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Heading out to Nashville

Melanie - September 30, 2008 - Comments (7)

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.

And the winner is...

Melanie - September 27, 2008 - Comments (1)

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

127
Timestamp: 2008-09-27 18:07:21 UTC

The winner is Colleen who left the 127th comment!

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!

Have a great Saturday!

Budgeting time

Sophie - September 29, 2008 - Comments (16)

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?

We can't wait to hear what you have to say.

I hope someone yells "CUT!"

Melanie - September 25, 2008 - Comments (3)

So I'm headed to Nashville this coming Tuesday to give y'all a behind the scenes look at how LifeWay creates the DVD's for Bible studies.

Vicki Courtney will be filming the DVD series to go along with her upcoming study, "Five Conversations You Should Have With Your Daughter". (May 2009)

Or as I like to call it, "FCYSHWYD".

Anyway, I'll be reporting on all the important details, like the highlights from the discussions and, most importantly, what everyone is wearing.

Let me know if there's any important detail you must know and I'll see what I can do.

Ask the LifeWay team

Sophie - September 23, 2008 - Comments (10)

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!