All I can say is “what a month!†As always, when you haven’t heard from me in awhile here on my blog, then you know I’m writing a book. I am excited to say that I have just completed another book and I’m in the midst of editing and bringing it to a final manuscript. Praise the Lord!! And in the midst of all of this I’ve been traveling all over the place. I just wanted to share with you a few of the wonderful places I’ve been and the great fun I’ve had. Here I am in Grand Rapids, Michigan where I had the opportunity to meet some of the wonderful staff of Family Christian Bookstores. You know, it was an amazing thing just to be in Grand Rapids. For years I’ve looked on the flyleaf of many a book and have seen the city “Grand Rapids.†I’ve typed many footnotes for papers that have included that city. Now, I’ve been there! One of the highlights of this trip was when Shane White from Harvest House Publishers, who met us (my husband and me) there in Grand Rapids, took us to a bookstore that has a huge section of used books – he knows how much I love books and thought I just might like wandering around there – he was right! In fact I could live in that room of used books. It was incredible. And so much fun!
While in Grand Rapids, I had the opportunity to speak four times for a women’s revival conference held at Kentwood Christian Church. Pictured here is the women’s committee who organized the conference including Ruth Headen (standing next to me). These women were such a joy and such fun. The night before the conference the women’s leaders and I had dinner together and prayed for our conference. I have such a passion for women’s ministries so this time together was a real treat for me. I spoke twice on Friday evening and twice on Saturday morning and before I knew it, we were back on the plane flying to Chicago and on to Palm Springs. It always amazes me how air travel enables you to travel thousands of miles and be in another part of the country in only a few hours. Incredible.
A week ago Cindy, one of my assistants, and I traveled to beautiful northern Arizona for the Grace Community Church women’s retreat at Bison Ranch Conference Center. You can’t believe how beautiful this place is. They have beautiful mountain condos with full kitchens and gas fireplaces. It’s like being at a Ritz Carlton in the mountains. But what was amazing this weekend was how the Lord worked in such a powerful way. In my new book about to be released December 1, 2007 entitled Set My Heart On Fire, I talk about the power of the Holy Spirit. And oh, how exciting it is when the Holy Spirit is at work. He does things that are virtually unexplainable and impossible without Him doing the work. And that’s what I long to see at all times – God doing great and mighty works in and through simple, weak vessels.
Well, the Lord did great and mighty things at the Grace Community Conference. A woman named Madeline spent time with the Lord on Saturday afternoon using the quiet time I had written for the group. At then end of the quiet time, I ask for each person to write a prayer to the Lord, expressing all that is on their heart. Well Madeline was compelled by the Lord to write a prayer to commit her life to Him. It turns out that her daughters have been praying for her salvation for a long time and brought her to this conference, her first women’s retreat. And through the quiet time, she prayed to receive Christ. Well, everyone got SO excited about this, that Tina Franchimone decided we would have a baptism in the pond the next morning. Keep in mind that it was 32 degrees outside. That’s cold. But they did it and we all watched. And oh, what a powerful time it was. Madeline’s two daughters, Tina, and Madeline went into the pond and Madeline was baptized. You can see her here with her hand held high to the sky, praising the Lord for what He had done in her life. We sang after her baptism. What a way to begin our final day of retreat. I then spoke about what it means to be a radical disciple for Jesus Christ.
The worship team for this retreat was nothing short of amazing. The name of their group is Hallowed. They’re all women—how cool is that. They had a drummer, guitar players, amazing singers and just led us in some powerful worship. Worship is so important to whole retreat experience and SO prepares the way for the messages I give. When the worship was finished each time, I was able to stand up and just launch into the message. Sometimes at other retreats I’ll talk a bit just to establish a rapport, but at this retreat I didn’t need to do it all. They were ready to hear from God’s Word. And oh, how the Holy Spirit was at work. We had a lot of decisions and commitments made to the Lord.
As always, we had our Quiet Time Ministries resource table with lots of books available to encourage women in their quiet time. As I walked back and forth in front of the table I got overwhelmed at all the different books the Lord has given me to write. And I was also so overwhelmed at the books that Harvest House has published. I stopped and just said, “Lord, thank You for doing what ONLY You can do.†He has done it all. You can see me here at the table signing one of the books. Leaving this retreat was sad because I had to say goodbye to new friends who are so dear to me now and also exhilarating because I knew at that time I was about to complete another book.
And so, here we are at the completion of two more books. Pictured here at our Quiet Time Ministries Resource and Training Center are women at the last day of our pilot of the 30 day journey of Trusting In The Names Of God. You can see in the background a map of the United States. Someday I’ll post a close-up of this map and you’ll be able to see just a thumbnail view of what the Lord is doing with the books and quiet time resources. We have pins in all the cities where these books are going. Places in Virginia, Kansas, Maine, Florida, Georgia, Texas and more—all over the place. It just boggles our mind. On Monday mornings when we pray together we have a time where we just thank the Lord for His work. What a privilege to be a part of it. And so, now it’s onward and upward. This weekend I’ll do the finishing work on two manuscripts and the books will, Lord willing, go to Harvest House next week sometime. To God be the glory!