my daddy

He is not feeling well. Please add him to your prayer list. For those of you that know our family, he is dealing with the same illness he's dealt with before. I find myself wishing God would just heal him allready. I tend to get more impatient when my parents are sick. Especially when it's recurring. I get pushy in my prayers. Mainly it is because there is nothing I can do. I bring magazines, fetch drinks, and talk about everything under the sun to try and bring smiles, but really there's nothing I can do to make it better and I hate that. I want the problem fixed, and fixed quickly so that my parents don't have to go through this anymore. But even in my impatience, God loves me. He sits through all my blathering, and then wraps me in His love. Let's face it, He's probably come to expect a certain amount of "emotion" from me when my daddy gets sick. Comes with the territory. So what am I rambling on about? I'm not even sure I know. I just felt like I needed someone to talk to, and I needed people to pray. So I came here. And hopefully those of you out there that read this will send up a special prayer for my daddy...

Easter in photos...

the boys Easter suits

at Nana's house hunting Easter eggs

today I feel...

Loved.

catching up

Wow it's been a whirlwind few weeks! I have wanted to blog so many times, but things have just kept piling up on us. It's been unreal. We have had our washing machine go out, our vacuum literally broke apart, and our parents were very close to losing their home in a wildfire. And friends, that's just THIS week. Sigh. Dano had his very first ear infection and very first prescription. We have been so lucky with him, he NEVER gets sick. This year however it seems like he's been sick every other week. Of course with the crazy Texas weather everyone I know has been sick at least 2 or 3 times. It's been wild. All of this has sent me to my knees more times than I can count. I have been so down these past few weeks. It just seemed like everything has been snowballing. Then God finally brought to my eyes that even in all this mess we are blessed. We were able to buy a new washer and a new vacuum. It could have been worse. We could have not had the resources to do that. And so I'm claiming the blessing rather than dwelling on the the down sides.

On Monday I got the scare of my life. Well, ONE of the scares of my life. It was my mom and she sounded terrified. At first I didn't really grasp what she was saying. They were being told to evacuate because there was a wildfire coming towards their house. My dad said he looked out the back door and all he could see was fire. There was nothing to do but grab moms purse and leave the house. I can not imagine. I'm still tearing up now just thinking about it. They were allowed to wait in their car on the side of the road for a little while as the firefighters tried to turn the fire and save their home and our neighbors home. My moms friend called their small group and asked them to pray for my parents. I did the same with our small group. Being able to reach out that way was amazing. We felt immediate prayer. That feeling will stay with me. I love the way my dad explained it. He said within 10 minutes of hearing that so many of our church family were praying for them, he said he saw the fire switch directions. The wind turned, some heavy machines were brought in, and my parents home was spared. We've seen some arial photos of the fire damage and it literally looks like an arm was laid down stopping the fire and sending it another direction. When my mom called from their house I wanted to scream some Hallelujah's! We'd been talking throughout the ordeal, but I knew when that # popped up on the caller ID everything really was okay. Nothing but the power of God could have made the fire move the other direction. The winds were gusting up to 50 mph at times. The fire was moving 300 yards a minute. The flames were at least 20 feet tall. The embers were flying up into the air and being carried across the highway. It was unreal. Without God's intervention, my parents would have lost their home. For those of you reading this that were part of that immediate prayer team - Thank you doesn't even cover it. Knowing that over 30 people went to the throne immediately for us... THAT is an amazing feeling. One woman did lose her home, several other homes were damaged, and a Dodge dealership suffered about 1.3 million dollars in loss and damages. I'm attaching some photos of it all. These were taken from my parents driveway after the fire had turned. They were still not allowed in their home, but at this point there were allowed to wait in the driveway in their car. (this was so in case the wind flipped again they could leave quickly)

these are a bit grainy because I had to enlarge them

these were taken the day after

how does the heart manage?

I have begun my ministry blog. God has given me a goal and blogger is the tool that will hopefully help me get there. (you can find the page by clicking the "my ministry blog" link in my links list) I have to laugh when I say hopefully because after the reports from this weekend, I know starting that blog up is allready and will continue to be an amazing part of my calling. What I want to know from you who have begun in this crazy world of womens ministry handle IT with your heart. Let me explain. I recently spent a lunch with some great women who talked about needs in their lives. My heart was so burdened for them, a devotion I'd been struggling with suddenly poured out as I furiously tried to type the words God was giving me to share with them. I hit post and immediatly hit my knees in prayer for the lives it might touch. Being my first post and not many people knowing about it, I didn't think I'd get many comments or repsonses. But if I ever needed a sign that the move I was making was withing God's plan for my life, I got it. And my heart is FILLED to the brim with so many emotions I'm not sure it can hold them all. A woman came up to me and hugged me, telling me how deeply the devotion had touched her. When she pulled away with tears streaming down her face, I was taken aback. It was the first time someone had come straight to me and told me what God had done to them through what He'd done through me. I can't get her tear filled eyes out of my mind. I am constantly affirming to myself that THAT is why I am doing this. Regardless of knowledge, education, experience, etc. I am doing this #1 because God has called and I am willing, and #2 because there are women like her out there that need to hear from God in whatever way He chooses. I wanted to dig deeper and peel apart exactly what it was that touched her, or just get deep into some prayer with her but I let the moment sink in instead and just held her hand. I honestly couldn't tell you which one of us received the bigger blessing. In the past few days I have cried, prayed, questioned, praised, and done it all more than once over that moment. I want more of those moments. Most of all, I want the women I reach out to to have more of those moments. My goal was and is to reach out in such a way that would bring glory to God, and Christ to others.

So, share with me. What do you do at moments like this when words fail because they simply wouldn't be enough? How does your heart manage all the emotions that come flooding in after such piercing moments? Do you ever forget that first woman coming to you to simply say thank you? What are your stories? Encourge a fellow Siesta. :)

tickets

I am jumping for joy right now. I just purchased tickets for my mom and myself to go to the Living Proof Live event/Siesta Fiesta in August in good ole' San Antonio!!!! YEAH baby! We're also attending the Women Reaching Women Fully Loaded conference that will take place the day before the Beth Moore event. Can you say FUN STINKIN WEEKEND???? Anyone else going? Gimme a shout out! We'll meet up. Shonda and Bev... I wanna meet you girls SOOOOO bad! Tell me you're going! :) Debra are you coming to the Siesta Fiesta??? Anyone else?? I want to meet me some Siestas! Ole!

oh it's ON now!

Many things I love in life. Chocolate. Java City. Time with my family. Games. Board games. Card games. Family games. You get my point. I love games. :) And well, when my friend Annette taught me and 10 other ladies this particular game, my affinity for competition BURST wide open. That's right Marcie... it's bunko night at Trinity. And oh man... IT IS ON! Lol :) . We are getting together with another class at church and having us a dice throwing, chocolate eatin, coffee slurpin, raising the roof off the coffee house LADIES NIGHT! Come Friday night at 6 p.m. I will be transformed into what novices call "scary woman" and pros call "the one to beat". :) I'm kidding of course, but the truth is... there is just NOTHING like a good night of bunko with some of my very best friends in the world. A room full of my Christian sisters all laughing and having the best time is what I like to call a little piece of that abundance God promises me. There is nothing else on this earth that brings me the feeling of joy that bunko night with my "home-girls" brings me. And so my sweet sisters, if you are reading this - please go put your game face on and come join me for some table slappin' bunko FUN!!

Friday night, 6 p.m., be there.

And Marcie - I am going to miss your laugh and going at the dice with you. You're one of the best dice-grabbin' gals I've ever had the pleasure of playing with! You sure you can't fly down for a night? :)