Wedding Anniversay

Today was a rather tough day.  It would have been Bo and my 27th wedding anniversary so I have several crying episodes last night, today, and tonight.  However, I also had several telephone calls and messages from friends and family which did help.
I also have some health issues which made the day more of a trial.  Think I either have another UTI or a kidney stone.  Also the bump on my sternum is getting bigger and sorer.  My abdominal hernia is also beginning to bother me more and more.  All of this on top of the respiratory stuff that I was notified of last week.  I'm not certain the Symbicort is helping.  To me it seems to be making my breathing worse.  I have also been having some digestive issues this week.  Guess I need to break down tomorrow and call Dr. Taylor's office.  Won't do any good to go see her before Monday as Fox Army Hospital Pharmacy (where I get my prescriptions free) is closed on Fridays due to Sequestration.
Sequestration has also delayed payment of Bo's final 12 days of military pay.  However, once it get here it will help me get my bills all caught up (along with my SS check).  Everything except his funeral home bill that is.  That one will be much longer to get taken care of, but hopefully I will have enough to pay a little on it.  How wonderful it would be to not have to worry about bills.  But God does see that my needs are met.

Someone Please Turn Off The Waterworks

For the last two weeks I have been terribly weepy.  Last week it could be attributed to the fact that I was physically ill due to a bad UTI.  This week I just don't know what is going on unless it is just that grief thing.  Yesterdays waterworks started because of a mouse caught in the kitchen mousetrap.
I live in a house that is a group of houses built in an old field and at certain times the field mice decide they need to move into the house.  Therefore we have always kept mousetraps set up in a couple of places in the house.  Now in the past Bo always set the traps and disposed of any field mice who were unlucky enough to get caught.  But yesterday was the first time when I had to deal with this and it just triggers a downpour.  Of course that was compounded by the fact that I could not get the trap resat.  It appear to have been tripped so often that the part that is suppose to hold the bale has worn to where it will not hold.
It is just one more thing that in the past I did not have to deal with that now I must.  Somethings like cooking and laundry I normally do not mind, but lawn mowing, car maintenance, and dealing with mice are things I really dislike having to deal with.
Unfortunately the tears have continued today, put hopefully tomorrow will be another day.

Days Are Getting Easier

Today marks 22 days since Bo's death.  The days are getting a little easier, at least I don't have crying spells every day.  Today I checked out a couple of websites for headstones, however either of them listed prices so guess I will just have to call.  Think I have gotten all the necessary paperwork filed but do still have a telephonic interview with SSA.  Hopefully I will be able to get a little bit in survivor's benefits since Bo did not choose to sign up for military life insurance.  If that does not work I may be strapped for cash most months.  I have done all I can to lower utility costs and I have enough using my SS to pay them but it does not leave anything to pay Bo's medical bills or the funeral home bill.  I also still need to go through all of his stuff to determine what I want to keep, take to thrift store, sell, or just throw away.  But just take it a day at a time and do what I feel like doing that day.  Sometimes that means not doing anything except knitting or crocheting.  Today I have mostly played on the computer.
There have been some trying times (like when the frig decided to die) but friends, benevalence fund, and devotional readings have helped me out.  Some days seems like all I have facing me are bills, bills, and more bills.  But I also know I can only do, what I can do and that I do have help for the asking.  Asking friends and asking God in prayer.  I receive daily reminders that God is with me and has not left me here alone.
Praise His mighty name.

Have not posted to this blog in simply forever but decided I would begin again to sort of document my recovery from the loss of my very best friend and soul mate.  On June 12,2013 "Bo" Cowan lost his battle with all of his various health issues and joined his maker.  I know I will never totally get over this loss because he was such a special part of my life for the last 28 years.  Although I had been preparing for this for several weeks when the end finally came I was devastated.  It was so very, very hard to touch the face of such a loved one and find it grown cold and lifeless through death.  Only those who have experienced this can understand the pain one feels at that time.  The one thought that helps me bear this is the promise of my Lord that we will be reunited someday.  Until that time I must bear the pain of this great loss. I love you so much Bo Cowan and always will.

I'm Back

Well after not posting for some time I'm back.  I have been working 8AM-5:30PM for six weeks but will be returning to my regular schedule on Monday.  I really have not felt like doing anything once I got home except veg out watching TV and knitting.  I was working with the adolescents and they just left me drained.  The ones I had just were not ready to stop smoking marijuana except for the three weeks while they were in IOP.  Therefore, I ended the day feeling like I had been beating my head against a wall.
I also tried to attend Celebrate Recovery during this time but just never seemed to get much out of the meetings.  Maybe that is because I have already been doing what is advised.  The other thing is that I really do not like to back out once I get home.  I did complete the Network Spiritual Gifts study except for my coaching session.  Just can't seem to connect with the lady who is schedule to coach me.  Of course, other than becoming a coach myself and a mentor for ladies from the DTRM who join Asbury, I have no plans to add or delete any of the things I already do.
Next Wednesday morning we will be resuming the knitting/crocheting group meeting.  Have two new ladies who will be joining us and am really looking forward to meeting them.  One lady has already donated a couple of lovely crocheted shawls.
Finally had the bunionectomy on my left foot.  Surgery went well and the pain is almost gone.  It did however, allow me three days away from work, not that I have done much with the time except finish one cardigan and starting another one. 

Blessings of cooler weather

After a very bad thunderstorm Monday morning which woke me early, the weather has taken a wonderful turn toward the cooler side.  It is beginning to feel like Fall.  Cooler weather always makes me feel better.  It helps that Fall is also my favorite time of year.  So far the week is going well with no major crisis.  Still do not have many clients at work and therefore can spend time knitting socks and thinking about what I am reading in my current book "Radical".  It is a book that will really make you think.  It has also been convicting me about my personal relationship with God and how I share/reflect him to those around me.  I have not been a very good disciple maker and I need to work on that. 
I also met for the first time Saturday afternoon with a new care receiver.  Maybe that is a place to start, as well as at work.  At the Beth Moore Simulcast God really spoke to me about my relationship with my coworkers.  So this week I have also been working on being kinder to my coworkers.

The Law of Kindness

The simulcast was amazing as always.  Plus it really convicted me that I need to be speak more the Law/The Torah of Kindness.  In particular, there are certain people that I would be wise to stop and consider what I am about to say/post/complain about before I speak.  I really do need to stop and consider not only what I am about to say but also about my motivation for speaking.  I need to remember that what I put out there in the form of words (spoken or writen) needs to be guarded and brought under the discipline of God.  All to often I tend to complain, particularly about certain people, but also sometimes of the circumstances God has placed in my life instead of following the guidance of Colossians 3:12 where I am instructed to be thankful in all circumstances.  When I really stop and consider just what my life here in the USA is like compared to so many other places in the world, I have nothing to complain about and everything to be thankful for. 

Beth Moore tomorrow

Tomorrow is the Beth Moore Simulcast that the church I attend is once again broadcasting.  I really enjoy Beth's messages and look forward to these every year.  I also have an opportunity to see people I don't get to see to often.  Don't think food will be an issue but am carrying my little food chopper just in case.  I am hoping Beth covers information from her latest book on dealing with insecurity.  This is an issue that so many women deal with, myself included. We will also be debuting the new Women's Ministry t-shirts.  Like the colors but am not real certain I like the new Women's Ministry logo (church logo is okay).  I just don't know how I feel about being called a "Jesus Girl" at my age.  However, like the meaning and significance.  This is sure to be a good day even though it means an early start.

It's Amazing

It is truely amazing how God allows each of us to hear just what he wants us to hear from a message/sermon even if it is totally different.  Yesterday as I glanced through the various posts on Facebook by people who had heard the same sermon I had that morning, I was amazed by how each of us heard different things.  What each of us heard was of importance and significance to each of us.  Some of us heard how powerful God is, some how he has a purpose for each of us, and others how we need to be of service to others.  Yet the sermon words were the same.  Each person was setting in the same service and heard the exact same sermon.  It just totally blows me away when God mets each of just where we are at that moment in our life and gives us just the message we need to hear. 
It is the same with prayer.  God heards lots of prayers all at the same time, and in some case all for the same people but the response he gives to each person who prays maybe different. 
What a truely wonderful and awesome God we serve that can speak to each person's heart. It makes me feel humble and also makes me want to be obedient to the message I hear.

Good intentions

I keep telling myself that I will post regularly but things (life) just seems to get in the way.  Is that the way with our relationship with God sometimes.  I let other things get in the way.  Yes, they are good things, they can even be things I know God wants me to do.  However, he also desires for me to spend time with him alone. 
Today as I sat knitting I was reminded again that when I follow the pattern things go so well and the piece looks like it was designed to look.  However, when I don't keep my attention focused on the pattern the work does not go well and the piece does not turn out.  Same thing with following God's instructions/pattern.  I also realized that at times he wants me to just spend time alone with him studying, praying, listening and RESTING.  I can allow myself to get to busy with life that I forget to just take time to rest in God's presence. 
I have also been struggling with the issue of waiting upon the Lord.  By that I mean being patient and waiting for God's answer in God's time.  I am preparing for WLS and everything has come down to one last item from my primary care physician in order for the Bariatric Surgeon to schedule the surgery.  I keep getting impatient with my PCP because I want her to hurry up and write the document and fax it to the surgeon's office.  I have to remind myself that I am not her only patient and this will happen on her time schedule and God's which isn't always as fast as mine.
The other thing on my mind recently has been that God does not answer "Maybe".  His answer is either "yes, no, or wait" but it is never "maybe".  He does not say "well maybe I'll let you do that even though I know it is the wrong choice."  He also does not say "well maybe I'll have you serve in a foriegn mission field".  He gives us a clear calling and clear answers.   I however, don't always listen or chose to accept his answer.  I keep trying to turn a "no" into a "yes" and a "wait" into a "yes, now".  When I do that I am unhappy and things do not go well.  I become anxious, angry, irritable, and unfortunately those around me often suffer.
Lord, today my prayer is that you help me to hear your answers clearly and accept the "no's" and "waits" as readily as I do the "yeses".  Help me to keep my attention on your pattern for my life and to follow your instructions.  Relieve me of my selfishness and self-centeredness.  In Jesus name I pray.  Amen.

A Much Better Week

Although I am still missing my old clown dog, I had a very productive weekend.   I am looking forward to a much better week.  Tomorrow I have my visit with my primary care physician to get my medical clearance for bariatric surgery.  Over the weekend I finished a crocheted cotton Empire top, my first serious cable project, and learned to make socks.  The cable project is a purse.  I used some fat quarters I got a Hobby Lobby to make the lining and added some studs from my Beadazzler.  The socks took so long to figure out because it took me a while to locate a website that explained that knitting in the round is a little different from flat knitting.  With knitting in the round to make sockinette stitching and garter stitching you do just the opposite of what you do for flat knitting.  It made me think of the fact that although there are several good theologians and preachers whose sermans can be found on the good Christian websites, there are also those who are not completely Biblical.  Several are what are commonly called Good New/Prosperity Evangelists.  You have to find the complete instructions and for that the website is the Bible.  Only by studying the Bible in its entirity can you learn what you really need to have your life knit together as God intends.  By that I don't mean that you must read the whole Bible every time you hear something but that you must read the full passage and take it in context.  It is also very helpful if you can also study the Bible with a few reliable teachers, in a group so that you are not basing your understanding on your own interpretation.  Then you are more apt to grasp the full content of God's message (his instructions).  Like the socks, when I do that things flow so easily.  However, when I don't I struggle.  With the socks that means I have to unravel stitches and sometimes rows and start over.  With my live, I go through periods when things are just not right and again I struggle with doubts, irritability, fear, etc.
I also read a really wonderful devotational this morning that came in my email.  It talked about how sometimes we just need to sit in silence with God.  This is a skill that has taken a long time for me to acquire but one that every time I will slow down long enough to do it, brings rewards. 
Therefore, my prayer today is that I will spend time in God's Word learning his instructions for my life but that I will also spend some time just being silent before him as a form of prayer and a sign of my obedience.

Sad weekend

It has been a very sad weekend around my house.  Sunday morning when I got up to go to church I discovered our old dachsund/beagle mix Doodle Bug had died during the night.  So instead of going to church I took a trip to the emergency clinic to have them take care of the body.  He will be very sorely missed.  He brought us so much joy and laughter.  He truely was our little fat clown dog.  Our other little dog is at a loss as she can not really understand what has happened.  She has been very quite and just follows us around from room to room.  I prefer to think that he is now in heaven making the angels laugh.  As for me every time I think of him I start crying.  I know my tears are for me and my loss because he is most certainly healthier where he is.  Some people may think it is silly to grieve the loss of a dog but they are just as much my friends as any human. 

I've been out of the loop

Have spent the last week battling the crouping crud that seems to be making the rounds.  Missed three days of work and some activities.  I seem to be on the mend though so hopefully sometime this week will get back in the swing of things.  Have not really been in much of a mood to write lately.  May need to dig out the Daily Writer or the assignments from there that I never started.  Have been much more active with my knitting and crocheting.  I am also approaching the final items on my pre-op checklist in preparation for bariatric surgery.  Was in good stride to lose the last five pounds when the crud hit and have not been to the gym in over a week.  Hopefully the first the month will start a new page.  Have stayed within point for the last three days which is a break through there.  After my PCP put me on Metformin was really struggling with hunger cravings so instead of loosing weight like most people do when put on that prescription I was stalled and about to start back up.  Doing better now that I have stopped the medication.  Am also considering taking a summer Bible study.  Have gotten very lax in that area also and really need to get back into a routine. 

Aspire to Inspire

    "Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or
    addicted to much wine, but to teach was is good.  Then they can train the younger women
    to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home,
   to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God."
   Titus 2:3-5 (NIV)
Yesterday as I was running errands I saw a church marquee that read "Aspire to Inspire before you Expire".  I was immediately reminded of what has been called the Titus 2 woman.  Now most of us has heard of the Proverbs 31 woman.  I even receive a daily devotional from the P31 Ministries and regularly check the blogs of the women who write and speak for this ministry.  However, God has also regularly reminded me of the other instructions to women in His word.  I personally have been challenged and inspired by the Titus 2 women. 
 Paul gives instructions to Titus, who he has left behind in Crete.  Included in these instructions are the things that Titus is to teach various groups.  In Titus 2:11-14 Paul goes on to tell Titus why he needs to teach the people the things he had instructed him to teach.   Paul states that it is because God's grace, through the form of His Son, Jesus, has appeared for the salvation of all, to redeem all.  Only those who truly receive Him as Lord and Savior are saved.  Paul further states that the same grace that saves us aso trains us.  Therefore, Titus needs to teach the people so that the Word of God will not be maligned, blasphemed, or dishonored.
This is why we, as godly women need to study the instruction that God wants us to received from his Word given to Titus through Paul, and thereby down the generations to us.
Because of my age I tend to focus on the first group that Paul talked about in his intructions.  The older women who were to be taught to be reverent in the way tht they live, to not be slanders.  Other versions translate the word slanders as false accussers or malicious gossips.  In study of the word reverent found in Strong's dictionary I think Paul mean that the older women should be modest in deportment as well as devout.  Paul often tell women that they are to be modest in how they dress and behave.  Further Titus is to teach the older women to avoid drinking too much wine to the point of addiction.  It appears that the olderwomen of Crete had a reputation for being malcious gossips, engaging in slanderous talk and drinking too much wine.  Lastly the older women were to be taught these things so that they would then teach what is good.  Paul then tells Titus what good things the older women are to teach the younger women.
They are to teach them to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, kind, and lastly subject to their husbands.  For me personally the things that the older women are to teach the younger are things that the older women need to do themselves.
If we pick up Paul's words in 2:12 we learn that the grace of God not only brings us forgiveness/salvation but also teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright nd godly lives in this present age.  This again is further instruction for how those who have been saved by grace are to behave. 
So if I am going to follow the instructions on that church marquee I need to aspire to life according to these instructions so that I can inspire other women, particularly younger women, to live as God has instructed through his Word.  I most certainly don't do that and therefore, I need to turn to God for help.  I need to turn to accountability partners to remind me when I am not following these instructions.  I desire is to be a good older Titus 2 woman.  Therefore my prayer today is:
Father God,
Help me to live according to your instructions.  Help me to be modest in my deportment (bearing).  Help me to not engage in gossip and slander.  Help me to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions to live a self-controlled, upright and godly life inspite of the temptations of the present worldly age.  For your help, guidance, and instruction I give you thanks and praise.  In the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.

Still at it

I have spent the last two nights working on updating my website for "My Creative Yarns" in the hopes that maybe I can finally spark so interest in this venture and make it profitable.  Plus then I would have a viable reason to keep downloading all of these really cute patterns I keep finding.  Still do not have the page the way I want it.  What I see in my creative mind is just not ending up on the computer screen.  I've got this collage thing going on but just can make it look like I want it too.  Plus then I still have to put together a catalogue and price list.  That one will be a little easier because I'm going to simplicity there and not eye catching/get them to want to spend money look for the webpage.  This is taking time away from my writing.  I am suppose to be working on getting the first three chapters of the novella I wrote for Nanowrimo back in November ready to send into a contest.  I also need to spend a little time on the other WIPs I have going on.  I did get the closets cleaned out and reorganized last weekend now just have to find time to take four large black garbage bags of clothes and another bag of books down to the Downtown Rescue Mission.  Hope to get around to that next week.  I also want to get back to reading and studying but just can't seem to make up my mind just what.  Have recently finished some really good fictions.  Possibly when I get this website done will be able to talk myself into doing some serious study for awhile.

Back Again

It has been several weeks since I posted.  Have not really been reading anything, nor have I been writing.  I seem to be unwilling to stop knitting long enough to do any of those things.  Also when I am not knitting for the last week I have been listening to a Webinar I signed up for entitled "Getting Revived" from A Woman Inspired.  The speakers are Christian Women speakers and I have really enjoyed the ones that I have heard.  They have been inspirational and informative.  Plus they have not been the normal ones I hear.  A change up can sometimes provide me with new insight and inspiration.  The most recent on was called "Becoming and I6 Woman".  I6 standing for Isaiah 6.  Some really good stuff about how to become and I6 woman and also what you can expect to have happen if you do become an I6 woman.  I heard about them from one of the women in the ACFW.  My knitting has been afghan squares for the SE Asian orphanage.  I am using these squares to learn and practice new techniques. 
Another reason I have not been writing is that I am a little down right now, as we having some financial issues and everything I try to earn extra funds just is not panning out. 

Not really studying any thing right now

Since finishing the last book have not found anything that I really want to work on.  Instead have been reading merely for pleasure.  Just finished three in fact.  They were really enjoyable.  I have several more to read.  I started Francine Rivers A Lineage of Grace but then got sidetracked.  Instead I have also been writing more than usual.  I have taken several free on-line writing courses.  They have prompted me to do some rewrites and additions to the five stories I am currently writing.  Also prompted me to do some more serious preparation of the stories.

Ch. Five: The Principle of Storytelling

This week's chapter fell perfectly in line with what Leonard Sweet spoke of during much of the recent Prayer and Missions Conference which is a part of the Global Impact Celebration at the local Methodist Church that I attend.  Both Mr Sweet and this week's chapter extols the pinciple of using stories to witness to others about God's love.  Mrs. Kent shares personal stories throughout this book and in doing so helps us remember much longer the message/point she is making about how we can become women of influence.  It is not in flat impersonal preaching/lecturing that we draw other women to us but in our personal stories with which they can identify.  She stated "Stories can teach complex theological truths in ways that do not intimidate or threaten."
She also uses the words of Max McLean, founder of the Fellowshiip for the Performing Arts when he stated that "a story is not a story until it has been received."  His point was that in today's modern era we expect information to do something.  It has to have color, it can't just be presenting flat facts, or truths.  It needs to touch in some way, we need to have some sort of connection with what is being said in order to be touched by it.  I know that is true for me personally.  It is when a story most touches me that it become etched into my heart and my mind.  McLean also stated "If a story does not touch you,doesn't get a rise out of you, it's not going to get a rise out of anyone else."
Another quote that Mrs. Kent shared is from George Barna who stated that "today's young people are 'mosaic thinkers', able to put information together in new patterns, often arriving at unusual, novel, or surprising conclusion."  According to Barna the generations that preceeded the "Gen-Yers" were linear thinkers, what Mr Sweet called "Guttenbergers".  Both men feel that it is through sharing personal stories that a theology or philosophy will be received instead of rejected.
Mrs. Kent remind us that Jesus was himself a master storyteller.  Remember that Jesus lived in a time when only very learned men such as the church leaders knew how to read and write.  Also that they often wrote in a foreign language that the common everyday people did not speak or understand.  Therefore, in order to reach his audience Jesus had to tell stories.  His stories also needed to be about things that the common everyday person would know about.  Mrs. Kent goes on to state that if we want to make a lasting impact on others, if we want to teach them, or share the gossip with them, we need to find "points of identification" that will help them understand what we are trying to tell them.  We have to be able to, like Jesus, help others "visualize our message." 
Jesus also knew that stories help to make people more receptive to spiritual truth.  Mrs. Kent shares a story about how she and her husband worked to reach out to another couple new in the neighborhood but it was in a simple incident of relaying a story that contact was finally made in a meaningful way.  It was through the telling of a simple story that they learned of the family's need and was able to then minister to them as friends during a difficult time in the couple's life.  It was through this process, begun with a simple story, that they were able to draw the couple, first to their church and then to the Lord.
Mrs. Kent also makes a point of reminding us that Jesus told his stories in everyday, informal settings.  Here is a direct quote from George Barna that she shares in the book that we need to remember when speaking to others:
     "{The mosaic thinkers} diet of mass media, combined with the uncritical embrace of computer technologies and the ntional shift in morals and values, has resulted in an entirely new filter through which Americans recive and interpret infomration. . . The emergence of the new filter mandates a new style of semon or lesson development and deliver. . . .Presenters who address the audience without constant reference to notes, and those who do not 'hide' behind a pulpit, also seem to generate a more positive response from their listeners."
We need to rememer that the modern "Gen-Yers" do not respond to an impersonal, stiff, rehearsed speech but rather they are more apt to listen when we share biblical truths through our own personal, informal stories of how Christ has changed our lives.
The author also reminds us that Jesus almost always made the application clear when he told a story.  He might not reveal the greater truth to his entire audience but he always made the message and application clear to his disciples, his closer circle of followers. 
Her final point was stated using a quote from Lael Arrington who is the author of Worldproofing Your Kids, who stated that "in the Middle Ages and Modern Age stories had a begining, an end, a plot, and characters in which people visualized themselves playing a part in a larger story. However, the postmodern person has no sense of being part of a grander story."  Then Mrs. Kent stated that "As Christians, we know there is a grand story and Jesus continues to be the example of the greatest story every told."  Therefore our ability to share with others how he changed our personal lives and how he continues to change them, has the power to change others lives. 
It is through stories that we can reach, teach, and minister to those "Gen-Yers", those born since 1973, using Jesus' example of being a storyteller. 

Still floating on a spiritual high

Today is day two post-GIC and I am still feeling spiritually supercharged.  I am also still mentally processing all of the information from the workshops and the talks by Neil Anderson, Marilee Pierce Dunker, and Lenoard Sweet.  My new prayer has become:  "Anxious in nothing.  Prayerful in everything.  Thankful in anything.  Equals peace."  I am also processing the fact that this is no longer a Guttenberg world of words and poems but a TGIF world of images and stories.  TGIF meaning Twitter, Google, I-Phone, and Facebook.  I was reminded of this again this afternoon in talking with a collegue about trying to communicate something to her clients.  She's talking in words instead of images and stories.  Hopefully she will be able to turn it around.  We also talked how even in their texting adolescents and young adults don't even speak in words any more but in a new language made up of just different letters, not really acronyms but something similiar like OMG, LOL, R, U, B4, and many many more.  It is a language that many of us middle-aged and older adults don't even know what the terminology means.  Then there are words like tweet, retweet, peeps, twebes, etc.  I am asking myself can we learn the language fast enough to even make a difference?

Spiritually supercharged after the first day of GIC

What a day!  I have spent the day at our church's Global Impact Celebration Prayer and Missions Conference.  This is a time when Asbury UMC in Madison, AL invites all of our missionary partners to come to Madison and speak at a variety of workshops on prayer and missions and they also invite at least two keynote speakers.  The morning started off for me listening to Thom Ewing and Karen Spain of WAY-FM/Huntsville share about the mission of this contemporary Christian music station as well as how they are connecting and acting as missionaries in today's world of social networking.  Then after lunch listened as Leonard Sweet a well known author and speaker talked about how the church needs to move into what he called today's TGIF world.  TGIF = Twitter, Google, IPhone/IPad, and Facebook.  He lectured about how this is no longer a world of words but a world of images and storytelling.  This was followed for me by listening to Marcos Wittig talk about intercessory prayer for missions and shared about his work in Medellin Columbia.  The day was topped off by Marilee Pierce Dunker who shared some about her father the founder of World Vision and his prayer to God to break his heart for the things that break God's heart.  She shared also about some things that today should break the church's heart as it breaks God's.  Tomorrow will bring even more and I know by the time the GIC ends on Sunday I will be spiritually supercharged for some time.  I will spend some Sunday in prayer to determine just what God wants me to do with what I've heard.