The South vs. The North...er, uh the West

I thought you might enjoy the post that my sweet Southern friend Teresa at Livin' the Wood Life recently posted about my desires to be a Southern girl. She made a point to rub my California nose in the fact that I have no chance whatsoever of being from the South, period.


As a born and bred California girl, there are a few myths that need to be broken:


For the record, I have never ridden a surfboard in my life.

I don't know any movie stars.

I am not a size 2.

And...Arnold Schwarzenneger will always be the Terminator to me.


I do admit that this California girl needs me some soy milk with my Starbuck's and enjoys a sweetened green tea every once in awhile. My favorite grocery store is Trader Joe's where they have no preservatives in anything. I do try and keep my skin out of the sun and make it a point to exercise at least yearly.


Looks like I'm destined to be a Yankee no matter how hard I try.


Well Teresa, maybe I don't want to be a part of your us four and no more, Southern girls club!

(Ok, but I admit, I do want to be invited to ALL of your gatherings where food is involved.)


Ok blog friends...am I the only wannabe Southern gal out here?

Anyone dare to admit they want to live in California...anyone....Bueller...Bueller?

She Speaks - My Peeps

If you aren't already sick of hearing why you need to attend the She Speaks conference next year, let me give you reasons number 4, 289 thru 4, 295.

You get to hang out with your peeps.

Girls that have been gifted by God in much the same way you have been.

To write/speak for Him.

Your people.

The girls who understand your neurosis.

The women who have the same hang ups you do.

When I would sit down and speak to new friends, I felt like I wasn't crazy anymore. They too have kept journals since they were little, written or blogged about the mundane, woken up in the middle of the night with an idea or sentence they just HAD to write down or they would just die.

I now know what the little people from the TLC show Little People Big World think when they get to attend a little persons convention.

"There really are people out there just like me!"

He Speaks - She Believes

"Why am I here?" "I don't belong here Lord." "What is it that you need to tell me in North Carolina that you couldn't have told me in California?" "Did I mention yet that I don't belong here?"

These questions were my constant dialogue between the Lord and me while I was at She Speaks.

At least all day Friday.

I was scheduled for two publishers appointments on Saturday. So many gals weren't able to get one at all, let alone two. After speaking with one of the teachers on a class I took on pitching your book idea to a publisher, she encouraged me that I didn't have a book, but rather an article and not to pitch my book at all. I was so discouraged. I felt guilty taking the spots from other women who did have a chance at a book. I tried to offload my meeting times with two different gals I met there who shared their disappointment in not getting time with a publisher. They said they'd get back to me, so I told them which room I was staying in just in case they wanted to contact me later.

Before bed I called my husband Paul and told him that I really didn't have a book idea after all, just an article. I told him what the teacher had told me earlier. He asked me, "Did God tell you not to pitch your book?" "Well, no." I replied. "Joanne, it's not an accident that you are there. Take advantage of what God has put before you and pitch your book idea." His words encouraged me. After listening to Lysa Terkeurst share how her first book was rejected fifteen times, well, I was scared to death. I surely wasn't looking forward to being rejected for the first and second time in my short lived writing career.

I prayed in my hotel room alone that morning, surrendering my goals and desires for His. I told the Lord that if today was a day that I would be rejected, then I would do it with joy for Him.

At 9:00am and 6:00pm I walked up the grand staircase above, in obedience to whatever He had already planned for my life, for the first time I went in and spoke with publishers, women from Howard Publishing and Harvest House Publishing.

When each publisher reached across the table to hand me their personal business card, I ran back down those stairs, and out the hotel doors to call my family and friends. (Not easy to do in backless heels). Just like Charlie in the chocolate factory when he runs back home to show Grandpa Joe his prized golden ticket, I was thrilled.

They both want me to send in a book proposal at the end of the summer.

Just like Renee Swope shared with her message about shadows of doubt...they are already starting to creep in.

But I have to remind myself of what Lysa said on Friday evening.

Where God calls, God equips.


"Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished." Luke 1:45

She Speaks- She Eats

Oh North Carolina I miss you so....my first taste of the South and I am grieving my return to California. The precious ladies, the laughter that kept us up late at night, and the food, Oh Lord what delicious food.

I ate my first grits in the company of Fanny, a beautiful black woman from the area. She made sure to show me how to eat them, never with sugar, ALWAYS with butter.


My first taste of sweet tea. I think I have died and gone to Heaven. Why in the world hasn't anyone in California thought of this sweet nectar?!?!



My dinner choice the first night I arrived, a red velvet cupcake. Does it get any better than this?!?



Our dessert after dinner on Friday. I looked mentally unbalanced, giggling over this delicious, delightful creation. I couldn't even hold my camera steady.



But hands down, without a doubt, my joy was overflowing when I received what I now call "manna rolls" from Heaven. In California we have lots of bread with dinner, sour dough, french bread, but this pretty little roll that I held in my hands stopped time for me. I am convinced that the angels in Heaven eat these and the good Lord himself knows the secret recipe.

I just know that I have Southern blood running through my veins. I am sure of it. After this past weekend, now convinced that I must have been adopted, it is now my duty to go out and find my real birth mother, sipping sweet tea, red velvet cupcakes in the oven, just waiting to share her manna rolls with me.

Oh North Carolina, I miss you so.

My heart is ready to burst!

It's times like these that I wish I were one of those amazingly descriptive fiction writers....I want to share every moment of this weekend at the She Speaks conference with all of you. It was one of the most transforming trips of my life. So get ready, I plan on talking about it ALL week long! So forgive the high school type content, capitals and smooches. I am flying on a cloud and don't want to come down just yet.

So...In the Beginning...

Our hearts full from worship to the Lord, Lysa TerKeurst's teaching on Developing a Dynamic Women's Ministry, Friday morning encouraged us in ministry. As an author now of eleven books, it was comforting to hear her speak of her first time pitching a book idea with publishers at a book convention years ago. Fifteen rejections later...did you read that ladies...FIFTEEN in one day...she encouraged us that this weekend if we were to meet with publishers, no matter what the outcome, when the Lord puts something on your heart to do, you do it.

My sister often makes fun of me for saying that I have blog friends in other states. Let me just tell you all that if and when you are able to meet any of your online friends in person it is such a joyous reunion. I would have never imagined....Getting to throw my arms around two of the most precious southern ladies ever, Angie from Laced with Grace/The Knightly News and her precious sister Aimee just tickled me pink. Those two are characters I tell ya! Are you working on your manuscript yet Angie?!?

At the bloggin reception it sounded like a gaggle of hens, laughing, hugging and clucking, running from one person to the next. This is where I found Lynn from Laced with Grace/ Spiritually Unequal Marriage....what a beautiful lady...congrats Lynn on your proposals being accepted! I met a new special friend and southern beauty...Starr from Threshold Moments and Kelly from Chatty Kelly was a darling and petite sweetheart, look for her article being published in Proverbs 31 magazine soon! I ran into Amy from Signs Miracles and Wonders, she is just a doll, plain and simple. Thanks for including my song on your site last night!

My new friend Susan from New Jersey, well what can I say, I am so proud of her, she stepped out in faith and the publishers want to see her work..Praise the Lord. She is a beauty, inside and out. (thanks for praying with me before my publisher meeting...it meant so much...do you have your blog up yet? Call me if you need a hand, I mean it!)

Last but never least..Teresa at Livin the wood life...my roommate and southern galpal. Thanks for letting me keep you up talking your ear off every night. I know you tried to convince me that you were sleeping, but I knew better. You are beautiful and kind with a sweet and gentle spirit....I can't wait to see what the Lord does with your life. I thank God for letting me share a room with you this weekend. It was a blessing...not to mention now I am two degrees from Beth Moore! Oh...and you still can't convince me that I'm a Yankee. I sure hope you've gotten me a backstage pass to have dinner with your groupies, oops, I mean group of friends from church. Would you please try and make the menu fried chicken or meatloaf the next time I swing by Nashville?

I did get to sit under blogging classes with some of the big names like Sophie with Boomama and Melanie from Big Mama...and last but not least Melanie with Rocks in your dryer. It was so strange seeing a blog walk around with two arms and two legs. They were so sweet, but a bit uncomfortable with all of the attention they received from their bloggin fans. And yes, they were entertaining. As much fun as it was to see them, they paled in comparison to the girls above.

So, I am already praying for you ladies out there that weren't able to make it this year. I am praying for financial provision and creative ideas. Angie sold furniture to help pay for her trip. It's lemonade stand season..get your kids out there working for ya...



I want to throw my arms around you next year!




****Click on Angie's link above to see her slide show.I'll post pictures later this week.****

A little kiss from God...

At church on Sunday, my friend Kim's daughter pushed a lovely little gift bag into my hands. As my friend walked up she told me, "Happy belated birthday." Actually, Kim didn't forget my birthday in February, but she is one of those friends who has a generous and thoughtful heart. We each have four children and haven't had a moment to hang out together in way too long. I just love her.

When I opened the bag I saw the most beautiful silver bracelet. "Read what it says." She told me. There inscribed on the sides were the words to Proverbs 31:10"Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is above rubies."

I was thrilled. "Oh wow...this is so perfect Kim! I'll wear this at the conference next week." I excitedly said while putting it on my wrist. "What conference?" She asked. I looked up,"I thought I told you that I am going to the Proverbs 31 She Speaks conference in North Carolina next week." "No, you didn't tell me." She said, wanting to know more...and of course I just had to give her the 4-1-1.

Isn't God so good that He would put on my friends heart to give me a bracelet with a verse from Proverbs 31 on it? Just another reminder of His love for me, a gentle little kiss from Father to daughter before I board my plane tomorrow. Not to mention that He accessorizes quite nicely too.

So, if you are at the conference this week please come up and say hello. I will be the forty year old woman without the southern accent, sucking in her stomach and more than likely lost...but sporting the most adorable silver bracelet ever!

Trying hard not to freak out...

Next Thursday morning at 6am pacific time, I will be flying cross-country to North Carolina for the Proverbs 31 Minsitries-She Speaks conference. As much as I was looking forward to attending a few weeks ago, like clockwork, days before any long trip away from my husband and children, those seeds of concern are beginning to return a harvest of gentle worry. For starters, I am not fond of being shot into the air at 400mph and dropped off in a state that I have never set foot in. I get lost walking to my own mailbox. And did I mention that I have to change planes in two different airports...TWO! Usual conversations with my husband about what I will be making for dinner or what the kids have surprised me with that day have turned into conversations about what I want him to know if my plane went down. Not to mention that I am having a very hard time remembering just exactly where I have secretly hidden all of my candy stash. I wouldnt' want to have my husband grieving my death and find out that I was a sweets stasher! These are now the tasks that are finding their way into my day to day happenings around here.

But every time I let my mind go back to how this trip has come about, well, that just brings me back to the confidence that I have in knowing that the Lord's fingerprints are all over this and that He is doing a work.

My going to this conference at all has been nothing short of miraculous.

So would you mind doing me a huge favor? When you say your prayers tonight or during your quiet time in the morning, or even right this very moment...will you send up a quick prayer for me and my family?

It would mean so much to me.