Huntington Baptist Church

It is, of course, podcast Tuesday, so I begin by bringing you this week's episode of Spill the Beans, with stories from the detox fail and our weekend! ENJOY!

Listen right here!

Yesterday I told you about my trek to Fort Wayne for photography fun at Daddy Daughter Date Night. Our weekend of busyness continued into Saturday, because I had my first speaking engagement of May on Saturday!

Ryan and I traveled to Huntington Baptist Church to speak to their ladies group during their spring luncheon. (And we narrowly escaped a speeding ticket on the way there. EEK!)

It was supposed to be a cold and rainy Saturday, but it was sunny the whole day. What a blessing!

I'd been invited to speak at this church because my friend Debbie attends there and called a few weeks ago to ask me if I would join them. I first met Debbie over 10 years ago when she attended a different church, and I visited their women's Bible group for a Beth Moore study. Debbie took me under her wing and was so kind to me, even though I didn't regularly attend there. I've never forgotten that!

Debbie is a sweetheart and is completely devoted the Lord. Always an encouragement!

I was so glad to have Ryan with me that day. As I tell him every single time he comes with me, things just go better when he's there. He has a very calming way about him!

We arrived early so I could get set up. Ryan was in charge of the camera, so he did test pictures while I set up the podium area. LOL!

He also helped me set up my book table, and then took pictures of me and my coffee with my table. #priorities

 The ladies carried in breakfast/brunch foods, and it was all so delicious. The great part of speaking at churches for meals is that church folk are the best cooks ever. The worst part of speaking at churches for meals is that I don't want to overeat before I get up and speak. Except I really want to overeat!

There was such an amazing atmosphere in the room that day. You could tell it had been well-prayed-over and the Holy Spirit was present in a big way! I thoroughly enjoyed my time of sharing and felt so relaxed!

After I spoke, I got to stay and meet with some of the women. PeggySue (who took my job at WBCL) was there, and it was good to see her!

And I got to meet in real life my Facebook friend, Sarah!

All in all, a wonderful morning with the ladies! Thankful for new friends and Ryan's support!

Being Still

This has been a weird week. Ryan's work schedule has been packed with no breathing room. And off the clock, he's spent every evening running to help various friends with various needs around their houses. I've entered the zone of final preparation for a huge handful of speaking coming my way in May, and a few other projects that extend beyond that.

Yesterday, as I took Ryan's lunch to work so we could eat together in the 13 minutes (I'm not kidding) allocated for such frivolities, my mind felt like it might just explode. I wasn't mad, I wasn't sad, I wasn't anything except full. So much to think about, and I wasn't sure where to direct my mental energies first.

I left Ryan while the practically-still-whole quesadilla I inhaled in less than 13 minutes rattled around most uncomfortably in my stomach and tears rolled down my cheeks. He kissed my forehead and told me to go home and do something for me so I could find a sense of calm in the mind-storm.

So I pulled out the chalk and made the "open" sign for my office door, cleaned out my inbox, washed the sheets, and tried to think about what to write today.

That's when God directed my attention to this little book sitting over on the shelf.

Ahh yes. I believe I know that book.

And yesterday, I needed it myself. Yesterday I needed to stop, sit, and be.

Reminders of Tuesdays in the prayer chapel when I went without an agenda and just sat before the Lord to hear Him.

Reminders of assignments that seemed silly but were oh-so-necessary for my soul.

Reminders of His plan being more important than my own perceived plan.

So I skimmed through its pages again. I relived those Tuesdays and the heart lessons that taught me so much.

And then I put aside the work and went for a walk. While on the walk, I got a text from a friend who had asked me to help her that day but decided she was good on her own. With extra time, I went home and sat on the front porch, feet up, coffee in hand, and was still.

Cars drove by, the boys down the street played basketball in their driveway, Braeya cried from the other side of the window screen, and I could hear faint thunder in the dark blue distance.

But I just sat and was still.

 When I got up a while later, the day ahead remained busy. Ryan still had to work late, I still had kiddos to watch, the sky still got darker, and the list of to-help chores on Ryan's list was still long. But after being still, I could breathe again.

Maybe you need to breathe, too?

The Shafferland Shuffle

I feel like this last week has been busy, but not necessarily news-worthy. So it may not be the most interesting shuffle in the history of shuffles, but I shall soldier on and document!

* Last Sunday, Mom told us NOT to come out to visit. (She worries we spend too much time on her.) Her exact quote was, "I don't want to see you today." So naturally, we sent a selfie so she had to see us. Hee hee hee. Ryan was doing a big paperwork sorting project, but he paused for a nap, so Braeya "helped" by sitting on top of all the stacks while they were unoccupied. Me? Well, I just read blogs.

* On Monday, I did a full day road trip over to our old stomping grounds of Marion to deliver books to folks who wanted to use them for a Lenten study. It was like the days of yore, packing up my car for a day of commuting! While I was in town, I felt it only right to go to Poppy's Xtreme Donuts to get Ryan a treat! And after stopping to visit Mom, I discovered I had a treat of my own waiting when I got home...NEW SCRAPBOOKS ARRIVED!!!! Woot woot!

* Tuesday was crazy busy with all kinds of chores and errands, so I took just a quick second to sit and rest in the afternoon before hopping up to cook, because we had friends over for Tuesdays at the Table! This time we had friends from our old church in Marion. They hadn't seen our house yet, and we had a great time hosting them! :)

* Well Indiana proved the old adage true: March came in like a big old mad lion. Woke up at some ridiculous hour with weather radios going off and hail hitting the windows and the power going out. Whew! It finally calmed down, though. My sister came up to be with Mom that day, so I had the WHOLE DAY to work in the office. Braeya was so happy, she snuggled right up with me while I wrote! And it was the first day of the great spring capsule wardrobe project. More on that later!

* Thursday was our 51st monthiversary, and it was nothing but pure chaos and not much time together. Ryan didn't even get to come home for lunch that day, so I took lunch to him and we ate in his cloffice. By the time we got around to taking our official photo that night, we were both exhausted, I'd had a massive meltdown, and it took THIRTY TRIES to get one good photo. (And I don't even really like IT. I was just tired of redoing it!)

* By Friday, we were just pooped. I tried to cram in steps during the day, and Braeya kept high-fiving me whenever I walked by the bathroom. Ryan and I had plans for a double date that night, but we had to reschedule it, so we just stayed home and watched a movie. It was much-needed down time! And at the end of the night, Braeya played hide-and-seek with us. Do you see her?

* Ryan had to work yesterday, so I stayed home and did work there. We'd awakened to snow, but it melted off when the sun came up, and it was just a nice blanket/work/coffee/sunshine kind of day. We had to run some errands, so we went for coffee, and found out it was a BOGO day for macchiatos. SWEET! We went to visit Mom, and check out the amazing sunset we got to see! And with that...our crazy week was complete!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* After our busy weekend last weekend {hosting a craft night on Friday and all day shopping extravaganza on Saturday}, we literally had the restiest of all the resty Sundays. Church, leftovers, naps, football, scrapbooking, and of course, Ryan's traditional Sunday evening fare of chips and salsa/queso. Boring blog fodder but one sweet day.

* Monday, I decided to bake some cookies for Ryan, and they turned out to be pretty delicious, I must say! Maple cookies with frosting. Know what was NOT delicious? Tripping over my computer cord and whamming my foot into the ottoman. Ryan and his co-workers diagnosed me with at least one broken toe, and he taped me right up. I hobbled around for the rest of the night before giving up and reading. That seemed safe.

* Tuesday, I did my first podcast interview! {If you missed it, Ryan and I are continuing Spill the Beans every week, but I'm adding an occasional interview podcast to it, and I recorded the first one that day!} That night, we hosted Tuesdays at the Table with some of the very first friends we ever made as a couple! It was a fun night!

* Wednesday was a cold, rainy, miserable day on the outside, but I had a warm and cozy day on the inside while I traveled all around our old hometown of Marion, seeing friends and delivering copies of the Be Still book to people who were doing a little Christmas shopping! It was so much fun to see them. I came home to find the Christmas ornaments I ordered to commemorate our house sale/purchase had arrived, AND Ryan was kind to let the TV stay on Hallmark movies all evening - even if he did mock them. ;) That's just a banner day all the way around.

* Thursday, of course, was Thanksgiving, and this year we spent the holiday with my family. It was a comical day, for sure, as family gatherings always tend to be! When we were done celebrating with them, we went to Ryan's family party for a bit, but it was mostly done by the time we arrived. We had a couple little snacks and came on home to fall into our food comas!

* And when I woke up from my food coma on Friday, hoping to spend the day decking the new halls, I woke up with a crazy sore throat and aching all over. WHAT!?!? Where did THAT come from!? I was MOST unamused. So instead of decorating, I was stuck on the couch, sad that I was too sick to care about anything. By evening, I did feel well enough to at least take down all the fall decor, and Ryan and I spent a quiet evening at home.

* Fortunately, I felt much better yesterday, so while Ryan worked, I began putting up the Christmas trees, and I made a surprising amount of progress, considering I'd lost a whole day of work! When Ryan got home from work, he helped take down the outside fall decorations, and then we went to dinner with some friends - and laughed so hard my face hurt! Definitely a much better day!

Be Still...Wrapping Up

Thanks for taking time to read about the retreat from the weekend...hopefully you felt like you attended a little corner of it! :)

Normally, retreats end close to lunch time on Sunday, but these ladies had to hurry back to their church for the morning service, so our Sunday morning time together was QUICK! Ryan and I stayed up late Saturday night to get all our stuff packed up and get ready as much as we could {read: I did my hair before I went to bed so I didn't have to do it when I got up - HA!} so we didn't have to get up at 4 on Sunday!

Ryan was a sweetheart and loaded up our car while I finished prepping with my notes...and...possibly...took a few pictures of the beautiful pre-sunrise sky.

Then it was time for breakfast, and if you listened to the podcast, you heard the story of "the waffle." Oh, I'm still cracking up over that!

Also - if anyone is looking for Christmas ideas for Ryan, he'll take one of these, please:

We walked over for the final session, and I was freaking out about my voice. It was so early in the morning, and I was coughing and hoarse, and I wasn't sure I could pull off the last talk, even though it was a short one. But Ryan prayed with me and as soon as I got up to speak, I was fine. {Of course I wasn't as soon as I was DONE, but I made it through!!!!}

 OH!!!!! AND!!!!!!!

Ryan did the drawing for my gift basket, and Anna took this picture of us. YAY!!!

After this session ended, we helped the girls carry their sound equipment out to the bus so they could get back to their church.

It was a joy to serve this group. I thoroughly loved it. Erica, I promised you a shout-out, and here it is! Thank you for keeping me so in the loop for months leading up to the weekend, for answering my endless questions, and for becoming a new friend. You and ALL the ladies of the planning committee made my job so much easier, and I appreciate you all. I'm excited to hear what God does in you through the things He taught you this weekend!

Union Church - you are a joy!

Be Still Retreat...Day 2

If you heard the podcast yesterday, you heard us rave about the best. cinnamon. roll. we. have. ever. eaten. in. our. lives.

I felt you might want to see it:

And that picture does not even do the goodness justice. And this was how our Saturday began at the women's retreat. Our first glimpse of the food delights we would get to experience as the weekend unfolded.

And to accompany said best. cinnamon. roll. ever, there was also a beautiful sunrise hitting the trees by the lake. Oh, be still my soul.

I spoke twice on Saturday, and the first session was right after breakfast. It was the hardest of the four sessions to deliver {just heavy in topic}, but God was gracious to give me strength and to keep the ladies awake after that breakfast!

After that session, the ladies had some breakout sessions to attend, and Ryan and I took some time to decompress by exploring the beautiful grounds!

We enjoyed lunch and had the afternoon free to do whatever we wanted. Ryan took a nap, and I visited some sessions to see what the ladies were up to!

 Ryan and I took another stroll and had some afternoon coffee before the official group photo shoot!

Guess who was the photographer for that?

One wonderful group to serve:

We ate dinner together and enjoyed a STUNNING sunset on our way to the evening session:

Ryan prayed my tired voice through the evening session, and it went really well! And this first picture...oh, I love it.

Saturday evening was also when I got to hang out with several of the ladies at the book table - and get a few pictures with them!

 Anna was a little excited to get an autographed book! {Thanks for letting me borrow your picture, Anna!!}

And Ryan even got asked to sign a book!

It was such a good day. I was so grateful for all the prayers, for my voice holding up, and for God moving the way He did in those ladies' lives! I love watching it take place!!!!!