Snakes and Apples and Fig Leaves... Oh My!

If you are visiting from Lysa's blog... welcome. Feel free to visit me as often as you like. My life is not nearly as exciting as Lysa's but you will get a glimpse of the day-to-day realities of my single, working-mom life!

It has definitely been a crazy couple of days both at home and at the ministry. Our annual She Speaks Conference is now less than a month away. This is a very special and unique conference. Every year women come from all over the country to be equipped, encouraged and empowered to share the Gospel through speaking and/or writing. It is truly a life-changing weekend. However, because lives are changed and women are equipped to spread the Word, satan always causes trouble. Each year more women attend the conference and each year the attacks get stronger... and start earlier.

The trouble began about a month ago but, in the last few days it has definitely escalated. Two days ago I drove home to find a rather large snake slithering his way down my driveway and off of my property. However, instead of being stunned and revving up his slithering to escape quickly, he stopped - turned around - and looked directly at me! Nick was in the car and didn't believe me when I mentioned that the snake was staring at me (does any 14-year-old actually believe his mother without evidence?) so he undid his seatbelt and leaned over to take a peek. Sure enough - the snake was staring at me! It gave me quite a creepy feeling and I knew without a doubt that things were about to get much worse. I was right!

Later that evening we discovered that the air-conditioner had died. It was about 90 degrees in the house so let's just say it was a bit uncomfortable. I was awakened at 3:30 in the morning with the intense feeling that an evil presence was in my bedroom. I had experienced the same feeling one night the week before and I sat up in my bed and commanded that the "presence" leave. This time was different and it kept me up the rest of the night. The next day I bit into a perfectly new, blemish-free, crisp apple only to find that it was completely rotten inside. (Snake. Apple. Coincidence... I think NOT!)

The day was filled with trouble. Everything that could possible go wrong went wrong! Our phones rang all day and the emails poured in. Each with a problem! Our web host had problems that resulted in my receiving over 600 SPAM emails. The conference hotel made a mistake that resulted in my having to move around some of our sessions. This meant having to re-do schedules and floor plans and "stopping the presses" as the notebook content that contained the schedules and floor plans had already gone to the printer. Teri, our Resource Coordinator, went to run an errand for lunch but her car wouldn't start. No reason... it just wouldn't start. I suggested that she check under the hood for snakes! If you are wondering what a real Proverbs 31 woman looks like, here's a photo of Teri and Samantha jump-starting Teri's car (in the rain).


After the dynamic duo successfully jumped Teri's car, a couple of men from a neighboring office heard the cheering and came out to see what was going on. He saw the cars with open hoods and asked if we needed any help. Samantha just looked over at him and said, "Nah... we are Proverbs 31 women... we do it all!"

The day continued to get worse and we reacted like most women in a situation like this... we laughed. Yes, we laughed. We laughed after every problem phone call. We laughed after every crisis email. We laughed when I bit into the rotten apple. We laughed when Teri's car wouldn't start. You see... praise and laughter confuses the enemy so we praised the name of Jesus and laughed out loud throughout the day. From the outside I'm sure it looked like we needed some serious psychological intervention!

Ya'll... I absolutely LOVE my job. I love everything about it. But, what I love absolutely the best is the women I work with. We aren't just co-workers. We are sisters-in-Christ. We lift each other up. We hold each other accountable. We pray together. We laugh together and cry together and we praise Jesus together. We also stand together in the face of enemy attack. Within moments of hearing about the personal and ministry attacks, our entire team began to pray. I received scriptures to put in every window and over every door of my home. The phone calls changed from "my devotion didn't arrive today" to "I'm on my Knees praying for you right now."

I don't expect the attacks to stop until after the conference but I am not afraid nor will I get discouraged. Each of us will keep our eyes looking up and... we will keep laughing. It drives the enemy crazy and, as an added bonus, it baffles our neighbors!

Crazy Life

Oh my goodness! I can't believe that two weeks have gone by and I haven't posted anything. I guess my idea of being better at keeping in touch by posting my life on this blog isn't working out so well! For those family members and friends who care about our crazy lives and wonder why we are never home when they call, here's an update on the last two weeks:

• I have worked around 70 hours each week. We are expecting over 500 women at our annual She Speaks conference in June. This means that 500 women are calling and emailing with questions! Oh, and there was a 90 page conference notebook to put together.
  

• Nick has gotten a 100 or better on, well... everything! He continues to excel in school and be clueless at home. Seriously - how is it possible to walk over ALL of your dirty clothes and yet not actually see them or understand why you don't have any clean clothes? What is that about!?
  

• We got to babysit sweet Jackie. We brought her a doll house that my friend Melissa's daughter decided she had outgrown. Nick refused to play with it because I had my camera with me. He just knew that I would post a picture of him playing with the doll house (he was right) so he avoided it all night. I did, however, get this sweet picture of Jackie kissing Nick on the cheek! She loves him to pieces. Most little ones do. Probably because he isn't chasing after them begging for hugs and kisses like the rest of us! I have actually "lost" him a few times at church only to find him in the nursery with a group of toddlers trying to climb him as if he was a Jungle Gym.
  

• We went to see the new Narnia movie with Rhonda and Chris. It was REALLY good and, yes, I did cry a bit!

• Nick filmed a commercial for "Hot and Glorious" soap for his Spanish class. This was a project they had to do with a partner. They had to come up with a commercial and do the entire thing in Spanish. Nick and his friend decided to wear "Bubba Teeth" and dirty up their cloths and hair then hold up the bar of soap as one of them entered the bathroom carrying the bar of soap. When he came back out, he would have a large photo of Brad Pitt over his face. I'm not sure how it turned out because they are still editing.
  

• I made 240 sandwiches for our church's mother and daughter tea. (So not to exclude anyone, everyone who has ever been a daughter was invited.) Here are a few photos of the occasion:

Here I am with Jackie (Lil' Bit). She's saying, "CHEESE" with much determination!

Here's one of the MANY trays of food.

And, here is the winning hat from the annual tea party hat contest!

• When I got home from the mother daughter tea, I baked special M&M cakes for Wendy. It wasn't until I was finished and had positioned them side-by-side on their bed of real M&Ms that I realized they looked more like breasts than M&Ms. Oh Well.
  

• Nick has had two piano practices, two choir practices, two handbell practices, a spring festival at school, a field trip, homework, started preparing for finals, continued to work on his computer game proficiency (spent many hours playing computer games), eaten 6 frozen pizzas, tortured the cat (it's the way they play), dug 7 holes so I could plant shrubs, and many more things that I have already forgotten (or am trying to block out in order to keep my sanity). On top of all this, he still managed to roll his eyes at me at least once every other day.
  

• On top of the 70 hour work weeks, I've done around 15 loads of laundry (Nick's big pile made up three of the loads!), 4 loads of dishes, planted 7 shrubs and a planter box, made 6 trips to the grocery store, filled up the gas tank 4 times, ran Nick to each of his lessons (hence - the 4 tank fillings), and, if this wasn't enough, I launched TWO new blogs. They aren't finished but you can see their humble beginnings by clicking on the links in the column on the left. Am I crazy? Well... duh!!!!!

It's time to leave for Nick's final choir rehearsal of the season. Yippee! I think handbells is also just about finished for the season. Although, fencing starts again next week after a short break. Oh well... back to the gas station!

Love and Blessings,
Crazy Me

Gap-Fillers

I have been a widow for eleven years now. I don't like the word. I don't like filling in that box on forms when asked about my marital status. I don't like the stereotype that sometimes surrounds the word. But, what bothers me more than the label is that others feel the need to help me - the poor helpless widow. YUCK! I am not helpless! I am not the poor little widow in the Bible that cannot take care of herself... or am I?

Now I can be pretty stubborn and determined. I may not always have the proper tools necessary to complete a job but I figure out a way to get it done anyway. I do not like asking for help. What I like even less than asking for help is knowing that sometimes I actually need it. Over the last few years I have had to swallow my pride and ask for help. A couple of home improvement projects have proven to be beyond my ability. I felt helpless and angry. But God...

Throughout the Bible we are called to help the widows and the orphans. I know this. But, I still felt guilty, as well as weak, when put in a position of asking for help. That is until God showed me a different perspective. My friend Wendy tried to do something for me one day and I did not want to accept her help. I argued with her until she said, "LeAnn, allow me to help you. It will make me happy." Wendy explained to me that, by not allowing people to help me, I was withholding the blessing they would receive. I thought about the times that I was able to help someone else and the joy that it gave me. Wendy was right. By not allowing people to help me when I needed it, I was not allowing them to receive the blessing of helping. God did call us to help the widows and the orphans. If friends want to be obedient when God puts it on their heart to help me, I need to let them. Its not about pride. Its about helping each other and the joy it brings to us, and to God.

I don't feel quite so bad about asking for help these days. In fact, I ask all the time! Sometimes I don't even have to ask. A need arises and God sends someone to fill in the gaps where I am lacking. Wendy's husband, Scott, is a gap-filler. He noticed that my yard was very overgrown so he gathered his friends and they spent two days working in my yard. He is always there to ask me if I need anything, if everything is working properly, etc.

My friend Vickie's husband, Billy, is another gap-filler. He has always been willing to help me when things break around the house. In fact, when I needed to have some work done in my kitchen, Billy set aside an entire day to take care of everything. I've also had men from church come and take care of projects without me even asking.

With family members many miles away, God has put so many wonderful people in my life to fill in the gaps. As a single mother, I need help from time to time with my son. Vickie has ALWAYS been there to watch Nick when I have had to travel for work. She took both of us in as if we were members of her family. My friends, Conda and Ann, and Chris and Rhonda invite Nick and I over for holiday meals because they know we might be alone. Wendy went and had my car inspected for me because I was too busy to take care of it myself. When I was worried that Nick didn't have a good male Christian role-model in his life, a man to just do guy stuff with, I prayed that God would send someone. I even gave God a list of things that I wanted this person to do with Nick, and God answered. He sent Ken. Every single thing that I prayed for, Ken wanted to do with Nick without my ever telling him about my prayer. Ken is definitely an answered prayer as is his wife, Cindy. Both took Nick in and made him a member of their family.

Why am I saying all of this here on my little blog? Well... first, to thank the many people who have become my gap-fillers. But also, to encourage you if you are like I was... stubborn! It is OK to ask for help. It is OK if you can't do everything. It is OK to accept help when offered. Look at it from their perspective. Helping others who are in need is a blessing. It brings joy to the giver as well as the receiver. We are all in this together. Jesus said that what is most important is to "Love the Lord with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength and with all our mind, and to love our neighbor as ourself." How wonderful life would be if everyone lived this message every day.