Genesis 1:1

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

What an awesome weekend!

This weekend I went to the Women of Faith Conference in Portland. It always suprises me how much I get out of those gatherings, and this year was no exception.

I was especially thankful for the presentation given by Marcus Buckingham. He wrote a book called "Find Your Strongest Life". In a nutshell, he has catagorized our God given strengths to help us learn what role we were born to play and how we can honor what is true about ourselves. He went on to tell us to stop striving for BALANCE but rather to strive for FULLNESS. That was the "lightbulb" moment for me.

It was so liberating to hear this guy tell us that we arent all wired the same, that we were all created to fullfill a different purpose and that was God's plan all along so that we would like.....need each other. I know that some of you are thinking, well DUH!!! I know, I know... we've heard this theory more than once, but I've never heard this message in a more tangible way and given tools to examine myself to find out what my strengths really are.

It's so easy for me to spend a little time with someone and realize exactly what their strengths are, but it's been near impossible for me to realize my own. SO here is a little truth about me. Loving people comes easily for me (most of the time). I mean really caring for them, right where they are, all the bad with the good. I believe that God brings people into my life one at a time and allows me to make a difference by showing them a glimpse of God's love. There have been times when I have had to defend myself for not being the kind of person who can engage in conversation with a large group of people. Im NOT a mingler, I can actually feel my palms get sweaty when fellowship time comes around and I am expected to get up and chit chat with people and I have felt really bad about that.

How can I stand in front of hundreds of people and sing, yet I can not walk up to a stranger or even an acquaintance and think of one single thing to strike up a conversation with. How come my husband can walk up to someone and ease into a conversation about absolutely nothing that last for 30 minutes?? This is not a gender thing, this is a God thing!

I yam what I yam and Im really looking forward to reading Marcus' book and finding out how I can use my strengths to further God's kingdom.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...........

I bet you thought this post was going to be about Christmas didn't you? ha ha ha gotcha.

Truth is Fall has always been my favorite time of the year. I love the cool mornings and the warm afternoons. The sunsets this time of year are breathtaking! The harvest moon (aka The month of September's full moon) looks like you can just reach up and touch it.

I love that the tourists all GO HOME in September and that the kids go back to school. I even love the annual trip to the city to buy school clothes. This year, however, Im loving that I dont HAVE to buy school clothes. All four of my sons are now high school graduates and my darling Autie-pooh will continue to be home schooled. Forever. :)

I've been getting up an hour before the alarm the past few weeks and enjoying my cup of coffee instead of slamming it down on my way to work. It taste so much better when you can savor it. Note to self...... slow down and savor more than just your coffee. Life is sweet, my family is precious and God is good. Need I say more?

Chef Autae'

I was so impressed by Autumn's first attempt at making homemade pizza from scratch that I had to share a few photos.



I have never tried to make pizza dough myself.



She made beating the dough look like so much fun that I wanted to help,



but when I asked if I could help she very politely said.....




"Ummmm nooooo, I really want to make it all by myself"



And so she did.

Summer, Summer, Summer......

Summer is officially finally here!

I have such fond memories of Summer when I was growing up. Most years I got to fly to Texas and spend the entire summer with my mom. I had friends there and each summer when we were reunited, we'd spend hours and hours swimming, crawdad fishing or riding bikes on the white rock roads. I loved when the sun went down and the fireflies came out. It all just felt magical somehow.

Looking back I can honestly say that the everyday events really stand out in my mind far better than the well planned camping trips or road trips. The grand adventures were fun too, but the best times were just the unstructured wandering of three little girls without a care in the world. We were all the same age, we had the same name and the neighbors all just referred to us as "the 3 Lisas". Good times.

I hope that I have somehow passed my love of adventure on to my five kids. With the boys all grown, I have to remember to make a special effort with Autie. Sometimes I feel like she got a little short changed in life. She doesnt have any siblings the same age and her parents are "old" ha ha. She does, however, have ME all to herself most of the time so I guess it's a fair trade off. I'll just have to stay young at heart. Now if you'll excuse me, I must go, my super soaker is all filled up and I have to go sneek up on Autie.

Random thought

This makes little sense, I will acknowledge that right up front, but here goes anyway.

The past several nights I have been awakened at 3am. Now, I know from experience that anytime I come fully awake at 3am for no reason (ie:no loud noise, nothing out of the ordinary going on)I know this is God wanting to have some quiet time with me.
I usually just stay quiet and listen to what He may have to say to me. Then I begin to pray and seek. I usually fall back asleep praying. Sometimes that's the end of the story and sometimes intense dreams follow this prayer time.

I usually wake up from these dreams with an anxious heart. I wont bother posting the dream's details here because I dont yet fully understand what they even mean. I will tell you that a song enters my heart and begins to comfort me at these time. The song assures me that everything will be okay and "He will deliver me". My fear goes completely away.

What does this all mean?? I have no idea. I warned you this was a random thought.
Why am I posting this?? Because the Holy Spirit wants me to assure someone that in our greatest hour of need, GOD is going to deliver us.

I am certain that the person this message is intended for will find it.
To God be all the glory.

Satan is alive and well

I have to tell you that this has been quite a week. What ever could go wrong has gone wrong. Im not just talking about myself here, the folks around me have had a trial of a week too. So.....it should have come as no suprise to me yesterday when a customer at my job lashed out at me. First of all they were rude on the phone and when they didnt get the reaction they wanted, they showed up in person to remind me just how flawed I am.

It has happened on more than one occasion over the years and each time I try to handle the situation with grace. I have been cussed at, yelled at, called stupid and incompetent. I usually have divine intervention as the Lord seals my lips and I sit speechless. I am usually able to eventually brush it off. I just figure if blaming ME allows someone to justify the chip on their shoulder, than I can take it.

Yesterday, however, was a little different. The final blow, the arrow that pierced my heart was when this person told me that they were sure that I just didnt care. "wow, that hurt". The person does not know me. They have no idea that I care deeply about many things.

Satan used this person to try and ruin my testimony. He wanted me to crack under the pressure, to yell and hurt back. I stood firm. As a last resort he hit me where I live, knocked the wind right out of me and danced in victory as my spirit crumpled.

1 Peter 5:8 reminds me to be self-controlled and alert. My enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

The spiritual battle is alive and well and it is not just being faught in the Heaven's on our behalf, no friend, the battle is going on right here at ground zero and we must keep the armor on.