August 22, 2005
Somewhere In Georgia
August 19, 2005
I am writing this week's journal entry while riding in the car on the Interstate somewhere between Tifton and Atlanta, Georgia. Last night was a perfect event; everything went well and this day has already started out great – Starbucks coffee and a Cracker Barrel breakfast. Tonight I will be speaking at an “Extraordinary Women” event. I always love those because I get to hear so many awesome speakers and enjoy fabulous worship. As I was just telling Steve, I miss the kids and I love being home but I do enjoy getting to spend this time with him, especially long drives like the one yesterday to Tifton and the one today back to Atlanta. (Although, I slept in the back seat most of the drive yesterday and now I'm talking to you and not him today. Oops.)
These last few weeks have been pretty full. Haven and Clancy spent a week at Forest Home as camp counselosr/babysitters for Family Camp. They were in a cabin with a bunch of their old friends from California and loved catching up with them again. I spent that week working on my new book. Tucker went with me and while I wrote he worked on recording his songs to the computer using a new guitar software program. Steve spent the week flying all over the country for his three other jobs.
Everyone got back in town just in time to leave again. Steve and the kids flew ahead of me to Charlotte, NC to spend the weekend with his family. I spent the first day of the trip in Nashville. I had a fantastic meeting with the ladies at LifeWay producing the new MomTime Getaways. I think they are going to be great, not exactly like Steve and I originally envisioned them but wonderful, nonetheless.
The biggest difference is they will be held in a church rather than a hotel. With that change, we will lose the pajama party and all that goes with it but it also drastically reduces the price and makes it more affordable for the very moms we want to bless. There will also be some wonderful new additions. I will send an E-letter in the next couple of months with more details but just know it is going to be a terrific event and I'm getting very excited about it.
I also had a meeting at LifeWay with the publishing department. I talked with them about my idea for another Bible study. Thankfully, they were as enthusiastic about it as I am. I won't have time to write it until next summer and it won't be released until 2007 but as the time draws nearer I will tell you more about it.
While I was spending the day at LifeWay, my friend, Faith Whatley, confessed that she had been teasing her friend, Travis Cottrell, about a childhood crush he had on me when I was on “The Facts of Life.” (Travis is a praise and worship artist and he leads worship for Beth Moore's live events.) Apparently, he even wrote a fan letter to me when he was a kid. Well, Faith just couldn't let that kind of blackmail information alone without using it to torture him.
So, she had me return one of his calls acting as “her assistant.” What was so funny was the fact that he answered the phone with, “You take the good, you take the bad…” He recognized my voice immediately but I took him off guard when I invited him and his wife to join me and my manager, Ron's, family for dinner that night. We were all able to meet up after his daughter's ice cream social and Ron's son's football practice. Travis and his wife, Angela, were delightful and we were almost able to talk them into coming back to the house to play some “Speed Scrabble.” Self discipline prevailed and they decided to take a rain check because they had to pack for an early morning road trip with their family to an event in South Carolina.
The next morning I joined my family in North Carolina. I spoke that night at a wonderful event called “Sweet Aroma Café.” This fabulous church set up the sanctuary to look like a coffee house. The women sat around munching on goodies and sipping on hot drinks while I spoke. Because of the set up I decided to do a “Q&A.” It really felt like a conversation over a cup of coffee and I believe it was a sweet aroma to the Lord as the women drew close to him, many for the first time.
We spent the rest of the weekend just hanging out with family, playing “Chickenfoot,” taking naps, eating Bar-B-Q, (although I use that term loosely considering there was no beef involved!) and drinking the indigenous soda pop, “Cheerwine.” It has been awhile since all of Steve's family was able to be together at one time so it was a special treat all the way around.
We arrived home Sunday night and the next day was the first day of school and things haven't slowed down much since. I keep wondering if life is ever going to slow down. I can't complain. It is full but, thankfully, it is full of wonder and wonderful!
Posted by weblion at 11:26 PM
