New Blog Address

Hey, I've moved my blog to a new address. This will be my last post at this address. Thanks for reading, and come read my first post at the new address. Here it is!
http://mrssoren.blogspot.com/

Pure Michigan

I am from Michigan. I love the phrase "Up North". I love snow. I love brilliant fall colors. My favorite place (besides Grandma's house) is Mackinaw City/Island.
There are ads running on the radio right now promoting Michigan tourism. Every time I hear one come on I ask everyone to be quiet and I turn it up loud. It's always Tim Allen talking. He is from Michigan and has the perfect radio voice. I sigh at the end of each one and look forward to the next time I can go up north. Here's one of several of them. If it doesn't make you nostalgic, you're not from Michigan!

To Love Your Husband

Wow, what a great group of women I get to study with! You all are such good sports, and I so appreciate your transparency and vulnerability. It makes for an interesting, fun and safe environment for learning and growing.
We covered the big topic this week-sex. And the more I talk to women, the more I am convinced that we need to talk about it! And the more I'm discovering that young women, especially, want to talk about it. We all agree that older women are to teach younger women; but I'm not sure very many older women want to teach about sex. And I believe lots of young women are looking for some guidance in this area.
So let me reiterate two major points we talked about this week:
1. Sex was God's idea and all His ideas rock! It is a GOOD THING to be ENJOYED, not only by your husband, but by YOU! It is a beautiful picture on earth of Christ and His bride, the Church.
2. We are to meet our husband's needs, including his need for sex. If we don't, we are opening a door for Satan to tempt him. If we neglect our sexual relationship in our marriage, we are sinning.
I don't want to end on a seemingly negative note, so let me say this: God never intended sex to be a chore or a drudgery. You get out of it what you put into it. And as with just about everything else, it all starts in the mind. Let's change the way we think about sex. I challenge you to reprogram your thoughts. For the month of March, think only positive thoughts about sex. It all starts in the mind. See if you and your husband notice a difference within a couple weeks. No negative thoughts, words, or responses about sex (including your response when he wants it!). Let's see what happens...
Any thoughts or ideas to encourage each other?
Tracy

Wisdom To Know Your Man

What an interesting week in class! I loved studying, talking, and hearing about the different types of men we're married to, and the wisdom we need in being godly wives to them. I think God was so creative when he gave all of us different personalities, strengths and tendencies. Life and marriage would be uninteresting if we were all predictable and all our husbands had the same character traits.
So, I'd like you to tell something specific you've learned about the type of man you're married to, and what you've chosen to change about how you respond to him.
Don't forget to pray for your man, and to pray for wisdom for yourself! Remember that your relationship with your husband is to be a beautiful picture of Christ and His bride, the church. That thought is so humbling to me. What a privilege!
Have a great week!
Tracy

Thank you , Thank you, Thank you!

Mike reads my blog, and he was a little troubled when he read my last post in which I mentioned our fun weekend, and then posted what he assumed was a representation of him and me. I assured him he is not that gray and we are not quite that "seasoned" yet, and that it was just a picture of a couple obviously in love. This week I was careful to find a picture of a pair that more closely resembles us. Ha! I wish! Actually, I don't. I like where we're at right now; which is somewhere in between.
How's your week going? I loved Tina's reminder to us all to be thankful. Aren't we so blessed? Sure, we have plenty we could complain about, if we chose to, but life is so much richer if we choose gratefulness.
Any specific ways you've chosen to express thankfulness to your husband this week? Nothing is too big or too small to show gratitude...think of how appreciative you feel when someone genuinely thanks you for something. Our husbands are gifts from God; let's not take them for granted. Ever.
Thank you for participating in this study, and for your gentle and humble spirits!
Tracy

Five Days In...

Hey Everyone!
God timed things perfectly for me. Coming off our first class of "Help Meet", my husband and I had a weekend alone, as our kids were off at the High School Retreat from Friday till Sunday. We had a really great weekend! Saw a movie, had breakfast out, hung out at the bookstore, and enjoyed some quiet time at home. It's always weird having the house to ourselves!
The kids are back now, and the challenge resumes; the challenge to be a positive joy-filled wife and mother amid all the usual stuff that life brings - good and not-so-good.
I'm wondering if anyone would like to report any ways that you have consciously tried to be a helper to your man this week, and any results of those efforts? It's always encouraging to hear what's "working" for others, and it often spurs the rest of us on to try a little harder!
I'm looking forward to our next class. And I'm praying for you. Hope you'll do the same for me!
Tracy

Help Meet Bible Study

We started a new women's Bible study this week at The Well at Cedar Creek. We are reading the book "Created To Be His Help Meet", by Debi Pearl. Though we are just getting started, we had some great discussion and some tough questions were already brought up. I'm so grateful for the chance to go through this book with a room full of other women who are seeking God's will in their marriages.
I'm excited to see God work in the next few weeks! Keep an open mind, Girls, and let's pray for God to reveal to us how we can please Him in our relationships with our men. It all starts in the mind, so pray for God to guide our thinking.
I'd say the key truth for this first week is, I do have a choice in how good my marriage will be.
What are your thoughts or first impressions after our first class? Let's hear 'em!
Tracy

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)

Our Last Day

I've been hearing about "Puckett's Grocery" for years now. Tonja has talked about this place where she sings on occasion, and that also has the best food around. It's in Franklin, TN and today I experienced it. I had an awesome burger on a wheat hoagie bun, and some scrumptious onion rings. Mike had some incredible pulled pork. We had a great time, although nobody famous came in. Tonja used to work there and has waited on some celebrities, including Brad and Kimberly Williams-Paisley!
After Puckett's, we went through the Opryland Hotel. It's absolutely beautiful and HUGE! Then we walked to Opry Mills, a huge mall that had a big Gibson guitar store. Luke especially loved that.
It was a long day and we walked a lot, so we enjoyed coming home and chilling out and watching American Idol.
Enjoy the pictures of our fun day with the Roses!

Songwriters and Cupcakes!

Here's the two highlights from our vacation yesterday: first, I went with Tonja to her writing appointment in downtown Nashville. She writes for Identical Entertainment. There were two guys there to write with her, and both of them have already had success in songwriting. Very nice gentlemen. Anyway, I got to listen in while they began writing a song called "Think I Met An Angel". Very cool experience.
On the way home, we stopped by "Gigi's Cupcakes", and brought some home for dessert. Oh my word. These weren't just cupcakes. They were colossal, gourmet treats from heaven! And with a cup of fresh coffee....mmmmmmm. 'Twas a good day.

God, Friends and Music!

Wow, I enjoyed today! It started with some good coffee and leisure time with Tonja, then we got ready and went to worship at Franklin Christian Church. Then we went to some friends of Ward and Tonja's for a cookout and some other people came to hang out too. Rob Harris, the music minister at FCC was there and he is also a songwriter here in Nashville. A group called "Fletcher" was there, which is three brothers who are phenomenal musicians. Check them out at www.fletchermusic.net. They all sat around playing and singing, mostly original stuff. It was very cool. God was so generous when He gave us music!
Tomorrow Lindsey, Tonja & I are going to a local tea room for lunch, then Tonja is taking me to one of her writing appointments. Maybe l'll witness the writing of a future country hit! Whether or not that happens, I'm just grateful for the opportunity to hang out with such creative and talented people for a few minutes!
Oh! One other cool thing...the gal whose house we were at today is the niece of Linda Hunt, the academy award-winning actress! Linda Hunt's sister was there too, and she resembled the actress. It's such a small world.
It was a very enjoyable day, and I've had a lot of coffee...I hope I can sleep tonight!

Vacation!

We're heading to Nashville, Tennessee in the morning and I am excited! We'll be visiting some friends that we knew when we lived in Virginia, Ward and Tonja Rose. They moved to Nashville a few years ago so Tonja could pursue her dream of becoming a recording artist. She works/writes for a publishing company, and she's is going to take me with her to one of her writing appointments with Mark Naramore, a guy who has already had some of his songs recorded! I am looking forward to seeing them collaborate.
We're going to see some sights around Nashville, hit some good eating joints, and we're looking forward to worshipping with Ward and Tonja at Franklin Christian Church on Sunday.
Then Wednesday, it's north to Clinton, Iowa to spend a few days with Mike's family. They're supposed to be getting 5 inches of snow tomorrow! Hope it's melted by Wednesday...
I hope to blog all about our trip when we return! Or maybe I'll check in while we're there!

A Visitor from Virginia

My family is enjoying a weekend with a friend visiting from Virginia, where we used to live. David Willis, the preacher at Olivet Christian Church in Newport News, Virginia, is one of Mike's good friends, and he came up to speak at Cedar Creek's men's retreat this weekend. Tomorrow he is preaching at Cedar Creek and I am looking forward to hearing him. He's a great speaker!
I've enjoyed him being here because he has a great sense of humor and he makes Mike laugh. I love to hear Mike laugh! It makes me smile and it's good for his health.

This week was the start of the new women's Bible studies at Cedar Creek. There are close to 50 women meeting weekly to study the Word of God and I am excited! Good things are going to happen this year as women of all ages seek to know and love God more, and seek His purpose for their lives. To God be the glory!

Movie Night

We just got back from seeing the new movie "Mall Cop" starring Kevin James. Loved it! It had a little of everything; action, comedy, romance..but no trash. How refreshing! I think Kevin James is hilarious.

My daughter is at Lake James Christian Assembly this weekend for the Sr.High Retreat. I pray she's having a great time. Kids are so fortunate these days to have so many awesome opportunities to grow and learn spiritually. When I was growing up, I had Youth Group once a week. My youth leader was a volunteer member of our church. There were about 8 or 10 of us. On a good night. We didn't go on mission trips. We didn't have big conventions. We didn't have a winter retreat. But we had area-wide youth rallies about every six months. And sometimes my youth group got to go. Otherwise, it was just youth group at 6:00 before Sunday night church. No snacks. No videos. No small groups. Just a lesson from the Bible, some time praying to God, and a few minutes to just hang out with each other. And I loved it. My kids don't know how good they have it. I wonder what Youth Group will be like for their kids? And if they will appreciate it?