Speaking Again!

Someone said to me the other day, "You know, for someone who says she doesn't like crowds...you sure talk to a lot of them!" I think after I talked to the crowd at the Honeywell Center...I am a little less afraid!

I was invited to speak at a ladies' banquet at a church not far from my home...and I said yes! So...Wednesday night I headed out for a fun evening! (Actually there was some internal drama surrounding this that I'll tell you about next week, but the night itself was amazingly fun.)

Kari (you remember Kari) sang...and look at us coordinating without even discussing wardrobe!!

This was the group of ladies at my table. Or I was at theirs...whatever. In the front is Kari and her mom Sandee (who is like a second mom to me...we worked together at IWU) and Sandee's friend (Patty, I think?). And on the right in the front is Kari's sister Kandee, who also happens to take very good care of my hair! I'm in the back with Robyn (also from IWU) and her mom.

Dinner was quite scrumptious. Salad, rolls, baked potato bar and of course...DESSERT!

I had no idea Robyn was going to be there, so this was a hugely pleasant surprise! Robyn still works in Financial Aid and I do miss her!

We ate dinner first, and then Kari sang. She did Greater than Grace and Blessings. And yes. I cried. Blessings gets me ev.ry.time.

Then I went up to speak and left my camera with Sandee and Kandee. Sandee started out the photography with this lovely photo, which Kandee said made me look like Eve. LOL!!!

I think Kandee took over then. :) The theme for the night was "Embracing Your Life Story" - and I shared a bit from the pages of Bekahland...

Yes. I'm barefoot. Confession: Heels make me dizzy when I'm nervous. So to avoid that from happening, I ditched the shoes before taking the stage. I told them they didn't need to take up a collection...I really did have shoes.

Apparently very excited about this point!!

At the end of the night, Linda Cabe, who organized the event, came up on stage to pray with me.

All done!! This is me with Sandee!

Can't wait to tell you more about what I talked about...next week!