I am alive.................

I realized, while sitting here at the airport, that I posted about the excitement I felt as I prepared to attend the Children's Pastor's Conference in Orlando. And then I kinda left you hanging.......... Well I went non stop on the full days at the conference and on the one day that wasn't full I had to go make sure Mickey wasn't missing me too much!

Well and when that conference ended another one began- Rec Lab. Many of you know I have have attended this conference since seminary (this was my 16th Rec Lab). It was filled with incredible fellowship, sessions and worship and sermons that seemed to be tailor made just for me. Isn't it awesome when God does that?

I stayed over a day - when you fly the cheap airline you have to fly on days they do (Monday and Friday). I will tell you more about Allegiant Airline in another post- if possible I will not fly out of Chattanooga on another airline but Allegiant.

I have missed Mike something terrible. I have done a lot of people watching and talking to myself- yes out loud. It is just what you do when you are by yourself this many days. Funny thing I was to the point of starting to talk back -oops- so great thing I am departing today, huh!

I will begin to post next week on what all I learned, saw, experience and some of the things God whispered to me while I was away. I will also share some of the people God used so I could learn, see, experience and hear from him.

In the mean time............. I hope to see you at the Family Swim Party tomorrow night at the YMCA if you leave in Cleveland or close to Cleveland.

Guess what I just heard??? It is possible there is more snow coming to my little town next week and the next. Oh WOW! I may never flush ice again (you know that is suppose to help it snow! )

Pray for FBC Shreveport

I would like to ask you to pray for a friend of mine in ministry- Ronney Joe Webb. He is on of my friends from Rec Lab (a conference I attend annually and have for about 14 or 15 years). I learn so much from him when it comes to family ministry. He was accompanying a team from his church to a youth conference and the bus had a blow out and rolled three times. One student died, everyone had some sort of injury. The associate pastor's daughter is in critical condition. Several are still hospitalized. My friend Ronney Joe has a broken bone in his neck. His daughter has a broken collar bone.

You can go to their church website - http://www.fbcshreveport.org/ for more info.
They have been keeping their website updated with as much info as possible.

Thank you in advance for praying!

One of the most creative friends I have

Here is a Ronney Joe Webb busy at work during Upward season. Ronney Joe is the Minister of Family Life and Missions at First Baptist Shreveport. He is very creative. He is also not afraid to try a thing and can do just about anything. I think the man has learned 1001 different trades in life. Most of my best ideas in ministry came from him- thanks for letting me "borrow" your ideas. We have a lot of fun talking shop together. Just talking to him jump starts my brain into being more creative!

Here is Ronney Joe as Elvis. I know he has also been Superman. He has quite a few costumes. Have I mentioned he is a lot of fun.
I am going to tell you one of my favorite Ronney Joe stories............
Ronney Joe was doing hospital visits one day. He was called to go to the hospital that one of the senior adult ladies was not doing well. Ronney Joe rushed to the hospital and made his way to her room. As he got in the room, his pager went off (this was before cell phones). He noticed it was the church and decided just to silence the pager and call them after he went and tended to the situation at hand. He went over to the lady and noticed she was unresponsive and the nurse was doing some things. He went over and placed his hand on her and began to pray. He asked God to intervene and help her during this time. After praying he stepped out to call the church. The church asked if he had been to the hospital to see Mrs. "X". He said yes I just prayed with her. They begin proceeded to tell him they were paging him because they had been notified she had died. So as Ronney Joe begins to realize he just prayed over a dead lady- it then dawns on him why the nurse is looking at him so strangely when he was with Mrs. "X".
Too, too funny. I promise this is a true story. If you knew my friend Ronney Joe you would realize this is just Ronney Joe! I had a great week at Rec Lab- thanks for all your hard work Ronney Joe!

Friends

This is my friend Myrna. Here she is riding a motorized cooler. She had fun riding it all over the hotel. Matter of fact she had so much fun the hotel staff wanted to take it for a spin too! Notice she took Yertle for a ride too. Myrna works in Upward's Global Development. She is passionate about sharing Christ. She does this on mission trips all over this globe. She also is instrumental in others being able to do so by the work in writing, training and doing the groundwork for teams to go all over the world using Upward sports to share Christ. She is a woman who truly loves God and follows after Him. It was an awesome week to learn from her and have a lot of fun with her!
This is my friend Jenny Hemmer. She is an amazing lady. She is the Recreation Minister at Judson Baptist in Nashville. She seeks to help others come to Christ through recreation ministries. She as taught me a lot as well. She has a passion to help others realize that we the church need to do things with excellence as we serve the cause of Christ. She wants others to realize that status quo is not enough. As Christians we should strive to give a little more, work a little harder and do things to the upmost. This clip she shared with me explains her passion really well. I encourage you to watch it! 212 degrees

Both these ladies are incredible women of God. They love God and He is their life's passion. I am so thankful to have them in my life. They are two of the reasons I look forward to Rec Lab each year!

Yertle Meets Jay Schroeder

Tonight Yertle and I got to hear Jay Schroeder speak and got to get our picture made with him. For those of you who are not up on football trivia- Jay is a retired NFL quarterback. He retired after 11 years in the NFL. He won the Super Bowl while playing for the Washington Redskins. He was our banquet speaker tonight- for you see more importantly than being a former pro football player he is a Christian. It was neat to hear his stories from his pro days but also hear how God allows him to use that as a platform to share Christ.
Everyone was wearing his Super Bowl ring in their pictures and what did Jay do- take his ring off and put it on Yertle. Isn't that sweet - he didn't want her to feel left out. Look real close and you can see- yes Yertle is wearing the ring that cost $12,000 to make at that time. Also on a side note- I did win a door prize. It was a silly animal and here at Rec Lab they throw the prizes. So I was toward the back - so they asked Jay to throw me my prize.......... yes I was nervous I was going to drop it- but here comes my spiral across the banquet room and YES I caught it! So thanks dad for teaching me to watch the ball into my hands (glove) so I didn't drop this catch!

We had a lot of fun tonight................! One really funny thing during question and answer time. Someone asked Jay who had hit him the hardest during his playing time. Without hesitation he said, I don't know. He went on to share he had numerous concussions so he truly doesn't know or remember (if you don't get it- he was knocked out so who knows!).

People who have impacted my life

This is my friend Bobby Shows. He was honored at Rec Lab with the Pogo Lifetime Achievement Award. I am so thankful to him for ALL he has done to pour into my life. I have attended classes he has taught at Rec Lab for more than a decade. He is a true man of God and is amazing. I am so glad he was honored tonight.
Ronney Joe Webb is presenting John Garner with a leadership award at Rec Lab. John is another man who has really impacted the type of minister I am today. He was my professor at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He taught me so much and continues to do so. He has given his life to teaching others. It was great to honor him tonight. He is no longer at Lifeway Christian Resources full time so we had a night of "roasting" John. It was absolutely hilarious. The Rec Labations shared, as did a puppet friend from John's past years in recreation ministry and Caz McCazlin the founder of Upward. It was a great night.

I am so thankful to God for those who give to help others learn. Father, may I always be teachable.

Yertle is in San Antonio

Students who attend Rec Lab pose with Yertle along with the one and only Dr. Bill Buchanan (OBU). This group has been fun to have at Rec Lab. Students are a vital part of the lab experience- many, many ministers who come to Rec Lab- first came as a student- including me. During my studies at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary I took Rec Lab as a J-term. We attended lab, read books and did a week of class time.



Yertle at the River Walk in San Antonio- sorry I forgot to turn the picture around- goofy me. Today / tonight it is the coldest it has been in San Antonio in 12 years according to our own Rec Lab weatherman Bob F.
Yertle at the Alamo.............
Along with Jim F. (Birmingham), Kenneth S. (New Orleans), me, Yertle, Myrna G. (Brandon, MS), David M. (Fort Walton Beach), Debbie M. (Baton Rouge), Rhonda (Amarillo) and Jenny (Nashville). We had a lot of fun today even though it was cold and a little rainy. We went to the Alamo and yes Jim, now we can ALL say we have been- YEAH! We also walked along the River Walk, did a little bit of shopping, laughed a WHOLE lot, and then ate at the restaurant Mi Tierra! Have you ever heard of a Mexican restaurant open 24 hours? Well now you have! I had been here before and all wanted to return. Mainly for the atmosphere and the bakery. The food is just okay but the atmosphere is festive and a lot of fun! You can check them out at www.mitierracafe.com ! The pralines there are unlike any I have ever eaten. My friend from Rec Lab Jay F. (Albany, Ga) introduced these to many of us here 3 years ago- thanks Jay! We have missed Jay this year at Rec Lab. He and his wife just returned home from China with a new little girl - Congrats!

We had a blast!

Rec Lab

I have been in San Antonio, Texas since Sunday afternoon. I have come down here to attend a conference that I come to every year. I believe this is my 15th or 16th year. It is amazing time each year in my life. Amazing because I am able to attend so many practical classes and seminars that apply to my life, family and ministry. Not only that but the worship is geared specifically toward those who minister. This week our worship leader is Dave Hunt and our pastor is David Uth (who is the Senior Pastor at FBC Orlando). More than anything it is a feeling of a family reunion. Each year you get to catch up with friends in ministry and meet new people. There is a sense of family among this group. Sometimes some of us get to see each other during the year and others it is just once a year at Rec Lab. Despite this we are a close group. We have prayed through so many things- marriage, children's birth and adoption, illness, death, divorce, wayward children, broken relationships, hurts in ministry, etc. It has been a good week to be together.

I have already been to some great classes, the sermons have been incredible and recharging and the hanging out with friends has been just what I needed. After having such a rough end of 2008 (surgery, failed adoption, and the grief that accompanied these things) the Lord knew this is where I needed to come at the beginning of 2009. I am so thankful to the Lord for providing this opportunity!

I am off to classes, worship, lunch and then to the River Walk!