The Shafferland Shuffle

Last week of March!! Is it spring break week where you live? If so, I hope you're getting to enjoy warmth! :)

* Last Sunday was the height of rest around here - for everyone! Naps, reading, scrapbooking, just enjoying the day. The only thing that would have made it better was a nice, long walk!

* Monday we woke up to crazy rain/storms, which is, I suppose, appropriate for the first official day of spring. Also exciting markers of the first official day of spring? Buds on trees (I'd so feared our pretty white flowering tree started too early and would die off when the freeze returned) and free ice cream cones from Dairy Queen! We got the new guy when we went, which I knew would either result in extra small cones or extra big ones. We lucked out! :)

* Tuesday was another therapy day for Mom, and she's doing really well! I attended, like always and helped by drinking coffee and watching. (Don't you wish I could assist in all your endeavors?) I go because I have SUCH A CRUSH on the guy who does her therapy. I did some child-care that night, and then enjoyed the most amazing sunset. I was so happy to see it! I miss pretty sunsets.

* Wednesday was a long, hard day here in Shafferland. Hard conversations and lots of prayer. I should clarify that we had hard days independently, which is awkward, because then we were both too tired to really pick each other up very well! That evening, Ryan went to the garage to keep working on the cabinets and pray and I spent some time reading Scripture and praying. (And crying in the bathroom. Full disclosure. LOL.) We weren't so sorry to see Wednesday go.

* Thursday morning I had to get our tires rotated, and I totally forgot to take my book to read while I waited! So I had a stare-down with the tires. They won. I got a beautiful surprise in the mail when a friend sent me a subscription to the Magnolia Journal! :) That was such fun. And at the end of the day? Got to hang out with the kiddos I've been watching some. It was fun!

* Friday I spent most of the day in the kitchen, baking meals for our friends and family who had surgery lately. It was so much fun to put together a little blessing basket for them, and then when Ryan got off work, we went on a delivery tour! We ate our own dinner so early and so fast that we were kind of hungry, so Ryan made a bowl of popcorn. It turned out to be a REALLY BIG BOWL. we ate every last bit. Don't tell.

* When we woke up yesterday morning, neither of us felt really great. Not full-on sick, but just worn out. So Ryan went to work, and I got busy around the house, and then GUESS WHO CAME TO HANG OUT FOR THE WHOLE DAY???? If you guessed our Phoebe-girl, you'd be right! I felt more justified resting on the couch with her in my lap! :) Always a treat to have her!

The Saturday Six

One.

Listen here...

This week I had the pleasure of welcoming my real-life friend Sarah Albert on The Conversation Cafe. Sarah is the one that coached me through the 21 Day Fix, and she is also the one who taught the canvas class at my mom's birthday party last summer! She is also an artist and has recently developed a 5 video series on cultivating a more meaningful prayer life. We talked all about prayer and she has great ideas for getting your kids fully involved in prayer time, even from a young age! Take a listen to her thoughts!

Two.

In the podcast, Sarah talks about the prayer beads her family uses to keep their focus on prayer and to help their minds from wandering to other subjects. If you like to craft, you can make one, of course, but if you don't have time or creative talent, Sarah does have those sets of beads for sale! 

Three.

I might be leaving this one here more for myself than for anyone else! {Hey, it's my blog! I can do that!} Found this handy post with a lonnnnnnnnnnnng list of tutorials for using PicMonkey. I use it for all the collages on the Shafferland Shuffle, and for any other photo that I edit beyond cropping. But I am certain there are a million ways to use it beyond what I know, so I'm going to check these out! But for those of you who also use PicMonkey (or who don't, but are about to start!), here you go! In related news, I'm so sad that PicMonkey recently changed a lot of free features to be paid-only features. Some of my favorites are off-limits to me now. Boo.

Four.

You know I love a good home tour!! Know what else I love? Home office tour! Author Deborah Raney shared this post this week that lets you peek into her writing space. And she's a coffee addict like I am! Beautiful little space. I always love seeing what inspires people to do whatever they do - whether it's writing or something else.

Five.

 A thousand times YES to this post by Lisa Bevere! While I continue to declare I AM NOT OLD, I will say I am old enough that I have a definite appreciation now for realizing that seasons that seem like a waste are really just preparation. Sure, I'm still eager to get to "the good stuff" of what I'm hoping to see realized in my life, but the steps that take me from here to there matter so much. I'm living IN the reality of how years that led up to now prepared me for now. Read Lisa's thoughts! Truth!!!!!

Six.

Source

This week, I had the chance to read a book that offered me the unexpected. It was a two-fer. I went in expecting to read a story about the life of an extraordinary young woman, and I did just that. The unexpected bonus was getting to read a gentle but clear challenge to change my perception of just about everyone I encounter. Hadn't expected that part, but my goodness, am I ever grateful!

Let me back up and tell you about the story part. A Different Beautiful is (in part) Courtney Westlake's story of her daughter, Brenna, who was born with a rare skin condition called Harlequin ichthyosis. Though they weren't sure she would survive long after birth, Brenna is now a thriving preschooler with a spunky personality and quite a zest for life. But that life has not been void of challenges.

Brenna's skin requires careful attention to make sure it stays hydrated and free of infection, which means all the things the majority of us take for granted as routine requires much additional work for Courtney and her husband. The laundry, the bathing, the application of particular lotions - even caring for her hair and nails - all of it looks different for them. Since I've never known anyone with this particular condition, reading about it and understanding what their normal looks like was very educational and interesting.

But although she does want to educate people and every writer wants to be interesting, those two goals weren't the end for Courtney. Brenna's birth changed more than Courtney's routine. It changed her perspective. She looks at beauty differently now, and I would dare to say she looks at it the way Jesus does. Before Brenna was born, Courtney dreamed about what moms expecting baby girls do: dressing them up, mani/pedi dates, prom hair, and more. Those things seemed to represent beauty. But now she sees beauty in a whole new way, everywhere she looks, and she aches for others to do the same.

And for this reader: mission accomplished. My mind is spinning with new thoughts that I'd never considered before. Understanding how my reactions affect those in front of me. Understanding how a change within my mind doesn't mean much if it doesn't change my interactions with others. Understanding in new ways the beauty of a soul and relationships and a mind focused outward. Understanding of the importance of treasuring God's gifts to me, even if they don't fit the world's "normal" mold.

I love stories. Courtney probably could have told me Brenna's story in the pages of this book and I would have walked away satisfied with the time I invested in reading it and encouraged others to read it too. But I am thankful she didn't stop with a story. I'm thankful she took time to gently teach through the means of the story. I'm thankful she challenged my thinking in how I view myself and everyone around me.

* The author provided me with a complimentary copy of this book , but all opinions are my own. *

Letting Go of Routine

Ryan and I are very structured people, and we don't apologize for that. People ask us how we "do it all," and, well, first of all, we don't, but secondly, we do as much as we can because we're organized. We plan way ahead, we keep a color-coded calendar, we tend not to waste time, and we work hard.

Sometimes I envy those who fly through life by the seat of their pants, because organized living is work. It's getting up every day and staring at all that needs to be done and sliding tasks into time slots so by day's end, the balance of work and fun has been accomplished. Ahhhh, to get up at will and lay on the couch and read a book all day...right?

I don't think there's anything wrong with being organized, just like I don't think there's anything wrong with being a go-with-the-flow sort of soul. I believe the Lord made us with a beautiful array of personalities, and if we all approached life with the same plan, we wouldn't end up with nearly as many good stories, now would we?

But I do think it's wrong of us (organized and laid back alike) to hold so tightly to "our way" that we can't try life any other way, even for a minute. It's been an area of conviction for me lately.

Yesterday one of my friends texted me early in the morning and asked if I would pray for her son, because his class had a substitute teacher, and the change in routine created anxiety for him. And as I stared at that request on my phone, God nudged me and reminded me I knew a measure of how that little guy felt. My own week, which had been carefully scripted in full color code, had been changed multiple times. Extra appointments. New responsibilities. Canceled events. Filling in, helping out, meeting needs: all good things, but all things that changed the plans for the days and caused me to push aside my own work. And some of that work really needed to be done.

Yes. I definitely could feel a bit of the kiddo's pain. I decided to use the changes in my schedule as a great reminder to pray for this little guy while I prayed for improvement in my own attitude. I prayed that we both would learn to let go of our needs for routine and learn to accept the missions and lessons God had for us throughout our day. Missions and lessons that perhaps could only come through a change in plans.

 Chances are good, I'll always be a scheduled soul. Ryan probably will be too, and the fact that we are like-minded in that approach to life is one of the reasons we work together so well. (In full representation, Ryan handles changes to the day with a bit more grace than I do.) But I'm learning to loosen my grip a little, and I'm trying to embrace the beauty God has hidden in those unexpected changes.

The Saturday Six

One.

Listen to the Interview.

This week I talked with Kelly O'Dell Stanley (a fellow Hoosier!!), who just released a new book called Designed to Pray. It's a study/workbook/prayer guide to help you creatively find new ways to approach prayer. Prayer seems to be a theme that keeps popping up for me, and I'm learning a whole lot about it right now, so I'm happy to be able to pass that on to you! This book is different from the one on prayer I featured last month, and both have great ideas. But if you have a few art-loving genes in your soul, you'll especially want to take a listen to Kelly's interview. BONUS! Learn more about this book at the end of this post, and I even have a copy to give away! :)

Two.

 Some of you might have heard this story and some of you probably didn't - and I only bring it up because I'm so impressed with the way it's been handled. Several weeks ago, a high school student posted a photo of himself and a friend with a couple of Colts cheerleaders, who had come to the high school for an event, and he made a racial slur about one of them. Not the best press for the high school, but I have to say, every single article I've read about the cheerleader and how she handled it has really impressed me. Read this, and pay particular attention to what she says about how all of us who are adults have a responsibility to teach kids good values and forgiveness by participating ourselves. Convicting stuff - at least for me.

Three.

So apparently, two years ago, right about this time, we were knee {waist?} deep in snow and Polar Vortexy goodness. I. Do. Not. Miss. That. I remember that winter and allllllllllllllll the tears I shed getting back and forth to work every day. Oh, those two hour drives! BLECH! Anyway. In my Facebook timehop this week, I found an article someone sent me back then of these lighthouses covered in snow and ice. Still fascinates me to no end. Check it out!

Four.

Speaking of snow, I loved this post by a blogger named Elizabeth Lang Thompson. She lives in the south and writes about how southerners do snow days instead of foraging ahead in the peril of snow. I feel I would make a good southerner. Bring me some sweet tea and let me have my snow day, thankyouverymuch.

Five.

I cannot imagine putting the amount of time and work into a project that is described in this post by Thistlewood Farm's KariAnne, but oh. my. goodness. Coolest keepsake ever. All of it. The book, the family tree, the memorabilia. It's amazing. Read up and enjoy.

Six.

Source

As I promised at the beginning of the post, I will tell you more about Kelly O'Dell Stanley's book, Designed to Pray, and then stick around, because I have a giveaway of this book to share with one of you!

Kelly O'Dell Stanley is a graphic designer and writer, and her two loves collided in this book. She had previously written a book on prayer called Praying Upside Down, and after completing that book, she began to have ideas for an interactive workbook type project on prayer that she hoped would help people become closer to the Lord through creative approaches to prayer.

This book isn't really a "read from cover to cover" kind of book, although I read it that way so I could tell you about it! It's a book you'll want to approach in a slow, daily kind of pace until you've worked your way through every single page. It's designed as an 8 week study on prayer, with new activities to try every single day.

She talks about everything from trying actual new postures of prayer to learning new ways to remember (consistently) to pray for requests that come your way to suiting up in the full armor of God as you pray, and over 50 additional ideas in between.

There might be some exercises that don't zing you, and that's okay. Her goal isn't for every single activity to resonate with every single reader. Her goal is to help you uncover new ideas you might not have considered and to unlock some prayerful creativity in you.

And if you're nervous about trying a book like this because you don't really have creative genes within you, NEVER FEAR! She already thought of that and designed each exercise to be a door-opener for the creative and well-equipped for the creatively challenged. You'll find enough tools on each page to be able to do some version of the exercise, even if you can't draw or think outside the box very well.

(OH! And if you are into the coloring craze, you'll find more than one opportunity to use that outlet in this book!)

You'll want to hear Kelly's interview above to learn more about her heart behind this book, but one thing she mentioned as she talked to me is that God is THE CREATOR, so to approach Him with reverent creativity is to approach one of the core pieces of who He is!

Though this book is geared for women (and is actually one of the resources on the new Belong tour), I think it would work well for teens, too, so if you're mentoring a young woman or have a daughter you're trying to find some common ground with on the topic of teaching prayer, this might be the ticket!

GIVEAWAY: I have one copy of this book to give away to one of YOU! To enter, just leave a comment telling me your biggest obstacle in your prayer life. (And if you comment anonymously, make sure you leave your contact info so I can reach you if I draw your name!) I'll leave this contest open until next Friday night, January 20th, at midnight, and then I'll post the winner's name on next week's Saturday 6!

** I received two copies of Designed to Pray at no cost to me from Tyndale Momentum and the Blythe Daniel Agency. All opinions on the book in this written review and in the podcast are my own. *

The Saturday Six

One. 

Click here to listen

Guess what!? I recorded a new Conversation Cafe this week! :) Last Saturday, I told you about a book I'd just read, called Pray A to Z by Amelia Rhodes, and this week I had the chance to talk with her about the book! She was fun and easy to talk to, and I learned even more about her unique approach to prayer from talking with her, so here's a bonus podcast for you! Enjoy!

Two.

Details here

Speaking of Amelia and Pray A to Z, there's actually a big giveaway going on right now {until December 20th} if you'd like to enter. All the details are found here, but the grand prize is a copy of the book, a set of prayer cards {like Amelia talks about in the podcast}, a custom wood sign made by one of Amelia's friends, and a prayer journal. Pretty fun! :) 

Three.

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You know I'm always looking for creative, affordable date ideas. Ran across this one involving a dollar store trip. Love this idea!!!


Four.

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I needed a couple of printables for frames in our house that were still sporting fall art, and I loved this one I found on Pinterest. I love that it's simple, has a great message, and didn't take a bunch of ink to print. HA!!!

Five.

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Anyone else out there ever secretly dream to own a Christmas village? I have always thought it would be SO GREAT to own one, but where in the world would I put THAT!?!?? {I went on a Christmas tour of homes one time, and the owner had a huge village that she had acquired one piece at a time from a nail client. That was the client's gift to her each Christmas...a new village piece. When she and her husband built a new home, she specifically built an area for the village on a stairway landing. It was stunning.} Anyway. Most of us do not have money or space for a whole village, but I do love THIS idea from the Nester!

Six.

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Several weeks ago, I happened upon a new Bible study, just released from Moody Publishers, that offered a 10 week study of Acts 1-12. An Unexplainable Life by author and Bible study teacher Erica Wiggenhorn intrigued me, so I asked to see it. I didn't want to just flip through it and write a review. I wanted to live in its pages, learn from it, and get a full opinion on this study.

I should confess that I'm kind of a stickler about Bible studies. If you know me, you know I do love a good Beth Moore study, complete with all the in-depth homework. I am not a fan of a fluffy Bible study. But I will say that a good Beth Moore study does demand a lot of time, if done properly {and if you're going to invest time in a Bible study, you should do it properly}.

I was a combination of thrilled and relieved that Erica's study was nowhere near fluffy. She worked hard, did research, cross-referenced Scripture passages, and did a magnificent job of introducing important truths about the passion and persecution of the early church. {And I will add, for those of you who are not entirely thrilled about long hours of homework, that these daily study sessions are not so long that they're daunting. Manageable without being fluffy.}

Erica's study focuses on the unexplainable events of the early church: the change, courage, mission, vision, unity {and more} of that first group of Believers. She brought out points I'd never before considered and asked hard, convicting questions that sometimes I didn't have ready answers for.

I appreciated her theology, and I also appreciated the real-life stories she included, making it easy to relate to what she has to say.

I will also say that while this book is written as a women's study {and Erica's ministry is focused on women}, it is written in a broad enough sense that this easily fits men, too. When Ryan and I started leading a Bible study this fall, I easily recommended this as the book we should study. For the past several weeks, a group of both men and women have gathered to study and discuss this book, and we're learning so much from our discussion together.

I am so glad I studied this book and have learned important truths to carry with me as I push forward in my own walk with the Lord. I appreciate Erica's hard work, her heart for ministry, and her insights into the early church. If you're looking for a study to do heading into the new year - whether on your own or in a group - I heartily recommend this one!

** Moody Publishers provided a copy of this study to me at no charge. All opinions are my own! **

The Saturday Six

One.

Ryan and I have been praying all week for the people of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. My goodness! What a devastating situation! While we have only been there once {and I know some people vacation here all. the. time.}, it was hard to see the pictures of places we had been, that held such happy memories for us, and see the ruin left behind. I know the media hasn't covered the story very intensely, but keep these folks in your prayers! {Here and here are a few of our memories from our trip to this area!}


Two.

Sometimes you need an ornament, but you can't find one that fits, so you have to start customizing! I wanted ornaments for our tree that reflected our house sale/purchase this year, but even after scouring the internet, I came up short on moving-related ornaments. So I found an Etsy shop that made two ornaments for me - one for each house. The seller was really great to work with and even shipped my orders together and refunded me the additional shipping costs. I'm so pleased with the ornaments {in cost and quality} and wanted to recommend her in case anyone needs an ornament made! Lily Reed is the name of the shop! :)

Three.

It's a short little blog post. Doesn't even have a picture to go with it. But it packs a powerful little message. So you should read it. Wise words from Caroline Rothschild.

Four.

Source

'Tis the season of every man for himself, right? Survival of the fittest among shoppers and drivers and...what if we paused to be kind? Intentionally kind? This post offers some suggestions for being kind in the smallest of ways, but it might just make a huge impact!    

Five. 

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If you are looking for some not-your-mama's homemade Christmas ornaments for your tree, check out this post by the talented KariAnne. I think some of them {hello, spring snowflake, I'm looking at you!} are just crazy adorable.  

Six.

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A couple of weeks ago, I read an interview on my friend Sarah Forgrave's blog about Amelia Rhodes' new book called Pray A to Z. I was so taken with the interview that I knew I had to read the book!


Pray A to Z is an unusual book. It's not a story that you read from cover to cover. In fact, if you're not really a fan of reading at all, you'll like this book, because you can take it one short page at a time. One per day if you'd like. This book is a guide. Who among us hasn't promised to pray for someone and then...we forget...or we don't know what to say...or our prayers turn into a long list of "God bless {fill in 105 blanks}." Maybe we've even backed off from praying like we should because we don't feel effective in our prayers.

That's where this book can help. Amelia has taken the alphabet, something most of us can safely say we know by heart, and she's made lists of five categories we can pray for associated with each letter. And the last two of each of the five categories are positive, uplifting things that end our prayers on a high note of praise. {Because let's face it: praying for the many hurts and wounds can really pull us down, can't it?}

For example, let's just take the letter S, because, you know, SHAFFER, and as you pray through that letter, you'll pray over singles, sexuality, suicide, strength, and shepherd. For the singles, you'll pray for those in your life who are single and need support and purpose, purity and encouragement. Amelia gives you a verse to guide your prayers, ideas of things to pray {like the words I just mentioned} and even a written prayer to further trigger your thoughts. When praying over sexuality, you'll pray for your own purity, for your family's protection, and for the community around you. You'll pray for those being sexually abused or those who are still traumatized from when it happened to them years ago. {There's more, but that gives you an idea.}

When you get to the "prayers of praise" part {still staying with the letter S}, you'll praise God for the strength He gives each day and you'll call to mind situations in the past when He offered you strength in exchange for your weakness.

As I read through the book, I was pleasantly surprised to see how Amelia's guide set my mind free to think of many people in my circle of friends {immediate and far-reaching} who fall into the categories from A to Z. And sometimes the suggestions she gave were ones I wouldn't have thought to pray over, so that was really helpful to me.

If prayer is something you're hoping to focus on in the new year, this would be a really practical guide in helping you stay on track in your prayers. There's plenty of room on the page to make notes, write names, mark answers, etc.

I also think {age appropriately of course} that this method is a great way to teach your kids how to guide their prayer lives. Obviously you'd want to be careful on some topics, but I know my mom used the alphabet method to teach me memory verses, and it was so helpful. I think teaching prayer the same way could be incredibly powerful.

I loved this book, I think it's a helpful guide, a good gift idea, easy to read, practical, and perfect for new Christians and seasoned Believers alike!

* Worthy Publishing provided a copy of this book to me at no charge. All opinions are my own!*

The Decade Before

Depending on what time of day you're reading this, you can close your eyes {which makes it hard it read, I know} and imagine your two favorite Shaffers cooped up in a car trekking to Florida for a WEDDING. Because four years ago right now, we were in the middle of doing just that.

 We played games and drank extraordinarily large amounts of coffee and pulled over at a rest stop for a quick 3 hour nap before resuming our trek.

And if you're reading this in the late morning or around noon, you can imagine us stuck in traffic for three hours, with no access to a bathroom or lunch. You can imagine a bride-to-be crying because she thinks all her cakes are going to melt in the backseat when she is literally less than five miles from her destination.

If you're reading this in the afternoon, you can imagine us taking our first peek at the beach where, in one day, we would exchange vows, or you can imagine me curled up on a bed trying to sleep off the sick yuck that came over me after 24 hours in a car with little sleep.

{You can also read all those fun stories here if you'd like.}

If you're reading this in the evening, you can imagine us at our "rehearsal dinner," which was a gathering of the family and friends who had come to town, all packed into the little condo where my parents were staying, eating delicious snacks prepared by a handful of my friends back at home.

It was a busy December 1, four years ago now.

But you know what else? There was a busy decade leading up to that.

This week, I organized my collection of journals, which date back to 1993 in all their embarrassing glory. As I put them all in date order, I opened one at random and read Ryan an entry from the summer of 1994, when I finally got my driver's license.

I say "finally," because I was the one teenage weirdo who actually did not CARE to get a license. Driving petrified me. I got my license because my mother {wisely} dragged me to the branch to take the test before my test waiver ran out. {I don't know if they even still do those anymore, but back then, if you had a high enough score in driver's ed, you could skip the driving portion of the test and just take the written portion. But the waiver only lasted so long, and mine was about to expire.}

I read Ryan the journal entry about how I'd been so nervous, I was shaking, but I got my license and it would not need renewed until 1999. And by that time, I wrote, I was sure I'd be married anyway and have a new last name for the license.

1999...2012...you know. Similar.

So I journaled about the happenings of my life until 2002, and actually I kept right on "regular" journaling even then, but I added a prayer journal to the mix in 2002.

And for the next ten years, God heard more than a few prayers. This many, actually:

{Overlook the hair. I hadn't prepped for a photo opp that day.}

These books hold my prayers, my wrestling, my questions, my faith, my offerings, my failures - all as I prayed for a husband I had yet to meet.

In these pages, God began to mold me in earnest to become the woman I needed to be. He had to do a lot of bending and breaking of my stubborn will, say many no's to my begging requests, and teach me much about Who He is and who He made me to be.

These ten years, in all fairness, weren't my favorite. And I'm sure some of the words attest to that. But these years were so necessary. Such foundations were laid in this time. And the girl who took the longest.car.ride.ever.to.Florida could only do that with such confidence because of the ten years represented in these fifteen books.

December 1, 2012 was a whirlwind of a dream come true. {Not the traffic jam or the feeling sick part. But the "carriage ride" to my wedding and the beauty of being surrounded by a representation of those who loved me.} But dreams come true because of the years leading up to them when God molds His children.

Don't resist the molding. {And I remind myself of this as I say it to you.} He has His holy reasons. You can trust them to lead to beauty.

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!!!!!