Living Proof Live – Charlotte and a Surprise

Golly, the past 24 hours were so good.  So. good.

I keep typing and backing up and typing something else.  Where do you start?  How do you put into words 6 pages of notes and a very full heart?  First I will tell you this.  And it is what I walked away with.  That story?  I’m gonna write it.  No lie Beth said the words “We always want our past to be our past.  To pretend like it never happened.  But we must use our past as our testimony.  We have to offer hope.”  There are many more things she said that completely confirmed my thoughts scripturally and enlightened more.  Above all, I walked away with the affirmation just once again just how much affection He has for me.  He is not tolerating me, he DELIGHTS in me.

There is no way to fully explain all of what she talked about but I will hit the highlights.  Our two words for the weekend were HOLD FAST.  Hold fast and cleave to God.  She gave us eight reasons we needed to hold fast as an acrostic:

H: His affection is set upon you.  She went into the many ways he loves us.  But be assured he is loyal, faithful, emotional, passionate, devoted to you.
O: Only He is your praise.  The good of the universe loves YOU and wants good for you. Praise him.
L: Loving Him Awakens Your True Heart.  We do not know ourselves until we cling to him.  He is what makes life work.
D: Doing His will Does Us Good.  He cannot lead us wrong.  God uses everything that happens to you for your destiny.
F: Fleeing to Him means Fleeing From Him.  He is always with us.
A: Any Tighter Embrace Will Also Replace. Oh boy, do I know this one well.  We are supposed to love but when we cling to something else harder, it becomes a stronghold.
S: Satan Wants What You Have.  He wants your marriage, children, church but most of all your faith. 
T: The Lord is Your Life Col 3:1-4 Choose life.

 

So good.  I wish every one of you could hear every word.  But I’ll just say this.  Hold fast to Him.  He is the answer.  Your life should not be a train wreck. If it is, fall into Him.  Hold on for dear life.  When you are walking with Him, things work.  It may not be easy but there is peace.  Whew, I could go on!

I do want to tell you about the lovely people I went with and got to meet. 

Susan, Dani, Michele, me and Heather.  I was so happy Heather.  At the last second, she was able to snag one of their Siesta Scholarship tickets.  If you need one of those, it was so painless and such a blessing.

 

I also got to meet up with my good friend Becky 

..and Beth who sadly I didn’t get a picture with.

And I’m especially happy to have finally met Boomama.  I have been a long-time reader of Sophie’s blog and let me just tell you she is a DELIGHT.  I’m not sure there is another way to describe her.  And she is the same in person.  She’s down to earth, and funny and Southern to every bit of her core.  I just love her. 

OK, so I must quickly tell you about a surprise last night that happened after we got back from LPL.  Yesterday afternoon I talked to Emma.  I told her I was excited to see her in one day!  I talked to Scott last night just after we got out and he said the girls were asleep so I didn’t get to say good night.  When I got home, I went almost straight to sleep as my alarm was going off at 5:45am.  Scott called right at 11 and said, “I hate to do this but Corporal has to come get my radio to use it tonight can you go get it out of the closet and put it on the bench out front.”  So I did and when I walked out the front door, I saw car lights on and thought Corporal was already there.  I started squinting really hard when I saw a shadow of a child and saw that it was Emma!  “You’re kidding me”! I said when I realized it WAS Emma and Scott was also walking through the yard.  Scott had completely surprised me and travelled back that evening.  I can’t tell you how happy I was! 

So between the conference and having my babies back last night you can imagine I’ve been on cloud 9 today!  Hope your weekend is going well!