September 2008 Giveaway AND ~ Two shall become One

1 Peter 3:1-6
1 Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives,

The emphasis on behavior over words is such a powerful truth.
The lives we live will speak much louder than the words we "preach."
It's a tough question, but we have to ask ourselves...if I never spoke a word to my husband, would he see me living for the Lord?

2 when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.

Do our lives speak purity and reverance or are we that clashing symbol of 1 Cor. 13??

3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.
4 Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.

I don't think this means we should not try to look beautiful for our husbands, I know my husband loves it when I look good for him. But at the same time, outward beauty will fade and then what is left? If we are gorgeous but treat him with disrespect and disdain, we fulfill this verse:

Prov 11:22
22 Like a gold ring in a pig's snout
is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.
NIV

5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands,
6 like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.
NIV

I believe that many times fear keeps us from honoring the Lord as wives. We fear he will not respond gently and with acceptance, but the Lord asks us to live this life FIRST for HIM, then toward our spouses.
Daughters, do what is right and do not give way to fear.

I'm praying for our marriages,
Sue

This month's PRAISE is Casting Crown's,

"The Altar and the Door"

And a bag of coffee from a local coffee house!

To enter contest, leave a comment to THIS post and please add your email if you do not have a website. And please remind me if you have my button on your blog so I can enter your name twice!!

Drawing will be on the 10th of September.

Praise and Coffee Girlfriend's Night Out!

One coming to a town near you!

I've been thinking and praying about how to better encourage women as wives, moms and women of God.

There are many different ways to help us in our walk with the Lord. Things like family time, church involvement, Bible study (personal and as a group), times of serving our “neighbors” and fellowship to name a few. All are vital to our walk with the Lord.

I wanted to focus on fellowship and encouragment. Getting women together outside of the 4 walls of the church...
rubbing elbows, hugging necks, telling our stories, laughing and even crying together.

We are relational! And with that in mind, together with my affection for coffee and coffee shops....I came up with the idea of Praise and Coffee Nights.

I talked with the owner of a local coffee shop (that is only open daytime hours) and she agreed to open in the evening for a Praise and Coffee Night Out! They offer specialty coffees (decaf for me that time of night) and other refreshments along with plenty of sweet goodies to keep us all happy.

I would love to have you all come out to my group (jump on a plane if you have to!) but if that is not possible for you, then I think it would be great if you start Praise and Coffee nights in your community.

Just invite some girl friends out once every couple of months to a local restaurant or coffee shop and go from there! If they let you, play praise music for some great atmosphere and fellowship.


My nest Praise and Coffee Night Out will be on:

Thursday, January 15, 2009
At The Plainwell Coffee Mill
717 E. Bridge St. Plainwell, MI 49080 MAP
7-9 PM
There will be coffee, refreshments and sweet treats all available for purchase.

I will be speaking on "Never Stop Dancing"

You are all invited, even you lurkers who read but never comment on my blog! :)

Praise and Coffee Nights Schedule

November 13, 2008
7-9 PM
Tim Horton’s
4140 W Vienna Rd, Clio, MI
Hosted by: Hope at Monkey Giggles (I will be attending and sharing a few words of encouragement)

November 20, 2008
7-9 PM
The Plainwell Coffee Mill
717 E. Bridge St. Plainwell, MI 49080
Hosted by: (me) Sue at Praise and Coffee

November 20, 2008
7-9 PM
Panera Bread

Pembroke Pines 11029 Pines Boulevard

Pembroke Pines, FL 33026

Hosted by: Melissa at Mel’s World

January 15, 2009
7-9 PM
The Plainwell Coffee Mill
717 E. Bridge St. Plainwell, MI 49080
Hosted by: (me) Sue at Praise and Coffee


Let me know if you plan to host one in your area. I will post it and if possible, I will come!

Eccl. 4: 9-10 (Message)
It's better to have a partner than go it alone.

Share the work, share the wealth.
And if one falls down, the other helps,

But if there's no one to help, tough!

Let me know if you are starting one in your area and I will advertise it too!!

With God...All Things Are Possible!

Hello!
Thanks to all of you who prayed for me and sent me such sweet notes.
The surgery went really well, and my wrist is recovering nicely.

My husband did however take the opportunity to mess with me as I came out of the anesthesia. I was talking to him and he just kept looking at me saying that my mouth was moving but no words were coming out. He did this several times and I was just baffled because I knew I could hear myself but I thought that I must be delusional because of the meds. Finally as I was trying to slowly but loudly speak to him so that he could hear me, he burst out laughing!
What a guy! Hard to tell where my son (that does stand-up comedy) gets it!!!

So, I slept most of the weekend while Mark kept the little one busy...or is it the other way around??? Then we spent yesterday with family at the lake for a fish fry. It was so good to have all the kids together having fun.

I ran across this video and just had to share it with you. It's a golden oldie, but I love it just the same. It's words are timeless and the message so powerful!!
Listen again as if for the first time....



All things are possible with the Lord!!!

My surgery is today

Hey girls,
Just wanted to let you know that I am having carpal tunnel surgery done today on my right wrist. I am not sure how long this will keep me from my computer, so I'll talk to ya when I can!
Sue

What does the Lord require of me?

Mic 6:8
He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
NIV

Mercy cost Jesus everything...

if we are doing it His way,

it will cost us too.

Two shall become One ~ Fireproof Your Marriage

Remember Facing the Giants?? Well, they're doing it again. The movie making ministry of Sherwood Baptist Church have produce another movie.

Has Your House Ever Been On "Fire"?

The truths presented in the upcoming Fireproof, set to release September 26 in select theaters, will likely have an effect on everyone who sees it considering 90% of people get married. Fireproof is far from a chick-flick about an empty romance, and marriage is at the heart of its message. It’s about unconditional love and the transforming power of Christ in the lives of husbands and wives. “Most movies are about relationships that lead to marriage,” Catt said. “Fireproof picks up seven years into a marriage headed for divorce.

And the question is: Why stay together?”

“This movie is about fireproofing your most important earthly relationship,” said Jim McBride, executive pastor of Sherwood and executive producer of Fireproof. Doing so is much like adhering to the firefighter’s credo: “Never leave your partner behind, especially in a fire.”

For more information and codes to post this, go to:

Fireproof My Marriage

Let's promote this movie all over our blogs!!

I'm praying for our marriages,
Sue

Friday Fluff and other random happenings...

It's been a while, but I had a few things to throw out today, so here goes.


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Do any of you with little ones have to lock up your tape?

I mean, it might as well be a loaded weapon the way I have to hide this stuff!

First of all, I don't want her to get cut on the dispenser, but worse of all is where she puts the tape. I still have yet to find a razor blade to get it off my glass sliding door, and the dog is none too happy about seeing her coming with a big wad in her hand and a skip in her step!


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Over the 4th of July we were at a Pro National/Amateur motocross race. It's kind of the "Woodstock" of motocross.
As these things go, people do some very crazy things. Two very beautiful young girls decided to make some money and do some advertising for the vendors. They donned their tiniest bikini's and used the uncovered space on their bodies to write the names of vendors and walked around all day..."advertising."
I was sitting at our picnic table with a group of little boys when they walked by.
One of the boys said, "Did you see those girls??!!"
I thought, oh no, here we go.
Another said "yeah!"

Then, "that is PERMANENT MARKER!!!"
I just had to giggle.


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Ok, this would go under the...you know you're having a bad day when:
Woman Gives Birth on Front Lawn

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Lauren-isms...
When we brought Lauren home from China a year and a half ago, she was two years old. Due to the cleft palate, she did not speak much at all. She understood Chinese but couldn't speak it.

She quickly caught on to understand English, but still could not speak it well. So I started one word at a time teaching her sign language. She picked it up right away and would tell us when she was hungry or wanted milk, etc. We made up a lot of signs for things like family members and she made up a few of her own signs for other things.

We have been taking speech class this year and her speech has improved dramatically. I can understand most of what she says and will interpret for others if they are not sure.

For her Dad, she calls him "Daddy-o" not sure why the "o" but now we all call Mark "Daddy-o."

For the word OK, she says "oh-day."
And it is usually said with a big sigh attached as she asks for a treat or to do something fun and I tell her, "later."
OH-DAY!


Lately she will come up to me out of the blue and say...

"I me-member you!"

The other day we were in a public bathroom and someone walked into the stall next to us. This is usually the time that she says loudly..."who that?!" To which I try to quiet her and get about our business.

However this time, I was able to head her off and I motioned her to be quiet.

She leaned forward to peak under the stall and then looked at me knowing that she should be quiet and signed the word "shoes."

(I promise, I did not take this picture!)

It was so funny because she hasn't signed that one in a long time and I wouldn't have thought she remembered it, but she did and she couldn't hold back some sort of response to our neighbor in the bathroom.


Now that she's 4 we've been working hard on teaching her to say the word four because everyone asks her how old she is. The letter "f" is a tough one for her, so we sit in front of a mirror and practice. Now, when asked how old she is, she says fuf-fuh-fuh...door!

One more thing about that...the other day we ran into and old friend of mine so I introduced her, and Lauren's first question was, "how old are you?"
I guess she figures, that must just be the right thing to say when you meet someone!

Hope you have a great weekend!!!
Sue