In just two days, I will be leaving for Nashville to pick up my sister and mother-in-law headed to the Women's Tennesse State Retreat. I have mixed feelings as I am excited about the trip, but I am speaking at the retreat which is really not in my 'comfort zone'. But listening to Beth Moore a few weeks ago, I was encouraged when she said, "Not everyone is called to be a 'speaker', but we are all called to 'speak'. Therefore, my sister and I are speaking kind of tag-team style (scary thought of us in wrestling outfits complete with tights!yikes! Trust me, we are NOT wearing tights, I repeat - we are not wearing tights! (Although I really thought it would be funny to borrow our brother's fake 'wrestling belt' I got him for his birthday a few years ago).
One of the stories I am sharing at the retreat is from when Sandy and I were little. I talk some about mom being such a great prayer warrior and how she prayed about everything and so we did too. Every night Momma or Daddy would come into our room (we shared a room and that was a big mistake because we liked to talk back then, too), one of them would kneel beside our bed and Sandy and I would take turns praying. But then, MY SISTER started a new thing. As soon as my mom or dad would enter our bedroom (sometimes before entering the room), my sister would hit her knees to the floor and start praying (we were still starting to kneel by the bed). She wanted to be first so that when I would say my prayer, and if she had forgotten something, she would interrupt and shout out “ME TOO, LORD.”
As most of you know, we now pray together each week (for you) and I love to say (under my breath of course, when she is praying her turn) "ME TOO, LORD." How ironic that after all these years, as we pray together (via Verizon) that our hearts are tender toward God and to each other.
By the way, Sandy ends our 'sermon' (just kidding, it's a lesson, we are not 'preachers'haha), with the story of how mom's prayer was answered after years of praying for healing. It's hard to believe that she died almost 7 years ago (October 12, 2002).
I cannot believe that this year's Dinner Theatre has come and gone (hope you enjoy pictures). I could not let this time go by without giving complete thanks to God for helping me with my lines. Each time before I went on stage, I had my flashilight backstage looking over lines and I whispered many a prayer throughout performance. Trust me, if it were not for God's help - this 'granny' would not have made it. In this scene, this rich cousin (a.k.a. Mary Ann) has just told me she is too 'fatigued' to work. I said, "I ain't interested in your medical symptoms." In other words, I did not understand the meaning of 'fatigued'. Now that I look back at all the work involved in Dinner Theatre - I personally understand that word and felt it quite well by the fifth performance!
