Free-For-All Friday -- Random Thoughts

Yes, I know it's Saturday.  Seems like I'm always a day behind and a dollar short lately.  Ah well, what can ya do?

So here are a few random thoughts from the last week or so....

1.  Our While We're Waiting Weekend for Bereaved Dads is going on right now ... even as I type.  And no, I'm not curious at all about what's going on there this weekend.  And if you believe that, I've got some oceanfront property in Kansas to sell you.  I CAN'T WAIT for Brad to get home tomorrow and tell me all about it.  In the meantime, I've been praying for the five Dads who have come from all over Arkansas and Texas to attend this retreat.  Please join me in praying that God will do amazing things in these men's lives over the course of this weekend.  You know, it's one thing when a group of women get together and share their deepest emotions and sorrows ... I'm thinking it's got to be a completely different deal when a group of men does it.  

2.  I got to watch my niece compete in a junior high dance team competition today.  Their family lives in Van Buren, so I rarely get to see my nieces participate in these kinds of things, so it was a special treat that the competition was held in Hot Springs.  I thoroughly enjoyed cheering for her team as they competed in pom, jazz, hip-hop, and kick.  I couldn't help but get a few pesky tears in my eyes as I watched her, though, knowing how much Hannah would enjoy seeing her cousins grow up.

3.  I try not to get into politics too much here, because that is not the purpose of this blog.  But I must say that I've found the two recently-held debates very interesting.  I'm trying not to be too gleeful at this point, but maybe, just maybe the nation is beginning to have its eyes opened a little bit.  We shall see.

4.  I missed Ten on the Tenth this month for the first time since I started doing Ten on the Tenth posts a couple years ago.  There have been a couple of times that they appeared on the Eleventh, but at least they appeared.  Since it's now the Thirteenth, I'm not even going to attempt it this month.  I'll try again in November!

5.  One reason I missed Ten on the Tenth is because I worked that day, and then headed straight to Little Rock for a speech pathology convention.  I spent Thursday and Friday in workshops fulfilling my continuing education requirements for another year.  The meetings were okay ... not great ... but I had a fantastic time catching up with an old friend, shopping, and hitting some good restaurants.

6.  And while we're speaking of the Tenth, on October 10th my parents celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary!  I am so blessed to have them as an example of a Christ-honoring marriage.

7.  Three weeks from today, we'll be hosting our fourth While We're Waiting Weekend for Bereaved Parents.  This retreat has been completely booked for awhile now, and we have parents coming from Nebraska, Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee, and, of course, Arkansas.  We continue to stand in awe of what God is doing through this ministry.  I would love it if you would join me in praying for these folks.  It takes a lot of courage to come to something like this ... where you'll be sharing the most painful experiences in your life with a bunch of strangers.  But we have seen again and again how God uses these weekends to bring healing and encouragement to these parents.  And we, as the hosts, are among the most blessed.   Thank you so much for faithfully lifting this ministry up in your prayers!