The Saturday Six

One.

A few weeks ago, I told you that I'd started doing the PhedoraFit workouts. I loved them because they were short and easy to do every day. And a month into it, she quit publishing new ones! BOO!!! I was just getting into my groove! So I've decided to try some of Katie Farrell's workouts from the Dashing Dish site. They're nowhere near as short or as easy, but they are GOOD!

Two.

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Natasha has been blogging about the different provinces in Canada, which I've loved reading - because she makes history and geography FUN. :) This week her focus was on Prince Edward Island. I have this one on my list of places to visit someday - hopefully with my friend Julie - because we love Anne of Green Gables!

Three.

As a bit of an...ahem...voracious journal-keeper, I LOVED this. THIS RIGHT HERE is why I've written about far too much of the mundane. And with good reason!

Four.

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I read this article this week - about single people in the church. Even though I'm no longer single, I'm learning that my heart is still SO TENDER toward those who are single. Whether you are single and longing to be married or you're single and perfectly content to remain that way, this is a good read. I'm still chewing on it.

Five.

Speaking of chewing on it...this week in church, we studied the many different ways people study the Bible. The speaker related the differences to animals {early bird, night owl etc.}. I learned that I am both a cow {chewing on the things I study for long periods of time} and a bat {learning by hearing and bouncing ideas off others.} In honor of this, I am now named the "MooBat." Not an attractive combo, by a long shot, but apparently accurate.

Six.


Living Proof Live | Ft. Wayne from LifeWay Women on Vimeo.
Loved this video that came out from last Saturday's Living Proof Life Simulcast with Beth Moore. This is a taste of the day!! 

Buckeye Brownies

Every year on Valentine's Day, I would dream about a sweet someday out there...when I would have a Valentine of my very own. Some years those dreams were kind of bitter and longing...and I'd wear black and eat a Blizzard to make it through. Some years I pushed myself to be a better person and I used the opportunity to love on others. But regardless of my mood that day, I always wondered what that Valentine's Day would feel like.

By the time it rolled around, Ryan and I were already married {for two months!} and we were a few days away from going on our first marriage retreat. We decided we would save our eating-out pennies for the trip {and besides, who wants to deal with the crowds on the day itself, right?} - and for our first Valentine's Day, we would cook for each other and eat at home. Ryan would grill the main course, and I would concoct dessert.

We are, you remember, commuters, so I couldn't do anything too extravagant. Not unless we wanted to eat at midnight. {No thank you.} I found this recipe on Pinterest and made it for our first Valentine's Day.

We may or may not have taken the entire 9x13 with us on the marriage retreat and eaten a significant amount of it whilst in our hotel room.

These are SO GOOD. They are ridiculously easy, as well, but you do need to make sure you have a chunk of time to make them, because each layer needs a little time to cool. Totally worth it, though. It's just layers of happiness in a pan.

Buckeye Brownies

* 1 brownie mix {and whatever the mix calls for to make the brownies}
* 2 cups powdered sugar
* 1/2 cup plus 6 Tablespoons butter, softened
* 1 cup peanut butter
* 6 ounce package semi-sweet chocolate chips

Prepare brownie mix according to package directions. Bake and let cool. Mix powdered sugar, 1/2 cup of butter and 1 cup peanut butter and spread over cooled brownies. Refrigerate for an hour. Melt 6 tablespoons of butter and chocolate chips together in sauce pan on the stove {low heat}. Spread on top of peanut butter mixture and let cool until chocolate sets up. Cool and serve.

A Few Tips

* I use the cheapest brownie mix I can find and it works really well. If you wanted to dress this recipe up even more, you could use a fun brownie mix that has chocolate chunks in it, or add nuts or toffee bits or anything else just to step it up a notch.

* I have made this with both creamy and crunchy peanut butter and I prefer the crunchy. I like the little bit of crunch in all the smoothness of the other ingredients. You can choose what you like best!

* I completely melt the butter for the middle layer just to make it easier to mix.

* If you do not remember to cool the brownies before you add the peanut butter layer, you'll have trouble spreading the peanut butter evenly, and brownies will peel up. Not that this has happened to me.

* You could use milk chocolate chips, but MAN this would be a crazy rich recipe if you did.

* I would not recommend refrigerating these overnight once they are made, because if you try to cut the brownies when the top chocolate layer is cold, it will crack. Again. Not that I know this from experience.

* Cut them small. Then you can eat more and not feel as guilty. HA!!!!

A Peek Behind the Scenes

Oh you guys!!!! Thank you SO MUCH for your prayers yesterday! It was my first day to host Mid-Morning - all by myself - for a whole hour. God was so gracious. Is it okay if I give you a peek behind the scenes of the day?

Ryan surprised me by going to Starbucks before work and getting me my favorite nonfat raspberry white chocolate mocha, and then he wrote encouraging messages all over the cup. The one on top made me giggle.

{It's a nod to the esurance commercial where the guy says "hashbrown" instead of "hashtag."}

The coffee was long gone by the time I got to work, but I took it inside with me anyway so I could have it in front of me while I hosted.

Yesterday was a beautifulexample of the times God sends the perfect Scripture verses my way. Between my devotions in the morning and the verses that filled our Twitter feed at the start of the day, I felt fed and filled.

...But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth...For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control...I know Whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me...All that we have accomplished, you have done for us...See, I have told you these things, so that in Me, you may have peace...He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will bring you quietness with His love. He will delight in you with shouts of joy...What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us when we pray?...Trust the Lord and His mighty power...I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you are not consumed...

Isn't that a great love letter from the Lord?

My friend Amy came back and prayed with me before the show, and before I knew it, it was time to set everything up in the studio:

 My guest was Annie Downs - and I was certain I had nothing to fear with her as a guest. I knew enough about her to know she'd be fun and engaging and the hour would probably scurry by before I knew it.

I was nervous about making things sound anywhere near as smooth as Lynne does. {She is really good at her job.} I thought maybe if I wore her glasses...

That was a no. Couldn't see to read. And I had a lot to read. NERD ALERT:

Yes. Those were my notes.

But the thing about live radio is...eventually you can't procrastinate anymore. Eventually the morning show ends and the music runs out and your theme is playing and you have to just turn on the mic and say...

Good morning and welcome to Mid-Morning! I'm Bekah Shaffer.

 And then you see pictures and you remember {AGAIN} why you have forbidden yourself to go without bangs.

That NOSE!!! It does not end!!! {And no, I do not have a bald patch. Lighting.} Sent this picture to Ryan and he asked if I was having a heart attack.

Pretty much.

Radio doesn't work without talking with your hands. Apparently, anyway.

My engineer: Jim Barron. He did a great job. So weird to not be in that seat for these shows. But he did so well.

 And he pays attention! Who doesn't love that?

Annie was a DELIGHT. Seriously. A delight. She was funny. Engaging. Challenging. Warm. Inviting. And so calming to this host.

Thank you SO MUCH for praying for and with me. It was a good day. Today I co-host BLT with Jim, and I'm looking forward to it!

But first: the bangs are coming back.

Remember That Time...

Yesterday I told you about my day at the Beth Moore Simulcast. Today I'd like to tell you the OTHER half of that story.

Cindy, Marsha and I went to the Coliseum on Friday afternoon to get the WBCL table all set up and ready to go. There weren't very many people there that day {certainly not in comparison to the 11,000 the next day!!} and we were tucked away in a corner of the second floor, arranging and rearranging the table to our liking.

Our table was directly across from the women's bathroom so while Marsha and Cindy wrestled with some tiny lights and fall decor, I took a quick bathroom break.

I'd heard the Coliseum had just renovated all their bathrooms, and my goodness...they were fancy for an arena! Nicer than our bathroom at home, actually. {And considerably more toilets.}

I admired the size of the bathroom stall...and reached to unlock the door.

And it did not unlock.

I twisted it to the right, and it snapped hard and fast into place. I twisted it to the left, and the latch screeched to a halt exactly halfway through. No matter how much I pushed and pulled, rattled and shook, twisted and turned, that door would not unlock.


I don't know if you've ever been locked in a bathroom at an arena...an empty arena at that...but it's an interesting feeling. And by interesting, of course, I mean panic-inducing. I pulled my phone from my pocket and texted to Cindy, "Remember that time when I got locked in the bathroom?" - but she and Marsha were still wrestling the tiny battery-operated lights, and she didn't hear her phone.

Several moments later I finally got the door unlocked, and I ran to the {fancy pants} sink to wash my hands before escaping the bathroom. I don't care how nice and new it is...I had no desire to spend the night there.

The next morning, before the place flooded with women, I went back into the bathroom to try the lock. I'm not an idiot. I didn't go all the way in and lock it behind me. I stood with the door open and twisted the lock. It seemed to be moving better, so I went back to my post at the table.

An usher came by and I mentioned the debacle from the day before. She went inside and checked it out, before declaring it worked just fine. I tried not to raise an eyebrow and went about greeting the women at my table.

Halfway through the first session, when the halls were nearly empty, I stood alone behind the table. Beth's voice resonated from inside, and as I strained to hear her, a woman rushed out of the bathroom, came over to me and said with wide eyes, "Someone just got stuck in the bathroom and another lady had to let her out by using a coin in the outside of the lock."

I looked at her and said, "I know exactly what stall you mean." I went in search of the usher, who radioed for help. They had to shut down the entire bathroom while a handyman went inside with his toolbox to fix it.

So good that happened during a slow time. I can't imagine telling 50 women in a bathroom line that they'll have to go elsewhere while the stall lock gets fixed!

And in unrelated news...

...I sneaked in to take a picture or two of the worship team while they sang. I felt a hand on my shoulder and an usher pulled me aside. When she saw my station lanyard, she let me go, but she urged me to hurry and said, "They don't want you in the aisle. Fire hazard."

Now I've been called a lot of things in my day, but fire hazard is a new one. Exactly how much weight have I gained??

Let me tell YOU. That bathroom lock is a way worse fire hazard than me snapping a couple of pictures!

This concludes story time with Fire Hazard #1. 

Beth Moore!

So you know I love me some Beth Moore. You can only imagine my sheer and utter DELIGHT earlier this year, when I found out she was coming to Fort Wayne!!!!! {Overuse of exclamation points. Don't care.}

If you're not familiar with Beth, she speaks in cities around the country throughout the year, but during one of them each year, her teachings are simulcast around the nation {and even world}. This year, not only did she visit Fort Wayne, but she brought her SIMULCAST to Fort Wayne!

I was really excited to find out she was coming our way - and excited to find out I was assigned to work it for the station!

Friday afternoon, Marsha, Cindy and I went to the Coliseum to set up the WBCL table - which was right by the women's restroom. HA! Lots of people got to hang out with us while they waited in line!

 
Saturday morning, I got up at 5:00 and was on the road by 6:15 to get to the Coliseum before the doors opened. That is really early on a Saturday, if you're not sure!!

We had so many visitors at our table - which was fun. I loved running into some of my friends throughout the day. {Thanks for finding us in the big old building!!!}

My friend Faith was there...and the usher asked if she was my sister. It's been a while since we got that question!

And my new friend, Elisa. She and I met back during SHARE in January and I've just loved getting to know her!

Also TIA!!! Tia, it was a joy to meet you. Thanks for the kind words you always leave here for me - and for stopping by to meet me!

My hilarious friend Kerri stopped in to say hi. She is SERIOUSLY one of the funniest people I know. And her daughter seems to be shaping up to be just as funny.

There were many more, but I didn't get to have pictures with everyone {boo}. And there were many I didn't know, but I loved talking with them anyway!

OH! Before I forget - also got to share the day with my beautiful mother-in-law, Nita, and my good friend Ronda. And I do believe these two are now new friends, and I just love that more than I can tell you! 

And I got to work with Cindy and Marsha - which I don't get to do very often. And I really enjoy them so much. They made the day so much fun!

When we started the day, the arena looked like this:

By the time the first session began, it had been transformed:

11,000 women worshiping together...is a beautiful sound. I didn't get to hear much of the music, because I was still working at the table, but I will tell you that the strains of Great is Thy Faithfulness made it into the hall and almost undid me. I love that song {had it in our wedding!} and I loved hearing the ladies sing it.

Travis Cottrell is her worship leader, and he and the whole team did a fabulous job {from what I could hear in the hall}!

And then Beth took the stage to teach. I didn't get to hear much of her first two sessions, but her last one struck me straight in the heart {more on that another day}. I appreciate her no-nonsense approach to Scripture, but also her incredibly compassionate heart toward all women. And as a bonus? She is just flat out FUNNY.

The sessions wrapped up in the late afternoon, and we tore down our table and drove home. {I think it took as long to get out of the parking lot and away from the immediate area of the Coliseum as it did to actually drive all the way back to Marion! Ha!

This day will long stay with me; it was an honor to be part of it, and God did some pivotal things in my heart through Beth's teaching and through the women I met. Long day, but thankful for it!

Random Prayer Requests

Wondered if it would be okay if I updated you on a few prayer requests as we start out this week!

I haven't talked about the house {any of them, actually} lately, but we are still waiting for Ryan's house in Greentown to sell. We signed an offer two months ago, and it seems since that night passed, the poor buyers have been exhausting themselves jumping through hoop after hoop {after hoop times infinity, etc.} to satisfy the requirements. At this point, I pray as much for THEM as I do for anything else, because it has to be a thousand kinds of discouraging to want something so much and have to wait again and again. We are praying fervently that the process, however slowly it may be creeping, will continue to move forward without a hitch and we can close on this thing soon.

I know it is certainly sucking the life out of us, so I can only imagine what it is doing to the buyers. Everything else in our life is on hold until this house sells, so if you would like to pray with us, our current request is that the obstacles will be removed and the house will just SELL.

And then I have another little request for you.

If you listen to BLT, you already heard Lynne talk about this, but she's going to be off work for a couple of weeks. For some of those days that she's gone, we'll be airing encore shows, but for some of them, I'm doing my first ever "real" solo hosting.

Enter prayer request!!! :)

I'm really excited about this opportunity. I'm thankful Lynne and the guys trust me enough to set me free to try my hand at hosting - a total of five times - but at the same time, it's a huge responsibility. If you've never listened to Mid-Morning, you don't know that Lynne is pretty much the best host out there. She is poised and collected and able to multi-task. Very little shakes her. She is the picture of professionalism in what she does, and daring to sit in her seat for a few days is, in my book, very much like trying to fill in for David Phelps in the Vocal Band.

Which, for the record, I would never attempt to do.

Even though I know all the words.

So I'm understandably nervous. Here's my schedule of hosting, and if God brings the situation to your mind on any of those days, I'd welcome your prayers! And if you want to tune in for any of them, they air live from 10-11 a.m. ET on the respective days, and you can stream it here.

This Wednesday, September 17, I'll be interviewing Annie Downs about her book, Let's All Be Brave. Isn't THAT an appropriate topic for the first interview!? Annie is just about my age, and she's an author/speaker/blogger...and a great story-teller. I'm really excited to have her as my first guest, and I'm ALSO really excited about her book. It has challenged me already to step out and be braver than I think I can be, so I'm glad to get to chat with her about it.

Thursday, September 18, I'll be co-hosting BLT with Jim Barron from the morning show. I've actually done that a couple of times before, but it's been a while, so it still feels new. We're actually going to spend the hour talking about brave moments {following up from the interview with Annie}, so I'm excited to hear other people's brave moments!!

Monday, September 22, I'll be interviewing Josh and Shelly Buck. I went to college with them, and their story is just so big. They were married, the parents of two kids, and working in ministry when their third child, just a 3-month-old baby, died in an unexpected accident. Several months after her death, they were expecting again and went on a babymoon vacation, when another unexpected accident left Josh paralyzed. And months after that, they found themselves in another pit, this time from Josh's infidelity. God has healed and restored their marriage, and now they speak about the events of their lives, what they've learned in these painful trials, and how they've moved forward into a life they didn't expect.

Thursday, September 25, I'll be co-hosting BLT with Jim again, but this time I have a really special guest joining me in studio! You might have heard of him before:

YES! Ryan is joining me on air! How exciting is that!? We're going to talk about marriage - and I'm so glad he was able to take a day off work to spend time with me on the air! :)

And my last interview is Monday, September 29, when I'll interview Lisa Velthouse about her book, Craving Grace. Lisa and I were also in college together, though she was a little younger than I, and she is a fabulous writer. She actually wrote her first book IN college, but the second book, the one I'm talking with her about, is about how God's grace rescued her from the legalism that weighed down her life, her speaking and writing platform, and her heart. She blew me away with her writing, and I was really challenged to evaluate my own life and think about legalism vs. grace.

So that's it! Five shows. All very different. And I'm praying not only for things to go smoothly from a technical standpoint, but also for God to really speak to some hearts through these guests who have agreed to take time to share their stories!

I'll let you know how they go!!

Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday, as you now know, was the day Ryan headed out for his whitewater rafting trip with the guys. I tried SO HARD to be brave, but that pretty much failed by 8:30 in the morning. We enjoyed a coffee date in the cafe area before church, and then we sat together in church before I drove Ryan to Kokomo to drop him off for his trip. He and his friend Shawn {and six other guys} headed to West Virginia and were kind to send me pictures along the way, which so greatly helped. I headed to the home of one of my blognonymous friends who was sweet enough to occupy me for the day. May I add that sand is GREATLY therapeutic??

* Monday was our first full day of our married life to not see each other. And surprisingly, I handled it better than I thought I might. Ryan was a sweetheart and got up SUPER early to call me before I got ready for work, and he sent me tons of pictures and videos throughout the day. The only anxious time was waiting for him to be done with the actual rafting trip. When I got the thumbs up picture, I had a HUGE smile on my face. He had a blast, and after rafting, they went for a hike through some gorgeous country!! I kept busy at work and had dinner with one of my friends that night!

* Tuesday was t.h.e.  l.o.n.g.e.s.t.   d.a.y.   e.v.e.r. Seriously EVER. Ryan wasn't done adventuring yet. Tuesday was ziplining day! Treetops, cable bridges, cold sweats for this wife. :) He had a blast and then got in the car for the 8 hour drive back to me! I had dinner with my friend Lynn that evening, and as soon as I left her house, I sped {possibly literally} to Kokomo for the sweetest reunion!

* Ryan and I both took Wednesday off work - and it rained LIKE CRAZY the entire day, so it was pretty much the perfect day to be home! We got to sleep in and watch a LOT of TV and movies and just rest. We did venture out a couple of times for quick errands. The rain was CRAZY! {When you're under two awnings and it's still pouring on you, it's really raining.} After being angry with me for Ryan's absence, Braeya finally forgave me and sat on my lap for a while. RARE!

* Thursday morning it was back to work for us...sadly in the dark. Our cheery summer mornings have waned. :( After work, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for an early date night dinner, and then we came home to watch The Biggest Loser. I realize those last two things don't really match, but we did them anyway.

* This coming week, I'll be doing my very first solo-hosting of Mid-Morning {more about that tomorrow} and it was so strange to see my name entered in online for that first show!! That afternoon, some of us from the station went to set up for the Beth Moore Living Proof Life simulcast! We've been looking forward to this event all year and I was so excited that it was time to set up our booth!!

* Saturday morning I had to get up even earlier than normal to drive to Fort Wayne for the simulcast! It was so amazing to see that arena filled with so many women praising God and soaking up what He had for them to learn! It was a long, long day, but so wonderful in absolutely every way. I am still soaking up what I learned. Ryan spent the day working hard at home while I was gone; man I am thankful for all he does to help when I have a long work-week!

The Saturday Six

One.

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Throughout the year, Beth Moore travels around the country with her Living Proof Live conference and reaches THOUSANDS of women with her teaching. Today she's in Fort Wayne. As in...where I work! And today isn't just for Fort Wayne. It's the day of the Living Proof Live Simulcast, which means the conference will stream to churches and groups all over the place! I'm excited to be working this event for the station, but I wanted to let you know it was happening in case you're inclined to pray for the many women needing a touch from God's Word today!

Two.

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I LOVE a good story, and KariAnne over at Thistlewood Farms is a good storyteller. I LOVED her posts this week about the house before Thistlewood Farms. This is part one...
...and this is part two.


Three.

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Some of you might be familiar with Bible teacher Christine Caine, but some of you might not know her. She's an author, a speaker on the Women of Faith circuit, and she is heavily involved with campaigns to end human trafficking. Earlier this summer she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and she has subsequently had surgery and has been declared cancer free. But this blog post was powerful. Whether or not your life has been closely touched by cancer {and I can hardly imagine that it hasn't, anymore}...this post is worth a read.

Four.

Not gonna lie. Pretty excited that The Biggest Loser is back. I LOVE this show!! I don't have a favorite contestant yet, but I do like the new trainers. I am not a big fan of change, but I think this is going to be a good change for this season!!  

Five.

Love Francis Chan's books...but this is a whole new side of him I'd never seen!

Six.

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Found this blog this week - more healthy eating recipes. It looks interesting to me! I y haven't been able to dive fully through it, but I wanted to pass it on to you just in case there are more hidden treasures than I even know!!