The *Best* Time

This past weekend I took a girls only trip. I am still gushing over what a great time I had. Still. Gushing.



We rode up to Vienna, VA to see Priscilla Shirer and her brother, Anthony Evans at the Going Beyond conference. Let me just tell you that I have played Anthony Evans' latest CD about a million times since Feb 12th. Best Valentine's gift. Seeing him lead worship was a most fabulous treat. He is an awesome worship leader. I am hoping to see him here in Raleigh this Friday. I know that's a little "stalkerish". Don't judge!


Priscilla delivered a great message. And the conference was interactive. We had quiet time. Yes, 2400 women having quiet time at the conference Friday night. Never had that happen. I loved it. The second day she taught us her technique for studying the Bible. And then we had to do it right there at the conference with 2-3 verses. Can you say incredible?


But y'all, the best part was hanging out with the three ladies I attended with. We had the best conversations. So many diverse topics were covered. We listened to a lot of Christian music on the drive up there. Two of the ladies had a cool app on their iPhones that allowed them to "grab" a sample of the song. From there I think they could get the CD information so they could purchase later. How cool is that?


I had my first visit to P.F. Changs. That place has great food and ambiance. It was great to sit down and break bread together after the conference. I think we were all still processing some stuff from Priscilla's teaching but we still had a great time.


I have to apologize, AGAIN, for my loud rooster alarm on my phone. But hey, we needed to get up anyway. LOL 4 women with one shower? Yeah, I think I can be forgiven. We had a good breakfast that we were all glad we did not have to cook. Don't hate. We're all moms so we were happy to get a break.


We did lunch at the conference and then headed home. What was outstanding was that we were having such stimulating conversation on the drive home (4+ hours) we never turned on the music! That's a first for me. I think I can speak for all of us when I say we truly enjoyed each others company. We're already planning our next road trip. Yep, I like this girlfriend time. It's the best. What a blessing!


So, when is the last time you took a girls trip? If you never have, where would you want to go and who would you want to take with you. Leave a comment with your answer. And as always, Be Blessed


Mari

Devastating End to a Weekend

This is going to be a fairly short post. This Sunday has brought bad news on top of bad news.

The most devastating is that my husband's nephew is laying in a hospital bed in Chicago on life support as the result of a brutal beating. This young man was the ring bearer in our wedding. I don't have a lot of details right now but I know his skull was crushed. I am beyond words and tears don't seem sufficient. What I cling to is prayer and my faith.

On the heels of that news, I also received an email that the mother of one of Rick and I's friends died. We met her over Thanksgiving and shared dinner with her and the family. Death stings more when you've interacted on a a personal level with someone, no matter how brief. I ache for her son and her daughter-in-law, who've become dear friends to us. Losing a parent is hard. Rick and I lost both our fathers within 4 months of each other. This death, it beings all that pain and sorrow back to the surface.

It all just reminds me how precious time is with loved ones. Use it wisely. Heck, use it! Family is our primary ministry. And if it is not, I say with conviction and passion, it should be.

And now, I must go pray with my husband to petition God for our nephews life, it that be God's will. And if not, then peace and healing for the family. Also I will pray for justice to be rained down on the people who did this to him.

We covet your prayers during this time.

As always, be blessed...and tonight...go love your family!

Heartfelt Memorial

Friends, there is so much to say, to catch you up on (I know that's not proper English but indulge me today), but today is not the day for that. I'll be back later this week to do the catching up part, so get your reading glasses ready. LOL

Today I just want to ask you to pray for those in our military. Right now my family and I have a dear friend who is deployed in Iraq. Him and his precious family just returned from an overseas stint. They were relocated to Texas and had a beautiful baby girl in December. And now daddy is away, serving his country. It simply breaks my heart. I love him, his wife, their two sons and their new baby girl like they are blood relatives. I pray for his safety and their care. He simply must return home to us. We haven't seen them in a couple of years. We are overdue for a reunion between both families with all members present! I pray that this prayer falls within God's will for us.

This story is the story of so many in our military. It has been the story of many in our military over the years and through many wars. I cannot fathom how they do what they do for us and for this country. It is a great sacrifice. We can never ever appreciate them enough. We simply can't.

Pray for my friends. Pray for my stepson, who is also a reservist and has himself been deployed several times in the past couple of years. I pray he doesn't have to go again. Yet I know that prayer may not be answered. And it's okay, because in the end, God sits on the throne. He is sovereign. And I trust Him.

Trust Him today with the lives of our troops. Pray for their safety. Pray for them to keep serving with courage and pride. Pray for their families, who are left to try to live without a big hole in their lives. Pray for us civilians, that we appreciate what they do and that we continue to pray. I pray blessings on our soldiers and all who have gone before them. God bless them. And may He bless you as well today.

Mixers, Nite Outs and Girlfriends

One of the benefits I've found to connecting to women online is that you get a whole new set of girlfriends. Isn't even more fun when you get to meet them live and in person. I was able to do that recently with three fellow bloggers and twitter friends. I'm actually going to hang out with Carolina Mama tonight in Apex, NC at the National Moms' Nite Out event. I am very excited! And bless her heart, she actually interviewed me Tuesday on her blog as part of her Carolina Girls series. How cool is that?! Hopefully her blog recovers from that event! LOLOL

This will be our second time hanging out. The first time was at the Primrose At The Park Mixer in Morrisville. It is a wonderful preschool. If my girls were younger, I'd definitely have them there. The event was sponsored by the lovely Maria Bailey of Mom Talk Radio. The owner of Primrose At The Park, Leslie Grivalski, is a wonderful woman. I could tell she was passionate about the school, the kids and the parents. Her commitment to excellence is refreshing to me.

It was a great time meeting and getting to know other bloggers and twitter mamas! I'll give a shout out to @RealLifeSarah, @myGOMom @onemomsworld, @notimemom, @MomTalkRadio and of course @CarolinaMama. What fabulous women. I'm hoping we can arrange a tweet up (twitter talk for real life get together of twitter folks) soon. @RealLifeSarah and @onemomsworld live up in the mountains. I vote we meet there! I'm just saying.

Anyway, if you have younger kiddos, consider Primrose, if you have one in your area. Check out how cool it can be for your kids (see pics below). And check out National Mom's Nite Out. It's going on tonight, Thursday, May 7. There might be some mom fun going on in your area.

In the meantime, take a tiny glimpse inside Primrose. Enjoy! And blessings to you!

And God said "Yes, you do"

I am worn out friends. Between caring for a sick child, being sick myself and trying to finish the second of two book proposals, I am tapped out. The good news is that the proposals are both done and have been submitted. Now I wait. I've never been very patient. Wonder if that has something to do with why God would call me to participate in an industry where you do a whole lot of waiting. Funny Lord. HAHA right back at ya! (And I mean that in the most reverently possible way)

I do want to share one thing with you. It's a little message God spoke to my heart.

Sunday my husband decided he wanted to track down a friend of his. This friend was in our wedding. I became friends with his wife. We all used to hang out when we lived in Chicago. Then they moved to Ohio, then to England and then back to Ohio. In the meantime, we moved to North Carolina. We lost touch after our move here. They were going through some stuff and probably going to move again so she couldn't provide me with a number. Life got busy. Rick and I went through our own trials here in NC and well, six years went by. So Sunday, he asked me to get online and see if I could find his friend.

I found him. And I found something else I was not ready for. His wife died in July. Forty years old and a mom of four. Dead. It hit me hard. Ladies the enemy had her fooled. He made her feel alone. He made her feel like no one knew what she was going through in life. He made her believe her only comfort was to be found in the bottom of a bottle. She believed his cocktail of lies and it killed her. It tore apart her family.

What I struggled with was that I didn't know if she ever accepted The Truth, my Jesus, the Christ. Then I wondered if I had talked about Him enough, presented Him enough when I had the chance. I fear I did not. I will not accept the guilt the enemy has tried to place in my heart and mind. And he is trying extremely hard.

What I will accept is the responsibility to not be ashamed of the gospel. I will acknowledge that as I was deciding if I was even going to submit those book proposals, I wondered if I really wanted to write and not have it marketed toward the Christian market. I liked the idea on the one hand but I also wanted to be a "Christian writer".

Ha! God clearly pointed out to me through the sad news that I am a "Christian writer", whether I write for Christians, seekers or the completely unchurched. Apparently, God was telling me with those book proposals "Yes, you do want to submit those proposals. I have called you to write for people like your friend, who don't really know me. Do you intend to go where I have called you?"

Yes, I do.

Do you intend to go where He has called you?


Be blessed friends! And be a blessing to someone everyday.

My dear sweet friend

I "met" Lynn at Heading Home via Twitter. How wonderful the ways God chooses to work! She has been a blessing to me on several occasions already.

My new friend has bestowed upon me an award. It is the PROXIMITY award.

What this award encompasses is as follows:


“This blog invests and believes in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”


I hardly feel deserving of it but thank you Lynn. It is much appreciated. You are much appreciated. So now I must choose eight other ladies to receive this award. Only eight is hard but I'm going to just choose. Know that if your name is not on this list, it doesn't mean you're not special to me.

I am not going to give descriptions because I want you to stop by and visit these ladies. I'm sure you'll want to stick around :) They are all blessings to me in their own special way. May they be a blessing to you as well. (And I cheated. I chose nine ladies. Shhh...don't tell)

Lelia at Write From the Heart

Pamela at In His Graces

Amy at In My Life

Jill at Titus24u

Angie at The Knightly News

Lisa at Behind The Eyes

Lea at Thee Shabby Olde Potting Shed

Laura at The Wellblog

Lee at PrayerGifts


Congrats to you all. Enjoy your award. Keep loving on others the way you all do.

Until next post.....be blessed.