Tag, I'm It

Well, I've been tagged by my sweet friend, Starr at Threshold Moments. I met Starr while at the She Speaks conference in North Carolina last month. She was in my writing critique group on Friday evening. She was such a sweet encourager to both myself and the other gal with us. She sat beside me when we took our classes on, "How to write a book." and wasn't the least bit miffed when I needed to copy off of her notes when I fell behind in class.

Starr, where were you in 1986 when I needed you?!?

She has tagged me to participate in this meme, and I would do just about anything for her. These are the rules:1) Link to the person who tagged you2) Post the rules on your blog (this is what you are now reading)3) Write 6 random things about yourself (see below)4) Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them (This is only a game)5) Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog6) Let the tagger know when your entry is up. Here are the six VERY random things about me, myself and I:

Random things about me....

1) I am the most functionally disorganized person I know. I have piles of papers and books set in areas of my house. I know pretty much what is in each of these piles, well, I at least know which area of the house to search when I need to find something. Let me just leave it at that.

2) My husband and I leave our children at least once each week to grab a coffee and have an hour or two alone together. Some people are so used to seeing us without our kids that they are shocked when we tell them we have four children. Hmmmm, is this considered neglect?

3) There is no one worse at returning phone calls than me. This may come as a surprise to some of you who knew my mother. My mom was queen of the telephone. I have come to dislike it quite a bit. I would much rather email a quick couple of sentences, than to call on the phone. I think that I am turning into my husband. (Dad if you are reading this, I got the phone message you left a couple of days ago..I know we haven't talked in weeks, I will call you, I promise!)


4) I am awful at remembering birthdays. (By the way, so is my husband.) I had to apologize just today, to my aunt. I forgot to have my children call on her granddaughters birthday (my cousin). Will someone in my family PLEASE make me a calendar for Christmas with all of the family dates on it? Who says that Grandma is the only one who needs one!


5) As parents we are more strict than our parents were with us as children. There is way too much to list here. Ask me any question you are curious about....but yes, all of our children are in bed by 8pm.

6) My husband says I suffer from "Convalescent Cuisine". I love tapioca pudding, ambrosia, bread pudding and rice pudding. All of the above can bring a fast gag reflex on for my hubby. I recently bought some Maple Nut ice cream from a man who said that that flavor was a favorite among the elderly. Go figure.





Now, I'm not going to select any one or even six of you. I am going to suggest that you check out a few of my "Blessed Blogs" on my sidebar. I have an amazing collection of gals there who would love to receive a comment or two, or three from you! If you are one of my blog friends and want to play along, please let me know so I can link back to ya!


But, if you're a lurking gal who just loves to sit back and not say a word. Make today the day that your voice is heard!

Laced with Grace

I'm over HERE today. Come over and join me!

Faith Lifts

I'm over here today. Come and join me!

What Would Your Cardboard Say?

Mari from My little corner of the world and Ivory Blossom both had this on their blogs this week. I finally got around to watching. With my tears still wet on my face, I ran into the other room and had my teenage daughter watch.

We both cried.

I know I'm late for most of you, but just in case one of you haven't seen this yet...Watch it!

...and make sure you have your kleenex ready.

Then Sings My Soul Saturday

Lincoln Brewster is a pretty amazing and extremely talented singer and musician. His song below, Everlasting God, can bring me to my feet in praise every single time.

Lincoln is the worship leader at a very large church about forty five minutes from our home. A bit too far for us to travel for church. It's a good thing too, because I would be like a kid at their first rock concert if he led my worship each Sunday!

Sisterly Love!

I have to share some fun....

Amy over at Everyday with the Kelly's is on vacation right now. Her sister Mary has hijacked her blog. Being the loving sister that she is, she collected questions about her sister that us bloggers wanted to know about Amy.

What a hoot!

Aren't sisters just great?!?!

Divine Favor

I can't even begin to share all of the times we saw God's hand of divine favor while at Disneyland last week.

Remember, we were in Disneyland in July. Not the best time to try and beat the crowds. Definitely not a place that any born and bred Californian would set their foot.

But, as a child of God, you are blessed. Your Father is not restricted by summer months at an amusement park, where waiting in lines for one hour to get on a ride is common place.

Friends, our God is far from common, and He certainly is not confined or restricted by crowds in Disneyland on a hot July day.

Check out the wait time for the ride in the picture above...

Are you looking for His favor, His blessing in your life today?


You are Blessed...

Amazing Foods for our Amazing Body

My friend Aly emailed me this below. I thought it was very interesting. God left us some clues as to what foods help what part of our body. Pretty amazing stuff. Why am I surprised when a diet of bread and sugar doesn't keep my body healthy?




A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye... and YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.


A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.



Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.


A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.



Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.



Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body..



Avocadoes, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine (9) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (mo dern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).



Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility.



Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.



Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries




Oranges, Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just l ike the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.



Onions look like the body's cells. Today's research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.

I have begun!

It's official, I have begun my book proposal. I've decided that whether this proposal is accepted or rejected, whether I succeed or fail, I will include you as I walk down this path.

This morning after taking the kids by some garage sales (a favorite Saturday pastime for us), my husband and I let the kids play at the park while we hung out at the coffee shop down the street.

This is where I worked on my title page and my proposal letter. I still need to work a bit more on my graphic for the title page. I'm having a difficult time finding a picture of the "Dick and Jane" books. I specifically need a picture of the little girl "Jane" running by herself. Since the title I am proposing is going to be "See Jane Run", I felt this would be fitting.

I began working on my chapter titles while our whole family watched "College Road Trip" together. (A movie I highly reccommend, by the way. It's rated G and so very funny. All our kids were hootin' and hollerin' with laughter before it was over.) I thought I had eighteen chapters but realized that some titles were almost redundant and now I have thirteen.

Does thirteen chapters sound like enough for a book to you?

Then Sings My Soul Saturday - Disney Style

*****HIT PLAY BELOW BEFORE READING POST***********

In honor of our Disneyland vacation (quite the oxymoron), for your listening enjoyment I've included the music that I heard every single waking moment while visiting the happiest place on earth. This music permeated my audio senses while waiting in lines, while walking from Tomorrowland to Frontierland, while eating my delicious cobb salad on Main Street and my Churro in New Orleans Square. No doubt you will love hearing these timeless Disney clasics once again.

BUT,if you'd like to have an authentic Disneyland experience, the very same experience that I had this week, you must play this video below fifteen hours a day for three days straight.

Then we'll talk.

LACED WITH GRACE

I'm over HERE today.

We're Back!

We arrived home this morning at 3am from our trip to Disneyland and Universal Studios.

Can't wait to share the pictures with you this week!

Stay tuned.....

Telling Everyone - Part II

After reading Renee's blog request for the women to share what word the Lord had given them and after having a quick two-year old wing ding, I left my comment. Making sure to tell her that I hadn't gone forward for a scripture, I went on to thank her for such a wonderful teaching on Gideon and the doubts that can steal all that God has for us. After receiving the green light to send in my book proposals to publishers that very day, the doubts were already creeping in. Instead of seeing my self as blessed, loved and called, I felt unable, uneducated and inadequate. My doubts were proclaiming me the biggest fraud of all. Her teaching on doubt couldn't have come at a better time.

The very next morning I was sweetly surprised to see that Renee had commented on my blog. She asked me for my home address and told me that she knew that God had a word just for me, that she would pray and hand pick mine from the stack she still had and drop it in the mail.

That next week I was like a child awaiting grandma's birthday card. I savored opening that prayed-over note from her. It wasn't just that it was from Renee, though that was a lovely bonus, I was truly expecting God to speak to me.

And speak to me He did.

Before I move on, I have to take you back to the last day I was at She Speaks. While at a blogger's reception I spoke with Luanne Prater from P31. She asked me where I was from. When I told her California, I went on to tell her how I knew God's hand brought me there, but quite frankly I had no idea why He needed to tell me something in North Carolina that He couldn't tell me in California. And so far He hadn't told me a thing. I wanted so badly to share with her how the Lord had allowed me to win a contest from the site "Laced with Grace" and a scholarship to She Speaks, how there just happened to be a hotel room available in this sold out conference...oh and how about that my email address has been Proverbs31@comcast.net long before I'd ever heard of Proverbs 31 Ministries. But I didn't share any of that with her. She smiled, gave me a great big hug and said, "It's not an accident that you're here. We've been praying for all of you women by name for quite some time. You must go over to our prayer room and see just what it is the Lord has you here for."

So before my first publishers meeting ever, that's just where I headed.

The room was dim with soft music and candles. Some ladies were praying with a prayer partner, others were on their knees in prayer and there were even some who were just sitting by themselves speaking silently to their creator. Around the back of the room were tables in the shape of a U. As I crept closer, I saw that on these tables were the names of almost six hundred women. First and last names of so many women, these names had been typed, printed, lovingly cut out and softly scattered over the tops of these tables. From time to time there would be a much larger paper beneath, printed out with one of the many names of God. Names such as Jehovah Jireh, Adonai, Yahweh. Most names had fallen in between the laid out pages proclaiming a name of God, but on occasion some would fall on the colored paper.

Mine had fallen on the name of God, Adonai-God is my strength. Upon that page were a couple of scriptures. I fought the urge to take my name and the paper it rested upon and run right out of there. But I didn't think God would be too pleased with my stealing from His prayer room. Instead I quickly wrote the scriptures down. To tell you the truth I was almost disappointed, they really didn't speak to my heart.

Later, only one could I even remember, Habukkuk 3:19 "The Sovereign Lord is my strength, he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights." But even this scripture I'd forgotten when I returned home from my trip.

That is, until I held this note postmarked Charolotte, North Carolina in my hands.

As I now sat in my car, my engine idling, opening up the note from Renee , written in her own precious hand were these words.

"Joanne, I laid my hands over the verses (probably 50-75) and prayed that God would give me His message for you. Here is what He said...

You are ABLE."

As I'd opened up the card, fluttering into my lap was my word from God. Printed in a soft cursive font were the words to Habukkuk 3:19, the very same verse the Lord had given me in the prayer room moments before my first publishers meeting.

"The Sovereign Lord is my strength, he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights."

Behind this beautiful verse, shadowed in grey was the word ABLE.

***

Friends, what is it that the Lord has done for you? What has He told you? What has He called you to do that you are keeping silent about? Don't wait another moment longer, step out in faith and obedience today. It is in His strength that you will soar on to new heights. Where we are weak, He is strong. He wants to bless you so that you can tell everyone of His glorious works. Don't let the shadows of doubt keep you from the light of His breathtaking plan for your life. You can't dream dreams big enough for what God has for your lives.

...and remember you are ABLE because He is ABLE.

"Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does." Psalm 96:3

Telling Everyone - Part I

I had originally kept this story to myself and a few choice friends, but have felt recently that I needed to share. So... I have a teensy weensy bit more to post about the She Speaks conference and what is still happening around here. Even though I'm back home, the Lord is still speaking. Friends, God doesn't just speak in far off places. He speaks right to our hearts, if we would just take the time and be willing to stop and listen.

I am apologizing ahead of time for the length. This will be a two part post. I am going to post the first part today. It's a bit long but deservedly so.

To all three of my faithful readers, hang in there, I promise you will be blessed.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TELLING EVERYONE

While in the word a couple of days ago, I was reading Psalm 96 when a verse struck my heart. I sat there staring at the words on the page, I didn't blink and I may have even held my breath. I knew God was speaking right to me.

Psalm 96 begins just beautifully, "Sing a new song to the Lord! Let the whole earth sing to the Lord! Sing to the Lord, bless his name. Each day proclaim the good news that he saves."

Reading right along, I was feeling just great. "Yes Lord, I will sing a new song to you today!" How encouraging, right? But it was the next verse, verse three of Psalm 96 that pierced...

"Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does."

You see, just the day before I had been on Renee Swope's blog and made a comment that I was ashamed of. Something pretty amazing had happened that she knew about and I had left a comment telling her that I chose not to share it on my blog or with most of my friends and family.

Why, you ask? Because I thought that if I shared what God had spoken to me, then I would be held accountable by those that I love to follow through.

Silly, I know. You would think that just having God tell me something would be enough, but NOoooo I like to think I still have control over my life.

Stop laughing, us control freaks think we have this power.

While at the conference last month, on that last evening I was there, almost six hundred women gathered together to have dinner. As the evening progressed, we worshipped and listened to Renee give an anointed teaching on Gideon and the shadow of doubt. At the end of the evening as the worship team played "How Great Thou Art", women came forward for prayer for their fears, their doubts, some recommitting their lives to Jesus and His calling on their lives.

It was just beautiful.

As much as I love to take advantage of any special prayer time, I didn't feel called to go forward. Praying silently for these beautiful ladies, I sat beside my new Southern girlfriends and sang as the tears not-so-gently streamed down my face. I 'm an awful ugly cry er, but we'll just leave that for another post. The song, "How Great Thou Art" moves me to weep every single time I hear it. It was one of my mom's favorites. I don't believe it was coincidence that the last worship song played on my trip there was one of her favorites. With my mom in Heaven, whenever there is a song that I know was loved by her, it feels almost as if God has closed the gap. With my eyes closed, I can see her beautiful face and almost feel her presence. While I'm worshipping here, she's worshipping there and for a brief moment the huge chasm of my time and her eternity is closed.

Fast forward a week later. I find out from Renee's blog that the women who went forward that night were able to pick up a card with a shaded word and scripture just for them. There were hundreds of different card stock cards with different shaded words like, anointed, blessed, chosen, loved, forgiven. These cards had been prayed over, the heart of Renee and the other gals at She Speaks was that they would get into the right hands that evening. On her blog that next week, she was asking the ladies what word the Lord had given them and if they wouldn't mind sharing what God had spoken to them that night.

Being the Proverbs 31 woman that I am, the inner five year old instantly came out in me. I thought to myself, "Haaarrruuummmphhh! Doesn't that just stink. Gee Lord, why didn't I get my butt off of that comfy chair and go forward on Saturday night?!?"


***The Lord heard that heartfelt prayer of mine and used Renee to fulfill His word for me. I can't wait to share with you tomorrow just what happened.***


Part II tomorrow!

Which VBS are you doing this summer?

Cold lemonade, hot dogs and hamburgers, watermelon and VBS all tell me that summer is here. I just love VBS. Our church does not have their own so our kids attend local churches for theirs. We went to our first last week...

Outrigger Island.

Which VBS are you doing this summer?

What do you smell like?

While on our couple's retreat last month, my sister Jennifer let me use some of her new lotion. Oh golly goodness, it smelled so wonderful. It had a soft hint of citrus, but was so light I just knew I had to get me some of that. When I asked her where I could get some she told me that I would have to order it online. She had found it in Napa while there with her husband.

I was so disappointed. It smelled so good that I wanted to run out and get some right that very moment. I just couldn't wait to run to her room the next morning to ask her if I could put on some more.

It got me to thinking of the scripture, "For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life." 2 Cor. 2:15-16

As Christians, we are going to be plain stinky to those that don't have Christ in their lives, no matter what. God's word says that we are the stench of death to these people. Not a very intoxicating scent. Not a smell that the world is drawn to, but rather repulsed by. I have seen it when I meet with people who are not saved and who know I am a Christian. They are so quick to move along to the next person. They can't seem to get away quickly enough.

But to those that are saved, that know the one true living God, well, these people are drawn to us. I am a magnet myself to these ladies. There are some women that I just want to be around, I just can't explain it. Like the fragrance of jasmine on a warm summer night, I am drawn to them. These girls are the ones who are beautiful on the inside, who give an encouraging word in season, who are an example of grace and forgiveness. These women are the first to share kindness and the last to ever speak of another outside of their presence. It's the fragrance of Jesus that I am drawn to.

What fragrance are you wearing today?

Is it Jesus?

Friends are Friends Forever, dah dah dah dah dah

You all know that song by Michael W. Smith right?

"Friends are friends forever, if the Lord's the Lord of them..."

I am beginning to write a new song in honor of the weekend my son had at my best friend Celia's house this weekend. I am going to title it:

"Friends are friends forever unless their son barfs in their car..."


My teenage son has been waiting for four years to fish with his Uncle Bob, this would be my best friend, Auntie Celia's hubby. The anticipated fishing weekend began on Friday evening with a stressed out call from Celia asking my husband if our darling son ever shut up. My dear childless friend and her husband have a vacation home that they come up to on weekends. It's a short hop and a skip down the road from our house to theirs.

Have I mentioned yet that my friend has never had kids?

Just this weekend while standing and smiling on her white carpet, she asked me why we don't bring up the family to their place more often.

Really?

She has already forgotten the first time we all came over and our youngest got his head stuck in their deck railing.

Auntie Celia (as my four children love to call her) has the same problem with my children as I do with little puppies. They are all just darlin until you have to take care of them.

So now you'll understand why I laughed out loud when I overheard my husband talking to Celia over the phone yesterday. The call went kinda like this...

Paul: Hi Celia.

Silence, long pause...

Paul: Really, oh boy, I'm so sorry.

Silence, longer pause.

Paul: Sure, you can just bring him home.

Silence, even longer pause.

Paul: Yes, there's an all service car wash right by our house.

(Paul is squinting his eyes, trying not to laugh while talking)

Paul: We will be home in a few, go ahead and just drop him off.




And just like a puppy, my teenage son barfed in their car.

Happy 4th of July

May your day be filled with lemonade, grilled hot dogs, ice cream and special moments with your family.


God's blessings to all of you on the special day.

Blessed...

With only fifteen minutes before she had to drive off for work, my teenage daughter wrote these words for me at the bottom of my post. I just had to share, and YES they choked me up.

Us mom's can sometimes feel overlooked, underpaid, run down and run over. I am here to encourage all of you at home with little ones, to hang in there. So many times I have failed as a mother and so many of my prayers have been, "Lord, please let them forget my mistakes."

I am here to encourage you, that no matter what, if your heart is to raise up godly children and do your best to be a godly wife and mother, your children will one day rise up and call you blessed.

That's a promise.


That happened for me today.



Some of you may remember the kitchen contest I posted about a few months ago here. They wanted an uploaded picture of your kitchen and in 500 words or less, to explain why and how a new kitchen reflects you.



Being the "Last Minute Lil" that I am, the deadline was yesterday. With only hours to spare, I submitted my entry.



Only they weren't my words I submitted, they were my daughter Meghan's.

...And now I don't really care if I win or not. In my eyes, her words crowned me winner already.



********************************************************************************



The Reflection of Love
By Meghan

A home is a reflection, a personal snapshot of a life, a family, a person. My mother has spent a great deal of her life as a stay at home mom, giving her all for her family and spending a great deal of her life in the kitchen. She doesn’t have nice knives, or a spotless counter space. The mustard yellow walls and scattered country antiques provide sparse decoration, and numerous cooking utensils and cookbooks are hidden in little nooks and crannies. The sink is broken, the counters are cracked, and the cupboards are outdated. Yet, the woman that I call mom is ever present in the kitchen. It’s not the physical aspects that reflect my mother, it’s the very atmosphere. As a child you don’t care about stained grout or bubbled hardwood floors. You looked for the after school treats your mother made you, or followed your nose to the dinner table when she called. I remember hot cocoa on rainy days, French toast on Sundays and Christmas brunch at that country table. I remember rolling out cookie dough with drinking glasses and spilling lemon bars all over the counter, just to be comforted with a warm hug from my mom. When I think of the kitchen I grew up in, I think of my whole family, all six of us, smiling and laughing around a wonderful meal, something we so often took for granted. And my mother. Rarely ever complaining, she worked hard in that less than perfect kitchen, and created a warm, beautiful childhood, and memories that I will never take for granted. My mother’s kitchen reflects her well worn love and years of hard work. She has spent so much time serving my family and others, opening her home every holiday to friends and family. She has watched her friends receive beautifully remodeled kitchens, and never use them. Yet, she doesn’t complain. She goes home and makes another dinner, trying new recipes and changing old ones to suit her finicky husbands’ taste. My mother loves her family, and that is what makes our old kitchen wonderful in my eyes. But after so many selfless years of trudging through our less than perfect kitchen, I believe she deserves something new, something made entirely for her. I would love to see her proud to show off her kitchen, not just the delectable food she creates. She deserves a working microwave, ovens that work, a dishwasher that doesn’t leak. She has always dreamed of a little kitchen nook with a window seat where she can read, relax. My mother has given so much to me, I wish there was some way I could give back to her. Who can find anything more precious than a beautiful childhood memory? Yet my old kitchen isn’t really the keeper of my memories, my mother is.

Meghan

***************************************************************************



Hang in there mom's, your blessings are a comin!

Sweet Tea

When I came home from She Speaks and shared with my husband about their delicious sweet tea, well, he was thrilled to show me that Mcdonalds was selling sweet tea now too.



Definitely NOT what I drank in North Carolina!


My sweet tea friend Starr from Threshold Moments and North Carolina, just emailed me her special recipe. I thought I would share it with all of you who, like me, are not from the South, but just would love a cup of sweet tea.

Boil a small sauce pan full of water. Remove it from heat. Steep 4 family size tea bags in it for at least 15 minutes (I sometimes forget and leave mine all day...it does not hurt a thing!). Then pour it into a gallon pitcher over 2 cups of sugar (yep, I did say 2 cups!) Then, fill up the pitcher the rest of the way with cold water.


Enjoy!

Kung Fu Panda

Just a little reminder that there is a very cute movie in theatres right now.

Kung Fu Panda!

We took our youngest three to the matinee this weekend. It was just precious. Afterwards I did just what Lysa TerKeurst did and asked the children how many Biblical examples they saw in the movie.

We came up with quite a few.

Most importantly, that God calls the overlooked. He uses the impossible people to make His plans possible.


Can I get a big Amen and Hallelujah for that?!?