Thanks, friends, for all your encouragements and prayers as we count down to our daughter’s marriage this weekend. After cancellations and running through airports, I’ve arrived safely in Waco TX, and we’re having a blast doing last minute details for the exciting event.

Please pray as friends and family travel from Indiana, Ohio, California, England, all around TX, etc.

And pray for me and Autumn as we do all this “hard” work.  Oops.  Gotta run. Time for our manicure!

Just a few days from now, my daughter will be getting married.  Steve will be performing the ceremony, and there will be lots of wonderful family and friends – can’t wait! I thought you might like to see a photo of this adorable couple.

They met while they were doing youth ministry with teen skateboarders in England, so I love this one with their skateboards.

And one more of them riding segways when they were in Indy.  

Please pray for Autumn and Yale as they prepare the final details for their wedding day.

Now here’s a really fresh idea that you might use at your church sometime…

A “virtual” bridal shower.  Let’s say a church member’s future bride is in another city and won’t be able to travel to your town for a shower. Or perhaps a member of your Sunday School class has moved to another state, but your class wants to have a shower for her long-distance.

Last week, my husband’s associates at his office decided to plan a bridal shower for our daughter. She’s ‘in Texas, and we’re all in Indiana.  They made it a surprise shower, and sent Autumn a note that they needed her to be available on that certain day and time, and they would “Skype” her on the computer.  If you haven’t used Skype, it’s sort of like the old cartoon, the Jetson’s. You look at one another on the computer as you speak (and it’s free!)  Autumn thought that her parents were receiving a surprise award and she was going to get to watch.

It was a surprise for us as well.  I’d been recruited to stop by the office to volunteer help on a project (so I thought).  As the State Convention of Baptists in Indiana’s staff devotionals began, then, Steve and I were surprised when the overhead computer screen showed that they were calling our daughter, Autumn, and her photo was on the projector.

She laughed for days about the hilarious scene she saw! Since the bride and groom were long-distance, they’d prepared paper hats for the parents of the bride – a top hat labeled “father of the bride” and a fancy box top with bubble-wrap veil labeled “mother of the bride.” There was punch and wedding cake, a darling photo album, and a generous money tree for the bride and groom.

Talk about a perfect long-distance bridal shower! Each person had written fun marital advice on cards for the nearly-weds. Brenda presented a dramatic, comedic version from 1 Corinthians 13–the love chapter. Allison led the whole group in a mad-libs game where they created a silly love story about Autumn and Yale.

This was probably Autumn’s largest wedding shower, and she was 1000 miles away!

Oh, there were a few technical difficulties, but Autumn got the gist of the party. Friends of her parents were showing their love for God and for her, even though the miles between them were many. Thanks, SCBI friends, for your love and thoughtfulness. The wedding day, January 31st, is approaching soon, and we love how you’ve shared our joy.

Now, how could you use this idea –

for a “virtual” birthday greeting for a missionary,

a “virtual” congratulations for a graduating seminary student,

a “virtual” prayer meeting for a military friend…

“They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share” 1 Timothy 6:18.

P.S.  I’m still having trouble with image downloads on this blog, so I’ll come back and add photos when it’s all working again.

I just received my final grades from this semester, so it’s final! After years of online and classroom classes, I’ve completed my Master of Theological Studies degree from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary!

Wish I’d kept a count of the number of books I’ve read, lectures I’ve heard, and research papers and projects I’ve completed. What will I do with all this extra time now?!  Honestly, I’ve learned so much and been truly inspired by each professor and class, and it was definitely worth the effort. I’m praising God for allowing this opportunity.

I’m excited to have completed such a worthwhile project. Listen carefully. You can probably hear me shouting from there!

Guess who’s coming to our place for Christmas! These three adorable kids:

Of course, they wouldn’t look exactly like that to YOU–since they’re 30, 29 and 26 years old now. And that baby is bringing her fiance!

But I’m the mom, and they’ll always be my adorable little (or big) kids.  We’re so excited! This will be the first Christmas in several years that we’re all together for Christmas, and we’re praising God for His great blessings.

Wishing you a merry Christ-mas, too.

Three thoughts…

1. Thought you might enjoy seeing a photo of my family!

That’s Justin and Tylor on my right and Steve on the left, and Autumn and her fiance, Yale, kneeling. Isn’t God so good to bless us with family!

2. Crossings.Com Book Club. I received a notice that my book, Fresh Ideas for Women’s Ministry, is featured in the Crossings Book Club “The Best Christian Books from A to Z” publication! Pretty cool, huh?

3. DEACON WIVES READ THIS:  I just discovered that pre-reviews can be written for my upcoming book titled Deacon Wives.

If you’re a deacon wife who has attended one of my deacon wives classes, you know exactly what to expect.

Or if you’re a pastor where Steve and I have helped with a deacon/wives training…

Or if you wrote an endorsement for the book cover…

I’d love it if some of you would write a pre-release review for the book.

If you have a minute, click on one of the sites below. Thanks!

To write a pre-review of Deacon Wives book, click below:

Amazon.com – Deacon Wives

LifeWay.com

Christianbooks.com

This is my favorite nativity scene.  My mother made it for me years ago, and it graces my mantle each year.

I was excited to discover that LifeWay.com has my article about “a nativity a day” on its front page of the website this weekend!

Take a look -  www.lifeway.com

Thanksgiving ramblings…

This may have been my favorite Thanksgiving ever!  My extended family all meet at my brother’s home in Fort Worth for Thanksgiving, and this year there were 24 of us.  Our three young adult children, our future son-in-law,  nieces and nephews and two new nephew-in-laws, and my siblings and Mom and Bruce…we have more and more reasons each year to give thanks to God.

After a couple of days with all those people together, my sister and I were marveling at what a miracle it is that we all enjoy one another so much.  God has truly blessed, and I thank Him.

–

The weekend before Thanksgiving, Steve and I led a deacon and deacon wives retreat at Cumberland State Park in Kentucky. It was such fun!

From there, we drove to Fort Worth for Steve to do some interviews at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary before we headed over to the family celebration.

We drove from there to Birmingham AL for a WMU meeting for state executive directors. If you’ve never seen the WMU building, you should make a trip there sometime. Quite impressive!  (I even saw Annie Armstrong’s bed. Did you know she was 6′ tall?).

Then Tuesday evening, we drove to Nashville for LifeWay meetings. I go to spend time with some B&H staff, and that is always a great encouragement. We’ll finish with a nice dinner tonight, then head for home.  Sure hope there’s some snow left in Indy!

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Before the Thanksgiving meal and prayer, our family all stands in a big circle, and each person tells one thing they’re thankful for this year. Those thanks range from tearful to hilarious, and we always can’t wait to hear the little kids’ responses. It just takes a couple of minutes, but that list of thanksgivings set the pace for another year of giving thanks to our God.

I’m so thankful for all the opportunities God has provided for Steve and me for serve Him. I’m thankful for the family He’s given us and for health and friends and the safe travel He’s given over this long trip and…let’s keep on thanking!!

I returned Thursday from five days in Texas, attending my daughter’s wedding shower and working on preparations for her January marriage. What a blessing to spend time with my precious daughter! But that’s not why I’m exhausted.

We drove home from Kokomo just a few minutes ago, where Steve and I led a Deacon and Deacon Wives Retreat for five churches. It was beautifully hosted by Pastor Mike and Shanna Sawyer at Indian Heights Baptist. God is certainly using those enthusiastic leaders across that area of our state. But that’s not why I’m exhausted.

I’m trying hard not to over-stress with my final heavy semester of seminary classes and research papers and tests and books. It’s extremely time-consuming, but will be worth the effort when it’s over! 

I’m exhausted, though, because as I prepared a bio for a new book proposal for a book about pastor wives, I began counting my speaking engagements for the recent past. No, I certainly don’t consider myself a fabulous speaker, but I love the opportunities God gives to encourage pastor wives and deacon wives and Christian women. 

Many times every month, I travel across Indiana with my husband and his work with Southern Baptist churches, and I’ve enjoyed dozens of opportunities to speak at ladies retreats and conferences in our state. 

In addition to Indiana engagements, I realized I’d been in 26 states and three foreign countries in the past year and a half, with speaking engagements in twenty of those…

• Indiana,
• California,
• Colorado,  
• Delaware,
• Florida,
• Georgia,
• Hawaii,
• Illinois,
• Iowa,
• Kansas,
• Kentucky,
• Maryland,
• Michigan,
• Minnesota,
• Missouri, 
• Montana,
• New Mexico,
• North Carolina,
• North Dakota,
• Ohio,
• Oklahoma,
• South Carolina,
• Tennessee, 
• Texas,
• Virginia,
• Wisconsin,
• Mexico,
• Cuba and
• Ukraine.

In the past couple of years, I’ve had 50 speaking engagements at national, statewide, associational or local church events–women’s conferences, retreats, luncheons, training for pastor and deacon wives and women’s ministry leaders.

When I see that big picture, I’m overwhelmed. Exhausted! On a week by week basis, it doesn’t seem like that much! 

Maybe that’s why the Lord instructed us to “cast all our cares upon Him, because He cares for you.”  I sure can’t handle this fun schedule alone, but with God, “all things are possible.” 

Well, maybe I’m not so exhausted…

Praising God for the opportunity to encourage His followers. Please keep us in your prayers.

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” Psalm 116:15

I was in my early twenties when I met Bess, and she quickly became a Christian mentor and dear friend.  She was 35 years older than me, and I was her new pastor’s wife. Over these many decades, we’ve done lots of enjoyable projects together–planted a church, planned events, took family vacations. We’ve shared long chats, heartaches, celebrations and prayers.  We talked about things like loving our husbands and kids, about household stuff and how to love unlovable people.  She reminded me to enjoy motherhood and to live with dignity and purity.  (Funny, all those things are found in Titus 2–”older women should teach the younger women…”. I wonder if she considered that?)

Her friendship was a great encouragement, and over the years, she became a trusted confidant and wise counsel. At the age of 92, Bess died this week. She’s joyfully in heaven today.  Steve and I will travel to Oklahoma City and back on Saturday, so he can help with the funeral. 

When my life is done, I hope that I’ve impacted someone’s life for Christ as much as Bess impacted mine.

God cares deeply when one of His loved ones dies.  ”Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” Psalm 116:15

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New “Fresh Ideas” articles published this week:

South Carolina Baptist Courier

The Illinois Baptist