I am feeling so blessed. My daughter and new son-in-law are moving to Indianapolis! They’ll be here this weekend to find an apartment, and will be moving in just a few weeks. If you know Autumn and Yale, you understand what a delight it will be to have them nearby. What a miracle! What a blessing! Isn’t God good?
Mother’s Day Gift Idea
Here are two easy, fun ideas for Mother’s Day gifts:
- Find a really cute photo of you and your siblings as youngsters, frame it, and watch Mom smile.
- Use this idea my kids did this year: Take a look at this cute Mother-of-the-Year award videoclip my kids sent.
“Outdo one another in showing honor” (Romans 12:10)
“Honor your father and your mother…” (Ephesians 4:32)
Don’t you just love a ladies’ tea?
I drove to Hobart this weekend — it’s right up there near Lake Michigan — for a mother-daughter ladies’ tea. The photo above shows me with the church’s wonderful pastor’s wife, Debbie Whidden.
There was a huge crowd, and what great Christian fellowship! I thought you might enjoy hearing their decoration idea:
In the center of each table was a couple of layers of brightly colored paper (you could use fabric.) They chose to use a brown base color with hot pink top, and it was elegant and eye-catching. A nest of whole, loose coffee beans created the base of the center piece, and atop that was a couple of tea cups. They were a random assortment–some contemporary, some china, a variety of colors. Some cups were placed on their sides; some sat on a saucer. Some were accompanied by a matching teapot. Other splashes of hot pink and brown, along with flowers and mother’s day balloons, completed the simple–yet gorgeous–decor. Coffee beans were sprinkled around the serving tables, inside the cups, and around the coffee and tea serving pots. Really cute. You can do that!
Here’s the way God works: my talk was about “little things” — things we can do to improve our relationships and influence with our moms and daughters and Christian sisters. So those “little” coffee beans were a perfect little illustration to go with the themed topic. Little things do make a difference!
I’m thanking God for MY mother this weekend.
What a great weekend I had with Friendship Baptist (Franklin IN) ladies’ retreat! The theme was SISTERS! Here’s an idea you might enjoy doing after your next ladies’ retreat.
The retreat planners purchased a really pretty journal. In the front of it, they placed a list of all the ladies who attended the retreat and a note, asking each person to write a journal entry and then pass it on to the next person. They could write prayer requests, testimonies, Scriptures, etc. As the speaker, I had the privilege of writing the first entry, then passed it on to the next person on the list. Hopefully, by next year’s retreat, they’ll have a journal full of blessings and praises, and can begin a new one.
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Journal?
I received my pre-release copy of my new book, Deacon Wives, today! It’s still not released until June, but what a great feeling to have it in hand! Here’s a photo.
He made it there! My husband is now in Kiev Ukraine, where he’ll teach a Christian Leadership class at Kiev Theological Seminary these next two weeks. Steve’s a gifted teacher, and he loves the opportunity to assist our SBC missionaries (Mary Ellen and Joel Ragains) and encourage these young Ukrainian ministry students. The last time he did this class, God truly blessed in many ways. Please pray for him during these days.
I’m sure he’s having a yummy bowl of borsch for lunch right about now…
What a weekend! My daughter, Autumn, came up from Texas, and we had the privilege of “tag-teaming” to lead our state mom/teen daughter event called Metamorphosis.
What a fabulous group of young women and moms! God truly blessed me as I observed those growing relationships and their sincere commitment to shine for Christ.
You should’ve seen all the special ways the host church, Calvary Baptist in Greenwood, enhanced the event. They had gigantic, gorgeous butterflies everywhere, a coffee-house, video games, frame-making, butterfly cookies….
The fashion show was fabulous, the laughter was loud, and moms and teens were from every end of Indiana.
Autumn’s back in Texas; the girls and moms are back home, and I’m totally exhausted…just enjoying reflecting on a well-spent weekend with some of God’s precious daughters.
They’d outgrown their building years ago, and the church was breaking ground last Sunday on several acres of property that God provided for their new building.
Pastor Terry had announced that the groundbreaking for Twin Lakes Baptist in Monticello IN would occur “rain or shine.” And rain it did. A gushing downpour seemed to have no end in sight. As we stood under a tiny tent with the pastor and his wife, dozens of cars began to arrive.
Over a hundred church members stood under their umbrellas while Scriptures were read and history was told. The rain was so loud that few words could even be heard. The music minister began to sing “We Are Standing on Holy Ground.” The rain kept falling, but it quieted enough for her voice to echo across the crowd. The wet congregation joined in singing and the chorus grew louder.
Children huddled together under their mini-umbrellas, singing and grinning. Elderly men had tears running down their cheeks. A woman next to me said, “I wouldn’t have missed this for anything!”
In spite of that cold, drenching weather, I can assure you that every person was delighted to be at that groundbreaking. When those little children are grownups, they’ll probably still remember the “rain or shine” groundbreaking for their new church. Can’t wait to see how God will continue to use that church to spread His Good News.
Rain or shine…keep on shining!
So many of you have encouraged me through the past years as I worked toward my Masters of Theological Studies degree at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary.
Well, my diploma is in hand! I couldn’t wait until it was framed to show it to you.
Thanks for your prayers and encouragement. I appreciate my husband, who had more faith in me than I did myself. And I thank my God for seeing me through.
Now pardon me while I go jump up and down.
