Somehow...

Somehow it always gets done. My list, which caused panic last week, is just about all checked off. My house is clean--not spotless but at least not filthy. There are some groceries in the fridge. The sunvisor on my car is fixed. The caterer has been called for a quote. Messages are written. The book proposal is printed. The prayer team has their requests.

Today's list is more fun. Paint fingers and toes. Put some brown goo on my hair to cover those silver ones! Iron some clothes (ok--that one's not so fun), pack my suitcase. Here's my favorite--go use the massage certificate that I've been hoarding since Mother's Day. Thanks guys!

Tomorrow I head for Charlotte. Five days with 600 fabulous women--yahoo! I'll miss my guys, but they know that they'll get one very happy wife/mama back in five days. I think it makes the absence worth it.

Here's my list for She Speaks. Watch for God at work. Listen to amazing stories of His power and grace. Meet inspiring women. Hang out and enjoy my P31 sisters. This is one list that I can't wait to check off.

Did You Mean Me?

Do you ever hear a song that peers right down into the depths of your soul? God often uses music to speak to me in deeper ways than written or spoken words. I'm not sure why music affects me that way, but it does.

This morning when I was listening to K-Love (I get so excited to hear Lysa and Renee's voices and our little intro music on K-Love!), Todd Agnew was on live. The DJs asked him to sing a new song from his upcoming CD, and I heard the last 1/2 of it.

Todd had been talking about how in personalizing our relationship with Jesus we sometimes lose the power of unity that God designed for the church. I completely agree that we're losing something as our culture and our churches become more and more inwardly focused and the individual becomes more and more isolated.

I love a group. It's just the way that my extroverted, task-oriented self is wired. That's one of the reasons that I am chomping at the bit to get to She Speaks.

In that, though, I sometimes forget how much God loves me...personally...individually. Todd's song pierced my heart as he asked the question, "Did you mean me?"

He went through lists of God's promises:

When you said you'd never leave us....did you mean me?

When you said we'd do greater things...did you mean me?

When you said we're a holy people...did you mean me?

I didn't even realize that it is a question my heart is asking until I heard it. It's easy for me to believe that God can do things through the group or through others, but does He mean those promises for me?

Scripture gives me a resounding "yes"! I am holy and dearly loved (Colosians 3), and all those glorious promises are for me personally as well as for his people as a whole. It's a reason to rejoice today!!

p.s. For all my friends coming to She Speaks, your heart is probably loudly pounding, "Did you really mean me?" I want to tell you, YES!!!

Facebook and Other Adventures

Make new friends, but keep the old
One is silver and the other gold!

Do you remember singing that song as a little girl? Even though I'm not a singer, I've always loved to sing, and that lovely little melody can be sung as a round. I've been thinking a lot about that song as I'm experiencing the joys of getting in touch with old friends.

Almost a year ago my friend Christie told me how much fun she was having on Facebook. I got so excited and told Barry about her experience. With his gift for asking the right question, he paused and asked, "Do you have time to be on Facebook?" Well, the answer was truthfully "no". I had too many balls in the air already at that point.

Fast forward to two months ago when Anson, our fifteen year old, wanted to open a Facebook account. His dad and I agreed as long as one of us could be his friend. Barry decided to open an account just to keep tabs on our teen.

Right! Soon I was getting reports every night..."I have 26 friends!"...."You'll never guess who is my new friend!"...."Dave has over 200 friends!"

For some of you, this is old hat. Facebook is contagious, right? Well I figured that since summer is a little slower that I'd dive right in. I'm hooked!

I'm having such a great time reconnecting with old friends. Many of them live in my area, and I didn't even know it. Last night I had dinner with my friend Beth Parham. It had been 15 years since we had seen each other last, and we had a fantastic time catching up. She is a preschool teacher for 2 and 3 year olds. Even though she's exhausted at the end of a day, she loves it. She's a hero in my book!

The most fun thing was catching up on our faith stories. We didn't know that Jesus had been setting both of our hearts on fire during high school. I loved hearing about His pursuit of her and how she has found contentment and fulness in Him.

Tomorrow I'm having lunch with 2 more high school friends who are sisters. I CAN'T WAIT!

I'd love for any of you to be my friend. I'll tell you right off the bat that I don't know about pokes or smiles or pillow fights, but I'd love to be connected. I haven't figured out how to link the blog to Facebook, though. Can anybody help?

Birthday and Braces

First of all, Today is your birthday! Happy Birthday, Baby! Today is my honey bunch's birthday. Isn't he cute?

The other thing on my mind is braces. At the last dentist visit, the dentist gave us the disconcerting news that not one but both of my boys needed to see the orthodonist. AAAGH!!! So yesterday we went.

This orthodonist is smart. He has his office decorated like a luau. His staff is not only friendly but hilarious (he told me that he hires for humor not necessarily ability :) It's like a party to go to the orthodonist.

That softened the sticker shock just a little. Sigh. My parents did it for me, though. Thanks, Mom and Dad! My brother says that I looked like a beaver in my before pictures, so I'm eternally grateful.

Nolan will get his first "appliance" in two weeks. Poor kid. He thinks it's cool, because all his middler schooler friends have braces. He doesn't even know what's coming! The smile at the end of 2 1/2 years will be worth it.

Count Down!

It warmed my heart so much to have Danielle ask me how things are at our house. Thank you, Danielle! Everybody is doing well. Both boys have completely recovered, and Barry and I stayed well. I'm incredibly thankful.

Now my thoughts are turning more and more to She Speaks. Friends, I look forward to She Speaks almost as much as Christmas and even more than my birthday. (That's saying a lot, because I really, really love being queen for the day.) I think I love She Speaks so much primarily because it's a setting to watch God do incredible things. Every year I leave with an overflowing heart and a mind full of the stories of God's faithfulness and power.

I wanted to take this post to point to Lysa's blog. She is doing a series on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week to help prepare hearts for She Speaks. I think she addresses some things that would help all of us in our walk, though.

Yesterday she talked about writing. It encouraged me so much on a day that I was struggling with discouragement. I'm reworking my book proposal, and inevitably the question surfaces--"What in the world do I have to add to all the books that have been written?" Lysa eloquently explains the value of writing beyond published books.

Are you a journaler? A secret writer of stories? Do you have a topic that you long to explore in writing? Make sure to read Lysa's post!

For you that are going to She Speaks, there are only 17 days left until we're together. I'm praying for all of you that are coming. Come expectant to see God work!

What the Boys Brought Home from Camp

As our youth pastor so aptly said, Anson and Nolan brought home more than great memories and dirty laundry from camp. They both came home happy but tired and promptly came down with the flu. It's been a quiet few days at the Carroll house while the boys rested and recovered.

There are signs that they're better tonight--playful banter at the dinner table, loud protests to how a video game is being played and "Aw Mom"s when they had to clean up the dinner table again. They're back!!! (And I'm so glad!)

They brought back something lots better than the flu, though. When I go to retreat weekends, I'm always a little dazed at the end. There's so much teaching...so much amazing information....

Overload is inevitably the problem. My brain is really pretty feeble, and my heart responds passionately but absorbs slowly.

I've started praying one prayer consistently before I attend a conference or retreat. I pray the same prayer for the women that I speak to. The prayer is, "Lord, speak One Thing clearly to me. Help me to carry away one life-changing, heart-altering truth." The whole weekend I ask God to make the One Thing jump-0ut clear to me.

I told the boys that I'd be praying that prayer for them during their week at Crossroads. I've spent the weekend listening to Clayton King, the camp leader. He's a Spirit-led, truth-telling, Jesus-loving preacher. His messages to the kids would be packed, but I prayed earnestly for them to come away with their own One Thing.

It was my first question in the car. "What was the One Thing that God did in your heart this week?" He is faithful, friends! He is a prayer answering God!

Nolan piped up first. He said that God had spoken to him about missions. When I asked him what made him want to go on a missions trip, he said, "It's not so much that I want to go, but I believe God is LEADING me to go." He followed up by sharing the scripture that God had given him. "He said to them, 'God into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.'" (Mark 16:15)

He couldn't have blessed his mama's socks off more. From the time I was pregnant with Nolan, Barry and I both believed that God would use him in missions. What fun this is going to be to watch!

God spoke to Anson about listening to Him. Anson is determined to have a consistent quiet time and to learn how to study his Bible. That boy is going to be surpassing his dad and me before we know it, and we couldn't be more thrilled!

Sometimes the joys of communal living mean a case of the flu, but our boys wouldn't trade their One Thing for anything.

Problem Solved!

Isn't God sweet? I don't want to use this scripture as a cop-out, but He definitely knows that I'm dust (Psalm 103:14). My personality functions so much better with structure, schedules and deadlines. Without them, I turn into mush pretty quickly.

So last week, I was posting and praying about consistent quiet time. That morning after my post, I got a sweet invitation from our women's ministry to participate in a summer Bible study. I felt like I had gotten an email straight from God!

I joined the group a week late, but I'm loving it already. We're doing Jennifer Rothschild's study Me, Myself and Lies. The study is timely on so many levels. First of all, Jennifer is speaking at She Speaks this summer. I got even more excited about hearing her after seeing the first video. She is an engaging speaker who captured both my imagination and my heart.

The study itself addresses our thought lives. It's already making me deal with some of the things that I tell myself without even thinking about it. It's shocking to tune in to some of my own thoughts. So much is habit and automatic. So many things are careless comments from others from my childhood.

One thought that a friend shared was how one comment can stick with us while many compliments or encouragements are ignored. That is so true for me. Is it true for you? Over the years I've received affirmation from so many people-- encouraging parents, close friends, a loving husband. There are still a few "labels", though, that I've allowed to stick.

Jennifer makes us write them down in our books. I want to tell you some of mine, but truthfully I also don't. Just being honest... I guess that means that there's still shame attached to them. When I deal with them and gain some victory, I'll share.

I guess the lessons I'm learning are these:

• EVERYBODY has some negative inner recordings that need work. Not a soul is exempt.
• God's truths are greater than the lies in my head. I need to focus on His truth about me as found in scripture so that the lies are taken captive to the obedience of Christ. (II Cor. 10:5)
• God doesn't want any name to stick to us except His own. Some of us label ourselves with our accomplishments and some of us with our failures. JESUS' is the name I want written on my forhead!

How About This?

Has anybody made any progress on their summer list? I've done a few little things but not a lot. The boys are at camp this week which means Barry and I are HOME ALONE! It's really a strange feeling. Any other times we've been alone it's been when we've planned a trip away. We're having a great time, but maybe it's just a little too quite...

Anyhoo...my biggest summer problem isn't recaulking my shower. My biggest problem during the summer is falling off the quiet time wagon. For years I've been part of Bible Study Fellowship, a structured Bible study with daily study questions. I've loved it, because it helps to keep my wandering heart on track.

I'm such a rule-follower for the most part (except for the other part that wants to buck all the rules!) Structure Bible study suites me well. Summers are always a challenge for me, though, when there's a break from the structure.

On one hand, I love having more "down time" with God. It's exhilerating to not have a plan and to spend more silent time. On the other hand, it's harder when I don't have the accountibility of a group. Obviously I'm a woman with a lot of words to use each day. At BSF, you don't get to speak in your small group if you haven't completed your lesson. This isn't punishment. It's just an accountibility to study God's Word before I speak about it. Otherwise, I just sit and learn from others who have studied. Too hard for me! :)

This summer I've finished Hind's Feet on High Places, and now I'm using My Utmost for His Highest to get me started each day. What's everybody else doing? I could use some help!