WoF Part 5, the end

I'm almost through talking about the Women of Faith Conference. I really enjoyed my time. I enjoyed worshiping God in a way that was freeing.

Patsy Clairmont got to speak again, because Marilyn Meberg was ill that weekend. Previously she had told about her struggles with agoraphobia, and how God helped her through that. This time, she told about when her son had gotten sick with the bird flu and was in a coma for 21 days. She really struggled.

Funny note: she was wearing a scarf and she called it a "parking garage for chins."

But back to her topic. We don't help suffering people by giving them simple answers that don't help. Tell them you don't understand and say you're sorry. She gave us 4 ways to help people: 1) Prayer matters, 2) People matter, 3) change can be good, and 4) we need each other.

She said, don't underestimate what God has given you to do. She told the story of the cleaning lady who was singing "Jesus," and how that helped her so very much. She also said that change can be good, even if it's not in a package you expect. Her son had been in a coma for 19 days, and on day 20, he had gotten a new doctor who changed some medicines, and she did not like it. But on day 21, her son woke up.

We had another drama presentation by Deborah Joy. She reminded me that my children, my home is the great cathedral I am building. People may never know who I am, but if my children are godly and lead others to Christ, then that's all that matters.

One of the last things that we did was each speaker got to give a nugget of information, a reminder of something that they had said to us that they wanted us to remember.

Brenda Warner said, "remember Zach who should not have lived. Slow down. Love them without sight. We need each other. Life is hard, but be flexible."

Sandi Patty said, "Look from a different perspective. God isn't saying no to your dreams. He may be saying yes to a dream you can't see yet."

Patsy Clairmont said, "Prayer matters, people matter, change can be good, we need each other. Never give up."

And Mandisa reminded us that we have a wonderful freedom in Christ.

And that was it. That was the end of the conference. It was a good time for my soul and my heart, and I will be forever thankful that I had the opportunity to go.

Hugs,

Melinda

Reposting: Lump Free Gravy

In honor of Thanksgiving, I am reposting this.

So, after a L-O-N-G break from Works for Me Wednesday, the carnival hosted by Shannon where bloggers from all over blogosphere get together and share the tips that work for them, I decided to share my secrets for how I make perfect lump free cream gravy.

And no, it's not canned. I actually got the technique from my Betty Crocker cookbook.

Tip #1: Invest in a good whisk. It's so much easier than a wooden spoon or fork.

Tip #2: Remember your proportions. 2 Tbsp fat, 2 Tbsp flour, 1 cup liquid. For cream gravy, this is 2 tbsp butter or margarine, 2 Tbsp Flour, 1 cup milk. For brown gravy it would be 2 tbsp fat drippings, 2 tbsp flour, 1 cup beef broth or other appropriate liquid.

Tip #3: And this is one of the biggest secrets. When you get ready to make your gravy, put your liquid in the freezer and get it REALLY cold. I have pulled milk out with a ring of milk crystals. It works people!

So..... Put your butter in the pan and melt it on medium high heat. When it is bubbling, whisk in your flour. This mixture is called Roux. When that is bubbling (it sort of looks like pancake batter. Sort of.), then pull your milk out of the freezer and slowly and completely whisk that into your roux. If you are using a whisk, you are almost guaranteed lump free gravy. You almost have to boil this for about a minute to get your gravy.

Now, here is the twist. You sort of have to watch it at this point. You don't want it too thin, but if it boils too long, it will get too thick and be like glue. Remove it from the heat when it is the consistency you like.

Personally, I don't add salt or pepper when I'm making my gravy. My husband doesn't like salt, and I don't like pepper. But if you add nutmeg when you're cooking, this makes the basic bechamel saucein a lot of Italian dishes.

And that's all of my secrets to a perfect lump free cream gravy. Serve over biscuits, toast, whatever your imagination desires. :D

Hugs,
Melinda

WoF Part 4

Okay, so I'm up to Saturday morning of the Women of Faith Conference... I think. LOL I probably should have done this a little bit quicker than I have been. But I'm still digesting it.

We started off the day listening to Lisa Whelchel. She talked about friendship, and how she learned about being friends with people. Two things she said is that there is a difference between being transparent and being vulnerable, and that the time of connection is better than the rejection.

Also, you need to be a friend, but without expectations or limits. Be grateful for who that person is. Pay attention to how people talk to you about others, because that's probably how they talk about you. Run from those who look perfect, because they will place their standard of perfection on you. And look for those who have stumbled, because they know the grace of God.

A real friend is an imperfect person. They are sort of like Velcro - loopy, collecting lint, but holds on. True friends ARE the body of Christ.

Next we heard from Brenda Warner. Being in a household that doesn't watch too much football, I was not familiar with her. But after having listened to her, I do admire her and would listen to her again.

She reminded us that honor, courage, and integrity are what you do when no one is watching. Our circumstances don't determine who we are; God does. And you can choose to have faith. Worship God no matter what!

Sandi Patty was next. I was having trouble staying awake, so I didn't take as many notes as I did with the others. The really funny thing was when she "sang" her musical background. She also said, you don't want to "loose" weight, because you don't want to find it again. Release it instead. :D Change can be difficult but good.

I think I'm going to stop here for now. I will post the rest tomorrow.

Hugs,

Melinda

More WoF Pictures

This was the worship team after supper. Mandisa joined them.

These girls are truly talented. And they know how to have fun when they worship God.
Mandisa has such a powerful voice.

There was also a time that we were introduced to "The Porch." Sandi Patty took some time and talked to all of the speakers and let us get to know a little bit about them. That's Sandi on the stairs.
This is when she was talking to Lisa Whelchel. She was Blair on the Facts of Life sitcom in the 80s. It was really fun getting to know a bit more about "Lisa," and not "Blair." I'm also reading her book called Friendship for Grownups. I highly recommend it.
Another blurry picture of Mandisa. I regretted leaving my camera at home more than once, but I'm still thankful for my iPhone.
I'm not certain but I think this is when she was introducing Lifeline. It really is a beautiful song.
And that's all my pictures for Friday, Day 1 of the Women of Faith Conference!

Hugs,

Melinda

WoF Part 3

After I ran home for supper to let Nana out, we had a drama presentation by Deborah Joy Winans. She was absolutely hilarious! Her very first skit was about the many hats that we wear as women. Manager, coach, psychologist, chef, accountant, lover, mom, wife, and in the case of the homeschool parent... teacher. Funny quote: "we don't talk TO ourselves - we talk AMONG ourselves."

Next was another talk by Andy Andrews. Did you know that you can sing the words of Amazing Grace to the tune of Ghost Riders in the Sky, House of the Rising Sun, and Gilligan's Island?

But the most amazing story was the one he told of Joshua Chamberlain at the battle of Gettysburg. According to his interpretation of history, if Mr. Chamberlain had not held and won his part of the line, then the South would have won not only Gettysburg, but also won the Civil War. Mr. Andrews told us this story in order to remind us that what you do matters. It is something called the Butterfly Effect.

Next was a real treat. We had a concert by Mandisa. I had heard her on the radio on K-Love, but had not been too impressed. This concert changed my opinion. She talked about Psalm 34:1 that says, "I will praise the Lord at ALL times." I was so impressed with how she just worships her heart out.

Two songs that I had never heard that I will forever love: Lifeline and Broken Hallelujah. It made me realize that I don't have to wait until I feel right with God in order to praise Him; He wants me to come NOW. He wants me to give Him all I have NOW, no matter what that is. Even if it's a broken hallelujah.

That brings me to the end of day 1. That was so much in and of itself. The day was SO full. And my heart is so full. Plus, it was late, and I needed to get home to my children.

Until the next day,

Hugs,

Melinda

WoF Pictures Part 2

Are you ready for some more pictures?

This is Andy Andrews again. I had a good seat first thing in the morning. Mr. Andrews was a great speaker, but he continually paced. It was a bit hard to focus on him.

Here's Patsy Clairmont again. She really was a good speaker.

The worship team was pretty amazing. They sang a lot of songs I didn't know except for hearing them on the radio. But they made it easy to follow along. This young lady in the front looks like a friend of mine here in town.
This is Deborah Joy Winans. She is related to "the" Winans, but she chose to go into acting and not singing. Honestly, her dramas were VERY thought provoking. She's going to be who I write about next. :)

WoF Pictures

How about some pictures? Some really blurry, not great shots from the camera on my phone, but pictures none the less? :D


This is the view you get when you walk into the arena. BEAUTIFUL. I fell in love with it. Especially the blue color.

This is the view from my seat. The one that I didn't get to sit in that morning. lol

Here's another picture of that gorgeous blue center piece. At least it was blue when we entered. It does change colors. It was pretty cool from a theater geek's perspective.

Patsy Clairmont spoke first. She may be small, but she's packed with God's word.

Andy Andrews spoke second. The man could NOT sit still. This is the only time he was still enough to get a good picture. lol

I'll try to post some more tomorrow. This is just a tidbit for now. :) Night.

WoF Part 2

Patsy Clairmont spoke a second time the first day of the Women of Faith conference. I must say that she did really well. She was fighting laryngitis and she still spoke.

At this point in time, she talked about how much she loves the book of Proverbs. She said something along the lines of how God made it simple for even those of us who are hard headed to understand. I have been trying to read a chapter a day, and I think she may be right. :D

The focus of her speech though was focused on the story of Solomon and how he asked for wisdom from God. She read 1 Kings 3:5 and then asked us, "If you could ask God for one thing, what would it be?"

She also had quite a bit to say about our speech and our tongues. Proverbs 29:11 and 29:20 She reminded us to take captive every thought. Her procedure is to 1) refuse negative thoughts, 2) replace with positive thoughts, and 3) repeat often.

She also said something that struck really close to home. Sarcasm is anger in a clown suit. If your humor is at the cost of another's dignity, then it's not funny. I've used sarcasm so many times, but I had never thought about it this way. I will need to watch my tongue even closer now.

Next was a Question and Answer period with Patsy and Andy. I don't remember the questions, but let me give some of the responses.

1) Find what you are passionate about and figure out how it is of value to others. 2) God feeds the birds, but doesn't throw worms in their nest. 3) Smart people have more fear. Fear is a misuse of the creative imagination that God has placed inside you. -- I really love that part about the birds and the worms.

From the Q&A we went right into another session with Andy Andrews. He went on to say that worry is focusing on the wrong things, and that we should persist without exception to find a way where there is no way. He also said don't question your vision. Get up and DO SOMETHING!

That brought to my mind several questions. What am I focusing on and what is my vision? I'm still thinking about this, and probably will be for awhile.

It was at this point that we took a break for supper, and I am going to take a break for the day. I should also post pictures. Hmm...

Have a good night. :)

Hugs,

Melinda

Women of Faith Conference

I had the opportunity to attend the Women of Faith conference in Kansas City last weekend. It was 2 days of some amazing stories and wonderful worship. I took quite a few notes. I'm just trying to figure out how best to present them. Should I present each speaker one by one? Should I present the day in order? Should I present my notes as I wrote them or just give a general over all impression?

I don't know. That's part of the problem with depression. I can't seem to make any decisions. Even simple ones like how to write my notes out.

(An hour later)

Patsy Clairmont was the first speaker. She gave us "homework" right off the bat. When we wake up, she says to say 1) yes to God 2) thank you with a grateful heart and 3) a holy no to people and things that distract us from God's purpose. God calls us by name, and we need to get into the Word! However, the enemy wants us to think we are alone, even when we are not.

The most important thing she said in that first session was that God has designed us with a will that is stronger than our emotions. He didn't give brains to our feelings. Proverbs 15:1

Andy Andrews was the next speaker. He wrote a really interesting book called The Traveler's Gift. The first thing you realize about Mr. Andrews is that he can't sit still. He paces just like my Little Bit. But onto his speech.

We are to seek wisdom as an adult. This is not knowledge, but wisdom. And why not choose the life you want for your family? You need to invest in yourself (or I need to invest in myself) as a mom, as a spouse, and as a worker for God. (Not necessarily in that order.) Do what you don't like in order to get a result you do want. There is still hope -- The best is yet to come! There was never a game that was over in the first half.

I'm going to stop for now. I'm fighting a cold right now. I will continue at a later time.

Hugs,

Melinda

Time flies....

Oh my goodness, I've been busy. Sweet Pea finished cross country running about 8 minutes a mile. Little Bit now has a Tag Reader and is learning how to read. I've been having fun fighting anxiety and depression, on top of being mom, teacher, cook, nutritionist, and long distance wife.

I was able to attend a Women of Faith conference this past weekend. My next post will be an attempt to get my notes and thoughts together in one place.

I honestly can't think of anything else I need to put down. I've had a horrible October. We were busy beyond belief. I lost 2 friends, one because of my own actions, and one because of miss communication and a hardened heart. I have taken time to just rest. My mind and my body have needed it. As a result, school, such as it is, hasn't been as focused as it needs to be.

But that's okay, because I know they are still learning.

Anyway, I'm going to let this post go, so that I can write my post (or posts) about the WoF conference. Have a good day. :)

Hugs,

Melinda