You bought what???

Those were the words my husband said over the phone to me last Wednesday. He was driving 12 hours home from a business trip to Florida, and I was trying out my new toys. I bought a pair of roller blades. Now mind you, I am 45 years old and I have never been on roller blades before. He was slightly concerned and mostly shocked at what he thought was my momentary loss of consciousness.

Me on the other hand, I was having a blast. We have a rather steep hill on our street, by the time I had worked my way to the top I too was questioning my decision. All of my children and several of the neighborhood children were joining me on this adventure. The girls were all complaining, I quickly reminded them that this pain was necessary to keep their girlish figures.

I now have faithfully gone roller blading every other day since my purchase. I have fallen a couple of times, no major injuries to report. I am getting much better (at least more stable), the hill is now manageable and if the pain I feel in certain muscle groups is any indication this should be a good choice for exercise.

I have given the prayer walk a bit of a twist. I now take a prayer blading stroll in the morning.
I figure I need all the protection I can get. Seriously, it is quite an enjoyable activity. I know it is good for my heart in more than one way.

What kind of crazy things have you done in the name of exercise?
Blessings,

Story Time

Many of the Proverbs 31 Speakers are inviting people to share stories on their blogs about their experience at the She Speak Conference. Glynnis is doing a give a way, so please leave me a story, but head over to Glynnis's and get in the drawing.

I had the great pleasure of seeing a few of the ladies from previous She Speaks this year.

Below is a picture of myself, with Cheri Bunch and Joy Brown. They were in my group the same year as Amy Carroll, who is now on our team. We have all stayed in touch. Joy was very hesitant about flying here from Canada. God held her hand, literally, by providing an old school friend to sit beside her and come to She Speaks as well.

I was also blessed by having my church's women's ministry leader attend the conference this year. She also happens to be our pastor's mom. I love Lou so much. She is an incredible inspiration and a true Titus 2 woman. I always tell her that when I grow up I want to be like her.

I also "took one for the team". At least that is how Marybeth described it. I was hosting a break out for Wendy Pope. We discovered that one handout was not in the attendees books. I took off running to the front desk to get 130 copies and get back before the session ended. I had forgotten the fact that I had two cups of coffee and had not been to the potty!!! After having four children, the bladder does not hold like it used to. Let's just say, I had to go change clothes.


So now it is your turn.

Blessings,

Trying to catch my breath

Oh My Goodness!! What a weekend. She Speaks 2008 was incredible. I left exhausted and charged up all at the same time.

I did manage to catch a very quick nap when I returned home. That was a miracle in itself because my husband had to drop the children off at the hotel for me to take over while he had to travel to Florida. Thanks to my children for allowing me that rest time.

Every year those of us on the team are always so excited to see what God has in store. The attendees (those coming for the first time at least) think they are coming to learn about speaking, writing, women's ministry leadership, or training the next generation; and we know they are really in for complete life change. This year was no different.

I am so thankful for all of the breakthroughs that happened this past weekend. I am humbled to be even a small part of the process.

Here is a picture of the team on Friday before the official beginning of the conference.
You could not miss us in our teal. It turned out to be a blessing. With 560 women pouncing on the hotel for the conference all at once; it was a real help for them to know who to ask a question of.

The break out sessions were a ton of fun and full of great insight. Then of course there was the speaker evaluation groups. Here is a picture below.


There is Julie, Lynn, Janel, Heather, Paige (aka Sadie), Barbara, me, Cricket, Lori, Joyce, Nancy. Not pictured is Cindi and Cinderella.








I am only a little prejudice, I had the best group of ladies.




Pictured at the left is Sadie. This was the alter ego of Paige. We all laughed so hard, but she offered some great wisdom with the humor.

Zoe look out, she could give you a run for the "princess" title.

I told you I have the best group!!!







I love Saturday nights presentations because it is as though we have been to 12 mini retreats in one and a half hours. The messages these ladies deliver each year are incredible.

My cheers to each of you.


This year God showed up even before the attendees did. Our conference director from the hotel, Floyd was told he needed a emergency root canal, before he left we prayed for him. At the dentist office he was told he no longer needed one!!!! He came back elated and shared with many of the hotel staff. Our prayer room was often frequented by hotel staff wanting to experience God too. What an powerful testimony. The hotel was full of other events, and our book table was visited by many of them. On Sunday morning I encouraged several guests that were standing outside of the ball room during praise and worship to come in and join us.

God definitely stretched our borders this weekend.

I have to send a special thanks to Doug and his family. Doug was one of our technical guys. His father had a massive heart attack and suffered a ruptured aorta while we were at the conference. We immediately prayed and then gave Doug permission to go. He refused. He said his dad was fine where he was, the other members of his family were with him; and that he, Doug, was doing exactly what he needed to be doing. What an incredible servant he is. I pray that God will stop time and allow Doug the opportunity to be with his father.

My love and blessings to everyone that was with us this past weekend.

My Scribble Scrabbled Heart

If you are coming from the Proverbs #1 Ministries daily devotion welcome. Click on this link to read the story that inspired today's devotion. If you have not read the devotion click here to read today's devotion and to begin receiving this incredible free daily encouragement.

Here is a picture of Sarah (with her wake up hair this morning)





I find that anytime you have your eyes open to a nugget of wisdom the opportunity for testing will be readily available.

Last night I was flying home from Toronto Canada after several very long days of working. I knew I would have customs to deal with so I packed (crammed) everything into a carry on bag to avoid baggage pick up. My flight was full and we boarded by zones. My zone was last. As I rolled my suitcase onto the plane the flight attendant told me I was going to have to gate check my bag and it would be in baggage claim when we arrived. I promptly informed him that my bag was small enough to fit in the overhead compartment and it came to Canada that way (I had a bit of attitude with my statement)!! I sat in my seat still feeling frustrated my luggage no longer in my hand. The gentlemen beside my asked my if I had children; when I mentioned Sarah the realization of today's devotion hit me.

My actions, words, and tone of voice a few minutes prior had added some "scribble scrabble" to my heart. I had to reach for the "eraser". I apologized to the flight attendant for being snippy and short with him.

I quietly thanked God for loving me enough to correct me. I also suggested to Him that because I was so tired it might be a good idea not to present me with anymore opportunities.

I should know better than to do that. I parked my car in a business valet section of our airport (it is a safe parking solution when I am traveling by myself); when I arrived at the lot the attendant informed me that whomever had parked it left the lights on (for 4 days) and I now had a dead battery. This time I held back my immediate first thoughts and responded with kindness; the car was jump started and I made it home.

As you go through your day today I pray that you would listen to the Holy Spirit's convictions and if you put some messy lines in your heart quickly erase them.

For those of you coming to She Speaks next week I can not wait to see you. We are praying for all of you.

Blessings,

Making the best of being on the road again!!

I am visiting our northern neighbors this weekend. I am in beautiful Toronto, Canada. I am here working for several days, but the weather is wonderful and the scenery is breathtaking. My hotel is overlooking Lake Ontario, it is wonderful. Joy, I know you are up here somewhere, do you live near Toronto?

I have to share how much fun it has been meeting people from other parts of the world these past two weeks. I have been so blessed by many of them.

Knowing I was going to be spending time away from my family, I purposed to find Jesus everywhere I have to go, and also to be Jesus to someone too.

Last week on my return trip from Puerto Rico I was asked to switch seats so a mother and her child could sit together. I immediately said yes with out any concern and found myself in first class.

Today the line for customs was impossibly long, people were not very happy. There was a child I kept passing as we wound our way through the people maze (like the one's at theme parks), who got very fussy after awhile. Her parents were so embarrassed, I took the time to encourage them that any one of us with children had empathy and were secretly thankful our children were not with us (because we would be them).

The next few days hold long hours and many opportunities for frustrations with crowds of people attending a medical conference. I however, am determined to find Jesus in others and also be Jesus to someone else.

How about you? Take some time to share your light.
Blessings,