Amazing the way God works...

Reflecting more on our trip to Valdosta and tracing the way it all began, I realize the way God connects the dots in unique ways!  It all started with my meeting the beautiful and sweet  Jill Higgins in Chattanooga, TN at a photographers gathering of Southern photographers back in November of 2006.  The gathering was organized through Open Source Photo--an awesome photographer's forum created by David Jay, a very talented photographer and Christian.  David is an amazing successful wedding photographer and speaker.

He teaches all over the world, and is going to be speaking at the Alive Christian Music Festival in Canal Fulton, Ohio this summer (June 18 - 21). He gives back in so many ways....Read more about him and Jill on their sites.

Who would have ever thought that something so beautiful as our concert evening could have been born from events and people I met back in 2006?

I like to slow down and take time to see the way God works in my life.  The busy-ness in our lives oftentimes keeps us from seeing His creative ways He works. Take time today to be thankful for something in your life, and trace back to see God's hands in it.  You'll be amazed!

More About Our Georgia Trip

We took so many pictures on our trip and I thought I would share some of mine, too. This is a picture of the Fairview Inn Bed & Breakfast in Valdosta, where we stayed. We had the whole house and it was great! Linda and her husband, Irvin, knew all about Southern hospitality! For more info on the Fairview Inn, go to http://www.fairviewinn.info/.

Check out the breakfast spread in their dining room!

Quitman, Georgia, is where we actually had our concert. It was to kick off the Women's Ministry group at the Quitman United Methodist Church. The concert was held in the gazebo by the courthouse (see Tina's picture in the post below). The women and some of the men from the church had a picnic table decorating contest on the lawn in front of the gazebo. Here are two of the tables. Pretty, huh?

Here's a pic of Tina and Carole with Jill Higgins, one of the gals that was responsible for getting us to Quitman. Check out her photography and blog by going to http://www.jillhiggins.com/.

Thanks to everyone in Quitman and Valdosta that made our trip so special. Blessings!

Sweet Time in Georgia!

Thank you for a very sweet time in South Georgia!  We had so much fun and felt so at home in Quitman and Valdosta.  We're so happy to have new friends there and hope that we can visit again soon.  Dara, Jill, Linda and Jay, we appreciate so much your hospitality.  It was over the top!  Keep in touch!

Quitman/Valdosta, Here We Come!

We are packing up shortly for our trip to sing in the Valdosta, GA area of Quitman.  Our venue is going to be the grounds of the beautiful old courthouse gazebo under the live oaks.  Please pray that any rain will hold off so that we can share our ministry and praise our awesome God!  Also pray that we have safe travels too. ;)  Thank you so much--we can't wait to meet every one of you!Thank you, Jill Higgins and Dara Barwick for the awesome hospitality that we feel already--and we haven't even arrived yet!  You are awesome!

God bless you all!

Morning Thoughts

Morning Thoughts!

Well I was hoping to sleep late this morning but woke up of course to the rumblings of thunder and lightening. What a great day to sleep or just lie in bed and think. Well here I go again. I didn't want to watch TV so I just decided to turn off the lights and lay there and think and talk to God. While I was lying there I thought of the passage that says to “be still and know I am God”. About that time a big old clap of thunder shook the house. If you think about it that is really a cool way of letting us all know.........hello, I'm out there and I am strong and mighty......can you do this......no, I can. Weather in the natural disasters sense has always puzzled me. Now, here is a loving great God and why does He allow that to happen? I had a preacher explain it to me one time. He said that after things transpired in the Garden of Eden like they did God allowed two things to happen....well actually one, free will was already there. He allowed natural laws to take place. It is still hard to grasp when people are hurt but it still goes back to the fact that He is in control and He has His reasons. I really had to lean on that when a close friend of my daughters died. The little girl was 15, beautiful, full of life, just a great kid and died suddenly with Meningitis. The only thing I could say to try to bring them comfort was she was now walking with the Lord and only He understood why. He could have been saving her from something really bad like a car accident. The mere fact is....only He knows the big picture and the reason.

My second thought for the morning was FEAR! Need to write a song about this one Tina! Last night my 15 year old wanted to go riding around like we used to do when we were teenagers and then go over to her friend’s house. The friend had just gotten her drivers license that day. Now, I love that friend but she has gotten into some trouble in the past. Announced plans just happened so fast.......my daughter walks into my room and says her friends mother had let her take the car out to come over to our house and go for a ride. Now this is something the two of them have been talking about since they were 6 years old. I said okay and then the minute she left a wave of fear came over me. My chest started hurting to the point that it was ridiculous. I was having an anxiety attack. I was all of a sudden scared out of my mind. Now, I don’t do this. I get on stage and talk and sing in front of people. I have to give presentations at work in front of highly intelligent people and yet, I’m freaking out over my daughter leaving the driveway with a child I don’t trust. So, I called my daughter and told her to come back. Then the protesting began. She said that her friend was trying to do better and change her life. Well unfortunately I've heard that line before. Then she got smart and mentioned that God gave second chances and that I should practice what I preach. Hum…….. How dare she use that one on me. Well…… I just decided that that was it. I was not going to let her be around her again until I was convinced that it was okay. So much for turning it over to God huh? Well, here's the thing about that. I thought about it this morning and concluded that we all have fears or as a good psychologist said to me “the feeling that we are not in control”. What I have done in the past of child rearing was to ignore my gut feeling. What I have to learn to do are two things. Number one: turn my fear over to Him. Number 2: LISTEN to what He tells me to do to handle it. Here’s the trick….The way I’ll know if I'm trying to control the situation or if I'm listening to Him is by the way I react. The old Whitney would react in a "Your going to do this because I say so fashion....because I am your mother and I know best" and the truth is that situation still might come to that but first I'm going to try my best to handle things like Christ would. (LOVINGLY). First I will explain my concerns in a loving manner, still demanding a little respect and in the end try to put the monkey on her back. A really good psychologist told me one time when it came to most teenagers, if you offer them a choice, in a very calm quiet manner, they would normally choose the path in which causes them less pain.
So, my sermon for the day is..................................."Keep the Faith"...... He is in charge and as long as we realize that and do His will it's going to be quite a ride............."Hang on, hang on for the ride, let your little light shine, Don't Worry and let go of that FEAR!

Love in Christ!
Whit

WOW (Women of Worth) Retreat at Athens FUMC

This weekend, we were blessed to be a part of the WOW Retreat at our home church, Athens First United Methodist Church. The theme was "Tea and Thee". Cathy Lee Phillips was the guest speaker for the weekend. Cathy reminded us that we need to take time for God--listen for Him and recognize the gentle nudges he gives us. She gave us personal accounts, some humorous and some serious, about some of the ways that God has worked in her life when she has been obedient to Him.






Sister Grace sang today at the retreat and we had so much fun! It was so nice having Bill, Jonathan, and Greg playing on some of the songs, so we could focus more on the singing. The highlight for me was when we did "Voice of a Savior". Whitney sang the solo, which really put her out of her comfort zone, but she did an incredible job. I believe God was nudging her to do that song and boy did He let her shine! The words to that song talk about how we try to fill the voids in our life with so many different things, but what we really need to hear is the voice of our Savior. We even branched out and did a disco song made popular by Donna Summer--"I Feel Love"! We were feeling His love, too!

Many thanks to the WOW worship team for all your efforts in making this a successful event. What a great weekend!

Georgia on My Mind

In just 2 weeks (March 18th to be exact), Sister Grace will be going to Quitman, Georgia, to share our ministry. Quitman is close to Valdosta. The "Soul Sisters" at the Methodist Church there are having a picnic spread and we will be singing in the gazebo in downtown Quitman. We are excited about this opportunity and want to thank Dara Barwick and Jill Higgins for working the details for us!

We have enlisted the help of three of our favorite musicians for this trip. We had so much fun at practice the other night just getting to SING! Check out some of the pictures from our practice.