When we are weak, He is strong!

There was a rose garden at retreat that was so beautiful!

Hello friends!

I'm a little late in my update this month. I don't know where October has gone, it has flown by so quickly!

The first part of October was our Alliance District Women's Retreat in Green Lake, WI. It was an absolutely beautiful weekend. It was warm and the fall colors were gorgeous - great for a little photography! I want to thank those of you who were praying for me that weekend. I had some bad issues with asthma throughout the weekend. The building where our main sessions were held was moldy and it was very hard to breathe. I had an asthma attack and had to leave the first session Friday night. Saturday morning I was still having breathing issues so I skipped the first session. I was leading a workshop at 10:30 and wanted to be able to get through it!

It worked out great because I was able to get into the room, get things set up, practice and spend some time in prayer for the women who would be there. I was also concerned that people wouldn't be able to hear me as it was a long room and I didn't have a microphone. Those of you who have heard me speak know that my voice does not carry very well and with all the breathing issues I was having I didn't know if I would have the voice. I had lots of people praying for me and it went so well!

The title of my workshop was "God's Will and Your Life." I shared where God has taken me on my journey with Him and what He has taught me along the way. I also shared what the Bible has to say about God's will and shared some from a book by Kevin DeYoung called "Just Do Something." People always ask me how it went and I say, I don't know, ask someone who listened to it! I received very positive feedback and I felt like it went really well. There were not too many dry eyes in the room by the time I was done! It's moments like that where I am so grateful for everything God has allowed me to go through. If I can encourage even one other person and help them keep hanging on to God when life gets tough and when we don't understand what is going on or why, it brings me great joy. I felt God working through me and speaking through me and for that all I can say is Praise the Lord! All glory goes to Him because in my own strength I am shy and a terrible speaker (just ask my high school speech teacher)!

God sure has brought me a long way over the years and I'm amazed at how He can work in me and through me! I even had someone in complete sincerity ask me for my autograph at the end of the weekend. So I signed my name next to Linda Dillow and tried not to show how shocked and amused I was that someone would want my autograph! Linda Dillow was our speaker at retreat and it was such a blessing to hear what God laid on her heart for us. I feel like there was a lot of spiritual warfare going on during retreat. The enemy did not like what we were up to and it was great to see how God worked in all of the attacks, things going wrong and health issues to bring glory to Himself. I really think it was one of the best retreats I've been to!

When I got back from retreat I got that nasty cold that has been going around. I am still trying to get over it. I have been to the doctor twice and will go again on Thursday for a follow up appointment. I've had blood work done, x-rays taken and a full round of antibiotics. It's a pattern I'm getting used to every time I get a cold. When I am sick or on antibiotics I can't take the medicine that helps me to not be sore from the auto-immune disease. In other words, I have been quite sore the last couple weeks. Weather also affects how I feel and today with all this rain and wind and ickyness I am really sore. I feel like I have been sick or sore most of this month. As much as I hate the cold I am ready for winter to settle in and my body to be able to adjust and hopefully feel better. I would appreciate your prayers on Thursday as I go back to the doctor to follow up on this cough and address something else that has come up that I really hope isn't a big deal.

In the midst of this crazy month of not feeling well, I have had my moments of feeling good and being able to hang out with friends and work on my photography. I had a craft fair at the mall in Menomonie this month. I did not sell a whole lot, but it was a fun day and I was able to pass out my business card. Hopefully people will purchase things later on my website! I was also able to take advantage of the last nice day we've had and take my roommates Christmas card pictures. I need more practice taking people pictures so we had a fun day of driving around taking pictures. They turned out pretty well and I am gaining more confidence in another realm of photography. Oh, and one of the best things this month...watching the Packers beat the Vikings! Go Pack Go!!!

In a lot of ways it has been a hard month, but it has been a good month as well. I have been tired and sore and sick a lot, but I have also felt God's presence and have been learning a lot. It is nice to know that God takes care of me and that I don't have to feel guilty when I just don't have the energy to spend as much time with Him as I would like. He still loves me and He is okay with me just resting in His arms when I need to.

I have two craft fairs coming up in November and I am hoping people will be in a Christmas present buying mood! As I look forward to the busy holiday season, I remind myself to keep my focus on Jesus. He is what it is all about. I want to be the kind of person that serves the Lord out of my love for Him. I don't want to get so busy doing things FOR God that I forget to do things WITH God. I want to spend time with Him first and do things for Him second. I want to be the kind of person that people look at and see Jesus in me. I want to reach out to others and point them towards my heavenly Father. I can't do that if I get too busy and neglect our time together. So my prayer for myself and for you this month is that you would find the time in the midst of a very busy life to hang out with God and have a special time with Him each day. Whatever that looks like for you, may you find strength and energy from the Lord and be filled with joy and love and peace in the midst of a crazy busy life!