The Garland Grabber

Some decking of the halls has been happening over at the TerKeurst's home. Sometimes this is a stressful time with my friend the floral wire.

I'm not a very crafty person. But, I have been known to wield a trick or two with said wire.

While I like the floral wire for some things, hanging Christmas decor is not one of them.

Then this weekend, I found a new decorating BFF.

Hello "Garland Grabber." I heart you very much.

This is the mantle garland grabber.



In less than ten minutes, it allowed me (ME?!?) to do this.


Well, it turns out that the mantle garland grabber has a cousin!

This is the banister garland grabber. There was no muss. No fuss. No scratching of my banister. No stress. No wondering why in the world I put myself through this.

I just snapped this plastic garland grabber to my banister and hung my greenery.


Then I stuck in some extra goodies like berries and feathers. Love me some feathers. Seriously, they just make things look so swanky and fun.

Wallah!

So, last weekend, guess who I met? I met the inventor of the garland grabber. I know!

He's a young guy whose mom quipped one day, "You could make a fortune if you could help women figure out a way to hang their Christmas decorations without floral wire."

So, he did. He went to Home Depot, bought some plexiglass, and some kind of heater-cutter thingy and invented this product.

Eventually, he got on the QVC. THE QVC!!!

And I have a suspicion, his mama was right about him making that fortune.

I love stories like that.

And no, I'm not getting a dime to post this. I didn't even score any free product.

But I like this product so much, I decided to buy some extra banister clips and give them away during this Thanksgiving weekend.

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below about your favorite Christmas tradition.

I can't wait to read all about your special ways to celebrate!

I'll leave this up through this weekend as I take a break to eat lots of yummies and do some thankful reflecting.

Then next week, I'll post the winner of this give away and...

I have such a fun surprise to share with you.

Seriously, seriously fun.

But I can't share it yet.

However, a recent commenter spilled the beans in yesterday's post, if you are in the mood to do a little investigation.

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

(And if you can't wait to see if you win the contest, you can check out the "Garland Grabbers" here.)

I'll take that with a little less sugar please

I have discovered something about myself that is both bad and good; I am a sugar coater.

And I'm not talking about the kind of sugar that you eat. No, I'm a sugar coater with my words. This has served my personality well. I love to encourage and I hate conflict. Sugar coating words provided a way for me to deal with conflict without having to really deal with it.

Does that make sense?

It's sort of a way to dance around a problem rather than tackle it head on and clearly communicate what my desired outcome is. Sometimes sugar coating works great when problems are small enough to eventually blow over on their own.

It doesn't work great when real progress is needed.

I've been challenged lately to make my communication in times of conflict more direct, more honest, and more timely.

More direct- Speaking the truth in love without getting bogged down in emotions. A great question to ask during times of conflict is: "What is your desired outcome." Often, this cuts to the chase and brings a solution for the real issue to the surface.

More honest- Say what I mean and mean what I say. Again, speaking the truth in love, I shouldn't be afraid to tackle the harder issues with the goal being to make the relationship better in the end.

More timely- Avoiding issues doesn't make them better, it usually makes them bigger and more messy in the end. Now, sometimes, things don't need to be made into issues. If it is possible to just extend grace in an isolated instance, than I'm all about that. But, if it is a real issue causing lingering problems, the sooner it's dealt with- the sooner forgiveness can be pursued.

Ephesians Chapter 4 has some amazing insights on all of this. It talks about speaking the truth in love, putting off our old self, being made new in the attitudes of our minds, not letting any unwholesome talk come out of our mouths, getting rid of bitterness, and the importance of forgiveness.

While I still don't like having to deal with conflict, I've realized good things can come from effective communication.

Now that I'm tackling the whole sugar coating my words problem... I'm wondering when I'll feel the motivation to tackle some of the other sugar issues in my life.

Seriously, why can't I crave lettuce!?!

Go ahead, speak some truth in love to me people!

Moved

This past Saturday, I got to spend some time with my friend Ruth Graham. She is the third daughter of Billy Graham but you would never know she is part of a world renowned family. Ruth is so very humble and unassuming. She's also a fun girlfriend who loves to shop and laugh.

During our time together, we toured the Billy Graham Library located here in Charlotte. To be honest, I wasn't that excited about touring a library. I had pictured in my mind rows of dusty books surrounded by a few black and white photos from years gone by. Boy was I wrong!

The Billy Graham Library tour is one of the most fascinating journeys through modern day history that I've ever taken. If I could describe the experience in one word- moving!

In one part of the tour, there was a large sign with a story printed on it hanging on the wall. As I stood there and read it, my eyes filled with tears.

I was once again reminded of the great importance for us to be obedient and share Jesus with others. Even when we are in everyday situations where it may be a little uncomfortable to do so.

Now, I'm not talking about being obnoxious and throwing out some hell fire and brimstone in the middle of the grocery store.

I'm talking about telling God I am willing and then following through when he leads me to share.

As I read the following story, I kept picturing myself venturing into a shoe store one day, completely unaware of the amazing chain of events that God was about to put in motion. And I'm so very challenged. Would I have been obedient with this shoe salesman?

I hope so.

Oh, how I hope so.

Here's the story that hangs in the Billy Graham Library:

Edward Kimble and the Shoe Salesman

It was July 1, 1885 when Edward Kimble felt the tugging of the Spirit to share his faith with a young shoe salesman he knew.

At first Kimble vacillated, unsure if he should talk to the man. But he finally mustered his courage and went into the shoe store. There Kimble found the salesman in the back room stocking shoes, and he began to share his faith with him.

As a result, the young shoe salesman prayed and received Jesus Christ that day. That shoe salesman's name was Dwight L. Moody, and he became the greatest evangelists of his generation.

But the story doesn't end there. Several years later a pastor and well-known author by the name of Frederick B. Meyer heard Moody preach. Meyer was so deeply stirred by Moody's preaching that he himself embarked on a far-reaching evangelistic ministry.

Once when Meyer was preaching, a college student named Wilbur Chapman accepted Christ as a result of his presentation of the gospel. Chapman later employed a baseball player to help him prepare to conduct an evangelistic crusade. That ballplayer, who later became a powerful evangelist himself, was Billy Sunday.

In 1924 a group of businessmen invited Billy Sunday to hold an evangelistic campaign in Charlotte, North Carolina, which resulted in many people coming to Christ. Out of that revival meeting a group of men formed a men's prayer group to pray for the world. They prayed for Charlotte to have another great revival.

God sent another evangelist named Mordecai Hamm. Hamm went to Charlotte in 1934 to hold a crusade. Ham's crusade went well, even though it did not have many converts. On one of the last nights under the big tent one tall, lanky young man walked up the aisle to receive Christ.

That man's name was Billy Graham.

Talk about a chain of events! And it all started with an ordinary Christian named Edward Kimble, who reached D.L. Moody, who reached Wilbur Chapman, who reached Billy Sunday, who reached Mordecai Ham, who reached Billy Graham.

Look at what God has done over these many years because of the faithfulness of one person.

Just think of what God could do with you...

Just in case you are interested...

Several of you sweet bloggy friends e-mailed to let me know you heard me on Dr. Dobson's Focus on the Family Broadcast yesterday. Thank you for your encouragement.

If I wasn't so busy buying maternity shirts I don't need and dropping my change purse all over gas station floors, I would have been organized enough to tell you all yesterday. But I am redeeming myself today as it is a two part series. I will be a guest on the show again today.

Here is a link if you'd like to listen.

On another "just in case you are interested note", if you go to a church with a women's ministry leader, I'd love to send her a special letter of encouragement. It's a newsletter I've written called "Women in Ministry" and it is packed full of encouragement for leaders, interesting statistics, and ways she can stay filled up as she pours her heart into other women.

If you'd like your church's women's ministry leader to receive this from me, please e-mail Holly her name and address. Holly@Proverbs31.org

Lastly, thank you all for your sweet encouragement for my daughter from yesterday's post. Many of you posted prayer requests for your kids yesterday. I prayed over each one.

If you have a prayer request today, leave it in the comments below. I would love to be praying for you this weekend. I also know the bloggy sisters that visit here are praying women too. So, you will be well prayed over for sure!

Happy weekend y'all.

Grab your tissues and a dictionary

Several weeks ago, I shared that we'd made the very hard decision to pull my middle daughter from her small Christian school and enroll her in our local public middle school. There had been many indicators that this is what we were supposed to do, but I didn't WANT to do this.

I wanted to keep her in the place where I thought she'd be most safe.

I wanted to keep her in the place that made the most sense to me.

But God.

When doors started closing making changes necessary, I discerned God obviously had other plans- Plans for me to place my trust in Him in even bigger ways.

The first day I dropped her off at her new school of over 1400 kids, there were many tears and many urgent prayers. But to my great surprise, she not only survived that first day, she actually came home happy.

And she has been happy ever sense. Really happy. Like, "I love going to school" happy.

But nothing has reminded me of God's faithfulness through this journey of trusting Him, more than an incident that happened last week. The teacher assigned my daughter's class a list of vocabulary words to study for a test to be given the next week. They were to be tested on the spelling, definition, synonym and antonym of each word. Plus they had to be able to use each word in a sentence.

The words were very difficult and after a few days of studying and still not getting anywhere, my daughter felt overwhelmed. When she shared her frustrations with her teacher, a classmate overheard and offered to help my daughter. The teacher arranged for the two of them to come to her class during lunch to work together.

This other student gave up his entire lunch period and free time after lunch to help my daughter. What middle schooler does this? (And just as an FYI... he already has a "friend-girl" so it wasn't even that he was crushin' on her or anything like that.) He was just being nice. Amazing.

Well, the big test was this past Monday.

Yesterday, my daughter got into the car absolutely breathless. Apparently, the teacher made a big deal of an announcement she wanted to make. Mrs. L called my daughter to the front of the room and went on to tell her classmates about how proud she was of her. She had persevered through her frustrations, sought out help, gave up her lunch and free time and worked very hard.

Then Mrs. L presented my daughter with the only 100% that had been scored on this particular test. She'd gotten a perfect score.

This girl who was struggling to the point of failing at her other school. This precious girl who pulled the covers over her head and begged me to let her drop out of school. This girl who seemed defiant and resistant with all things academic just a few weeks ago. This girl just got a 100% on a very hard test.

And thanks to one of those public middle schoolers that I'd been fearful of just a few weeks ago, she did it without any help from me.

"Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."

Trust in God.

It's an amazing thing.

What are you having to trust God with today? I pray this story encourages and inspires you.

Now I'm off to go study that list of vocab words my daughter just learned. She used a word in a sentence yesterday that I had not a clue what it meant. Have mercy.

Reactions

Yesterday I had a conversation with an airline customer service agent. I use the words "customer service" very loosely. There was not a lot of concern over me being a faithful customer nor any expressions of service.

It was so much fun.

It made me want to go get that maternity shirt from yesterday's post, put it on, and use all that extra fabric to form a hood over my head to hide my desire for weeping and gnashing of teeth.

I remained calm, but it seriously took everything in me to do so.

I know the lady on the other end of the phone was just following procedure, but mercy. It made no sense. It wasn't right. And it certainly did nothing to make me more fond of flying the friendly skies. Which by the way, are becoming less and less friendly these days.

After I hung up from that call, I started thinking about the woman on the other end of the line. After my call, she probably moved on to the next frustrated customer. And then the next. And then the next.

Suddenly, I felt so sorry for her. I don't think it was her desire to not be able to help me. She was truly just following the orders of the higher ups at her company.

I imagined her packing up her things at the end of another long day and heading home. A home where she is having to face her own daily aggravations and frustrations.

That's when it hit me.

I never pictured her as a person really. To me, she was just a voice on the other end of the phone that was causing me extreme frustration.

Sadly, I never stopped to think about her life as a woman just like me. What might it be like to be her? To live her life? To have to go to her job everyday?

Maybe I'm being overly reflective. After all, it's that time of the month where I feel all puffy and sentimental.

Or maybe, God's trying to get my attention to be more aware of those around me. Those that he loves dearly. Those that I sadly, sometimes, don't even see.

"But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop" (Luke 8:15).

Lord, let me be a persevering woman who produces good fruit wherever I go. And whether I'm having a frustrating conversation or a friendly one, may I have a noble and good heart. It's easy to honor you with my carefully thought through actions. But sometimes much harder with my reactions. Even when I'm caught off guard, may your love and patience be the spillover from my heart.

Issues- I have them

Thank you to all who participated in the semi-colon fun yesterday; I have a winner. It is Creekwader. Congrats! I think we'll tackle some other kind of grammar situation in an upcoming post.

Grammar situations are on my brain since I'm in the editing phase of my book. And apparently, I have issues. Yes, my dear friend and devo editor- Rachel, this includes beginning my sentences with connector words. I love doing that.

I also love buying t-shirts at Target.

Each spring, I like to buy some fresh, white, short sleeve, t-shirts. Then each fall, I like to buy the same t-shirts in the long sleeve variety. They are quite handy to wear underneath all sorts of jackets and sweaters.

However, the way Target is making their t-shirts these days, was starting to concern me. Apparently, the style is to cut the t-shirts so that they are tight fitting all the way down.

This doesn't work for me.

I have birthed three babies and have the pooch to prove it. I don't like my t-shirts to hug tightly against my stomach, revealing this pooch to the world. If I try to suck in my pooch all the live long day, it just about throws my lower back out.

So, you can imagine my sheer elation when I went to the Target the other day and found a long sleeve white shirt that doesn't squeeze my mid-section.

Yesterday, I wore my new, white t-shirt. But, my happiness didn't last long. What started out as a nice, looser fitting, t-shirt, grew throughout the day.

It was the craziest thing.

By the end of the day, I could have fit two of me inside the mid-section of that shirt! What in the world?

Well, upon closer examination, it is apparently a maternity shirt.

Hello. For pregnant ladies. Which I am not. Thank you very much.

But now that I've worn it for a whole day, I would totally feel guilty for returning it. I think.

I mean, can you imagine the conversation:

"Hello Target dude. I know you are so happy today to be placed in the returns section of the Target today. And no, I don't have my receipt which I understand further increases your joy and peace and feelings of goodwill toward all men... and women...

And no, I don't even have the price tag from this shirt. Because I was totally not planning on returning it. I heart this shirt very much. You see, I have this pooch. But, seeing as you are still in braces, we won't go into that. Anyhow, come closer so I can whisper something in your ear... shhhhhh.... this is a maternity shirt and I'm not pregnant!"

At which point, I imagine the Target dude reaching for the store-wide microphone and screeching out, "Stupid woman in returns needs a price check for a maternity shirt that she purchased because she has some sort of pooch that she's trying to hide. She now wants to return the shirt because she is not pregnant but clearly she still has this pooch."

The shame.

It would be worse than two days ago when I was trying to share my joy that the pump prices have dropped so dramatically with the gas station lady. In all my excitedness, I flipped my purse upside down sending change and who knows what else flying across the store.

I got so tickled, I suddenly couldn't speak. I was just hysterically laughing, while trying to gather up my things from underneath shelving that I am fairly certain has never been cleaned in all the 10 years this establishment has been in business.

When I finally got around to signing my gas receipt, the gas station lady reached out her hand very tenderly and told me to TAKE IT EASY.

Clearly, my issues extend way past the semi-colon.

I am deathly afraid of the semi-colon

The good and proper use of a semi-colon simply impresses the stink out of me.

Seriously, when I see one used well, I want to hug that writer. And I'm not the huggy type you know.

That's how big this semi-colon thing is.


Since I am all about learning (aka... hello I write books for a living and really should know this stuff), I decided to read up on my dear friend from afar, the semi-colon.


Here is what I learned from this website:

The semicolon is a simple piece of punctuation, much easier to work with than the comma because it follows fairly clear rules.

(Really? Easier than a comma? Follows only 2 rules? Tell me more!)

Rule one:

Use a semi-colon when you want to connect two related Independent Clauses. In other words, if you have two phrases that could stand alone as sentences, but you want to tie them together, use a semi-colon.

For example:

This could be a complete sentence; this could be another one.

Rule two:

Use a semi colon as a super comma. When you have a series of three or more items that normally would be separated by commas except that each individual item already has a comma in it, you use the semicolon between items.

For example:

On our vacation we visited Hershey, Pennsylvania; Hollywood, California; and Dollywood, Tennessee.

(I totally made that vacation up; they sound like such cool places! And I'm sweating that I just used a SEMI-COLON on my own. If it is used improperly, please don't tell me.)

Now, there are some situations that you can get into when attempting to use the semi-colon. They involve complicated things like comma splices, connector words, and conjunctions. How funny that they all start with the letter "c."

Apparently "c" words are emotionally allergic to semi-colons.

I can sympathize; I used to be emotionally allergic to them as well.

Look at me now; I might be using semi-colons in a lot of my upcoming sentences.

Suddenly, I love all things semi-colonish; using them can make you feel slightly smart.

Come on... give it a try! I'll even throw in the chance to win a PRIZE! Just write some sort of sentence using the semi-colon and you'll qualify to win.

I don't know for sure what they prize will be. It may or may not have something to do with the most delicious chicken in the whole wide world.

I love chicken; the dark-haired dude that runs my local chicken joint is way cute.

But God

Just a little over a week ago, on November 4th, America was busy with all things political. While we were certainly praying and well aware of this historic day, things over at the Proverbs 31 Ministries office were business as usual.

One of the things we do each day is to send out a daily devotion. On this particular day, the devotion that happened to get slated was about reading through the Bible in a year.

Wendy wrote the devotion and encouraged people who have struggled with this before, to try the Chronological Bible she uses. She is about to embark on her fourth journey of reading through the Bible and she issued an invitation for anyone interested in joining her.

At the bottom of the devotion was a link to purchase the Chronological Bible from our ministry. Being women of great business insight (smiles) we had purchased 20 of these Bibles for any orders that might come in.

There was every reason in the world that we should only sell a few Bibles.

1. It was election day. People were distracted to say the least.

2. It was a more expensive book than what we normally offer.

3. Money is tight for everyone these days.

But God.

I love those two words when strung together.

The day the devo went out Wendy was begging God to please sell the Bibles. First thing in the morning, we had sold one. Wendy looked at the stack of 19 and prayed. Then she prayed some more. And she kept on praying.

Well, didn't just get orders for 20 Bibles.

We didn't get orders for 100 Bibles.

We didn't get orders for 300 Bibles.

Y'all we had over 700 orders flood our office for Bibles.

Amazing!

Each Bible that went out was prayed over by our staff.

So, for each of you that have prayed that God will heal our land... be encouraged! He is working indeed!

Psalm 85: 12-13 says, "The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest. Righteousness goes before him and prepares a way for his steps."

I like to think of righteousness as meaning right choices that honor God.

So, the last part of that verse would be a reminder that right choices that honor God go before him and prepare a way for the Lord's steps in our lives.

May it be so with these Bibles!

Are you interested in joining Wendy on her adventure through the Bible this year?

You can order the Bible by clicking here.

You can visit Wendy's blog by clicking here.

Happy Weekend!

I fell in love over a Chick-fil-A sandwich

Welcome to those of you visiting from the Proverbs 31 Devotion today. I promised to tell you the story of how I met my husband... so here goes.

It was a blistering hot, July afternoon. I tried to concentrate on my work to no avail. My mind was in places far more romantic than the promotional graphics proposals I was supposed to be working on. I had a date that night that was surely going to change my life forever.

I had been going out with the same guy during most of college. After graduation, everything fell into place for me to do like we'd planned. I moved to a city near his school, got a job, and worked on saving money for our future.

Life couldn't have been better. On paper he was everything a young girl dreams of. He was handsome, the star of the football team in college, and headed to medical school. We had our future all figured out.

The minute the clock hit six p.m. I dashed out to my car. It was my birthday. And based on how nervous Chris had been in the days prior to coming into town to take me out for a special dinner, I was convinced he was going to ask me to marry him. I rushed home to get ready stopping only briefly for camera film. After all, I would be taking lots of pictures tonight!

The dinner was perfect but I could hardly eat. I kept staring at my empty ring finger wishing he'd hurry up. While I heard everything he was talking about regarding medical school and papers that were due, my mind was designing my wedding gown and wondering what font we might use on the invitations.

Suddenly, there was an abrupt break in conversation. Chris looked down and then back at me with a strange look on his face. This is it! This is it! I was mentally sending him the message to get down on one knee when my whole world stopped.

"Lysa, I've met someone else."

The rest of that night was a complete blur. One where I went through the motions of existence but without any kind of grasp on what had just happened to me. I said the right things and stuffed my emotions until he drove away from my apartment and left me alone with my heartbreak. I wanted to die.

I never knew a heart could feel shattered into a million pieces but still beat enough to keep you alive.

Surely Chris would wake up and realize what a horrible mistake he'd made. Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. Eventually, my eyes ran out of tears and I realized life without Chris would be my reality.

During the work week, I would do okay appearing normal and keeping up with business as usual. But on the weekends, I would retreat to my bed and will the world to go away.

One Sunday morning my room mate appeared in the doorway of my room holding a two page ad for a a very large church just down the street from us.

She urged me to get up and go. "This church is so big, I know you could meet some friends there. And you really need to meet some friends."

After much nudging and her practically pulling me out of my bed, I went. And she was right. Though I wasn't really the church type at that point in my life, I did meet some very nice people. Two of those people wound up becoming my best friends. A girl named Suzy. A guy named Dean.

Eventually, I even started dating again. But every time I went on a date, Dean was hyper-critical. He found some fundamental flaw in every guy I ever dated. Though I pretended to get aggravated with his sizing up of the guys I went out with, secretly I loved it. He was like the big brother I never had.

Then one day, Dean called me with a startling announcement. "Lysa, I played golf today with the man you are going to marry. He'll be at church on Wednesday night and I want to introduce you to him."

After rolling my eyes and imagining the worst, I set about the task of picking out my best outfit. Just in case.

I still remember exactly what Art was wearing the first time I saw him. Nothing said hot in those days more than Levis and a hunter green polo shirt. I can't think of any less cheesy way to say this... it was love at first sight. For me at least. And I think for him too.

But, it took him a while to ask me out.

Meanwhile, Chris started calling again.

He said all the things I'd been longing to hear for months. He loved me. He wanted to marry me. He was sorry. He'd been confused and scared. He wanted me back. He wanted us back.

Though Art had not asked me out, and I had no promise of anything with him, I knew there was a difference in him that I'd never have with Chris. Art loved the Lord. Chris did not.

I was not a strong Christian at this point in my life at all. But, something deep in my soul was pulling me away from Chris. Though I wanted all that he promised, it was wrong and I knew it.

I told Chris no. Not now. Not ever.

And then a few weeks later, Art, who owned a franchise of my favorite chicken restaurant, offered to make me a Chick-fil-A sandwich on a Sunday afternoon.

No one eats Chick-fil-A on Sundays. It is one of the only national chains that closes on Sundays in honor of the Sabbath.

I felt like the most special girl in the world. And right in the midst of that white meat fillet of chicken served on a toasted bun with two pickles, I fell in love.

And I've been eating free Chick-fil-A ever sense! Oh yes, and loving that man named Art as well.

The very last good nerve

In the South we have a phrase that appropriately describes the way one might feel after returning home from a wonderful trip to many demands of many people:

"I only have one good nerve and you are about to get on it!"

You see when mama is away, the little people tend to play. Chores sometimes only get half done. Wet laundry gets left in the washer for days and stinks to high heaven. And the drying rack that mama treasures because the dryer sins against all things with shrinkage possibility, gets broken into six pieces.

Not that I came home and started complaining or pointing these things out or letting any of this get on my VERY LAST GOOD NERVE. Or anything like that.

For all three of you that can identify with getting frustrated with those you love the very most in the whole wide world, there is hope.

I'm learning there is a silver lining to every frustrating experience. Every time I'm pushed to the point where I want to raise my voice and let my head spin around three times, I have to see it as an opportunity to let God interrupt my natural way of responding.

These can be a growth opportunities, if I chose to react God's way instead of my way. But oh what a battle this can be!

My feelings say, "Yell! Scream! You should be stinkin' mad over this!"

God's spirit in me says, "A gentle answer turns away wrath. No good can come out of losing your temper."

But then my feelings say, "Oh no ma'am. It will make you feel so much better to just have a little hissy fit."

God's spirit in me says, "What might feel good in the moment will just pile more turmoil and yuck on this situation."

Ephesians 4: 29 tells us, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the holy spirit with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, and slander along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as Christ God forgave you."

Why is this so hard to do?

I remember seeing June Clever on the TV. Nothing got on that woman's nerves! She was always responding so gently with, "that's okay dear."

I'm convinced June had none of the Italian blood that I have coursing through my veins. But I'm also convinced that with God all things are possible. And even if you have fire cracker blood like I do, there is one thing that has helped me more than anything in the staying calm department...

pausing.

When something happens that triggers an instant rise in my frustration, if I can pause just for a second or two, God can interrupt my natural response and redirect me.

If I respond instantly, my natural reaction can be so ugly sometimes.

Pause.

It's a wonderful thing.

Pause. God will you help me?

It's a redirecting thing.

Pause. God will you show me?

It's a growth thing I'm slowly learning.

Pause. God will you grow me into the woman I so desire to be?

Pause.

Oh the things we have learned in NYC

Lesson number 1: You don't have to pay full price for things in New York. I fear I may go home to my beloved Target and try to dicker with the check out lady. "You take 5 dolla? 3 dolla?"

Lesson number 2: You don't try to hail a cab by waving and yelling "Hey, we need a ride."

Eventually we learned from the cool people here the good and proper way to look less Southern.

Lesson number 3: There is a reason you are encouraged to only cross the street at designated areas. Cabbies have no regard for pedestrians. As a matter of fact, it has been reported that the obituaries here sometimes read, "Mr. Soandso died of natural causes. He was hit by a cab."

I hope you've enjoyed joining along on our little NYC adventure!

While the city was amazing and the friendship time sweet, the most amazing thing on the whole trip happened at the conference on Saturday. Over 50 women made a decision to either follow Christ for the first time or rededicate their lives.

Amazing.

Will you join me in praying that these women will continue to follow the Lord with all their heart?

Imagine if each of these 50 women committed to sharing their faith with 50 women. And then each of those 50 shared Jesus with 50 more. The possibilities make my soul dance!

But I promise to hold it inside. I mean I would totally hate to be recruited by some Broadway director who happened to be passing by and saw some of my moves. (Picture of said moves withheld intentionally.)

Happy Monday y'all.

The Taxi Cab Drivers have asked that we leave the city

Here is the view looking outside our taxi cab last night right before he had to slam on brakes. He stopped merely millimeters from the car in front of us. Our hearts were beating so fast that we all counted it as a cardio workout. Which leads me to my next couple of photos... EATING!

We'll take the Pumpkin Seed Crusted Merluza with pumpkin ravioli in a sage butter sauce. Oh yes and let's also try the blackened swordfish with the sweet potato crab meat hash.

Then for dessert we'll have hot molten cake and also the apple gallette with the granny smith sorbet in a carmel reduction sauce.

Thank you Blue Water Grill in Union Square!

And for those of you wondering where our fourth partner in crime has been... here's Suzy! From left to right: Renee, Holly, Suzy and me. Suzy rode the train in from her home in Long Island. She has been one of my closest friends for over 18 years.

Here are the ladies from the conference. I love the people of New York! And isn't Calvary Baptist one of the most beautiful churches you've ever seen!!!

Here we are eating again! The planning committee took us to the fab place called Sarah Beth's. Totally yum!

We are off to church this morning and then we'll be hitting Broadway. We've got tickets to a show!!!!

Please pray for the cab drivers... and our safety while with them.

Oh, and if you missed my daughter's comment from the last post, read it. It made me laugh so hard. We may or may not be looking for those guys with the suitcases today. Smiles!

We pity the Pedi-Taxi

410 pounds... We won't tell you the breakdown but it was a load.

Especially when dude went uphill. We laughed so hard, we cried. No really, we cried. Dude was sweating. He even got out one time to check the tires. Renee wants me to point out he checked the tires on my side.

However, I must add... We had a collision with a taxi on Renee's side. Literally, it was a taxi/ pedi accident. We won! The bike was well protected by all our cushion. The taxi van however, had the entire front bumper pulled off.

I'm not kidding.

Then, Renee, the great defender of the underdog pedi-driver, got into a heated discussion with the taxi driver. In the middle of down town New York with horns honking all around us.

We also discovered that you can make money in New York City in the strangest of ways. In the midst of taking in Times Square, suddenly a man appeared wearing nothing but a cowboy hat, boots and tighty whities, playing a guitar. Excuse me?!?!?!!! We're tellin'.....

Mr. Police man... Mr. Policeman... Is this allowed? We don't let people do this in the south...

The very helpful officer informed us that yes, in fact, he is allowed by the courts to be there. As a matter of fact, he has become some kind of icon in New York. He is known as the n*ked cowboy.

Policeman informed us n*ked dude is a millionaire! He makes over $600,000 a year standing in his tighty whities, strumming his guitar and taking pictures with people crazy enough to pay him in Times Square. Go figure.

Next stop... FAO Schwartz.

We stopped by the famous piano keys and let our toes tap out a few fancy tunes...

We had a costume change in the princess department...

Shopped 'til we dropped...every girl needs a new purse!

Mom... don't look. This is what you are getting for Christmas.

And this is where we'll be all day on Saturday...we'd love for you to stop by! We can't wait to meet those of you who will be coming!

Live from New York!

If you came here looking for my response to the election, click here.

UPDATES AND PHOTOS BELOW!

NOW MORE UPDATES AND PHOTOS BELOW!

First, I must say, you gals made me feel so much better about the spelling issues. Apparently, we all have them.

Secondly, if you want to read an amazing post about learning a profound lesson from a spelling bee, visit this post by my friend Jess.

And finally... New York! Okay, so we aren't technically LIVE FROM NEW YORK yet. But, we soon will be! And we want to take you along this weekend.

Holly, Renee, my dear friend Suzy, and I will be hitting the Big Apple this weekend. I'll be speaking at Calvary Baptist on Saturday. Let me give you a little interesting tidbit about this church. The pastor is Kathy Lee Gifford's brother.

The last time I spoke there, I shared the stage with Kathy Lee, Naomi Judd and Ruth Graham. Those ladies and me. Little ol' mattress floating in her front pond, me. Not even my favorite brand of "clinical Secret" could contain the sweat y'all.

Oh, and to top it all off, Naomi asked if my sister was my daughter. Hunh? Great. Sweaty and old looking. Beautiful.

Anyhow, I am so excited to be headed back to this amazing church smack dab in the midst of New York City.

So, here is where you come in.

Suggestions??? Where should we go? What should we do? What would like to see pictures of? We have the whole day today to get into some kind of big city trouble and I knew you were just the friends to take along.

First stop: The Charlotte Airport. I'll be back with photos around 9am EST. We can't wait to read your suggestions and post a little craziness.

<<>> LIVE FROM NEW YORK, iiiiiiiiiiiiiiit's Holly, Lysa, Renee and Suzy!

UPDATE:

After a serious traffic jam, an almost missed flight, and then being delayed on the runway... we're here! Wahoooo!

But then I discovered that my office staff had hijacked my blog and posted some funnies. We laughed and then we used this magical button called DELETE! Have mercy.

So, here we are on West 57th street about to head up to our room. Who brought so much luggage?

And by the way, do these tan socks look okay with these brown shoes? There may or may not be some teasing going on.

Thanks for all the New York suggestions! We are heading out now and can't wait to tell you about it all this afternoon!!!

First Stop... Food of course!

Total, total YUM!!!

Need we say more?

I'll post a few more photos tonight. Now, we are off to try and burn some of these calories! Shopping is good for that, right?

The 25 Most Commonly Misspelled? Mispelled? Words

Thank you to the many who linked to my post yesterday about the election. If you came to read that post, click here.

On a completely different note, there has been some celebrating over at the TerKeurst household...

Let's just say spelling is not normally our strong suit. So, this treasure of a test garnered some serious high fiving!

What about you? When it comes to spelling...

Are you embarrassed or embarassed?

Are you dependent or dependant on your spell check?

Is the spell check option on your computer indespensible or indispensable?

Spelling or the lack thereof can make a person crazy y'all.

Now, before you get all puffed up and proud thinking you are a stellar speller... take this quiz. It will test you on the 25 most commonly misspelled words.

Then come back and tell us if you were:

a. encouraged by your spelling abilities
b. humbled
c. convinced you never studied spelling in school

If your kiddos are struggling with their spelling list each week, here is something my dear friend Angela Wilson suggested we try.

Angela is so smart... and she taught my Brooke for 2 years. Oh the things she knows about the TerKeurst's from Brooke's very expressive and detailed prayer requests!

(Angela... mums the word right?)

Anyhow...

She suggested we let Brooke practice her spelling list each week by writing the words in corn meal. I was a skeptic at first. But Brooke went from struggling to making a 100% on the last three spelling tests!

As she draws the letters in the cornmeal, she says them out loud. She sometimes has to practice writing it several times, but eventually she gets it!

Okay... so how did you do on this spelling quiz?

Me?

I am both humbled and convinced that I never studied spelling in skool... I mean school.

And if any of you happen to be headed to New York City this weekend, I'll be speaking on Saturday at Calvary Baptist. I'd love to meet you!

Happy Thursday y'all.

Dare I Say...

This is the day for new things in America.

Some of us rejoice with the coming new and some of us fell asleep last night weeping for what that new may mean for this country. Either way, it is the reality.

And I refuse for that reality to stifle my sense of possibility.

Now is the time for Christians to live the message of Christ. Maybe, more than ever before, we will be invited outside our comfort zones where living what we believe won't be easy. And dare I say, that may be the best thing that has happened to Christians in a very long time.

It's one thing to hold fast to traditional principles, but a completely different thing to act whole-heartedly upon them.

It's easy to say abortion is wrong, but hard to walk beside and support that woman who chooses life.

It's easy to think we should help the poor, but hard to write that check from our own bank accounts to do so.

It's easy to point out wrongs in other people, but hard to examine the many places we ourselves fall so short.

It's easy to point out problems, but hard to sacrifice our time to be part of the solution.

But, that's exactly what being a Christian is supposed to propel us to do. With grace and gentleness and humble spirits, we are to be more than a band of people labeled as conservatives. We are to actively be Christ's hands and feet in this world.

Jesus never called us to the comfortable life. He called us follow him through whatever life hands us.

Jesus never waited for the circumstances of the times to line up in his favor. He called us to follow him and be light in the darkness.

Jesus never bad mouthed the leaders of the day or demanded they change their policies. He called us to follow him and live out the truth through our right choices.

And in following Jesus, an air of excited expectancy will be breathed fresh in our souls.

In Obama's speech last night he said, "As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, We are not enemies, but friends...though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection."

Now is the time to be representatives of truth to all those around us. May we Christians be seen not as those who continue to strain against the unity of our country, but as followers of Jesus, those who help create it.

Now is the time... today is the day... to follow Jesus like never before.

In God We Trust

Last night, I got the call every parent dreads.

My babysitter and my daughter had been in an accident. They were sitting at a red light when a teen driver got distracted and slammed into the back of their car.

As I drove to the scene, I had no idea what I'd find. But, I knew God was already standing in my next few minutes. Something about that comforted me more than words can describe.

When I got to the scene, they had my daughter and my sitter strapped to boards with neck braces on. The scene was a bit chaotic. People and cars everywhere. Red lights flashing. Both girls crying. Police and ambulance workers rushing around.

My pulse was racing until I made it to my daughter's side and saw her eyes. Though she was crying and upset, I could see for myself she was okay. We rode to the hospital where much attention and tests were given.

She has whip lash and will be in some pain for a few days, but overall, both she and my sitter are fine.

Today, our election day, may feel a bit like that accident scene. Breaking news will be everywhere. Red states, blue states flashing. People's emotions on edge. Reporters rushing around.

For some of us, it will be a day of celebration and new hope. For others of us, it will be a day of defeat and some anxiety.

But, just like last night as I drove to that accident scene, I am comforted by the truth. God already knows today's results. He is standing in our tomorrow and the next day and the next. No matter what happens as a result of an election determined by humans, it is in God we place our trust and our hope.

An election can determine who sits in what offices, but it is God who is in control.

May we all be eager to rush to Him in prayer today and in all our tomorrows to come. And as the old hymn reminds us, "Look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim- in the light of his glory and grace."

13.1

Have you ever resigned yourself to not being able to do something?

I think too many of us do this. With a simple, "I can't," we brush off a possibility without much consideration. We sell ourselves short, we give up, and we give in.

Now, I'm not talking about crazy notions. Like suddenly deciding at the ripe age of 39 to try and become an Olympic gymnast because your gym teacher is handing out stickers. And then with all that extra effort not being able to walk for three days. Not that I've experienced that personally or anything. But stickers can seriously motivate people y'all.

Anyhow.

Four years ago, I had resigned myself to being too old to get in shape. My personal philosophy was the only reason a person needed to sweat is if they were laying out in the sun. Besides, no exercise seemed convenient or fun. It was all outside my comfort zone and made me hurt.

Plus exercise clothes have to be hands down the most non-flattering garments ever constructed. Hello? Spandex tells all people. At least denim attempts to keep some of our secrets, right?

Anyhow.

As I started rounding the second half of my thirty something years, I literally started rounding. So, short of limiting my diet to three cracker crumbs and an apple slice, I was told that I needed to rev up my metabolism. Cool. Surely they have pills for that sort of thing right? When the exercise guru started writing out an exercise plan, I wanted to cry.

This exercise guru by the way looked so stunning in spandex I wanted to slap her.

Not really. But I did have visions of pouring some cottage cheese down her tight little shorts and telling her to go hop up on that torture machine and see how it worked for her with all that mess jiggling around.

I was very upset with Eve at that moment.

For an APPLE people, she brought cellulite and pain during childbirth into this world.

An APPLE!!! I mean I could sympathize if it had been a Chick-fil-A milkshake hanging from that limb. Or even a homemade- from the box turtle brownie. But an apple? Eve, honey, we must talk one day.

Anyhow.

I started exercising. I even started running. And please remember, I use the word running loosely. It started by running from this mailbox to that one and then walking a while. But eventually, I ran past all the mailboxes and could do it without crying and hacking up a lung.

To make a long story short, Holly and I now run an average of 4 miles about 4 times a week now. After years of saying I can't, I learned that I could, in fact, run.

It's still an effort. There are still days I don't want to do it. And there are still times that it makes me hurt. But I love how it makes me afterwards, so I've made it part of my routine.

Even with all that said, I still found myself saying I can't with some aspects of running.

I'd hear people talking about running miles and miles and I'd think, "good for them. I can't do that." Not to mention the fact they had legs like a gazelle. And mine are more of the stout animal variety.

Anyhow.

I woke up yesterday and went to meet Holly for a short run before church. As we finished our four mile route, Holly challenged me and asked if we could go one more. Afterall, we had extra time with the time change and all. Some complaining of my hips hurting ensued but eventually, I agreed.

And something came over us after mile 5. We didn't want to stop.

Hunh? I know, crazy isn't it.

As a matter of fact, we didn't want to stop after miles 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 either.

What???

And then around mile 11 I wanted to stop so badly I could hardly stand it. But, we were so close to something I never thought possible. A half-marathon. 13.1 miles. We had to go for it.

So, we did.

And we made it.

Somebody please cue the marching band to be joined by the Hallelujah chorus.

As we crossed that imaginary finish line, Holly and I prayed and thanked God for the many things He showed us during that run.

Not the least of which is we need to stop saying, "I can't."

What about you? Is there an area of your life that you've given up in?

Sweet sister... you were not made for impossibility. You were created to be a display through Christ that ALL things are possible.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to find a walker and some Advil.

Smiling while I'm limping... and repeating over and over 13.1 ... 13.1!