I had a heavenly weekend!  But by this morning…..not so much!

The Heavenly Portion

Isabel, Stephen and I had flown out to Birmingham, Alabama on Friday to attend the conference, Deeper Still, and to reunite with our Compassion bloggers.  We had such an amazing time being with stellar friends and hearing Gods word from Beth Moore, Priscilla Shirer and Kay Arthur. Isabel took notes of Beth’s talk so she could remember!

It made me happy looking at these pages.

Isabel met some of my favorite people and she received much encouragement for her ministry from Godly women.  Isabel ran into Kay Arthur in the bathroom and Kay took the time to speak wisdom to my daughter out of the blue.  I stood back and just watched my shy little girl take in the words. Beth Moore poured a little love into my daughter’s ear Saturday night at our Compassion dinner as she told Isabel that she inspired her and was honored to take her picture with Isabel.  Isabel told me later, “Mom, she was so nice.  I really like that lady.” Amanda Moore Jones and Melissa Moore Fitzpatrick have been on Compassion blog trips and they sweetly blessed my girl with gobs of kindness and generosity toward her ministry.  They are the real deal.  Truly amazing women!

Isabel and Stephen met many of my other blog friends who I deeply admire.  Kristen from We Are That Family was my roommate in Kenya, and she has now started a beautiful ministry for young girls.  You must check out The Mercy House.  Ann Voskamp daily ministers to my heart through her blog.   She has this daily Advent devotional that my family is going to go through.  I really wanted to bring Ann home with me because being with her is like being with Jesus.  She exudes beauty not only on the outside but also on the inside.  It was blessing to have my past come to present. I adore these people. They feed my soul through their blogs and time with them fills me up. Isabel took this picture.

Isabel met Dan Woolley this weekend.  For those who might not know Dan, he was our Compassion staff guy who spent three days trapped in an elevator after the earthquake in Haiti.  We had a chance to hang with Dan late Saturday night and being with him was such a blessing.  Hearing his story of how he has changed after facing death is inspiring.  His book, Unshaken, will be out soon.

Not only was it wonderful having friends pour words of encouragement into my daughter’s life but my soul needed this weekend and I was spiritually challenged and moved.

But unfortunately, this morning wasn’t quite so heavenly…

As I was trying to pull my head together and stumble to the coffee maker, my kids were in a highly dramatic state of mind.  From pit-bull to squirrel on crack to weepy and stressed, my girls filled the house with the kind of drama that makes a Academy Award winning movie look bad. Ok…maybe I am being over dramatic now, but within 5 minutes of my alarm going off, my mountaintop experience quickly descended.

It seems like after the mountaintop, the enemy likes to come in and rob the joy, but isn’t this life?

I battled off the difficult morning by settling back into the Word and reflecting on the weekend.

I prayed for my girls.

Prayed the words from this weekend penetrate Isabel.

Prayed that Grace finds peace today.

Prayed Julia is filled with joy.

Prayed for my husband that he has patience amongst dramatic girls.

Prayed that  I would hear God speak.

After school, my girls came home transformed, happy and joyful from their day, all is well.

And so the story of my life continues and each day is filled with new adventures!  I love those mountaintop experiences but Monday mornings come once a week.  For this is life and I receive it!