I mentioned I went to Granbury, Texas this past weekend to teach a retreat the Lakeside Girls had themed Audience of One. To say the Lord messed me up over this one would be an understatement but in order to explain fully, I’ll need to back up a bit.

My church’s annual retreat was 2 weekends ago. I taught from James 1 which we all know is not for the faint of heart but I knew beyond all doubt that was supposed to be my text. Those of you who know me well understand I’m not one to blame the devil for every failure – I can fail just fine on my own thank you – but never in all my time of teaching have I ever felt so oppressed or dark or unable to communicate the thoughts that were on the paper right in front of me. I’ll never know on this side of heaven what war was being waged but in an inexcusable nutshell, I blew it.

My disappointment in myself was overwhelming. I have an undying affection for my church girls and we always have such a great time together. I never feel I can do enough to return what they do for me so this weekend is my token of love to them. I want to be sure their time is as fulfilling as it can be from the accommodations to the food to the Word. It’s important to me for my favorite people to feel they’ve really heard from God and had some fun in the process. I don’t know about them, but for me personally I normally leave exhausted but exhilirated. That make sense?  This time I just left exhausted and defeated because I felt I’d let them down.  All I wanted to do was go home and quit and buy a retreat in a box for next year. (Still considering that, actually.)

That said, before The Major Fail, I fully expected to float right out of that conference and into the next. And the next was huge to me, too. The group of women I was going to serve had entrusted their first ever women’s conference to me. As if that weren’t enough, the queen of my iPod and our church cd player, Nicol Sponberg (Selah!), was going to be leading worship. But no pressure, really.

On the way home, between sobs, I said to the Lord, “If there was ever a weekend I needed to go in on a high, it’s this one.”  You want to know what He said?  “Child, if there is ever a weekend when I needed you to go in on a low, it’s this one.”

You see, I was to teach on the Redemption and Ransom of God.  Pure love stuff, y’all, straight from Isaiah 43:1-4.  What I realized is that it has been some time since my heart has really been broken and that I’ve sensed His flat out, extravagant, scandalous love toward me.  I’ve come to know that God allowed whatever was going on the previous weekend to be a set up for what He wanted to work in me for the next.  I told the Texas girls that perhaps the Lord knew my home girls would forgive me for stinking it up whereas they would not. 

I can’t even begin to describe the past couple of weeks with my God.  He has been so tender and has met me on the pages of His Word every single day to the point of being ridiculous.  There are many things I could share but I have to tell you this one story.

Driving home from my church retreat, in the midst of all the snot-slinging, as clearly as I’ve ever felt the Lord speak to me He told me to fast Diet Dr. Pepper.  “Are you kidding me?” I asked.  He wasn’t.  “How long, Oh Lord?” I cried.  “I’ll let you know”, He said.   End of conversation.  So, I laid down that most wonderful tonic and straight away went into detox tremors.   

During that following week (the one prior to leaving for Texas), every time I jones’d for a Dr. P I would cry to Him to give me strength and fill me in a different way.  And He did.  Praise Him, He did.  I’ve never been aware of Him so much as I was during that time, so much so that I’d begun to think that maybe it’d be okay if He just took them away forever.

Here’s the cool part though.  I met up with my wonderful hostesses, Nell and Lou, at the airport.  I was staying in Nell’s home so while at lunch she asked what I liked to drink.  I said, “Diet Dr. Pepper” without explaining my fast.  She then explained to me that she had been to the grocery store without an idea in the world what I liked and when her eyes settled on the Diet Dr. Pepper a voice said, “She is a Diet Dr. Pepper girl”.  I just have one word for you: 

RELEASED!

He said He would let me know and that was my sign, girlfriends.  But let me tell you the craziest thing.  I have drank a few since then but in a way I can not explain, even though they are still delicious they are not nearly as satisfying.  Once you’ve tasted the Living Water it’s hard to go back to aspartame and formaldehyde.  Amen?

Here are a few pictures from Granbury:

A bunch of crazy people.  It’s always sad for me to leave a group knowing I may never see the women I bonded so quickly with again.  Will y’all come see me in Alabama so we can laugh some more?

Precious Kathy! Her husband is the Children’s Pastor at Lakeside. If we all had 1/10th of Kathy’s energy Red Bull would go out of business. Love you, girl!

Y’all, this woman. I really prayed I wouldn’t act like a goober when I met Nicol but she is so amazingly humble and unassuming you couldn’t get starstruck if you tried. She and hubby Greg were so fun and ministering alongside them is a gift I won’t ever forget. They shared about losing their sweet 10-week-old son, Luke, to SIDS and Christ’s strength through their brokenness was something to behold.

Doing her thing. Effortlessly and beautifully. And would y’all check out that stage? Lakeside Girls have decorating skillz.

Heidi, me, Nicol, and Gina. Heidi was the mastermind behind the graphic design. Amazing! Gina is the Sr. PW at Lakeside. I want to raid her closet. She’s over the top in all the good ways.  And will y’all please tell Nicol and me that our legs look long?  We were trying not to look stubby scrunched up on the steps. 

So, it took all that to say thank you Lakeside Girls.  You ministered to me more than I ever could have you.  The same thanks goes to my home girls.  You are my safe place and ones whom I know will overlook my flakiness and faults.

At one point I really considered laying down the whole calling until the Lord reminded me in prayer, “Lisa, those accusations are coming to you in third person.” And when I thought about it, He was totally right. When The Voices are in full volume, the thoughts were not me saying, “I am not enough”. It is always YOU are not enough. The Lord helped me to recognize that it was the Accuser inflaming my flesh and using it against me in the form of pride. Now maybe that doesn’t sound like pride but the Lord taught me that if I’m focused on ME either being more than or less than worthy, pride is still present. I had a stronghold of reverse pride and even though it still threatens to dig its claws back into me often, the Lord and I have come a long way in beating it back to the praise of His glory. There is so much freedom in doing what you love – even if I am scared to death – and then trusting Him with the outcome.

All that is back story in telling you that reverse pride reared its ugly head before teaching this past weekend at Oakwood Baptist’s Women’s Day. The reason? It’s the first time I have taught back home in front of high school friends who knew me in life B.C. – Before Christ. I knew several who would be there and because it was my hometown, I imagined I’d be surprised by others due to the size of the church and its reach in the community.  Luke and I have been gone for years and in my mind, I’ve always believed the Lord took us far from it so we may actually be free to minister to those who didn’t have some preconceived idea of who we were.  It’s the whole ‘prophet has no honor in his hometown’ mentality I suppose.  Though the thought never really formed in my mind, somehow I believed I’d never be asked to go back.

I literally sobbed before the Lord because the full circle gravity of the moment wasn’t lost on me at all. Like Jonah I’m sure I cried, “Lord, can’t you send someone else?” But over and over in my spirit I felt Him say, “Lisa, it’s time. In fact, it’s overdue.” But then The Voices started, “They won’t hear a thing you say because all they’ll be thinking about is Old Lisa. They will laugh at you.” I tried to take comfort in knowing there were people there whose hearts were for me. But, the whole thought of being jeered threatened to take me down.

Maybe I’m being too honest with you here but I feel the need to praise the Lord as one who delivers the exact opposite response than the ones our fears set us up to believe is coming. The ones that often cause us to avoid adventuring into the unknown because we live as though the thing we are most afraid of is already a reality. My imaginations already had people laughing at me and imagining how I’d steel myself to protect my heart (definitely Old Lisa mentality) days before we laid eyes on one another.

And it was lies! All lies! And I almost succumbed to them. Had it not been for some special girls praying for me, I would have. Turns out, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Satan couldn’t have been more wrong though I’m presuming he knew that already. The day was one of my favorite on record. I met new friends – Lisa Eason and Oakwood ladies, your ministry is amazing. Robert and Carrie, your worship is reverent and lifted my heart straight to heaven. I saw some blog friends from Hurt Road Baptist (love you girls for coming all the way from Atlanta!). I saw friends who didn’t know me when but who have walked many years with me: Cindy, I love you and I needed you there more than you know. And then I saw many of my old friends and acquaintances. Shame on me for allowing myself to think that you would be less than the wonderful women of God that you are. I blame it all on the devil. Dern him.

Here are my friends Diana and Kristi. Our husbands used to be drinking buddies before the Lord rescued us all from ourselves and placed us all in various forms of ministry. (Kristi is the Women’s Ministry Director at Oakwood’s Gateway Campus where this event took place.) Man does God have a sense of humor:

By the way, Diana makes these fabulous bead necklaces with personalized charms. She blessed me with one that is BEAUTIFUL but my camera battery is dead so I’m showing you one from her gallery. (Want one? Leave me a note in comments and I’ll hook you up.  OR you can message her on Facebook at Diana Newell Dotson.)

A crowd shot. This church campus takes up the better part of a mall in Ringgold, GA.

Some of my old buddies. Lisa is on the left. We were best friends in high school and I’m so happy after all these years we’ve been able to rekindle our friendship. Michelle is to my right. We were also besties back in the day. Then there’s sweet Wendy. She was actually one of Luke’s best friends since their families used to spend a crazy amount of time together. I’m dying for the two of them to get to see one another. They have the most fun stories. I love all of you and appreciate your encouragement more than you can possibly comprehend.

Thank y’all for allowing me to tell you more stuff than you really wanted to know.

It was cathartic.

Allow me to end with the spiritual lyrics of  my boy Jon Bon Jovi:

It doesn’t matter where you are, doesn’t matter where you go
If it’s a million miles aways or just a mile up the road
Take it in, take it with you when you go
Who says you can’t go home?

Turns out, you can.

An added bonus were the familiar faces of Siestaville who trekked through the blizzard to attend. Here’s a couple of pics….some mine, some stolen:

1. Mary, Robyn, and Cathy having a post-meal at the local Mexican restaurant.

2. Nikki finally taught me the fine art of auto-photography. I always chop off my head.

3.  Dedra Herod and her bff Karen who is adorable and I love her !

4. Mary and her daughter, Charity. I think she was a little concerned her mom’s computer friends would be weird. She had every right to be. They are.

5. Love these faces!

6. My girl Robyn.

7. Cathy Davis and Anna Nicole.

My friends Stacy and Charlotte also came over from Ranburne. It was great seeing you! Mary and girls, thanks again for entrusting this time to me.

My heart is full.

“Greetings, Ladies. Our hose pipe thingie for the night is Lisa McKay.”

So, yeah. I understand ‘speaker’ is simpler but I will be infinitely happier when someone comes up with an alternative.

Once again, I’m taking the long way around to tell you that last weekend I travelled to “speak” for a Christmas banquet at Macedonia Baptist in Ranburne, AL. Macedonia reminded me SO much of my own church being tucked into the Alabama countryside. It was within smelling distance (as their PW, Stacy put it) of Georgia. It was also dangerously close to a Target. Georgia. Target. It was like being cradled between two of the great loves of my life.

Stacy’s girls put together a Christmas Spectacular that lived up to the name. There were tables galore decorated by hostesses that were positively stunning. Here are a few photos Stacey sent my way:

This is just a sampling of all the gorgeous decor. There were many more tables and I’m sorry that I didn’t get them all but it was way past bedtime when I was uploading pictures! You can only imagine how beautiful it was with the lights dimmed and candles lit everywhere. It was magical, y’all!

Ladies, thank you once again for considering the implications of Immanuel in a way that I pray was as freshly relevant to you as it was me. Knowing that we have a condescending God who stooped low to make us great is still more than my heart can take in. This quote by Phillip Yancey is still my favorite: “A parent stands tall to administer discipline but stoops low to give love and affection.” Indeed, He is gracious. He is with us. He is for us, Immanuel.

I also have to add that Stacy and the precious church secretary, Charlotte, spoiled me all but rotten. Get this: Stacy had a Diet Dr. Pepper in the fridge so that I would have a cold one for the drive home. And then, she gave me not one but TWO cases of my favorite sized bottles to take with me! What? Are you kidding me? That kind of thoughtfulness is definitely a spiritual gift and definitely not one I take lightly. And Charlotte, dear. THANK YOU. You know of what I speak. There is a card on its way to you.

I also can not stop without mentioning the wonderful quiet time basket the T.E.A. ministry of the church put together for me. My camera is dead at the moment or I would photograph it. It was positively brimming with everything a woman needs for the perfect meeting time with Jesus from a journal to a devotional to tissue to MILK DUDS. Again, I’m overwhelmed at how much these girls went out of their way to bless me.

THANK YOU, Ranburne, and May God Be With You!

p.s.  How many of you girls have churches whose women’s ministries do Christmas events?  What types of things are you doing together?  Banquets, eating out, progressive dinners?  Love to hear how your church girls bond!

Speaking of a good party, this year it was gooder than ever because our men rose to the challenge to both cook and serve the banquet for us.  The food was delicious.  I mean really delicious.  What’s cooler than that is I’m overhearing them brainstorming for next year on how to do things even more awesomely.  Next year – as in they are planning on doing it again!  Without me even asking!  We love you guys and you have no idea how you made this dinner even more special.  Your PW thanks you from the bottom of my heart! 

I was also so excited that Mary Snyder came to be our speaker. She delivered a relevant word in the midst of some serious belly laughs.  Darlin’ Nikki Murdock met up with us and to say my worlds seriously collided is an understatement. Turns out that Nikki had family in my teeny town! Buried in the local cemetery even! She belongs where I live more than I do. Who knew? Seriously though, it was so great to have these girls on my turf and have my bloggy friends and church friends converge in one place. My heart is full. Completely full.

Pics from the night:

One of Karri’s over-the-top tables.  She and Holly were also responsible for the buffet and room decorations.  I’m hoping someone got more pictures than I did.   These girls worked their magic and our dinky fellowship hall was transformed.

A random piece of cake.  It’s deliciousness required documentation. 

Angie and Deenie.  Total sweethearts.

Deedra’s table except Deedra couldn’t be there because her pregnancy blood pressure wasn’t cooperating.  And great news!  The baby was born Sunday night.  Mother and baby are well  but baby is a bit premature.  Y’all please keep the family in your prayers.

Kim and Karri.  Kim has been my bestie for 20 + years.  Nothing like old friends.

The Clements Women.  This is one godly heritage!

Jenny.  I’m so incredibly mad at myself for not getting a picture of her with Victoria and Tonia who led our worship music.  I have one word for their harmony:  TIGHT.

Vernie, Amy, Diane, and Gail.  Another precious group of girls.  I’m so completely in love with every last one of them!  Their Christmas table put me right in the mood for the holidays.

Farrah, Tena, Anita, and Keena….I could cry looking at your sweet faces!

 Sisters Shannon, Wendy, and Holly.  We missed Sister #4, Mary Ann!

Leslie and Tammy.  Leslie is a friend of Tammy’s who joined us for the night.  I love meeting my friend’s friends!

Gaye, Cheryl (our beloved secretary), Diane, and Tania (my beloved hair stylist).   Their table was stunning and like a doofus I didn’t get a good picture of it. 

Gail, Sarah, Kathryn, and Lois.  My Titus Two women!

The Nikki-Mary pics.  Please note I was pattern-coordinated with my table.  Completely unplanned.

What happens when you leave your camera unattended.

What happens when you leave the communion wine unattended.   Oh, I kid.  We keep that stuff locked up.  Brooke brought her own.

I hope you ladies had as much fun as I did!   All of your friendships are a gift to me and it was incredible to spend this time together with you.

For the rest of you, I’d love to hear about your women’s ministry and what types of events you do for your ‘big’ things!

A few months back my wonderful friend Mary Beth Bradshaw invited me to be the speaker for  Michigan’s Assemblies of God State PW Retreat.  This is one of the first opportunities I’ve had to address a group of straight up ministry wives so to say I’ve been chomping at the bit to put my arms around them is an understatement.   I’m still cringing even now at how overzealous I was with my southern hugging.   I just couldn’t help myself!  You can’t even imagine how cute these girls were.  I was floored by the smiles on their faces and testimonies of God’s faithfulness in their lives and ministries.  I promise I gleaned much more from them than they ever did me.  

The Lord compelled me to teach from 2 Timothy 1:6-7 so we were reminded together about the spirit of power the Lord promised to those He has called. I didn’t get her picture, but I have to give a shout to my girl Heidi who led us in worship. Girlfriend can SING and it was a great joy for me to get my praise on with my AG sisters.

I just love going to retreats and learning new ideas. These girls had a ‘Speed Friending’ session where we spent 30 seconds finding out all we could about the person we were paired with. SO FUN! They also had a contest prior to the conference where they took applications for a Total Makeover Package. The winner got a Spa Day complete with haircut, color, and a new outfit. There was a before picture and then the darlin’ recipient, Christa (I hope I remembered that righ?), made a grand entrance for the ‘reveal’. Again, FABULOUS idea if you are looking for some cool things to pump up excitement for your next girls’ weekend. Something tells me my homies would be all over the spa package.  Speak nicely to your PW and we’ll see what we can do about that..:)  

Mary Beth was also very humble about the fact she is AG ROYALTY as well as one of the most talented skit/drama writers I’ve ever heard in my life.  These are the Michigan District Leadership Wives singing a hysterical song  MB wrote about the shoes we wear in different seasons of life.  I’d give anything to have a video of it.  Seriously, dudes have no idea how to have fun.  Can you imagine their going to this much trouble just to entertain one another?

No recap would be complete without mentioning how shamelessly pampered I was by these girls. After a long day of flying, I can not even tell you how these pillows spoke to me.

Would you look at this room? The conference was held at the new Midland, MI Holiday Inn. I don’t know if any of you are in that area, but the facilities are beautiful, the staff treated us wonderfully and the catering was delicious.

Ahh, and finally here is Mary Beth and me. I don’t have a clue what my flat hair was doing but I love that I got to hug this woman in person and that our friendship has officially transcended the computer.

Michigan Girls, I just want to say again how instantaneously I fell in love with you and thank you for allowing me to serve you this weekend! Remember, you are POWERFUL!

xoxoxo,

Lisa

I want to thank all of you who prayed, sent emails, and Facebook messages to cover me during the retreat I taught in Pigeon Forge this past weekend.  God – as always – was faithful to work through His Word in spite of the girl He had deliver it. 

It was a treat being able to spend time with some of my most special  friends in this world as well as my MIL Frankie and SIL, Laura Beth.   Please keep Laura Beth and her husband TJ in your prayers.  They had to relocate their business which was totally destroyed in the flooding in North Georgia last week.  If there is anyone who needed time on a mountain, it was her!

Many of my worlds collided this weekend.  In addition to my family being there, Candice and Kelly who have been my best friends for over 20 years came along.  My MIL invited Jenny, a friend from our current church, to lead worship.  Debbie, Tara, and Cindy came from our last pastorate.  I couldn’t tell ANY of my good church stories.  Dern.

The weekend was great but I enjoyed the drive home almost as much. We drove through Wear’s Valley and stopped at the most fabulous pumpkin patch. I didn’t buy anything but now that I’ve touched mums and gourds, I’m officially in the fall spirit.

Here are a couple of pictures. There are lots more on the retreat recap on my ministry website. Y’all check it out!

{Debbie, Cindy, and Me. These two girls make me laugh harder than anyone I know.}

{Kelly, Me, and Candice. My BFF’s forever. Girls, you are my constants.}

{Jenny and me at the most awesome punkin’ patch ever.} 

{Me sitting on what I thought was a very large pumpkin. Seems my backside is larger.}

{Candice and Me at, you guessed it, The Pumpkin Patch.}

{Me and Tara. Girl, I love your non-discerning self.}

  
{Beth, a wonderful fellow PW, Ms. Ruth, and Ms. Ann. Y’all, I want to be all of these women when I grow up. Practically single-handed, Beth put together a wonderful bonafide Tea for her women a couple of months ago. I pray my church girls never catch wind of it. And then there’s Ruth and Ann who have the most fabulous accessorizing skillz you have EVER seen. I told Ms. Ruth (middle) that I wanted to be just like her one day and she said, “Well, I hope you can be. I hope you live as long as I have and that you have the wonderful life I’ve had.” To the law and to the testimony. I love this precious woman. And Ann? She spoke the most wonderful words of encouragement over me after the retreat that I will take to my grave. True southern belles in a world of ding dongs.}

Again, thank all of you for supporting me in every way. You have no idea how your prayers keep me from melting into a squalling heap of insecurity.

Love,

Lisa

1. Vacation: Our family along with Luke’s Mom, Dad, Sis, BIL, and kids went to St. George Island, FL this summer and it was perhaps one of the best vacations ever. The island is located off the coast of Apalachicola and is very non-commercial –  just like I like it. I literally put on makeup, fixed my hair, and wore something besides pj’s or a swimsuit only one day out of the week. The house had a pool so when we weren’t at the beach, the kids still had plenty of entertainment.

2. My friend Sheryl! Last weekend I spoke at Sheryl Dean’s church. Their fabulous men hosted a Women’s Appreciation Day. The only thing the girls had to do was show up. The men decorated, cooked, and then cleaned. Have you ever? I loved being with Sheryl on her home turf. I love you, Siesta!

3. A little more about Arkansas:  Stephanie is one of the PW’s who helped organize the Arkansas conference last weekend. Her mom and two bff’s stayed in my hotel (they are from Mississippi) and I had the great joy of getting acquainted with them. Every woman needs a circle of friends like these girls. They’ve been besties for years and you can tell there is a deep love between them. Thank you girls for letting me crash your breakfast and lunch tables and making me laugh my head off! (And I’m waiting for the picture of Julie, Stephanie, Julie, Melissa, and me to show up on one of their FaceBooks so I can steal and post it.  They are every one adorable!)

The girls left an OH-mazing gift basket in my room. It was filled with all things Arkansas. It even had Diet Dr. Pepper inside. You have no idea how welcome that was late that night and at 6 am the next morning. I was so spoiled!

Most of you wouldn’t know this but I was born in Jacksonville, Arkansas and lived in Little Rock until I was three or so. (Mom, could you clarify?) Either way, I have an inner Razorback. So imagine my delight when there was a hog head in my basket! He plays the fight song and yells “Here, Sooey” or however it is you call a pig. I’m going to be so obnoxious with it.  As if I needed help.

4. BFF’s: A couple of shots of The Girl and her best girls. Notice we cut her hair off! It was a little traumatic at first but now I love it.

5. FOOTBALL!

I don’t understand football in the least. My friends have tried to explain why it is okay to do an onside kick. I think if it’s time for you to turn the ball over, you shouldn’t be allowed to kick it to yourself. Why do they call running rushing? Isn’t that overstating the obvious? Why can’t you block in the back? Isn’t the point to knock everyone down? Should it matter from what direction you hit them?

With all that said, or asked rather, I love the atmosphere of Friday night football even if I don’t understand what’s going on outside a scored touchdown.  Especially when our boys – the underdogs – came through with a smashing win against an arch rival last week to open the season. They even got Team of the Week on a local radio station! Luke is the chaplain for the team and loves those boys like his own.  I don’t know if there is a person in town who wants to see this group succeed more than him.  Well, maybe Coach.  But after that, it’s definitely Luke and The Quarterback Club Posse.   I’m trying really hard to learn football talk because it is his love language. 

I took this picture of the team singing the Alma Mater after the win.  The scene made me cry.

Okay, so you are somewhat caught up. I have lots of website updates to do this week. I hope to have some cool stuff to show you soon!

Love,
Lisa

I need to quit now before I have me a spell.

Before I got sidetracked, I meant to tell you how much fun I had this past Saturday. I had the joy of speaking at a women’s tea for New Liberty Baptist in Ringgold, GA. They did one of those fabulous luncheons where a woman hosts and decorates each table differently. Seriously. I don’t know how many different ways there can be to theme a table scape but it appears you wonderfully creative girls out there have no where near exhausted all the possibilities because every one was completely unique to any I have seen before. I could just kick myself for not having a camera.

Wanda, my precious new friend and contact for this event had the greatest idea. Her theme was, “Through the storms of life, with God, you can dance in the rain..” She had a darlin‘ rubber rain boot as her centerpiece with a spring arrangement and get this – the fabric from a hot pink disassembled umbrella as the foundation. Who would have ever thought of that? Certainly not this girl! I just couldn’t take my eyes off all the details.

I also can not overlook how cool God is in making connections. It turns out that the girl who was asked to introduce me is my second cousin! What?! I had no idea she went to church there and she had no idea it was me coming to speak until a couple days prior. Is that not a hoot? I loved seeing you, Jenny, and your beautiful, grown-up Kelly! I hope we see one another again outside of a funeral or reunion. :)

I can not even begin to communicate how much I enjoy these frou frou get-togethers. It still amazes me that a guy’s idea of a good time is offing Bambi, gutting her, and dragging her lifeless corpse to a grill to enjoy with his buddies. No, thank you. Chicken Salad and Quiche will serve us girls just fine. And I have to give a shout out to the men who served us. Y’all, they had on matching white aprons WITH THEIR NAMES EMBROIDERED ON THE BIB. I’ve never seen such awesomeness in my life. You guys have set the new high bar for every other group of church men out there. I need a picture of you to blow up as poster boys of servanthood. You were spectacular and I know we all appreciated your loving on us so extravagantly.

New Liberty: THANK YOU. It is humbling to me to know the amount of prayer that you put in to bringing in a teacher and that in some miraculous way, God gave you my name and you extended this invitation. I loved every minute with you and I pray God’s Word will be an abiding one to every single lady there. You can believe me when I say He road tested that message in every figurative and literal way. May it change us all.

Okay, so now I’m off to clean out my closet. I would show you a before and after, but you would judge me. Oh, you say you wouldn’t, but trust me. It’s just that bad. There are not two of my shoes within a foot of one another in the bottom of that thing and I’m certain I’ll find several Christmas presents hidden in the top that never made it to their intended recipient. Oh well. Maybe I’ll have a head start on this year.

Y’all have a wonderful Monday!

When I arrived at XNA in Arkansas, I immediately recognized my ride when I saw a car full of adorable girls pulling up to the curb. Seriously. Could anything be more fun than being picked up by a vehicle full of smiling, waving, happy-to-see you people with great hair? I jumped in with no hesitation whatsoever. My introvert of a hubby thinks I am totally insane to enjoy such a thing so much. I truly look at a group of women I’ve never met as fresh meat who’ve not yet had the opportunity to grow sick of my talking, talking, talking. It doesn’t hurt my feelings one bit if you agree that I am best served up in small doses. I promise you I get on my own nerves way more than I could ever get on yours.

And at this point, you are probably thinking that’s debatable.

Okay, so let’s get to the point. We traveled to The New Life Ranch which is located in Colcord, Oklahoma. The Center was beautifully situated on a lake or river or something. I just know it was water and it was pretty. There was another women’s group there who were easy to spot since they were wearing princess crowns. They looked like they were having a ball. There was also a mother/daughter retreat taking place and can I just say those moms have lots more faith in their girls than I do mine? At one point they played a game of some sort where the moms wore blindfolds and the girls led them around. My Girl would have promptly pushed me in that pretty river/lake/creek. I know this because she has been well trained by the boy people in her life. Let’s just say I was completely happy to be a part of the non-crown-blindfold-wearing crowd.

This is where I get to brag on the entirety of the Grace Girl group. Y’all, I didn’t know a single one of these women going in except for Teresa from The Grace Incubator. (And even she was an Imaginary Friend I’d never met in real life.) Oh my goodness, these girls absolutely embraced me and treated me like a princess – crown or not. No wonder this is such an exciting time in the life of their church. If you girls love your newcomers like you loved this one, you’ll be packing out that new, big building in no time flat. And to all the Elder Wives, it was a delight to spend time with you and see the love you have for your people. I soaked in every second of it!

We had our first worship/teaching session Friday night and afterward were told that we could go on a hayride in a modified school bus. By modified, I mean that the cab of the bus was intact but the top had been cut away from the back, seats removed, and filled with hay. It was pretty chilly but I’m not a girl who likes to miss the fun, so I jumped in.

Let’s just say this wasn’t your typical meandering hayride.

Ours was more in the vein of this Nightmare on Elm Street bus scene from about minute 2:50 to 3:50. (There’s no cussin‘ or killin‘ in this clip, I promise.) I don’t even remember our “tour guide’s” name, but he’ll always be Freddy to me because, y’all, he never went below 35 miles an hour on a rutted, wooded road that was clearly not intended for such travel. I handled the speed thing pretty well. It was the 45 degree tilt that got me a little terrified. {I should clarify here. It was fun in a riding-a-rollercoaster-that-horrifies-you kind of way. I’ve never laughed so hard in my life. Laughing = Fun.}

Just as we were back to our cabins, just when I was prepared to jump out and kiss the sweet pavement beneath my feet, Freddy sped up and we went for round two – I believe at the suggestion of those crazy girls who are made of stronger stuff than I.

Round One was just a warm up.

We bounced and tilted and whirled and I begged Jesus, begged Him, to understand that it was not I who had tempted Him. That it was not I who had asked to try His ministering angels. I pleaded that for the sake of the husband and children, could he please, please, save them from having to declare on my headstone that I’d been killed in a chopped-off school bus on a backroad in Oklahoma. It’s just not the legacy I’d intended.

Here lies Lisa,
She loved Jesus,
but the school bus flipped,
and she rests in pieces.

Thankfully, that was not my fate and I’m now safely home. I’m not going to say that I would do the hayride from Hades again anytime soon any more than my chicken self is looking forward to riding the Superman at Six Flags, but it was definitely a memory-maker as was the rest of my time with Grace Church.

Girls, THANK YOU. What a gift to experience pure, authentic worship with you (You rocked, Jordan!). What a privilege to almost die with you? But most of all, I am grateful to now call you real life, real LIVE, friends. :)

With Much Love!