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.

MAKING ALL THINGS NEW

“Behold, I am making all things new.” This is the first part of Revelation 21:5, and one of my most cherished scriptures in the Bible. These words from God are ones that I try daily to hold close to my heart. In return, I have watched in grateful wonder, as they have become a reality in my life. The Holy Spirit has used this promise as a thread through His needle, weaving together a garment of beauty from the ashes of poor choices and sinful blunders that I was making for so long on my own. As long as I continue to write this blog, you will find these words somewhere upon its pages. After receiving an email from my girlfriend Susan, once again these precious words came to mind.

Susan’s email was so full of joy that I found myself grinning from ear to ear while sitting alone at my computer yesterday. Her son Eric had just graduated from MCRD (Marine Corps Recruit Depot) in San Diego. Like the proud mom that she is, she shared pictures. Her bubbling excitement was contagious, as she told all about her oldest child and his great accomplishment, “Not only did he complete 13 weeks of Marine boot camp, he excelled. Graduating as an Expert Shooter (scored 225 out of 250) and qualified Level 2 at Water Survival.” Her words glowed off of the page.

Last year at this time Susan wasn’t overwhelmed with proud elation, she was heartbroken over a son who had chosen the wide path towards a future of heartache. Eric’s life was not supposed to be this way! He had always been a good son, a great student and a leader in his youth group. His aunts and cousins were shocked and hurt as Eric continued to fall deeper and deeper into a lifestyle of addiction, while bringing his heartbroken mother and siblings along for the ride. All of the dreams she had had for her son seemed to be slipping away. For three years he became someone that she didn’t even recognize, the complete opposite of the son she once knew. Whenever I would see Susan and ask her how things were going, her tears were always close to the surface, yet she never let on that she was in a living hell, she would just ask for my prayers.

As I continued to read her email yesterday, her words of joy pierced my mom-heart, “My first glimpse of him through the crowd I almost didn't recognize him. Since the last time I saw Eric he has lost 45 pounds and I swear he is a couple inches taller, but I think that has to do with how straight he stands now. There isn't just a physical change, but I can see a confidence in him that I've never witnessed before. He uses words like honor, commitment, integrity, brotherhood, future...encouraging words for a mother who wasn't sure where he would end up.”

Once again God’s words flashed, “Behold, He makes all things new.” God is saying, “Just watch and see what I can do.” He is the God of new beginnings, the God who breathes life into dead things, and He is the only one that can turn a life of heartache into a rich and indescribable blessing.

The Stalker-Walker

This is my girlfriend and walking buddy Gina. Don’t let the pretty face and pearly whites fool you. When it comes to walking, this girl means business. She is a stay at home mommy to two beautiful children, but I personally think she has missed her true calling. She should have been one of those evil personal fitness trainers.

I thought I would share with you how this beautiful gal came to be known by me, as ‘The Stalker-Walker’

Walking is my favorite form of exercise, so last year when my walking buddy Carolyn moved away I prayed for another friend to take her place. A few months later my phone rang, “Joanne, it’s Gina. Hey, do you want to walk with me tomorrow morning?” Gina lives in my neighborhood and is a true blue dedicated walker. Neither rain, sleet, snow nor darkness of night will keep this woman from her daily walk.

From my car, I had seen her many times pounding the pavement when I would drop off my children at school. Her dedication really impressed me. “Thank you God, this is perfect.” Was my silent prayer of thankfulness, as I jumped at this golden opportunity. You see, I’m a very weak individual when it comes to exercise, I just can’t do it alone. Gina would be a great encouragement for me, just what I needed. (What I believed was God’s answer to prayer, has quickly become a real thorn in my side.)

After starting my part time job a few weeks ago, my hours were so late, I was too exhausted to get up to meet at our usual 6am time. I decided it was the perfect opportunity to take a break from walking for awhile. Instantly a thought came to mind. I had remembered, not walking...well, that just wasn’t an option for Gina…there was no quitting her. I quickly flashed back to the first time that I had tried to cancel our morning ritual.

I had awakened that morning to the sound of rain. (Well, I called it rain, Gina called it a sprinkle.) You see God knew what he was doing when he gave me this gal for my walking partner. She is a born and bred Midwesterner and California rain is nothing more than a gentle mist to her. It was 5:55am so I quickly dialed her phone number. I was hoping I could leave a message, unfortunately ‘The Stalker-Walker’ picked right up. “Gina, I am not going this morning.” I whispered into the phone. “Why not?” Her tone of voice demanded a good answer. “Have you looked outside? I asked her. “It’s raining, don’t you hear it?” I pressed. She quickly replied, “No, I don’t hear anything, and even if it is, it’s just a sprinkle…you won’t melt Joanne.” She said with a hint of Midwestern sarcasm. “I am not training for a marathon Gina.” I exclaimed. “…and we aren’t trying out for the 2008 Olympics.” I reminded her. She finally accepted the fact that there was no way I was going to budge. We hung up only after agreeing that we’d talk later to reschedule our walk. “Yippee” I thought, I had won! I skipped to my room and gleefully jumped back into my warm bed.

The next morning my phone rang, yep, you guessed it, it was Gina. She wanted to let me know that she walked without me and that she didn’t like it. She said that the trees weren’t very good company and that they didn’t make her laugh like I did. She then made it crystal clear that she wasn’t going to let me quit. (I couldn’t help but think of that scene from the movie ‘Fatal Attraction’ when Glenn Close tells Michael Douglas, “I won’t be ignored Dan!”) I told her that she was starting to frighten me and that I was thinking about getting a restraining order against her. She just laughed. I whined that I was too pooped to walk this week. Tired or not, Gina continued to call me everyday that I didn’t walk with her. It was then that I gave my darling friend the title ‘The Stalker-Walker’.

After many sleepy days plus the added guilt that my arch enemy the ‘Stalker-Walker’ heaped upon me…I finally changed my schedule at work. The two of us are now back to our old schedule of 0600hrs. Now, every cold dark morning when we meet in front of her house, I make sure to take a few seconds to tell her just how much I don’t like her. On some mornings I even threaten her, reminding her that I do have a husband who knows how to fill out restraining orders and that he would do it for me in a heartbeat! Bundled in sweats with a scarf around her beautiful face ‘The Stalker-Walker’ continues to lead me around the neighborhood, looking straight ahead, with an evil twinkle in her eye, she quietly laughs.

My heavy heart...

My heart is so heavy tonight. One of my mom’s dearest friends passed away this afternoon. Through my growing up years mom talked to ‘Bev’ on a daily basis. They had known each other as teenagers, lost touch and reconnected while watching their daughters play bobby sox at the community park across the street from our house. Bev got mom a part time job working together at Bev’s husband’s meat company. Years later they both went on to work together as pharmacy clerks at the local drugstore. “Bev always makes me laugh.” My mom would tell us. When my mom was diagnosed with cancer Bev was one of my mom’s gang of girlfriends that rallied around her. For two years they were by her side encouraging her, bringing her to doctors appointments, dropping off gifts and treats to brighten her spirits. Bev's love in action, showed me what being a friend is all about.

The Bible tells us that life is like a vapor, a mist, a shadow. Our life is fleeting. Time flies by. Just ask anyone over the age of 40 and they will confirm to you the same. I often place my hands on top of my children’s heads and jokingly tell them, “Stop growing!” I know these days are temporary yet my time still gets entangled in the unimportant. Tonight while I was lost in my own sadness I realized my youngest two children were watching TV…precious 'time' was slipping by. I went in and turned off their show and decided to pull them into my lap and read them a book. I will be giving ‘time’ a knock down drag out fight and I don't plan to lose.

Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. James 4:14 niv