Natalie Grant Concert!

Tomorrow night is the Natalie Grant concert and I am soooo excited. Here's the thing. I don't care if she's the female vocalist of the year. Well, I care for HER sake. I mean which of the writers among us doesn't want to win a Christy?
Anyway, so I wrote the last three books to her Awaken CD. Even if she were as obscure in the singing world as I am in the writing world, I would be over the top excited that she's coming to my town.

I remember in December I was a stoplight and her CD (of course) was playing and AWAKEN came on.

"Awaken the Passion to live for you Lord.
Open my eyes so I can see your presence dwelling inside
wake me up, 'cause I can't live another minute if I'm not shining your light..."

I had been listening for a YEAR to this CD, obsessively. It was the only CD I could listen to and still write. But in that moment, I finally GOT it. I wept. Horns were honking. People were staring and I was trying to drive. But I didn't really give a rip, you guys. When God shows up, it's just too much.

God meets us where we are and in that moment I needed to wake up.

Tomorrow night I'm going to work the product table, I may or may not get to see her up close. If I do, I'll take a pic and put it here. Even if I don't...Jesus used her gifts in my life and He brought her to Lebanon (of all places) because He loves me. And I don't care who says anything else...Jesus and me...we know why she's here: Jesus loves me this I know. :)

I'll fill you in on Saturday...but not early. It's the 5K for the Pregnancy Support Center and I have to be there at 7:30 to help out with registration. I started volunteering a few weeks ago and I LOVE it. I fit right in with these precious folks. The lady in charge of most of the hands on stuff is a KICK and a half. She's an ex-hippie and is so cool I could just listen to her all day. She has a TON of Jesus that just sings from her when opens her mouth. I am so honored to work with her. I MIGHT get to start teaching one-on-one next week. Oh back to the 5K. Turns out I'm not ready to run it, but I can walk. I'm working on it. I'm still determined to run my marathon. God said I could. So I will.

It's late. Gotta go. I wish the rest of the world started their day at 10am. I hate going to bed early and getting up early. Getting up at 6:30 is a bummer.

God's smile

There's an Eric Liddle quote that I love to meditate on and use during my talks with women about dreams and potential.
He was a Scottish runner who ran in the Olympics during the games right after WW2 (remember Chariots of Fire?)
He said. “I believe God made me for purpose. But he also made me fast. When I run. I feel his pleasure.”

Wow, what confidence in God and His plans. We don't have to stand behind a pulpit or sing like an angel for God to find pleasure in his purpose for us.

I was thinking about that today and I thought, When I write, do I feel your pleasure? There are days when I have been so tired and so needing to rest that I didn't feel anything but self-pity. :) But as I take time to rest and allow God to reveal His plans to me, I'm feeling His pleasure as I create new characters, story-lines, as I go back and rewrite and rewrite and fix holes in plotlines and take time to really say what I want to say in my writing instead of rushing to completion, that I feel his absolute approval and blessing and yes, His pleasure.

I want to feel His pleasure in the things I feel like He's called me to do. Running is one of those, although I'll never be Olympic fast or even fast enough to outrun my mother, most likely, but when I finish a workout and I'm tired and sweaty and sore...I smile. Because I feel His pleasure
Peace~

May Day

May 1, 2008- May Day

Exactly how I feel today MAYDAY MAYDAY. Lord, help me! What have I gotten myself into? I’ve told everyone that I’m training for a marathon, that I’m going the distance, that I’m journaling my experiences and will write a book about faithfulness. Everyone is waiting to see… They believe I can do it. In my heart I hear them saying, “You CAN but WILL you?"

I can do anything through Christ who gives me strength and He’s the one who gave me this dream. Dreams don’t sit around on your heart for 24 years without a reason.

I did intervals of running and walking. I'm doing a specific training program. The structure will help me not move ahead too quickly and hurt my knees again.

peace~