Compel 2011 is complete. The boxes packed away. I told someone today that it feels like the end of Christmas. All the anticipation, all the preparation and meal planning....
And then... it's over.
The good thing is, with Compel, there are so many sweet new Jesus Sisters sending notes and messages that I feel like it will live on forever! I don't have words tonight to express how I feel. Between a horrible cold finally catching up with me, and a night of basically no sleep on Friday, and the emotional high wearing off, I'm kaput!
Just know for tonight that "It is well with my soul." I'm sitting and absorbing His fullness, and wanting to just Be Still and soak it all in. Oh, how I love Jesus!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Daddies and their little girls...
Their is just something special about a daddy and his daughter. I watch Tom with his 2 girls, and blink back tears so many times.
Tom had a hard day today, a really hard day. With frustrations and fears and nerves, and, and, and. As much as I tried to love on him and reassure him, it wasn't quite working...
And then his daughters stole his precious heart, as if saying - "Get behind me Satan!". Kendra, the oldest sent a text that actually made my big strong guy get tears. Just loving and supporting and caring. Praying over him. WOW... 23 and mature beyond her years, she was used by God today in a way I could only pray for and dream of.
And tonight, Emma just needed her daddy by her in bed. She's only 4, but is social and perceptive. She kept coming down needing "something". I watched them walk up the steps together with Tom giving her the "this is the last time" talk. As I roamed the house looking for Tom, it dawned on me that I hadn't seen him come back down. Up I went, and sure enough there the were; both completely out! Arm in arm, entangled in one another. Tom hasn't slept well for nights... I contemplated waking him and decided, if his little sweetheart can help him get some good sleep... why disturb the peace?
"Thank you heavenly father for the blessing of a solid daddy for these girls. So many girls grow up lacking and wanting and needing affection from their daddy. You gave our two sweethearts a dad who has few words, but is always arms wide open for snuggles, hugs, or just sitting on his lap watching tv. He's firm with rules, but generous with love. He desires God for them and prays over them. Thank you God for him and the blessing he is to this house!"
Tom had a hard day today, a really hard day. With frustrations and fears and nerves, and, and, and. As much as I tried to love on him and reassure him, it wasn't quite working...
And then his daughters stole his precious heart, as if saying - "Get behind me Satan!". Kendra, the oldest sent a text that actually made my big strong guy get tears. Just loving and supporting and caring. Praying over him. WOW... 23 and mature beyond her years, she was used by God today in a way I could only pray for and dream of.
And tonight, Emma just needed her daddy by her in bed. She's only 4, but is social and perceptive. She kept coming down needing "something". I watched them walk up the steps together with Tom giving her the "this is the last time" talk. As I roamed the house looking for Tom, it dawned on me that I hadn't seen him come back down. Up I went, and sure enough there the were; both completely out! Arm in arm, entangled in one another. Tom hasn't slept well for nights... I contemplated waking him and decided, if his little sweetheart can help him get some good sleep... why disturb the peace?
"Thank you heavenly father for the blessing of a solid daddy for these girls. So many girls grow up lacking and wanting and needing affection from their daddy. You gave our two sweethearts a dad who has few words, but is always arms wide open for snuggles, hugs, or just sitting on his lap watching tv. He's firm with rules, but generous with love. He desires God for them and prays over them. Thank you God for him and the blessing he is to this house!"
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
It's good to be the mama...
Somedays, it's good to be the mama. Today was that day. There are moments that bring tears to your eyes as a parent. (for me, because I tear easily, many days like this!)
Today was that day...
The boys swam in their first "Swim-a-thon" Tom and I were both able to go and watch them swim and cheer them on. For 20 straight minutes, without stopping or complaining, or even looking in severe distress, the twins swam, and swam and swam. Each time they neared the far end, where we were cheering them on, they just dug deeper and kept going. Carter swam 19 laps, and Caleb 15. Honestly, I blink back tears from the 10 minute point on. (And... Tom didn't even pick on me for blinking fast!)
It seems their comes a moment when you realize just how much your little ones are maturing. Yes, they have gotten taller, and smarter, and have done some incredible things this year. But watching them with this much determination and pride, as they gutted it out to meet their individual goals and make some much needed money for their Seahawk Swim team, it suddenly dawned on my how mature they were getting. They were determined, strong, confident young men. The dedication that they showed was so totally awesome. Seriously, at 20 minutes they were still going strong. Exhausted yes, but they were commited to swimming until the whistle blew. Not a slow, I might not make it kind of swim, but a steady, firm, I can do this type of swim.
As I helped Carter out of the water I got a hug and a kiss.... (oooohhhh it's so good...) ON THE LIPS!!! Yes, in front of everyone! Oh, it's so good that they are 8 and willing to kiss me yet. This to shall pass! (Although they promise it won't!) And then at the other end, Caleb had his smug grin, happy eyes, and a hug for me! (no kiss from him - bummer!)
I got some photos and will post as soon as I have some time!
When we were rehasing the swim, and praying with them tonight, I heard myself telling them that as proud as I was of them, that is only a portion of how proud God is of us everyday. (And then, again I blinked back tears because I realized that they couldn't realize how proud I was of them, but I sure did... and the realness of the God of the Universe feeling more than that for me... WOW!) (Maybe you should re-read this last paragraph... Even as I write this, tears are spilling.)
Praise God that he knows how to lift us, what portion to give us... You see, right before the swim a thon, I had just briefly processed that my dear friend from ATLAS, Lynn Boeyink had a very poor report coming out of her surgery for Liver Cancer. Please, Please, Please keep her and her family in your prayer!
Today was that day...
The boys swam in their first "Swim-a-thon" Tom and I were both able to go and watch them swim and cheer them on. For 20 straight minutes, without stopping or complaining, or even looking in severe distress, the twins swam, and swam and swam. Each time they neared the far end, where we were cheering them on, they just dug deeper and kept going. Carter swam 19 laps, and Caleb 15. Honestly, I blink back tears from the 10 minute point on. (And... Tom didn't even pick on me for blinking fast!)
It seems their comes a moment when you realize just how much your little ones are maturing. Yes, they have gotten taller, and smarter, and have done some incredible things this year. But watching them with this much determination and pride, as they gutted it out to meet their individual goals and make some much needed money for their Seahawk Swim team, it suddenly dawned on my how mature they were getting. They were determined, strong, confident young men. The dedication that they showed was so totally awesome. Seriously, at 20 minutes they were still going strong. Exhausted yes, but they were commited to swimming until the whistle blew. Not a slow, I might not make it kind of swim, but a steady, firm, I can do this type of swim.
As I helped Carter out of the water I got a hug and a kiss.... (oooohhhh it's so good...) ON THE LIPS!!! Yes, in front of everyone! Oh, it's so good that they are 8 and willing to kiss me yet. This to shall pass! (Although they promise it won't!) And then at the other end, Caleb had his smug grin, happy eyes, and a hug for me! (no kiss from him - bummer!)
I got some photos and will post as soon as I have some time!
When we were rehasing the swim, and praying with them tonight, I heard myself telling them that as proud as I was of them, that is only a portion of how proud God is of us everyday. (And then, again I blinked back tears because I realized that they couldn't realize how proud I was of them, but I sure did... and the realness of the God of the Universe feeling more than that for me... WOW!) (Maybe you should re-read this last paragraph... Even as I write this, tears are spilling.)
Praise God that he knows how to lift us, what portion to give us... You see, right before the swim a thon, I had just briefly processed that my dear friend from ATLAS, Lynn Boeyink had a very poor report coming out of her surgery for Liver Cancer. Please, Please, Please keep her and her family in your prayer!
Monday, January 17, 2011
As we pray....
I'm sending out a call for prayer. So many things are on my heart to pray for right now, so I figure... let's ask others to join in praying:-) I'll keep it to 3 and just pick the top ones!
First - The COMPEL conference is this weekend. 500 women (hopefully!) coming to be filled and to hear about Jesus and how to live every day for him in a real way. (Like, I'm the mom and said frick in front of my kids tonight kind of way:-))
Join me in praying for everyone attending, for Lysa TerKeurst our speaker, for her on time flights and arrival, for good weather and roads, as several are traveling in from a distance, for wisdom in words for our leadership team, and for bondages to be broken! Oh... so many other good things!
Second - Lynn Boeyink. My dear ATLAS friend is having surgery tomorrow for Liver Cancer. Tomorrow will be a big day for her in this journey and will provide clarity one way or another. My prayer tonight is that they will get on the inside to see a miracle of healing worked! We are holding a prayer vigil for her at ATLAS tomorrow with someone in the prayer closet form 6 am to 6pm. If you are local and want to join in, just come on by! (btw - ME, the "not"a morning person is taking 6 am:-) if you know me, you're smiling at that!
Third - Direction for some big decisions of obedience in the Lord for my husband a group of guys who are meeting regularly to pray. Eyes to see and Ears to Hear!
OK - I said just a few.... Thanks for being my blogging buddies and offering prayers. Now... it's your turn! How can I pray for you????
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Passion - My word...
So... Lysa TerKeurst on her blog talked about picking a word to pray over each of your family for 2011. I have been praying over this process and have my "tentative" words picked!
Carter - Peace
Caleb - Confidence
Emma - Joy
Matt - Desire
Kendra - Restoration
Tom - Fullness
Me.... PASSION
So... I'm going to scour the bible for verses that speak to each of these and pray into them over the next year. (Can you tell I'm goal orientated?) I'm also anxious to share with my family what word I've chosen for them and why I picked it:-)
Over the next several months you'll likely see and hear more about these words. For now, I encourage you to consider "words" of your own for your family. Maybe it's not your thing... That's ok... I'd welcome you to pray for my family with the words listed :-)
More to come....
Carter - Peace
Caleb - Confidence
Emma - Joy
Matt - Desire
Kendra - Restoration
Tom - Fullness
Me.... PASSION
So... I'm going to scour the bible for verses that speak to each of these and pray into them over the next year. (Can you tell I'm goal orientated?) I'm also anxious to share with my family what word I've chosen for them and why I picked it:-)
Over the next several months you'll likely see and hear more about these words. For now, I encourage you to consider "words" of your own for your family. Maybe it's not your thing... That's ok... I'd welcome you to pray for my family with the words listed :-)
More to come....
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Gettin Ready
I'm stuck in that mode... You know... I have to get ready for this, oh, and then this is coming up, and then we need to go there...
Today I'm soaking in the reality that the Compel Conference will be over 2 weeks from now. Ohhhh... there are so many things to get done by then:-) BUT.... It has been fun to watch as registrations come in and we make final preparations. I'm already "Getting Ready" for next year by working on booking that speaker... Like I said - always trying to stay a step ahead...
Yesterday the boys had a swim meet in Yankton. Emma stayed home, so I the boys had my undivided attention. Let me tell you... they did great. Caleb was able to bring several of his times down, and Carter, well... he was game on, all day! And... we had big smiles and lots of thumbs up. How can a mom not love that????
Today I had the opportunity to visit Bridge of Hope and tell them about ATLAS. What a nice church with sincerely friendly folks. And... I got to listen to an entire sermon with no one pulling on my arm, or needing to use the bathroom (All the moms know exactly that that is like!)
Tomorrow holds Simple Talk at noon and then a meeting at the Marina Inn for the conference and a prayer meeting tomorrow night. (Assuming the roads are kind to me!)
It's easy in this season of business to squeeze out my God time. Today, I feel him pressing in and laying on my heart that the one thing I need to be Gettin Ready for is my eternity in heaven. He wants me and he wants my attention. It's not that he doesn't love our other activities, but he loves us more than our deeds. So... tonight I'm heading toward my bible and some good alone time with the Lover of my Soul. I've got some "Gettin Ready" to do!
Today I'm soaking in the reality that the Compel Conference will be over 2 weeks from now. Ohhhh... there are so many things to get done by then:-) BUT.... It has been fun to watch as registrations come in and we make final preparations. I'm already "Getting Ready" for next year by working on booking that speaker... Like I said - always trying to stay a step ahead...
Yesterday the boys had a swim meet in Yankton. Emma stayed home, so I the boys had my undivided attention. Let me tell you... they did great. Caleb was able to bring several of his times down, and Carter, well... he was game on, all day! And... we had big smiles and lots of thumbs up. How can a mom not love that????
Today I had the opportunity to visit Bridge of Hope and tell them about ATLAS. What a nice church with sincerely friendly folks. And... I got to listen to an entire sermon with no one pulling on my arm, or needing to use the bathroom (All the moms know exactly that that is like!)
Tomorrow holds Simple Talk at noon and then a meeting at the Marina Inn for the conference and a prayer meeting tomorrow night. (Assuming the roads are kind to me!)
It's easy in this season of business to squeeze out my God time. Today, I feel him pressing in and laying on my heart that the one thing I need to be Gettin Ready for is my eternity in heaven. He wants me and he wants my attention. It's not that he doesn't love our other activities, but he loves us more than our deeds. So... tonight I'm heading toward my bible and some good alone time with the Lover of my Soul. I've got some "Gettin Ready" to do!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
God Speaks...
First of all - I have to tell all of my sweet Jesus sisters about the coolest thing that happened to me today. For those of you who don't know, I'm the coordinator for a women's conference coming up soon! (check out http://www.compelconference.org/ if you're not already in the loop!)
For the last couple of weeks we have experienced some minor technical difficulties with sign ups. (If you are one of these, please call me!) At any rate, it appears to be an Amazon problem. (That means getting it fixed appears to be a bit of a nightmare!) Randomly, the system choses to not let some of you check out. Yesterday, I was at my wits end with this, and then got news about some minor venue problems. My frustration level was at a bit of a high:-)
Tonight, I pulled into my garage and hanging on the hook that my kids normally put their snow pants on was the cutest little decoration that said "Be Still and know that I am God." (Which is our theme this year:-) Wow - So, you guessed it, I jumped out to see who had left me such a treat... and... no name. Hmmm.... who could have known and blessed me in such a way??? Friends, it was God. I know he used one of my sweet friends to calm me and my anxious thoughts. To whomever was so clearly listening to him and obedient.... THANKS, THANKS, THANKS!!! I promptly placed it in a spot at home where I will see it often! (And I'm still smiling!)
For the last couple of weeks we have experienced some minor technical difficulties with sign ups. (If you are one of these, please call me!) At any rate, it appears to be an Amazon problem. (That means getting it fixed appears to be a bit of a nightmare!) Randomly, the system choses to not let some of you check out. Yesterday, I was at my wits end with this, and then got news about some minor venue problems. My frustration level was at a bit of a high:-)
Tonight, I pulled into my garage and hanging on the hook that my kids normally put their snow pants on was the cutest little decoration that said "Be Still and know that I am God." (Which is our theme this year:-) Wow - So, you guessed it, I jumped out to see who had left me such a treat... and... no name. Hmmm.... who could have known and blessed me in such a way??? Friends, it was God. I know he used one of my sweet friends to calm me and my anxious thoughts. To whomever was so clearly listening to him and obedient.... THANKS, THANKS, THANKS!!! I promptly placed it in a spot at home where I will see it often! (And I'm still smiling!)
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Arms Wide Open
Do you ever have those moments? Tonight I was relishing in the last night before we send the kids back to school and get back into our routine. Enjoying every last minute of our snuggle time and "vacation" time.
Emma had asked to take a shower, so I was helping her in. She needed me to wait for her to get undressed so that she could give me a hug before she got in. I got my very specific direction from her (If you know Emma, that doesn't surprise you) "Mom - stand RIGHT there and get ready to hug me." So... I did just that. I put my arms out and closed my eyes and was kneeling there waiting to hug here. And then... it was if God whispered to me... "This is how I stand waiting for you. Just waiting for you to walk up and hug me, I have my arms open. This is how I feel, just like you do right now, only much more." I could only give a smile and silently thank him. Thank him for his love, but more so, for perspective. I could almost feel him huggin me right then, and savoring in the hug. What a moment! And then...little bare butt Emma comes running in and throws herself in my arms, resting her head on my shoulder and says "You're the best mom ever!" (Mind you last night I was the worst mom ever and she didn't want to see me again!) That moment, those 2 seconds before she dashed off to the shower were a taste of heaven for me! And then, a tear runs down my cheek. How that felt for me, was nothing compared to how God feels about me. And... he cared enough to tell me that in my inner being. To whisper when I was on my knees with Arms Wide Open!
Misty Edwards sings this song that I love, and I'm sure that it has become my new favorite for a while!
"Lord, thank you for Christmas break and for the memories with family. Thank you for quiet times and places when we can slow down enough to have you speak to us. Thank you for using Emma to get me to a place where you could speak to me... Thank you for the love you have for me! WOW... you are cool! As I look forward to 2011, my goal is to "Be still and know that you are God." bring me to my knees so that I can experience more and more of you!"
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