The Soil

Every time Justin is out of town, I pick a project to do to surprise him when he comes home. In the past I have redecorated the kitchen, painted rooms, all kinds of things.

This time I chose the front yard.

I thought I would weed, plant, and put down a bit of fresh mulch. But once I started, I got REALLY ambitious--trying to remove bushes with well-established root systems (took me at least 4 days just to do that) and other things.

Once I got that cotton-pickin' bush out of the ground (just after 10pm one night, mind you) I started to put in a few plants and flowers, but OH. MY. GOODNESS. I was dealing with some terribly hard soil!!!

The next 5 days I spent preparing the soil. And now finally, FINALLY it's ready. Time to plant.

My hands are blistered and I'm exhausted. But I'm also excited. Because I know something beautiful is coming!

I've read Luke 8 a million times, but it never made its mark on me like it has these past two weeks--the parable of the different types of soil. Specifically, the hard soil. You can't plant a thing in that stuff. I know. I have spent many an hour recently trying. It took a LOT of work to dig it up, break it up, tear it up, until it was softened and prepared to receive anything.

Makes me wonder how the Lord has blistered His hands preparing me to receive truth He has planted in me. I know what I had to do to make that soil soft--it took a beating, for sure! Digging, prying, the whole nine yards.

It talks a lot in scripture about people hardening their hearts toward Him. I feel like am gaining a deeper understanding of what that means, and what it takes to break up that hardness. I want to have a tender heart toward Him--I don't want to endure the process it takes to undo a hardened heart!! Makes me want very much to be the good soil, that I might receive truth that can really take root in my heart, so that things of beauty might bloom there. :)

Enough Said

I'm onboard. I want to be a part of what You're doing!

Does anything else matter?

Prepare and Practice and Pray...Oh, My!

This has been a time of preparation for the conference, and it's been awesome.

I just can't wait. I will be there in exactly 6 weeks! That sounds like a long time, but I'm sure the time will fly. We'll be in the car headed to North Carolina before we know it!

This blurb was on the Proverbs31.org website:

Our annual She Speaks conference is officially full! Please join us in prayer for the 575 women who will be attending this life-changing conference. Pray for travel safety; pray for their families in their absense; and pray that God defines His call on their lives. Pray for our team as they prepare for this conference. And pray for the hotel and the hotel staff - pray that those who don't know Jesus will meet Him through 575 women who are completely and overwhelmingly sold out for Him!

All I can say is, Amen! I am THRILLED to be one of those 575 women. Although, holy cow, I had no idea there would be so many!!!

Things Are Moving Along...

Next month is the conference--I can hardly believe it! I think I've settled on my 3-minute testimony topic, as well as my 5-minute Biblical teaching topic. I worked as an AP proctor last month and had some time to write, and I can't even tell you how the Lord revealed things to me. I'm talking rapid fire! My 3-minute testimony focuses on the time in my life when the Lord kept speaking to my heart that He wanted me, even though I flat-out told Him I'd be happy to let Him have my life after pursuing other things. The 5-minute teaching is all about oil and flour, fish and loaves. God's providence. The way He meets our needs according to His resources and riches.

And then there's the podcast team. Just thinking about all of it brings a smile to my face! We hope to record the podcasts soon, and have them up and running. Those podcasts too were revealed to me and then written while proctoring. Rapid fire--I'm telling you!!! The two other women on the podcast team are amazing, and I feel like I'm learning a lot from them.

I added an advanced marketing seminar portion to my conference registration (which added on an additional $235 to the bill). I think it will really be an outstanding seminar, and will really give me some direction in going forward.

All for now! Please keep praying with me as this all comes together. God is good!