Extraordinary Women's Conference 2012

This year I volunteered at the Extraordinary Women's Conference at the Bilo Center in Greenville. It was sooo much fun! I volunteered to work Francesca Battistelli's table. For this conference, if you volunteer, your registration is free and you get a free lunch ticket for Saturday.

Friday night's order of service was:

Adam Cappa - Pre-show concert

Julie Clinton - Opening

Joe White - Drama Presentation

Altar Call

Break - to purchase products or food

Francesca Battistelli - Concert

Jeremy Camp - Concert

Saturday's order of service was:

Julie Clinton - Opening

Candace Cameron Bure - Speaker

Compassion International

Break

Angela Thomas - Speaker

Lunch - This year it was Chic-fil-a

Michael O'Brien - Concert; he also did praise and worship before and after each speaker

Lysa TerKeurst - Speaker

Break

Sarah Palin - Speaker

I volunteered to work Francesca Battistelli's table.

Francesca Battistelli

Candace Cameron Bure

Michael O'Brien

Sarah Palin

I was able to get one item free from Francesca's table so I got Michaela a cute shirt. She loves the song "Free To Be Me" so I had to get her that one. I also bought Candace Cameron Bure's book ReShaping It All. I have already finished it and I have to say that it was very very good. She has lots to say about food addiction and keeping your whole life in balance, in good shape. Buy it if you can! Here is her website if you want to take a look at her ministry: http://www.candacecameronbure.net/

This really was an amazing opportunity. I loved being able to hear from these women about life and what they've learned along the way. The theme for the conference this year was "Passionate Faith" and that's what most of their teaching was about.

If you've never been to this conference, plan on going next year. I think registration starts at $90 for next year, but if you volunteer, it's free and you get to hear most of the conference. Even when you are not sitting in the conference you can still watch it on the tv screens they have and you can hear some of it as well. Next year, they are going to have Pam Tebow (Tim Tebows mom). If you haven't heard her story you can look it up. I am looking forward to hearing her as well.

I hope I have inspired you to go to this conference next year. You will be greatly blessed and you can be a blessing as well by volunteering. God bless you all!

Bilo Promotion: FREE Clemson Baseball Tickets

If you have never been to a Clemson baseball game, you are missing out! Baseball is such a nice, relaxing game to watch. Doug Kingsmore Stadium is nice also. If you sit in the outfield, you will be in the shade, chillaxing while watching the Tigers play ball.

Right now, if you buy 4 participating items from Bilo, you will receive a voucher at checkout for 2 FREE baseball tickets to see Clemson or South Carolina. There is a list of available games for this promotion but it is still a fun promotion. Here is a list of the items you need to buy 4 of to get the voucher:

Southern Home Fruit Snacks 6 Ct.; Any Variety
Southern Home Chewy Granola Bars 10 Ct.; Any Variety
Southern Home Grape Jelly or Jam 18 Oz.
Southern Home Peanut Butter 18 Oz.; Any Variety
Top Care Cold Relief Allergy Tablets 24 Ct
Top Care Pain Relief Ibuprofen 100 Ct.
Top Care Strong Strip Bandages 20 Ct.
Top Care Instant Hand Sanitizer 8 Oz.
Southern Home Soda 12 Oz; Any Variety
Southern Home Cajun Crab Dip 8 oz.
Southern Home Trail Mix 18 Oz. Any Variety
Sweet Dreams Ice Cream 48 Oz.; Any Variety
Southern Home Pasta Salad 6 or 7 Oz.; Any Variety
Southern Home Self-Rising Pizza 29 - 32 Oz; Any Variety
Southern Home Thin & Crispy Pizza 23-24 Oz; Any Variety
Southern Home Thin & Crispy Pizza 23 -24 Oz.; Any Variety
Southern Home Corn Chips 10 Oz; Any Variety
Southern Home Green Tea 16.9 Oz; Any Variety
Southern Home 8-7/8" Foam Plates; 50 Ct.
Southern Home Color Cups 20 Ct; 18 Oz.
Southern Home White Napkins 120 Ct

As you can see, some of these items are pretty cheap, like the Southern Home White Napkins. I'm pretty sure the sale price on them is 2/$4. So technically, you could get a voucher for 2 baseball tickets for $8.00! How awesome is that! We are definitely gonna use this promotion!

*Call your Bilo before you shop. The one on 81 always does the promotion and the one on MLK Jr Blvd does not always. Just check first!

Plumrose Bacon at Bilo

I went to Bilo today to look through their meat to see if any of it was on Clearance. Bilo puts Yellow stickers on meat products that they need to get rid of. Today I found Plumrose Bacon with a $1.50 sticker on it, and it was on sale B1G1. DEAL!

$5.99 Regular Price

B1G1 $5.99 ($2.99 each)

B1G1 $5.99 (4) $11.98 - $1.50 coupon - $1.50 coupon - $1.50 coupon - $1.50 coupon = $5.98

$1.49 each!

(Basically, buy 1 get 3 free)

Slow Down

How many of you would like to slow down, take a break, have a nap? God has been teaching me to slow down. When I was in school, I was a straight-A student, worked on the yearbook staff, played volleyball, attended other sporting events, sang on the praise team at church, volunteered for everything that was going on at church and lots more. My focus was on my future and my ministry opportunities. Now, I have an awesome husband and two wonderful children. I have to slow down.

Our family began attending a new church in January 2010. When we joined the church in March 2010, we began serving in Kids Church. I enjoy it very much! However, the church is a big church and there are a lot of ministry opportunities. It would be very easy for me to become overwhelmed with ministries. Sometimes I feel like a kid in a candy store. I reach my hand out to take hold of something that looks good to me and my Papa God has to slap my hand gently and tell me, "Not now. Maybe later." When something comes up that I want to do but I continuously have to find someone to watch my kids for me, I have to put a stop to that. I did not have kids for other people to always watch them. I have to slow down and cherish the time that I have with them right now. They will never be 5 and 6 years old again. Whatever it is that looks good to me right now can wait.

Sometimes I get anxious: my house isn't big enough, my car doesn't fit me, I don't have enough time, and do I have to cook again tonight?! So do I get a job, go back to school, make money like my husband does? How much time would that leave me for my family and for volunteering? But wait - my God has everything under control. He is with me today and He already knows my tomorrow. I have to constantly be giving my life to Him on a daily basis.

And the hard part is that this only works for me. My life is not like your life and your life is not like anyone else's life. God has a perfect plan for each and every one of us. It is very easy for us to compare ourselves to other people, but that is not a healthy thing to do. There is always going to be someone better at what we do than we are and there is always going to be someone who isn't as good as we are and we can help them.

My standard begins with God's word. I open my Bible and read it. Then I pray that God will guide my every step and give me the desire to see His will be done in my life. That's it. It's easy to get distracted by the little things, but I have to keep my eyes on God. I know that He will make everything right.

Photo Collages

One of my favorite things to do is to make my own photo collages. I put one event on each page and then leftover pictures just get put on a page all together. I am still ordering 2009 collages and I am putting together 2010 collages now. I am about half-way done but I still have a ways to go. I am hoping that I will be all caught up by the end of 2012. Here is one example of my collage pages:

I use Adobe Photoshop Elements. My husband and I got a really good deal on it the day after Thanksgiving one year and I have loved the program! It's kind of complicated, so you have to take the time to really learn it, but it's worth the time!

I hope you have some way to keep memories of your family. I love photos. As the saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words." I don't know who said it or where it came from but it is absolutely true! God bless you all! Have a great day :)

Honduras Missions

Hello, All!

As some of you know, my husband Brandon has been to Honduras on one misisons trip with our church and is going again this coming June. We have raised most of the money, but we still need a little more support. God has been so good to us and now Brandon is going to share that love with others.

Brandon took this photo on last year's trip. I added the Bible verse Psalm 46:10, "Be still and know that I am God." Brandon went out every morning and stood on a bridge watching the sun come up, reading and praying. In this picture is a man in a small boat fishing. The setting is so quiet and serene. Could we even imagine life like that? We are always so busy. Not that that's a bad thing! But God reminds us to take time for Him. He wants us to stop, to be still, and know that He is God, He is in control of everything.

We are offering this photo for a $15 donation to the missions trip. Last year, the group worked with a children's church, helped the kids paint, traveled to churches doing dramas and praying for the congregation, handing out care packages at a children's home and more. Your donation will show someone God's love.
If you would like to see what last year's trip was like, we put together a YouTube video for you to watch. Just search "Honduras 2011 Brandon's Trip."

Thank you and God bless!

Book to Read: Heaven Is For Real

I got the book Heaven Is For Real for Christmas. I read it in a little over 2 hours. It is soooooo good! The little boy in the book left his body during a surgery, spent 3 minutes in heaven, and this book tells of what he remembers.

I am a firm believer in Jesus Christ, and this book, along with countless other stories, confirm the belief that there is life after death. If you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, you will spend eternity with Him in heaven :) If you do not, there is another place you will go :(

This book is close to my heart as well because the little boy in this book was around 4 years old when he had this experience. My little boy just turned 5. I cried once while reading this book and it was when the mother was holding her little boy in her arms and she looked up at her husband and said, "I think this is it." Boohoo! I couldn't even imagine the heartbreak she went through. God is so good to get us through the unimaginable.

If you have time, read this book. It is so nice to read about Jesus who loves us soooooooooo much :)