Luncheon Countdown

WOW!!! Can I tell you how excited I am? We are just so excited to see what God is going to do through our very first SHINE Women's Luncheon. I have scheduled this to post at noon, so that means there will be exactly 24 hours left. We look forward to an afternoon of new friendships, great food, and experiencing God's presence in a room full of REAL women who just want to grow closer to each other and to our Heavenly Father.. or as I like to say, "My Daddy."

If you are coming to SHINE tomorrow, or even if you received an invitation and can't make it, I want you to know that you have been prayed for all week. The girls and I have really felt the need to just pray power, peace, and new perception into your life this week. God has shown us how WE ALL are so much alike, dealing with the same family issues, insecurities, work frustrations... we all share SOOOO much. Not one of us is better or worse than the other. It has been such a blessing to lift each and every one of you up in prayer.

Just for the record, any of you who are still a little confused.. THIS IS A FREE EVENT!!! Yes, don't worry about having to pay for your meal or anything else. God made it very clear that this event had a specific purpose and the purpose includes blessing you with a wonderful meal and environment like provided at The Wrenn House. I am so sorry we didn't make that as clear as we had intended and hope it hasn't kept anyone from coming. If you are reading this now and declined for that reason, PLEASE call me and we will put you on the list to come. We don't want ANYTHING to hinder you from coming and experiencing what God has for us.

Pray for Sherry, Dori and I. We want more than anything else to do and say what GOD wants. You will not enjoy yourself or leave feeling fulfilled if we are not able to only rely on Him. He has great things in store and we are SO excited to see what is going to happen.

We love each and every one of you. We look forward to spending an afternoon in God's presence with YOU! And since, this is our first event, we will see lots of things that can be improved, so don't be afraid to tell us. One was not telling you clearly that it was free. The other was giving the address of The Wrenn House.. so click here for the directions. And lastly.. we didn't tell you how to dress.... WHY? Cause it doesn't matter! If you want to dress up, then do it. If you want to wear your jeans and flip flops, then do it. We just want you to be comfortable.

I am going to leave you with a word that God gave me right now just for each of us. It is from Matthew 11:6...

"The blind see,

The lame walk,

Lepers are cleansed,

The deaf hear,

The dead are raised,

The wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side.

'Is this what you were expecting? Then count yourselves most blessed!'"

Come out tomorrow and be blessed!

Hiding Out

I don't care where it is... but I am ready to go hide out somewhere! It's been one of those days, and I know you have them too. Maybe today is one of those days for you. Want to join me? Let's just go hide out somewhere!

Why in the world am I wanting to hide so badly? Well, let me just fill you in a little. EVERYTHING is going wrong!!! Ok ok, that may be a BIT of an exaggeration, but it feels like more and more is turning out wrong than right.

Amongst the kids whining in the mornings, learning to communicate effectively in a new relationship, deadlines at work... and of course a computer that has decided to "not respond" after 2 hours of tediously editing a document and being stupid enough not to safe it somewhere along the way....(You know exactly what I am talking about, don't you? Stop laughing!)...I just want to throw my hands up in the air and give up. Find me a bushel and I am going to go hide under it! Actually, just for the record... instead of hiding, I am just going to blog this on my lunch break. :O)

Isn't that the way Satan works? Right when you are about ready to take your life and let your light SHINE (no matter how big or small), Satan comes in pushes you till you want to go hide out. See, that is so clever. If Satan just came in and snuffed out our fire, then we could blame our failures on him. But NOOOOOO!!!! He IS a sly old devil. IF he can convince us to go hide out, go find a bushel and hide under it; he has accomplished two purposes:

1. No one can see our light if it is under a bushel. If we lift our hands and run to hide out, we are missing our opportunity to SHINE in our situation. We lose the opportunity to let Jesus SHINE through our imperfections and humanity.
2. If we go hide our light under a bushel, we will eventually run out of air and not only will we suffocate, but our light will burn out as well. See... if WE make the decision to go hide, WE are the ones that snuffed out the fire, not Satan. There is nothing worse than someone sitting in pity and self condemnation. Satan wants to hinder our ability to SHINE and defeat our self-confidence as well.

I can tell you this day will probably end up worse before it does better. Quite honestly, I know Satan well enough to know he is going to be on the attack because I am being obedient and finally conquering my fears. Our first SHINE luncheon is in 2 weeks and I will be speaking at a Mother-Daughter banquet the week after. I am nervous, scared, and insecure. There is nothing better Satan would like to do than to defeat me before I even get started. I am about to SHINE and hopefully spark some light in a few people around me. If Satan can put my light out now... he won't have to worry about the FIRE that God has promised to create from my obedience.

Quit hiding under a bushel today! Don't let Satan convince you to put out your own light! Don't let him suffocate you today!

"This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine! Let it SHINE! Let it SHINE! Let it SHINE!"

"Arise, shine, for YOUR light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you." -Isaiah 60:1 Remember, when you raise up to shine... you have the promise of God raising up with you. He's got your back, so quit hiding out!

Secret Recipes

Does your family have a secret recipe? Is there some wonderful dish that has a special ingredient that makes all the difference in the world? Most families have some type of secret recipe that is written down in an old cook book or penned on a notecard and tucked away in the back of the recipe box. And for some reason, there seems to be a sort of pride that no one else knows just exactly how to create that perfect dish the way your family can.

I was reading in Second Peter this morning and realized that I have a huge cook book of secret recipes right at my fingertips. 2 Peter 1:4-10 gives the specific recipe for how NOT to fall. Giving all diligence... add to faith virtue, to virtue knowledge... temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, charity. For if you do these things, you shall NEVER fall.

Here I go around worrying about how in the world to be the person I need to be and it is right there in front of me. If I can just add those things to my life.. then I won't fall.

The point I am making is that we all have a priceless cookbook readily available at our fingertips. The recipes are SECRET recipes, but not because they are meant to be hidden from you, but because you have to be part of the FAMILY in order to fully execute the recipes.

Are you part of God's family? Then open up the cookbook and start memorizing the secret recipes of life. If you aren't a part of the family, then it is time you accept Christ and get in on the wonderful meals of life God has waiting on you. It is time to cook up a delicious life... a life centered in Christ!