Back to Reality

I'm home from a fabulous vacation at the lake. We had a great time doing

Lots of relaxing

A little fashion

And phone calls to those who couldn't make the trip.

Before packing up and heading back home to reality,we boarded the boat for a cruise

Up the lazy river

With the captain of our ship, our friend Gary.

I hope you'll click here to read my actual post for today.

Toodle-loo

I have barely unpacked my suitcase and it's time to fill it back up again.

This weekend will be the 21st anniversary of TDC.

In the early 1980's one of my high school friends moved to Colorado. When she came home to visit her parent's the next summer a few friends got together and went out to dinner with her. This continued for a few years. We always had so much fun and it seemed as though we never had enough time to catch up on everyone's lives. So in 1986 we made a pact that the following year we would go somewhere and spend a weekend together.

We made our reservations and then found out the the friend from Colorado would not be able to make it that year. Another friend Berta sent us all a note that said:

Since Cathy can't come and since we would like a foursome to play golf, do we
A. Invite someone in her place
B. Play golf with a threesome
C. Skip golf and just shop
D. You're making this way too darn complicated.

Of course we all chose D. since the object of the weekend was no kids, no husbands and NO decisions other than where do we want to go for dinner.

We joked all weekend and if something started getting too complicated we'd holler out TDC.
When the weekend was over we decided that it should become an annual affair.

The second year as a joke, Berta had T-shirts printed that said 2nd Annual TDC Weekend. The name stuck and we have since referred to it that way.

We've stepped it up a notch also. Instead of just a weekend we also do a week in Florida in the winter, and now refer to the gatherings as TDC North and TDC South.

Only 5 of the 8 will be gathering this weekend. The out of state friends couldn't work it into their schedules, even though we promised to never let anything get in our way.

After the non stop, mind fillin', God praisin' weekend I had in NC, I'm looking forward to kickin' back and relaxin'. So toodle-loo for now.

Drawl Envy

Last week a friend and I sat discussing the new guidelines for high school graduation in Michigan. When I heard that one of the new requirements will be 2 years of a world language (a.k.a. foreign language) I started sweating.

I barely made it through one semester of Spanish. I signed up for the class thinking I was going to learn how to actually say words, not conjugate verbs!

So I dropped out and took a speech class. To be honest, I did learn one phrase after hearing the teacher repeat it to me over and over.

"Luanna usted boca es grande."

(Translation...Luanne you have a big mouth!)

I kind of wish I would have stayed in that class; especially after taking part in my Speaker Evaluation Group at She Speaks Conference last weekend in NC.

Judith, one of the women in my group gave her speeches in both English and in Spanish. Was I impressed!

So impressed that I'm thinking of going back to college and taking a world language.

Yep, as soon as someone teaches a class in "Southern Drawl" I'll be the first in line.

I'm not kidding y'all. Things just come out sounding cuter and more friendly in Southern.

And I'm not alone in my thinking. At the "Blogging Q&A session, one woman said that the blogs from the South are funnier than those in the North. Another woman stood and agreed. She said that Northerner's humor comes off as sarcasm not humor. That got a big laugh.

I was really cracking up too, because I had just come from my room where I had been practicing my speech. I had heard so much southern drawl the last few days that half way through I realized I'd been practicing it using a southern accent. It is quite contagious ya know. Take this video for example.

The conference was phenomenal. This year was my second time at She Speaks, and I am really hoping to be able to do a 3rd and 4th etc.

Lysa TerKeurst and the rest of the Proverbs 31 Ministries Team did an excellent job of providing top notch programs that filled our minds with new ideas and techniques, and left our hearts overflowing with a greater love for God and also for our new Sisters in Christ. Let me show you some awesome women.

In the thirty fifth chapter of his book "The Purpose Driven Life", Rick Warren talks about Ministry. He says that “Ministry begins with vulnerability. The more you let down your guard, take off your mask, and share your struggles, the more God will be able to use you in serving others.”

Friday evening, eleven anxious women gathered together in our leader Van Waltons hotel suite and showed just how vulnerable we are by sharing Our Story/Testimony. We had 3 minutes to try and convey all of the wondrous mercies that God has so lavishly poured out to us. The presence of God's Holy Spirit was so evident in the room that night.

We walked into the room as total strangers but we walked out transformed and holding a piece of each women's heart to treasure deep in our own.

Thank you God and Proverbs 31 Ministries for such an educational, Spirit filled weekend.

Ya All invite me back next year, ya hear!

I'm Pooped

What a week this has been.


I volunteered to help with vacation bible school thinking that I could be one of the helpers who walked the kids from station to station, or maybe one of the ladies who fixed the cute snacks that coordinate with the bible story of the day.


But oh no. In a moment of weakness I said I would go where ever I was needed. They assigned to be the leader for the "Bible Blast station. Oh my!

At the Bible Blast station, kids hear the Bible story and engage in activities that help them experience what the Bible characters experienced. I realized, as I read through a week of scripts, that this station would be better served with a much younger leader. But it was too late to get a replacement. I prayed that my enthusiasm would make up for all my inadequacies.


I loved watching the dynamics of the different groups each day. VBS was open to kids from 4 years old to 5th grade. The preschoolers were full of fear the first day, but by the end of the week they were so eager to participate that they would raise their hand even if they didn't have an answer.

The ages of the "kid helpers" ranged from 6th grade to high school seniors.


The 6th grade helpers were close enough in age that they still wanted to participate and several times the adults had to remind them they were supposed to be helping.


The Juniors and Seniors were more interested in hanging out with each other and getting community service credits than they were in helping the kids. Often they too had to be reminded that they were there to help.


But from 7th -10th grade, the kids were genuinely interested in helping.

Oh, if we could only have collected all of their enthusiasm and given it to the rest of the world to share, we could have changed the world. And I hope we did.


The first day of VBS we learned that Jesus gives us the power to be thankful, and not ungrateful like nine out of the ten healed lepers in the Bible story. The kids pretended to be lepers, going around the outside of the village...(made with decorated cardboard boxes) and calling out "Unclean Unclean".

We quarantined the entire crew with caution tape, and when we cut them loose it signified that they had been healed. My question to them just before we cut the tape was - "What is the first thing you would do if you had just been healed by Jesus? When I cut you loose I want you to show me what you would do."

Like the nine lepers, they all ran off to reconnect with friends instead of remembering to stop and give thanks. After reading the conclusion of the story about the nine that didn't return and the one who did, many did come back and hug me and thank me for being healed.

One little girl I call "Little T" latched on to me the very first day for some reason. I must have remided her of her grandma. Whenever she saw me she'd come for a hug. At the end of the first day Little T was pretty tired and when all the other kids were up dancing and singing to the music CD, Little T came and knelt on the seat next to me and put her head on my shoulder and took the cross I was wearing in her hand to look closer. When she did her hand brushed the bare skin above my V-neck T-shirt. "You're Squishy right there" she announced loud enough to make all around me begin to chuckle.
Boy was I thankful I had remembered to turn off my cordless microphone so more people didn't get in on the laugh.


Tuesday the kids were blindfolded and lead into church and there learned how it must have felt to be blind like the man sitting outside the gate the day Jesus came to town. They were healed after they had a special mud mixture (baby oatmeal) placed over their eyes, and then washed off, and we learned that "Jesus gives us the power to help others".

Our parish is in the middle of a diocesan wide drive to gather food, clothing and personal care products for the migrant workers. We printed a letter asking the kids to bring in a personal care item and we pinned the letter on their back to remind them that we are all supposed to be carrying our brothers on our back. The kids answered the call in a big way and their generous donations will help many of our brothers.

Wednesdays lesson that "Jesus gives us the power to be brave" was the favorite . A midnight boat cruise with the disciples turned into a powerful storm where the kids got sprayed with water and all got wet.

We used brown tarps for the boat and draped blue table covering on the seats of the chairs to look like waves. We had storm music playing in the background. When one little girl hid under the chair when she heard the thunder and felt the rain and I couldn't help but think how many times in my life I have done the same. When the storms in my life arrive, I bury my head in my hands and call out to God to take the storm away. Instead of keeping my focus on Jesus and believing that though the storm rages he is right beside me and eventually he will quiet the wind and when he does I will be a stronger person for having weathered it.

When the boat ride ended, each child got a chance to experience the feeling of walking on water. The church carpeting was a mess with the gooey mixture of cornstarch and water, despite the huge mats we put down



Our VBS is only 4 days long, and on the last day the kids learned that Jesus gives us the power to tell others about him." The bible story was about receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

I enlisted the help of my oldest grandson Andrew to explain the miracle of Pentecost. He was a foreign guest who was trying to tell me something in a foreign language that I couldn't understand. He was so funny making up words. Most came out like a grunt. The kids had to make up their own language and go around to the other groups and speak the new language and listen to the others.

The little kids were wide eyed as the story played out. They couldn't take their eyes off Andrew, and I think they were a little afraid of is guttural samurai warrior sounds.

There were giggles and many groans of embarrassment as the crews made up and spoke their language of gibberish.

The lesson ends by telling the kids that they can tell others about Jesus by letting others see Jesus in them. They each made a Thank you card for someone who helped them learn about Jesus this week. Lots of them made cards to take home to mom and dad. But it was craft station lady who had the biggest fan club.

Yes, this past week has exhausted me, but it was worth it. I'm praying for each little head that entered my station and heard God's word proclaimed. I'm praying that every day they will start and end their day with a thankful heart. I'm praying that their eyes may always be open to the injustices that surrond them. I'm praying that when the are afraid they will turn to God for their strength and protection. And last of all I'm praying that their lives may always

God Has Spoken

The Lord has been waiting for me to ask for his help. And yesterday I began hearing him loud and clear!

I had been on such a high from all the time I spent working on the benefit dinner http://lpgodspots.blogspot.com/2008/05/saying-yes-to-god.html
that coming back down got me a little depressed. I know we can’t stay on the mountain with God all the time, but I wish when I came down I didn’t always feel like I crashed and burned. But Saturday night after I got into bed I told God I needed his help, because my life was out of control.

One of my jobs for the benefit was to be in charge of anything that needed writing or printing.

I love to design stuff, but I am an absolutely terrible proof reader. I am posting a picture of my office to help you get a sense of what I am about to say. The papers on the floor, on the desk, on top of the bookcase, and printer are all goofs. I must admit they weren’t all my goofs. Lots of things that I had printed for our silent auction had to be renumbered and reprinted when last minute donations arrived. But somehow the goofs never get in the trash. I give you exhibit #1



I said I loved to design; however what comes to my head sometimes takes a lot of time to get right, since I am self taught. Notice the watermelon paper. I spent most of Friday night making this border just to jazz up a plain piece of white paper. The women in the group have no idea they are so special to me that I want to give them special paper. Sometimes I think God just shakes his head at the amount of time I spend on things that aren't necessarily of his kingdom. Even when it is for his precious widows. Here is Exhibit #2

Our “Survivors” (other widows) Get Together in June is going to be a picnic, so I wanted to fancy up the newsletter by using that theme. The watermelon frame looked too plain so I needed to add a border and for the life of me I couldn’t seem to figure out where on earth to find the program I had used to do it before. Finally at midnight on Friday, I finished printing the letters.

My dining room table turned into this mess on Saturday morning. See Exhibit #3


The short envelope is a stack of thank you notes for the benefit that I had just finished stamping. The newspaper is there because I kept fielding calls asking if I remembered to include so and so in the newspaper thank-you! There is a pile of mail that I can no longer leave unattended, and my computer to google addresses for my sister to put on her stack of thank you notes.

The long envelopes are newsletters to be sent to the widows of my “Survivors” group. As I finished sealing the last self sticking envelope I remembered I hadn’t included the birthday list. So instead of reprinting the letter I decided to just enclose a 2x3 card inside. So I had to unstick 45 envelopes and insert this little ditty.Exhibit #4


By the time I was finished stuffing and drove to the post office for stamps it was closed and so I had to resort to using some old stamps and I do mean old. I'll show you what I mean. Exhibit #5




Saturday evening (or for that matter the whole last two weeks) I didn’t have the energy or desire to lift one finger to clean the mess.

That’s why I was on my knees calling out to God for help Saturday night.

I am absolutely positive that God allowed me to feel that depression so I would draw closer to him. As much as I understand, and never failed to mention, that all the credit belonged to God for every positive thing that the benefit produced, it was really hard work not letting all the accolades go to my head. While the depression was keeping me humble, it was creating havoc with my home. I needed to de-clutter.

When I took it to God he simply said “Fast.” Like an obedient daughter, I said okay, and fell sound asleep.

Well needless to say I forgot about the fast until I was getting ready for church. My Raisin Bran was already digesting, but even so I decided to begin right that second.

When I got home from church my stomach was calling out for something sweet. Instead of feeding the urge I filled a 3 cup glass full of water and began sipping.

The fasting was Gods way of helping me get started, by de-cluttering my life, by first stopping my food addictions.

I am a stress eater. During the benefit preparations I found myself being calmed by anything sweet and gooey, and at the most stressful times I wanted something I could crunch.

When I failed to eat the sugar that spiked my blood sugar and then zapped my energy, I got something accomplished. Ex#6


and Ehhibit #7





And I had enough energy left to walk to the post office and mail my letters.

And since 6 a.m. this morning I have spent an hour in prayer, eaten a half a cup of oatmeal and I’m ready to face day 2 of cereal, and water.

P.S. In His discussion with me God has convinced me he wants me to send to Goodwill the rubber tubs of clothing I have been waiting to fit back into. (Obviously my fasting isn’t going to produce all the effects I hoped it would)