Homecoming...

My oldest son went to his first Homecoming dance last weekend...

...he takes after me, he likes to be "different" and "stand out"...

Step Aside Oprah...Joyce Is In The House!

Imagine me, standing on top of a hill....

....with my arms stretched wide and my head held high...

....I'm shouting at the top of my lungs...

"I am RENEWED!  I am REFRESHED!  I have been SPIRITUALLY UPLIFTED!!"

...

This past weekend I had the most AWESOME opportunity to attend the 2010 Joyce Meyer's Women's Conference in St. Louis! 

WHAT AN AMAZING WEEKEND!!

Not only did I worship with  Darlene Zschech and Hillsong, Natalie Grant AND Isacc Houghton...



I also had the opportunity to be renewed, refreshed and spiritually uplifted by Joyce Meyer and her ministry team!  This year the conference focused on "Mouth, Mind, Mood and Attitudes!"  FANTASTIC!!!

Thursday night we listened to Joyce speak.  Friday morning it was all about attitudes by John Maxwell...



Friday evening Joyce returned to talk about the mouth...(wow! I really learned A LOT from this session)

Saturday morning we gained all sorts of knowledge from Dr. Caroline Leaf as she talked about the mind...

....LOVED HER!

Saturday afternoon was the last session, taught by Joyce, concerning moods...

...this is an exert of my favorite part....PLEASE watch this, I promise it won't disappoint you...



I can't WAIT until next year!!!  I'd LOVE for all of you to join me!!  :)

...Here is a video of one of the songs that Natalie Grant (LOVE LOVE LOVE HER) sang at the conference...it's BEAUTIFUL!  The background of the song is a friend of Natalie's had tried for ten years with her husband to have a child....after many doctors, medical treatments and prayers the couple finally gave birth to a beautiful baby boy.  When the baby boy was two months old, his father was feeding him late in the night and the baby took his last breath.  Natalie didn't go into detail as to why the infant passed away...but she wrote the song....listen carefully to the words...it answers the questions that so many of us have...."why and how can this happen?"

Dear Mother...

Dear Mother,

Six weeks have passed since our precious Cal left this Earth to return home to be with His heavenly Father.  I have watched you lay motionless in your bed, unable to stop your pain as you mourned the loss of your only son.  I have sat next to you whispering words of encouragement as you spent hours recalling sweet moments that have been tucked away in photo albums.  I have held your hand as you wept, releasing your anger, your confusion and your sorrow...

...but I have also witnessed unbelievable strength and courage within you.  The strength to continue on...if only for Cal's children, your grand babies...and for me, for Brendan and for Jordan. 

Mom, I want you to know that these past few weeks I have grown to love you even more than I did before, if that is even possible.  I have thanked God each day that He has blessed me with the time you and I have shared.  I am so proud of you, mom. You are the light in our family.  Your selfless acts are what have made all of us who we are today, and mom...I am proud of who I am.

As I tiptoe into my boys bedroom, I gently caress the tops of their sleeping heads...and I lean over, placing a soft kiss upon their cheeks and I whisper "I love you, forever."

...and as I quietly walk away I pray to God that I am half the mother that you are to me...

I love you mother...
Forever and always...

How EmBRAassing...

I am CONVINCED that God's plan for me is to entertain...

...because let's face it, I lead a pretty "entertaining" life.  Agreed?

I am also CONVINCED that my Columbia clients bring out the "top quality" entertainment within me...

...remember this story?  How could you forget, right?

Yep, that was a Columbia client.

That was embarrassing...

...but this...

...this is emBRAassing...

A late day phone call yesterday from a client requesting an impromptu meeting in Columbia this morning left me frazzled and hurried as I raced out of the office, balancing an array of paper samples and binding options for a quick turn project that my client is hoping to complete by the end of next week...

...after a successful meeting with my client, I pulled out of the parking lot and headed to the other side of Columbia to make a speedy stop by another client of mine, hoping that my unannounced visit wouldn't throw this top executive too far off his carefully planned business schedule! 

I parked my car outside of my client's office and with a hasty flip of my mirrored visor I applied a coat of lip gloss and swiftly ran a brush through my hair...a flash of a smile and I stepped outside of my car and walked into the building...

The receptionist greeted me with a friendly "hello" and "how are you?" and knowing who I am, she waved for me to follow her down the hallway to my client's office. 

I was relieved to see my client dressed in a polo shirt and khaki shorts...a golf bag resting against the door indicated that he was on his way out for a playful afternoon...

...He was happy to see me, in fact he had just left a message for me on my office voicemail saying that he would like to discuss an upcoming project!  He motioned for me to sit down at his desk, and grabbing his portfolio, he sat next to me...

...I noticed right away that when he sat next to me and began to talk his demeanor changed...he was a bit red in the face, somewhat stumbling over his words...

...very...distracted.

Hmmmm.  Weird.  It's all I could think in the moment...

I ran my tongue over my teeth behind my closed lips....maybe there was lip gloss on my teeth?  Instinctively I rubbed my hand across my nose...was there a booger hanging out?  I was chewing Orbit's peppermint flavored gum, so I know my breath wasn't bad...

what could he be so uneasy about?

Mid-sentence my client leaned back in his chair....

...silence.  I could see his mind racing....

and then...

Client:  "Betsy?"

Me:  "Yes?"

Client:  "What is that?"  (pointing to my chest)

Me:  (looking down...looking up, COMPLETE HORROR on my face)

....the wire in my bra (and for any/all you men that may be are reading this, some bra's have "underwire" for lift) had poked through my bra and maneuvered it's way up my chest, resting in all it's "curvature" above my breasts and on the beginning of my collarbone!!!

...I could literally feel the heat of embarrassment work it's way up my body and into my face.  I closed my eyes thinking that I would disappear and when I opened them, there sat my client, smirk across his face, eagerly anticipating my answer...

Me:  (pushing and forcing the wire back underneath my breast and into it's rightful place)  "Oh...that? Shoot, you're on to me!  My sales manager wires me before my sales calls so he can hear what I say and how I handle objections...you know...stuff that he can use to make me a better sales rep....ha.  ha ha.  ha."

I froze. 

I couldn't move if you had set me on fire. 

Time stood still...

and then my client laughed and said...

"I"m going to have to try that with my sales people!"

I nervously giggled...

"yeah!  It's really helped me!"

Don't worry folks...he's not stupid...

...he's just incredibly forgiving!  ;)

I'm such a boob!