How are you girls these days? Life is going well for me! Have a seat and some CHOCOLATE quinoa breakfast brownies...oh man, these puppies are even better than the regular quinoa breakfast brownies (of course they are...they have more chocolate!) I missed last week so let me catch you up!First of all, I want to say thank you to you girls for all your prayers. I was really struggling to put my breakout session together (talk about reinventing the wheel, ladies...it was a tough one for me) and struggled with a great deal of self-doubt and spiritual warfare last week. Your prayers were needed and felt so dearly at the crucial moment....thank you.
As for the keynote and breakout I presented at the Jonesboro Young Professionals Network Leadership Conference, I thought they went well. I got great feedback, and met some outstanding people. I was blown away by the welcome I got, and just can't say enough good things about the group! I made new friends, and found new sisters and simply fell in love with the group.
Came home to choir practice in preparation for our Resurrection Sunday Presentation. I had a solo in the presentation, and simply did not feel prepared for it. Sunday went really well, though. We had record numbers in attendance and the presentation itself went nicely. I think God was blessed by it...but you wanna know the coolest part? We had EIGHT baptisms! ON RESURRECTION SUNDAY! Oh man, it was awesome to join in celebration of the new life Christ gives us!
This week has been a week of much needed rest. Taking my friend Mary Ann's advice, I scheduled myself off this week. Each morning during my prayer time, I have been asking for God to give me his priorities, his to do list for my day....WOW! It's been an amazing week of seeing how God is so present....ESPECIALLY in the little things. I won't share all the details with you because well...there are so many small ones...but suffice it to say I have been greatly blessed, refreshed and in awe of all that he does for us. I did get to work in my garden this week and God showed me this. It was an amazing day of reflection for me. And I am so grateful to my friends for reminding me that this time of rest is needed, and to my God who so graciously refreshes my weary soul and heart.
In homefront news, Xanman started baseball this week. We will see how this all plays out, but for now, he is waking his father at 6 am to throw the ball. Yep, that's right...the sun isn't even up yet. I love it....love seeing his heart come alive with the joy of learning a new skill...it's been great to watch. LizzieLou is doing quite well with her Vision Therapy and got a great report from her progress exam last week. We are definitely seeing big leaps in her reading levels.
I am half way to my goal of $3500 for the International Life and Leadership Camp and have sold over 50 books! YAY! If you would like to donate, or to buy a book...just click on the paypal buttons in the sidebar! I would really appreciate your help!
So that's my life this past couple of weeks....what about yours? How is all going with you?
Yummy on the brownies! Sounds like you've been BUSY! Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteGood for you on both the portuguese (I'm a Spanish teacher) and the week off of rest. I love how God reminds us of his blessings and that he's there. Thanks for the encouragment when you stopped by my blog today!
ReplyDeleteIt's so wonderfulk when we are granted time of rest and relaxation...it does so much for the body and soul! Glad you were able to take some time for yourself! Have a great wknd!and thanks for stopping by.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chocolate - and healthy, too! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you took a break and let God speak to you. We all need that from time to time. Sounds like some really exciting things happening over there!
ReplyDeleteGlad you were able to get some rest this week! You've got me drooling on the keyboard w/ those brownies... I'll definitely have to check out that recipe! :)
ReplyDeleteThat is an awesome report about the baptisms! Thanks for sharing that nugget of news. I think aside from worship nights, baptisms are my favorite!
ReplyDeleteHave a great upcoming week!
-Melissa
Cari - you are so sweet. Thanks for such an encouraging comment. I'm taking a few days off, too - in preemptive celebration of my birthday this coming Saturday :)
ReplyDeleteI have sent you a couple of emails with no response - I wanted to see if you got them or if they are lost in cyberspace. Let me know what email you're using these days and we'll get connected!