

My point is this. Just like Chloe and Emma put on Mrs. Fran's jackets, and pretended to be her, those jackets did not fit. They would not have been able to wear them for very long without getting frustrated. The sleeves would have been in everything, they would have tripped because those jackets hung down around their little feet. It would have been a big ole mess and I would have had two VERY miserable little girls on my hands.

Same thing in life. When we try to force ourselves into a ministry, or position that God has not planned for us, it isn't going to work. It won't fit. We are going to be miserable.

God has quite an adventure planned for you. It's tailored to fit YOU and only you. If you are too busy trying to make it look like another person's ministry, then what God desires to do through you will not be done, and an important part of the body of Christ will be missing.

So today, can I challenge you to put on the jacket God designed for you to wear? Just try it and see what happens.

Praise Jesus

I'm amazed, tired, happy, filled, and more in love with Jesus.

This weekend was absolutely incredible. We all know that Travis Cottrell is one gifted worship leader who ALWAYS leads you to the throne room, BUT...

Last night..girls there were a few times I thought..."we are fixing to see Jesus!" It was incredible. Our Savior was glorified. BUY THIS CD or DVD when it comes out this summer! You will love it. :)

It was a double treat to experience this weekend with a few of my blogging friends, most of us met in San Antonio last August. We were SO excited to have a few days to visit in person again. There were also some new "siesta's" that I was just blessed to meet.

I was just tickled pink to have Fran, Patty and Georgia stay with me this weekend. We were up talking until the wee hours of the morning Friday and Saturday evening. I don't think I'll ever forget our prayer time at 1:45 A.M. Saturday morning. Powerful and precious...thanks girls. :)

We so enjoyed worship at First Baptist Woodstock Sunday morning, then visited with our siesta's over a wonderful lunch on campus. We had a nice little surprise...you'll see her in the pictures below.

Once again, I have to say thank you to my man. He was so willing to open our home to my friends for this crazy, busy weekend. He did the grocery shopping for me on Friday so I didn't have to go out..he planned all sorts of fun things for the girls and he to do...got them to church, fed them lunch and then back to church for choir on Sunday and then did ALL the weekend laundry while I was hanging with my girlfriends all day Sunday. On top of all of that...he text messaged us Sunday morning to tell us he was praying for us. Thanks Chad...love you.

Now for the pictures...:) THAT ARE NOT POSTING IN THE ORDER THAT I LOADED THEM!!!!

Angela, Kara and I at lunch on Sunday afternoon. It was SO good to see these two again. I miss my Chattanooga girls!!!


One of the hard things about this weekend was that Bethanne from Waiting for the Shout was not able to be here..especially since HER DAD IS ON STAFF AT FBW!!!!! We ate lunch in the room next door to his office. :)



Saturday night at Ipp's for dinner....G & G. Aren't they beautiful!



Friday night we celebrated Fran's February b'day. Chloe and Emma even gave me the okay to let her wear the b'day crown. She kept it on a LONG time after we were done with the cake! Patty and Georgia brought her a "precious" 2-liter of coke. :)



All she needed was a scepter...


Hanging out at church Sunday afternoon waiting....



Why Yes! That is who you think it is. She surprised us at lunch. She is holding that Moose that apparently is now shipped to wherever a group of Siesta's get together..poor moose.








Enough pictures I know...there will be one more group shot that I will add once I can snag it from one of my siesta's... :)

This weekend was a gift from God. He spoke some things into my heart that I could not have heard anywhere else. How I love Him.

Weekend of Fun

Can I just tell you how excited I am!!!

I'm sitting in my kitchen taking a break...I'm waiting on three pretty neat siesta's to pull in my driveway! We've been waiting for this weekend since before Christmas! Come to think of it...it feels like Christmas!!!!

I may or may not blog this weekend, but there WILL be some pictures up here soon! We are looking forward to dinner Saturday night with so many of YOU!!! It's always fun to put a face and a real hug with a name. Speaking of which...

This afternoon, I briefly met Charlotte at the mall...she baked a very yummy smelling loaf of cranberry/pecan bread for us to share in the morning...if it makes it that long!! Something tells me we may need a snack come 9:00 tonight! Charlotte...I'm kicking myself that I didn't have my camera!!!! SUNDAY okay?
Thank you SO much for doing that for us. That was so sweet!

As much as I'm looking forward to all my siesta's..I'm even more excited about worshipping together led by our favorite worship leader Travis Cottrell. It's going to be one incredible evening. I'm just beside myself to worship with these ladies again!


Break is over...I want to make a batch of brownies before they get here...at some point this weekend I'm sure one of us will need something chocolate.

See some of you this weekend!!!

Rejection thoughts...

Like many of you, I'm doing the Esther study right now. I'm in week two and loving it. I finished week one right as I was packing and leaving for the retreat last weekend. One thing from week one that really stuck out in my mind was how fast King Headache (Xerxes) was to dismiss Queen Vashti from his life. Just did away with her...she didn't do what he asked and was done with her.

Rejected. This beautiful woman was just dismissed, done away with. I wondered what happened to her. Where did she go? Did they execute her, or allow her to return to her family? Did she leave that mansion and hide the rest of her life?

If we girls were really honest with each other, we all know that sting of rejection. Dismissal. The "I'm done with you and moving on" feelings. Whether those wounds are given by a boyfriend, a spouse, or one of your good girl friends, it hurts.

While the word "reject" was not the focus of last weekend's retreat, I heard several ladies touch on it. Some had just lost their jobs and even though it was all based on the economy, it was still rejection. It still hurt. Other's were more private matters that were not completely voiced out loud, but you could see in those beautiful eyes that rejection was at the heart of the matter.

Since I have been home, I have received a few e-mails from women going through some sort of rejection. Everything from family circumstances to work or ministry related rejection. Let me say something.. even when it feels like you have been dropped off on a street corner and those closest to you (the ones you should be able to trust the most) have forgotten to come back for you...GOD CARES. HE IS STILL THERE. HE HAS NOT LEFT YOU. It's against His nature remember He said "I will never leave you or forsake you!" You are not forgotten.

I can't help but think of Psalm 27 especially verses 7-10. Verse 10 says.. "For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in." (ESV)

Do you need to personalize that for you today..maybe "My employer has replaced me, let me go, but the Lord will take me in." or "I wasn't chosen to be part of that ministry team...but God will take me in!" "My husband has left, but my Lord will take me in."

Oh sweet friends, don't allow that hurt and disappointment to make you bitter! All that does is fuel the enemy. You take that hurt right to the One who knows you better than anyone. TELL HIM you are hurt, disappointed and need his comfort. Let Him be the lifter of your head. Be still and quiet enough to hear Him sing over you. It may be the hardest thing you do today, but it will be the BEST thing you do.


I love Psalm 91:11-16. Verses 14-16 say the following

"Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him. I will protect him because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation."

Now...if you are feeling like you need to hear from HIM...replace each he or him with your name and read it again...OUT LOUD.

God will be with YOU in trouble. In pain, in rejection, in loss. He is there.

Let Him satisfy you today. I promise if you let Him, He will.

What A Day

The girls and I have spent today doing something we normally don't do. We had the t.v. on most ALL day. We brought a few of our textbooks downstairs and worked in them, but for the most part we watched the Inauguration activities and ceremony. I wanted them to see this historical day.

We talked quite a bit the pomp and tradition and how incredible our country is. But the one thing we spent the most time talking about was how important it is to respect those in authority. How it is very important to pray that they will have hearts and ears that listen to God.

Since my girls are the same ages as the President's daughters, they of course were watching them carefully. They loved their outfits and talked about how hard it would be to have everyone watch their every move. But also how cool it would be to live in the White House.

When Rick Warren gave that prayer...I kind of got tickled at all the "amens" and "that's right" coming out of my little girls mouths! At one point, Chloe said something to the effect of mom he is praying scripture! HE IS SAYING THE WORD OF GOD IN FRONT OF THE WORLD!!! It was exciting to me to see that she caught on to that!

They got tickled at the "Queen of Soul's" hat. Emma thought it was a little to much. (And you know Emma...she is all about a good accessory!) They loved to hear her sing. :)

Chloe came up out of the chair she was in when they said "John Williams" had written a special piece...John Williams is our worship pastor.

Over all they loved the entire ceremony...except for the....

poem.

Here are their comments on the poem:

"Why does she pause after each word...it's so choppy I feel like we are in the car and you are slamming on the brakes."

"Mom, if we wrote something like that for school you would give us a "D" for DULL!"

"Did they ask her to do this last night or something?"


I don't think anything else needs to be said! I explained that she had poured her heart into that poem and it was special to her...please don't make fun of her work.

They laughed at me.

Okay, enough about our day....my family will be home from karate in 15 minutes and I need to finish dinner! No time to proof read!!!

Hugs to you!