Can I pack one more thing?

va⋅ca⋅tion

 [vey-key-shuhn, vuh-]   

–noun  a period of suspension of work, study, or other activity, usually used for rest, recreation, or travel /// freedom or release from duty, business, or activity.   AKA:  Holiday  (from www.dictionary.com)

How I do love "holiday"!  (Reminds me of an English woman named Julia I met on a plane who was "on a bit of a holiday")  Vacation and travel is one of my favorites.  I want to pack everything; never know what you'll need when you get there.  I usually end up wishing I'd packed light as Doug suggested, AGAIN!  God couldn't have put two more opposite people together (God has such humor).  I love the drive to the destination.  I like to absorb the scenery (especially nature stuff - it's where I connect most with Jesus), experience other towns, take my time getting there.  My husband, on the other hand, is a man on a mission.  Get to the destination with as few stops as possible (taking as few minutes as possible too).  Which leads me to my point (and not much to do with any of that)...

As we prepare for vacation this year, I'm left with one resounding thought that I cannot seem to shake: What about the precious children in Africa at the Care Points I saw 3 years ago?  I have never been able to shake their faces from my mind, and I don't want to.  I have the luxury (and I do mean luxury) of "suspending my work and regular activity" with a bit of rest, relaxation and outright fun each year.  I get to see other places, faces, and taste new things.  These precious children don't have vacations every year; most never have a vacation.  No Disney World; no SeaWorld; no Grand Canyon or beach trips...  The places and faces don't change for the most part, and praise God, the Care Points there are serving their little taste buds a hot meal.  For some, it's the only meal of the day.  Wow, what a thought!!  I am incredibly spoiled.  Thinking of previous trips, how many times have I complained or grumbled about the weather wasn't perfect or "I wanted to eat at this place" and on & on!!

So this year, I want to see things from a different perspective.  Instead of going into my "bit of a holiday" expecting to be richly rewarded as if I actually deserve to be lavishly anything'd... whatever?!..., I want to see it through the eyes of blessing.  To see that it's not a right, but a privilege, an honor, a luxury to even be able to go.  To see that I don't have to pack just one more thing.  I can pack light.  Light enough to not only eagerly anticipate sharing time with family this year but having my heart, ears and eyes open to what God has to show me.  Oh, may I never look at vacation the same again...  

Beth Moore Conference

Last weekend I had the privilege of going to hear Beth Moore speak in New Orleans.  Whoa!  She's so full of energy!  We had floor seats the entire time.  The 2nd day we were lucky enough to get 2nd row.  And that worship team of hers, WOW!  At one point they started playing a song and never sang a word of it.  The crowd sang the entire song as they politely exited the stage.  Now, that's giving God the honor.

Here's a couple of comments that I really found interesting...may be of interest to someone out there:

• Holiness comes from wholeness.
  
• I cannot be a whole person without other people.  (Side note: God will put people in your life that drive you crazy to make you whole.  He delivers us through irritation, and you  must behave when irritated).
• I will not fulfill my destiny without courage.  
• Meanness will cause us to be the very person we cannot stand.  Forgiveness is not weak.  Give forgiveness...even those that do not want it.
• No prayer life = a powerless life.
• Pray about everything, not just the big things.  (1 Thes 5:17) When you have a best friend, they know everything about you.  They know what you like, what you don't like, your favorite food, the thing that irritates you, what color you love, etc.  God should be closer than even a best friend to the point of knowing every single little thing about you.  Even the unimportant things.  Don't go to God for just the "big" or the "important" things in your life.  
• Where I lack wholeness, I lack protection.

And last but not least:  Thank the Lord for Karina.  New Orleans is a driving nightmare for me.  ADD kicks in and there are way too many people, signs, streets, and Tom Tom talking in my ear.  I accidentally ended up driving down a block of Bourbon street at one point.  Seriously!  It's not the place for me to drive.

Back to Beth Moore, looking forward to hearing her speak again in the future!

Why does vacation...

Well, tomorrow I go back to work.  (big sigh!!!!)

Why does vacation have to be so short?  Seems like you plan and plan, wait and wait, and then you blink and it's over.  Doug & I had a great time hanging out together and actually ended up spending some time with another family (Doug's friend from work) who was in Gatlinburg while we were there.  Doug is always saying I run him ragged on vacation with my "I want to see everything" attitude, so this trip I decided to go with relaxing in mind instead of living up to my well known reputation.  

Well...Mr. Doug ran me ragged.  We saw it all!  I road in a helicopter for the first time in my life...very cool! (I felt like Magnum PI!!)  We saw Rock City/Ruby Falls, drove the Motor Trail, toured Biltmore, drove through Cades Cove, took in the view at Clingman's Dome, visited Cherokee Indian Reserve, hiked to Abrams Falls, and saw the 3 bears, 2 otters, and 1 ton of deer!  That's all I can remember at the moment although I am sure there was certainly more!  We took in God's creativity like never before!  Doug swears he heard banjos playing on some back road that "Dr Tom" (TomTom) led us down on the way to Biltmore.  Speaking of Biltmore, did I mention I FINALLY got to see it (LOVED it!)?  And Doug actually enjoyed it too (which I wasn't expecting).  We learned that gas shortages do not occur only in Baton Rouge and surrounding areas.  People panic elsewhere just like they do here.  (ha!)  

I went on the trip expecting to hear from God, and well, to say the least, I heard Him loud and clear.  As I looked at our view the first morning, I felt God impress upon my heart that He didn't want me in the valley or on the slopes...He always wants me on the tip top waiting to hear from Him at any given moment.  When I'm in the valley or on a slope, I am not able to see what's around me from every angle, I'm not closest to Heaven (assuming it's above me), and I'm not on the highest point able to pull others up to the top too.  Needless to say, I kinda sat there in awe and felt as if I really needed to step it up...literally!  I have a lot of improving to do.  Yeah, I heard Him loud and clear! 

Overall, I give the trip an A+.  It leads me to this, why is it that we plan so much for vacation which is only about 1/52nd of the year (depending on how long you go)?  Why do we not plan our lives in the same fashion?  We research, pick out just the perfect places to see while we are there, perfect place to stay, save money to afford it, expect the best/most exciting and so on, but our daily lives are spent day to day awaiting the ordinary schedule of the day.  We float along expecting nothing unusual or exciting.  Why do we do that?  

I plan to change my outlook.  I plan to expect the unusual and the exciting.  I want the best out of every day life!!!  I want the God Adventure EVERY DAY!!!!  I want the mountain top view where I can hear God whispering from Heaven!!!!  Anyway, that's my 20 seconds of wisdom!  Hope it spurs you to think differently too.  Here are some photos of last weeks adventure...  

2 of the 3 Bears...  (I know, I didn't really get a good picture...  The one in the upper left was looking right at me.)

 Abrams Falls (an otter paradise)

After the Helicopter Ride...

Cades Cove as the sun was rising...beautiful!! (and where all the deer hang out!)

Oh yeah, we went shopping, ate out a LOT, played putt putt, rode the incline railway, took the ski lift, played pool/Ms PacMan & Galaga (sp?), went to the aquarium and pet a bunch of sting rays (way cool)!  I'm sure there's even more...but that's all I can think of for now!  : )

Let the countdown begin...

7 hrs 20 mins to US! 11.5 hours to home! Yeah!!!!

I love technology. Especially since I am such a visual person.

Here's where they are right now (7:27 am). Amazing! Love it!

AND 2 days left until the Children's Cup 40 days of prayer begins for the children....

Don't forget!  Check them out at www.childrenscup.org.  

Tomorrow!!

Tomorrow's the big day!

We get to go pick up Micki at the airport from her journey to Swaziland, Africa!!!!  Needless to say, I am just a little excited!  By the way, I don't know that kid in the photo, but he cracks me up!  I cannot believe how quickly the time passed, but boy have I missed her.  I am sure she will have some great adventures and photos to share!  I cannot wait!!!  

Today it hit me like a brick..."Where did the summer go?"  I feel like someone hit fast forward! I am planning to enjoy some of what's left with a few days off.  I think one of my favorite things from this summer had to be teaching Navigate/Saturate.  Those students are amazing.  What was your favorite thing about summer this year?

Submerge 08

Here's a shot from service. It was packed with well over 500 students plus leaders, staff and pastors. I think about 650 total.

God rained His love, mercy and compassion down in that place! Worship was intense, the Heavens opened up and freedom was available to all.


I had 10 amazing girls in my room. They are the sweetest girls! I had a great room!! Here's a pic of them. Some tried to stay up all night but never made it, we told scary stories, stayed in the pool until we looked like raisins, laughed until we cried, and ate everything in sight...and what's a trip to camp at the beach without a little bunk surfing?!

Walkin' In Memphis...

Took a little trip last a couple of weekends ago. We stopped over at Dancing Rabbit for a little golf. The course was very pretty and well manicured. I snapped a jewel of a picture or two on my phone while we were there. Of course, they have nothing to do with golf, but they are on the course. I LOVE nature stuff. Kinda makes me think of the verse about the path to Heaven being narrow...

After golfing, Dr. Tom (we affectionately call our Tom Tom that) lead us on an adventure of back roads through Mississippi that I thought we'd never find our way out of. Dr. Tom came through and led us safely back to I-55 where we drove to Memphis. We've never been there, and started out by going to the wrong hotel. (uhmmm. Doug's fault. uhmmm) Once we got to the correct one, we discovered it was a blessing in disguise. It was right in the middle of a shopping mecca! Every store you could think of and every restaurant too! The area was so clean. We headed to downtown where we spent the evening trying to find parking to check out Bealle Street. After shelling out $20, we went to discover it just wasn't for us. Everyone there seemed extremely drunk and single. Maybe it would have been better had we gone during the day? While we were in the area, we ate at Rendevous BBQ. I heard that's our President's favorite BBQ place...he might want to come try some deep south BBQ. It was pretty good, but my dad is the Master of BBQ! Nobody cooks ribs like him! We walked through the Peabody which was very beautiful. Incredible woodwork! It was past the ducks bedtime though.

The next morning we got up and enjoyed the AMAZING weather at the Memphis Zoo. It wasn't as big as I

thought it would be but it was very nice...very clean! They even had a gorilla exhibit. I love seeing all of the animals. God is so creative! Back to the gorillas...He (or she) was sitting right by the glass watching the people out of the corner of his eye. Judging by the size of him (which the picture does NO justice for), he could easily rip your arms and legs off with his pinkie! Kinda scary. The hippos were sunning right by the fence. They were massive and needed some deodorant or something. I don't think I'd want to get into it with them either. Then, there was this huge lizard thing that kept following Doug down the glass that separated us from him. I think it was love at first sight! The zoo was a lot of fun!

We stopped in to see if Elvis was home, but he wasn't. About 1000+ people were visiting though. I couldn't get over the number of people there. It was kinda neat since it reminded me of my childhood. My aunts (and my mom) were 'in love' with Elvis when I was little. I even recall mom and one of my aunts sitting in the living room with his album playing and crying the day he died. You can buy one of those groovy outfits like his for a mere $1,700 bones! Uh, no thanks! Not my style. The thing that really caught my attention during this tour was how passionate everyone was about seeing where he lived, what he did, his outfits, his gold records, etc. Why is it that people will line up for hours and pay $70 for two to see his stuff? Wouldn't it be great if that same passion was seen in all of our churches of people willing to stand in line to hear about Jesus' life?

Speaking of church, our last stop was at Life Church in Memphis. Pastor John Siebeling has a great church there. It was really cool that it's in a store front! The message was great as well. Worship was great! Lots of young people there. They were very similar to HPC, and we felt right at home!

Overall, the trip was fun and a much needed getaway! Wish it could have been longer.

Live the Dream!

I am very excited about the Women's Conference coming up this weekend! I cannot wait to see what it's all about. To be honest though, I have to admit that I wonder what it's going to be about. HPC never does second rate anything so I know it's going to be great. In preparation for the conference, I've been thinking in my 10 spare seconds I've had this week about "my dream". What exactly does it mean to "live the dream"? As I've contemplated this one thought, I have come to realize that I do "live the dream". There isn't much more that I would want to do than to pursue the dream God has placed in my heart. I am married to the best guy out there, have a wonderful family, work for a great group of guys, serve in the most awesome youth group around...get fed into by some of the most amazing speakers & pastors around...have great friends...most of all, I have an amazing relationship with Jesus...what more is there. I used to live in the shadows on the coat tails of others dreams. I felt so empty. THEN CAME JESUS! Since then, my life has never been the same. I feel so loved, confident and empowered! As I get ready for this weekend, I cannot wait to see what God does in my heart.

Broaden my dreams Lord. Give me Your perspective and view. I want to walk hand in hand with You every step of the way. I love You and need You. I don't want to do life without You or to live my dream. I want to live Your dream for my life. That's when there's real fulfillment! Move my heart this weekend! Bless the speakers and staff. May Your Spirit saturate this place!

Nuggets of wisdom from Bishop Jakes

Here are some nuggets of wisdom from Session 1 of the Joyce Meyer Women's Conference (Bishop TD Jakes spoke). It was very hard to come up with a few so I put what stood out to me the most. All I can say is SOMETHING's gonna happen!!!

1 Sam 3:1-11

If God called you/me, HE will keep calling me over and over and over ... until you/I answer Him. He will NOT give up!

We start out bossing God around (prayer goes something like “God give me, God move him/her, God do this/that…”). After we run that into the ground getting no where, our prayer becomes asking (prayer goes like “God, what do you want me to do?”). The response is we need to do SOMETHING!

We need fresh ideas. Sometimes we don’t have fresh thoughts because of what/who we are around. God moves in despite chaos. His Word has so much power, independent of anything else…what He speaks HAPPENS! What He has spoken in and over you will happen and will come to pass. Not because of a degree or what anyone thinks, etc, but because HE spoke it!

Take authority over what was given to you. Get out there and make something happen! If any man gets in the way, God will move them out of your way. God is greater and more powerful!

Many times God has to get our attention to get us out of our comfort zone. Busyness doesn’t make you closer to God. (.......convicted myself here!)

No need for jealousy – there are no duplicate fingerprints, voice prints, etc. God made you unique. There can never and will never be another you. He gave you every talent or gift you will ever need. Don’t envy anyone else’s talent!

You are not defined by your past, but prepared by your past. You were being prepared for a purpose. You have the personality for what you were created. Personality!

***Warning: What you cannot stand, you WERE called to fix!***

That’s why you are so passionate and fired up about 'it'!

God is gonna do a “thing” that will cause both ears to tingle. The “thing” will make people see God. Things are about to shift! A transfer of authority is about to happen. The baton is about to be passed. When runners are in a relay, they do not stand still waiting for the baton, but when it gets close they take off running while looking forward. The receiver is getting ready to get the baton. The receiver is ALREADY running when the baton is handed off! Things are shifting! Earth as you know it is about to shake!

GET READY…GET SET…GO! GO! GO! ...... Now, GO get your baton!

Passion & Purpose Women's Conference

2007

Well...I have returned. WOW! 25,000+ women under one roof was crazy! I don't even know where to begin..... I will compose myself over the next few days, find a few of the main points from my 22 pages of notes to share and be back. I cannot figure out how to get the video on here or the pictures from Joyce Meyer's website, but if you go to the link above, you can see the convention highlights (which are awesome) and the photos there. I will post some of our own later.

All I can say is every speaker was great, the message was incredible, and the worship was AMAZING! Definitely an event full of passion & purpose! We were literally 2-3 blocks from the dome...what a blessing! Get your seat belt on because the message was strong! Be back soon!

What do these have in common?

Give?? I'll tell you...purpose&passion! It's the 25th annual women's convention, and I cannot wait!!!! These are absolutely some of my favorite speakers, and I'm ready to receive, receive, receive! I'll be sure to tell you all about it (until you are probably sick of hearing about it) when I return!

Do you know what your purpose is? your passion? If not, I challenge you to dig in and find out!

The beach

The beach was great! Micki had to have a time-out in the "Naughty Chair", but once we got that straight, it was smooth sailing! She made lots of new friends on the beach. Here is a picture of her hanging out with about 10 of them.

We had a great time playing tennis even though everything was out according to Crystal. My philosophy was "just go with it!" I seemed to struggle in the serving department. I think my side is still hurting from laughing so incredibly hard!

A trip to that area is not the same without dinner at Lamberts. Everyone ate like pigs especially when the rolls were flying. Lance seemed a little preoccupied with the puzzle book until he was smoked with a roll (with a little help from some people at our table). Everyone had fun. Even Whitaker liked the tea. Here is part of our group.

From there, we landed at The Track for some serious swinging, go-karts, and a little putt putt challenge (where the guys narrowly beat the girls). Crystal brushed up on her Nintendo Mario skills over of the weekend! We managed to get a little shopping in too. It was a relaxing weekend filled with fun, good food, and lots of laughter! My favorite kind of trip! Looking forward to going again!

Vacation is over already??

We just returned from a great trip to South Carolina where we were able to hang out with family we don't get to see often. WOW - The week flew by! We always really enjoy spending time with them, so this trip was not much different other than the fact that my nephew Matt and my niece Jennifer are really growing up. I was really impressed with both of them. I sure wish we lived closer together. I would love to hang out with them more often. We shopped, ate, hung out at the lake, ate, got a car for Mic (see pic) and celebrated Doug's b-day (over dinner - more eating). Oh! By the way...We met DA's twin while we were there (see pic). He is friends with my nephew. On a separate note, tonight when Doug looked at what I prepared for supper, he said "I am used to eating like a King!" Well, I guess vacation IS over!!!

I missed seeing Miley while we were there. I am constantly amazed at how quickly babies grow. I saw her (and Renee too) this evening and got to go shopping with them. We took Miley's Cadillac (that's what I call that massive and fancy stroller of hers). They are so different than when our girls were babies (I guess I am showing my age with that comment). Miley was more fascinated with our table cloth than anything else tonight. Here she is studying it. I wonder what she was thinking?! As you can see, I didn't take many photos. Now, I'd like to kick myself for that! Here's my favorite pic of Miley this week, and that is all that really counts anyway! Right?

Some of my other fave photos from Submerge...

Student after student being baptized! AMEN!

Whit enjoying the beach...

A day at the beach!

Waiting on the tram...
OH - THE SUSPENSE! I love Tyler's reaction!

One last thought I forgot to share earlier: God gave me this verse while we were at camp, and I really thought it was fitting especially being at the beach...

Micah 7:19

"Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!"

Submerge 2007

With the beauty of Your Son,
I find myself undone.
I love You endlessly!

The words to that song continue to ring through my mind a week later! So loudly that I seem to be consumed with reminders of the Son's beauty that I experienced over those 7 days at camp. Of course, you cannot really call it camp because there is nothing near "roughing it" as you might imagine camp would be. I'll give you a brief glimpse into my world during Submerge... Yes, it's long but doesn't even begin to cover the week...



There were 12 chicks that entered my life beginning last Sunday and ending on Saturday (of course, they didn't exit my life, only we don't share the same roof now). Some I knew, some I just met. But the common thread was camp. Had we not all paid our fee, we would not have shared lives.

On Sunday morning, Pathfinders loaded the bus and headed to the sandy white beaches of Destin. The bus ride was unusually quiet. When we arrived, we were all excited about the unknown. What would God do in our lives this week? Oh, the suspense!

The answers are as follows:

He delivered from insecurity...
He gave new views of ourselves...
He forgave.
He set apart.
He gave freedom away.
He poured out mercy.
He loved on us.
He healed.
He blessed a few more than they could imagine!
He showed up and showed off!

He made Himself known to young and old. He exceeded my expectations!

I personally had some things going on that He healed me of (spiritually/emotionally). I don't understand it, but I know without a shadow of a doubt that I was called to be there. Although you could not literally hear chains clanking, I heard chains breaking. I watched students lay down insecurity, immorality, and shallow living at the altar. It was by far the most amazing sight and beautiful sound ever!

Back to my room...I had the most amazing chicks in both of my rooms. For the most part, the pathfinders (Ashley, Angela, Meghan, Caroline, Alicia and Alexis) were familiar with one another before we arrived. We tried to do a little of everything for everyone. We rode bikes, ate out, went on the beach, some body surfed while others were literally thrown into the waves, ate by the pool and had dinner on the beach, talked until 2-3am (EVERY NIGHT), and more. Services were amazing!! We were all poured into by Rev. Spike, Pastor Mike Haman, Scott Stillman, and Pastor Tyler. "I love the Word, I love to speak the Word, I love..." (That's for all my friends that were there!). We even witnessed someone win a $1000 while at camp. That was definitely a God moment for Haley (the winner - from another church). I heard that she needed $900 to go on a mission trip. Isn't that just like God to give her $1000 (tithe $100 and $900 left for the trip!!!)?! It was amazing. As I hugged them all goodbye Wednesday, I felt so sad that camp was over for Pathfinders. God was so present there. My prayer is that they brought that presence home with them and didn't leave it in their rooms or on the bus.

(check out the cool chick taking the picture at lunch...I didn't notice the mirror until after the photo! duh?!)

THEN...the refuge chicks arrived. Six of the greatest high school students arrived not knowing one another. They were all nervous about staying with others they didn't know. But after the trip to Starbucks, all six chicks and I knew we were meant to room together. God really hand picked that group. We had amazing talks, I watched girls lay down insecurity at the altar and make decisions to be pure (Oh! Music to my heart!!!). And the last night was unbelievable. God was everywhere and security made us shut down things. Satan never ceases to stop trying to destroy lives. I think he failed miserably last week. Lives were changed and students were encouraged. People made decisions to walk away from the ordinary (world) and make a run for the extra-ordinary (Jesus). Freedom rang throughout that resort. There is no way that the vacationers did not know we were there and that Jesus was present. I made some incredible friendships on that trip (ABC order - Brandi, Joyce, Kelsey, KiKi, Stephanie, and Tiffany).

Then, who can forget "the Tram" (and our Tram Buddies)! Hats off to all those drivers who tried to do their best to deliver all of us at one time to our houses, the beach, the Village, Starbucks...

The trip home was cool too. Riding a bus with high school students verses middle school is very different. It's much more civilized. When I got home, Doug had supper cooked. I ate and crashed! Then Sunday I got to see Miley. I am amazed at how much a baby can change in one week! She is such a sweetheart! I just love this baby! She is such a blessing to all of us!