(In) RL conference

So what exactly does my title mean?  It's about a conference sponsored by (in)courage.me.  (In)courage is a blog for Christian women and they are hosting a webcast conference from April 27-28.  You can find out all the details here. 

This conference does not require to travel, pack any bags, find a sitter for a weekend, or spend lots of money!  The cost is $10 plus $1.54 service fee.  But you'll recieve a t-shirt and a 10 pack of cards from Dayspring for signing up.  So in a nutshell, the conference pays for itself. 

The purpose of the conference is to incourage community among Christian women.  You will watch a webcast by yourself on Friday and then on Saturday you can meet up with a group of girlfriends or new friends for that matter and spend 3 hours together watching a webcast on the topic of community.  (In)courage has some great bloggers including Ann Voskamp, author of 1000 Gifts, Lysa Tyrkeurst, and The Nester.  I believe some of these women will be part of the webcast so you'll surely be blessed.

If you live in the Montgomery area, you can attend my meet up!  I'll have a 3 wk old child by then (unless the baby comes before April 5), so I'm hosting the Saturday meet up at my house.  I would love for you to come.  If you are outside of Montgomery, you can sign up for  a different meet up or even host your own. 

So what are you waiting for?  Sign up for the (in)RL conference!!

Discipling Myself for Godliness

For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value both for this life and the life to come.  -1 Tim. 4:8

I left this comment on moneysavingmom.com and I thought I'd post it here, as well.

I am reading a book with some college girls called Girls Gone Wise in a World Gone Wild by Mary Kassian. It has been a real blessing to me. Last week the chapter was on habits. The author says that our habits really show what our priorities are. We like to think that things that sound good are our priorities, but our habits really show what takes precedence in our lives. I want being a woman of God’s word and an excellent wife and mother to be my priorities, but my habits don’t show that I’m working towards those goals. So this week, I implemented a new discipline…No Bible, No Blogs (meaning that if I haven’t read the Bible I can’t read any blogs). This has helped me so far. Also, if my kitchen isn’t clean, I don’t function well or get other cleaning done because I just can’t seem to get a move on. So the same rule applies for cleaning the kithchen. I like to say, "No clean kitchen, No Pinterest" (kinda works lol), but the point is not to get on the computer until I have a clean kitchen. I hope to build these disciplines in my life. Thanks for this series. As for a goal to complete in the next 24 hours it will be to organize our master closet. This has been on my to do list for far too long.

I am addicted to love reading blogs.  However, like Facebook they take up too much of my time.  I had a friend change my Facebook password to something I don't know, so that I could not get back into my account.  This helped my immensely.

I just implemented these rules on Monday, but already I see some changes.  I found a great Bible reading plan and have started it.  And today, I got the kitchen clean which helped me to move on to other chores.  I'm sure that putting these disciplines in my life will continue to benefit me.

How about you?  What habits do you need to put in your life to lead a more disciplined life?

photo credit

Jesus Saves!

I love this song. The first time I heard it, I shouted...you'll know which part elicited this response when you get there!

An Inaugural Prayer

I was so encouraged by Rick Warren's prayer. It was God exalting and glorifying. I am grateful that he prayed in the name of Jesus without apology. He used the words of Jesus in his prayer and in doing so honored our Lord. Thank you, Brother Rick for standing up for truth and not giving in to those who would want you to pray to "the god of our understanding" as this is such nonsense!
Here is the prayer:


Let us pray.

Almighty God, our Father, everything we see and everything we can’t see exists because of you alone. It all comes from you. It all belongs to you. It all exists for your glory.

History is your story. The Scripture tells us, “Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God. The Lord is One.” And you are the compassionate and merciful one. And you are loving to everyone you have made.

Now, today, we rejoice not only in America’s peaceful transfer of power for the 44th time. We celebrate a hingepoint of history with the inauguration of our first African American president of the United States. We are so grateful to live in this land, a land of unequaled possibility, where the son of an African immigrant can rise to the highest level of our leadership. And we know today that Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses are shouting in heaven.

Give to our new President, Barack Obama, the wisdom to lead us with humility, the courage to lead us with integrity, the compassion to lead us with generosity. Bless and protect him, his family, Vice President Biden, the cabinet, and every one of our freely elected leaders.

Help us, O God, to remember that we are Americans, united not by race, or religion, or blood, but to our commitment to freedom and justice for all. When we focus on ourselves, when we fight each other, when we forget you, forgive us. When we presume that our greatness and our prosperity is ours alone, forgive us. When we fail to treat our fellow human beings and all the earth with the respect that they deserve, forgive us. And as we face these difficult days ahead, may we have a new birth of clarity in our aims, responsibility in our actions, humility in our approaches, and civility in our attitudes, even when we differ.

Help us to share, to serve and to seek the common good of all. May all people of goodwill today join together to work for a more just, a more healthy and a more prosperous nation and a peaceful planet. And may we never forget that one day all nations and all people will stand accountable before you. We now commit our new president and his wife, Michelle and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, into your loving care.

I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life, Yeshua, Isa, Jesus [Spanish pronunciation], Jesus, who taught us to pray:

“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."

Common Ground Montgomery

My friends, Nicole and Delta serve with an inner city ministry called Common Ground Montgomery. I have witnessed so many great things as a result of God using them and their families in the lives of people living in West Montgomery. It has been a joy to be a small part of joining with them in the Lord's work. Here is a video that someone made about the ministry.

Body Parts

Being a part of the Body of Christ is such a blessing. I have been so encouraged by my friends in Montgomery. They are like family and make living in BAMA an easier pill to swallow. Last Thursday was a wonderful day surrounded by friends. Here's a snipet of an e-mail that I sent to my friend Keisha telling her about my day:

Yesterday, was a fun day for me. Me and Brie met Sylvia and her boys at the mall. We let the kiddies take a train ride...we thought it would be cute. Of course Brie started crying, so Champ started too! The conductor had to stop the ride and let them off! Next time, I'll keep my $2 in my pocket and we'll just look at the train! We came home and took a nap. Then Brittany Wright came over. She's like you...my single friend who lives around the corner who always comes over. We have become pretty close. Then Nyema and the girls came over before picking up Zuriel from school. Then Delta and Nicole stopped by for a few minutes to bring baby Max some boy clothes. Then Chas and Ashley came over and along with Brittany, they put up my Christmas tree! It's so pretty. I have bronze and gold on it this year. It just puts me in a happy mood to look at the tree. I will take some pics and upload them. Then, I went to dinner with a friend from church. What a day.

What a blessing to have such wonderful friends. My parents comment quite often about the friends that we have here. They are amazed with how we serve and take care of one another.

I want my frineds to know how very thankful I am for them. They are a real blessing and truly exemply love in action!

John Piper on the Election