Control Freak!

I've suffered from this condition most of my life. A condition that I am still learning to live with. I desire to control things. Lots of things. Not just big things, but little things, important things, and even not so important things. I try and give God a hand, all the time.

Hello. My name is Joanne and I am a recovering control freak.


...to read more, head on over to Laced with Grace today!

The Other Side of 911

"Because you have made the Lord, who is your refuge, even the most high, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling. For He shall give His angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone." Psalm 91:9-12 NKJV


Our family witnessed a miracle tonight.

As a 911 police dispatcher, there have been many heartbreaking calls I've taken throughout my career. Yes, I admit it. I enjoy the adrenaline rush of an action-packed call. But, I'm forever grateful that I don't have to watch in living color what's really happening.

Tonight we witnessed a horrifying vehicle accident. One that I wish I'd never seen. I realized that sitting in a chair at the police department, and being on the other side of a 911 call is a much better place to be.

Our family was just getting onto the freeway, when my husband Paul accelerated to merge with traffic. "Geesh!" I heard him say, as a wooden garage door tumbled through the air and landed with a thud, throwing up dust and debris not more than fifty feet in front of us.

Our prior joking and laughing quickly shifted to stunned silence as we watched a small pickup truck careen out of control, skidding sideways across three lanes. As the driver over corrected, the truck was instantly airborne. We watched in horror as this vehicle cartwheeled off of the freeway and over the thirty foot embankment.

As Paul pulled our car over, I silently prayed that he would stop before the children could catch a glimpse of the potential fatality. He quickly unbuckled his seat belt and told me, "Call 911." Bolting out of our car and sprinting down the freeway, over the embankment, and out of sight.

I called my friends at the police department I work for, knowing they could get me through to CHP (California Highway Patrol) much faster than I could on my cell phone. I was so proud to hear my three youngest children begin to pray for this man and their Daddy. The lookey-lu's gathered, pulling their cars over onto the shoulder. Some even getting out and standing, peering over the edge to view the carnage below. A small crowd gathered. Maybe they were in shock, but no one seemed to have the courage to run down the steep embankment and attempt to climb over the barbed wire fence to help.

No one, except my husband.

Praise God, the driver was alive when my husband found him. His truck eventually landing upside down on a frontage road below. Partially ejected out of the passenger window, he was conscious. His work tools, ladders, and lots of broken glass had been launched and scattered alongside the road, out of the way of oncoming commute traffic.

We thought for sure this man was dead. After talking with the officer tonight, Paul was told that the driver had only a minor complaint of back pain.

I was so proud of my precious husband today. The kids were pretty amazed with their father too. One moment they were talking to their dad and the next moment, they witnessed Clark Kent transform into Superman - right before their eyes.

Our family witnessed a miracle tonight. A man's life was spared,innocent drivers were kept out of harms way, and my husband actually sprinted. To God be the glory!

Love...

Love that goes upward is worship.

Love that goes outward is affection.

Love that stoops....

is grace.

-Donald Barnhouse, late pastor and Bible scholar

A Divine Appointment from Down-Under

In my personal opinion, there's no such thing as luck. And coincidences are for those who refuse to give God the credit. There is a verse in the book of Jeremiah that says, "..And you will find me when you seek me with all your heart." (Jer.29:13)


When we seek Him with all our hearts we will find Him. And when we find Him, we are blessed with a life that is peppered with divine appointments.

Meeting my Australian friend Penny was a divine appointment.

We met at Mount Hermon. It was the first time there for both of us. We were excited and nervous, overwhelmed and often overjoyed. As she sat beside me at breakfast I just knew we would be friends. Corny, I know, but the truth.

When I found out that she was traveling with her family, before I could stop myself, I blurted, "You just have to come and stay with us." Never before had I invited anyone to stay in our home that I barely knew. She was the first. I hadn't even met her husband or children yet. The Lord had whispered to my heart. I am so grateful I listened.

When you meet a brother and sister in the Lord, there is a love that is immediate and runs deep. It was clear that we shared the same Father.

Two weeks after we said our goodbyes in Santa Cruz my phone rang. It was Penny. She wanted to know if my offer was still open. "OF COURSE!" I yelled into the phone. They were over in less than forty-eight hours.

In only three days and two nights - we swam together, watched movies together, had a bbq, had a picnic by the American River, enjoyed Starbucks together...TWICE, went out for an Italian lunch, enjoyed our morning devotions together and laughed more times than I can count.

Jesus is a HUGE thing to have in common.



This sweet little Koala bear snuck into Grace's room early in the morning. I could hear them giggling from our bedroom. Grace's new best friend. These two were adorable together.



Their first French Toast.



They LOVED it.



When we went sightseeing the kids got to watch a movie. So we could have adult conversation!


The Christian bookstore was one of our stops. Paul took a picture of Pen and I in front of where our future fiction and non-fiction books will be.




Charlie, Pen's greatest encourager, tried to adjust things a bit.



When it was time to say our goodbyes Andy tried to stuff Samuel in their RV cargo bin. Or as Pen would say, their campuh van.


Watching them go was so difficult. I'm praying we see them again soon. If you read this on Monday, please pray for this precious family. They will be flying for thirteen hours, and then driving another eight hours, beginning at 12 noon pacific time.


And don't think we haven't already been pricing tickets to Australia!

Aussie to American Translations

Some very precious friends have been staying with us. They are born and bred Aussies. What a joy it has been to love on our brothers and sisters from down-under. We all loved to tease one another about our accents. Each of us demanding the other sounded the silliest.

For those of you out there even remotely curious about the Australian dialect. I've included a few word translations below.

Dunny – Bathroom

Bubbler – Water Fountain

Mate – Friend/Dude

Rubbish – Trash

Slippery-Dip – Slide

Swimmer – Swimsuit

Muzzy – Mosquito

Jackaroo – Hired - Help

Capsicum – Pepper (Red, Green)

Bloke - Man/Cowboy

Turn It Off!

How did your children spend their day today? How many hours of TV did they watch?

"American children and adolescents spend 22 to 28 hours per week viewing television, more than any other activity except sleeping. By the age of 70 they will have spent 7 to 10 years of their lives watching TV."-- The Kaiser Family Foundation


Are your kids turned on, plugged in, and tuned out? Let me just say, "I have so been there." It's really sad when I stop and think about how many hours my kids sat in front of the television when they were younger.

We haven't had a TV in our house for over seven months now. We turned ours off quite awhile ago. We rent movies as a family now and if my husband and I want to watch a TV program like "The Office", we can watch it on HULU.

Yes, it was tough in the beginning. Yes, the kids were not too pleased. And yes, I still miss it from time to time. But the blessings have been abundant and the time spent together precious.


So, I understand your beating heart when I say...


Are you up for a challenge?


It is national "Turn off your TV" week. Cmon' friends, take a walk on the wild side and turn yours off for a few days.


You will be amazed at how beautiful life is without it.

Death By Purse

My purse is like a piece of luggage. I carry everything in this bag, from pens and planners to cameras and small children. You never know when you might be stopped and asked to play an impromptu game of "Let's Make a Deal."

I would SO win, by the way.

Today my sunglasses were my most recent purse-casualty. Somehow they wandered down to the bottom, the bermuda triangle of my bag. I was driving in the car with my husband this morning when I pulled them out and put them on. Turning and quietly smiling at him.

"Now that is something you should put on your blog." He laughed.

So, waaa laaaaa....




Fill me in ladies. What's the weirdest thing in your purse?!?

For Your Viewing Pleasure...

These young gals are quite amazing. But I must warn you...don't try this at home.

HE IS RISEN

Blessed Buddies...

I met some precious people while at Mount Hermon. Let me introduce you to Penelope from Australia. What a doll. She was one of the twelve semi-finalists from the Zondervan fiction contest. We hit it off. Encouraging one another every time we saw each other in passing. She lives on a 3,000 acre farm (or PRUHPATY, as she'd say it) with her husband and two beautiful children. She raises cattle and sheep...and yes, kangaroos hop all over her land. My prayer is that her and her family will stop by and stay with us before she heads home. Penny had some divine appointments with authors and publishers. God is using this angel from Aussie.


Then there was Bruce from Alabama. He is writing a non-fiction book called The Perfect Storm. It's about how the Lord brings storms into our lives, using our health, finances, relationships. He is a preacher who has travelled as far away as South America to reach the lost for His kingdom. I met Bruce on Palm Sunday. We hiked back down the hill together and had the best conversation. I will let you know when his book comes out. If you would like to have a gifted encourager to speak at your church or retreat, go to his website and book him, now! www.brucewmartin.com God blessed him in so many ways while at Mount Hermon, it won't be long before his book is in your hands.



Then there were my roommates, Jennifer and Heidi. God put us together for a reason. We laughed until our sides hurt. I had prayed for sweet roommates and the Lord didn't disappoint. Jennifer writes fiction and lives close to me. I am going to help her get her blog up and running soon. This gal is head over heels in love with her new husband. She even had a picture of him in a frame by her bed. Sweet, huh? Heidi was the quiet one of us three. She is a school teacher from the Bay Area and is writing fiction as well. I found out by the end of the week that she was raised in Taiwan, a child of missionaries. I bullied her into speaking Mandarin Chinese to me while we were at breakfast. When I tried to speak it back to her, she said I was offending her with my foul language.

Three forty-somethings trying to pull off a Charlie's Angels pose.

Then there were those that I wasn't able to snap a picture with. Most especially, Debbie Jansen. If you need a speaker for your church gatherings, EMAIL HER,CALL HER. SEND SMOKE SIGNALS. Just get her. She was a riot. What a precious woman of God. Her and I just clicked. She was such a sweet encouragement to me. I am reading her book, Discipline Exposed.




If you want to read a great book about Godly discipline, packed with humor, go to Amazon and purchase it today.

I have a very strong feeling I will be seeing Debbie again.

Your Loved Ones Don't Miss You

Do you have loved ones in Heaven? If you do, I'm here to tell you that they don't miss you.

They really don't.

Anyone close to me knows that my husband and my children are my life. I love them to pieces. BUT, when I was at Mount Hermon, in the midst of other believers- worshipping God together through His Word, through song, and through our gifts of writing, I was home.

By day three, when I should have been aching to be with the ones I love, I spoke with my husband Paul. "I love you sweetheart, but I don't miss you."

Sounds pretty harsh, I know, but it was the truth.

I learned this week that it's impossible to miss people when you are in His presence. I have heard many say they would rather be in Heaven, but I never really understood that. Sure, I love the Lord too, but rather be there than here?

Now I understand.

This was the natural waterfall and babbling brook that could be heard from my cabin. I had my quiet time with Him beside this stream each morning. It was such a beautiful fingerprint of what God had told me in His Word. "For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills." Deut. 8:7


God used His holy paintbrush to bring beauty to this blessed place.



Don't ever wonder about your loved ones again.


They still love you. But they don't miss you.

Mount Hermon-Express

Registration for Mount Hermon $645.00

Cute shoes that have no redeeming qualities whatsoever $39.00

Selling my work to Today's Christian Woman and In Touch Magazines,

Priceless.

Mount Hermon Newbie- Reporting From the Front Lines

I haven't been able to sleep for days. I'd love to tell you it's because I am super-spiritual, or because I've been scrubbing toilets to leave my family with a clean house.

Neither are true.

I think it's been the excitement. So, how about a quick recap of my day?

4:30am Alarm goes off.

5:30am Leave house fifteen minutes late and head to my girlfriends house.

6:15am Four of us pile into a Volvo XC90. We're off!

9:00am Stop at Starbucks for a quick pick-me-up. I highly recommend black tea vanilla lattes.

10:00am Prayer time at the beach in Santa Cruz. Meet a very interesting commercial fisherman.

11:00am We're Here! Register at Mt. Hermon. Boy-howdy, did I bring the wrong shoes. Cute was dumb. Comfortable is needed.

12:00pm Have lunch. Soup and Salad. Try to figure out how I can smuggle a dozen of these oatmeal raisin cookies to my room.

3:00pm Take class on creative non-fiction writing. (Wish I had the guts to tell the instructor that encouraging us to read Oprah's book selection, Eat-Love-Pray, isn't earning her any brownie points with me.)

6:00pm Dinner time! Met with publisher James Watkins, what a nice man.

7:30pm Worship. Guest speaker Bill Butterworth shared from 1Samuel and the story of David and Goliath. Encouraged us as writers to be courageous. What a funny guy.

10:23pm Blogging in the cafe. Surrounded by writers and sleeping with my eyes open.







Beth, Me, Lori and Denise, wondering what God has for us this week. And laughing. Why are we doing this again?

Happy Birthday Samuel!

Samuel, you are eight years old today. WOW! I wish I could stop time so you would always be able to run and jump into my arms and climb up into my lap for a cuddle. But already you are getting pretty big, and when you run into me, I can't help but feel like a lineman blocking a tackle.

Eight years ago today your Daddy and I held the biggest baby we'd ever had in our arms. You were TEN POUNDS! The biggest of all your brothers and sisters. We all love you so very much sweetheart. You know you have us all wrapped around your tiny little pinky finger. So, I thought that since you are eight years old, I would share eight things that I absolutely, postiively, LOVE about my handsome young man.

1. I am still amazed at how much you eat for breakfast. It pleases this mommy-heart of mine when you ask me for seconds. Yep, my cooking is the best in the world, thank you for always teling me that.

2. Your heart is tender towards people who are hurting. Honey, you probably won't understand until you have children of your own someday, just how special your gift of mercy is.

3. You never give up. If video games are any indication, you will remain steadfast and resolute all of your live-long days.

4. Have I mentioned yet just how smart you are? Learning comes so easy to you. Winner of your spelling bee, straight A's in school. Yep, you are one smart kid.

5. Your laugh lights up my heart. You are a real trixster and love a funny joke. What a blessing your joy is to me.

6. You still love to cuddle. Maybe because you are my baby, I know just how fast this time will pass. I LOVE that you still climb into bed with us in the mornings when you are cold.

7. You are a clone of your father. It still makes me laugh when I think of what a clone you are of your dad. You've inherited his patience and gentle nature. It takes ALOT to get you angry. (Your sister Grace is a pro at that, isn't she?)

8. You love God. When we do our morning devotions together, it never ceases to amaze me when I end up learning from you instead of the other way around. His word you have kept in your heart and I pray that you will always find it hard to sin against Him.


Happy Birthday sweet boy. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He continue to make his face shine upon you. He has such a beautiful plan for your life honey. And as long as I am here, your Mommy will be praying for you and helping you every step of the way.


I LOVE YOU!!!! Mommy

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Blessed..Blogs of the Month!

Yep, it's that time again. If you haven't already noticed the left side of my blog - it's time you did. This is the part of my blog-real-estate that I use for my monthly blogging hall of fame.

Pay attention to the left side of Blessed...it's here that I will highlight seven blogs each month. You will discover blogs that inspire, encourage, make me laugh and sometimes even make me cry, right over there at your finger tips. Take the time to peruse their sites and get to know some of these precious people.

I look forward to having all of you there soon. But, if you're impatient like me and just can't wait, then hop on over to my BlogFrog thingamajiggy on the right side there and check out my blogroll. Make sure to add your name to the list. That way, people don't have to wait, they can visit you today.

Now, take your cursor and make a sharp left turn and check out my Blessed...blogs of the month list. I hope you have your comfy shoes on - pop on over and pay a visit to all of these Blessed... blogs. And make sure to tell them Joanne sent ya!