A Bedtime Story | Asheville, NC

Hi my loves!!

I saw a sticker today that said "I wasn't born in Asheville but I came as soon as I could!" I know why. Asheville is be-au-ti-ful! There are so many trees and everything is so green here, I just wanted to hang my head out the window on the way up and give a big sniff!  But of course, I was driving and so I didn't!

We did however take a picture of a ferris wheel on a truck for you.

Everyone needs a truck and a golf cart that matches our bus!
Who do you think is in there?  I don't know...

Linda said to show you this picture. The dog says hi!

A cool truck...

A random man dressed like a grasshopper playing the drums.  

One of our vendors (Print Mail Systems) hosted a dinner and tour through the champagne cellar at the

Biltmore Estate. The Biltmore is so big (178,921 square feet) that you could fit 162 of our houses

inside it. It has 48 bathrooms and 68 fire places. I forgot how many bedrooms but it was over 200! wowee!

Going into the cellar...

On the way in, I saw the funniest looking grapes. 

I went inside but had to come back to show you a picture. 

It wasn't until I picked one that I realized it was probably not a grape.
It's just a flower. Never mind the fact that grapes grow in clusters. haha
I think my brain just decided that it was one since it was purple and hanging in front of a cellar....

shall we continue?

Where they store the wine.

This is a poop cart. Yes, really.

Evidently the Biltmore was originally a dairy farm. So they had traps in the floor to collect manure from the animals. It traveled through pipes and dropped in to carts on a subways system that carried it around the farm to be reused as fertilizer. Pretty clever!

The room where they cork the champagne and wine.

Our speaker

This wine was nicknamed "Hotpants".  It made me think of Daddy...  It even has a pink foil cap. Maybe we should get your daddy one too.  ...a pink foil cap that is. ;)

Here's a picture of the group that I am with. :)
They are a fun bunch! You might remember Ashley from my trip last year. Her husband Greg is behind her. There's another Ashley with us too in the middle and Linda is next to me.
It's a fun tour and you don't have to drink to enjoy it or break glasses. ...hint hint. ;)

This is a display with funny little cans that smell like different things.
(In a nutshell it's supposed to help you identify flavors in the wine).

The one I smelled, smelled like Honey suckle and moth balls.
I'm going to assume that wasn't on purpose. haha.

                                                    down....

                                                              down...

                                                                        down... into the cellar...

This is where we ate dinner.
The milk from the cows also traveled through pipes in the building
and was collected and chilled in this room.

The conference itself is kind of weird.  They shackle you to the desk. You wouldn't have any fun.

Just kidding. Those silver rings are just decorative things on the table.
But you know your mama...

LOOK- I now have 6 eyes and I can see everything that you're doing,
even when I am way down here... so behave!

What else can I do with these things? 

This is more like it-

It's a HALO-  Notice the amber glow behind me...  

This is Thomas Wolfe's shoes. He was a famous writer here in town.

The sign says that he left "Big Shoes to fill".

They are sitting on the sidewalk outside of his house, which was also a boarding house.

Then I went on a short bicycle tour around town.

This was our driver. He was very nice!

Look at this Iron!
It was probably made for whoever uses that fork in Missouri.
Actually, it's to represent the monopoly piece.
Asheville is one of the cities added to the new version of the game.

See the ladies playing music in front of it?

There are a lot of street musicians here.

Look Sophie, someone painted you some flowers....

This is a mini picture of the Woodfin House. 

The real house was built by Nicholas Woodfin in the 1800's. 

Little Angels in the sidewalk around town.

I am so tired though that I had to come back to the hotel early.

So, I am eating dinner in bed!

(At least then I'll get to dream of you!)

And tomorrow, I will get to see you!

This post tonight kind of reminds me of a verse in Ephesians 3:17-19.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

I am really far away and can still reach out and communicate with you in different ways, like talking on the phone and through this post. God is the same way. Just like you know that I love you but you have no idea how much-  None of us can grasp how much God loves each of us too but he's still with us and reaching out to us and anticipating when we can see each other again face to face.)

Give each other great big hugs and kisses. Enjoy those good snuggles now. I'm sure it will be like Connaughton Linguini when I get back. Legs and arms everywhere... Someone is getting squished!

I LOVE YOU ALL BUNCHES!

Tuesday Challenge #13 | Get Moved

This week's challenge: I found this link some months ago. It's titled "99 Tiny Stories to Make You Think, Smile and Cry." I was already tearing up by #20.  You don't have to read it all at once but take some time this week to be touched and inspired for good. After all, that is how he made us to be.

Scripture for the week: Romans 12:16-21

¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. ¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. ¹⁹ Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. ²⁰ On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” ²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Do you have a testimony about this challenge or a suggestion for another one? I'd love to hear it! Comment here!

What's this about? | Other challenges

Picture Credit [then modified]: http://www.superbwallpapers.com/nature/sunrise-over-the-mountains-14501/

For God's Glory

Updated 4/25/15

I've found so many verses lately that have said specifically that when Jesus performed miracles or when God answered prayers, it was an opportunity to reveal [or witness] God's glory. 

That is a nugget that we know as Christians or Believers but seeing them written out changed the intensity for me. I've needed to reference them several times lately, so I started a list of those verses. I only had a few when I first posted this. I've gone back and added more today. It has deepened the point of what he is speaking to my heart! May it also be a blessing to you.

When he saved me - 1^st Timothy 15-17 - Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display HIS immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

When Jesus healed the blind man - John 9:3 - Jesus answered, neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be manifest in him.

When Jesus resurrected Lazarus from the dead - John 11:4 - When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it."

Even when you read through this chapter, there are so many nuggets but verses 41 & 42 jump off the page to me. The stone has been rolled away. Lazarus is getting ready to walk out of the tomb. Just before calling him to life, Jesus himself, prays to God and says (in front of the many witnesses):

"Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."

When he gave traditions to the Jews - Psalm 78:5-7 - He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.

When he made a promise to his people - Jeremiah 29:10-14 - This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

When he reminded them of the promise - Isaiah 44:21 - “Remember these things, Jacob, for you, Israel, are my servant. I have made you, you are my servant; Israel, I will not forget you. I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. [So you can] Return to me, for I have redeemed you.” Sing for joy, you heavens, for the Lord has done this; shout aloud, you earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains,  you forests and all your trees,  for the Lord has redeemed Jacob, he displays his glory in Israel.

Even in all of the Jews failures, tragedies and growth. [In everything we go through, learn and do] - Isaiah 60:21-22 - Then all your people will be righteous and they will possess the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted, [for] the work of MY hands, for the display of MY splendor. The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation. I am the Lord; in its time I will do this swiftly.”

I mean there's a whole section in 1 Corinthians 10:23-33 called "Do All to the Glory of God". I know our purpose is to give glory to him but your circumstance and his purpose is also to for that same reason. BAM!

Everything that HE does is to help us see him; to deepen our faith in him; to draw even closer and to cause us to give attention to him.

It's funny, even as I write this, I am like DUH.... isn't that the whole purpose of the Bible and not just a few scriptures? But again, writing it out just changed the intensity.

Where ever you're at and what ever you're doing, don't just try to reflect him, look for [even more of] him in it and what you can learn about him.

AMEN!

Photo Credit: 123rd.com

Tuesday's Challenge #12 | Gospel

This week's challenge: I came across "The Pocket Testament League" last week. The main purpose of the site is to help to prepare believers to share the Gospel with others. They provide pamphlets, pocket size gospels, challenges and general information.

One program in particular is called Fearless. It contains 8 lessons designed specifically to help you overcome your fear of sharing the Gospel.

• Each lesson includes a 1 - 2 minute video to watch, a lesson to review and a challenge.
• You can take the lessons in any order.
• Keep track of how you are doing on the Track Your Progress Tab.
• The Resource Library is available for those who want to dig deeper.
• Posting your comments on each page is a real encouragement for fellow members of the League

There are also other training programs like an Evangelism Boot camp. All resources are online, free and at your own pace. You do need to sign up in order to browse the site but it looks like it has a lot of great ways to help us either get started or deepen our walk! If nothing else, challenge yourself to check it out and order pocket Gospels to share with others. :)


Scripture for the week: How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"  —Isaiah 52:7

Do you have a testimony about this challenge or a suggestion for another one? I'd love to hear it! Comment here!

What's this about? | Other challenges

Picture Credit [then modified]: http://www.superbwallpapers.com/nature/sunrise-over-the-mountains-14501/

Tuesday Challenge #11 | Bible

This week's challenge: Buy 5 extra bibles and then commit to giving them away this year. Keep one with you at home, one in the car and one at your office, etc. When someone asks you what kind of bible you have or makes a comment about needing one; you know it's your queue to hand one over. It doesn't matter if it's a friend or stranger. Pick out the one that you like to read and tell the new owner all of the reasons why you love that one! In fact depending on the situation, you might just want to crack it open and read it together right there! Be encouragers in the Word and give someone the gift of hope!

Scripture for the week: For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. Romans 15:4

Do you have a testimony about this challenge or a suggestion for another one? I'd love to hear it! Comment here!

What's this about? | Other challenges

Picture Credit [then modified]: http://www.superbwallpapers.com/nature/sunrise-over-the-mountains-14501/

Tuesday Challenge #10 | Service

This week's challenge: I encourage you to volunteer for 2 hours this month. Your challenge is to figure out how you want to do it, contact the organization and sign up. If you get to volunteer this week, even better!

You can check your local church or directory listings for Non-Profits in your area. If you are a Gloucester resident, you might even be interested in checking out my Resources page for a starter list of agencies in this area or check out our local Beehive. Contact the organizations you're interested in. Ask them what their needs are. Explain your age group and/or time frames to see if they have something that will work.

If you're taking kids, take snacks and wear layers. Be prepared that you may have to complete some paperwork prior to your shift.


Scripture for the week - For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. -Mark 10:45

Do you have a testimony about this challenge or a suggestion for another one? I'd love to hear it! Comment here!

What's this about? | Other challenges

Picture Credit [then modified]: http://www.superbwallpapers.com/nature/sunrise-over-the-mountains-14501/

One | An Easter Story

The night before last the kids and I lie in bed. They still curl up with me on weekends, holidays... here and there. We lie in the dark and Jackson says "I want to pray". He also says that we need to hold hands. We form a circle, in hands, in the dark but still lying side by side. He talks about Mary & Joseph and the Passover. When he stopped talking, we each continued to hold the moment; absorbing the stillness of one body.

We wake up early to attend sunrise service. It's something I've never done before. I know better than to attempt a structure when none of us know this routine. I tell the kids to get their warmest pants & shirts, knowing that they are jammies. I make hot cocoa to go and don't even attempt to fix my bed head. We bolt out the door to find the location of the service.

Then my sister-in-law and I snuggle with the kids, on a hill, wrapped in blankets, overlooking the water, while listening to the service. Luke 24:5 Why do you look for the living among the dead? Several local churches have come together, just to celebrate God as one. One God. One Body. One church. I can't think of a better way to start a morning. The verse finds a place to rest on my heart.

I can't help but notice the birds bathing, dipping and flying. For some strange reason groups of 5 keep flying into view. I am mesmerized by their closeness. 2 of them are so close that they only look like 4 birds flying. Each time that they pass by. I am reminded that we are 5 and even though my husband isn't here. We are one in spirit. He is with us on this hill.

We get up to leave and some of my friends come over to talk. -Friends that have just returned from a mission trip to Cuba. Two of them are married. They teasingly said that they were tapping into my vibe while they were there. They were so overcome with tears that they couldn't speak. One time in particular they were both crying and looked at each other and said my name, shaking heads and laughing. I can't help but wonder if it was during a time that I might've been praying for them. Although I know it was the same Holy Spirit flowing and nothing to do with me. But there is a oneness nonetheless, like a current. We get it!

I think of the verse again. Why do we look for the living among the dead? A spark that will ignite in an argument. A sign from God in our dead ends. Something that moves us in the bottom of a wine glass or a song or a purchase. I don't really have a particular personal analogy from today to represent this but each of us have a similar dead thing. Sometimes it changes daily. -A something that either God has never been a part of or has moved on from and yet we cling to. -Demanding that he come be a part of our thing instead of us going to be a part of his. We still want to prove our rightness. Yet the one who rights us has moved on. Follow me.

Later in the evening, I answer some questions about my own past to a friend who is struggling. I feel almost as if I have betrayed what's been overcome by bringing it into the light again. I feel like I've defeated all of the hard work that was put into leaving it behind. Mostly because others were involved. I don't want to betray who, they too, have become. I am thankful to have left a dead place. To have been able to lay down my anger while it may have been justifiable and to lay down my questions even though they were unanswered. So, I could follow the way, the truth and the life. It is our choice to turn away and he will show you the next step, uncover the next truth and show us true life. As one, he can do all three.

We don't learn a new routine until you follow something different, like planning for sunrise service. Then do it again, still without rules, and learn a new familiar. I can't help but find the ironies in the things that we want most, like our rightness, which is only found in him yet we resist so stubbornly. Also how there are so many facets of him that we think we'll recognize although we can't afford the time to learn what he might look like. But when God when? Sometimes we are the deadest/deadliest thing in our lot and we carry us [our motives and desires and our rules] everywhere. When he doesn't fit, he must not apply. Then we hold us up against others.

But we can study, like watching the movement of 4 birds. Wondering why one might look a little different. Only to discover that there is more. Somehow the practice of looking at something else helps us not look at ourselves. If we're not careful, we might forget. A little more each time. A current seals up gaps in space, in time, in memory. A new helps settle the old. A knowing that the current that works in me, works also in those I am connected to simply by letting it flow through. Eventually we learn to hold something intangible like stillness or a light in the dark.


I thank you Father for all that you have overcome and that we get to be a part of it!

Testimony | Women's Ministry

My parents were raised in a "children were seen & not heard" style. Much of that rubbed off on me, I suppose. Being an only child and moving every 3 - 6 months didn't really allow me to hang out with other kids or groups of people a lot either.

If given the option, I'd always hang out with an adult over a child and as I grew older, that didn't really change until I had my own kids. Then I couldn't leave mine alone. But it didn't change my interaction with other kids. Until I started feeling conviction to serve.

I shared a testimony a couple of weeks ago about working with children. Begging God to not make me have to work with the kids at church when I signed up for something and "ironically" it was the only thing available. haha. So, I worked in the toddler room for Sunday school with my first child.

A few years later women's ministry came into play. The very first class that I led was actually a bible study for healing on sexual abuse. Mostly because I wanted take the class and I was willing to offer it while going through it.

Immediately following that the lady that was leading our women's bible study at church asked if I would lead the classes while she was on maternity leave. I agreed and then simply stayed there for 2 years. But then I became SO uncomfortable there. I wanted to continue. My heart wanted to do it. But when I would speak, I just felt like I had something on me. I wish I could explain that better. I do believe it was God making me want to leave that spot.

So, I signed up to work in the nursery with my youngest son. It truly ended up being a gift to me that I almost passed up. In that time, God's done a lot of work in me; changing my ego, my habits, my mouth... It's 3 years later and now I feel like he's bringing me back full circle.

In the last two weeks I was asked to fill in for 2 Sunday's leading Children's Church while the usual leader was away on a mission trip. That's not to gloat about me. It was an invitation but also a test. It is so clear to me to see that God is working. After the second session, I was at work in a time management class and a co-worker slips me a note asking me to lead bible study once a month over lunch breaks.

What a timeliness! Immediately, it was the recognition that 3 years ago I wouldn't have stood before a church with a microphone talking to children if my life depended on it. Mostly because I didn't think working with kids was a gift that God had given me. But because he has been chipping away at this ego and I've been allowing myself to get more and more uncomfortable; I was able to see that it was really an area of pride for me. Just because I didn't know how; I assumed that God wouldn't want me to do something. So, I allowed myself to just not go there.

I think of the verse Matthew 25:40 "The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.' 

It sounds crazy, but didn't I somehow adopt that same attitude of children are seen and not heard. I didn't realize that I had done it. But somehow it was an attitude that maybe they were "less" than....

Yet if I hadn't allowed God to humble me enough to work there, he may not have given me the opportunity to work with the adults...

Oddly enough, I've never done so much standing and speaking all at one time. In the same month, I was also preparing a presentation for a class at work. Each of the students were critiqued on their speaking style. I was going to go into my work place and share a little of my faith and talk about why faith inspires me. It really might not sound like much on that side of the screen but I'm still de-compartmentalizing and this was a big box to unpack.

In fact I just realized it but also about 3 years ago, a co-worker and I had a conversation and she said "I didn't know you had the faith. You just didn't strike me as the type". Later she told me that it was because most of her Christian experiences are with the judgy types. So, it was an incredible compliment from her perspective. She and I didn't work in the same office and so we didn't see each other much. But God allowed that to be such a wakeup call for me. If she didn't know that I was a believer... what does that say about me? Ouch.

I realized that I had too many boxes. My church friends, my work friends, my party friends. Or My job. My family life. My social life. My church life. If I wanted to do something, I had to pick which group I was doing things with because I didn't know how to mesh them. So, God often didn't come out of the box except when I was in that applicable group of friends or events. To be honest my friends and my family didn't always mesh either. I chose one group or the other.

I am so thankful for that conversation with friend. It really propelled me to look at my life a little deeper. Which eventually led to me starting this this blog thing as a dumping ground to collect and rearrange my perspective. Here I am three years later and a co-worker introduces me in a presentation class as a girl that "loves her some Jesus". Confirming that this is part of my life that is becoming visible. Then I stand in my class of co-workers to talk about my love for God.

If I hadn't humbled myself to work with kids, I might not have ever made it back to that place that I thought I wanted to be.... I mean after all, if I want to be like Jesus or to share a glimpse of him. I really shouldn't be "above" doing anything now should I? Trust that he is still working in me in this area and I am certain that in the years to come, he will have to humble me in many more places. Just think about that statement again though-

"If I want to be like Jesus or to share a glimpse of him. I really shouldn't be "above" doing anything for his good, now should I?"

One of my biggest struggles these days is still trying to figure out how to squeeze everything in. I'm not into dividing my time with the kids every night to do something. And here God gives me an opportunity right now to still lead classes over my lunch break at my job, so that I don't have to sacrifice that time.

I don't know where you are in your walk but if you're struggling in a place that you want to be, maybe God's trying to get you to do it in a different way or format. Maybe that's not his plan for you right now. Do you think that there is something else that you've been resisting that he needs you to settle first?  It might feel like it's the complete opposite direction than the one you would have chosen but he can bring you back full circle and you might just be surprised!

Many Blessings-