Merry Christmas

Another Christmas come and gone. So hard to believe. I must say that we had a wonderful past 2 days with our family. The boys could hardly wait for Santa to arrive. After church last night, we came home and made cookies for Santa (not to mention that we indulged in a couple ourselves). On the way home from church, Reid swore that he saw Santa and his reindeer in the sky. "Hurry home," he says. "We don't want to miss Santa and we still need to make his cookies!!" So cute. Total believer, he is.

Bry and I were up till 1am getting everything ready for the big morning. Ok...we got caught up in a Christmas movie. I'm such a sucker for them. I had grand plans to get up at 6am and get showered and dressed for the day. I know...what in the world was I thinking. Bry asked me later in the day: "Honey, what did you do at 6am this morning?" My reply? "I rolled over, turned the alarm off and went back to sleep!" What was I thinking to get up so stinkin' early??

Our boys were up about 6:45am. I could hear them run straight for their bed and to the top of the stairs. "WOW! Look, Santa was here!!" We quickly got up, got the camera, got Ella up and started down the stairs.

Santa was good to our whole family this year. I end this day feeling a bit guilty of just how good he was to us all. More than we need for sure. We have been blessed. And as if that wasn't enough, Gran shows up at the door with a ton more.

We did take this precious time with our family to celebrate the birth of Jesus. In the midst of wrapping paper being ripped apart and thrown all over the place, we never want to lose site as to why we celebrate this holiday. "Unto to us a Child was born in the city of David, a Saviour who is Christ the Lord." A verse that Reid can proudly quote and one that we have talked about for over a month now. He loved us so much that He sent His precious Son into this world to be born and grow up and ultimately take the place of our sins on the cross. He gave His Son for us. We are so undeserving, but oh so grateful. This is what the Christmas season is all about. I know that my children can answer the questions about why we celebrate Christmas, I just pray daily that it will penetrate their hearts as they get older.

I pray you all had a wonderful day celebrating our Lord.

Here are a couple of pictures of the kiddos. I didn't get any good pics of them today. So sad. But they were far too busy to stay still for mom to take pictures. Plus, I was busying helping them unwrap and take toys out of boxes. On a side note...seriously, you would think that each toy is worth a million dollars the way they package those things!

Merry Christmas. Have a wonderful week.



How can you resist this sweet face? I know I can't! I tried to get a picture with his new shiny, red bike (aka..tricyle), but this was what we got. He was willing to give me one posed smile! I took it. He loves his new bike and ALL his Lightning McQueen toys!


This is our Elf Sized little girl riding her pink horse that sings to her with her new Princess shoes. She loved these shoes. She would push the button to make the horse sing and then she would dance. So stinkin' cute.


Here is Reid with his much anticipated Animal Planet house he asked Santa for. You know, he had never even seen one of these before asking for it. I wondered what he thought it may look like and if he would be disappointed if it wasn't what he had in his little head...but let's just say HE LOVES IT!!

Reid's 5yr Picture

So, the aperture was perfect, the lighting was awesome, but what happened? I looked at the pictures when I got home and I didn't see my baby Reid. I saw this 5yr old child. I just can't believe it. How many times do I have to say that?

Anyway, I took Reid's 5yr pictures this afternoon. I only posted one here. You can go to my Photo blog and check out the rest of the pictures! I think they turned out pretty well. Bry's excited that I just saved him a ton of money!! ;-) Now, to decide which one to blow up to put in our house.

Love this child.

Do we love Santa?

I had a friend send me an email of pictures of all the kids sitting in Santa's lap that just LOVED being there....NOT! We should add this to that list. Poor Ella was petrified. Not just crying...SCREAMING. Shaking! I mean, am I a mean mom or what? But seriously, isn't this picture cute???

You know, I sometimes wonder why we force our kids to sit in Santa's lap when they are so scared. I have always struggled with the whole Santa thing actually. I had an elementary teacher convince me that Santa was from Satan. You know...mix the letters around and look what you get. But you know the story of St Nick is a sweet story. And you know, Reid and Cole are convinced that Santa is real and that he's coming down our chimney. They believe this because a friend of mine...well, her husband actually. He told Reid this really long story about Santa coming down the chimney and leaving toys and gifts for him and his siblings. Reid is such a believer that we have to move our fireplace screen the night before Christmas so that Santa doesn't get trapped! I've even tried to convince him that Santa isn't real. He doesn't believe me! Oh well.

Of course one day he'll find out the truth, but for now, there is such an innocence in believing in Santa. For Reid and Cole, it's magical in some way. Maybe we are wrong as parents, but we tend to think it's sweet. Oh, we still take our boys shopping every year and they pick out toys to give to other children that may not have Christmas at all. Reid was so sweet this year. He picked out several toys that he wanted to have for himself. He kept telling me that the kids would love to play with this or that.

And our boys know that we celebrate Christmas for Christ's birth. We give gifts to show how much we love others. We talk about this all the time. We are careful that our children don't lose the meaning of Christmas...the real meaning.

Anyway, I just thought that I would share this picture. I think it's so funny and I love it. I am sure that Ella won't remember and I'm sure that she will forgive me!!!

Mommy/Daughter

I don't know why I love this picture except for the fact that I think she looks like me here. Everyone that sees or knows Ella always has a different opinion of who they think she looks like. When she was first born, I think she looked a lot like Reid (in petite form) and Bry's side of the family. As she is getting older, I think she is a perfect mix between the 2 boys. Still, everyone will say something different. I have friends that are adamant that she looks just like Reid while others think that she looks just like me (ie...Cole). I do think it's fun to think that she looks like her mama! Maybe because she is such a mommy's girl, she is starting to look like me. She is sure starting to act like me! OH me....the pressure.

All I do know is that she is fearfully and wonderfully made...there is no doubt about that. God has a special plan for this little girl and I am thankful that He has given her to me that I may have the honor and privilege to watch His Will unfold in her life.

BTW...total side note. Ella had her 18 month checkup today with her doc. She is now proudly in the 25% in height and weight! Many of you know that that is HUGE progress. She spent the first year of her life not even on the charts. The docs were worried. I never was as I know that she inherited the petite nature of Bry's sister and mom. YEAH Ella for being a whole 22 pounds now and 30.5 inches!!!

Oh...her head circumference? It has always been in the 90%. That's funny to me considering I never thought her head looked big. I just tell the doc that she has a lot of brains in there. I guess since her face is so petite that her head looks small. Who knows how they come up with these percentiles anyway!

Just some random cute pictures....

of some random cute kids! It's been so fun taking pictures of the kids lately. I usually start taking pictures of Ella because the majority of the time, the boys come running and want to take a family picture with their sister! Works like a charm. They both want to take pictures with her that they get a little excited. They want to put their arms around her, but since she is still quite a bit shorter than them, they tend to wrap their arms around her neck. Poor thing. Now to figure out a plan to prevent this. Hey, one step at a time.

I think my kids smile for the camera since I have it in their face all the time. They figure if they want Mommy to stop taking pictures so that they can play and she will play with them, they may as well cooperate and get it done faster!! (OK...I really think that they think they are cute and want everyone else to see just how cute they are!)

BTW...in the pictures of the 3 of them, they are cracking up at their Daddy acting crazy! Or as Reid would say: "There he goes showing off again!" No, he seriously says that.





I think this is the sweetest picture. I have so many sweet pictures of Reid with Ella, but not as many with Cole. This one just melts my heart.

Reid's Party at school

Today was Reid's actual 5th birthday.

He started his morning off by sleeping in (go figure). A boy who NEVER sleeps in, does so on his birthday as well as a school day! But trust me, I let him sleep.

He awoke to mommy letting him have chocolate milk (a rare treat for him) followed by Dad's famous pancakes. We then got ready and rushed off to school.

I took special cookies to his class that looked like lions for him to share with his friends. No, I didn't make them. I had a friend of a friend make them for him.

Reid's teacher gives everyone a special day at school to celebrate their birthday. Reid's was of course today. As you can see, he got to wear a special hat/crown all day long! He was the line leader and made to feel so special all day long. At the end of the day, Mommy got to go to his class while he shared his cookies and juice. He got to sit in the teacher's chair as everyone sang happy birthday to him! You can see from his expression that he was a bit embarrassed, but loved every minute of it. We then passed out the cookies, ate them and then packed up to go home.

I hear that he had 2 girls squabbling over who was going to marry Reid one day. His teacher said that the little girls kind of migrate to him and follow him. It drives him CRAZY. Course his Daddy told him to get used to it. You see, he is like his Daddy and his Daddy told him that that happened to him his whole life. Can you just hear Bry telling him that?? Reid doesn't struggle with self esteem that's for sure.

After school, Justin came over to play. Then we had dinner at Gatti Town. Isn't Ella and her friend Haley so cute together? They had a ball chasing each other and crawling all over the games. It was cute.

I know..where are the pictures of Reid and Cole and Justin at GT? Do you really think that those boys were going to sit still long enough for me to get their picture?? Not a chance. There was way too much fun to be had by all!

Reid's 5th birthday party

I thought I would share some pics from Reid's 5th birthday party. What a fun time he had.

We celebrated his party with his best pal from school, Justin. They thought it was great to have their party together and the moms thought it was great to share the cost of everything!!

We had their party at Pump It Up. I can't say that our party started off all that well, considering I was told to be there at 4:15 and no one showed up with the key to open the place until 4:50. Did I mention that our party was supposed to start at 4:45 which meant that all guests are requested by Pump It Up to arrive at 4:30??? Did I mention that it was cold outside and that all of our guests were there before the key arrived? Ok...moving along.

Once the party got started the boys had a GREAT time. I have to tell you that Justin and Reid truly adore each other. If I could only record their laughing together and send it to you all. It's contagious. They are all boy, but I think that they have a tender spot for each other (in a cool guy kind of a way of course).

Yes, you will see in some of the pictures that Justin has blood in his nose. Bless his heart...he did get a bloody nose at his own party. But don't worry, it didn't stop him from having fun!

And I threw in a picture of Ella in her car checking out the hot babe in the car next to her. Did you know they had these cars at Pump It Up? They only have 2 of them for all 25 kids to fight over! ;-)

Both the boys raked it in on the gifts. They were both on highs all weekend long. And to think that there's more coming for Christmas. Oh me.

I can hardly believe that I'm a parent of a 5 yr old. I don't know whether to cry because I am getting old or go get botox and fight getting old! Just kidding on the last part. But seriously...wow. He will be in Kindergarten next year. I can't take this. Can't he stay 5 forever?

Reid has always been a joy in our lives. He has taught us much about the innocence in life that we all once had and all too quickly lost. He has taught us patience and total reliance on God. He has taught us simple faith. He has such a tender heart all the while still being 100% boy...which means he's loud in all that he does and he's rough in every area. He brings so much laughter to our home in more ways than one. And though he can be a challenge at times, he loves big and he loves deep. Everyone who knows Reid and really knows Reid will know that he loves his family so much. He may fight with his brother, but he always wants to make sure that Cole is taken care of. If he gets a treat bag from a party, his first question is "Did Cole get one?" And he is ALWAYS protecting his sister. He gets truly sad when one of them is hurt. Watching his love for his siblings has taught us much about God's love for us. Little does he know just how much he has taught us and just how he challenges us to draw closer to God.

We love this child from the bottom of our hearts. Whoever is lucky enough to marry him one day (you know, when he's about 35) will be one blessed lady. I am praying for her every single day. I love you my angel!!!

A Princess Party

I thought I should share my little Princess. Ella and I went to her very first (of many, I'm sure) Princess party. Her little friend Jaelyn was turning 2 and she had a party at my friend's Party Palace. I was honestly thinking that little miss wouldn't really enjoy the party as it would be too old for her. But let me just tell you...she had a BLAST! She loved dressing up and pranced all over the place in her little dress. Once we got the crown to stay in her hair, she loved that too. The little girls were sprinkled with Princess fairy dust (glitter), they got to sip on some Princess tea (really sweet lemonade), and enjoy a Princess cake (chocolate cupcake). They walked the runway as the announcer gave some fun facts about them and then they had a dance. Once a Princess, always a Princess because they are fearfully and wonderfully made! Such a fun party. I loved it and so did Ella. I'm so glad she fun. Oh yeah...I forgot...she got her fingernails painted for the first time ever! Ms. Rachel did a great job. Ella sat in my lap and held her little hands so still (I was totally shocked). When we got home, she ran down the hall saying, "Da Da...See?!" She had to show him her nails! So cute! It was a fun mother/daughter moment for sure.

My little Santa helpers.....

Just had to share these adorable pictures of my children.

We were on our way to a Christmas party for my kids and I decided to try to take a few pictures of them before we left. I was honestly expecting a disaster, but was pleasantly surprised. I can't believe just how good these pictures turned out. They are so fun.

All 3 of my children decided to pose for the camera. They were all smiles the whole time. What I love most about these pictures is the fact that their personalities come through very clear. Not only that, but I look at these pictures and think how in the world did they get so big. These are the first pictures in a long time that I have looked at them and thought to myself, they are so big. When did this happen? Why do they have to grow up?

I hope you enjoy the pictures of my 3 little Santa helpers.

All the cousins

Here is a picture of all of the cousins from Bry's side of the family. This is the first time in 7 years that they have all been together. Course 7 years ago, my 3 angels didn't exist. It was quite the challenge to get a picture of all 7 of them in a happy, smiley mood. Actually, is that even possible??? Made for good memories though.

Cousin Bec....

While we were in Kansas for Thanksgiving, I also had the opp to see my cousin Becki. I hadn't seen her since Reid was 9 month old. That's a long time. She was really excited to see Reid and to meet Cole and Ella. Lots of first meetings for my children on this trip.

Becki came over for lunch (prepared by my sister in law) along with her boyfriend Joe. It was fun meeting him. Not sure he will ever want to be a part of her family though after meeting us (well, after meeting Bry that is!). Just kidding Bec. I am sure that meeting Bry would make anyone want to be a part of the family. Lots of laughs for sure.

First meeting with Grandma

I know that I haven't posted in a really long time. Haven't seem to find the time to sit down to do it.

Let me catch you up on a few events in the next couple of posts.

The first thing will take us back to Thanksgiving! Pretty sad, I know, but hey, it's a start.

When we went to Kansas for Thanksgiving, this would mark the very first time that Bry's mom had ever seen Ella. Yelp, this would be their very first meeting. Here is a picture of them together.

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

There is nothing that can put me in the mood for the Christmas holiday than a little snow. While we were in Kansas last week for Thanksgiving, it snowed! I was so excited. I always miss seeing the snow for Christmas. My first Christmas here was sunny and it just didn't feel right. As you all know, it's been really hot here at home, so thinking about Christmas shopping and decorations seemed to be a distant thought at most. But once we had snow in Kansas, I was ready to come home and decorate and get all the gifts wrapped and under the tree. I just love snow.

This was Ella's first snow. She loved being in the cold air and was very intrigued by the white stuff all over her. Cole, as you can see didn't have a coat on. "It's not cold Mommy!" Oh me. Reid is all bundled up, and of course, he is the one to get sick. He was sick most of last week. As a matter of fact, he is still not doing well. Poor little guy.

Little Miss Thing

Here is my sweet, sweet Ella all dolled up. This little outfit came with a purse and she loves that. It was fun watching her today walk around with this on her arm all day. She is so girly and yet a tough little girl.

Halloween Costumes

Well, I finally have a computer with fast internet access after a little over a week. So, I am just now able to post my kiddos in their costumes. I know, serious Cowboys fan here! They had fun being football players though and ramming heads with each other.

Right where God wants you....

Have you ever looked at your life and realized that you just may be right where God wants you? We tend to always want more than what we have or do more than we are doing or be somewhere we aren't. But we tend to forget that we may be right where God wants us.

This is a realization that has really been hitting me lately. I have had such a spiritual transformation over the past 6 months of my life. I stand in complete awe of Him and all that He has done in my heart. I have watched myself do exactly what I knew He didn't want me to do and have suffered the consequences. I have experienced Him stripping away things in my life that I have loved and it has been painful. I have struggled with God in a major way and had to finally let go and then find myself in more peace. I went to a restaurant with women that I didn't know at my Writer's Conference because I was selfishly wanting good food to eat to find myself on a committee for an amazing project that I would have never thought possible.

I believe that every incident in your life can happen for a reason. God can and will use each of them to mold you into who He wants you to be if you truly love Him with your heart and truly want to seek His will.

When I was at the Writer's Conference a couple of weeks ago, I was exactly where God wanted me to be. It was a financial sacrifice for my family, but it was one that God provided for. My dreams as a writer will far exceed anything I could imagine.

I had to share that I just got off of a conference call with the ladies from the dinner table that night discussing a project that God has laid on all of our hearts. We are spread out all over the US, but we all have the same passion and vision. I would have never thought in a million years that God would have allowed me or put me in this place. I am truly humbled and excited to see where He is going to take me.

All I can say is that for the first time in a long time, I don't really know the direction or where I'll end up, but I am at peace. I can't wait to get there, but I am enjoying the ride.

I know that I am a bit evasive with the information as to what this project is, but I am under confidentialty issues right now. Just know that your prayers are being felt and appreciated and that God is doing BIG things.

Pumpkin Patch

Here are some pics of our first trip to the pumpkin patch. We will be going to another one tomorrow. We met Ella's friends today and will meet the boys friends tomorrow. Gives me a chance to get more pics of the kiddos. When will I ever find the time to put these in their books??

Wrapping up...

Today was another big day here at Glorieta. I had a few more meetings with editors and agents. I also met with the lady that critiqued my proposal and manuscript (first 15 pages) for my Romans study. She was incredibly encouraging. She told me that she really liked my style and the flow of my writing. She did encourage me to find something that was unique to April to add to my writing. This will take much prayer on my part to understand what this should be. She did like how it was driving you straight to Scripture without sounding "preachy." She asked me how much interest I had meeting with the editors. She seemed pleased with my results.

I have met a lot of wonderful people while here that I hope will be long time friendships. I have even met a lady that lives in Frisco about 5 minutes from me that is a published author and is wanting to keep in touch with me. She is truly a blessing to me. I am looking forward to a growing relationship with her. She will be great in encouraging me in my own writing as well as coaching me along the way. God has been so awesome in all that He has done this weekend with me. I just never imagined all that I would learn, all who I would meet, and the amount of interest in my writing.

I would have never considered myself a writer; however, I believe that God may have another plan for me. He always thinks bigger than we can imagine. So amazing that He would chose me.

I am a long way off as I have stated earlier from being a published author. However, I am off to a great start! For this being my first conference, having the interest level I have is such a blessing. Many of the pros that I have spoken with totally agree. They claim it's rare to have this much interest as a "newbie." (That's what we are called!) It's a tough market.

I do believe God will use my writing in some form in the near future. It may look very different than what I think. After all, He has changed my plan quite a bit over the past 3-4 months. I am excited to see where He is going to take me.

On a brief sidenote, I took a trip into Sante Fe with some of the ladies that I met while here. We walked around this very nostalgic town. It was so fun. Then we ate at a wonderful restaurant. I can't tell you how excited I was to have food that actually tasted good. No, the food was AWESOME! We were all in heaven.

I am very excited to get home tomorrow to see my husband and my sweet children. I miss them sooooooo much. Then, I am very excited to get working on my submittals that I will be making over the next few weeks to the editors and agents. It's such an exciting venture that I have been on so far.

I love you guys and will be touching base next week. I will relax with my family for a few days before jumping back on the blog wagon.

Information overload...

I have to be honest, I'm not sure that my brain can process another day's worth of information. I am in definite information overload! This conference has been so enlightening and so encouraging. I have no idea where God will take me in all of this, but I know He has a plan. I must say though, this inner passion is really coming out in me. If writing is something that I truly pursue, it will be a long, tough road. I do believe it will be rewarding all in the same breath.

This day was filled with more meetings, more classes and more workshops. Today, I met with a critique editor who said that she has quit doing Bible studies because she is tired of them telling her what to think. She told me that she would love to read my study. She would be a contact that would critique my work before ever going to an editor. She is also a writing coach.

I met with another agent today and he said that he loved my idea of what an in-depth study should look like. He is really good friends with Kay Arthur, so he was 100% on board with my pitch. The problem is he has 2 other clients that are doing studies and he doesn't want to create a conflict of interest. With that being said, he told me to send him my full manuscript. Let me give you a bit of an insight to the publishing world...they NEVER ask for the full manuscript. They normally only want the first 15 pages (or 3 chapters if it's a book) to review initially. It's really out of character for one to ask for the full manuscript. But, I thought that was cool.

In an ideal world, an author's best route would be to have a good agent. They have the contacts in the industry. They would know what publisher would work best with your writing. They take care of all of the legalities that come with writing for a publisher. Not to mention a lot of them help you write your query letter to the publisher.

I then had the privilege of having dinner with the Tyndale publisher and his son who's the agent. I spent about 2 hours with them tonight. It was good relationship building time. We told jokes, they gave me a hard time that they are the only ones that think I should write a book. The agent's wife was here today. She's great. She's also a BIG Cowboy fan....so we talked shop for quite awhile. She loved hearing every Roger Staubach story I could come up with.

Relationship is key in this industry as it is in any other.

I just have no more energy to write tonight. Know that all is going well. I feel encouraged in so many ways and know that God has put me here at this moment. I miss being home and I sure miss my kiddos. The good thing about being here is that time flies by. I can hardly believe that I've been here 3 days.

As always, thanks for the prayers. I love my dear friends and family that are praying for me. Trust me, I have felt them all!!

Psalm 18

"I love you, O Lord, my strength...My shield...my stronghold.
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised...

In my distress, I call upon the Lord,
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice out of His temple...

The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
And the Most High uttered His voice...

He sent from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of the many waters.

As for God, His way is blameless;
The word of the Lord is tried;
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him."

Rest in Him today. Know that He loves you and He wants to be in every part of your life. He is always there for you and will always protect you.

Meeting with editors and agents

My, oh my, what a whirlwind of a day full of information that my brain is still trying to process. I can't even describe to you in words the feelings that I have right now.

Let me just begin with telling you that I didn't sleep all that well last night. I honestly have a hard time sleeping when I'm not with my hubby. However, it didn't help that the alarm went off at 1am. Apparently, I don't know how to set the alarm. That was a fun little treat for me.

I woke up this morning feeling a bit refreshed. I missed breakfast as I chose a little more sleep and honestly, wanted to spend some time in prayer before my busy day began. It's rare for a mom of 3 to get total silence. I have that here. I mean folks...there isn't even a TV in my room. I also don't have a microwave anywhere in my building, which is a bummer since I brought popcorn and have had this craving for it. I am sure that I am craving it since I can't have it.

Being here feels a little like isolation...but in a good way. It's so quiet right now as I type this. There is just no noise. I am sitting in this room that is surrounded by mountain views from the window. All I can think of is God's creation. It's peaceful and quite surreal. It's a spiritual retreat that I needed. Though the food is well, camp food, the fellowship with God is ever so sweet. You gaze upon the mountains and just wonder what it will be like to be in heaven with our Lord and Savior.

The conference begins every day with Panel discussions, devotions, and then you hit the hard classes and workshops. My comprehensive class that I am taking is on Non-fiction (I know, that's a given) and the instructor is John Van Diest with Tyndale publishing. I can't tell you what an honor it is to be in his class as he has published many of Swindoll's book as well as Howard Hendricks and Bruce Wilkerson. He has been with Tyndale for 35 yrs. He has such a wealth of knowledge to impart to us all.

I had 3 meetings today with editors that turned into 4. While we are here, we have the opportunity to meet with various editors/publishers of our choosing to pitch our book proposal or our ideas or simply to ask questions. Each meeting is only 15 minutes. Do you know just how nerve racking that is to know that you have to "sell" your idea/platform/passion in 15 minutes to a complete stranger who has heard it all??? Well, let me tell you, it's heart racing. Let me give you the run down on the meetings:

My first meeting was with a editor/publisher that focuses directly on Bible studies. I thought that would be a good person for me to talk too. I sat down and with great confidence started my spill on why my Romans study needed to be out on the market. He listened intently and then pulled out a flyer that shows the Bible studies that they have published and the format. It falls in line with what I am doing. However, they just published a verse by verse study on Romans. At first my heart fell as I thought: "How have I never seen this study?" He took my manuscript (which in this situation is just the first 15 pages of your book that is double spaced) out of my hands and said: "Let me see what you have." The next 60 seconds seemed like an hour. There was silence as he looked through and was reading my work. My heart was honestly pounding. He then said: "I really like your style. I think you would be a great fit to write in our series. Send me your ideas next week." I honestly about fell over. He would not be intersted in the Romans study obviously, but he is looking for other studies written like my Romans study on other books of the Bible.

Now, before you all get excited...this means NOTHING to this point, other than the fact that I was so encouraged that a real publisher liked my work. I have to submit to him books of the Bible I would like to write about and IF it fits in what they are needing, at that point, I can work on a proposal for him. However, this does mean that I am establishing a relationship and starting to get my foot in the door.

I immediately called my best friend and number one fan, my husband! Honestly, I was overwhelmed with emotion. He asked me if I was crying. I was able to hold it in till he said that. I think he shed a tear too. This was a great way to start off the conference. Again, remember I am still a LONG way off from a dream, but yet a step closer.

My next meeting was with an agent. He is the son of John Van Diest, so I was excited to meet with him. He was a super nice guy, but told me that he didn't feel that a Bible study would go anywhere. Unless you are Beth Moore or Kay Arthur, it's difficult to do. I replied: "Yes, I agree; however, Beth Moore and Kay Arthur weren't always 'Beth Moore' and 'Kay Arthur'!" He agreed. So, he continued asking me questions about my platform and my passion. After our discussion, he told me that I needed to write a book. He said that there's a book in you and you need to get it out. My 15 minute meeting with him went 30. As we discussed the type of book I should write, he said, you know what? We need to get you in front of my dad!! He was saying this as we were walking out of the conference hall to the dining hall. And about that time, John walked up and the 3 of us walked to the dining hall together. Our conversations are too detailed to go into right now, but know that they were encouraging. The main thought process, a book would give me a name and let people know who I am. That would potentially entice them to buy a Bible study from me. I was also told that the Bible study is the easy route...the book is the harder road. You have to dig deeper into your soul to write. You have to write about what made you cry, what made you hurt, what put you at rock bottom and then what restored you.

My 4th meeting was with another editor with a different publishing company. She took a manuscript of mine and asked me to fill out a writer's form for her this week while we are here so that she can have me on file. But she is wanting me to submit to her next week a writing on Ruth. This would not be for a Bible study, but for a book that she is working on. I would not be the only author. That's all the detail I can go into online for now.

So, what have I learned today? That I have no idea where God is taking me. I have been presented with 3 potential opportunities...3 very different opportunities. I have to say that I am overwhelmed and amazed at God's grace for me right here, right now. I can only imagine what my meetings tomorrow and Saturday will hold for me. Saturday, I will have a meeting with the editor that is critiquing my Romans proposal...remember the query letter I was working on last week? I'm excited to meet with her because I know that she will have it marked up, but I will gain such great insight on how to improve as a writer.

I am totally exhausted right now and my brain is so tired. I ask that you pray for me to have supernatural energy tomorrow, that my brain is clear, and that the Holy Spirit reveals Himself to me in an intense way.

I will continue to update you on my trip. Thanks for wanting to know, for loving me, and for praying for me. It has truly meant the world to me.

Verses for the day

I Chronicles 29:1-5
"Then King David said to the entire assembly, "My son Solomon, whom alone God has chosen, is still young and inexperienced and the work is great; for the temple is not for man, but for God...."

I hear these words coming from my mom's mouth about me. I am young and inexperienced and what God has for me in my life is for Him and not me.

verse 5: "...Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the Lord?"

I pray that we all remember that "He who began a good work in you will finish it until the day of redemption." Philippians 1:6

And while He is completing that work in you, in me, that we all will "be imitators of God.....and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma." Ephesians 5:1-2

Just getting here...

Well my blog friends, I finally made it to the Writer's Conference; however, not without a few obstacles along the way. I began my morning with my sweet family loving on me. My sweet husband took Reid to school so that I would have some extra time to get ready. When he returned, he offered to keep Cole and Ella and let me go teach my class this morning at church before heading to the airport.

I jump in his car to go and get to the church quite a bit later than I normally would...but was taking my time. As I walk up to the church door, I realize, I have Bry's keys and not mine. Therefore, I have no key to get into the church. The only other person that would be coming that would have a key was our pastor's wife, Charity. She had just called me to say she wouldn't be coming as her son was sick. So, I had to call the church office and have poor Amanda bring me a key. If I told you all of my key stories with the church, you would not believe me.

I felt totally and utterly unprepared for my lesson this morning, but I have to say that once we got started....the Holy Spirit totally took over. I felt as though we had such great, deep conversation. We were all digging deeper together.

I drove home as fast as I could without getting a ticket and we loaded up for Bry to take me to the airport. It's noon at this time and my poor children hadn't eaten lunch yet. Bry thought we could all eat together, but then I got home late. Needless to say, we both had to fight off frustration with each other.

He drops me off and talks me out of taking my camera and my big coat. My bag was too heavy he was telling me. I have a lot of stuff that I had to bring to the conference, so the camera had to go. I know my photography friends....don't be upset and don't lecture me! Trust me, as I got here, I am bummed I don't have it as it is beautiful. However, I really feel that God is telling me to focus only on the conference and not anything else. I am here for one purpose and one purpose only!

I, of course and as always, had to have extra done to my bags. I asked the guy what he was testing my bag for and he looked at me with a smirk and said explosives! Oh. I think I'd better shut up now and just let the man do his job!

The plane ride went well until the end. We hit several turbulents and I gotta tell ya....since I was pregnant with Reid, I can't handle those. I actually used to LOVE them and now, it's all I can do to not throw up on the person next to me. I was literally sweating by the time we landed and made a mad dash to the bathroom! I was fine...just needed to put my head between my legs for a second or two.

I did meet a lady on the plane that was traveling with her 5 yr old son. She was asking about my notebook that I had and what study I was taking. It was my notes over Ruth and what I was working on getting ready to post on my other blog. She told me that she had a desire to write Sunday School curriculum for special needs children! I really encouraged her in that area as I thought that was really neat. I had never thought about that. She just felt that there wasn't anything geared toward them and she wanted them to go to church and feel loved on as well! I hope she does it one day.

I had scheduled a shuttle to take me from the airport to here, but really wanted to get a rent car...which incidently, I forgot to do this week from home. So, the only cars available was going to cost me around $400. YIKES! Shuttle it is.

Ummmm....have you ever taken a shuttle for an hour and a half trip? Yeah, me either till today. And guess what? I was one of the lucky ones that got to ride in this big, white van ALONE with the drive!!!!! I called Bry while he was walking around the car and was like: "PRAY FOR ME!!!" I think I made him a little nervous. I was nervous. At any rate, the man turned out to be sweet and talked the ENTIRE ride.

He's a HUGE Cowboy fan...so we talked shop for a long time comparing the teams and targeting what improvements our Boys needed to make. That was of course so fun for me!

He gave me a history lesson about the Indian reservations that we were passing on our way. I have always been intrigued with the Indians so I loved hearing all he had to say.

He showed me where there were volcanoes and how they believe that one of them is getting ready to blow. I'm like....how far will the lava go if it blows? I mean, that's the last thing I need right now! ;-) He told me that the last time the volcano errupted was 1 million years ago! "Hmmm, that's interesting. How did they determine that it errupted 1 million years ago? They can't even prove that the earth has been here that long." He didn't know, but he thought it was interesting.

So, I used this opp to ask him if he went to church. He never answered me about himself really. He just told me about where his parents went. He talked very fondly of his parents and seems to be very close to them. They own 600 acres in the mountains there. Anyway, he said that they go to a thing called The Reflections. It's not church, but apparently, there was a woman (one of which he couldn't remember her name) that lived in the jungles of S Africa and she claimed that God audibly talked to her there and so she wrote a book that unlocks ALL of the mysteries of the Bible. That's what he said. I will have to do more research on this. Course, I was trying to tell him that the mysteries of the Bible will never be unlocked until we are in heaven. We are not meant to know all the mysteries. It's a bit ironic that we talked about this this morning in our Bible study class before I left Dallas. Do you think God was preparing me for this conversation or what?

He was then telling me about his daughters. One is a biological daughter and the other is his step daughter. Anyway, his daughter is pregnant and he thinks she's too young and she doesn't have a "good man" in her life, so he says: "I hate to do this because I don't think I believe in this, but I am going to tell her to abort the child!" Those of you that know me and know me well, know that this is a HUGE subject with me that I am EXTREMELY passionate about. We talked for some time about how he should encourage her to adopt the baby. I talked about how there are sooooo many good parents out there that can't have their own babies and would love to love this child. He seemed quite contemplative as he said: "You know, maybe that's what I should do. Maybe I should tell her to adopt the baby!" I said a prayer right there that he would and that she would!!!!!

I finally get here, get checked in and then have to lug my luggage a little ways in the really cold, gusty winds! But hey, I am here and I feel such peace.

The first session tonight was good and encouraging. It's amazing the different types of people you see. I think I had them all stereo typed to look a certain way and let's just say that NONE of them are what I expected. Isn't that why we shouldn't put expectations on others?

Tomorrow is a big day. I ask that you pray that I get to meet with the editors I chose and that we have an encouraging conversation. I haven't felt this passionate in so long. I really can hardly contain my excitment. I keep wishing that Bry was here with me or one of my close friends, and I keep hearing the Holy Spirit say...this is your time. Be still. Listen to me. Don't focus on anything but the conference. You may be thinking, why are you blogging??? Mainly because I am asking for prayer coverage and because I want to always remember every step of this conference, and this is my outlet. I would rather type this all in as opposed to writing it! Did that sound odd considering I'm at a WRITER'S conference? He he.

Sweet boys

Life with 2 boys is definitely a busy life. They are so full of energy and they NEVER stop. What I wouldn't give to have their energy. But all in all, they are full of life. They love to have fun. Something we can all learn I'm sure. I tend to get so caught up in what needs to be done that I forget to have fun sometimes. The boys always remind me of that. They will say: "Mommy, when you are done studying, can we play chase?" How can you say no?? I rarely do. These are memories that are all too quickly passing by me. One day, I won't have them coming in an "interrupting" me while studying and I know that I will wish I did.

Stop and smell the roses today. Enjoy life. Be where you are and embrace it. Don't let life's sweetest blessings and moments pass you by.

I'm off tomorrow for my conference. I'll do my best to keep you all posted via blog as I am there. Thanks for all your prayers and encouragements. It's much needed and felt.

Craziness all around....

I just wanted to update you all on my getting ready for this conference. If I could only but begin to tell you of the warfare that I have been experiencing this weekend in getting prepared, it would take me all day long. I'll give you a brief recap....For starters, I have had a MAJOR migraine headache all weekend. I mean the kind that you are so nauseous, you don't know whether to throw up, cry, sleep, or well, cry! It's been bad. Not to mention, this is the weekend that my husband is out of town, so I have no time to do much outside of the 3 kiddos. And did I mention that I needed to get a query letter written, chapter outline and synopsis written, a manuscript ready, let's see, print my full manuscript (I need several copies) and have it bound at Kinkos. Oh, and I need to prepare to teach on Wednesday morning before I leave town. Well, my printer ink is out...did I mention that Bry is out of town? He is my printer guy! Oh, and our ink is NEVER out that we don't have another cartridge in our back room. I know, I know...just take a disk into Kinkos and do it there....with 3 children all 4 yrs and younger! And to top it off, the Cowboys lose their winning streak!! Ok...gotta give it to the Cowboy fan...she's heartbroke. Back to the important stuff.

But when I did go to Kinkos this morning to have the books bound (I finally got them printed and duplexed), it was POURING down rain. So, now, I have to figure out how to get 2 kiddos (Reid was at school) into Kinkos with my books without them getting wet at all and without me and the kids getting just drenched. What a feat that was. And poor Cole, I got him out of the car, shut the car door and wacked him in the head with the door. I couldn't pick him up as I had Ella, the umbrella and the books. I felt soooo bad. So, as soon as I get in the door at Kinkos, I pretty much drop everything (except Ella) to grab Cole and hold him.

I must say, I think that I am exactly where God wants me though. To get this kind of opposition, I know that God is going to do great things in my heart and in my life this weekend. I believe this 100% after the weekend I have had.

After a major meltdown last night and my husband calling and me telling him I didn't want to talk to him because honestly, I was mad that he was out of town taking care of his family and I, at that moment, thought he needed to be here with me helping me with this printing MESS!! Man oh man...where was I? In sin of course. Funny how this week's lesson that I'm teaching at church will touch on being self consumed to the point that you can't see out to help others. And when you are focusing on others, you don't have time to wallow in your own self pity. Funny how I always end up teaching lessons on issues that I am going through at that time.

But after that, I was somehow able to get it all done. Now, that's not to say that I'm not totally tired today...but good. Still have the headache, but we are good. I can hardly believe that I have only one more day before leaving for the conference. So excited, yet so scared!

On a good note...I was at the mall today meeting some of Cole's old friends for lunch. Before I met them, I had to make a return at Gymboree, in which the lady behind the counter couldn't believe that I had 3 children. She swore to me that she thought I was like 18 or something. Now, mind you, she has 3 children too, so she wasn't a teenager herself. I am pretty sure I could have kissed her and hugged her neck off! Seriously, I am soooo past 18. I don't think anyone as told me that since was in my early 20's. But hey, it did make me feel good...I have to admit that. All day, I was thinking: "Man, a little makeup really does go a long way!" But then, I looked at the mirror to admire my 18 year old looking face and I noticed that I had a zit on my jawbone....maybe that's why she thought I was 18. Instead of PMSing, she thought I was in puberty! Oh well....whatever the reason, I love her.

I just have to tell this story on my son, Cole. Man, if I had a camera today, I would have put this on the blog. But, he was eating his Cheetos, having some fun. And I noticed that he was picking his nose! Yes, I said picking his nose. That struck me as odd since he doesn't ever pick his nose. He then looked at me and said: "Mommy, can you get this Cheetos out of my nose?" I thought he was being funny and just had a boogie....I went over, tilted his head back and sure as heck, he had stuck a little piece of a Cheetos in his nose. Like who does that? When I got it out, his nose bled a little bit. Course, I put the fear of the hospital and needles in him to never do that again. I mean, I really only thought "those kids" did that? Apparently not. Apparently, my son does that! Oh me.

Sorry I'm so all over the place. That's my life right now. I am all over the place. Hopefully, I'll feel a bit more normal next week.

Query Letters...

Oh me oh my, the most intimidating and daunting task of a writer must be the query letter. I have stressed over this letter all week long. At the conference next week, I have the opportunity to do a paid critique of my manuscript. This is a great opportunity to have a real life editor/publisher look over my proposal and tell me what I need to do differently in order to "sell" my project to a publisher. So, I know that my letter doesn't have to be perfect as that's the whole idea of letting them help you, but still, I want it to be perfect. Is that so much to ask?

I am asking that you all pray for me that my nerves will calm down and that I will only write the words that God will have me write. There is no other way I am going to get through this! If anyone out there has any suggestions, please let me know. I would love all the help I can get!!

Wrestling with God

I have been wanting to share something with my blogger family for quite some time now, but just haven’t found the time to sit down and really put my heart into the writing. Or maybe I have had the time, but have had fear about putting my heart so out on the line.

However, with some encouragement from my closest friends, I have decided it’s time.

For those of you that don’t know me or don’t know me well, I have had a long time passion for Women’s Ministry. I have taught several Bible studies over the years in various Women’s Ministries. God has penetrated my heart over the years for Women. I just love women. I love being able to watch them grow spiritually. I love being able to connect with them. I just love everything that comes with that.

I have always envisioned that my ministry would one day be the Director of a Women’s Ministry for whatever church we were attending. I feared that my past would prohibit that from happening, but tried to trust that God was not tugging at my heart for no reason.

We began going to our church, Providence Church pretty much from its inception, which now is over 2 years. Both Bry and I loved the church from the very beginning and knew that God had called us to be there. Over the course of the past couple of years, I have played a big role in our Women’s Ministry by starting the Women’s Bible studies as well as planning the Women’s retreats (with an amazing team each year) for the past 2 years. I have also helped getting some other ministries going. I say this, not to toot my own horn, but to tell you where I have been over the past couple of years. During the course of this time period, my husband became involved in the Elder process at our church.

He became official in May of this year. The next step for our church was to put Deacons in place to run the various ministries for our church. Here was my chance. I was so excited as I was sure they would have to logically chose me to play the role for the Women’s Ministry. And guess what? I was asked to go through the Deacon training along with a very dear friend of mine. I thought that my ministry was finally coming into play as God had pictured it for me.

Or was that my picture? My ministry was coming into play, it just started looking very different after the very first weekend of the Deacon Training. I spent the next 2 weeks really wrestling with God and honestly fighting him. I went through a whirlwind of emotions those 2 weeks. The more I prayed, the more discontent I felt about becoming a Deacon. How could this be though? I had wanted this soooooo bad. And I really wanted to serve the ladies at our church more than anything. I wanted to make a difference.

But there was something in my spirit that just wasn’t quite right. I couldn’t find peace. So, I started the blame game. I started blaming others as to why this wasn’t going to work. I thought….well, I can’t share this role. So, if I have to share the role, I’ll just not do it. But the funny thing was, I really deep, down wanted to share the role with my dear friend. We compliment each other in so many ways. Her strengths are so my weaknesses. And with 3 small children at home, she would be my perfect mate.

My struggle was not with her or with anyone, but with myself and with God. God was clearly telling me to lay it down. Lay it down my Child….lay it down. That’s all I could hear in my heart and my head when I prayed. Oh, and know that I prayed a little extra just to be sure my mind wasn’t playing tricks on me.

I could hardly believe that God was wanting me to lay down my dream. Notice, I said “my dream?” This has been my baby. I can’t just give that up God. Seriously, why are you doing this to me? I was full of questions.

However, after many tears and much prayer and several long conversations with my husband, I knew in my heart I had to let it go. I had to let go and let God. Man, I teach that all the time, but when push comes to shove and I actually had to do it, it was painful. Obedience isn’t always easy at first. Taking that leap of faith to the unknown is so hard.

But I will tell you, when I woke the next morning, I had that peace that passeth all understanding. I can’t even tell you the difference I felt in my heart. It was unbelievable.

However, my journey was not over. As I began telling the appropriate people that I was laying it down, it was painful to my pride to be honest. It was hard. Every part of me still wanted to hold onto it someway, somehow. But I knew what I had to do.

As I walked away from the role, not the church or serving in our church, I wasn’t sure where God was going to take me. Now remember, my husband is an Elder, so I’m not going anywhere and I will still be able to be involved in the Women in our church, it’s just going to look very different than what I thought.

During this whole process, I felt this tug at my heart to pick up my Romans Bible study that I wrote about 4 years ago and start thinking about the publishing process. I ignored it at first until my husband said: “Honey, now that you aren’t going to be leading the Women’s Ministry, you should really think about working on your Bible study and on writing other things.” Seriously, did God tell him to say that?

As the weeks go on, I’ll be updating you more on the study, but for now, just bear with me. Long story short, I was put in contact with an editor (yes, a real editor that helps publish real books!) and she told me that the first thing I need to do is go to a Writer’s Conference. She told me that the best one to go to is the Glorieta Writer’s Conference in NM that is only once a year. Guess when that once a year is? October! Both Bry and I felt that I was to go.

Looking back over my month, I see why God was whewing me to lay down my commitments for now so that I could attend this conference. I know that He has BIG plans for me. I don’t know what that means or what that looks like and right now, I am not even going to try to guess. I am just going to go where He has me right here and right now. I know that He has a HUGE lesson for me over this next year. Again, I don’t know what that looks like, but I’m excited to walk down this path to see what it will be. I know that it will be a huge growing experience for me.

With that said, I will attend the Writer’s Conference next week. I don’t know that I will ever become a published author, but I really believe that God will have me more involved in Bible studies than I ever thought. Even if that’s just writing studies that I teach. It’s all exciting.

One thing I will be doing is launching a website (thanks for my friend Andrea) over the next month that I will call my Ministry website. I am not even sure where this will take me as of yet. All I know is, I am going to do it. I currently have a blog up in the meantime just with an outline of the Bible study that I am currently teaching at church. You can feel free to view this at Connected to Him Ministries.

I would ask for your coverage in prayers as I am at the conference. Pray that I am rested and that I retain all that is there to learn. Pray that my heart is encouraged and not discouraged. Pray that I don’t get ahead of God. Pray that I rest in His Hand.

Thank you for reading my heart. And thank you to my dear, close, heart friends for walking with me on this journey. I am more thankful for you than you could ever imagine. Your encouragement has meant more to me than you will ever know.

CowGirl!!!

As most of you know, my little princess is going to be a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader for Halloween. (No worries, it's not the actual cheerleader outfit, it's kid friendly!!). Anyway, my girlfriend and I are going to dress both of our girls like the Cowboy cheerleaders and we wanted to find white cowboy boots, but we weren't willing to pay an arm and a leg for them. We searched and searched, and she finally found some!!! The first time we looked at these boots, they were $35 and I wasn't cool with that. However, she found them at this website for Darling Shoes for $2!! Yelp! That's right. You read that correctly. These adorable white cowboy boots were $2. Can you believe it? And look how cute they look with this outfit! I can't wait to dress her in her full gear. So stinkin' cute. Oh, and the boys???? Cowboy Football players!

I get dirty too!!

Just because I'm a girl, doesn't mean that I don't like to get dirty too! Actually, I usually come back in the house with more dirt on me than my brothers have on them. Mommy loves it though. She was a tom-boy growing up. She says all the time that even though she dresses me so cute, she wouldn't know what to do with me if I was too prissy!

Bad Hair Day

Ella was having a bad hair day yesterday when she woke up from her nap. I, of course, couldn't resist taking pictures and sharing with you all. I mean, seriously, how cute is she?

Mom, you aren't really going to take my picture are you? Seriously??

Ok...well, if you must, I might as well put on my charming smile! My hair may look crazy, but I'm still cute.