Prayers needed for my Mom

This picture was taken of me and mom a couple of years ago over in Europe. I have always loved this picture but now it has taken on a different meaning for me.

Do you see the angel in the background looking as if he's reaching out to touch my mom?

Well, for about six months now my Mom has been very ill.

My Mom is young, vivacious, full of life and always ready for an adventure. To see her at 59 years old basically confined to her bed with no energy, in extreme pain and basically withdrawn from life is hard to process.

And to make matters worse, there is no diagnosis.

She has seen specialists around the country and no one can figure out how to help her.

At least if there was a diagnosis, they could get going with some kind of treatment. We would all know what we are dealing with and could rally in her fight to get better. The doctors could give us some kind of glimpse as to what to expect and she could find hope in knowing that something, anything was being done to help make her better.

Instead, it is like she is being carried off into a very dark place as we all stand by feeling very helpless.

We've prayed and prayed and prayed.

I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is answering these prayers... just not in the definitive way we wish He would. But we hold on strong fully trusting even in the not knowing.

This past weekend though, I sensed my Mom slipping away... not just physically but emotionally and maybe even spiritually.

So, I'm coming to you asking for your prayers. I want my Mom to read your prayers and feel overwhelming encouragement that people who don't even know her would pause to lift her up today.

If you have time, would you write your prayer out in the comments box. Tonight I'll have someone help my mom get her lap top, log on, and see the body of Christ rushing the gates of Heaven on her behalf.

And I think it will help her smile for the first time in a long while.

Life Lessons from one kickin' Panda

Before we get to the life lessons from my "Jack Black" sound alike Panda, I have to ask y'all a question. Girl to girl. Because every now and then I like to get a little deep.

What kind of fingernail polish do you like? Have you found any particular brand that works well and actually stays on for more than two hours. I mean really.

And while we are pondering the fragile things of life for a moment... what colors are in? I see a lot of black these days which is totally cool if you can pull it off. Me? Not so much.

Okay, now that those all important questions are out of the way, here is the list of life lessons my kids wrote out after seeing Kung Fu Panda. A movie I dearly love. Like right up there with Coal Miner's Daughter and A Knights Tale.

And maybe I should mention no one who knows me in real life trusts my movie suggestions. But I feel the Kung Fu Panda will change that. Especially if I'm wearing the right color nail polish.

The List...

1. Even when we can't see God, we must believe.

2. There is no secret ingredient to life. It is God's power within you.

3. Never give up. The Panda could have given up but he didn't. He persevered and so should we.

4. Determination! He woke up early to practice.

5. Follow your dreams. He had a dream and he followed hard after it.

6. Do not follow the crowd. When everyone else was leaving in fear, Panda stayed and fought.

7. Appearance doesn't matter. We should be confident in ourselves because of whose we are.

8. Destruction follows disobedience. When the 5 disobeyed they were harmed.

9. Any power carried to an extreme becomes a weakness. The monster was the most powerful besides he master. But when he desired to be more powerful than the master, he fell. Just like Lucifer in the Bible.

10. Never underestimate your Master.

Pretty cool hunh? Not bad Hollywood. Not bad.

I totally love me some Kung Fu

Hello bloggy friends.

I was blown away by the dork/ cool discussion yesterday. Last weekend at the She Speaks conference I learned from Big, Boo, and Rocks... as well as many of you... that our blogs should be a dialog.

And then, wallah, yesterday you all made the happen in the most endearing way.

I hope "anonymous with the messed up coffee invite" comes back today and reads people's kind and understanding comments. I especially loved Julie B's gentle advice and her posting on her own blog yesterday about something seemingly unrelated and yet totally related. Read it and I think you'll see what I mean.

Anonymous, my heart broke when I read your comment. I think people assume that because I've had a few books published that I must feel ultra included in every aspect of life now. Ironically, the exact opposite has happened. People often assume I am too busy to include me and I get left out of many invitations.

The reality is that with 5 kids and a ministry, I am busy. Probably too busy to even go most times. But the invite would touch my heart non the less.

To say I understand your pain completely, I can not. I haven't walked in your shoes or faced your exact situations. But I can say that I know the sting of rejection quite well and it stinks.

Can I make a silly suggestion to anyone who has ever felt like a dork?

Go see the kid's movie "Kung Fu Panda" that is out right now.

I'm serious.

I know I am risking stacking up dork points in epic proportions by suggesting this but trust me. I never thought I would say the words "I love" and "Kung Fu" in the same sentence but... I love me some Kung Fu Panda.

Watch it and then come home and read John 15: 1-12.

Amazing.

I took several of my kids, teenagers included, to go see this. I then took them out to eat and let them sit by themselves to discuss the movie. I told them I would treat them to dinner if they could write out 7 life lessons that they'd learned from this movie. At the end of their dinner discussion, they had 10!

They'd spent most of the dinner time talking about the rich spiritual correlations from the movie.

That was after one of my teens told me I was the worst mom evahhhhhhh earlier that same day. And then Kung Fu Panda had her diving into God's truths that very night.

Hormones- gotta love 'em.

Anyhow, go see this movie.

And pray for me this weekend. I'm flying to California.

And the last time I was there I totally ran into Jack Black. And I totally could have cared less.

But now that I know he is the VOICE of the Kung Fu Panda, I heart him slightly. And if I run into him again... because you know it is highly likely for him to show up at a Christian Women's Conference... I fear I may make a complete and utter dork of myself with all my Kung Fu Panda gushing.

She likes me, She likes me not

There is a fundamental need inside most women to be liked.

We want some people of the female variety to totally get us and walk away thinking we are pretty neat.

It's like we carry around a little scale. On one side we put our coolness and the other side our total dorkiness.

Trip over my new pointy toed shoes? Add a block to my dork side.

Make a witty comment about it with the right punch line. Two blocks on my cool side.

Walk up to someone who should know you, only to get that blank stare in return? Dork.

Forget someone's name you really should know. Double dork.

Have someone you totally admire remember your name and motion to include you in their conversation? Cool, cool, cool, like totally cherry on the top of an ice burg cool.

Put women in a space to mingle for a while and when you release them from that space, I guarantee many will walk away playing that mental daisy petal game. She likes me. She likes me not.

It can take me back to the brace-faced middle school days quicker than Rick Springfield singing "Jessie's Girl." Which, by the way, I totally wanted to be Jessie's girl. I didn't have a clue who Jessie was. But to think of Rick pining away wishing I was his... sigh.

Those were some good hairbrush concert days. I'd step up onto my bed, hush the vast audience of stuffed animals and suddenly my bubble gum pink room was transformed into the downtown civic center. And Rick was totally into me. Braces and all.

But eventually I had to step from my bubble gum pink room into the pea green halls of Raa Middle School. Let the mental gymnastics begin.

I talked too much. Dork.

But I did get a laugh from so and so. Cool.

So and so asked me over to her house. Way cool.

But I spit out that cookie crumb while talking to her. Why did it have to be her? Total dork.

And then the kiss of death... Popular Patty is having a party and everyone who is anyone is invited. But not me. Dork of epic proportions.

Good thing we've all matured past those middle school days. Long ago we wedged our dork/cook scales between our preppy handbooks and Grease Albums and tucked them up in the attic somewhere. Right?

Then why do I still find myself bouncing around feelings of dorkiness and cool in crowds of people sometimes?

Maybe very few of you can relate. But for the three of you tracking with me, can I let you in on a little secret?

No amount of worldly achievement whisks away insecurities.

The only thing that has helped me deal with my insecurities is to face them head on and ask God to help me use them to my advantage rather than my disadvantage.

My insecurities help me to be more sensitive and discerning about other's insecurities. I can sense when someone needs an encouraging word, a hug (which is big because I'm not a huggy person), a comment on their blog, or a quick e-mail.

Sometimes I'll wake up during the night and feel someone else's pain which prompts me to pray for them.

I can pick up on a person who feels overlooked by others and my heart is more sensitive to notice them.

Or some stranger will be really rude to me and my initial reaction is to get miffed. But if I pause for just a moment, I can see under their tough exterior where a world of insecurities rage.

So, in essence, me feeling like a dork sometimes is actually a gift.

If I was totally secure in myself all the time, I don't think it would qualify me more for ministry. As a matter of fact, I think it would do the exact opposite.

But probably the most important part of facing my insecurities head on is to stop looking at others for my validation and truly learn to depend on God.

When I feel like that little girl pulling the daisy petals whispering, "she likes me... she likes me not," I mentally set the flower aside.

I'll look up, and say, "You like me God and that is enough." Sometimes I have to say it ten, twenty, a hundred times... but I keep saying it until the truth seeps in.

But don't think for a second that sometimes when I'm in my bathroom with a round brush having a flashback from the 80's that I don't belt out Jessie's girl and totally pretend that Rick is still crushin' on me. I know, I know... dork.

She Sees

The gals at P31 often joke that one of the main reasons we do She Speaks isn't for a "she" at all.

There is a man that works for the hotel that we've all grown to love. He used to be employed by another hotel where She Speaks was held. Then when he moved, we moved.

We'll call him Tom.

Tom keeps up with us all year and will often ask us to pray for him.

So, it was no surprise this year that when our staff started experiencing spiritual attack before the conference, so did Tom.

The day before She Speaks, Tom went to the dentist for a routine cleaning. While there, the dentist informed him that he had a hole in one of his teeth which would require an emergency root canal ASAP.

Tom called LeAnn, our executive director, and told her about the situation. He would schedule his root canal around our conference. Hello customer service. Hello caring about us in ways that most companies can't even fathom these days.

LeAnn told him to go ahead and get his root canal done right away even if it meant he'd miss the first day of She Speaks.

He came back to the hotel to take care of a few things and ran into a bunch of us P31 gals before heading to the dentist. He told us about having to leave for the root canal and how he knew it was what us Christian women would call "attack."

Well, Luann, our prayer room coordinator, would not let Tom leave until we prayed over him. She laid hands on that man and called on God to heal him. I mean she flat out called out for HEALING! Of a tooth! With a hole. That the dentist had just stuck an instrument in and confirmed the existence of with X-Rays.

I was nervous.

I knew God could heal Tom's tooth. But what if He didn't? Would this somehow negate all the spiritual investments we'd been making in Tom's life?

The next day, Tom walked into She Speaks beaming. He'd gone to the dentist, gotten prepped for the root canal, and then when the procedure was about to begin the dentist started apologizing profusely.

He couldn't find the hole. He couldn't find anything wrong with Tom's tooth at all. NOTHING!!!

Tom shared his story of answered prayer with the hotel staff.

The rest of the She Speaks weekend, our prayer room was not just filled with women from the conference. It was also filled with hotel employees as well.

Do we do She Speaks for women?

Absolutely.

But can God take any situation and use it in the most unlikely ways to draw people to himself?

You bet.

Today, I'm going to challenge myself to stop looking at employees of the businesses I frequent as fixtures of the store. Rather I want to see them as people... real people...with real needs... who my REAL God dearly loves.

God, help us all see more clearly.

She Speaks, She Sleeps

Hello.

Sleepy girl checking in.

Have I mentioned I might be a little tired?

For all of you at the 2008 She Speaks conference this weekend, can I just give a collective shout out that you are some of the nicest, talken'ist, cutest shoe wearing, praising Jesus women I've ever met.

I feel honored to have met you.

Some of my non blogger friends are scared of our special bond and was just sure I'd be meeting some crazy ax toting women this weekend. I assured them that even if you were toting an ax that I was also certain you'd at least have cute shoes on.

And you did not disappoint!

That cute shoe thing is Biblical you know.

"How beautiful are the feet of those that bring the good news," Romans 10:15.

It's a stretch but I like it.

Anyhow back to that ax toters thing. I knew all would be well when I met the first of all my bloggy friends on Thursday. I walked into the atrium and ran into Boo Mama.

After exchanging the typical southern ohh's and ahh's and nice to meet ya's we bonded over her telling me she almost wore a see through shirt to the She Speaks.

It was accidental of course. And quickly remedied by throwing a tank on underneath while ducking down in the car. Anyhow, I teased her that had she not thrown that tank on, the whole conference might have taken on a new name... She Streaks.

And well that might have confused some of the dear publishers we'd invited to join us for the weekend.

But all was good. I then handed her some little gift bags I'd put together for her, Big Mama, and Rocks in my dryer.

I'd found them on clearance at Target. They were red and white gingham bags with fried eggs and bacon appliqued to the front.

Nothing quite speaks southern hospitality like a fried egg and bacon bag from the clearance aisle at Target. That's some serious class y'all.

Especially when it is filled with the finer things of life like Cheeze Its and M&M's. They are totally begging to come back next year based on the gift bags alone.

And I hope those of you who were there this year will be back as well.

If you write about She Speaks on your blog, leave a link in the comments below about it. I'd love to hop over and read about your experience.

I'd put up a Mr. Linky but my brain is a little like those eggs on those tote bags...

And those of you who weren't there, we missed you. We hope you'll be able to come next year.

And then she just quietly came to sit with Jesus

Welcome those of you who are here because of reading my devotion posted at the Proverbs 31 Ministries, "Encouragement for Today." I wrote the devotion that you read in hope's of breathing new life into the importance of each of us spending time with Jesus everyday. Having a busy family life and a ministry to tend to, my life can get crazy. But I've learned when time gets tight and I have to let some things slip, my time with the Lord can not be one of those things. I pray my blog post today let's you catch just a little glimpse of why.

It is very early in the morning. Not many people are stirring yet.

Though my body begged me just to roll over and go back to sleep, my soul was stirring to get up and go sit with Jesus.

Though I can't physically see Him, my heart feels His presence.

I decide to open up my Bible to the Psalms and use the verses I read as prayers to start my day. And the more I pray those verses out loud the less I hear all the nagging things of the world. A beautiful melody of truth starts to rise up and suddenly my worries fade in the light of God's truth.

His perspective on things that are troubling me starts to overshadow my anxiety. Like shade on a hot summer's day, I feel relief in His presence.

I know that He is preparing me for what I will need throughout this day. He is already standing in every minute of my day and He sees what I will face. So, He's equipping me to be able to handle what is ahead of me with His gentle boldness, quiet strength, and loving grace.

In Psalm 81: 10, God instructs me, "Open wide your mouth and I will fill it." He will give me what to say today. What to say in happy moments. What to say in aggravating moments. What to say in moments where I feel insecure and what to say when I feel completely confident. What to say in disappointing moments. What to say in response to questions.

He also reminds me that sometimes it is good to keep my mouth closed and say nothing at all.

All the words that rumble about in my brain and those that will proceed out of my mouth, Lord, you be the author of those.

Psalm 84:1 reminds me that God's dwelling place is lovely. So, I ask God to dwell in me richly. I want Him to be what radiates about me. I want Him to be my pretty today.

Not my hair... or the lack thereof. Not my outfit. Not my efforts of adornment. But simply Him and His spirit dancing invisibly about me... shifting a wrong attitude, guarding my words, and whispering constant truths into my heart.

Psalm 86: 11 is what I ask the Lord to give me. "Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart..."

Lord, may nothing separate me from You today. Teach me how to choose only Your way today so that each step will lead me closer to You. Help me walk by the truth today and not my feelings.

Help me to keep my heart pure and undivided. Protect me from my own careless thoughts, words and actions. And keep me from being distracted by MY wants, MY desires, MY thoughts on how things should be.

Help me to embrace what comes my way as an opportunity... rather than a personal inconvenience.

And finally, help me to rest in the truth of Psalm 86:13, "Great is your love toward me."

You already see all the many ways I will surely fall short and mess up. But right now, I consciously tuck Your whisper of absolute love for me into the deepest part of my heart. I recognize your love for me is not based on my performance. You love me warts and all.

Have mercy, that's amazing.

But what's most amazing is that the God of the Universe, the Savior of the world, would desire a few minutes with me this morning. Lord, help me to forever remember what a gift it is to sit with You like this.

Why my husband is in a slight state of shock right now

*** UPDATED*** Photo below...


Hello.

When you have a very large conference at which you have very large responsibilities coming up this weekend, what seems like the most logical thing to do?

It should definitely involve one's hair.

And scissors.

Yes.

That is exactly what I did.

I officially have very short hair. At least in the back. The front still has some stands that hang to my chin. But it's still short.

For the first time in my life I FELT a breeze blow across my neck today.

It was fabulous.

I feel all new and sassy.

Art is feeling a little faint.

So, have I been planning this little major change for weeks or even days?

Nope.

I had an appointment with my sweet, amazing hairdresser named Amber scheduled for today. Just a little trim...

But when I walked into Amber's shop, I spotted a woman with the cutest short "do" I have ever seen.

"That," I confidently said, "is what I want."

Amber replied, "Ummm Lysa that is really short. That would be quite a change. And don't you have that big conference this weekend."

"Yes, yes and yes. Cut it off."

Whack... whack... whack... whack...

And then I felt the breeze!

Just thought you should know.

Oh, do I have a picture?

Well, as soon as I get it all fixed and sprayed and fixed one more time tomorrow morning, I will post a photo.

Right now, I have to go assure Art one more time that it's just hair. And that hair does have a habit of growing.

Lest you think things are always peachy keen over at our place...

Hello sweet bloggy friends...

Thank you for the many sweet comments about my family photos. I especially liked those comments wondering if I took the photos or if I had a photographer do it.

I wish I was organized enough to have thought about a professional photographer. But I couldn't even remember to tell everyone to pack white shirts. So, we did the best we could and I snapped those photos with my own little fingers.

I had to let the white shirt thing go.

I reasoned that if we use the pictures for Christmas it will be nice to have a little red and yellow in them anyhow.

Or, we'll have them printed in black and white and then who will even notice.

With 5 kids, I just can't get all caught up with those kinds of details.

I also liked the references to how it appears my kids just love each other so much and must get along wonderfully all the time.

Hmmmmmffff!

That's the funny thing about pictures.

We capture a few moments of bliss and then life happens.

My kids do get along pretty well but they are so far perfect.

Hence the photo of the target bag full of weeds at the top of this post. When bad attitudes abound, the kids sporting the 'tudes are each handed a plastic sack and told to go fill it with weeds.

Let's just say that our yard looks mighty nice.

It works.

Together

If there is one thing I want my kids to grasp, it is God Himself...

With God all things are possible.

In Him there is peace like no other.

Through Him there are dreams that we could never think of on our own.

By Him is where we should always walk.

On Him is where our trust should reside.

Because of Him we will always have hope.

And as they journey through life making these discoveries about God for themselves, I pray they always stick together.

Holding each other up.

Providing a shoulder to lean on.

Quickly folding their hands in prayer for one another.

Cheering each other on and holding each other accountable.

And whether they are crying or laughing... may they do it together.

Together... Forever.

Running toward a dream with one unfortunate hair-do

Yesterday, Holly and I decided to get up and run early. The day before we'd made the sad mistake of waiting until all of the sun's scorching rays were fully awake and ready for business. There is no heat like beach sun beating down on asphalt.


Why would we be running on asphalt and not the more obvious choice of running on the sand near the surf? Well, we tried that and my little plantar fasciitis did not appreciate the uneven terrain of the sand.


So, out to the asphalt we trotted.


Now make no mistake, what Holly and I call running would not impress athletic people. But to the untrained eye, our shake and shuffle jogging works.


We set our sites on a water tower in the distance and decided to make that our goal. We wouldn't stop running until we were standing beside the water tower.


It wasn't long before my legs and lungs started protesting. They were sending lightening bolt pleas to my brain to stop and stop now. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. Stop!"


I wanted to stop.


But much to the dismay of my sweating body, I wanted to reach my goal more.


We pressed on though the water tower seemed FOREVER away.


There were no short cuts or easier routes. It would require step by step determination. Putting one foot in front of another and making the decision to refuse to quit.


Never has a water tower come so slowly.


But it did eventually come.


We were soon in its shadow.


Then we were right beside it.


And then we ran by it.


Reaching our goal was so invigorating, even my legs and lungs gave the thumbs up to keep going.


We ran all the way to end of the road and turned and looked back.


No one step had been more important than another. Each step served a purpose. Each one was necessary to get us to the goal and beyond.


As we turned and headed back, I realized how much this morning run mimicked my life's journey toward the dream of writing a book.


There were many times my insecurities or my feelings of inadequacy screamed out for me to stop.


At times the goal of seeing a real book with my name on the cover seemed so far away. So illusive.


It was not easy and there were no short cuts. Just the decision to embrace each step as necessary and refusing to quit.


Then one day, I lifted up a little yellow book with a strange looking green flower beside my name on the front cover. And as sweet as the shadow of a dream come true was, I just couldn't stay there. I kept on running. And smiling. And dreaming some more.


Do you have a dream tucked in your heart?


I suspect you do.


Sweet sister, bring back out into the light of day and press on.


I once had someone ask me what was the one thing I did that finally helped my dream of getting published come to pass.


To be honest, I can't say one thing.


Each part of the journey was essential. All the rejection letters. All the prayers. All the soul searching to check my motives. All the input from family and friends. All the studying and reading and researching. All the discouragement and all the encouragement.


It was all part of it.


Step by step.


And looking back, I wouldn't have it any other way.


Except maybe the unfortunate hair-do I sported after my water tower run. This, my friends, is what the gift of southern humidity can do to one's do.


Have mercy.

A Most Brilliant Father's Day Gift

The idea struck me the last time one of our darlings emptied the contents of their stomach all over their bedroom. Like most things, the TerKeurst's do nothing in a calm, tidy manner.

Oh no.

It was on the bedspread, in the sheets, on the carpet, on the wall, in the hair and even on the precious pink Target lampshade.

I stood there stunned and gagging.

I had no choice but to handle this in a mature, motherly way.

So, I went to get Art out of bed. He shared in the joy of making said child, so he should certainly share in the joy of cleaning her up.

We quickly assessed the situation while I scooped up my crying patient. She was very vocal about wanting me to hold her. So, I sacrificed by letting him have the room and I headed to the tub with sick child.

A little shampoo, a little soap, and a little kiss on the forehead made us good to go. Art, on the other hand, was struggling.

This is when my plan was hatched.

I told him I thought this whole thing could be solved by going to his storage shed to get the Wet-Dry Vacuum cleaner and just suck all that mess up.

He gave me the look. You know the "don't mess with my tools or my wet dry vac" look.

That's when it occurred to me that for the next Father's Day I could buy him a new wet dry vac but tape a sign on the outside that renamed it... "The Puke Sucker Upper."

It was a brilliant idea.

Except I started having flashes of Art being at church on Father's Day listening to all the other Dads bragging about their Home Depot Gift Certificates and automatic tie spinners.


Then they'd look at him and ask about his gift.


And I just couldn't figure out a manly way that he could say he got a "Puke Sucker Upper."

So, I'm looking to patent the idea and market it in a way that makes Dads everywhere think this is the thing all cool men must have. Just like women felt about the Bread machines of the 80's.

But until then, I had to come up with an inexpensive cool Father's Day gift. One that he could brag about with that "Tim the Tool man Taylor" laugh.

Alas, I present you... the Bocce Ball Set.

I gave it to Art early so that we could use it on our little family excursion to the beach this week.

Oh my stars, we have never had so much fun playing a family game as this!!!

So, until I get all my ducks in a row for my awesome Puke Sucker Upper to hit the market for all future Father's Days...

Consider getting a bocce ball set.

You will thank me.

More fun could not be found.

Except of course when one of your darlings has eaten too many M&M's while playing Bocce Ball and they give you the gift of revisiting those colorful yummies in a more liquid form during the night... and then you smile and walk to the garage to get my invention.

Oh yes ma'am that will be fun. You'll be doing your own version of the "Tim the Tool Man" laugh as you hand the Sucker Upper Machine to your husband and go back to bed.

I bet some of you have some brilliant Father's Day gifts in mind as well. So, share with us what some of you will be giving the Dads in your life this weekend.

Asking for a favor

Hi Sweet Bloggy Friends...

Can I ask for a favor today? Do you see all the Proverbs 31 Team blogs listed over on the right side of my blog?

Well, I'd love to bless them with lots of encouraging comments today.

Many of you know that our ministry team is getting ready for our annual "She Speaks" conference and we need your prayers.

I know God is going to do amazing things this year because the craziest things have been happening to everyone.

Either Satan is trying to thwart and discourage or God is just calling us to depend on Him in even deeper ways. Or maybe both.

People on our team have experience tornado damage to two different homes, an air conditioner stopped working on the hottest day of the year, a flea infestation at that same house with no air, broken arms, poison ivy, a husband that cut his hand so severely it will require surgery, another husband living with the possibility of losing his job, more poison ivy, the loss of a dear grandmother, a van totalled from a flood and the list goes on.

So, as you can see, my team could use some prayers and words of encouragement. If you have time to visit a couple of their blogs today and leave a prayer or a couple of kind words, that would bless my heart.

I know many of you also have prayer needs as well. I will commit to praying over every prayer request you leave in my comments today.

After all, I'm still fasting from Diet Pepsi, still missing the fizz and still praying every time I want one. So, I'm praying a lot these days and would consider it an honor to pray for you.

The Luckiest Girl Alive

I grew up poor.

The kind of poor where you had to get creative with everything.

While other kids played with shiny metal play sets from K-Mart, we had to play in a ditch behind our low rent apartment complex.

While other kids were decorating their pink plastic Barbie houses, I was decorating a shoe box that would have to do. I remember finding a great treasure one day in this lush green mossy ground covering. I could cut squares of it, lay it in my box, and for a day or two pretend my Barbie house had the most awesome green shag carpet around.

Then it would turn brown and back out to the woods I'd go in search of my carpet supply.

And there was no such thing as a week long beach vacation. We had beach days. Since we lived in Florida, the beach was never more than a couple hours drive. So, we'd pile into the unairconditioned red Pinto with the black, plastic, leatherette seats and head to the shore.

Equipped with nothing but hand sewn bathing suits and a big bag of Doritos for each kid, we'd spend all day jumping the waves and digging in the sand.

The drive home was one of my most favorite memories. There ain't nothing like the way sandy, salty, sunburned skin sticks to black plastic leatherette seats... hot, unairconditioned, black plastic leatherette seats.

Strangely, I don't remember feeling deprived one bit.

For what we lacked in resources and convenience we more than made up for with our imaginations.

I thought I was the luckiest girl alive.

Who wanted a metal playset when you had a ditch. Some days it was the Grand Canyon that we dared each other to leap across. Other days it was the place we could set up house and serve high tea. On rainy days it was a swimming pool with a rich supply of mud bombs.

Who'd want a store bought Barbie House with confining plastic rooms when you could have the flexibility of the shoe box variety. One day Barbie was in a one box ranch. Then the next day she married JR Ewing and had a four box mansion. Bummer on the third day when someone shot JR and she had to settle in a two box split level.

And who would ever want to spend a whole week at the beach? I was so burned after one day I couldn't fathom any more than that. Those poor people that had to go sleep in motels. We got to load up in the pinto, blast our 8 track Commodores music, and let our hair whip every which way as we sped home.

Then after my bath and hearty dinner of boxed macaroni and cheese, I'd slip into my Holly Hobby sheets and dream up what my ditch could become tomorrow.

The Adventures of the girl with the clippy clappy shoes

There are some important She Speaks Conference details at the bottom of this post. For those of you attending this year, don't miss them...

I'll never forget the first time I attended a book convention. I was giddy with excitement and weighed down with 15 copies of my book proposal. I was more on a mission than a college senior looking for a diamond toting man willing to grant her an Mrs. degree.

Yes ma'am. My shoes and I clippity clapped all around that convention floor making appointments and praying that someone, anyone would like the words I had all packaged up in the little professional purple binders.

Because really nothing says 'best selling author' like a purple Office Max binder y'all.

So, my last appointment of the day was with one of the biggest and most respected companies in the Christian publishing world. I couldn't believe they were even willing to talk to me. Seriously, I kept pinching myself while sitting in their appointment waiting area.

It looked really convincing and classy to have red pinch marks all down my arms when meeting with this publisher. Really.

So, the meeting went okay. I watched the publisher put my beloved manuscript in a tall stack with what seemed like hundreds of other people's beloved manuscripts. And then he scooted me out with the famous last words of, "don't call us, we'll call you."

But all was not lost because outside the meeting room, a famous author was doing a meet and greet. She was BIG TIME!!! And while I was excited about standing in line to meet her and get a free signed copy of her book, the thing I was most excited about was the tray of chocolate covered strawberries on the other side of the author.

I hadn't eaten all day.

Those strawberries were an oasis in the midst of a dry and weary desert of rejection.

Who needs a book contract when you can hand a starving woman a strawberry covered with the cure of all disappointment, chocolate.

I barely remember meeting the author and I'm not even sure I took a copy of her book, but I will never forget the deliciousness that was bound up in that one little red berry.

It was so good in fact that I had to have another.

But the lady holding the strawberry tray had the "only take one or else" look.

So, I came up with the brilliant plan to just got through the line again. I mean really, who would remember me... right?

So, I met the author again and finally a second strawberry was mine for the taking. I reached out, my mouth watering to the point I had to suck in vast amounts of air to keep from drooling. Right as my fingers were perfectly poised to score a second strawberry, suddenly a slap could be heard 'round the world.

Everything suddenly went in slow motion. Every eye looked over at me. Everyone saw the strawberry guard woman scold me in a very dramatic fashion, Y-O-U--- C-A-N-N-O-T--- H-A-V-E--- A-N-O-T-H-E-R--- S-T-R-A-W-B-E-R-R-Y!!!

I would have paid lots of money at that point to have someone open up the floor and swallow me whole.

I would forever be known as the glutton wanna be author who took two strawberries and got her hand slapped at convention.

Until, that is, everyone forgot about it two seconds later.

But me and my clippy clappy shoes have never forgotten that day.

Many years later, having weathered many, many rejection letters, I finally made it back to that same convention. This time as an author of that very publisher. And instead of toting purple bound book proposals, I was in my room preparing to go to the convention floor for my book signing.

Again, I was nervous. And again I was in the process of decorating my arms with red pinch marks when there was a knock at the door.

I opened my door and couldn't help but double over in laughter at what the bellman handed me.

Me and my clippy clappy shoes thanked him, closed the door, and twirled about that hotel room holding the biggest tray of chocolate covered strawberries you've ever seen!

Life does have a way of eventually coming around, does it not?

Now, for those of you planning to attend She Speaks this year, we have some exciting announcements for the bloggers that will be there...

1. The bloggers reception - This is for bloggers to get to know one another before the conference starts. It is totally optional but we'd love to have you pop in if you can.

It will be from 2:15 to 3:00 on Friday in the Kannapolis A room. This was advertised in the attendees registration letter that you should have received by now. To RSVP for this e-mail shespeaks@proverbs31.org and put “bloggers reception" in the subject line.

2. If you want your blog name along with your real name on your She Speaks badge, please contact shespeaks@proverbs31.org and put “name tag” in the subject line. Deadline for this is June 9th... that would be today.

3. Bonus session for Bloggers... We are so excited about all the great bloggy information that will be shared that we have developed a bonus session for those bloggers not involved in the speakers and writers evaluation groups.

The session will be "The Business Side of Blogging" and will be taught by Rocks in My Dryer, Big Mama, and Boo Mama.

This bonus session will be held from 8:00- 9:30 pm on Friday night in the same room as the Bloggers session before it.

And finally, me and my clippy clappy shoes can hardly wait to meet you all!

Four Things Kids Must Know Before Going to College

Hi Friends...

Today's guest post is written by Frank Turek, co-author of I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist. I wanted to post this on a weekend so you could have time to watch the video links he provided. If you have questions for Frank feel free to visit his website listed below.

After watching each of the videos, use your back button to pop back over to the rest of this post.

Here's Frank:

A few weeks ago we revealed that 75% of youth brought up in the church leave the church when they leave the home. Intellectual skepticism is a major reason they leave.

Since some churches don’t teach why Christianity is true, young people are easy prey for atheistic college professors and a skeptical culture.

Click here to see a short video on the problem.

How can you prepare yourself and your child from the intellectual predators that await them?

Inoculate your kids by answering four questions. They are the same four questions we use in our I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist seminar that we conduct at high schools and colleges (the seminar is based on the book by the same name).

When you answer these four questions, you can establish why Christianity is the most reasonable worldview. Here they are. (Below each question are links to short videos that will highlight how we answer each question.)

1. Does Truth Exist?

Christianity cannot be true (nor any other worldview) if truth is relative or just true for you but not for me. The seminar will show you why truth is absolute and knowable, and how you can logically refute anyone who claims it is not.

Click here to watch this video.

2. Does God Exist?

There can be no Word of God unless God exists. You’ll see several powerful arguments for the existence of God – two scientific and one philosophical. Those arguments will be established without any reference to the Bible.

Click here to watch video one.

Click here to watch video two.

Click here to watch video three.

Click here to watch video four.

3. Are Miracles Possible?

If miracles don’t happen as most university professors believe, then Christianity is nonsense. The seminar will show you that not only are miracles possible, but the greatest miracle of all has already occurred and we have scientific evidence for it.

Click here for video one.

Click here for video two.

4. Is The New Testament True?

Unless truth exists, God exists, and miracles are possible, the New Testament does not have a prayer. But after establishing those points, you’ll see the Top Five Reasons to believe the New Testament is historically accurate—Jesus really did die and rise from the dead for the sins of the world. From the accuracy of the New Testament, the accuracy of the Old Testament can be established as well.

Click here for video one.

Click here for video two.

These short video clips just scratch the surface. To go deeper and inoculate your kids more thoroughly:

· Get the book I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by clicking here.

· Watch the TV show every Sunday evening at 6 pm ET (3 pm PT) on DirecTV channel 378.

· Click here to get the 10-part I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist DVD series (which are the first 10 programs from the TV show)

· If you’d like to bring the I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist seminar to your campus, go to www.CrossExamined.org for details.

· If you have questions go to www.CrossExamined.org.

The good and proper way to cure one's need for fizz

If you are visiting from my Proverbs 31 Devotion that ran yesterday, please click here for my article on "How to Help a Hurting Friend." And then, feel free to stay a while. I'm glad you're here.

Today marks day number 4 without the goodness called a Diet Pepsi. And I will tell you without a doubt, I'm missing my dear friend in a cold blue can.

Some would say it is not good to just flat out quit. But I'm an all or nothing kind of gal.

Plus, each year I fast in some way in the weeks leading up to She Speaks. So, my no soda journey will be it for this year. Each time I want a Diet Pepsi I pray for the attendees and the sacrifices they are making to get to the conference.

And those of you coming to the conference should be feeling pretty good about now. I am praying a lot.

They say it takes 21 days to develop a new habit so I'm hoping by the conference I will stop twitching. Smiles.

Yesterday I was totally missing the fizz. If you are not a soda drinker you will not get that last sentence. If you are a soda drinker you are probably headed to the fridge upon the mention of that yummy word. It's crazy.

Anyhow, I missed the fizz all day. I kept it to myself but the Bible clearly tells us that the Holy Spirit lifts up prayers for us. Well, honey, I think the good Lord was tired of my moping about for the lack of fizz in my life.

So, about dusk, my kids called me out to the field in the front of our house with such giddy excitement that I knew trouble was in the air.

Actually, it was dry ice in a water bottle. Y'all have never seen such glorious fizz in all your life. Fizz, oh, fizz, oh, fizz, oh fizz. It was tortuous.

Until they closed the lid very tightly on the water bottle and all ran for their dear lives screaming that I better run as well. From a far away distance, we watched as the water bottle swelled and swelled and swelled and ....

WHAM!

It exploded. Like pee in your pants because you were so totally not expecting it to be so loud, exploded.

I have totally been cured of my need for fizz.

Have a great weekend. And if you are drinking a soda right now, just ignore the visual from my post today. Please enjoy your soda. I wish we could enjoy one together. Really, I don't think your stomach is swelling as we speak. Really.

How to help a hurting friend

If you are popping over from the Proverbs 31 "Encouragement for Today" devotion... welcome. I'd love to hear from you. If you'd like to leave a comment, click on the word comments below and follow the prompts. If you don't have a blog, use the anonymous button and feel free to leave your name within your post. I'm glad you're here.

Mary and Ken lived right down the street from me. They were famous for their amazing hospitality, adorable farm house, and parties that stepped right from the pages of Southern Living.

Mary was alive with creativity and was always thinking of ways to bless others. Ken adored living out his retirement years helping his bride create a haven for family and friends.

They were still young and vivacious with many plans. But cancer swept in and before long Ken laid Mary to rest in the arms of Jesus.

I remember seeing Ken in our Chick-fil-A restaurant not long after Mary's funeral. He and Mary had been regulars for years. I knew I needed to stop and say something. But what?

I felt so unsure as I walked toward my grieving friend.

As I approached, words escaped me, so I just bent down and gave him a hug. Tears filled his eyes, "The silence is killing me Lysa."

"Well then, you must come to our house for dinner. I can't always promise it will be tidy and I'm certainly no great cook, but one thing is for sure... my house is never silent."

Thus started a tradition that lasted over a year, Monday nights with Ken.

I have to admit that I didn't feel adequate to have Mary's husband over for dinner. He was used to Mary's lavish meals... all I had to give was quick and thrown together kid- friendly offerings.

We never had candles or table cloths or even a properly set table. But the noise of our family was an orchestra of comfort and healing to Ken's lonely heart.

We just did life and let him join in. I would often ask about Mary's ways of doing things and his face would light up at the opportunity to keep part of her alive.

One night as Ken was leaving our home, he stepped off the sidewalk to make his way over to a bush in full bloom. He tenderly picked up one of the flowers and pressed his face close, breathing deeply its scent.

He then looked back at me standing in the doorway and said, "Don't rush through your life Lysa. Make time to stop and breathe it all in."

I've never forgotten that.

What started out as a simple gesture to help a grieving neighbor became one of the greatest blessings of my life. And I've done a lot of breathing it all in, ever since.


If you've ever had a friend that is grieving and wondered what you could do or say to help them, my friend LeAnn Rice has a wonderful post to use as a resource. To see it click here. She is the executive director of Proverbs 31 Ministries and has recently started a blog called "The Widow's Might." Her husband and best friend Ron passed away when their son was only 3 years old.

LeAnn knows what it is to grieve and has a passion to help others. Her advice is worth printing and saving.

The Unexpected Family Devotion

The other day Brooke and I were running errands when a Steven Curtis Chapman song came on the radio. It prompted me to pray once again for their family.

I know from personal experience that this is about the time when things start to quiet down and grief gets really hard.

Marybeth will walk into Maria's room and the quietness will make her arms ache and her heart sink.

She'll go to do some laundry and find some of Maria's clothes. She'll breathe in her smell so deeply that she will never want to exhale and let another part of her go.

And she'll find little things that make the tears come again... a pony tail holder tucked in between the couch cushions, a baby doll that is covered in a thousand of Maria's kisses.

In the quietness of her heart she'll try to find a place to put all this.

Yes, these are the days where our prayers are fervently needed.

As the song on the radio finished, I looked at Brooke in the rear view mirror. She was quietly picking little flakes of pink fingernail polish off her nails, lost in her thoughts.

"Brooke, do you remember when I told you about that little girl that died named Maria? That's her Daddy singing that song. I think we need to keep praying for that family."

She told me she would.

"Brooke, what if one of your friends who heard about this sad accident, asked you, 'how could a good God let such a bad thing happen?'--- What would you say?"

Her little nine year old voice came out as secure and confident as a fifty year old preacher man, "I'd tell them that God has a plan. And that His plan is good even if we can't understand it."

I then decided to make the question more personal. "Yes, but what if it was me or Daddy that died. Would you still believe that?"

She stopped picking at her nails and looked straight at my face in the mirror, "Mom, we all have to trust God's plan. I know everything He does is good even if we can't see that it is good. I wouldn't want you or Daddy to go away, but I know I'd be okay. Can we get some ice cream?"

I caught a tear half way down my cheek. I've often wished I was more organized with family devotions. But the reality of our lives has made this tough. Maybe, we'll do better this summer. Or maybe not and this is just the way that it will be.

Deuteronomy 11: 18-19 says, "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

... and when you are driving in your car.

... and when you are picking pink fingernail polish off your nails.

... and when you go to get ice cream.

"Yes, I think I'll have chocolate. Brooke, have I told you that I'm thinking of giving up Diet Sodas? Maybe we could pray about that too. Oh and I have a dress that I want to show you when we get home. It's a polka dot- wide belt dress that has quite a story."

Sisterhood of the traveling dress goes wild and considers giving up her diet soda...sigh

*** Update Below***

Okay, so, I had totally forgotten about Julia wearing my dress. After seeing all the references to "Pretty Woman"... I did a little research.

Apparently, the dress is some sort of phenomenon. In a list of the all time most memorable dresses from movies, this one ranks forth.

I wonder if this is the very dress that caused Edward to finally fall in love with Vivianne.

Of course her coloring lends itself to the brown and white polka dot version... and then of course there was that hat that really only Julia could have pulled off with such certainty.

Never the less... for now... I'm keeping the dress.

Someone suggested I wear it at She Speaks. That would be so nice. If do, I won't be able to breathe. Therefore causing me to pass out, fall off the stage, and create a slight spectacle. Which of course would make for some totally great blog posts for all the world to enjoy.

Maybe one day I'll find my pre-baby body again and surprise my hubby by wearing the dress again.

Or, maybe I should pass it around to all my bloggy friends. You could wear the dress, blog about all the wonderful and hilarious things that happen to you while doing so and then pass it to the next bloggy sister who wants to give it a whirl.

I'll keep thinking about it.

Now, since you gals are so amazing when I ask for your advice ... I've got another question for you.
This is a treat I enjoy immensely. Yes ma'am, I look forward to my Diet Pepsi. And I'm not a Diet Pepsi snob either. I'll enjoy a Diet Coke just the same.

Either way, I've brushed aside all the warnings about all the bad chemicals contained within these delicious, cold, fizzy drinks. Did I mention that I really like this treat?

But the other day Holly and I were running and I was telling her how sluggish I felt. This is unusual for me. She suggested I cut back on Sodas.

Yikes.

Now, I'm feeling like maybe I should.

I know water would be so much better for me. But water has no fizz, no yummy little bite as it's going down, no good soda taste.

Sigh... Your thoughts? I'm sure you've got them. People seem to be quite opinionated about this subject. So, one way or the other... bring it on.

*** Update*** Click here to see the winner of Suzanne Eller's book giveaway! Sorry it took me so long to get this organized. I think maybe it's all the Diet Pepsi... smiles.

The Polka Dot, Wide Belt Dress

I'm not an overly sentimental person. Now don't get me wrong, I love a good scrapbook just as much as the next crop 'til you drop gal. But besides pictures, I try not to save too much stuff.

I'm just not organized enough to know what to do with stuff from the past. I'm more likely to take a picture of a sentimental thing to put in a scrapbook and then give the actual item away.

Which I guess I should mention here that I'm officially years behind on said scrapbooks. I keep thinking that would be a good project for me to tackle this summer.

But then the thought of pulling out all those unorganized photos makes me dizzy and guilty and all crazy feeling. Maybe we should do a crop til' you drop live blog one weekend.

But that's not the point of my post today.

Back to sentimental things.

I'll cut to the chase.

I have held onto the dress that I was wearing when Art first told me he loved me for 16 years. I haven't worn it in the past 14 years. But each summer, when I switch out my winter clothes for my summer clothes, I tote it right back down to the closet and there it hangs.

Recently, Hope walked into my closet and made fun of said dress with its big polka-dots and wide early 90's belt.

I told her she should thank the good Lord above that I got that dress as it played a crucial role in her very existence.

The funny thing about this dress is that I got it as a hand-me-down from my mom. She wore it to my college graduation. I remember thinking she was hands down the most beautiful mom there. And she was mine. And she was wearing this amazing polka dot, wide belt dress.

So without further ado...




That's my family the day I graduated from Furman University. You'll notice I am also wearing a polka dot dress but not "the polka dot dress." My mom is on your far left.

And here is the dress today... still beautiful and wide belted as ever...sigh...

I've wanted to figure out what to do with this dress for a while. Then this weekend I was visiting many of your blogs and came across Karla's challenge to get rid of the frump in your closet.

So, I decided that I'm taking the dress out of the closet. GASP! Seriously, it hasn't been worn in 14 years. But I just can't tuck it into the Goodwill box and tote it off.

That's where you come in.

What does one do with a I-thought-my-mom-was-most-beautiful-in-this-and-my-husband-first-told-me-he-loved-me-while-I-was-wearing-this- polka dot, wide belt-dress?