Sunday, October 24, 2010

God. Thanks for coming.

Sarah Mae said it somewhat like this... as she dismissed us with the last words of the very first Christian blogging conference ever:
"Thank you to all of you for coming to Relevant.
And thank you, God, for coming too."

Hundreds of women. All of us were a bit surprised that He came.
and now, I think we are all musing:
"What else did we expect?"

You see. Not only did God show up, big time, at the Relevant Conference; He came wielding a sword, and  lovingly pruning the wrong-stuff from our Hearts.  He used the amazingly beautiful, humble, and talented vessels of our Speakers to speak in clear and mighty ways.

Mighty ways.

How I wish you had all been there.... because words {in my hands, anyway} are inadequate to describe how it all went down.

But, no doubt about it. Our Lord spoke in that place.
And He spoke to me: Pruning at my selfishness. Pruning at my attempts to seek validation from everyone but Him. Pruning at my pity-parties. Pruning at my bad habits that turn into sin. Pruning at my false idols.

Pruning at the times I pushed my children away, because mommy just needs "one more minute."

And I am so glad He came to the Relevant Conference.
And I am so glad I heard Him.

May He give me the power to Act. and Obey.

and, if you did not get to come. and if we are all blessed enough for Relevant to see another year. and, if you want Him to join your blogging experience:
I surely do hope to see you when I go.

Just a taste: Relevant 2010:





























































{Go visit these amazing folks! You will love their blogs.}
Top to bottom, left to right: 1. my sweet friend Flamingo and me  2. me, the darling Angie Smith and Flamingo  3. Lynette (so excited to hug this lady), Traci (precious girl with adorable accent!!), Myra, Kimba, me and Flamingo  4. Claudine, me, Carisa, Jill (I cannot believe I finally got to meet you! this lady is precious!), Jolanthe, MelissaSeptember, and Lynette  5. Sami (I guess we were separated at birth), Angela (never stopped smiling. love her!), Flamingo, Courtney (has the gift of encouragement!), and me  6. me and Lynette  7. me and Laura(what a spirit of wisdom!)  8. Traci, Cyndi (hi Cyndi!), me and Flamingo  9. me, Todd from Selah, and Flamingo

But, now I gotta brag on God a little.

I know I have alluded to this on my blog before, but, this year money is very tight.
We are counting on God to be our provision in all ways.

We are leaning on family.
And friends.
and we are being resourceful.

and, of course, sensible folks as we are,
Matt and I decided not to exchange Christmas gifts this year as we head into this blessed season. We are even leaning on help from our precious loved ones for gifts for the boys.

but. can you believe it?
God apparently wanted my husband to have a VERY cool Christmas present {one I could not possibly wait that long to give to him.}.
um. seriously.
At Relevant, they gave away an iPad, people.
and GUESS WHO WON IT!!! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

little ol' me.
for my little ol' precious wonderful amazing husband.
for Christmas.
a little early.

from God.

{now that is one darlin' and happy man, no? Love you, baby.}

you really do love to make us smile, don't you Precious Father?















{if you are hopping over from Relevant, then here is my brand-spanking-new, dream-come-true decorating blog, Fieldstone Hill, I was telling you about. Oh, how I would love it if you would hop over and give me some encouragement!!! Wish me luck blessings, girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!}

22 friends had a thing or two to say...:

Unknown said...

WAHOOO! Jolanthe emailed me a few hours ago to tell me you won the IPAD! I shouted THANK YOU JESUS! when I heard!

I'm so thrilled for you both!

I love how God blesses us more abundantly than we could ever imagine!

I love how He shows up every time - BIG!

I love how you were blessed by the women you met and the speakers!

I can't wait to hear more about it!

I love you Darlene and so glad we got to meet for a bit Saturday!

You are so beautiful from the inside out!

Hugs and enjoy time away from your computer with your beautiful family!

Praying for you to obey His calling!

Love,
Jill

RachelT said...

WOW!!!!! That is such a cool story! I was so happy to hear of what an amazing conference you had and THEN to hear how you were the winner of a perfect Christmas gift for Matt, well, doesn't that just top it all?! What a great experience for you! May you have a wonderful week!

Sarah said...

Very cool! I know I need to do a little more reying on God these days. It's hard to take that leap of faith. Thank you for inspiring me! :) Love your blog!

Sisterlisa said...

oh yes.. He SO was there...spontaneously bubbling over!

Jenny said...

SO...glad you had a wonderful trip! It sounds AMAZING!!! AND so......happy for you that you won that ipad! What a treat!!! Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111

Unknown said...

Darlene, I love you! :) I enjoyed my time with you so much. September and I agree - you were just as sweet and humble as can be - and considering your outward beauty, that's even more amazing.

The only sad part was that we live so far away from each other and I won't see you again anytime soon. Well, I will enjoy your blog even more now having (as you said) seen your eyes up close. The eyes tell so much don't they? :)

So until next time!
Much love to you.
Lynnette
PS I'm excited about your new interior design business. Praying God will abundantly bless that endeavor.

Knocker Boys said...

That is amazing! Wonderful. So nice of you to give it to your husband. :)

Laura said...

So wonderful. I am thrilled to SEE your blog - your unique and beautiful touch. Thank God that we met! :)
I'm looking forward to continuing our friendship, Darlene. May God's blessings continue to flow in your life, my friend.

Melissa, Multi-Tasking Mama said...

So precious to meet you and love that you won the iPad..your hubby looks like one happy guy =)

Toia said...

Congratulations to you winning the ipad. I think it's so cool that you gave it to your husband!!! I enjoy reading about how much fun you had and how God showed up in a mighty way!! Blessings to you!!!

Myra @ My Blessed Life said...

Darlene,
I'm truly so blessed to have met you this weekend. So blessed. :)
I loved that we could be real, open and honest. Truly a God thing.
I'm praying that God richly blesses you and your wonderful interior design business.
We must keep in touch! :)
Love,
Myra

Tiffany said...

Love reading all of the blessings God poured out on Relevant and you ladies. I feel a little blessed just getting a peek in through your blogs!

Courtney (Women Living Well) said...

Girl - I just love the photo of your hubby with the ipad!!! God is so good the way he delights us with blessings (and even the way he answers a funny prayer with a mixed up name lol!!! I love it!!)

Keep on smiling - it's contagious!
Courtney

Jessica said...

I don't know why I wasn't really expecting God to show up...but I think that the Holy Spirit being there exceeded my expectations in the other women, in the speakers, and in the way He was woven into conversations. It was truly beautiful and wonderful!

www.reflectionsofaprincess.com

Angela said...

Ohhh I LOVED meeting you Darlene!!! Missing you already! I want to make sure we keep in touch! :) I bet your husband was soooo surprised with his new ipad!!! How cool was that!!! Praying for you!!!!

Love,

Angela

Kelly @ Sufficient Grace Ministries said...

I am wishing even more that I would have been able to attend the Relevant Conference....but I do feel blessed to read everyone's posts. The message is permeating through each of you, and i feel the Holy Spirit whispering to my heart as well. Thank you for sharing! What an amazing weekend that must have been. How I would have loved to hug September, Lynnette, Angie, and so many others in person!

And I love how God blessed your family with an Ipad! How awesome!

Continued blessings...

Jen - Balancing Beauty and Bedlam said...

Darlene - you two were such a blessing to meet, and I just can't wait to hear all that the Lord has in store...more than you could ever ask for or imagine. :)

Turquoise Gates said...

As SOON as I heard your name called for that Ipad, I was praising God for His amazing provision for you! I had a hunch it was going in your husband's Christmas stocking! HE GOES BEFORE US.

Katie Howard said...

I am thrilled to have found you here and to read these words! We all received so MANY blessings. I can't wait to see how God uses you in this space!

Blessings,
Katie

Tracey said...

I am so glad you decided to give him the ipad early--why wait?! He looks so happy!

Traci Michele said...

I'm so glad you won! You were so cute up there.

Great to meet you. YOu shine Jesus!

Relevant was wonderful! I wrote about it too. I just followed your blog. I hope there is a Relevant 11, don't you? Hop on over, I'm having a week full of amazing giveaways( GUSSY, Vintage Pearl, DownEast Basics, and more!)

Love,
Traci @ Ordinary Inspirations: http://www.ordinaryinspirations.blogspot.com

Sharon @ Hiking Toward Home said...

iPad man looks very happy. so glad you won!
I met you just as we were leaving Relevant. I had written on the back of your business card that you live close by me. Looking forward to reading more of your blogS.

Sponsor a child in Jesus' name.