Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Turners! May you and your family have a joyful Christmas Day and a blessed New Year!

I Believe

One of my favorite things to do during the Christmas holidays is to watch Christmas movies. The old ones, the new ones, dvds or on tv. I know they're mostly sappy, chick flicks, but it makes me happy to curl up with a warm blanket, a fire and watch a good story.



This year I noticed a theme in the ones I watched. Almost without exception the main character was told to believe, they had to believe or nothing they wanted would come true. The belief was in something mythical and magical. Of course by the end of each movie, they believed.


As much as these movies are good, they miss the true meaning of Christmas. The baby Jesus came for you and me that we might believe in Him and have a life with Him forever. John 20:31 says these things were written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name. (NIV) I believe Jesus came as a baby to Earth, grew to a man, died on a cross and rose again to redeem me, to save me and to live with me forever. And He did it for you too. The question is Do You Believe?

Enjoy Natalie Grant singing a beautiful song about this very thing.

Truffles

Go ahead and call me Martha, or since I'm a southern gal, you can call me Paula Deen!!

These were the best little truffles...and so easy to make. Go here for the recipe. No baking required.

Best compliment--my 10yr old daughter saying "Moma my mouth is still watering. Can I have another one?"

He Loves Us

Last Monday, I gave the devotional for our morning time with the ladies in Puerto Rico. God had really impressed on my heart to talk about how much He loves us. The devotion was based on John 3:16 and we talked about how God gave Jesus for us because He loved us. It wasn't because He was disappointed in us or He didn't like what He saw, but simply because He loved us and wanted a relationship with us. Early in my life I believed that God's love was conditional and He was keeping a list of my mistakes. Thankfully that's not how God works. Romans 8:1 says there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. God is not suprised by my weaknesses or mistakes. He knows and He loves me anyway!

One of my favorite moments during the devotion came toward the end. I was repeating John 3:16 and before the interpreter could start, one lady, Julia, began to say it back to me in Spanish. My heart could barely take it; God's word is universal, all-powerful and all-encompassing. As the week would go on, Julia would be the very image of God's unconditional love to us. She served us, she cared for us, she protected us, she made us laugh, she made us cry. No doubt God will use her and her story to grow His kingdom. I am forever grateful to have been in her presence and to have learned from her example. Thanks Julia for loving me like Jesus.

Puerto Rico

Last week I went to Puerto Rico on my first mission trip. There were 7 of us (perfect number) and we worked at a women's shelter. We arrived late Friday night to a foyer full of women, strangers to me. At first they all seemed to speak Spanish and had lollipops in their mouths! I wondered what they were thinking about us. I wondered what was I doing there; really I wanted to get on the van and go back to the airport. Then it happened-connection.

An older lady sitting on the end of a bench began to talk to the lady sitting next to her. They were looking at me. Then they yelled across the room to another lady and she looked at me. They were smiling and agreeing about something that seemed to be good. Nidia, our leader, translated to me that they thought I looked like Karen, a missionary who had been there before.

I have no idea who Karen is, but I am grateful for her today. Her name and face helped to make a connection when I was most scared, most unsure and most vulnerable on this mission. God knew my feet were ready to bolt and He reached out to me through strangers, to assure me that He loves me and that He called me to this mission.

Over the next few posts, I hope to share how God worked in my life and how He allowed me to work in His kingdom, for His glory.

Family Traditions

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and this year was no different. Growing up, my grandparent's home was the place where everyone gathered for bar-b-que on Thanksgiving Eve and turkey dinner on Thanksgiving day. There were sometimes 100 people are more gathered at my grandparents for the weekend and we would have the most fun.

Thanksgiving 2008 was the first one without my grandparents, so I entered into it a little sad and anxious about keeping all the traditions going. The number of people coming around has dwindled, but I must say we still had a great time. Bar-b-que on Wednesday was awesome, turkey dinner was incredible on Thursday and the shopping went on as usual on Friday morning.
(We, the ladies, leave in the dark a.m. and return in the dark p.m.!)

Favorite moment: My husband saying this has become his favorite time of year! I love that he gets that this was my favorite time ever growing up and now it's his too.

Funniest moment: My cousin wondering who puts wire in a size A bra...my other cousin saying to her if you need underwire in size A you've got other issues!! What were they thinking?!?!

Hardest moment: Leaving.

Rare Treat

This past Sunday we had a great service at church. Really every Sunday is great, but this one had an added bonus. Our pastor interviewed Rev. Clarence Jett. I think he said he was 94 years old!! The interview was about how to grow in your faith, live out your faith and share your faith.
Sadly this kind of wisdom from simply living life is hard to find in today's contemporary church.
So as someone embarking on the second half of this life (hopefully!), it was encouraging and inspiring to hear the wisdom of Rev. Jett.

My take away from him: God is there, all the time, no matter what. Simple, yet so profound for the busy life and world I tend to live in. Weed out the noise and listen for the still, small voice of God. He is there.

You can listen to the whole interview, Still Standing, Part 3 "Know", here.

Monday mornings

Monday's are hard for me. Monday mornings are disastrous! This morning I put coffee in my son's cereal. I guess we all know that milk is warm, dark colored and sitting on the counter!
Then when I totally thought of returning to bed, I put the kids in the car to take them to school. Unfortunately, I drove right past the street leading to the school and was headed to Curves to work out! I realized they were still with me at the next intersection. They never made a peep.
Crazy kids.....crazier mother!

Stay tuned, Tuesday has got to be better.

The Day After

Today was an odd day for me. I'm beginning to think for many of my friends and family too. All day either in conversation or e-mails there was a sense of dismay, disbelief and sometimes distrust. Mostly the feelings were around the presidential election outcome. Although I woke up today trying to let myself go into this abyss over all things political, I decided not to go there!

As I spent some time with God, my devotional led me to Peter's story of being tested in Luke 22. In verse 31, Jesus lets Peter know that he's about to be tested by Satan. The good news is in the next verse where Jesus also lets Peter know that He's prayed for him and that He believes Peter will be faithful. Jesus says, "And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." Jesus could have said if, but He didn't. Peter belongs to Jesus and He knows Peter's heart for him. And because I belong to Jesus, He knows me, He prays for me and He believes in me. That changed my outlook for today and off I went. God's word has a way of doing that if we let it.

Unfortunately not everyone I talked to or heard from had read Peter's story this morning! There are serious concerns about our future, the economy and the wars. So as I thought about all this more throughout today, several verses came to mind. Hopefully these will encourage you to remember that God was God yesterday and He is God today and He will be God tomorrow.

Psalm 42:5a "Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God."NIV

Isaiah 55:8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord."NIV

Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."NIV

Vote!

I voted yesterday. In the great state of Georgia, we have early voting. Since schools are closed on election day, I decided to take advantage of standing in-line by myself versus standing in line with two children for who knows how long!! Thankfully I had a short adventure; I waited about 90 minutes. My husband went on Monday and he waited...3 hours and 45 minutes.

It really didn't matter to me how long it took, because I am thrilled to have the opportunity to vote. I stood in the booth for a minute and just thanked God. No matter who wins the election, history is made. To be a part of that is an honor.

So no matter where you are, don't miss the opportunity. Go vote!

United Tour

Last Friday my husband took me to see the United Tour for my birthday. The Tour is a combo of Steven Curtis Chapman (SCC) and Michael W. Smith (MWS). Since the day I heard it was happening, I had been anxiously awaiting the night they would come through Atlanta.

We have been fans of their music for quite some time and as fellow 40 somethings, it was fun to see them on stage together, FINALLY!!! The night left me with a lot of thoughts and brought back some great memories of my days volunteering at their concerts. Steve and I actually got engaged one Saturday afternoon in Chattanooga and then volunteered at an SCC concert that night. Good times.

SCC was awesome and his message was such a living example of Philippians 4:13. "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." (NIV) My hope is that I never just rotely sing along with Steven's music again. The words have so much more meaning now for him and his family; I want to respect that, to honor God and His provision for them.

MWS blew me away! First what an incredible friend he is to SCC. I'm sure it's a mutual friendship. He was so gracious and supportive...it just left me with the impression that he would take care of his friend. Hard to explain it here...guess you had to be there!

Secondly, MWS shared about a transition in his life that occurred when he began to see God as his Abba Father. I actually pulled out a pen and started writing this down in the DARK! Thankfully it was legible.

Galatians 4:6,7 says "Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, Abba, Father. So you are no longer a slave, but a son..."(NIV)

MWS talked about realizing how much God, his Daddy, loved him, liked him, and was even fond of him. This allowed him to stop performing for God and to start responding to God. And then he sang some amazing new songs off of his new album, "A New Halleighlujah!"

It was a fun night and my favorite moment was seeing SCC and MWS on the stage together, playing each other's instruments, singing each other's songs. Amazing talents, amazing gifts. Thanks God for giving them a platform to share it with us.

Showering me with Love!

Hannah, our daughter, went on a 5th grade trip this past week, 3 days/2 nights. As I said in the last post, it was a trial for me, MOM! Hannah knows I get crazy when she's away, so she decided to show me some love. Tuesday morning we got a message on our machine. Don't miss it; it's short and sweet!

"HELLO...o-k, good bye."

I had to listen to it twice, to even realize it was her! She's not the "showering with love" kind of girl...a sprinkle at most. My husband and I cracked up. Hannah is true to her motto, "You get what you get and you don't pitch a fit!"

Mighty Warrior

One afternoon last week Joshua was out playing with some other neighborhood boys. He came home and I noticed he was upset. As I asked him what was wrong, I could see his lips quivering and he was holding his arm. During a Star Wars light saber fight, one of the boys had hit him several times on the arm and left quite a mark. The mother instinct in me, o-k animal instinct, came out and I lost it. Immediately I yelled out the front door for the kid, as he ran home. My son needed to be comforted, so I came back inside. But I couldn't let it go.


We sat down for dinner, and I was still fuming. How could someone hurt my son? When the other kids said to stop, why didn't he? Where was my daughter and why hadn't she defended her brother? Why wasn't my husband calling his parents? As you can see, I went a little crazy.


Later that night I was reminded of a verse I had studied earlier in the week.

"The Lord your God is among you, a warrior who saves. he will rejoice over you with gladness. He will bring you quietness with His love. He will delight in you with shouts of joy." Zephaniah 3:17 HCSB

In my notes I had written, God is with us, He is not on the sidelines. He's a mighty warrior in the battle, fighting for us. He will also quiet us and calm us with His love. I began to realize that as much as I trusted God to fight for me and to comfort me, I didn't trust Him to do that for our children.

So this week, I have round two of this lesson! My daughter is on a 3day/2night school trip and I'm not with her. Thankfully, she and our son know God and He is with them. He is their mighty warrior! Is he yours?

Worship

Worship- do you get distracted when you're worshipping? I do; either by my preoccupation with something or by someone else. Over the past several weeks at church I've experienced some interruptions during our worship time. It didn't occur to me until this week that this has become somewhat of a pattern when I attend church. So now I'm a little annoyed because we have some incredible worship music at my church and I really enjoy it. And when I miss it, I feel like I've been robbed.

Here are a few examples:

• Person in front of me kept turning around. (I thought maybe I forgot to put on a shirt-my husband assured me that was not the case!)


• Lovey-dovey couple sits in front of me (They probably should've stayed home, if you get my drift.)


• Person next to me starts texting on their phone (Could it really be that important?)

Now before the two people who read this send me a note, I realize that at any given point in my life this could've been me distracting someone else. Except the text messaging part...I'm not that cool!

But really, how do we keep our focus on God, on honoring Him, on worshipping the one we came to worship? I have a tiny bit of a clue about what it takes to put together a "table of worship" and so I want to come prepared on Sunday mornings to enjoy it with my church family. So how about you-how do you keep your focus during worship time?

September Sprint continues

This week was crazy! It started with softball, baseball, practice, games, batting cages, uniforms, hitting, not hitting, pitching, not pitching...it was all quite exhilirating really! I love watching my kids connect with these sports. I'm competitive and love me some good sports...too old to participate anymore, but I can definitely cheer them on.


Our kids also decided to take on some new activities this week. Our daughter tried out for the school chorus and made it. Go girl! Our son wants to join the Cub Scouts...go daddy! I'm sure that the male half of our house will enjoy some camping and cookouts, but not the girls.


Wednesday my Gather and Grow group met and we discussed our first lessons in Can We Talk by Priscilla Shirer. We had a few new people and God is just blowing my mind with these ladies! Each day covered a different relationship and how our words affect those we converse with. Our spouses, our children, other family members and friends, God, anyone we come in contact with can be affected by our words. We need to make the way we speak to each other worthy, not worthless.

Thursday I participated in probably my favorite event that our church does. It's called The Clothesline and we give away gently used clothes. I helped to sort some of the clothes for a few hours Thursday morning. I heard today that Saturday morning when the doors opened, it was packed. How awesome to see God's love at work. Makes me proud to go to NorthStar.

Saturday was my Mom's birthday. It had been a tough family week for us and we did not get to be together. We lost a very young family member to Tropical Storm Hanna earlier in the week, and everyone was just holding on. Apparently this was the only known US casualty from that storm, so it brought about some extra attention. Really could have done without that.


Today I helped present a seminar at church on Quiet Times. Mainly we dealt with how to have that daily time with God. It is such a humbling experience to think that God would use us to help further someone's walk with Him, to strengthen His Kingdom. I am honored and privileged to serve with Randy Elster, the pastor of the GrowthStarts ministry. Check out the blog...Randy always has some good information and encouragement for our faith journey.


Lastly, I attended the 11:00am worship service. Today's sermon was about finding the greatest treasure, becoming part of the Kingdom of God. I was left speechless, amazed by the grace of God. It was an incredible way to start this week.

September Sprint

O-K so my church just finished a series called August Rush. And now I think I've entered the September Sprint. School started, baseball and softball started, my Gather and Grow group started and life is just busy. Not out of control, but definitely takes some organization with all the tests, practices, games and meetings.
The challenge is to not forget the lessons learned in August Rush. The biggest one for me is to not let my relationships go in my haste to get things done. Not with God, my family or my friends. Keeping my quiet time with God a top priority is a must when things get crazy. Also, having dinner with my family. This is our one time of day to connect and catch up. Our kids are still young, so while we can keep this habit we are!

How about you? How do you handle the September Sprint?

Routines

Someone should have warned me that leaving behind your workout routine for the summer can be dangerous. This week my children went back to school and so I started going back to my local Curves. Mercy, isn't there a warning label required for this stuff? My whole body aches!

The first day I was there, two ladies came in behind me. They're the Olympic kind of exercise Mommas...you know the ones that are not just going for gold, but the world record too. So in order to catch up on how our summers had been, they got on the circuit right behind me.
Thus I had to keep pace with them. It was not pretty people; it was painful and I sweated more than I ever did laying by the pool. My red face wasn't a sunburn, but all the blood in my body wondering what was I thinking.

Surely this will all get better next week. Stay tuned.

Uno Attack

Uno Attack has become a family game for us over the past few months. The goal in the game is to be the first person out of cards. Recently while playing, my son got a card that allowed him to exchange hands with someone else. The strategy is usually to exchange hands with the person holding the least amount of cards. He suprised us and exchanged cards with his Dad, who had most of the deck! Joshua had decided that he and his Dad were on a team. And it was his responsibility to help him out.


This morning I saw something on tv that reminded me of how Joshua thought of the game. I was watching the GMA interview with Steven Curtis Chapman and his family. One of his sons, Caleb, said that when you see someone hurting, someone with a burden, you want to take that away. You'd rather endure the pain than watch them go through it. That is a huge life lesson from such a young man.

I don't know that Joshua, at six years old, thought through his decision. He just definitely wanted to help his Dad out. This kind of sacrificial love, coming from two completely different places in life, baffles me. One from a simple card game, the other from a life altering tragedy.


This is how I want to live my life. To recognize the needs of others and spend time everyday helping to lift them. It's not at all how I play Uno Attack.

Uno Attack is indeed a game, and let's just say the Turner girls are competitive. Hannah and I spent most of the game trying to cause each other to get more cards, skip a turn or changing the colors. It's not pretty, but we're a work in progress; every day in need of God's grace!


(If you'd like to see the GMA interview with the Chapmans, click here.)

Empty Me

Here is a link to my new favorite song, Empty Me. And for those American Idol fans, yes that is Chris Sligh!


Enjoy.

Faith Zone Challenge #1

The first faith challenge that Tracie Miles gave us was to have a consistent quiet time with God for 30 minutes. Thankfully I've been working through a devotional for my quiet time this summer, so consistency was the challenge for me. As I said in my earlier post today, the summer is erratic and I seem to make a series of spontaneous decisions daily! The kids have constant questions about what we're doing, what we're eating, can we go here and there, etc, etc. Mostly these things are simple, but the volume sometimes wears me down!

In my devotional the last couple of days, the scripture passages have been in Luke 5 and Jesus is very busy. He's teaching, preaching, healing and he's providing food! Many are hearing about all that Jesus is doing and are coming to see him too. In this constant parade of people in need, Jesus isn't worn down. He continues to be loving and gracious towards everyone.
So what is the key to responding in love and grace as Jesus did? The last verse for today's devotional holds the answer, I think. It's verse 16 and it says "but Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." Prayer-it's the tank filler, the power that enables us to be Christlike.
Now if I can just find a lonely place; maybe a closet with a lock (at least until school starts!)

Faith Zone Challenge

I don't know about you, but summer's are hard for me spiritually. The schedule is a train wreck and all order seems to be missing. As one who thrives with order and structure, this is a challenge. I mean once we left the beach, vacation is over and I'm counting the days until school starts again. So I decided to join a challenge, a Faith challenge. If you're brave, and want some accountability in your spiritual growth, than check out Tracie Miles' blog here. Each day she's posting a new challenge, so sign up quick and get going!

"...So let's keep praying."

This weekend we watched a movie called "The List." We hadn't heard of it before, but it was rated PG and the setting was the South Carolina Low Country. So being a Carolina Low Country Girl, I thought it must be good! "The List" did not disappoint. In fact, there's this one scene that got my attention. So much so, that we stopped the movie in order to write the lines down. (The memory is not good these days, so you understand the urgency!)
In the scene an older, retired missionary lady is talking to a younger lady about her prayer room. She says to her, "One thing I've learned over the years is that God's people and God's enemies make the same mistake. They both underestimate the power of prayer. So let's keep praying."

I've been reading and thinking a lot about prayer lately, and this is a mistake I don't want to make. I've been learning that prayer is not just a one-time conversation in my day, it's on-going, continuous even. So in light of that, I'm going to keep on praying! Will you?

Deeper Still

This past weekend I had the privilege to attend Deeper Still in Atlanta with some girlfriends! We had a blast together; some girls I've known for a long time, some I've known for a little bit, but definitely all that I know better, deeper still now. Thank you God. I needed the retreat from the everyday stuff and it was wonderful.
I've been contemplating the whole weekend and what I should post about. There was incredible teaching from Priscilla Shirer (my personal favorite), Kay Arthur and Beth Moore. Praise and worship with Travis Cottrell, the LPL worship team and MANDISA! And 19,000 women from all over! You can go here, The All Access blog, from LifeWay and read some great posts about the teaching. Below are a few of my favorite WORDS from the weekend:

Priscilla Shirer

• Be exposed before the Lord; expect Him to heal you; open up!
• Fully and practically engage in surrender, obedience
• Practical obedience-saying yes without knowing the specifics
• True discernment is not just knowing right from wrong; but knowing right from almost right
• Quiet Time is not an hour of a day, but when the Word is engrained in our lives and we live it out.

Kay Arthur

• God is moving on Earth; not mother nature
• It is not the desire of God to bring judgement, but rather the necessity of His character.
• Marriage is a covenant-figure out how to live it out, glorifying God.
• Your ministry is on the other side of believing you've been purified.

Beth Moore

• Quiet Time is my personal time with God; not my preparation for study time.
• Marriage-make a deliberate choice to keep falling in love with your husband and keep doing it
• Some people don't want to be delivered; pray for their "want to" to change.

I am a huge note taker, so I have lots more, but these were my favorites. Thinking back over the weekend, God gave me one big take-away lesson-Everyday is an opportunity to go Deeper Still; don't miss it, make the most of it!

Mommy & Me

The day is finally here and my daughter if off to her very first camp! She has been anxiously awaiting this day, talking about it, packing and re-packing for it, just so excited. This morning as her Dad is saying good-bye to her and heading off to work, my son comes in and says to me, "Mommy, when sister's at camp and Daddy's at work, it's just you and me!" So we high-five each other and I say, "Yeah, it's Mommy & Me time!" To which he very wisely responds, "Mommy you said "Mommy & Me" and that's just YOU & YOU! DUH!"
Wish I could say that I got it immediately, but I'm a little slow.

Out of the mouth of babies....comes clear correction for my sleep deprived mind!

Say It Ain't So!

Last night I had a great conversation with a new friend about our churches. We were at the Swim Team Party, so the kids were having a blast and all the adults were just hanging out.

We were discussing how our VBS/Adventure Week programs work and she asked me where I went to church. I told her NorthStar and she says, "I've been there. I knew that was a very contemporary church, because your pastor wore sandals!" Say it ain't so! Cracked me up. I responded, "Yes he does, even in the winter!"

I'm off to Deeper Still this weekend. Maybe I'll have some more profound moments to post about next week.

Anxious for nothing

One of the verses that I've camped on over the last year is Philippians 4:6. It begins with "Do not be anxious about anything...." How I wish that happened more often in my life!

Back track to Tuesday-I spent most of the morning looking for a computer file. I searched and searched and even ran searches on my laptop, all to no avail. Since my laptop had recently been replaced, I pulled out the old one and searched it too. I even searched our desktop computer and eventually every cd that I could find. Three computers, an office full of cds, no file. The file was my resume, recently updated, and ready for me to apply for a position.

After a few hours of going crazy, being anxious and still not finding my resume, I took the kids to the pool. Maybe I should cool off for a while. (You think!) All the while, this underlying anxiety is just creeping over me. What was going on? Why couldn't I find the file? I am a save-aholic, so it didn't make sense that there wouldn't be a copy on my laptop.



After dinner, I realized I had not done my devotion for the day. Actually I knew it all along during this crazy day, but didn't stop myself long enough to spend some time with God. To ask Him where my file was, should I apply for this job, why am I so crazy? You know, the usual questions. The devotion covered the time in Jesus' life where his parents were returning from Jerusalem and he stayed in the temple courts. The writer focused on verse 46, specifically the part that says, ..."they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions."

My take on it-Jesus actually sat and listened-fully focused on those in front of Him. In all my frustration, I had not bothered to sit in front of Him, to present my concerns to Him. So I poured out my frustrations of the day, asking God where my file was and why couldn't I find it. Sincerely laying it down at His feet, giving it to Him. The anxiety lifted, I felt peaceful and all was as it should be-in God's hand.

Before going to bed, I went in the office to shut down my laptop. I could hardly believe my eyes, but there on the screen was my resume, fully complete, the one I had looked for ALL DAY LONG! Truly I don't understand it, it marvels me even as I type this. But God in His generous mercy decided to bless me and so I am humbled, and grateful.



Philippians 4:6 continues on to say, "...but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." The next time something goes missing, I hope to follow this verse out, to present it to Christ first and be anxious for nothing.

Happy Father's Day!

Here's to you sweetie--Thanks for the two best kids and the greatest day ever!

Wisdom-Ahead of Its Time

Today would have been a great day to sleep in at the Turner house. However, my six year old son decided it wasn't necessary and was up way too early. So at the pool today, I decided to ask why he didn't sleep in, wasn't he tired I asked. Here's his very wise response:
"Mom, blonde haired, blue eyed people like me don't need alot of sleep. Just those with brown hair and green eyes like you!" Who knew?

Errors in Judgement

We recently returned from our vacation and I've since made a few "errors in judgement"! For those who know me, you certainly don't find this hard to believe! Anyway, during the last couple of days of vacation I started feeling a little under the weather. Thought it was just a head cold, cough thing. On the flight home, it seemed to get worse.
Error #1- I determined that it was from flying through the night, the six hour time difference, the two hour wait for luggage, etc, etc, etc.
Error #2- Once we were home, I began to self-medicate with some over-the-counter, knock me out drugs!!
Besides making me completely sleepy, they did nothing for me.
Error #3- Decide to go see a real doctor a few days later. Waited too long apparently. He asked if he could give me A shot that would make me feel better quickly. I hesitated, because choosing to inflict pain seems psychotic to me!! But I said yes to A shot!
Error #4- Nurse comes in with a breathing treatment and 3 syringes! I preceded to tell her that the doc said "A" shot and that meant 1, not 3. Those must be for someone else!! She just laughed and said assume the position....now was that necessary. My arms are perfectly fine for giving A shot or 3 if you must!!
Error #5- Assuming that A shot would be my cure all, I agreed so there would be no trip to the pharmacy and no battling with insurance questions! Well, I left with four prescriptions and they all had coupons!!
Error #6- Prescriptions with coupons must be expensive, so I waited until this morning to make that trip.
(There are probably more errors that could be pointed out, but let's not!)

This morning before going to said pharmacy, I spent some time in my summer devotional. Here was the verse for today: "The Mighty One has done great things for me, and His name is holy." Luke 1:49
This is part of Mary's praise for being chosen to be Jesus' birth mother. Obviously not my calling, but God's Word is relevant to us today.
So today for me, it is praise for a lavishly, providing Father. You see at the pharmacy, I only had to pay for one prescription. The other 3 were free! I'm also thankful that we have medicine, insurance and available doctors.
God is good my friends and He is very aware of what concerns us!

Gather & Grow Group

Last week we wrapped our Gather & Grow group for the summer. It was an exciting, thought provoking six weeks! As we studied through What Happens When Women Say Yes To God, each week we were challenged in different ways. Here's a brief synopsis:
Week One-Utensils....Read about it here.

Week Two-Saying Yes to God will mean allowing Him to smooth out some rough edges in our lives; we are becoming like river rocks; no longer jagged and edgy, but smooth and resting.

Week Three-Being Radical about Obedience means letting go of the "I can'ts". We actually took the time to write down anything that we thought was keeping us from saying yes and threw it in the fire!

Week Four-Focusing on God, worshipping Him alone will sustain us when the road is rough. We used this song as our prayer, Hear My Worship.

Week Five-Holding loosely to all that we've been given will make it so much easier to say Yes when God asks us to do something. Realizing also, that our obedience has an affect on others.

Week Six-Wrapping our calling and desires up in God's Word is what will sustain us. Nothing else will suffice!

If you are looking for a great book and bible study to do this summer, I highly recommend this one. Those of us who participated are still basking in all that was taught and shared.

What a week!

The last several days have been a whirlwind of activity and a roller coaster of emotions. I had an incredible opportunity to help lead a class called Next Steps on Sunday at my church. It was designed to help those new in their faith or those who maybe didn't know how to grow in their faith get started, to take those first steps.

We spent the morning talking about salvation, prayer, the Bible, quiet time and church. We had a small group, but definitely one ready to be brave!


Later that evening, I got a phone call that a dear friend was very close to taking her last steps here on Earth. She had been sick for awhile but chose to privately deal with her illness. Very brave! She would go and meet Jesus less than 24 hours after the phone call.

I am just now realizing the amazing connection of these two events so close together. In the Next Steps class we discussed that to be a Christian is to be Christ-like, to follow Christ's example. It's intentional, purposeful. My dear friend would live her life faithfully serving others, intentional about following Christ. In her own words, she wanted to have a life of purpose, to leave a legacy, be secure and to hear God say, "Well done!" Without a doubt, she did.

As I've reflected on her life and thought about what the last few weeks must have been like, this song kept playing in my head. I will miss your sweet smile this Sunday, but I hope you know you make me want to be brave.

Gather and Grow

Last week I started a Forever 31 Gather and Grow group! It's a division of Proverbs 31 ministries and you can check it out on the link. We'll be meeting for about 6 weeks and talking through a book/bible study by Lysa TerKeurst. But for our first meeting we got to know each other a little by telling what kind of utensil we would use to describe ourselves and why! It was funny and insightful...here are a few of the responses:


whisk-likes to stir things up

spatula-likes to smooth things out
(These first two should get along great!)


soup ladle-always has a lot on their plates
spaghetti server-commits to a lot and some things fall out
slotted spoon-likes to weed through and get to the good stuff
wooden spoon-stays calm; gets the job done
pie server-likes to keep things in order, be in the background
can opener- likes to pry
sand shovel-not really a kitchen utensil, but I think she was still on a tropical island somewhere!!



This is going to be great group and I can't wait to share what God teaches us about saying Yes to Him!

He gave...

The past few weeks our church has been doing a series based on Max Lucado's book 3:16. The services were awesome and you can go here to listen. Here are some thoughts I took away:

• God is love; it's not something He does, HE IS LOVE.


• He gave....these are probably the two most powerful words in John 3:16. I don't know how long I've known this verse, but it took my six year old about two seconds to help me understand it! We didn't attend church on Easter because both kids and I were sick. So while we colored eggs, we discussed what Easter is and how John 3:16 relates to it. Joshua kept saying, "he gave, it's about God giving." Right on Little Man, right on.


• Heaven and Hell- they're real places, with real consequences. My pastor Mike did a great job explaining that heaven is an eternity spent with God and hell is an eternity spent without Him. Sadly I don't remember the last time I sat in a church service that made the distinction clear. It was a great closing to this series.

You've Got A Friend

Today I read this post about friendship. At the end there is a link that says "because I can't resist" and of course I couldn't. What a blessing for me. I needed a bit of encouragment today and this was like having a lullabye from God. He sounds a little like James Taylor, but just close your eyes and let the words speak to you. Hopefully it will encourage you too!

Happy Easter!

Happy Birthday Hannah!

My girl turns 10 today...double digits!! We celebrated this weekend with her BFF by getting our nails done and seeing College Road Trip together. The nails are fantastic as you can see, the movie was good. (Funny in the beginning and end, but a little slow in the middle.) Tonight we have the family dinner, Mexican, of course. My girl loves her some Mexican food, some Hannah Montana and some Softball. She got Hannah Montanta lipgloss and a watch, some cool clothes and a new softball bat.

It seems like yesterday. She was born on a Thursday afternoon, 7 pounds, 12 ounces and 21 inches long. But alas, it's been a decade! Time really does fly.

Have fun sweet girl. We love you bunches, but God loves you the most!

Opening Day at the Ball Park

I love Spring! Flowers blooming, the weather is milder, and we can get outside and play. That's exactly what we did this Saturday. It was opening day at my son's baseball park, so we were off to get the season started; his last season of T-Ball. T-Ball is a great form of entertainment...the kids are so young and so funny to watch as they figure out exactly how to play this game called Baseball. One little guy really got my attention.

He had made it to third base. Then when the next guy hit the ball, he should've ran to home plate. Unfortunately, he wasn't so sure about that or maybe he didn't know where it was! He started to run, but then he stopped and froze. Desperately he stood there, looking around. Everyone was screaming; the crowd behind him, the crowd behind first base, the coaches, the other players. He couldn't decide who to listen to. Then suddenly he spotted his parents behind first base calling his name. His eyes locked with theirs, they pointed in the direction of home plate and he took off! He was SAFE.

We were all cheering and laughing. It was such a great moment.

I couldn't help but wonder, would I recognize my Father's voice...in all the noise, the chaos and confusion. Would I be able to filter out and focus in on God's direction for my life?

"The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." John 10:3-5NIV

These verses teach us that we can know God's voice, we can recognize it above others. How? By spending time with Him, by knowing His word, by hanging out with God. Get to know God today, spend some time with Him.

Wally World

I visited my favorite Super Store today...Wally World is what I fondly call it. Everything that was on my list was found and I was enjoying my check out. I had purchased some Hannah Montana items for my almost 10 year old daughter. The young man (approx. 20yrs old) that was helping me made a comment about Hannah Montana being everywhere these days! It was very tongue and cheek. So I explained that as a Mom of a tweenager that I was glad my daughter had chosen Hannah Montana to obssess over, because there were certainly others she could have chosen that would not have made me happy. And to my horror, he says, "You just wait, she'll do something stupid too!" Wow! I was saddened by his expectation, his surety that no one could actually make it through this life without really messing up. I get that no one is perfect, that we all sin. (In fact God says so in Romans, in case you don't get it!) But I, as a Mom, have a new resolve for Ms. Hannah Montana. I have heard her talk about her faith and even quote scripture to the most famous female talk show host around! So today, I'm praying for you Hannah Montana, (Miley Cyrus) to beat the odds, to be the one who is full of faith, grace and wisdom beyond your years. To be the one who makes a difference that counts in the lives of those younger who watch you. To be strong and courageous. And who knows, my Wally World friend may just be amazed.

Great Long Weekend!

This long weekend was so good! Our family has been going in all different directions lately, so it was nice to have some time together. Here's how it worked out:

• Friday we went out for a family dinner. This has been a tradition and I hope to do it as long as we can!


• Saturday was a rare date night for Steve and I. We went to a great Italian restuarant called Zucca's. We saw Bucket List with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. It was so funny...could have gone without the language of Jack, but it was a good comedy.


• Sunday went to Northstar, our home church now for the past 9 years! Steve and I actually got to sit together.(He works with the technical team, so he's often in the sound booth and I sit with friends.) Amazing service, great worship, just the best as usual!!


• Sunday night had a conference call with Shari Braendel and some other bloggers who won a contest about fashion, style, etc. Shari speaks all over and gave us some great advice. We'll have a second session this Sunday night!


• Monday I took the kids and met some friends at the Ice Forum to do some ice skating! This is one thing I've never tried, so I figured what the heck. I actually got the skates on and made it around the rink a few times without a death grip on the side. Check one off my "Bucket List!"


• Tuesday - our kids are out one extra day. Alas, we're back to the normal, day to day stuff...laundry, dishes, etc, etc.

Hope you had a great one.

Love is in the Air...Maybe

This past week, I blew it with my kids. I could blame it on the fact that my husband was out of town again, that I wasn't feeling great or that the cold/allergy/sinus medication I had taken was putting me into a coma! Or I could just be honest and say I was not operating with any fullness of the Holy Spirit...no patience, no kindness, no self-control. O-K, you get the picture!
Fast forward to the day after. When my kids got home from school, I sat them down and explained why I was crazy and asked them to forgive me. My youngest quickly said yes and gave me a hug and a kiss. My oldest hesitated, way too long for me. In that moment I realized that I couldn't choose for her, she was free to say yes or to say no. Thankfully, she said yes and love is in the air! But I couldn't help wondering, what if she had said no. How would I respond?
I Corinithians 13:4-8 teaches us what true love is; how I should respond no matter what. God says love is patient, love is kind, love is protecting, love is enduring and love is hopeful.
Every day life in our house is changing. Our role as parents who make all the choices for our children is quickly turning into making suggestions, giving advice and hoping for good decisions. There's no greater responsibility than being a parent! My prayer is to parent my children with true love and Thank God, He promises love never fails(I Cor. 13:8).

It's How You Live

Here's a song that has been ringing in my mind for the past week. Thinking about legacy and family, it's a great reminder to keep it simple. Enjoy!

Silent Night, Holy Night

Yes I realize that's the title of a Christmas song,but it's so much more to me now. This past Thanksgiving, I sat by my Grandmother's bed and sang it to her. I'm not a singer, but just had this compelling urge to sing her to sleep. You see she'd been in that bed for almost two years, having suffered from dimentia and a stroke. All of us have been praying for God to take her home, wondering when she would be made whole again. As I sang that day, she closed her eyes and was so peaceful. This past Monday, January 28th, she closed her eyes for good. Now she is in the presence of God and many loved ones that she'd missed for so long. As sad as I am to be without her, I am incredibly grateful for God's mercy. She's walking again, talking again, physically in the presence of God!

WOW! My mind can't wrap around it, but one day I will be with God too. What about you?

Girls Night Out!

Tuesday night was a rare treat for me! I had dinner with a friend, who was doing the no-carb thing. I, on the other hand, was doing the "let's not eat today, because tonight we feast on Italian and dessert" thing! Dinner was great and even better was the conversation and catching up we got to do without all the distractions of motherhood! Later we met others at my church for our Women's League Kick-off. Micca Campbell was the speaker and what a treat she was. (check out her blog at http://www.miccacampbell.com/)I had heard her last summer at She Speaks in Charlottoe, NC. It was fun to have her at my home church and just enjoy hanging out with friends and hearing a great word of encouragement. That Word by the way came from a simple equation....No to self, Yes to God equals a Surrendered Life. Micca used great examples from being a mother to remind us to say "no" when we want to blow, be impatient, have a fit or in my case have another brownie to solve the problems! Yes to God, a surrendered life, is not a black abyss of I can'ts, but a life that lives above the chaos and confusion in God's presence. One of my favorite scriptures is Acts 3:19 and it commands us to repent so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord! Thanks for the reminder Micca!

Snow!!!

I have been praying for snow...and it is snowing at my house right now! Yeah God.
After watching the Packers game last weekend, I was begging, pleading with God to give us a little snow here in the South. Just missed it and I sincerely think it is one of the neatest things that our very creative God does. Thank you God!

See Spot, See Spot Grow

On Monday I decided to make some muffins. Nothing to extravagant, but some chocolate chip muffins for me and my kids. In attempting to make them a little more healthy I added some ground flax seed. 1/2 of them got walnuts also! Anyhow, they were done and when the kids got home from school we enjoyed our treat! Well, then the spots started! At first I didn't notice the spots, because I was just itching all over and ALOT! The kids weren't itching they didn't have spots, but their mother did...everywhere! By Tuesday afternoon with no changes from a few doses of Benadryl, and more spots, we trekked our way to the doctor. Three hours later, a mammoth size shot and some drugs, we're never eating flax seed again!!

It's funny that after travelling this life, everyday for over 40 years,I'd never found anything that I was allergic to. Now that has all changed.

Looking Back

Before moving on in 2008, I thought I would take a look back on 2007. What happened, what changed, how did God impact my life everyday?

The year began with my husband taking his first mission trip and for the first time in our marriage we were not able to communicate for about 10 days. I realized very quickly that I expect my husband to be God or at least God-like much of the time. Truly depending on God and not having unrealistic expectations of my husband was a defining moment for me in 2007. That same week would bring the death of our 12 yr old Collie named Coty. I would have never admitted how much it affected me and how much I would miss him. But it did....

Our kids would play baseball and softball. Our daughter's spring team would be the season winner and tournament winners in their age group! Go Blazers! Realizing that competitiveness takes on a whole new level for me when it involves my children was a lesson it and of itself!

The summer brought a couple of vacations with our families and an attempted break in at our house. Long story, but my valiant husband chased the would-be robbers and broke his arm. It was serious enough to have an operation and physical therapy. That brought about some strong emotions with us and it was challenging to be thankful that it wasn't worse.
This fall I had an incredible opportunity to teach a Bible study in an office setting. Something I had only dreamed of doing during my corporate years, but it finally became a reality in 2007. I also started studying the book of Acts, on my own, at an intentionally slow pace. More on that later....
School started and it was bittersweet. My youngest joined the ranks of Kindegarteners and I joined the ranks of an empty home during the day! Thought that would be exciting and fun and it was for awhile. Realized quickly that I thrive on routine and busyness! Psalm 46:10, "Be still and know that I am God." would resonate in my head as I would struggle to say no and not commit to everything that came along.

Probably my most favorite time of 2007 was early in the summer when I attended the She Speaks conference in Charlotte.http://www.shespeaksconference.com/ This was an incredible conference for me and really encouraged me as a budding speaker. It is where I felt God saying start a blog, write down the things I'm teaching you, share them now. Yes it took me awhile to obey, but we're off and running in 2008 and that's enough looking back!