But! I am home all week and I am happy. And there will be dusting happening round here so whoohoo!
These past few days have been a bit of a blur between the wedding dress adventure and then attending Women of Faith all weekend with my mom. All I can say about both is wow. WOW!
Actually, that's not all I can say because why use one word when you can use
Have you ever attended a Women of Faith event? This was my first time, and I absolutely loved it. My mom and I went to the one in the city of Brotherly Love, aka Philadelphia. I'd given my mom the tickets as a Christmas present last year, and it was especially nice having her there with me.
I was familiar going in with most of the speakers, but not all, and I was definitely already a fan of the musicians on the roster. Natalie Grant performed Friday night, and Matthew West on Saturday afternoon, and they were both better than awe.some. I bought five Cd's if that tells you anything.
Yes I still play Cd's, especially in my car where I can play them loud.
My girls are smiling at that last line. They've been jolted out of their skin a time or two upon getting into my car. What can I say? Some music is meant to be played loudly and sung at the top of your lungs in the privacy of your own vehicle.
All the speakers were terrific, but the one who really made me squirm so to speak, was Christine Caine. I wasn't familiar with her story going in, but she is a truly dynamic speaker who made me feel like I needed to leave there immediately and get busy doing. We talk a lot about retirement in our house and what that will look like. One of the things she said in her message was that God didn't create us to retire. He created us to keep going forward, growing, learning, expanding His kingdom. I'm gonna have to let hubs know-ha!
I bought her book, Unstoppable: Running the Race You Were Born to Win, and it is speaking to me right where I am in this slightly confusing, middle age-empty nest-what's next, season of life.
Pete Wilson, pastor of Cross Point Church in Nashville, gave an excellent message on the life of Joseph and how would we respond to life's hard, seemingly unfair circumstances if we lived completely confident in the knowledge that God has a plan? I made a point of meeting him afterwards and got him to sign a copy of his book for me, Plan B.
When I first started my blog back in 2009 I had no idea what I was doing. I was living in England, preparing for a big move back to the states, and I just had so many words in my head that my husband said I really should be blogging. I had only a vague notion of what a blog was, and I guess I never imagined anyone actually reading what I wrote. And if by chance someone did read my words, was I ready for that? To be real and vulnerable the way I think the best writers are? Somehow Pete Wilson landed on my blog in those very early days, and he left me a very encouraging comment about my writing at a time when I was still on the fence about this whole blog thing. I so appreciated that and others who were kind too, when my blog was in its infancy.
It's often the little things, isn't it?
I feel like my mind and my heart are so full today. I'm glad I have some less busy days at home right now so I can mull it all over. Hubs is happy to have me home too.
We had a really wonderful day yesterday watching the Jets beat the Raiders on a gloriously blue sky Sunday afternoon. That 9/11 flag rolled out for all the world to see still does me in.
So what's on your calendar this second week of September? My baby has a birthday this week. She's turning 24, but neveryoumind. She will always be my baby. Happy Monday everyone!
