From 300,000 Women to 10 Little Boys

Where in the world do you think I found 300,000 women? Well, I didn't actually find them, but I did participate alongside them in a pretty incredible event. On Saturday, I got to attend a Beth Moore simulcast for her new book, "So Long, Insecurity." Insecurity is a nasty word. We all have them and very few of us know what to do about them. I recently picked up this book (though I haven't read it yet) and was excited to learn about the simulcast. Even more exciting was getting to spend this special day with some special ladies. An interesting statistic about this particular simulcast is that it was hosted in 869 locations across the U.S. and had a registered attendance of 300,000 women! Beth Moore has done alot of simulcasts in the past but apparently, the numbers have never come close to this one. Can you just imagine what God can do if 300,000 women say "So Long!" to their insecurities?!? Wow! It gives me chills just to think about it! I can't even do a minor justice to all that was said by Beth, despite the pages and pages of notes I took, but all I can say is that you should pick up this book and read it. I can't wait to get started!




Yay for getting a whole day with Pat, LeAnn, and Terry


Yay for new friends!

The gal in the middle is Bonnie, who actually lives in DuPont. The gal to her left is a sweetheart named Jennifer, and the gal to the right is Camille, another sweetheart. We actually had the chance to pray with Camille today about some serious things going on in her life and we are trusting God to do some amazing things for her...like "only-God-can-do-this" amazing. When you read this, would you pray for Camille, too?


Yay for a delicious lunch with IZZE drinks! The ladies at this host church went all out to make sure every lady felt special...they did a super job! They didn't leave out one single detail.


Yay for Beth Moore bringing an awesome, awesome, awesome Word!


Yay for some girl time with Terry!

So then Sunday rolled around and it was time for Life Church and Life Kids! It was my turn with the kiddos, and boy did we have a BIG time! God sent us 10 sweet boys, yes...10 little boys! After having played with 10 boys in our previous Life Kids location (Anytime Fitness), I was so thankful for our new Life Kids location (The Rubber Room) for lots of reasons but mainly the fact that there are no echoes! Our boys played so well and it was sweet to see them breaking off into pairs and playing together. Just check out the fun they had...


Yep, Kade is upside down =) Yay for the ball pool!


Ryne taking a quick break


Will and Corbin checked out some toys


While Aeden and Layken enjoyed some snacks


Carson had to check out the snack situation, too


And Ryne showed off some crazy leg moves

Yay for Life Kids!


One more thing...

Did I mention it was a beautiful day in Steilacoom today?


Well, it was! =)

Ahhh...I'm Reading Again

I used to be an avid reader. I was on top of my game in elementary school scoring all kinds of "AR Points!" But ever since I was in high school and we no longer got to choose what we wanted to read but rather had it chosen for us, I lost my love of reading. Apart from having quiet times with God's Word, I just haven't done much reading at all, well, apart from the Twilight bandwagon I jumped on, lol. But that is changing...

My current read is this book...


...and I am loving it!

Our Wednesday night small group has been going through the book of Romans, and a verse really caught my attention a couple of weeks ago.

"So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace." Romans 8:6

Now truthfully, all of Romans 8 caught my attention, but this verse sparked a thought in me as to who is really controlling my life. I know enough about the Holy Spirit to sort of "box him up." I know what He is capable of doing (raising people from the dead!) but I don't ask for that kind of stuff in my life. I feel that I hardly ask for anything at all. If I don't think I am capable, I don't ask. Instead, I make all sorts of lame excuses about why I am "not enough." In me saying that I am not enough, what I am really saying is that "God, you are not enough." And that is positively absurd!

So I feel God is teaching me all sorts of things about His Holy Spirit...the very Spirit of God who lives in the hearts of those who are His. He is one powerful Spirit! It takes the power of the Holy Spirit to break the power of sin...no other power can break it! In fact, I was reading John 16:7 when Jesus said...

"But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don't, the Advocate won't come. If I do go away, then I will send Him to you."

I often think that if I had Jesus physically beside me everyday, that I would make better choices, but Jesus said that it was actually better for Him to leave so that we could have the Spirit! So if Jesus said that was the best thing, then no doubt it was the best thing. So basically, I'm learning that the Holy Spirit is far more capable and powerful than I have given Him credit for, and I want to start living, really living, by that power.

So back to this new book...The Forgotten God

I picked up this book intending for it to be my airplane read on our return trip home in February, but haven't touched it since. So once I found myself reading about the Spirit and how powerful He is, I remembered that I had this book, which is subtitled "Reversing our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit." And I felt God pulling me to it. So now, here I am, reading again. And I can't wait to see where it takes me!

It's "Jeannette Day!"

In case you didn't know, April 8, 2010 is "Jeannette Day." Says who? We do! Jeannette is our dear friend who we met when she started coming to our Wednesday night Life Church life group. We've loved her ever since! She is truly one of sweetest, funniest, most thoughtful women I've ever known and I'm so happy to call her my friend. Sadly (for us, at least), Jeannette is going to be moving at the end of April back to California to be closer to her family. Although we are very, very sad, we certainly can't blame a girl for wanting to be closer to family. So in honor of Jeannette, we declared April 8th "Jeannette Day" and planned to spend the whole day with her. It was fabulous!


Started the morning with our weekly Bible Study

Let me introduce you to these wonderful gals...Left to Right: Jeannette, Terry, Dawn, and Amanda. And do you see the little yellow gift bags? Those were gifts to all of us from Jeannette! We planned a day for her but she brought gifts for us. Don't you see why we're going to miss her? She's so thoughtful =)

Then we loaded up and headed out with a surprise for Jeannette...

Lunch @ The Cheesecake Factory (it's her favorite)!


Guess what we started choosing first??


Decisions, decisions...


Five happy ladies!!


This picture requires no caption =)

But Jeannette Day didn't end with lunch...we had appointments for pedicures!

Don't we look relaxed?


Just look at those happy feet =)
And not only was today "Jeannette Day" but it was also "One Day Without Shoes" sponsored by Toms Shoes. So here's our barefoot picture to show our support!

A Week with Mom!

What a super awesome week we had last week! I picked Mom up from the airport on Tuesday because she was here to visit for a whole week! We had such a great time just hanging out, doing some shopping, venturing out in the rain from time to time, and all sorts of other things. Mom doesn't come to Washington to be entertained, she just wants to relax and spend some time with her family. It's a good thing she doesn't require much entertainment because we had a week of uncooperative weather! I am so glad she was here to spend not just a week, but also Easter with us. It was certainly not easy (it never is) to take her back to the airport, but I know how much she is needed back home...I can't keep her here forever!


Hanging out after the Easter service @ Sunbreak


My Easter Sweetie


The Easter Bunny was good to Derek...and good to me as well, although I didn't get a picture.


Just check out the color coordination with my sweet Kade =)

We did have one semi-sunshiny day, so we decided to take advantage of it and make a trip to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. The tulips bloomed late last year and I never got to see them, but this year they were right on time (actually early) and I thought it would be worth the trip. Well, it was a beautiful sight to see despite the frigid wind, but I must say that I think it's one of those "once in a lifetime" trips, meaning, I probably won't be going back. It was very cool to see it once, but I think that's enough for me.


Fields & fields of tulips!










Beautiful View!

I can't say enough how happy I was to have my Mom for a whole week! A girl can never get too much of her Mom. It never fails to be the fastest week of the year, like she's hardly here before she has to leave. I can't wait until I get to see her again (and the rest of our family, too), but in the meantime, I'll just have to settle for an email or a phone call...thank goodness for technology!