I'm blogging from Richmond, Virginia today. Mike and I came down to run in a race. He ran the half marathon and I ran my first 8k. I really enjoyed it and it was easier than I expected! I'm already looking forward to my next race.
The best part of the day, though, was the time spent with family and friends. This race has become somewhat of a tradition for us and several others that we ministered with in Virginia a few years ago. It's fun being together and cheering each other on. We all waited together to watch my cousin Dave finish his first marathon. Then we spent the rest of the day visiting and just being together.
It was an extra bonus to wake up today to a sunny 70 degree day! Mike and I went for a nice walk today to stretch our sore muscles and we were reminded what a beautiful state Virginia is! It's been a great weekend.

Amen to Modesty!

This morning was our third session of our Esther Women's Bible study at Cedar Creek. It's a Beth Moore DVD study. This morning's session was about the meanness of Haman in the Esther story, and Beth camped on meanness in general and really laid it all out to us as women. One thing she stressed had me shouting Amen! She said, "Mean girls dress provocatively around other girls' men!" And then she said, "Keep your breasts to yourself!!!"
All I can say is, "Preach it Sister!" That needs to be said in every church in America, in my opinion. But who's going to say it? Whose responsibility is it to say it? I dare say, it's not the preacher's.
First of all, mothers should be teaching their daughters how to dress appropriately and in good taste, glorifying God with their appearance. But that's not going to happen if the mothers themselves are falling out of their shirts! The world has lowered its standards through the years, no doubt about it. But God has never, and will never, lower His!
So how are women who dress immodestly supposed to know what's appropriate? Other godly women are supposed to tell them! Is it awkward? Yes! But so is standing around visiting at church in mixed company with a christian woman sporting a slot machine on her chest big enough to drop a silver dollar in!
Our men have it rough as it is, with society and the media and technology making it difficult for them to stay pure. Why should they have to come to church and worry about lust because some woman is wearing something two sizes too small or six inches too short?! Boy, satan is having a heyday with this one! We need to get a clue. And if you already have a clue, love a sister enough to tell her to put some clothes on. Your husband will thank you.

Amen.

Ladies' Day @ The Creek

I haven't blogged in a while and my friend Kim scolded me (again) so here I am, and way overdue.
Saturday was a blast. It was our second annual Ladies' Day @ The Creek. It's an all day event that has taken the place of an overnight retreat. We had a friend of mine up from Nashville, TN to help lead worship and do a concert. Check her out at www.tonjarose.com.
The day was all about finding and using the gifts God has given us, and doing it with passion. Ironically, several women served in different ways that day for the first time, stepping up and using their talents willingly. It was great. Liz, a young, new christian, helped with worship. She has a great voice. Connie was the emcee for the day and did a fantastic job setting the tone for the day and closing the day with a beautiful, heartfelt prayer. Melisa taught a workshop for the first time, and blew me away. She was totally prepared and delivered some awesome thought-provoking material. Cherie taught a craft workshop , using her creative gifts. Two women handled the lunch (for 60 women!) and it got rave reviews.
This is what it's all about! It was so cool to see so many serving in so many different areas; the body of Christ working together to bring Him glory. I love the church!

Grandma's House!

Do you have a favorite place? I do. It's my Grandma's house. That's where I'm blogging from tonight. My kids asked me why I love it here so much. I guess it's because it's the only place that remains the same from my childhood. I have lots of good memories here. And of course my
sweet Grandma is here. She's going to be 90 this fall. She is still going strong. I don't like to think of life without her, so I will just continue to relish my visits to her little house, chatting with her over coffee and hearing about all her memories and stories of days gone by.
We go back home tomorrow. Life will resume it's busyness. But I will have had
my "fix" of Grandma's house and some precious time with Grandma, so I'll be good to go!

Can't Wait to Celebrate!

Only five days until we celebrate being women at Cedar Creek! Saturday is our Mother/Daughter Celebration and it's going to be great! Our resident actresses have written a cool program that's a take-off of the popular "Extreme Home Makeover" show. It's going to be called "Extreme Makeover-God's Edition". I've heard some of it already, and it's going to show us how to deal with sin patterns in our life by using the Word of God. It will go right along with our decorations, which are centered around the theme of "The Secret Garden". Just as forgotten, dormant gardens can be brought back to life and made beautiful again, so can our lives be transformed and made beautiful if we will let God work in us, pulling out the weeds of sin and bad attitudes and planting the fruit of the Spirit in us.
To really make the point visually, there's going to be an actual GARDEN in the room, big enough for the women to walk through, with live flowers and the whole bit. I can't wait to see it all come together!
I pray that this Saturday won't just be a nice women's event that makes us all feel happy, but that it will have spiritual impact on all of us. I pray that the Holy Spirit will be at work, changing us and prompting us to be more like Jesus. That will be the real sign of the success of this event. May God use this celebration and those involved in making it happen to stir the hearts of those attending so that they will want to be more like Him.
Now that will be cause for celebration!

What a weekend!

This was a weekend to remember. It started Friday with a moving Good Friday service at Cedar Creek. The room was packed with people singing and praising God for what He did at Calvary. Mike shared about what Jesus went through because He loves us so much. The evening ended with a powerful video called "It's Friday, but Sunday's comin'!"
Then Sunday came! Today, that is. Cedar Creek had a great time celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. It was one of those services that you wanted to last and last; the kind that makes me long for heaven.
I'm so glad I serve a living Savior. He is so many wonderful things, but the best thing is that He's alive. We didn't sing this particular song today, but the words are fresh in my mind:

We serve a risen Savior, He's in the world today.
I KNOW that He is living, whatever men might say.
I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer.
And just the time I need Him, He's always near.

Praise God, He lives!!!

Home Again

I'm thankful. Thankful to be at a place of contentment in life so that coming home from vacation is not a drudgery, but a joy. There have been times in my life when I didn't want to get back home and into the swing of things. That's a depressing feeling and I am thankful to not be feeling that way. I love life. I love my life. I love being back home with my family in our own house. I love being back with my church family. It was so sweet to worship at Cedar Creek this morning, and be among my brothers and sisters who love me and help me grow. The worship team was really on today and the preacher was "in the zone", preaching a great sermon reminding us of what Christ did for us at Calvary. I love it when he gets fired up like he did today. I think he's awesome. But then I'm kinda partial.
God is good. I am blessed. Sometimes I feel guilty because I see so many others who are unhappy. But then I remember that joy is a choice that we make. The Apostle Paul had joy. He wrote about it in Philippians. While he was in prison. Hmm.
What would the world be like if we all had joy no matter our circumstances? What would the church be like? Attractive, I would suppose.

"...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace..."(Galatians 5:22)
"Rejoice in the Lord always; I will say it again, Rejoice."(Philippians 4:4)