I'm leaving on an 11:15 flight to Nashville today and, as of this moment, this is what my bedroom looks like.
Please don't pay attention to that ugly blue and white comforter. I didn't make my bed.
Also, it might help if I actually put some of those clothes in a suitcase. It's not easy to make your way through the airport with your arms full of clothing.
I'll check back in from Nashville, but for now I should probably finish packing.
We would love y'alls prayers as we begin filming "Five Conversations You Should Have With Your Daughter" tomorrow. Please pray that God would guide Vicki in all that she shares and that this study would be exactly what He intends it to be.
Congratulations, Colleen! You can email me your mailing address at bigmama8303@yahoo.com and I'll get your Return to the Garden DVD study in the mail on Monday!
Thanks for playing, everybody. We'll be doing many more giveaways in the future!
I know I've mentioned two or ninety times that my Bible study group is going through Anointed Transformed Redeemed right now, and something from this week's homework (written by Priscilla Shirer) really hit home with me.
I struggle with managing my time, and even though I keep a calendar so I know what's coming up when, I don't budget the time in my day. My husband is a HUGE proponet of budgeting your time, and he has no problem working on one thing for an hour and then moving on to the next scheduled task.
But honestly, I'm too scattered most of the time for that approach to work. After all, it's hard to stick to writing a blog post when you're also trying to cook supper and change sheets and redecorate your dining room.
I'm only sort of kidding about that.
This week in our study homework Priscilla encouraged us to examine how we budget our time. She writes, "just as we budget our finances to determine where our money should be going, it behooves us to budget our time to ensure that we spend it wisely."
And it occurred to me that my tendency is to let time control me instead of me controlling my time. I'm forever feeling like I'm at the mercy of deadlines, of last-minute preparations, of trying to juggle six things at once instead of sitting down and doing one thing really well. I don't know if any of you have the same struggle, but it's probably no surprise that sometimes I frustrate myself to no end with my lack of time management.
So what about you? Do you have any tips on time budgeting? Had any success with it? Any suggestions you could offer the rest of us?
Yesterday Melanie and I had a conference call with some of the women you see over in the sidebar to your right: Pam, Kris and Paige. All three of them - along with Dawn, who's also over there to your right - work in the women's ministry division at LifeWay, and every single time I talk with them, I am AMAZED by how much they have on their work-related plates. In fact, yesterday I pretty much decided that if I had even a tenth of their responsibilities, I would curl up in the fetal position and remain there forevermore.
But they don't, of course. They are passionate about the work the Lord has entrusted to them, and they work tirelessly, selflessly and enthusiastically. I am always encouraged (and usually exhausted from laughing) after I talk to them.
It occurred to me this morning that it might be fun for y'all to find out a little bit more about what they do. These are the women who work with LifeWay authors, who plan events, who make sure the Bible studies get published, who make sure churches have the resources they need. Everything that comes out of the LIfeway women's divison passes through their hands.
Doesn't sound like an intimidating task at all, does it?
So, what would you like to know about what these ladies do everyday? What kind of behind-the-scenes info would you like to hear about?
Just leave your questions in the comments - and we'll pass them along!
So, this summer Sophie and I each got a copy of Kay Arthur's new Bible study, "Return to the Garden", which is a study about God's design for our sexuality and distinctiveness as women.
Kay Arthur has so much wisdom to offer and I loved watching these DVD's. And now, you too can own this study!
It's an abundance of riches!
I have one "Return to the Garden" Leader Kit to give away and, trust me, you would love to own it. It would be such a great study to either do by yourself or with a small group of women.
To enter the giveaway, leave a comment. We'll close comments on Friday evening and pick one person using the random number generator. The winner will be announced on Saturday.
I don't know how many Southern girls we have reading (hey, Southern girls!), but I did want to let y'all know that there are two great women's events coming up this weekend in the southern part of the US of A.
First, on September 27 Vicki Courtney will be in Spartanburg, South Carolina for one of her "You And Your Girl" events. If you're the mama of a tween or a teen, this will be a wonderful opportunity for you and your daughter to spend some time together and get some great, sound insight on the issues that face women of all ages in our culture.
Plus, Bethany Dillon and Lindsey Kane are leading worship, and THEY ARE SO GIFTED, MY WORD.
Next, Priscilla Shirer will be in Bossier City, Louisiana on September 26-27 for "Going Beyond." I don't know if you've had the privilege of hearing Priscilla speak or not, but she is an absolutely incredible teacher of God's Word. She's inspiring and funny and real - but more than anything else, she boldly proclaims Truth. I'm challenged every single time I hear her. You will be, too.
Finally - and we know we've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating - Travis Cottrell has a new Christmas CD, Ring the Bells, coming out in a little over two weeks. And I thought a clip of Travis and his friends recording the choir parts of "Jesus Saves" might be just the thing to put some pep in our steps on this fine Monday morning.
You may have asked yourself....self? When did Travis Cottrell start singing?...How did Living Proof Live events begin? How did the amazing partnership of teaching from Beth Moore and worship leading with Travis Cottrell begin ten years ago?
Well if you have asked yourself these very questions..THIS is the podcast for you!!! LifeWayMediaLink podcast features Travis and Beth telling the story of how they partnered with LifeWay to build a ministry of events that are now celebrating ten years, fifty states and our hundredth event this year of 2008!! Incredible! Our year wraps up next month on our New England Nights Tour that will culminate our 100th event and our last four of the fifty United States!
What an amazing ten years it has been! Hear about the journey in their own words! You'll laugh...you might cry...you might not! :0) Our Women's team is so thankful for this incredible partnerhsip that God ordained to draw many thousands of women to Himself! Go Beth and Trav! We love you!
Okay, we had so much fun with the caption contest! It served to confirm what we already knew, which is that the best part of Allaccess is your input.
I mean, clearly, I can just blah, blah, blah all day long but, like my husband keeps telling me, it gets tiresome after a while.
So here's your chance to contribute to what we're doing here.
Travis Cottrell has agreed, after only small amounts of begging and pleading, to answer any questions y'all may have for him right here on Allaccess.
Our thought is that this can become a regular feature and, eventually, we will totally con every member of the Praise Team, LifeWay Event Team, and possibly even speakers and authors to do the same thing.
And here I thought my career in sales was over.
Anyway, leave your questions in the comments and Travis will answer them starting next Wednesday.
For the last year I've been in a weekly Bible study with about eight other women. We range in age from 30-something to 60-something, and the fact that we're at different stages in life has been a huge blessing. Being able to soak up the wisdom of women who have already walked this sometimes rocky road of parenting is a major encouragement to me.
For instance, right now I'm trying to write this post while a certain five year-old is screaming about Star Wars in the background, but I'm not complaining because I know my sweet Bible study buddy MJ - who is now a grandmother of four - would tell me to treasure every single second of my precious little man's tendency to speak in surround sound.
So anyway.
Last week our group started Anointed Transformed Redeemed, and y'all, it is GOOD. Even though I was in Nashville for the Deeper Still event where this study was recorded, I watched the first DVD session like I had never seen it before.
The word was still fresh. That's all I'm sayin'.
This week's homework has focused on how God establishes and equips us for our callings, and something on Day Two really jumped out at me. Priscilla Shirer writes: "Think about your season of life and...come up with a list of practical suggestions that you can incorporate into everyday living to assist you in being constantly aware of God's presence."
The first thing that popped into my mind? Worship music. It is HUGE for us. I cannot overemphasize how it changes the tone of our time in the car. In addition to that, it's led to some pretty cool discussions with the little guy who rides in the backseat. I also try to find chunks of time throughout the day when I can listen to worship music on my iPod because it makes such a big difference in my attitude...it has a way of snapping all my petty frustrations right back into perspective.
So what about you? What helps you to be aware of God's presence in the midst of your daily responsibilities?
And if you say that you're a retired empty-nester who now has countless hours to sit and look at a large body of water and think about Jesus, those of us who have young kids or demanding jobs (or both) won't even be jealous.
I have a vested interest in this study because not only do I have a daughter, but I like to have conversations with her.
And sometimes I could use some help.
In fact, here's a sample of a conversation we had late last week.
"How was school today, Sweetie?"
"Good."
"What did you do?"
"I ate lunch with my teacher."
"That's fun. What did y'all talk about?
"Remember that time I had to go to the doctor and get four shots?"
"Yes. Is that what you talked about?
"No."
And scene.
So, anyway, in light of my stellar conversation skills and my apparent ability to just draw out information, I'd love to hear from y'all.
How do you get your kids talking? What are some of the keys to keeping communication flowing as they get older? How do you get them to share what's going on in their lives?
I'd love to hear your thoughts and I know others would, too.
Y'all have no idea how difficult it was to look at all of your oh-so-awesome entries and decide on the very best caption.
So we didn't.
We didn't decide on just one, I mean.
We picked four captions and one random winner. I mean, since we volunteered Travis to provide two copies of "Ring the Bells" for prizes, we might as well volunteer him to provide five, you know?
And also: y'all might not want Melanie and me to spearhead any sort of committee that requires decision-making skills. SWEET MERCY between the two of us we made cases for at least ten different winners.
Which is why we called in a third party to help us with the final decision. A third party who's a very gifted worship leader and who also got roped into providing all the prizes.
(THANKS, TRAVIS!)
So.
Without further delay.
Here are our four caption winners:
Tamara - "Take the Starbucks from my hand so I can dance...."
Rhonda - "Fill my cup, Lord...I lift it up, Lord!"
Shalee - "Singing praise to the Father, the Son and the Holy Roast. Amen."
And our random winner is comment number 27, Nicole.
If y'all will send me an email (boomama205@bellsouth.net) with your mailing address and "allaccess CD Winner" in the subject line, I'll make sure your CD is mailed just as soon as it's available (the CDs are still being pressed or burned or whatever the music people do to CDs to make sure the music plays).
Thanks so much, y'all, for all the great entries - can't wait to do this again!
If you've been to a Deeper Still event, then you know that one of the highlights is when Beth, Kay and Priscilla get on stage and talk to each other as if they were in their own living rooms.
But they're not.
So we get to hear everything they have to say.
And, let me tell you, there is some serious wisdom being doled out.
Where else can you learn how to have a better quiet time and how to make your hair have more volume all in one sitting?
Here's a short clip from Las Vegas. Please forgive the less than stellar quality of the video. Apparently I had too much caffeine and am also kind of a moron.
Let's just say by the time it was all over, my stomach muscles had gotten the best work out of the year just from the laughter.
The best part is you can go see it for yourself in 2009. There will be a Deeper Still in Orlando on September 18-19 and one in Oklahoma City on December 4-5.
So start making your plans now because tickets will go fast.
We are loving all the captions for the picture of Miss Beth.
In fact, I think we've started a post-event tradition if for no other reason than the fact that Sophie and I have laughed and clapped our hands over the entries.
And speaking of events...
Donna at Way More Homemade asked in the comments the other day if we were worried that we'd ever grow complacent about attending different events and if it would start to seem stale.
Before I read that comment I hadn't been worried about it, but it made me start to think about it.
Right now, it's hard to imagine. The whole experience of being at a Deeper Still or Living Proof Live is just so incredible that I can't believe there would come a day that I'd sit in my seat and think, "Oh, there's Priscilla again" or "Seriously? Another song by Travis and the Praise Team?"
I would hate to ever get to the point where the only thing I looked forward to was the different concession stand offerings at various stadiums around the U.S.A.
Although do not underestimate the power of a good concession stand because, TRUE CONFESSION, the Thomas Mack Center only served Pepsi products, which caused me to wonder if the Holy Spirit could fall on a place so lacking in Diet Coke.
But, apparently, God doesn't discriminate between carbonated beverages. He loves them all equally.
Anyway, back to the original question.
Here's what I think. These events are so covered in prayer by everyone from the praise team, to the event team, to the speakers, that there is always a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit. You can just feel God's presence.
And while I may grow tired of man, I never grow tired of the presence of God.
At Deeper Still Las Vegas, each of the women spoke on the same thing they had talked about at Deeper Still Atlanta, and even though I was at both events, I promise my notes look totally different. In the time span of just two months, God used the same messages to give me a fresh word.
And here's something cool that I've noticed. During these events, there are members of the Praise Team and LifeWay Team sitting around us and I know many of them have been to more of these things than they can remember, yet you can tell they are taking it all in like it's their first time.
That's my goal. To allow God to do a new thing every time I'm in His presence, whether it's at home during my quiet time or standing in an arena praising Him with 15,000 women.
I snapped this photo of Beth singing Saturday morning during praise and worship time at Deeper Still, and when I saw it again tonight, I decided that it pretty much begs for a caption:
I mean, Starbucks and some live praise music? Gold.
So, leave your best caption in the comments. We'll have two winners: one drawn randomly from all the comments, and one selected by Melanie and me as the best caption entry.
(BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!)
Both winners will receive a copy of Travis Cottrell's new Christmas CD, Ring The Bells, which hits the shelves on October 7th (am I supposed to say that a CD "drops"? I can't say "drops." It sounds all wrong coming from a mama in her late thirties).
By the way, I totally just made up this contest, and I haven't even asked Travis if he'll provide the prizes, but he certainly can't say "no" now, now can he? Because in the words of the old Michael W. Smith song, "Friends are friends forever when they blindside each other with requests for bloggy prizes."
Amen.
And in all seriousness, Mel and I have both heard (most of) Travis' new Christmas CD, and it is phenomenal. Instant classic. I just looked at my iTunes and saw that I've listened to it FOURTEEN TIMES since the Sunday before Labor Day, and that's not even counting how many times I've played it on my iPod. It's excellent, as evidenced by the fact that I'm enthusiastically listening to Christmas music in September.
Anyway.
We'll leave the contest open until Friday, September 12th, and we'll announce winners on Monday, September 15th.
Now caption away, my friends!
This contest is now closed. Thanks so much for all the great comments!
And if you're in Vegas for Deeper Still and not tied up at lunch today, Melanie and I would love it if we could get a picture of some allaccess readers. We'll hang out by the stage for the first fifteen or twenty minutes of lunch, and if you can swing by, we'd love to see you and take some pictures for the blog.
The crowd this weekend is lively in the best, most entertaining way - it's such a blast to hang out with women who are so obviously thrilled to be here. Can't wait to do it again this morning!
Check it Out!
First, Turn off that allaccess video to the right. Trying to get that thing to stop playing automatically. Sorry if it's driving you crazy. Bear with us!
So I meant to post pictures from Living Proof Live in San Antonio as soon as I got home, but I accidentally left my camera at the Siesta Fiesta pajama party Saturday night, and oddly enough it is somewhat difficult to upload your pictures when you live in Alabama and your camera went home with a bloggy friend who lives in a different state (thanks, Kim, for finding it and sending it to me!).
There's no doubt that the weekend's teaching and worship were huge blessings for everyone there. And on top of that, there was a whole bunch of other great stuff.
Like sweet friends:
And a Q&A time with Beth, her daughters Amanda and Melissa, and the women who read The LPM Blog:
And last but not least - cute shoes:
So basically, you know, it was perfection.
Hope we get to see some of you in Las Vegas at Deeper Still this weekend - Melanie and I will be blogging as much as we can, so check in here and at the Deeper Still blog if you get a chance.
It just beat me down and I ended the evening in tears because I was out of powdered sugar. But just so you don't think I'm overreacting, let me explain that I needed the powdered sugar to make the chocolate icing for the chocolate cake I'd made to drown out the day.
Yes, I realize it's September, which is technically the Fall, but we're a little behind. We'll start the study in two weeks.
If any of you want to buy the book and play along at home, I'd love for us to do the study together and have weekly discussions about what we're learning in the comments. Let me know if you're interested.
3. The bright spot in yesterday, other than learning that you can put granulated sugar in a blender and make powdered sugar, was the release of Chris Tomlin's new CD "Hello Love".
It's every bit as good as I thought it would be. So far, I particularly like "All the Way My Savior Leads Me" and "My Beloved".
So, a confession: living in the moment - taking life day-by-day - can be a HUGE battle for me. There are times when I wrestle with fear and worry like nobody's business. And when I slip into that spiral, I can spend hours bogged down in mistakes I made when I was younger, grieving the extent to which I looked my depravity dead in the eyes and pretty much said, "OH, BRING IT" when I was in my early 20s.
And on top of that, I wear myself out thinking about what I could or should have done differently, thinking about how I should have known better. Worrying that somehow, someway, I let God down.
Last weekend, at Living Proof Live in San Antonio, Beth talked about what it means to be an heir of God. She talked about how differently we'd live our lives if we woke up in the morning and marveled at our inheritance. She talked about how our lives are not left to chance, how every single thing that is playing into our lives makes for a beautiful inheritance. There's no such thing as a chance encounter or a chance season. Fate has no power over us.
God is Sovereign.
Beth challenged us during the second session of the weekend to realize that our brokenness is no accident; our brokenness is our assignment. Hearing those words was a profound moment for me; I tend to think of the "bad stuff" as something that embarrasses God, as my own personal laundry list of all the things I've done to disappoint Him.
But the reality is that my failures are part of who I am. He has allowed those things to happen so that I can boldly testify to His healing and His power. By God's grace, I'm not who I was at 24. I'm not who I was at 30, even. He has given me victory in areas of my life that could have destroyed me, and my struggles have deepened my faith and strengthened my walk with Him in ways I could have never imagined. As Beth said Saturday morning: "Even dirt can become good soil for a seed."
Our brokenness is a testimony to the fact that no one besides Him could have shattered those bad habits; no one besides Him could have demolished those strongholds; no ones besides Him could have restored what was beyond man's repair.
No one.
And I don't know about you, but I think that's cause for some serious praise.
Melanie
Melanie
Sophie
Sophie
Pam
Pam
Paige
Paige
Kris
Kris