She spoke and spoke and spoke......

Missy and Kathy have both posted about the conference and had very wise words of wisdom to impart. I, on the other hand, feel compelled to mention that we heard SO much that by Sunday afternoon, I didn't think my brain could hold much more. And because 'life' has happened since returning, I've not yet had the opportunity to go through my binder and review all of the good things. I plan to do that real soon though!

It was a great conference, and as we sat around Saturday evening discussing different things we wondered if any of us would return next year. We decided that we really can't say at this point in time - we'll wait to see what God has in store......... 'cause ya know what? He's always up to something - so get ready for the ride!!!

She speaks and writes and leads........

I'm going to the Proverbs 31 Ministry 'She Speaks' conference this weekend with my dear friend Sara! It should be an interesting weekend since we're going to learn more about starting a women's ministry - something that's been on our heart's for a LONG time.


Isn't it interesting how God works in our lives sometimes? (Who am I kidding - God is ALWAYS working in our lives - it's just that we limit Him to sometimes!) Anyway, for a very long time - probably close to a year now, I've talked about wanting to start a bible study, small group, sunday school class or something for women. I've never really figured out what it's supposed to look like or how it's supposed to work but 'talked' about it for so long that just recently Sara said to me - You need to just quit talking about it and get busy doing it. She says it like it is....... Thanks Sara!!


I'm reading a book called 'Leading Women to the Heart of God' by Lysa Terkuerst which is also the same thing that this conference is about this weekend. It talks about various ways to reach women not only within the community of our church, but also without - outside the brick and mortar of the building.


And then I get a call the other day from Missy asking if I'd be interested in working with her and a few other women to start some kind of class for women and holding it in a neutral location - someplace other than the church building.


Isn't it interesting how God works everything according to His timing!


So, I've said ALL of that to say - please pray for Sara and me this weekend (and Kathy and Missy as well since they're going to the same conference) as we seek God's guidance and direction. I think it's very interesting to see how God works and uses the events in our lives to bring us to the point where He'll use us. I don't know exactly what this WM is going to look like, but I'm VERY excited to see how God is going to put it all together and use us to accomplish His plan.



Talk to you soon.

Do I have friends or what?

I found this picture while going through some things recently. I just wanted everyone to know who my friends are..........

You might not recognize EVERYone in the picture, but it shouldn't be too difficult. They'll all have some very creative reasons as to why we were dressed so lovely, as well as differing opinions of the events that occurred later but I think we'd all agree the police were involved!!! (Of course, I may not have ANY friends now!) Sorry Girls, but I was just SO proud, my buttons were poppin' off - wait maybe it was something else causin' the buttons to pop.

Being a Mom

Being a mom is the toughest job on earth and I'm sure there are other mothers who would agree whole-heartedly. During the past few weeks, one of my beloved youngsters has 'left the nest' so to speak (another bird reference - see previous posts) despite the fact that his parents know that he's not fully ready to fly. There are other influences on his life now, and it has big dark eyes, and a lovely smile! I pray each day that God will protect him from physical harm and help him to make good choices and right decisions. I have prayed many times that God would humble me and during these past few weeks, He's done just that - provide a healthy dose of humility. While raising this particular youngster, I always thought that he'd grow up to do what I wanted him to do and I was sure he'd never stray too far. However, I' ve suddenly realized that he is a very unique individual who no longer wants to do what I want him to do, and he's totally and completely in God's hands. And so I give him to God each day (since He already had him) - with open palms facing upward as if to free him from my grasp. And then I pray that God will give him a swift kick in the tail feathers while protecting him from falling. (It's a control thing and I'm working on it.)

An Empty Nest

The 'men in my life' would laugh if I said that I like birds because too many times they've heard me say - "I don't like birds." In fact, that might be a little mild compared to what I've really said about birds, but that's another story for another time. I really enjoy sitting on the deck and watching the birds at the feeders and listening to the different sounds they make. I really get a kick out of the racket they make first thing in the morning.

You saw my earlier pictures with the 'gouard birdhouse' that Caleb and my Dad made. It's hanging outside my bedroom window and the sweetest little wren lives inside. I'm still trying to snap his picture but I can't seem to get close enough. I did get a few pictures of the baby robins as they grew, but never a picture of their momma. And now, I won't even get anymore pictures of the babies. I made my daily 'bird trek' to snap their daily picture, and found nothing more than an empty nest. I was so sad because I knew I wasn't going to be able to see those birds grow to be big enough to learn to soar through the air. There was one under the tree (dead of course), but the other three were no where to be found. Now, the past couple of weeks, we've also had a couple of black snakes slurking around the house (or should I say yard - because if they were in the house - I wouldn't be). David promised that if they came back, he'd get rid of them - permanently! I'm not sure if the snakes ate my little baby birds, but on Monday when one of the snakes slurked across the back yard, well....... let's just say David kept his part of the bargain and at least one of those snakes is gone. But now all I have is an empty nest.

So much for bird watching!

Like any good parent would do, we've tried (and continue to try) to teach our kids how to soar, while trying to protect them from 'slurking snakes'. It's fun watching them as they grow up, try their wings and leave the nest. And while our 'nest' is only partially empty, I'm excited to see how each one soars, and I pray that they will constantly seek God's protection from the 'slurking snake'!

I Believe I Can Blog!

HA - I b'lieve I can b'log ..... This might be fun! I've read others (Kathy, Jenn, Missy, Denny) and I think I can keep up with this with a little effort and a few good pictures. So, here we go -

The picture of the birdhouse is actually a gourd that Caleb and Pa-paw (my dad) cleaned out and painted a few weeks ago. The birdhouse is hanging in the magnolia tree just outside of our bedroom window and the wren that now lives within sings his little heart out every morning. Of course, when I took this picture, he was no where to be found - unfortunately!

We have a nest of baby robins that I'm hoping to get pictures of tomorrow night. The momma bird is not too crazy about me getting too close to her babies - she nearly had a fit tonight, and I thought for a minute I'd get her picture as she landed right beside me on the tree. Every feather on the top of her head was standing up!

I'm such a dork though - when I was taking pictures with the 35 mm, I snapped several shots and then looked down to see how many pictures I had left, and discovered that there wasn't any film in the camera. So I went to get the digital camera (thus the gourd bird house), and soon discovered that the battery was dead. We had a camera crisis. Maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow night!

Good night!