Wednesday, July 29, 2009

My Bags Are Packed!

Well, my bags are packed.






They are filled with my favorite outfits,





shoes too uncomfortable to wear to a conference but too stinkin' cute to leave at home,



directions, schedules, my coffee maker and favorite coffee since my Starbucks runner(AKA Chad) is not coming this year, make-up, hair stuff, jewelry, earplugs(never leave home without them), toothbrush and paste, notepads and my Bible.


Tucked inside my bags are two precious pieces of paper that will be pulled out and shared with a group of strangers... my teaching and testimony for evaluation time.





I have fretted, prayed, written, erased, tweaked, crumpled up, started over, timed a hundred times, and had critiqued...two little crisp sheets of paper. Memories flood my head every time I think about my testimony. This 3-minute version is about my brother and his car accident that took the life of another and marked our "Fisher" name forever. This was probably the most painful part of my childhood, but here I go, spilling my guts in the name of Christ and what He has saved me from. One thing is for sure, my story won't be the worst one shared. There will be stories of unimaginable hurt, but complete victory in Christ. Like the story of my evaluator, who was brutally raped and beaten on her graduation day.

Coming with me are the prayers of precious people who think I should do this thing called speaking, people who believe in me and want to see me better myself. They have contributed to my funds, paid for my hair to get all pretty, will watch my kids and pets on this trip, have helped me by critiquing my teachings with love and all in all just told me to go for it. This is the precious thing that I couldn't leave home without.
Two more things in my bag...2 pictures that Wyatt drew for me.
The first looks like a scribble. This was our conversation when he gave it to me:

M-What's this?
W-A map.

M-Oh, to where? Where am I going?

W- I don't know.

M-Then where will I know where I am going?

W-You just walk and follow it and you will know when you get there. Oh and bring a shovel.

I sure don't know where I am going on this adventure of a ministry, but God does. Wyatt may have just been playing, but he spoke life into me that day. I just need to follow the path God has placed me on and I will know when I get there.

The 2nd picture is one that Wyatt drew of me and him with a heart in the middle. He gave it to me last week when I was heading out for another conference. As I was getting into the car after saying good bye to all my kids, I wondered if they understood what their mom was doing. I wondered if they believed that this was OK...for mom to leave a lot and do this ministry. Did they support me...especially Wyatt because he is so young? When he came running out of the house to catch me as I was pulling out of the driveway to bring me that picture, God told me, "He does."

Only a few more things to do:

Enjoy my last day with the family
Drop off my dogs and doggy day care
Finish packing my boys
Drop off the little boys with Jen
Kiss everyone good bye
Wait for my ride
and have the time of my life!

See ya!






Tuesday, July 28, 2009

CUTENESS!

IN CASE YOU HAVE EVER WONDERED WHAT CUTENESS LOOKS LIKE, I FOUND IT!

LESSONS I LEARNED FROM WYATT THIS WEEK:

#1-YOU CAN RIDE YOUR BIKE FASTER IF YOU WEAR "THE FLASH" COSTUME!















#2-NOTHING SAYS ROCKER LIKE A MOHAWK!






#3- EVEN ROCK STARS NEED BATHS, BUT ALWAYS BE READY FOR THE PAPARAZZI TO SHOW UP AT ANY MOMENT!







PRICELESS!



Saturday, July 25, 2009

PRESSING IN!

Distractions are really hard for this Sanguine, people lovin', wanna have fun all the time but I can't because I have to get down to business kind of girl! I am midstream preparing for 2 evaluations at "She Speaks," a 2 hour teaching for our WILD Workshop on August 15th and 4 Kickoffs all in a row at the end of August. It excites me to be used by God in this way, I just wish all the other junk would just float away.
When the final 'straw that broke the camels back" distraction reared its head the other day, I found myself crying out to God in frustration, but I gave it to Him. He reminded me that this was no shock to Him, He was in control and He would move it if He needed to. Now what is my part in this equation? Distractions are here and they will continue, but I have a job to do, prepare teachings.
I need to press into my God now stronger than ever. I visualized myself pressing into His body like a child who has fallen asleep in His parent's arms. I want to leave a visual indent in Him that will cause Him to be indented into me. I need Him more than ever.
I felt like yesterday He told me to begin writing out my Kickoff teaching with the info that I have been gathering since February. I came up with a lot of buts as to why I couldn't start on that day, but I was obedient and sat at my computer and began. A few moments later, I received this email from one of the churches that I will speak at for kickoff:

Today please pray for our Kickoff speaker, Jodianne Adams, as she prepares her message--that the LORD will give her direction and clarity for His message to us, and protect her time to work on it; also boldness to speak the Truth in Love.

"She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue." (Prov. 31:26)

"Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes...." (Prov. 3:5-6)

"Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel...." (Eph. 6:19)

"Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name, make known among the nations what He has done, and proclaim that His Name is exalted... Let this be known to all the world!" Is. 12:4,5)

Thank you, bless you!

(Getting rooted, growing stronger)

Whoa! How awesome!

So here I go, I pressing in!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Two Brothers and a Funeral



Our sweet little S'Mores

My heart was tendered on Sunday night as my little boys said good-bye to sweet, little S'mores, Levi's guinea pig. We have lost pets in the past, but when it is a child's first loss, it is especially hard. S'mores stopped eating and drinking last week. The vet couldn't figure out what was wrong, so basically we brought him home to live out what little was left of his life in peace.

Dexter, Wyatt's guinea pig who shared a cage with S'mores, couldn't seem to understand why his little friend wasn't playing anymore. We had to take S'mores out of their cage so that he could have a little peace from the rough housing that Dexter was tormenting him with. We let Dexter out of the cage to roam and he chose to go lay beside his friend, just outside his cage, until he passed. OK, that choked me up a bit.


Then I watched my little boys hold each other and cry over their loss. This tendered me to no end.
We told Levi that he could get another guinea pig. So the next day we headed out to go to every store we needed to go to in order to find the right one. Thankfully, we found Snickers at the 2ND store. He was perfect! Levi fell in love with him as soon as he saw him and Snickers proved to be gentle and loving to Levi.



Dexter and Snickers first moments...a lunch date!

Dexter was thrilled with a new buddy. I don't think he enjoyed his first night in his life alone.

We had a funeral today, sorry you weren't invited. Mom dug the hole and said the prayer. Levi carried the casket (an empty Ziploc bag box) and Wyatt filled in the hole. Tears still flowed, but two brothers stood by each other and carried each others pain.





"He ain't heavy. He's my brother."

So S'mores is gone but Snickers is here. Life is sweet!