I don’t really know if I’m winding down classes or winding up for a few weeks’ break from classes at this point.  In just under 48 hours my two classes will be done.  Right now – I’ve got a solid A in one and am teetering on an A/B in the other.  AND I really loved the topics! =)

After my visit to the foot/ankle specialist yesterday, my foot was noticeably more tender and sore for the entire day.  Again, I’m not complaining – just giving an update.  I was given a new “soft” ankle support.  It looks something like the top part of a hightop sneaker – black, lace up with velcro wraps that work something like an ace bandage.  Less rigid than the brace I was sent home from the E.R. with and more supportive than the ace bandage I used for several days.  It’s more flexible and works better, I think.  That’s a relief.  But I’m to wear it for the next 3 weeks until a followup.  The podiatrist thinks I’ve hurt a tendon rather than suffered a big sprain.  The swollen, sore, and tender places indicate a tendon injury…  Needless to say, I took a pain pill last night before bed.  We’ll see how today goes.

The girls & I got our hair done.  Curly’s hair is considerably shorter and curlier.  She needed a good cut.  That girl has GOOD hair – and tons of it.  But she needed it – and she looks pretty darn cute (if I do say so myself).  Georgie’s hair got trimmed up (Roy calls her Buster Brown right now…) and once it starts growing, it’ll be a nice deal.  Curly & Georgie both have double cowlicks – but the benefit of Curly’s curls hide them.  Georgie on the other hand, well, most of the time it looks like she doesn’t HAVE a mother who brushes her hair…

I, on the other hand, came home a bombshell redhead with coppery highlights.  Wow, did I need that.  I’m something of a Maureen O’Hara type in my own mind, so the red hair does the trick for me.  lol.  I just happened to read Maureen O’Hara’s memoirs, ‘tis Herself, this week.  (What a lady!  She did her own stunts for almost everything and she was an expert fencer, so the swashbuckling she did in her pirate movies was all her!)  Since it’s March, and she’s from Ireland, her book was right there out in front.  I’ve always loved watching her movies – especially since she so often costarred with The Duke - and I loved her feisty, spirited characters.  Not every movie she made was great, but The Quiet Man actually ranks in my top 25 movies of all time.   (I also get a kick out of McClintock!) She was also a good pal to Lucille Ball, another one of my favorite “oldies but goodies.”

I’ve a fancy to visit Ireland someday.  Ireland, Scotland, the U.K.   I am absolutely head-over-heels romantic for the hills and countryside of the U.K.  It takes my breath away to watch documentaries and movies set there.  Scotland absolutely draws me with its mystery and history.  I’m taken by the traditions and family ties that so many Gaelic/Celtic people rely upon.  They know their history and they are proud of it!  Simple lives.  Simple living.  If I could have a laptop and indoor plumbing, I could live there, drinking my tea and learning to knit…

Sigh.

Anyway, as the week closes, my classes end, and next week starts the Get Revived conference with A Woman Inspired.  I’ll have a few weeks to get a few things wrapped up around the house and taken care of before my summer classes start and Curly is done with school!  I’m looking forward to it.  I’ve got several things rolling around in my head to write about, so with the coming break, I hope to be back writing here more…

I ‘m winding down my last week of classes – WOOHOO!!!  It’s been a really challenging semester – in a good way.  I’m studying counseling this semester and not only am I learning HOW to be an effective counselor in ministry for the Lord, I’m really being grown in my own faith.  It’s like being at a GREAT conference for several weeks, really.

Speaking of conferences, I wanted to share some really amazing conferences for women.  You may know some of them, but you may not, and these are conferences I would attend (yes, at least one of each) if I could!  And I’m praying I can.

lol.

A Woman Inspired: Get Revived!  It starts Monday, 3/12 – 3/19, and is entirely online.  You don’t have to put on your makeup, leave your house OR even get out of your jammies!  The tickets are only $12.95, and even if you can’t attend every single session live, you will have access to all the recordings and even downloads from the speakers.  That ALONE is worth the price.  They have a TERRIFIC speaker lineup and the interaction with other women, via the chatroom, is really a blessing.  I highly recommend everything that comes from A Woman Inspired because I’ve experienced it firsthand myself.    There are several difference conferences schedules, so check them out!  What you can expect for your $12.95 investment…

* Live sessions, entirely online, with some of the Christian community’s most popular speakers and authors.
* Ability to download all of the MP3’s from all the sessions, as well as handouts, chat logs, and presentations.
* Participation in real-time question and answer sessions with all of your favorite speakers.
* Lots of downloadable swag as well as entries to win some great prizes!
* Fellowship: make some new life-long friends and experience some fun and fellowship.

EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN.  I will just tell you right now that I would ABSOLUTELY recommend this conference for women.  Although I have never attended one of these conferences, the course I’m studying right now (counseling for women) is also a certificate program available through the American Association of Christian Counselors and Extraordinary Women.  These women who serve in this ministry have a heart for GOD and for women, and if I can go to the one in Ft. Wayne, I’ll be ecstatic.  (Just started praying about it last week…)  You’ll find the conference locations and dates here.

RELEVANT CONFERENCE.  This is a conference for Christian bloggers.  It’s the Inaugural conference in Hershey, PA (yes – women, blogging and chocolate – sounds like something close to heaven in my book!), and my bloggy hero & friend, Sarah Mae, help put it together.  I’m so excited to see Courtney, from Women Living Well, has been recently added to the speaker lineup.  If I was going to attend ANY blogging conference, it would be this one.  There are other, bigger, more established blogging conferences – and plenty of Christian bloggers attend – but this one is specifically for Christian women who blog and want to be RELEVANT for God in the blogging world…

So that’s it for now – back to the books.  My ankle is healing – I have an appointment with a foot & ankle doctor this morning for followup (AND because the x-rays of my ankle after my fall revealed heel spurs! getting old – not so much fun… lol)

But the girls and I are getting some “New Do’s” today with our favorite hairstylist, Mechelle, and hopefully some of my wisdom, er gray hair, will be better concealed…

Life is all about perspective, isn’t it?

I mean, really.  Our thoughts, ideas, feelings – are almost always guided and shaped by our perspective.

Did someone just cut you off in traffic?  (Did they really or do you just think they did?)

Did he just say that rude thing to me? (Was he really being rude or did I assume rudeness?)

You get the idea.

And then there are those things in life that are not based on perspective.  They are based in reality.

Cancer.  In a child.

I’ve written here about my nephew, Caden, who is in the maintenance therapy for his leukemia.

I’ve written about our pastor’s son, Jon, who is undergoing chemotherapy for his Stage IV cancer.

And now I need to share a link for a little baby – Layla Grace – who is dying from cancer.  Her family has had her for 10 months, and she is suffering a painful death.  It is hard to read the blog posts – and even harder to imagine yourself in this family’s shoes.  But read it anyway.  Pray for this family in the midst of intense suffering.

We cannot always understand why bad things happen.  We never will understand it this side of heaven.  But we can always trust God’s Character – and rest in the fact that He delights in providing purpose and meaning out the midst of our deepest, darkest pain…

Oh, how I love God’s Word.

I’ve written before about the Bible I lost almost 2 years ago.  It may seem odd, but it felt like I’d lost an arm.  I have often floundered in my spiritual walk every since.  It’s not that I haven’t read Scripture or prayed or been walking in my relationship with the Lord.

It wasn’t until this week that I realized WHY I missed my Bible so much!

I lost my SWORD!

As a warrior for Christ, the Word of God is a Sword (Ephesians 6:17, Hebrews 4:12).  It is the ONLY offensive weapon in our spiritual battle.  It is NOT our actions, it is NOT our words – it is GOD’S WORD that fights for us and repels the enemy. Every Word of God has a purpose and HE watches to see it fulfilled!  (Isaiah 55:11)

Did you know that our spiritual enemy cannot STAND the name of Jesus Christ?

Therefore [because He stooped so low] God has highly exalted Him and has freely bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, That in (at) the name of Jesus every knee should (must) bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, And every tongue [frankly and openly] confess and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11 – Amp)

And since Jesus Christ IS the Word (John 1:1), it is HE that defeats our enemy.  Our accuser who brings lies and deceptions, chaos and ruin.

that old snake…

So losing my Bible – which I owned for almost 20 years – and which showed, in part, my spiritual journey – really left me feeling off my game, as it were.

I have other Bibles I have been reading – studying – but I didn’t have THE Bible I needed.

Until last week.  Desperation (and a 40% off coupon!) drove me to the Christian bookstore – and there, I finally bought myself a new Bible.

It is a leatherbound Bible in black and pewter – Joyce Meyer’s Everyday Bible (Amplified Version) and I am already highlighting pages left and right.  I’ve been reading the Word out loud – in my home – and I’ll admit, I’ve been hugging my Bible.

It’s not just a book.  It’s my Sword.  It holds the story of my faith and of my Saviour & Lord.  It’s no fairy tale – it’s no myth.  It’s the living, breathing WORD of God.  And oh, how I love it.  Oh how I love HIM!

So, I’m off to battle.  It’s not easy and I don’t take it lightly.  I am sure to take some painful blows, as done anyone who stands firm for the Word of God.  But if my Lord can endure the Cross, I can certainly stand the heat of the battle in His Strength!!!

I Found My Sword!

(I’m continuing my cybervacation for just a little longer.  I just had to share my good news!)