Melanie - August 29, 2008 - Comments (11)
I can't believe it's already been a week since everyone was in San Antonio, eating a multitude of flour tortillas and heading to the Alamodome. I've spent much of this week walking around in a bit of a preoccupied daze.
Of course, some may say that's not much different than any other day.
But this past week has been filled with sending my only child off to Kindergarten on the heels of a weekend where I felt God speak to so many of my fears and insecurities.
Beth taught on the theme of inheritance and everything was framed in the context that we are heirs of God.
She had me at the first point which was I am an heir of God, my life is not left to chance. The truth is that nothing happens by chance. God has a plan for my life and the people and things He brings into my life may seem random, but are God-ordained.
Beth said that Providence is the FACT that God works as powerfully in natural events as the miraculous. That hit home with me because when I look at my husband, my marriage, my friendships, and the path my life has taken, I realize that all those things are a series of natural events that add up to the miraculous. I was created for all those things and those things were created for me.
That's Divine Providence.
For a semi-reformed control freak, it's comforting for me to relax in the arms of God and know He has my life under control. It's not my job to figure everything out or have a plan, it's my job to listen and follow.
Beth had us draw a box that depicted our boundary lines. The four walls represented intimacy with God, our past, our life experiences, and our gifts. Faith was in the center as it should be.
She challenged us by asking if God was invading all of our boundary lines because if He isn't, then it means the devil has it. We may think we have it, but if it's not covered by God, then it's not covered.
I struggle with guilt over past failures and mistakes, I have some life experiences that I wish were different, I struggle sometimes to find intimacy with God, I often wish I had different gifts, but all of those things are what make me unique.
God wants to use my past, my present, my future to fulfill His purposes, but He can only do that if I get out of the way and let Him take over my boundary lines.
That spoke to me more deeply than anything else. Everything about me makes me who He created me to be. He knew all the days of my life before one of them came to be. He's not caught by surprise at my failings and weaknesses, He uses me in spite of them and sometimes because of them.
I've spent this week taking a closer look at my boundary lines and surrendering all that ground to Him. He's the only one that can make it into something beautiful.
Hope y'all have a great weekend.
Kris S - August 26, 2008 - Comments (3)
Hey ya'll. Wanted to let you know about a podcast that Melanie and I did for women allaccess blog. We give a little inside scoop as to why and how we got this whole amazing thing started in the first place.
Also, I too had an incredible time at LPL San Antonio. Beth brought it as she always does: incredible biblical truth that set me on fire and I couldn't wait to tell someone about it when I got home. Fun times with Vicki Courtney, Melanie, Sophie and I - and all you other girls I met that night at dinner too. So great to meet you all. Nothing beats Mexican breakfast after a good dose of God's word!
Back in January I bought a CD called God Speaking by a guy named Ronnie Freeman. I loved the CD instantly, and even now, almost eight months later, it's still in constant rotation on my iPod. The CD is, in a word, excellent.
There's one song in particular that I thought might be of interest to those of y'all who were at Living Proof Live this past weekend. The song is called "My Inheritance," and as you can imagine, it fits in pretty nicely with the theme of Beth's teaching. You may have even heard it at the end of the Saturday session - it was playing loud and clear over the speakers. Made me smile.
If you'd like to listen to a clip of the song (or even buy it), you can find it here on iTunes or here on Amazon.
As an added bonus to the song? Christy Nockels also sings. And that may not matter to anyone else except for me, but that's okay, because OH, I DO ADORE HER.
Enjoy, everybody.
Okay, I'm going to make a shocking confession.
I am not really a "women's conference" kind of person.
In fact, two years ago, I feel almost certain that I wouldn't have paid cash money to attend a women's event.
I find that pretty ironic considering that I have attended three different women's conferences in the last three months and still have more ahead of me.
But y'all know what? I've become a fan.
I think I was always held back by the thought of the crowds, the bathroom lines, and just the time commitment involved. Now I know I was missing out.
On Saturday in San Antonio, the event ended with 10,000 women singing "Shout to the Lord" acapella. I had tears rolling down my face because it was a glimpse of what heaven will sound like.
It was such a great experience to visit with women sitting all around me who were experiencing the same thing. All day today I've had friends ask me how this weekend was and I can't even describe it. There is just no way to put it into words.
And what a cliche to say "You had to be there."
But you did. You had to be there.
The core scripture that Beth taught from this weekend was Psalm 16: 5-6.
"The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places, indeed. I have a beautiful inheritance."
We'll talk more about the specific points of the message as the week goes on, but as I sat in the Alamodome on Friday and Saturday, surrounded by all these amazing women, I couldn't help but praise Him for the beautiful boundary lines He's drawn over all of our lives and how, for two days, we were all connected.
Sophie - August 24, 2008 - Comments (51)
OH, GIRLS.
I have so much to say about this past weekend. And I plan to say a whole bunch of it over the course of the next few days. But in short: WHAT A WEEKEND at Living Proof San Antonio.
Also: that girl named Beth? Can flat-out teach.
Not to mention that that guy named Travis and his praise team? Can flat-out lead some worship.
Have mercy.
Sometimes I struggle when I try to put the crux of a particularly memorable message into words - because there's absolutely no way I can do it justice - but like Melanie said in her post (the one she wrote on the bathroom floor at 5:30 IN THE MORNING, WHEN THERE WAS STILL NO SUN), the main theme of the weekend was Inheritance. Beth gave us eight truths from Scripture that bear out the fact that we are heirs of God, and in doing that she showed us how inheritance always involves three elements:
1) Presence (Genesis 26:25, Joshua 1:9)
2) People (Genesis 12:3, Genesis 22:17-18, Deuteronomy 4:20, Psalm 16:3, Revelation 7:9)
3) Property (Numbers 26:52-56, Matthew 25:34 - and this has nothing to do with our earthly possessions, by the way)
So obviously we have a little bit of information to unpack over the next few days.
Mel and I thought it would be fun to do a Mr. Linky-type thing where y'all could share your summaries of the weekend, but I can't seem to get the code to work in this here bloggy template. I'm sure my lack of technical know-how is SHOCKING.
But here's what we can do: if you've written on your own blog about this past weekend in San Antonio, leave your link in the comments, and I'll add the links to this post throughout the day. That way we can click around and read each other's thoughts about what we learned in San Antonio - and hopefully it'll be a great way for us to encourage one another as we jump into Monday after such an incredible weekend.
And if you would, leave a link to your SPECIFIC POST - not just your general blog URL.
Can't wait to hear what y'all have to say.
Links:
1) Lori
2) Fran
3) Tammy
4) Donna
5) Laura
6) Robyn (Three Girls Mom)
7) Vicki Courtney
8) Melinda
9) Holly
10) Michelle Bentham
11) Mocha with Linda
12) Amanda
13) AnnieBlogs
14) Lisa @ The Preacher's Wife
15) Cathy Davis
16) Linda
17) Joni
18) Tammy - Grateful in Ga
19) Patty and Kim (and there are even more great recaps over at the Siesta Fiesta blog - be sure to read those as well!)
20) Missy @ It's Almost Naptime
21) Tara Dew
22) Shelli
23) Cindy - Still His Girl
24) Gena
25) Way More Homemade (Donna)
26) Angbaylis
27) Amy Beth
28) Lindsee
29) Brittney Thomas: Lopsided Halos
30) Stephanie Cherry
31) Alene Snodgrass
32) annie's eyes
33) Liz
34) Carrie
35) Meg @ Spicy Magnolia
36) Prof Baugh
37) not-so-deep Denise
38) jenni at talking hairdryer
39) Lisa
40) Shonda
41) Emmy
42) Donna
43) Darlene
44) Sarah S. with the Coffee Group
45) Brittnie
46) Lisa @ put-it-on-the-list
47) Xandra@heart-of-service
48) Kristi
49) twinkle
Melanie
Melanie
Sophie
Sophie
Paige
Paige
Kris
Kris