‘Cute Shoes’ Online Discussion ~ Chapter Five

I think I may have mentioned a time or three that it really was never my intention to take over this blog with book talk. Unfortunately, when one only writes one to two days per week and one of those is a scheduled discussion, it’s pretty hard not to.

I’ve not been ignoring you on purpose. Truth is I’ve been really busy forgiving that big orange orb in the sky after being mad at it for neglecting these parts for the better portion of three months. We’ve kissed and made up now that I’ve officially been able to wear flip flops two days in a row. Now watch it turn cold because I became overconfident in the sun’s love for me.

I’ve also been doing lots of other exciting things such as cleaning and organizing all of the bedrooms along with their respective closets. Not that you could tell it if you came over today but the satisfaction remains. Is it just our family or are little girls one thousand times slobbier than little boys? When I opened her closet and looked under her bed, I literally had to stop and ask Jesus for the strength to bless and not curse. If Hoarders runs out of case studies, I can totally hook them up.

There’s so much more to tell. Luke got The Girl a rabbit – a heartbreak waiting to happen. We aren’t the greatest animal people. We are also celebrating our 20th anniversary this week. And drumroll please….We are officially building a house. A fabulous anniversary gift indeed. I’ll speak more to that later. But for the record and to dispel rumors that I continue to hear – I did not get rich from writing a book – there is no money for a first time author in writing a church resource book – and Luke has no intention of ever leaving ministry and living off my wealth. Were he to do that, you could visit us living in a box on the corner. Or maybe a series of boxes if I ever write another book.

I started to apologize for chasing that rabbit and realized, WAIT, now I literally can! Because I needed yet one more to run after!

Good grief, we got some book discussion to do.

Okay, I just loved reading through all of your responses about conflict. So much wisdom there. It’s also evident there are some very raw emotions churning in some of us. For you girls who are currently hashing through some hard things, please know I am praying over you and that I get it. Boy do I get it. What I also get, however, is that no matter how hurtful Christ’s people can be, the privilege of serving His Bride is always, always worth it. As my brilliant husband often states it, we’ll get ticked off at the cashier at Walmart for being rude but that doesn’t keep us from going back. What does it say about us when we are quicker to withdraw our hearts from church than we are a big box store that doesn’t even have polenta when we need it and schedules square dances smack in the middle of the aisle the week before Christmas?

Clearly, I have Walmart issues.

Where were we? Chapter Five? YES! I Can Have BFF’s in the Church Pews!!

Here are a couple of things we’ll talk about this week:

1. On pg. 114, I talked about ‘Balancing Your Five’. Describe your circle of friends and how they fit into the categories suggested.

2. What has been your experience in having bff’s at church? If it was ugly, please don’t dishonor anyone but tell us what you learned in the process. If it has been great, throw out some ideas as to why you feel your friendships have been successful.

3. Are you a blogger or blog reader? Share how online friendships have helped you connect with other ministry wives. If you haven’t connected yet, check out the Married to the Ministry blogroll here at this site. You’ll never be lonely again.

I consider all of you my bff’s and have loved getting to know you in this way! Don’t forget when signing in for this week’s discussion to note your name, location, and area of ministry. Looking forward to hearing from you on this one!

April 6, 2010 | Filed Under Cute Shoes Online Discussion | 14 Comments 

Look to the Right…

I’ve been tweaking on my sidebar this weekend and wanted you to notice a couple of things:

1.  I’ve added a section for any current giveaways of ‘Cute Shoes’ so you will be aware of all the opportunities to win a copy.  A lot of these darlin’ girls have included some reviews so if you want to know what you are getting in to before you buy it, then check those out!  Also, if you are hosting a giveaway make sure I know about it so I can list you.  I’m not aware of who received review copies from the publisher.  (Current giveaways are from Sarah @ Life in the Parsonage and Meredith @ Life at 7000 Feet.)

2.  Our Married to the Ministry blogroll has gotten enormous!  I did a lot of updates on it this weekend but still have about 20  more names to add.   I try to note the new entries with NEW beside the names so you can easily spot our new girls.  I’ve also added a section to my sidebar to start featuring your blogs each week.  I began with the first five but I’ll probably do something more random at some point when I figure out the best way to do that.  At any rate, y’all visit!  Mingle!  Send one another some love!  It’s a wonderful world behind that little button and I want to be sure y’all don’t miss all the great blogs listed there.

3.  A few weeks ago I added a plug in that links the last post each commenter wrote on her own blog.  I love that!  Just wanted to be sure you noticed it.  I’m really hoping y’all are using that little feature to visit one another.  Which begs another question…what are you favorite little things on some of the blogs you read most?

4.  Also added is the plug in for This Day, Past Years.  It’s an archive of the posts that I wrote, guess when, the same day of all the past years I’ve blogged.  It’s so fun to compare what was going on in life exactly one or two or three years ago to the day.  Fun for me anyway.  For example, last year I was lamenting not being able to go to the LPM Ministry Wife conference.  Now that I’ve been reminded, I”m bummed all over again.  Loads of fun.

Okay, so that’s it!  I’m off to run errands today.  Bank, dry cleaners, boring stuff.  

What are y’all up to this great Monday?

February 8, 2010 | Filed Under Blog Stuff | 10 Comments 

Scavenger Hunt Winners!

Oh.my.goodness.

I have read more blogs this week than I have in the last 6 months combined and I do believe I know you ministry wives better now than I do my own husband. I’ve gotten a few emails asking if I’m going to answer the questions I posed to you so in the interest of full disclosure, here goes.  And yes, I’ll get to the winners in a sec.

1.  First Name:  Lisa

2.  State and Country of Residence:  Alabama, USA

3.  Husband’s Ministry Title.   Sr. Pastor

4.  Length of time in Current Ministry Location:  4 1/2 years.

5.  Children?  If yes, give gender and ages.  3 boys 13, 11, 10 and 1 girl, 7

6.  Number of unique  homes in which you’ve lived during your marriage. 

This was a dorky question.  By unique homes, I meant homes you’ve lived in once.  Not the number of times you’ve lived with your inlaws while remodeling delapidated houses.  If I don’t count those, then we’ve lived in 13 houses in 19 years of marriage.  What’s up with all the moving we do??

7.  Cook Sunday lunch or eat out?  Eat Out every single Sunday – most of the time Mexican food.  It’s all I can do to get us to church, much less get a roast in the oven. 

8.  Typically on time for Sunday School or not?  Ummm.  Maybe you should ask our greeters?  I’m within the 10 minute window of on-timeliness since my class doesn’t start on time.  Or maybe my class doesn’t start on time because I’m not there yet?  (I’m not the teacher by the way.  Or the main one anyway.)

9.  Favorite TV Show.  Not a big tv watcher but I do love LOST though I have a feeling I will be deeply disturbed with the biblical allusions that are being hinted at in Season 4. 

10.  Something you watch/like/do that you would never tell the church people.     I would never let them see me break dance.  I have a mean pop -n- lock.

11.  Most annoying church-related pet peeve.     When the PK’s act like heathens in children’s church.  Or wait, maybe that’s the children’s church teacher’s pet peeve.

12.  One thing you need to throw away but can’t bring yourself to do it.     I have half a closet full of baby blankets that my kids most likely never laid under once in their lives and yet it seems like a sacrilege to get rid of them.

13.  The one food you can not live without.  Diet Dr. Pepper.  Yes, liquids are foods.

14.  Parsonage or have your own home?  A wonderful parsonage.  I truly love and am grateful for our home.

15.  Freak when the doorbell rings or always ready for a visitor?   Only freak when my husband lets in a deacon who takes pictures of my dirty dishes to text to the church members.    Oh yes, he did.

Okay, so that’s all you wanted to know about me.  By now, you are ready to kill me to announce the winners.  But sorry, we are out of time for today’s episode so tune in tomorrow…

Oh, I kid.   Here’s the skinny!

The first two women to return the correct answers were: 

1.  Georgia Jan  

-and-

2.  Charity

I also decided to add a 3rd cookbook to be drawn at random from the remaining entries.   You girls worked so stinkin’ hard and I wish I could give each of you something!  Would my undying love be enough? 

Yeah, I didn’t think so.

Oh well, as chosen by my daughter by closed eyes and pointed finger, the random prize goes to:

Dana Schmoyer!

If you girls will email your shipping addresses to thepreacherswife1 AT gmail DOT com I’ll have the cookbooks mailed to you right away!

I can’t thank all of you enough for playing along.  I feel I’ve gotten to know so many of you in this past week in ways that it may have taken months to do otherwise.  I hope you feel a sense of community here and that you girls each know you are treasured! 

One other thing to note:   During the past 2 weeks there have been many additions to the M2M Blogroll.  Take a minute to visit these girls!  We are fast approaching 300 blogs on the list so no doubt you can find lots of encouragement from women who are walking in your same shoes. 

Again - thank you, thank you for playing.    Hope it was as fun for you as it was for me!

November 13, 2009 | Filed Under Scavenger Hunt | 8 Comments 

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