Batter Up!

We had a great turnout at the first softball game of the season...both players and spectators. Sporting new blue shirts, the team looked awesome! Although the game didn't end in a W for us, everybody did abide by Coach Valerie's first rule which is to have fun.

Here is the schedule for the summer and below that, some pictures from last night. Come join the fun on Tuesday nights!

Date               Time               Place

May 29            8:15 pm          Pleasant Plains

June 5              8:15 pm          Pleasant Plains

June 12            no game

June 19            8:15 pm          Mt Harmony

June 26            no game

July 3               no game

July 10             no game

July 17             7:00 & 8:15    Mt Harmony

July 24             8:15 pm          Mt Harmony

July 31             8:15 pm          Mt Harmony

Aug 7              7:00 pm          Mt Harmony

Aug 14            7:00 pm          Mt Harmony

Aug 20            Tournament

It's That Time of Year

I just came home from the annual graduation celebration at PR, where we celebrate all the young folks graduating from high school. It was a great night filled with speeches, a few tears, and lots of hugs.

Sitting there listening to these young men and women talk about their high school days, their families and their friends, I remembered what it was like in 2003 and 2006 when my kids graduated. You are so excited for them and what their future holds. You are a little sad because those years really did fly by in a hurry.

And let's face it, you are a little glad that they will be making their own way in the world now! Even though they will still need some help and guidance along the way...which they will never admit to.

So for all you moms out there whose kids will be taking that first big step towards independence in the next few weeks, albeit in a funny-looking robe and hat, here are a few words from my experience...

They may seem prickly right now...but that's just so you will be able to let them go when it is time. So do let them go, and wish for them the biggest life they can lead. It seems backwards, but encouraging them to go wherever they need to go will help them come home again.

Make sure to give them a soft place to land. None of them are perfect. You've probably noticed that. And some of them will need that soft place more than others. But all of them will face the hurts and disappointments that life brings. You don't have to approve of their life choices, but you do have to keep loving them. And they need to be able to count on that when everything else around them seems shaky. So no matter what the future holds, love them anyway.

Pray. You've already been doing that. But now they need it more than ever. And remember that even as much as you love them, He loves them even more. So don't let a day go by that you don't lift their names to Father.

Finally, hang on to the memories. The time really does go by much faster than our mothers and grandmothers warned us that it would. One day they look like this...

The next day they are living all over the world and having babies of their own.

And that's when the real reward comes...with grandchildren!

Congratulations to all of you!

Girls' Night Out 5/7/12

This past Monday night was our May Girls' Night Out and we celebrated May Birthdays, too. We enjoyed a great meal at Crown Point Restaurant and 20 women showed up! It was a great time of fellowship and fun. Here are a few pictures...and mark your calendar now for June 4 and we will post the location soon!

Red Light, Green Light

Remember that game we all used to play as kids called Red Light, Green Light? Everybody stood at the end of the driveway and the one person who was the caller hollered out Green Light! And you ran as fast as you could towards that person. But as soon as they called out Red Light!, you had to stop. If they saw you moving when they turned around, you had to go back to the beginning. The first person to get to the end of the driveway won and it was their turn to be the caller.

We would spend hours playing that game...debating whether or not someone had moved after Red Light was called out...and arguing over who had to start again. Crazy fun!

I was thinking about that game the other day while driving to work. You don't have to live in Charlotte long to figure out that the traffic is horrible! I only live two miles from my office and it still can take me 15-20 minutes to get there. I go through four stoplights to get there and I'm often amazed at the risks that people take just to get through a yellow light before it turns red. Only to get stopped at the next light and not really be ahead of the folks who were behind them at the first light.

But what really amazes me is the people who will sail right through a red light as if it wasn't there. Yes, I said a red light. And they do it on purpose...non "on accident" (as my kids used to say!). The other morning, I saw four...count them, four...cars make a left hand turn through a very large intersection after their light had turned red. I just had to wonder where they were going that was so important that they would put their lives at risk (not to mention the lives of everyone else coming through that intersection). I certainly hope it is worth it...but I fear that it is not. I often wish I could yell Red Light! at them and make them all go back and start all over again!

That made me think about the red lights that God sometimes puts in my life. I can be headed in a certain direction and get all manner of cautions along the way. Maybe I hear a similar story that should be a cautionary tale for me and I choose to ignore it. Maybe I have a friend who is courageous enough to confront me and I refuse to listen. Perhaps I hear a message in my daily Bible study or in a sermon or class, and I just stubbornly refuse to heed the warning. Metaphorically, God is yelling RED LIGHT! And I just  keep right on moving. And then I often have to return to the beginning to start all over again.

Where is God putting Red Lights in your life these days? Are you willing to recognize the protection He is offering? Or do you just run straight through and put your life and the life of others at risk?

Don't let God make you have to start all over again!

Training the Younger Women

At our women's retreat this year, we had a wonderful example of training a younger woman. When Doreene Tant came to the microphone to speak to us about the scripture she had been assigned, she brought her beautiful granddaughter, Britney Sampson with her. Britney's job was to read the scripture for her grandmother...and just before she began, Doreene made a comment that we need to be mentoring our young women.

It was adorable, I tell you. Adorable.

I am so appreciative of women like Doreene...and many others that we could name...who have mentored my generation. And even now are mentoring us as they show us how to mentor the generations that are coming after us.

"Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands so that no one will malign the word of God." Titus 2:3-4 (NIV)

Smiling Faces of C L O S E R 2012

Here are some of the beautiful faces that attended C L O S E R...

C L O S E R Pictures

We had an awesome time at C L O S E R, the 2012 Women's Retreat. It was a wonderful opportunity for all of us to grow closer to God and closer to one another. Held at the historic Brookstown Inn in Winston Salem, NC, we were surrounded by quaint loveliness all weekend. The retreat leadership team had a number of surprises in store for us and the worship and lessons couldn't have been better. Thanks to all who helped plan and execute the retreat. And a special thanks to those of you who attended!

Plans for 2013 retreat will be underway soon, so if you would like to get in on the planning fun, just drop me an email!

Enjoy these pictures!