Unfortunately no one is sending me on all-expense paid trip to some sweet resort anytime soon. Or ever. So I have to find rest where I can get it, which is usually hiding in the back of my closet.

Oh I'm kidding. I'd never hide in the back of my closet, they'd know to look for me there.

I feel like school started back in August and I've been running ever since. Running to the school for classroom meetings, running to the soccer fields for games, running out of town for various events. I'm just a little burned out.

And I'm betting a lot of you can relate. When I woke up this morning and did our usual routine of eating breakfast, getting dressed, out the door to school, forgot the backpack, turn back around and get the backpack, get to school, do the drop-off and head back home, I rejoiced when I remembered that we are out of school all next week for Thanksgiving.

For that, I am thankful.

I just know I can get so busy in the daily commitments of life that I lose sight of what's important, of the very thing that sustains me and gives me the strength I need to be the wife, mama, and friend I try to be. And I want to keep my eyes on Him because he promises in Isaiah 41:31 "those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

As nice as an all-expense paid trip to a resort would be (and I certainly wouldn't turn it down), I don't want to get so busy that I forget that God is my refuge, my hiding place and He will renew my strength when I remember to keep my eyes on Him.

So to speak.

The bottom line is that, as my friend Amy J. said a couple of weeks ago, "my feelings were hurt - all of them." And it just totally knocked the wind out of my sails.

(And yes, I just used a skiing metaphor AND a sailing metaphor in the same post. I have no explanation for such a writing travesty. However, I do offer my most sincere apologies.)

ANYWAY, I had a hard time bouncing back from what happened yesterday. And I may or may not have spent a solid hour lying underneath a blanket while a certain six year-old read me books. DESPERATE TIMES, PEOPLE.

After supper - which was a pizza my husband was sweet enough to pick up for us - I made the remark that the LAST thing I wanted to do was go to church. Honestly, I wanted to stay home, sit in the front of the fire and feel a little bit sorry for myself. But since Alex loves his Wednesday night church-time, I cowboy'd up (METAPHOR #3!) and got in the car. But I wasn't really happy about it.

We had just pulled into the church parking lot when Alex piped up from the backseat: "Mama? Do you know that God is with you all the time? That He is SO BIG that He's everywhere you are?"

Oh, that boy. I mean, seriously - does it ever cease to amaze y'all how the simplicity of a child's faith can just FLAT-OUT PREACH? Honestly, I can't think of when I've been on the receiving end of a more timely word. Because even though I knew it, I SO needed to hear it.

And I'm beyond grateful for the six year-old who said it.

What have your kids / nieces / nephews done lately that just blessed your socks off?

Vicki's received feedback from mothers who are gaining the courage from the 5 Conversations Bible study to have these difficult conversations that include such topics as "You are more than the sum of your parts" and "Sex is great and worth the wait."

"Don't ever act shocked when your daughter comes to you," Courtney said. "If you do and she tells you something and sees that, 'Oh, wow, this freaked my mom out,' she's not going to come back and want to talk to you in the future. We have to make sure and have our game face on. It's that air of confidence."

Check out the 5 Conversations Blog. If you've got a daughter, my guess is you're probably going to want to check out this study for sure.

Ya'll have a good Wednesday!

All I really wanted to do was climb in my comfortable hotel bed (with a fitted bottom sheet!) with a bottle of Advil and the remote control. The only thing that stopped me was knowing Kelly Minter was about to have a little concert over at the LifeWay headquarters and I'd regret missing it.

Ironically, it never occurred to me that I could have just stayed in bed and watched it through the power of the internet.

So I popped my two Advil, drank a Diet Coke and Sophie and I headed over to see Kelly Minter.

I cannot express how glad I am that we did.

Kelly took us through the whole book of Ruth and shared how God led her to write her new Bible study, Ruth, and the companion CD, Loss, Love and Legacy. I loved her honesty, I loved her humor and I loved her humble heart.

And after hearing her on Friday night, I can't wait to get my hands on her new study of Ruth.

FANCY.

Keep in mind that if I were the person in charge of a webcast, everybody would be standing up and crowded around a webcam. Perhaps this is why I have never been employed in the fields of radio and/or television production.

It really was a bunch of fun to watch and to participate in the webcast, even if I never got the hang of the two-camera system EVEN A LITTLE BIT. It made me laugh because Paige and Melanie were so comfortable and such naturals at the whole thing, and meanwhile I was darting my eyes back and forth like a cat with some sort of nervous disorder.

Anyway, if you got to watch some of the webcast this past Friday, would you mind sharing a little feedback with us? How was the overall experience for you? Is it something you'd like to participate in again? Did you have any technical difficulties? Did you like the chat feature? And most importantly, were you as wild about Priscilla's dress as Melanie and I were?

Your input is SO appreciated - we love y'all!

photos courtesy of Rich Kalonick

In the meantime, we wanted to share a few pictures that our friend Rich took today (thanks, Rich)! And yes, I know this post is going to be a little short on words, but look! Five pictures!

That's like FIVE THOUSAND WORDS.

Hope y'all have a great weekend!

I'd love to show you a picture that I took but my iPhone is no longer speaking to my computer and I can't get the photo to load. It's just a reminder that good communication is the key to any functional relationship.

Anyway, here's all the scoop for today. It's all taking place from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m.

Here is the link (please feel free to tweet and retweet the link):

http://www.lifeway.com/lifewaywomenlive/ the hash tag for twitter is #LWNLF

If you are tweeting here is the shortened url. http://bit.ly/lwlive

Friday's Live Forum Stream Schedule! (along with twitter addresses in case you want to tweet)

9:00 Travis Cottrell - Live worship @cottrelltravis

9:15 - Paige Greene - devotional @PaigeGreene

9:30 - Priscilla Shirer - Live main session @PriscillaShirer

10:30 - Backstage Banter - Travis Cottrell

11:00 - Backstage Banter - Priscilla Shirer

11:30 - 1:00 - lunch break

1:00 -Backstage banter - Mary Kassian @MaryKassian

1:30 -Backstage Marriage Moments - Mark Satterfield @LifewayMarriage

2:00 -Backstage Banter - Rachel Lovingood @RachelLovingood and Jennifer Landrith @JenLandrith and Chris Adams, @Chrisadams4

2:30 -Backstage banter - Kelly Minter, Big Mama and Boo Mama @Kelly_Minter @BigMama @BooMama

3:00 Backstage Banter - Big Mama, Boo Mama and Forum attendees

3:30 Backstage Banter with Michelle Hicks & Girls Ministry Megan!

4:00 Mary Kassian - Live Main Session

5 - 7:00 Dinner break

7:00 - Chris - Backstage banter - Pat Layton @PatriciaLayton

7:30 - Kelly Minter - Concert & message of Ruth: Loss, Love and LegacyYOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS! Its the launch of RUTH!

Hope you'll join us for all the BIG FUN!

And if you can't be with us in person in Nashville at LifeWay headquarters, then you can join us online tomorrow via live stream and chat. We have a full day from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. of messages and music from Priscilla Shirer, Travis Cottrell, Mary Kassian, Kelly Minter and lots of backstage banter and visits. See the schedule and link below for how to join us!

Here is a 'who can talk faster' contest from me and Pam talking more about it:

LifeWay Women Backstage with Pam and Paige from Kris Seidenkranz on Vimeo.

Here is the link (please feel free to tweet and retweet the link to your gals):

http://www.lifeway.com/lifewaywomenlive/ the hash tag for twitter is #LWNLF

If you are tweeting here is the shortened url. http://bit.ly/lwlive

Friday's Live Forum Stream Schedule! (along with twitter addresses in case you want to tweet)

9:00 Travis Cottrell - Live worship @cottrelltravis

9:15 - Paige Greene - devotional @PaigeGreene

9:30 - Priscilla Shirer - Live main session @PriscillaShirer

10:30 - Backstage Banter - Travis Cottrell

11:00 - Backstage Banter - Priscilla Shirer

11:30 - 1:00 - lunch break

1:00 -Backstage banter - Mary Kassian @MaryKassian

1:30 -Backstage Marriage Moments - Mark Satterfield @LifewayMarriage

2:00 -Backstage Banter - Rachel Lovingood @RachelLovingood and Jennifer Landrith @JenLandrith and Chris Adams, @Chrisadams4

2:30 -Backstage banter - Kelly Minter, Big Mama and Boo Mama @Kelly_Minter @BigMama @BooMama

3:00 Backstage Banter - Big Mama, Boo Mama and Forum attendees

3:30 Backstage Banter with Michelle Hicks & Girls Ministry Megan!

4:00 Mary Kassian - Live Main Session

5 - 7:00 Dinner break

7:00 - Chris - Backstage banter - Pat Layton @PatriciaLayton

7:30 - Kelly Minter - Concert & message of Ruth: Loss, Love and LegacyYOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS! Its the launch of RUTH!

The event goes through Saturday at noon. If you aren't able to make it, you can still join us for FREE cause we are going to stream the event live online ALL DAY Friday so you'll get to see Priscilla Shirer, Mary Kassian, Travis Cottrell, and Kelly Minter. Then Pam and I, since we can't keep our mouths shut, will be having 'Behind the scenes' Banter in between the main sessions with all of the above people and more. We'll shoot a schedule up here tomorrow. And watch the twitter hash tag #LWNLF for updates and just plain fun tweets!

Yesterday the roving camera caught some backstage set up action AND a tiny stalker.

Riveting LifeWay Women's National Leadership Forum backstage video from Kris Seidenkranz on Vimeo.

Okay gals! Keep watching for more backstage fun and news. Hope you will join us!

Paige Greene

Living Proof Live - Springfield IL from Rich Kalonick on Vimeo.

And while I guess it's possible that my sense of anticipation is heightened because I know I'm going to pass the exit for Henpeck Market on my way into Nashville and HELLO, STRAWBERRY CAKE, I HAVE MISSED YOU TERRIBLY, I really am so excited to see what God's going to do at the Forum. Can't wait.

I mentioned last week that there's going to be a live stream from the Forum on Friday, and you can watch it right here: http://www.lifeway.com/lifewaywomenlive. You can also pop over here to AllAccess and watch it in the top right-hand corner.

And if you're a Twitter or a Facebook person and would like to help us spread the world about the live stream, here's an abbreivated link you can use: http://bit.ly/lwlive.

(Is it weird that I think that link is cute?)

(Yes?)

(Okay. I'll just be leaving now.)

Have a great Monday, everybody!

I actually had to get a copy of a crime report for a friend of mine to mail to her insurance agent so she could be reimbursed for the thousands of dollars of camera equipment that was stolen out of the back of her car.

Wait, I'm going somewhere with this.

Anyway, as I meandered around the streets of downtown in what proved to many, MANY, failed attempts to locate the police station, I decided I needed some music to calm my nerves because the talk radio was just adding to my already high stress level. And do you know what I just happened to pull out?

My copy of Travis Cottrell's Ring the Bells Christmas CD.

And although I usually have a hard and fast rule (or maybe just a rule) about listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving, I made an exception. Because if the shopping centers can start hanging garland and red bows the second the clock strikes midnight on the day after Halloween, then I can sing me some carols. I'm so glad I did.

I spent the next thirty minutes doing my best to end up going the wrong way on a one way street, but I didn't even care because I was singing Christmas songs at the top of my voice.

It had been almost a year since I'd listened to Ring the Bells and in that time I'd forgotten that In the First Light makes me cry every time and that his version of Frosty the Snowman is delightful.

In other words, Ring the Bells is a must-have CD for your Christmas collection. Best of all, you can download it on iTunes right now for only $9.90 by clicking here.

And you can even start listening to it before Thanksgiving. I won't tell.

But here's the thing: once those people sit down (or stand up - I really have no idea whether sitting or standing will be the webcast preference, so let's just pretend we land somewhere in the middle and everyone is sitting on a tall stool, thank you), Paige and Pam are going to need some questions for them. Since that's sort of how an interview works and all.

So.

You know how we usually ask y'all for questions for the panel part of Deeper Still? Well, we're going to do the same thing today. We need your questions - whether serious or light-hearted - for the webcast. Your questions can be directed to a particular person (Dear Priscilla, How do you make your hair so pretty? Love, Me) or your question can be general (Dear People, What's your favorite way to eat corn? Love, Me). And please know that if your question is general, you can expect to hear it over and over again because whoever's doing the interviewing will WEAR IT OUT and ask every single person about their favorite way to eat corn.

That's what you call hard-hitting journalism, my friends.

Leave your questions in the comments - and thanks in advance!

Our dreams are big. Our hearts are filled with expectation.

Anyway, the LifeWay folks are going to be doing a really cool thing on Friday, November 13th. And that really cool thing is a day-long webcast that you can watch right here on AllAccess. You see that video of Pam and Paige over to the right? Well, next Friday it won't be there. But what WILL be there is the live feed from the Leadership Forum - from 8:30 in the AM until 9:30 in the PM.

Isn't that the neatest? You can sit on your couch in your pajamas and eat fried chicken and listen to Travis Cottrell and Priscilla Shirer and Kelly Minter and Mary Kassian and a whole host of other wonderful people. Paige and Pam will be doing interviews throughout the day, and Melanie and I might show up to perform an uplifting duet or maybe even a lyrical ballet routine to "On The Wings of Love."

We're still ironing out some of the details, not to mention our choreography. So really, there's not a bit of telling.

We'll be talking more about the live feed - and even asking for your input - over the next week. We're so excited that even if you're not with us in Nashville, you can still be with us in Nashville, and yes, that TOTALLY makes sense.

The interwebs are magic, you know.

Have a wonderful Wednesday, y'all.

1. Priscilla Shirer is taping her new Bible study on Jonah this week. I know she would appreciate your prayers.

2. Priscilla's new Going Beyond website has just launched and it is FABULOUS. Plus, it includes a blog and you know how we love us a new blog.

Y'all have a great day!