What a great question to ask when I haven’t written on my blog for a month! All I can say is that no grass grows under my feet! I’ve been doing so many things it’s almost scary. As you can see by just reading through this blog over the last six months, the Lord has given me the opportunity to speak at a lot of places. After I spoke in Scottsdale at the end of April, my husband and I celebrated our anniversary in one of my favorite places in the whole world—Sedona, Arizona. I really got to take a much-needed rest. We even played golf—WhooHoo!! I didn’t play that great but I did make some amazing putts. Let’s put it this way—I’m not quitting my day job:).
The following week we filmed the message series for my new book Walking With The God Who Cares. Oh I am SO EXCITED about this book. More about that in a moment. We traveled to Idyllwild, California to one of my favorite places—actually the place where I wrote the book—and we filmed outdoors. It was a total joy to share on these most important topics related to hope and the promises of God. When we returned my husband did the editing and this series is, as they say, “in the canâ€. It’s ready to be released at the same time as the book. Now, about this book, Walking With The God Who Cares—Finding Hope When You Need It Most. This book is from a very deep part of my heart and my relationship with the Lord. Walking With The God Who Cares is a book for everyone who wants to know what it means to walk with God and have hope no matter what happens in life. I share from the life of Corrie ten Boom who is one of my heroes. And then I share how you and I can never lose our hope. And how God has given us incredible promises that can hold us strong in the storms of life. This book will be released in just a few days and we will be looking for the truck to bring our first shipment sometime next week.
Following the filming I had the opportunity to speak at a retreat at the Calvary Chapel Conference Center in Twin Peaks, California. Wow—what a beautiful conference center! I spoke on personal, spiritual revival from John 7:37-39. It was a wonderful time with some amazing women. You can see a group of the women talking together here. That is what is so wonderful on retreats - women get to spend time together sharing about the Lord. There was a lot of that happening this weekend. And what a bookstore they have at that conference center. I could hardly leave the bookstore. Lots of great books, commentaries and Bibles. I got a great series of three commentaries by Jon Courson—I can’t wait to use them in my study and my quiet time.
Following that weekend retreat, I spent another weekend filming a new series of messages to accompany my book of quiet times in the series A Quiet Time Experience entitled A Heart That Hopes In God. These nine messages are still being edited as we speak but should be available and ready to ship in a couple of weeks. I have to say that making these DVDs is such a joy because as I share the messages I have a strong sense of how they will be used in large and small groups all over the world to encourage others in their relationship with the Lord.
I had a unique opportunity today to do a two-hour live interview on KGFT Radio’s Life Today hosted by Ted Griffin, Jr. I have been doing quite a few radio interviews over the last six months but never one quite like this. Usually the interviews are anywhere from 10 minutes to 30 minutes and sometimes an hour. So I didn’t know what to expect on a two hour live interview. Well, it was just so much fun—Ted Griffin is an amazing host and asked such great questions. He loves God and His Word—it sure does show. We had a lot of fun and the two hours just flew! I pray that hundreds of thousands are impacted as a result.
Well a week from today I will be getting ready to fly to Atlanta for about five days to promote my new book, Walking With The God Who Cares at the International Christian Retail Show. During that time I will be signing my book and also doing some TV interviews. I pray that I have the opportunity to meet a lot of bookstore owners and managers and distributors from all over the world.
And then, on another note—you do know I’m sure that the IPhone was released today. And everyone who knows me knows how much I love tech stuff and gadgets. Well, guess what—I’ve now got an IPhone. While I was being interviewed live on the radio, my dear friend, Cindy and her husband were standing in line at the local Cingular store and yes, it’s true, they got two of the last three IPhones left in the store. I didn’t know they were going to do that but they really are amazing friends. So stay tuned—I’ll be sharing all about the IPhone in some post in the future.
All I’ve shared is a bunch of news and so many things that the Lord is doing. But I want to say that I have been having wonderful quiet times with the Lord. The Bible reading plan I’m using this year is the New Women’s NIV Devotional Bible and right now I’m reading in the Psalms. Oh I am just loving the Psalms. I am seeing so many things I’ve never seen before. The Lord is encouraging my heart in such powerful ways. Just a few days ago I read through Psalm 119. I saw again the great value of the Word—it revives my heart, it gives me strength, it is the light on my path, and it gives me great delight. Oh what a gift the Word of God is to us! God bless you as you continue on in this great adventure of knowing Him.