(in) couraged

I think I might have mentioned before that I’m a crier. I’ll go into the ugly cry faster than a guest on Oprah and I’m pretty sure waterproof mascara was invented for the likes of me. I have cried a lot this weekend, but none of it with sadness; I have been mightily encouraged on several fronts.

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Jason and I were thrilled to lead groups at a youth retreat called Discovery at our church this weekend. The truth is that we work with our youth group so that it will hopefully still be popular when our children are the age to attend {is that too selfish to admit?}. While we realize we aren’t THAT cool, we are in the age in between the youth {grades 6-12} and their parents, so I think they still see us as old, but not TOO terribly old {kind of like iffy pizza leftovers- kinda chewy, but still tolerable}. And I hope that some 30-somethings take this torch when our kids are in middle school so we don’t have to give this talk anymore {Part 1 and Part 2 of THE talk}. One thing that overwhelmingly encouraged me this weekend was the huge attendance by high school leaders AND seniors who have graduated. These kids graciously gave of their time and energy and spent 2 nights at the church on air mattresses or sofas of questionable origins. Tears well up in my eyes to think of that former senior group all together for one last time. They encourage me that there is hope in our youth and that our kids will one day have those friends who love God enough to tell middle school-ers who don’t bathe all weekend about Jesus.

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Tonight I got the chance to see Travis Cottrell in concert here in Huntsville. If you don’t recognize his name, you might know that he is the praise and worship leader for all Beth Moore Live events. Oh, yes- now you know him. I went expecting to attend an awesome concert, but I realized that Travis was there to lead us in worship. I’d never put my finger on the difference in those two before tonight. And what an amazing time of worship it was.

A quick little back story for some reference: I was raised Catholic and we did not clap in church. I know there are many new contemporary Catholic services now, but we went to a 10 o’clock, slip-required, NO-jumbotron-or-smoke {except for the occasional incense}, traditional Catholic service. It has taken me many years to adjust to a contemporary Methodist service where we stand and clap for a majority of the singing time and there is a full drum set with a plastic cage around it on stage {I would say altar, but it’s really a stage}. We have stadium seating and movie theater seats in the service we attend and I will admit that my knees are very thankful for the lack of pews with kneelers. With all that said, I’ve always leaned more on the side of the conservative, sometimes off-beat clapper- most likely because of my conservative upbringing.

I used to be embarrassed when people would raise their hands in praise while singing in church. It made my stomach lurch with uneasiness for the people around them and made me wonder why they would go and do that right there in public. As I’ve grown in my faith, what I formerly thought of as a sign of indignity has come to be such a sign of encouragement to me. I realize that people are being moved by the Spirit and the time of worship to give the praise/ their worry/ their offering to God.

Tonight, in worship, I saw God move through people on their feet, many lifted hands and sincere praise. PRAISE. It was an Awesome experience. Travis shared tonight about having his kids come up to him and say, “I love you, Daddy” for no reason. As great as that makes us feel, imagine how it turns the heart of God when we do the same thing. It encouraged me to be reminded that God is living and active- in our lives and forms of worship- and deserving of any form of praise we offer.

Debbi, Travis, Me and Patty

{I know. I didn't have a cool blue Compassion shirt. I'm working on it...}

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I was at this event tonight working with Compassion International. Travis shared about his experience with Compassion as a sponsor and a recent trip to Haiti and offered the opportunity to others to sponsor children. This is where 3 of us walked up and down the aisles and handed out packets to anyone who was interested. I gave out all my packets and had to run to the table to get more! We were absolutely swamped after the event and stayed for another hour helping people fill out their sponsorship forms. To see people reach out to give to the poorest of children is encouraging, to say the least.

After this weekend, I think my face might be permanently altered into the ugly cry position. I’m going to wash what’s left of my makeup, but please go over to visit my friends at (in)courage to read more stories of encouragement today. They are launching their site today as a virtual beach house, where you can retreat with friends, put your sandy feet on the table and enjoy coffee over stories of hope and encouragement. I’m so excited about it!

I might even go into the ugly cry again.

A Walk on the Wild Side

If you start to hum a little Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch a la middle school when you hear that title, YOU, my friend... are, well... let's just say you are my friend.

We ventured up to Nashville with my blog buddy and real life friend, Monica and her cutie pie, Seth, for a trip to the Zoo. While it's a little less dangerous than recounting the musical gems from 1991, it still had it's scary encounters.

Ollie's favorite animal is the elephant. Period. And there was a lot of elephant hype leading up to the zoo. Barney's elephant song is still A#1 on the playlist, they watched Barney goes to the Zoo on the trip up there and they played with elephants in the car.
I'm very thankful to report that we didn't arrive like the Griswolds with Wally World closed and have to charge the place; thankfully it was open and we didn't end up on the news {which is really my goal every day} for breaking and entering in the zoo.

Here's a little trip through the zoo for you:

I started to wonder what the animals saw all day and figured this was it.

But this isn't too bad of a life! I think my little man is a pretty cute site!

This is apparently a wild turtle. It was living with some porcupines, so I guess it did have an unpredictable life.

This is about the only type of picture I got of these 2 guys. Henry is just a couple months older than Seth and had a great time running away from us.

Until they saw this guy. And I guess a stroller is more appealing than, say, a tiger.

And here you have the happiest little boy at the zoo.

And it's not a complete trip without a group shot with the elephant's rump.

This is just a sampling of our trip {click on any one of the pictures to see the whole Flickr set}. Nashville has a great zoo and I would recommend it if you are around there!

I hope you have a wonderful Friday! And hopefully Marky Mark is stuck in your head and not Barney. Really, I'm not sure which one of those is worse... Your verdict?

She Recaps

Most people rank their fear of Public Speaking higher than they rank their fear of death. As you probably already know, I'm not like most people... in many regards {insert your own joke here}... but specifically in this one. I ♥ to speak in front of people.

Go ahead. Call me crazy. I'll wait...

I love the prep, the practice and the rush of adrenaline that come with the whole event. With that in mind, I heard about a Christian women's conference called She Speaks put on by Proverbs 31 Ministries and knew I had to be there. It is specifically geared towards writers, speakers and bloggers- my own kind of peeps.

When I got there last Friday, I quickly realized that at least in one regard, all these amazing, talented women were so much like me: there was not a time or space when any of us could get a word in edgewise. But I was so happy to be among my own.

Here's the cool thing about God- He put some lessons in the weekend just for me. I was (in)couraged, inspired, uplifted and renewed. God is calling me to speak, to write, to blog, so I'm going along for the ride. I can't tell you how much it blesses my life that you would consider coming along with me.

There were pages and pages of notes full of insight from all the sessions and I'm sure I'll continue learning and sharing for months to come. It was like drinking water from a hydrant- holy water, of course. Oh, and there were also fun sessions like "Taking the Blah out of your Blog" by BooMama and Lysa TerKeurst that were a must. Hopefully this blog will be completely de-blah-ed soon. We {the blog and I} are a work in progress.

You wanna know another fun part? I got to meet SO MANY bloggy friends IRL! {That's In Real Life and I'm embarrassed that I know that. Please resume as if I'm not a goober or tween.} Here's where the name dropping begins.
Here we have a quick dinner with (L-R, top to bottom) Jo-Lynne from Musings of a Housewife, me, Mary from Giving up on Perfect, Amy from A Woman Inspired, Lisa from Simply His (bottom) Laura Lee from Selah {it's a super long title; just click here}, Dawn from My Home Sweet Home, Nester from the Nesting Place and Heather from Especially Heather.

And here I am with my new new BBF {that's Bloggy Best Friend}, Mary . She is smart, witty, wonderful and just precious. Please pop on over to her blog and tell her I said so. One of my most favoritest of her qualities is that we have children who were born on the EXACT same day. That makes us friends forever since we will always be stressing over birthday parties together.

I had an awesome mountain top experience at She Speaks- one that makes it hard to come back to reality. But somehow the loads of laundry and dishes must get done, so I guess I'll do it with a cheerful heart, danggit. I hope to go back to She Speaks again next year and I'd love for you to come with me! Let me know if you're interested. I'll reserve you a seat at the ulta- de-lux 5 Guys Burgers and Fries. It's where the cool kids eat.

Check my new friend Jen's site- Balancing Beauty and Bedlam- for a linky list of all the She Speaks recaps and enjoy!

Apron Fest 09- Givewaway and Recipe

The Winner is Rachel B From Crazytown, USA. Congrats, Rachel!!

Who doesn't love an apron? My friend and blog designer {yep, this blog you're lookin' at} Deanna is hosting Apron Fest '09 at the Apronista and I am thrilled to participate! There are a lot of Aprons being given away, so go over to her site and click through the links to register for a smorgasboard of kitchen love.

You can start here, though! I'll be giving away this apron to one lucky winner:

It is from Tar-jhay {new- not from Goodwill, you'll be happy to know} and I modeled it this morning for these well thought out pictures.

Something about an apron draws children to your side.

Maybe it's because they know you might produce a lovely dinosaur shaped meal soon, just like June Cleaver.

Or maybe it's just the cuteness of this apron! If you'd like to enter a chance for this apron to be yours, just leave a comment telling me your favorite recipe to make that your grandmother made. {Feel free to make something up if you can't think of anything. I'm not a stickler for the rules since I made them and all.} Fine print: The contest will close Friday at noon and be sure to leave your e-mail address with your comment {if you don't have an e-mail linked to your sign in account} so I can contact you when you win!

For you, I have my Grandmother's Banana Nut Bread Recipe- a staple and favorite at her house {still!}.

Grandmother Hart's Banana Nut Bread

Ingredients:
* 3 ripe bananas
* 1 cup of sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 1/2 cup flour
* 1 cup chopped pecans
* 1 tsp. baking soda
* 1 tsp salt
* 1/2 cup melted butter

Directions:
* Cream bananas and sugar together (this works really well with a potato masher if you have one handy)
* Add the rest of the ingredients
* Mix well
* Bake at 350 degrees for 45 in loaf pan {for muffins, bake 20- 24 minutes}

Isn't that easy peasy? It's also delicious.

Cut into dinosaur shapes and enjoy!

5 Reasons I'm NOT Angry with Delta

UPDATE: 10:30 PM- LUGGAGE HAS ARRIVED! Praise the Lord!
And foof my hair!

Dear Delta Airlines,

While I sit here without makeup and with wet hair, I am coming to terms with the fact that my luggage and any shot of me going into the public today is gone. I know it could possibly be in Timbuktu or Tulsa, but I'm holding out hope that it's at the airport. And going to be delivered here at my home any minute... yes, any time now would be great.

Please know, though, that I'm not angry. After a wonderful weekend of (in)couraging speakers, writers and bloggers at She Speaks {full post to follow- when camera cord arrives in suitcase}, I have too much to be thankful for. Here are the top 5 reasons I'm choosing not to be angry with Delta:

5) You got me home safely. After delays, flight changes, maintenance and checking a hole in the wing I am finally home.{!! How would you feel when they ANNOUNCED that last bit to all the PASSENGERS on the plane?? I think the "open information policy" might need revisiting.}

4) I got small little glasses of Coke in flight. I never get a full blown Classic Coke, but I REALLY love it. And I got it in a very small glass, so it actually didn't count.

3) This is very hard to admit, but while waiting at the airport, I bought the People magazine with the Saved by the Bell gang on the front. I had to do it. Mr. Belding made me. The article wasn't amazing or as in depth as the show was {*ahem*}, but it was a nice walk down memory lane {without my acid washed jeans}.

2 and 1)
So, in conclusion Delta, I am not going to write you any hate mail and I tried to exude Grace, Grace, Grace while waiting for luggage and talking with your staff about the size and shape of my bag that has my name on it . If you will please just return my hair product, we'll call it even.

Thank you,