October: Done

*Went to the pumpkin patch and corn maze - which was both a first and a very fun experience for me! Love fall and the fun opportunities it brings!

* Spent a day at the Cherished Moments Craft Hideaway - with longtime friends...and some new ones. That place still feels like home. Wish I could just move in!

* Played photographer for an evening and took pictures of my friend Rachel and her husband and kids. Gorgeous evening - fabulous colors.

* Went to (and worked) the Gaither Homecoming concert. Not only a great evening of David music...but also a great evening of worship and friendship!

* Spent many days scheduling and researching at work...while I don't think there's much of anything I dislike about my job, those are two of my favorite things to do.

* Attended the Extraordinary Women conference with Marie and Faith and had an incredible time of spirit-rejuvenation while I was there.

* In the kitchen, I tried out a pumpkin pancake recipe, which I wasn't crazy about, but I did fall in love with the pumpkin snickerdoodles from Sandi Patty's new cookbook - and her BBQ chili. OH yum. Made my first ever calzones, which weren't pretty (this time) but they were very tasty.

* Started the Pray 21 adventure with one of the teens at church. I already told you more about that...an adventure I was scared to do but now I'm glad I'm doing it!

* Got to see Lynnette when she was in town for a brief time. Miss her so much! Love it that she lives at the beach, but hate it that I'm so far FROM said beach!

* Taught Sunday School a couple of times - an intimidating adventure when several of the people in the class used to be MY teachers in school!

* Got to cohost a few times with Lynne - who is a DELIGHT to work with. We're kind of starting to sound on the air like we do when we're just sitting in the office laughing away. She makes it so easy!

* Played "interior designer" at a friend's house, which was very fun. I can only afford to decorate my house so many times, so getting to help someone else choose new house pretties was a great way to get my fix without going broke!

* Started the dreaded fall yard work of raking (since my mower still only has three wheels and I can't use it to bag the leaves. It reinforced WHY I want small/no trees at my next house.

Stone Altar: End of October

It's the Weekly Recap!

* Sunday after church, I went out to eat at Culvers with Kaitlynn, the teen from my church I was matched up with for the Pray 21 adventure. She was especially amused by the antennae ball on top of my car that kept smacking down on the roof. (It sounds like someone is knocking...can be disconcerting when flying down the road!) Then I came home to spend some QT with Braeya Jo Jo - doing our favorite Sunday afternoon thing!
* Monday I narrowly (and I do mean NARROWLY) escaped an accident in Ft. Wayne. It was one of those things where I managed to get stopped behind a quickly halting line of traffic and as I thought "Whew!" I simultaneously noticed the car headed straight for my trunk. I heard her tires squealing and somehow she got stopped! Reset my heartbeat! Anyway. I was on my way to Lynne's for our afternoon of cooking show prep. One batch of pumpkin snickerdoodles...and one pot of BBQ chili! Yummo!
* Tuesday was a really hard day for my heart...our show was on confidence and I cried all the way through the second half. How's that for irony? But I got to spend the day with my work buddies and they knew I was struggling and were extra nice to me. Then that evening, I got to have dinner with my friend Sheryl! I appreciated her spending time with me and keeping my mind off my hurt.

* Wednesday was a co-hosting day for Lynne 'n me. I just love hanging out with her - on or off the air. We had an "open phones" show - and we discussed all the important stuff - Daylight Savings, names for grandparents, Twitter, how to display kids' artwork...stuff like that. I had a blast sharing the show with her! Then I came home and tried my hand at making calzones. Never made them before. My technique needs some tweaking but the flavor was fabulous!
* Thursday, as you saw, I got to help Lynne interview Sandi Patty! And then there was the Sandi tweet follow up that made me scream - and THEN...a visit at work from some of my favorite people! Faith, Hannah, and Kaylah came for a tour. It was so fun to have them there. They used to drop by and see me in finaid - but it's a little bit more time consuming to 'drop by' now!
* Friday I went to visit my people...at the zoo! I helped out with an event for work and got to see all sorts of cute kids come through the zoo. So precious! It was a gorgeous day to be outside, because it was so sunny, but it was a bit cold in the shade where we were. (AKA couldn't feel my fingers for most of the day.) But it was still a lot of fun! Even got to see a peacock up close and personal. Much like yours truly - they'll do about anything for food.
* Saturday was yard work day. It was a beautiful day (sunny, not too cold...sorry to say that out loud to those of you buried in snow right now!) so I layered up in a What Not to Wear special and went out in the yard to work. (Hence the reason there are no photos of this event.) 3 hours, 2 tanks of gas, 2 injuries, and 9 leaf bags later, I came inside...worn out, very sore, and staring out at a fresh layer of leaves on the ground. Grrrrr.

Books I'm Reading: Jesus Calling and Pray 21 - still. Also still working on (and loving!!) One Thousand Gifts and Home to Harmony. Didn't finish anything this week. Hmmm. I wonder why!

Favorite God Moment of the Whole Week: Dorky as it sounds, I think the best moment was Tuesday when I completely melted down AT the board during Renee Swope's interview. I felt like a complete life failure in that moment, and it felt like everything I said to God, He immediately answered (in an encouraging way) through Renee's words. Love it when He's bold like that.

Update on Last Week's Goals: Two days outside turned into 3, and so far, I'm no worse for the wear. Of course, the last 2/3 of those days were the last two days of this week, so maybe I just don't know yet.....

Goals for the Coming Week: READ!!! I have some savoring to do where those last two books are concerned and I need to finish the things!

October's Interesting Factoids

* If you're looking for a weekend road trip (well...maybe next fall now...) and you're in the midwest, the Richardson Adventure Farm sounds like a pretty fun place to go. 33 acre corn maze, pumpkin patch, observation tower, zip line, tons of other things too! Pretty cool way to spend a day, I think.

* I'm always on the lookout for great marriage advice, because if I ever get married, I want to be a good wife! One of our guests talked about inspiring your husband, and I loved her advice on encouraging. She explained that when wives are too "mothering" - even if it's out of genuine concern for their safety or well-being, it makes them feel like they're not capable of (fill in the blank). She talked about just encouraging them to dream and move forward.

* While I'm not the mother of a preschooler, I was so intrigued by our preschooler expert. I had never before considered "interpreting" what toddlers say. He told about a time when his son asked about fog and while he delivered facts of science, what his son was really trying to express was just how amazing that fog was outside his window. Never would have thought of that!

* Did not know that there was a difference between apples for cooking and apples for baking. During our cooking show, Adela Hufford explained that some apples hold their form better so they're good for cooking...and some are better for baking (pies, etc.). Who knew??

* Great quote by Deborat Smith Pegues: "The blessing is often in the place you fear."

Amen

The Whole Kitchen Caboodle!

Lynne and I have started doing a cooking show once a month. It's actually more than a cooking show. Cooking...kitchen gadgets...cookbooks...decorating...tips...all of it.

So we named it The Kitchen Caboodle.

Get it?

Yesterday was our October Kitchen Caboodle show, and I was SO excited about this one. Why, you ask? Well...I'll get to that in a minute.

First, the prep fun. Monday afternoon, Lynne and I packed up and went to her house for prep day. We made two recipes. One was pumpkin snickerdoodles. Guess what I got to use??
Sweet. Mercy. Words cannot express how much I aspire to have one of these someday. (Tried to steal hers but you have to be pretty sneaky to get past Miss Lynne!)

We had lunch together and y'all, I broke her glass. Like the drinking glass. Like the beautiful fancy pants goblet she gave me to drink out of. (This is why I drink out of plastic at home, and truth be told, should probably use a sippy cup!) I was HORRIFIED when that thing shattered. She said the look on my face was priceless, and I know she's right. I could FEEL the expression.

So it made me feel exceedingly relieved when she...

...dumped a whole pan of cookies in the bottom of the oven! I laughed and laughed. We're even!

But they turned out okay in the end. Check this out!

And our other recipe was a round of BBQ chili...spicy chili. Oh it was GOOD.

In fact...we kind of made a whole spread of it. Wouldn't you like to hang out and eat with us?

We had so much fun. Seriously so much fun. I love working with Lynne!

Okay, so confession time. I was so excited about this show because one of our guests was Sandi Patty! Oh my word. When I was growing up (I cannot believe I'm about to admit this in print) I was the biggest Sandi fan ever. I knew all her songs and how she sang them and I'd stand in front of my bedroom mirror clutching a skinny can of Rave 4 and just singgggggggg....except I really can't sing. So that was unfortunate.

I even knew all the background vocals' parts. (Did I really just say that out loud?) Sad but true facts about my childhood.

So yesterday, when she was about to be on-air with us, I was FREAKED OUT. I went through a massive mug of water and then waved wildly at Amy as she was walking by and signaled for her to bring me more water - and I drank half of THAT! (Ever seen the scene in Liar, Liar when Jim Carrey drinks an entire pitcher of water and then asks for a bathroom break? It was kind of like that.) And speaking of movie scenes...here's what I thought my interview might sound like.

When Sandi joined us on the air, I told her my embarrassing story in all its embarrassingness - and she was so nice about it. (She probably was writing over to the side "note to self...be-kah-free-lan....WEIRDO!!") AND - after the show, I tweeted about the interview and figured out how to do that little @taggy thing with her name - AND Y'ALL - SHE ANSWERED ME. I know! Sit down!

So that's my story for this month's kitchen caboodle!

Abraham

Speaking of Abraham....

(See yesterday if you missed it.)

...so I was invited back to the adult Sunday School class to teach again. This time my topic was Abraham's order to sacrifice Isaac. So after consuming an extraordinary amount of coffee Friday night, I stayed up until about 2 in the morning unpacking that section of Scripture and coming up with things to say to the group.

...a.k.a. coming up with things that stepped on my own toes until I couldn't even feel them anymore. (Super.)

So here were a couple of the things that got me.

Since Abraham was introduced in Scripture, the following things have happened in his life (that we know about…perhaps many other things happened that we don’t know!): He was called to leave his home, his family, his friends, and everything he knew – forever – to go to a yet-undisclosed location. He went through a famine. He thought he was going to die because Pharaoh wanted his gorgeous wife. He lied about his relationship with her (in a lifetime-movie-esque) scandal. He was kicked out of Egypt. He got in a family fight and ended up parting ways with the family he had left. He took the lesser land to keep whatever peace was left. He then had to rescue said family member from a political scuffle. He and his wife battled infertility. He got talked into having an affair with his wife’s servant. He got her pregnant. He had a son. His wife got jealous of the servant and the son and treated them badly. He chickened out on fixing the situation. He lost his son and the servant. He had to institute circumcision – to which we’ll just say OUCH. He had new name and identity presented. He found out Lot’s city was about to be destroyed and went through some warfare to preserve his family’s life. Lied again about his relationship with Sarah.

And THAT brings us to the part where “God decided to test Abraham.” Really? Had life not been test enough?

You ever feel like that? Like you just want to throw your head back and say “Are you stinking kidding me?!!?!?!!?!?!? What more do You WANT from me? Haven’t I been through enough? Haven’t I learned enough? Haven’t I proven my loyalty? WHAT DO YOU WANT!?!!?!?!?!”

And then God pointed out this to me...

The end of that passage is where Abraham is about to complete the sacrifice and God stops him and instructs him to spare Isaac and instead sacrifice the ram that divinely appeared over to the side.

I really shouldn’t speak for anyone but myself…but sometimes when I think about this passage of Scripture…I think “where is my ram?” There has to be a ram. This has to be a test. This can’t be real world. God surely is sending something to save the day.

When I do that, my focus is on the wrong thing. Abraham wasn’t darting his gaze around him in search of the “out.” He was fully focused on the command. He was going to carry it through even if it ripped out his soul.

If we move our focus to a ram-hunt, really, we are testing God. And that is completely backwards. This whole section was about GOD testing ABRAHAM. Abraham was so committed to obedience that he was…in his heart…fully committed to doing this thing. In the end, God spared him. But that was God’s call to make. And our job if we are put to the test – is to do the test, regardless of the outcome.

Gulp.

Pray 21

A few weeks ago, I was invited to teach one of the adult Sunday School classes at my church. They were doing a series on Abraham, and I was supposed to teach about God's call on Abraham's life. So I hunkered down with the teacher's guide and my Bible and came up with this lovely little lesson about what we could learn and apply to our lives.

In my speech, I said the following words: When God calls, our job is to go. Even if it seems crazy. Even if it seems inconvenient. Even if our marching orders are incomplete. Just GO.

And later that day, I "icked" my own words.

Our church started a program called Pray 21. It's set up kind of like a mentoring program. They asked teens in the church if they wanted to participate, and those who did were matched up with an adult. I'd thought about volunteering but truly felt I didn't have time to do it well. I didn't want to be unfair to my teen by not having the time to invest that I should, and with my job taking so much time - and being so far away - I felt it was best to sit this one out.

But the very day I taught that Abraham lesson, one of the ladies in the church approached me and said, "We need one more female adult in Pray 21. Would you consider helping us?"

Ugh.

I took the day to pray about it and when the youth pastor called me that night to get my answer, I said the spiritually correct thing. "I really don't have the time to put into it that I probably should, so if someone else is willing and would do a better job, I won't be offended if you choose her instead. But if you really need me, I'll do it."

Adam responded, "You'll get such a blessing out of this."

No I won't.

You don't understand my paralyzing fear of teenagers. I didn't like them when I was one. And they certainly didn't like me any better. I thought back to high school and began to develop hives just thinking about what this girl might say to me. I knew who she was but I didn't really know her. She'd probably freak out when she found out I was her partner. I nearly needed oxygen when I made the first phone call.

One awkward, painful call turned into two...and three...and four...and I found she was actually fun.

One night she told stories that made me laugh until I cried. (What??)

One night she stopped our conversation to inform me we had been on the phone for over an hour. And we hadn't even started on actual Pray 21 questions yet. (What??????)

One night when the book question asked about the best part of the project so far, she told me her answer was that she was paired up with me. ( WHAT!?!???!?!??!)

And one night as I sucked it up and told her I'd been scared to be her partner because I'd been fat and ugly in high school and therefore not all that warmly welcomed by people her age, she piped up, "Whatever! You're pretty and cool!"

Call it dumb (because it probably is!) but that one sentence from a fifteen year old healed a wound that had been open for about 18 years.

It seemed crazy. It seemed inconvenient. My marching orders were incomplete. But I went. And I'm glad I did.

And Adam was right. (But don't tell him I said so.) It's a blessing.

Just Fixing the Plumbing

There are times when the single life rocks. Like when I want to eat onions on my burger and don't have to feel guilty about onion breath. Or when I want to watch 47 straight episodes of House Hunters when a football game is airing on another channel. Or when I really just want to go shopping (all day) on a Saturday.

There are times when the single life stinks. Like when the toilet breaks.

My friend Faith is one of those "I am woman, hear me roar" gals. I'm proud of her for that. But we firmly part ways there. I don't need to roar. I'd be much happier to have a roaring husband for whom I can cheer. :) I roar more out of necessity than desire. And this past weekend, when I got tired of the broken toilet, I decided it was necessary to roar.

I have two bathrooms in my house. But the one closest to my bedroom, one day, randomly stopped flushing. Naturally, I blamed Braeya right away. She has a fond affection for flushing that toilet. All day long. As though she doesn't have an entire BOX of toys to play with. As though I don't have a water bill. In desperation, I hid the toilet handle with a Tupperware onion holder (necessity is the mother of invention, no?) and thought I'd solved the problem. But then I wondered if maybe she'd outsmarted me. She does that sometimes.

So I opened the tank and found the chain had fallen off the "thingie." You know. The thingie. I found my enormous up-to-the-elbow pink rubber gloves and scrunched up my face while I dug around in the cold water for the chain. I rehooked it, put the lid back on and it worked!!

For one flush.

That's when I discovered the "thingie" was actually broken. It was old and after years of sitting in water, had seen fit to corrode and just flat out break. I moved the enormous up-to-the-elbow pink rubber gloves permanently into the bathroom so I could open the tank every time to pull the chain.

Then I got lazy and just started commuting to the other bathroom.

My poor Dad. It's not like I didn't call about the tree through the fence...and the three wheeled lawnmower...and the broken struts on the car. I asked about the toilet "thingie" and he said he'd fix it.

But he's busy and I'm impatient.

So Saturday night I made my way to Lowe's to the plumbing aisle. Nothing looked like the corroded mess in the toilet tank. So as I stood there gazing upon the wall of "thingies" - none of them CALLED a "thingie" - a nice Lowe's man had mercy on me and said, "Can I help you?"

I explained my problem and he pulled a "thingie" - apparently called a HANDLE - off the shelf. He handed it to me and then asked if my toilet handle was on the front or side of the toilet. Side. He snatched the thingie out of my hand and replaced it with the correct one. (Whew!) Then he even went so far as to tell me that the handle screwed on backwards from the normal rule of "rightie tightie, leftie loosie." (Whew again!)

I went home with one new toilet handle, a handful of instructions, and very little confidence. I locked myself in the bathroom, since plumber number two stood right outside the door scratching and begging to help, donned the pink rubber gloves, grabbed the wrench, and got to work.

Shockingly, five minutes later, I was done. DONE!! Nothing broke. Nothing fell. Nothing failed. It just...worked. Shut the front door.

So I'd just like to say -

Roar! :)

Monday Misc.

Got some more randomness for you to start the week. In no particular order:

1. Went to the Glenbrook Mall with Lynnette on Saturday. We walked past an Amish couple carrying an Aeropostale bag. That just seemed odd to me. I wanted to ask what they were allowed to get in there! Then, when we ate at the food court (Chick-fil-A for me, thankyouverymuch!), the guy in front of us dropped BOTH his drinks on the floor. The cashier said "No problem. We'll call security." Uh....shouldn't you call housekeeping? (I always freak out when I hear "security." It's never good for me.)

2. Here's a trend I have yet to fully embrace, but I've decided to try:
Scarves. I don't wear them because I figure those with broken thermostats should not tie more fabric around their necks. Just not smart. But they're so stinkin' cute! So Sunday morning, I wore a scarf to church. That was a big ole gamble because I was teaching Sunday School, which was a given sweat-fest. (Sorry. Unattractive but true.) I didn't overheat - so I think this one's a keeper. Now I just have to learn all the knots.

3. After shopping with Lynnette, I made my way to the Hobby Lobby in Fort Wayne. I think it may be the best Hobby Lobby I've ever been in. I just walked through, inhaling deeply. (I take my HL shopping SERIOUSLY.) I managed to be good, except for one thing...but I needed it. Spriggy things for that pottery Lara gave me for my birthday!

4. Also while shopping with Lynnette, we went to Kirkland's. Love. That. Store. And we found Mary Poppins bags in there...that just happened to have monograms...and we just happened to find an "L" and a "B"...and they just happened to be on sale...so naturally we had to have them. All best friends should have matching Mary Poppins bags...

5. The time has come to get out the flannel sheets. I love flannel sheets. So does Braeya. I envision many more days of coming home to an unmade bed...and a happy little cat.

It's the Weekly Recap!

* Sunday morning, as you already read, I had to leave church to do some serious business with God. I was flat out exhausted after that adventure was over, but I was also hungry. I'd not eaten all day, so I came home and tried a new recipe: pumpkin pancakes with cinnamon syrup! Pretty good treat...not sure I loved it enough to call it a forever keeper. * Monday night was my chore night. I hadn't been home in what felt like forever (probably because it WAS forever) - so I did laundry and cleaned up around the house - and made pizza chili and pumpkin snickerdoodles. (Are you seeing a theme with the pumpkin?) (And I'm sorry you had to read about laundry duty. BORING.) But this was my end of the day crack-me- up. I sat down to do my devotions and gained some company: Apparently it was her turn to read.

* Thought I'd give you a glimpse of my desk on Tuesday. (Thoughts on what this did to my OCD?)
After work...Faith came over for dinner. We had the best time - eating chili and garlic cheese bread...and pumpkin snickerdoodles - and talking up a storm. The perfect girls' night. Especially since it was the perfect night to be inside, eating soup, curled up under a blanket and near a fireplace. (Check to all three!)



* Wednesday we had the case of the cupcake-napping. I was given this cupcake (in all its deliciousness) and put it on my desk to save for lunch, but when lunch rolled around....it was gone. It was the first time they experienced Bekah separated from her dessert. And don't you think for one minute that I was too proud or classy to march around the station asking if anyone had seen it. It was a great practical joke (because it ended before I freaked out). It was every bit as good as it looks. Peanut butter icing, in case you're curious.


* Thursday evening I had dinner with my friend Adela, who is going to be a Mid-Morning guest next week. She made this really good homemade chicken noodle soup and apple crisp. So good. I would have taken a picture but I was too busy talking. (Try to hide your shock.) Anyway, it was fun to get to eat a home cooked meal...that someone else cooked!


* Friday I recorded my first promo with Lynne. We are doing two shows together next week, so we did the promos together too! That girl is such fun to work with - even recording is an adventure! I so wish I would have taken a picture of the phone to show you...the phone rang in the studio while we were recording and apparently it doesn't have a "ringer off" option. So...she unplugged it. That poor phone was nearly completely dismembered by the time she successfully unplugged it. (It's totally put back together now - never fear.) It was the funniest thing I've seen her do yet!


* Saturday I thought I'd do something DIFFERENT with my day off - so I went to Ft. Wayne. LOL. My best friend, Lynnette, was in town and had a window of opportunity to SHOP and EAT with me. So we hit Starbucks...and the mall...and Chick-fil-A...and crammed as much as we could could into our three hours together. Three hours is just not enough - but I'm very thankful I got to see her.
And then Saturday night, my work buddy, Sheryl, came to town, so I had dinner with her and her son. It was a good little day!

Books I'm Reading - Jesus Calling, of course. FINISHED Debbie Alsdorf's book The Faith Dare and found some good, practical faith boosters in it. Kept reading in Pray 21 and Home to Harmony and also started One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. Been wanting to read that one for a while now!

Favorite God Moment of the Whole Week: Got some difficult news this week and loved the way God carried me through it. The morning after I got the news, I was at the gas station getting coffee (because I'd not had the fortitude to set the coffee pot at home) and my phone buzzed with a text. I wondered who in the world would be texting me at that hour; it was one of the friends who spent two hours talking to me the night before...just giving me a wake-up reminder that God can do abundantly more than I can ask or imagine. What a way to start the day! And then two days later, I got a text from my mentor, who knew NOTHING of the situation, saying, "God just put you on my heart - hope you're okay - been praying extra." God is GOOD.

Update on Last Week's Goals: Well it's certainly not the way I would have chosen, but the tough news drove me straight into the Lord's arms and forced me, even more, to reach out to Him and rely on Him. That kept the intimacy that started at the conference!

Goals for the Coming Week: STAY WELL!! I have a couple of extended outdoor adventures coming up and tis the season for such things to bring about illness! So my goal is to take good care of myself and stay well. Silly, but something that I have to be focused on or I'll forget. I'm so 12 that way.

Pepperoni Pizza Chili

Soup season is back! And I think I have a whopping TWO on my little recipe roster now...the baked potato soup and the cheeseburger soup. Pathetic. (I mean they're not pathetic recipes - but pathetic that I only have two!)

I've long searched for the perfect chili. Mom couldn't help me because her recipe is "throw this and that in a pot and let it simmer." NOT HELPFUL when you're learning to cook. I've tried different recipes along the way, and in my quest for the perfect chili...I encountered this one on the Taste of Home website. I gave it a shot...made a couple of modifications to suit my own tastes...and now I have a chili I really like! And it's unique, so I like it even better.

I think I got about 8 servings (decent size!) out of this batch. It was lunch all week for me. Warms over beautifully.

The Recipe
1 pound ground beef
1 can (15 ounces) pizza sauce
1 can (14 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1-1/2 cups water
1 package (3-1/2 ounces) sliced pepperoni
1 chopped green pepper
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
Shredded mozzarella cheese

In a skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Transfer to a large pot, and stir in the pizza sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, pepperoni, green pepper, Italian seasoning and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until chili reaches desired thickness. Sprinkle with cheese and serve. ENJOY!


I bet you'll never guess where I did my shopping! LOL. That is a 2 pound package of beef above, so I just saved the other pound for later. Browned the first part. The original recipe called for just 1/2 cup of pepper but I like the color and crispness it gives to the soup, plus I'd likely throw away the rest of the pepper so I just put the whole thing in. Throw the beef and pepper in first. Then all the rest of the stuff. I like to get diced tomatoes that are already seasoned, so between that and the seasoning in the pizza sauce and the extra Italian seasoning thrown in - it's very flavorful! Stir it around. It may shock you to know I put in more pepperoni than the recipe calls for. I know. Gasp. It warms up pretty quickly, so if you're like me - why wait the full 30 minutes? EAT!!! And I don't mind if I do! With a little cheese on top and some cheese bread on the side.. Perfect dinner on a cold night. Hope you like it!

Hair, Books, and More

I feel the tiniest bit guilty writing these deeply spiritual posts for two days and then taking a haircut poll.


BUT.


This is how my life rolls. Totally random and subject to change with little warning.


Much like my hair.


Since she doesn't read my blog, and since you all don't have big mouths, I will tell this story on my mom.


She called the station this week to tell me she'd heard my on-air admission of getting sent to the principal's office (in the fifth grade) for excessive talking. I told her I hadn't expected to be on-air that day and I'd not taken my stethoscope-esque headphones back with me. I had to wear the big, bulky ones and those messed up my hair.

TO WHICH SHE REPLIED: "Sometimes you can't tell the difference."

Silence.


Then I heard her say, "Was that out loud?"

(Don't get mad at her. It TOTALLY cracked me up, and furthermore, IT'S TRUE!)

So now I'm thinking I need new hair. Here is a cut I found that I think I like - because I think I want bangs back. Whaddya think? (Sorry I cannot make the rest of me look this good.) (Found this on hairstyleimages.com) In totally unrelated-to-my-hair news...PEOPLE!!! IT IS ALMOST NOVEMBER. How in the world did this happen???? November means it's not long until DECEMBER...which means....


...that I have to step outside my comfort zone for .002 seconds and tell you that if you need an advent devo, I still have copies! I realize most of you who read my blog already got one last year (and for that, I thank you!) but if you need more for presents for someone else, let me know! They're $10 each, plus shipping if you're not in the local metropolis(es) I see each day.

*And speaking of the metropolises I see each day...my house is still on the market. Some of you have asked, so I thought I'd give an update. Still on the market and while the commute is not bad, it is starting to get harder to wake up in the dark and get moving! And it would just be nice to not be in limbo anymore. So if you have a space on your prayer list...an opening of sorts...I'd love to have you join me in praying about it!

Mount Carmel Meltdown

No, I'm sorry, it's not a recipe post. (But it does kind of sound like some sort of gooey goodness!)

In the Old Testament is the record of a time when Elijah, who was a prophet, had a spectacular God-moment. If Elijah had a blog, it probably would have taken him a month of posts to do the story justice, because it was just THAT good. God showed up with an enormous display of His power - and if you've never read about it, you should. You can find it here.

After that literal mountain-top moment, Elijah had a meltdown. The queen of the land wasn't super thrilled about team God/Elijah trumping her gaggle of prophets, and she decided the best way to handle the situation was to kill Elijah. That news freaked him out (would have done the same to me) and he ran for his life - and then asked God to kill him because life just wasn't worth living. (Talk about two extremes!)

God respectfully denied that request.

When I was a kid, one of my pastors preached about that whole section of Scripture and he called his sermon "Mount Carmel Meltdown." It's literally the only sermon title I've ever remembered by heart. (Probably because it sounded like dessert.) He warned us that anytime we have a great encounter with God, we should expect a potential meltdown to follow.

Bottom line - Satan hates it when God's moving. If he can get in there and derail us...he will.

Sunday morning, I went to church utterly exhausted from a busy week and busier weekend. I sat in Sunday School and felt it coming...the meltdown. I literally got sick to my stomach thinking about what I'd said yes to (or rather, the unknown of what I said yes to) and the potential ramifications.

I had to leave. I had to get to one of those places where God and I have always done business and continue listening. So I left Sunday School, walked out of church, got in my car, and drove to one of the ponds where I always heard God so well last year.

I sat there for an hour and a half, wind beating against my car, sun and rain alternately fighting for possession of the sky, and listened for God's voice. I begged for direction...I begged for clarity...I begged for anything He could see fit to give me.

And He did. Some of the answers were hard to grasp. Some were uncomfortable. But all were clear.

The fighting probably isn't over yet. But then again, neither is His faithfulness.

The God Moment

I love sharing my God-moments with you because I figure if He goes to the trouble to arrange them, I should at least give Him appropriate acknowledgement for it. But at the same time, some of those moments are incredibly personal...so it's all about finding that fine line between preserving what's personal and sharing what He's doing in my life!

My God-moment at the E-Women conference came right at the end of Lysa TerKeurst's talk. If you've never heard Lysa's story...she's now the head of Proverbs 31 Ministries, which is a huge women's ministry. But before she came to be in charge of that, she was a girl who came from a broken home, was rejected by her dad, abused by a family friend, got pregnant in college, and had an abortion. She talked about letting God take your mess and make it your message.

I knew going into this weekend, that at some point, God and I were going to have to do some business. I wasn't sure when...or exactly what...but I knew it was coming.

You've watched me struggle out loud on this blog to make sense of the brokenness of my last year. Honestly, one of the biggest unanswered questions I had when Isaac left was that God had been SO CLEAR to me that part of our role in each others' lives was redemption. The relationship I understood God meant for us to share was going to redeem a whole lot of brokenness and unfulfillment we had experienced prior to meeting each other. Perhaps Isaac has gone on to do just that in a new relationship, but I've been left to wonder how God would work that out in my life.

Who would fill that on-earth role for me? And how would I get to serve that purpose in someone else's life?

As Lysa talked about letting God turn our mess into our message, I literally saw my entire relationship with Isaac pass from start to finish in my mind. It was just like watching a highlight reel in my head. I actually had to sit down while others stood to pray, because I was so overwhelmed by the flood of memories. The more I remembered, the more I felt tears pressing my eyes. I fought them because, let's face it, this is ridiculous. He's been gone from my life for more than a year. Get OVER it, Bekah!

I could feel my back tensing and then I felt Marie's hand just rest on my back, and I knew she was praying for me, though she had no idea what was going on in my mind.

And as I reached the end of the mental reel, I saw myself collapsed on the cement floor of a shelter house, clad in an ill-fitting flowery Easter dress and pink flip flops, sobbing before the Lord so hard that tears wouldn't even come...literally wailing...asking Him to please tell me what He wanted from me.

He prompted me to remember the quote from Angie Smith's book, I Will Carry You: "continue to worship the Lord, keeping what He has given you until the moment you are called to give it away. And as the glass shatters all around you and you grow dizzy from the intoxicating smell of pure love, get as close to His feet as you can. And know this. It was always meant to fall from your hands. And He is glorified in the shattering."

I thought about that moment...saw myself in my own memory...and then right there in the Coliseum, I heard Him ask me to be willing to do it again. Not with Isaac. But to be willing to walk the same road of stepping WAY outside any preconceived plan for relationship that I'd ever had.

My heart nodded yes before my voice could follow suit, and I felt the tears escaping. I was leaning over in my seat, so the tears fell and ran down my arms, and I thought again of that quote, about God being glorified in the shattering.

That's what the shattering feels like. The moment when your heart says yes.

I felt my back relax under Marie's hand and prayers.

I said yes.

I have no idea what I've said yes TO. But I have great hope that He has a magnificent plan to redeem.

Extraordinary Women: Day Two

Had no idea 6:00 came on Saturday mornings too. Gasp! But that's what time I had to get up to assemble myself for the second day of the conference!

I have amazing friends. I don't take any of them for granted. But I have to brag on Marie for what she did for me...when I got up, she'd already made me coffee! A true friend! (Or one who is rightfully scared of pre-coffee Bekah.)
We stayed at a Hampton Inn, and I have to say - their breakfast ROCKS! Only continental breakfast I've ever been to that serves omelets!

We made it to the semi-front of the line. Conference women crack me up. They are HARD CORE about good seats. (I can say that because I was one of them.)

Can you tell I'm SO not awake yet? But never fear. $2.50 will get you fresh brew at a conference. ($3 will get you a bottle of water.)

We started off with some more worship time with Mr. Michael O'Brien. Seriously wonderful leader. (Why have I not heard of him before??)

First speaker of the day: Donna VanLiere. (I like to think Donna and I are old friends because when I was a guest on Mid-Morning last November about my book...Donna was a guest that same hour for one of HER books! In reality...Donna has no idea who I am. But let me continue down my path of thinking.)

Donna told the best stories...completely drew me in to her world. Loved what she shared!

Right before lunch...Lysa TerKeurst took the stage. (She's with Proverbs 31 Ministries.) At the conclusion of her very moving time of sharing, we were invited to pray, and that was when God got me. Oh man.

I was exhausted after that...and I had a massive headache from crying! But it was lunchtime - and I wanted to try my first ever PRETZEL!! Marie and I waited in line for 45 minutes for this thing.

Marie loves pretzels. I can now see why. Why have I waited this long to have one???

Right after lunch...another concert. This time...Meredith Andrews took the stage.

She sang You're Not Alone, which is my favorite song of hers.

Next speaker...Michelle McKinney Hammond. She told the story of the woman of Shunem - from the vantage point that the woman of Shunem was "a sista girl." I've never thought of her with such sass and confidence before. I think I want Michelle to tell me more Bible stories!

Faith n me during a break....can you tell in my eyes that I still have a crying headache?

And the day wrapped up with Elisa Morgan - former CEO of MOPS. (She had more hairstyles in her intro video than I would have if I had an intro video. LOVED that.) This girl had so much energy and left us with a great challenge to do what we can in our world!

I was exhausted when I got home, but it was a weekend well worth the exhaustion. So very glad I went. God did His thing!!

Extraordinary Women

Two years ago, Marie and I went to an Extraordinary Women (E-Women) conference in Ft. Wayne. We really enjoyed it, so this year as a birthday gift to Marie, I got us tickets! The conference started Friday night, so we met at our hotel, dropped off our stuff, grabbed some dinner at Arbys (we had to save our pennies for overpriced Coliseum food and parking!) and headed to the festivities!
A couple of days before the conference, Faith told me she was going too, so the three of us (along with Faith's friend) sat together! Marie and I tried to recreate our previous experience by getting seats in the same general area where we'd sat before. (Last time there were MANY more women there, so the conference was held in the huge arena. It was smaller scale this time. That translates to shorter bathroom lines. HA!)

Not too shabby on the seats, huh?

We had some worship time with Michael O'Brien. He was good! Very engaging.

This is Julie Clinton, who is in charge of the conferences. She missed her son's homecoming game (he's the backup quarterback) to be with us!

We just had one speaker Friday evening - Thelma Wells, aka Momma T. HILARIOUS, no-nonsense woman. Oh my goodness. She cracked me up! She's 70 and sassy as can be - with a huge heart for the Lord.

After Thelma spoke, it was concert time!! First concert of the night: Francesca Battistelli.

We had to giggle...her band looked a little Amish...

I have a few Francesca faves...Motion of Mercy is her current single that I really like, and she sang that for us. She also did Beautiful, Beautiful (which several people brought to me during my desert as a song that reminded them of me, so it's special to me) and I'm Letting Go (which has been my friend Jamie's theme lately...and probably mine too!)...

She also did a song accompanied by her husband (who is also her drummer). It was called Hundred More Years and was so beautiful.

After Francesca left the stage, the Amish band ripped down the set and as if by magic...Jeremy Camp appeared! I learned many things about him during the concert (and by scanning his new book, which Marie purchased). He's only about 4 months older than I am, he's a fellow Hoosier, he has a brand new son (to add to two daughters), and...while I knew his first wife had died of cancer, I did not know they were only married four months before she died! Talk about a testimony!

Something else I learned about Jeremy...he can't stand still. This is what the photo opp looked like when he was particularly into a song!

Jeremy and his band....winning me over as a new fan! Take You Back....Walk by Faith...This Man...I Still Believe...great songs.

Amish band...new wardrobe!

He is definitely a minister for the Lord...what a perfect end to the evening!

It was a late night - probably 11:30 before we got back to our hotel. Worth every minute of lost sleep, though!