God Blessed My Socks Off!

This past weekend, November 20 and 21, I attended the Women of Faith conference in Ft. Lauderdale. As always, I had a great time with the ladies of Living Hope church (Miami), leaving spiritually refreshed and blessed.


One of the speakers on Friday talked about taking advantage of opportunities as they arise. God used this advice to do something I had not anticipated.

I bought a book in which Luci Swindoll was one of the contributors, so I went to the book signing early Saturday morning. When I arrived there was only one other person in the line in front of me, so I quickly got to the table where Luci signed the books. I felt a little uncomfortable and embarrassed, because I had a nagging push to bring up a topic that had been bugging me for several years. When she finished signing, there was NO ONE in line. So I thought, “Okay, God, You obviously want me to talk to her about this.”

Now I don’t remember the exact words of our conversation but this is the gist of it. Somewhat reluctantly I said, “I have something to apologize for.”
“Oh,” she replied.

So I explained that a year earlier (actually I think it was at least several years earlier) I had seen her talking to someone at a table on the concourse. I waited until the lady left and then came up, told her that I was a DTS (Dallas Theological Seminary) grad, and that I had mentioned to her brother Chuck Swindoll (who was either President or Chancellor of DTS at that time) that she had been telling stories about him at Women of Faith. He said “I bet you she didn’t tell you about the time she taught me to smoke!” No, she hadn’t, so when I saw her I wanted to tell her about it. When I left the table I continued down the concourse and noticed that just beyond the table was a long line of ladies holding books. I realized in horror that I had just butted in line in front of all those waiting ladies. I felt mortified – after all, I was a DTS grad, and that was so impolite, even if I didn’t realize there was a line at the time. I had been bothered by this incident ever since, so I wanted to apologize.

Luci said she didn’t remember the incident but accepted my apology anyway. And just then more people arrived in line, so I excused myself and left.

What amazed me was how I felt afterward -- It was like a heavy burden had been lifted off my shoulders. God had arranged the timing and opportunity. I felt such joy and blessing. This opportunity would have been missed if I had not obeyed God’s nudge (however reluctantly).

[LUCI – If you ever read this, you have my permission to use it.]

Miles and Milestones

In mid-October I drove to Mesquite, TX, to participate in the annual Missions Conference at Lake Ridge Bible Church (where I attended while going to Dallas Theological Seminary). Even though I was in the area for 10 days this trip, the time was still too short.

The first milestone occurred just before I left Florida – I answered my 3,000th initial inquiry from evangelistic websites hosted by Campus Crusade for Christ. Out of those, over 1000 people have written back at least once!

The second milestone was my 57th birthday on October 16. I arrived in Mesquite that afternoon and settled in at the home of my friend Nancy Wood. After dinner we headed over to Jim and Jane Reynolds’ house for a time of sharing with their Home Team about my missions experiences – and they surprised me with goodies and a huge birthday cookie! Yes, I did eat it all, though it took me most of the week to do it.

The Ladies’ Brunch on Saturday morning had a good crowd. The next morning I greeted my old Sunday school class, the Ambassadors. The Missions Banquet that evening had food from many different countries, and entertainment too! 

During the week I was able to keep up with my email in the mornings thanks to Nancy’s high speed internet, and visited friends in the afternoons and evenings. The last Sunday I spoke to the Ambassadors class about some of the things God has been doing in our ministry (I’ll send an end-of-the-year update in the next newsletter).

The last milestone happened shortly after my return to Florida. I received an unexpected package in the mail -- containing a plaque marking my first 10 years with Campus Crusade for Christ. This award caught me by surprise – Time flies when you are having fun serving the Lord! Thank you so much for your prayers and support through the years.

NaNoWriMo update and Veterans Day

Sorry to say I have not been very diligent. I am over 6,000 words but got bogged down in some research and other activities. Hopefully I can catch up . . . .



Today is Veterans Day and I was tempted to go to the parade here in Homestead, until I saw the downpour out my window at 10:30 this morning. Those poor vets! It will literally rain on their parade.



This day is a precious one, set aside in honor of all those who have served our country, past and present. So far the earliest veteran I know of in my family is Curtis J. Baxter who served in the 169th Pennsylvania in the Civil War. World Vital Records had a free search, and although they didn't have the records for my father who served in the Navy in WW II and Korea, they did have the enlistment entry for my Uncle Larry James who served as an Army medic in WW II. My brother-in-law Ralph Funkhouser served in the Navy during the Viet Nam era. And of course I am proud of my Cold War service as a Navy JAG.



On the side of the file cabinet in front of my computer are prayer cards for family of church members who are currently serving. I especially think of Ken Halander from Elim Ev. Free Church in Puyallup, WA, (where my sister attends) who is doing another tour in Iraq.

This past weekend there was a great Air Show at Homestead Air Reserve Base. The Thunderbirds flew both days. One of their mechanics is Nathan Kearns, son of my good friend Steve Kearns. The weather was windy but otherwise nice, so the event was well-attended.



And of course, we must remember those wounded and killed last week at Ft. Hood.



Please read Psalm 91 and pray God's protection for all our troops around the world.

Welcome to http://www.nanowrimo.org/ Okay, what is THAT??!!!!
Glad you asked!
I have wanted to write a novel for years and never got around to putting anything on paper. One of my friends at church challenged me to join her in National Novel Writing Month in November. Slowly a group starting forming at church and we met for our first session on Sunday. I wrote over 1,600 words. I know that is not much, but it is a big improvement over zero! The goal is to write 50,000 words this month. That won't be a complete adult novel, but it is a start.
It is fun to hear the different ideas for novels and encourage one another. And surprisingly we actually got work done.