Tuesday, September 29, 2009

I promised the ladies at the retreat that I would put on my blog the 'tools' I recommended: TOO BUSY NOT TO PRAY by Bill Hybels/ PRAYING GOD'S WORD by Beth Moore / THE POWER OF A PRAYING WIFE by Stormie Omartian.

I've got to tell you a funny from the retreat. At the very beginning, Sandy and I did a skit of all the crazy things (made up) that happened 'on the way' to the retreat. But throughout retreat, we laughed harder as REAL LIFE things happened to us. (She ran over me with the luggage cart as she 'claimed' she could not see me. I actually looked down when eating lunch at Chick-fil-a and had toilet paper dangling from heel of my shoe (who knows how long I dragged that around). She tangled me up in blow dryer cord (I could have fallen and broken my neck). I accidentally hit the panic button on my car key thingamajig early Saturday morning and felt certain I woke up everyone in hotel. Moral to my story - some things you just can't make up, you live them!

Monday, September 21, 2009

Pigeon Forge or Bust

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).

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Quotes for the Day

"In a season of doubt, we must let what we know invade what we feel."

"What's showing on the outside, makes you wonder what's on the inside."

Ankle Report

Good news and bad news about visit to the anklologist. The good news is that it was not cancer. (I told the doctor that I had not even thought about that, so now anything he said would be good news to me.) The bad news is that it is calcification, in other words I am getting old!haha They could do surgery with pins, etc. blah blah blah - I let him know right away that I would have to be crawling around on my knees before that! So he 'recommends' that I get some shoes with good arch support. I did not know whether to cry or laugh!