Tag: Love Life Women's Conference

Image of Joyce Meyers 2023 Love Life Conference in the Alamo Dome
DESTINATIONS, Photo Organization, Photo Organization Coach, Photography, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, Scrapbooking, TRAVEL, United States

Joyce and San Antonio

Jane Sadek
Fall Photo Opp at San Antonio Plaza
Crowning Around

MEMORY MAKING: JOYCE MEYERS’ LOVE LIFE 2023 IN SAN ANTONIO

It Wasn’t Love Life 2022 in St. Louis

There, I said it. There were a few great moments, but the impact I experienced in 2022 just wasn’t there, even if all the loud music was. We did not sign up for 2024.

That’s not to say there weren’t some good moments. I just didn’t feel as if I got as much out of it as I did the year before. I can’t point to a single moment or thought that impacted me significantly, but lightning rarely strikes twice.

But I Loved Life in San Antonio

If you’ve been around this blog long, then you know I love San Antonio. If I could only have one travel destination for the rest of my life, it would probably be San Antonio, but I’m glad I don’t have to make that choice.

Staying in New Braunfels with Shana and being at the Alamo Dome kept us from our usual center of activity, but we loved the time with Shana and the walking was good for us. All in all it was a great trip. Here’s a few highlights.

signs on the walls and ceilings of Guadalajara Grill in San Antonio
We loved reading all the signs!

Guadalajara Grill for Lunch

When Love Life broke for lunch on Friday, job one was to find a restaurant that wasn’t already filled to capacity with other Love Life attendees. That meant we walked and walked and walked and walked a little more, but finally we landed at Guadalajara Grill. Google is trying to tell me it was a four minute walk, but we must have gone the long way.

It was a fortunate stop. The food was great, but the best part was the signs all over the walls and the ceiling. Even though the restaurant was not as inundated with as many people as some we’d passed, this was a popular lunch spot, so we plunked down at the bar, margaritas and decided to enjoy ourselves.

We explained out conference dilemma to the man behind the bar and while he didn’t seem all that sympathetic, we did seem to get seated pretty quickly. On our next trip to San Antonio (and there will always be more trips to San Antonio) we’ll certainly eat at Guadalajara Grill again.

Chart House Restaurant in Tower of the Americas

So, one of my favorite places to eat, bar none, is the Chart House Restaurant in The Tower of the Americas. Not that I could find any of my own photos of it. I stole this one from their website. I love the food and the view is wonderful. And it’s a special place. People get dressed up to go there. Not all of them anymore, unfortunately, the usual grunge was visible on this visit, but it’s everywhere, so I have to live with it.

Deb and I tried it first in 2015 and we still feel the same way about it. So much so, that on the way back from Guadalajara Grill we stopped at the Tower and made reservations for dinner. Take that all you Love Life attendees filling the other restaurants. We had a reservation.

I did a good job of describing the the experience in the post linked above, so no need to go over it all again. Just click the link. Was it still as good Yep, for me it’s a must-do every time I go to San Antonio.

Lunch on Saturday

By Saturday we were a little tired of shuffling around the Hemisfair Plaza battling for dining space. We squeezed out of the morning session as soon as we dared and made a beeline for the first luxury hotel. I can’t remember which one we landed at. The meal was both mediocre and expensive – well at least the margarita was expensive – but we enjoyed the break and headed back to the final session, which we also scooted out of early. We were going out with Shana that evening.

Check in Wednesday for Memory Keeping and on Friday we’ll be creating something fun for Memory Sharing. Then next Monday I’ll wrap up a few details from this trip and we can start thinking about California!

DESTINATIONS, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

Turning Toward Home

Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE AND BRING IT HOME

So, I was away from home for five days and attended a Christian Women’s Conference for three of them. Sure, I discovered an amazing restaurant in Little Rock, saw a presidential library and ate the best BBQ in St. Louis (maybe the world?). But did I bring anything home with me from the conference which would change my life.

Hope

The best thing I brought home with me was hope. I confess my summer had been rough and it had shredded my hope. Just getting out of the house and away from the business was a blessing, but it was more than that.

Everybody makes mistakes. I know that, but in the day to day of it, I sometimes feel like the stupidest person alive. How exactly did I get here? Why do I keep making the same mistakes over and over? Where is my joy?

The first night of the conference Joyce faced this issue. She confessed her own mistakes in life, but also pointed out there are hidden treasures in what we may consider our mistakes.

If someone like Joyce Meyer can own up to her mistakes, then I’m encouraged to own up to mine. The next morning Lisa Harper and Christine Cline chipped in and confessed their own ability to screw up royally. Now I was feeling even better. I was reminded all us humans can make mistakes. I could leave that burden and guilt right there on the floor of America’s Dome.

Then Lisa Harper talked about the God of second chances and third chances and fourth chances – in fact, as many chances as I need until heaven comes. God’s not even counting. He created a clean slate for all of us on the day His Son died on that cross. All I have to do is get over myself and accept it. I knew that, but Satan does everything he can to keep that fact from being in the forefront of my mind. There was another burden to leave behind me.

Just in case I had not gotten the message, Christine Caine got up there on Saturday morning and told me the pandemic was over. How many times have a blamed something on the pandemic or wished for the good old days? If I don’t keep my face and my heart directed toward what God has ahead of me, I am in danger of being as useless as the pillar of salt Lot’s wife turned into. So, I left my pandemic mindset in the trashcan and headed home.

The Imagination Station also gave me hope. At the ripe old age of 67 you begin to feel as if the best things in life are behind you. I dared to write dreams on a piece of cloth and tie it to the grid on the wall. It felt kind of silly and I almost didn’t do it, but I figured I had little to lose and everything to gain. I was barely home when God gave me a taste of what He could do when I let go of wishing and turned my hopes into prayers. Lesson learned – my best days ARE still ahead; it’s not too late.

Merchandise

The most important thing I bought at the Joyce Meyers’ Love Life Conference 2022 was tickets for Love Life Conference 2023. It’s going to be in San Antonio – one of my very favorite places in the world – October 19-21 in the Alamo Dome. I bought two tickets, because this is my bestie’s birthday month and I couldn’t imagine a better present. If you’d like to come too, here’s the link: https://brushfire.com/joycemeyer/wc2023/537511.

I also bought some books. I’d never read Battlefield of the Mind, which is her classic work, so I picked it up. It is so good I think I may read it annually or perhaps quarterly. It’s not anything I didn’t already know, but everything I need to be reminded of on a daily basis. If you are looking for something good to read, start there!

Great Memories!

God has blessed me in many ways, but one of his best gifts is my best friend, the sister of my heart, Deborah Shera. We tell folks we could go to a mud puddle and have fun. The hotels we stayed in during this trip probably prove that point. Instead of being aghast and bawling me out for choosing such awful hotels, we laughed. But it wasn’t all bad hotels by any stretch. We shared great food, cherished some of our best memories, created some new ones and came home with our hearts stitched together a little tighter – if that is at all possible.

So today is Wednesday, October 3, 2022 as I write this post for Wednesday, September 7, 2023. As of today, the only travel plans I have are for Joyce’s conference in San Antonio which I just mentioned.

Will the travel gods grant me another trip before that? I have no idea, but I hope you will come back next week and find out!! I promise there will be something there to entertain you!

Attractions, DESTINATIONS, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

Sugarfire in St. Louis

Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE – REMARKABLE BBQ

Playing Hookey!

OK – I confess. We didn’t make it to every single session of the Love Life Conference. For instance, we totally blew off Friday night. We were praise-music-ed out. Even though it would mean missing one of Joyce’s teachings, we just couldn’t face a “CELEBRATION” and concert. Can I pay less to get less music? Or could I pay more and get less music? Asking for a friend…

We also skipped Joel Olsteen. My theology doesn’t line up 100% with Joyce, but I just overlook those places where we diverge and enjoy the rest. Anytime I hear Joel Olsteen, he’s so far down another path I want to throw things. I’ve been known to talk back to the TV when he’s sharing his opinion on something. I didn’t trust myself to behave.

What We Did Instead

So, walking back and forth between our parking lot (remember the BROWN level) and America’s Dome, I noticed a trailer with an amazing aroma coming out of it. Then I figured out that it must be the smoker for the restaurant next to it. The name of the restaurant was Sugarfire.

Deb loves BBQ with a passion, so as they prepared the stage for Joel to come out, Deb and I scooted to the streets, headed for BBQ. Little did we realize we were about to enter epicurean heaven.

It had barely turned 11 and there was already a line of locals waiting to order their ‘cue, as Sugarfire calls it. It was obvious everyone was a frequent flyer and as the server chatted with the regulars, he would do a little upselling, giving them samples of the more upscale meat choices. Then he saw us, obviously not regulars, with our women’s conference badges on. So, he gave us samples, too.

The sample worked and Deb was all about some French Dip style Brisket sandwich. If it’s BBQ, I want ribs, but most places want to sell me a half rack, which I can’t eat on my own, so I either end up eating far too many ribs or I just get something else, which wasn’t what I wanted. Sugarfire sells a Four Rib plate and I could get excited about that. I also got excited about the cornbread, which was more dessert than bread, and the cold beer.

Deb’s judgement? Best BBQ brisket she’d ever had. I don’t know if I’d go quite that far with the ribs, but they were pretty darned good and certainly rated up there among the best.

The Sugarfire has long community tables in the center of the restaurant and booths around the edges. If you sit at the community tables, you’ll be cheek to jowl with the regulars and as far as I am concerned that’s part of the fun.

Shortly after we were seated, huge waves of ladies from the conference began to line up for their ‘cue. Was Joel’s talk that short or are there others who have a problem sitting quietly while he’s talking? The line went all around the restaurant and then out the front door and down the sidewalk. CRAZY! Well, not so crazy. It is really good ‘cue.

I would like to remind Christian ladies they are a witness, good or bad, of their Savior at all times, but particularly when they have a huge sign around their neck proclaiming they are attending a Christian Women’s Conference at the Ameridome next door. With the huge crowds it draws, Sugarfire has numerous signs requesting patrons get their food BEFORE they start taking up spaces at the tables. As we sat having our lunch, a lady got up several times to make that announcement.

Then a Love Life Conference attendee plopped down at the table next to me with about five handbags wrapped around her arms. Thinking she may have missed the signs and/or the announcement I said, “They are requesting you wait until you have food to sit down.” Her response was not nice. I don’t think Joyce or Joel would have approved.

After lunch, it was time to head back to the convention center, because Lisa Harper was up and no way I was missing her. While we’d been in Sugarfire, it had started to rain. I have very independent hair and if it gets rained on, it begins to protest. I found a book bag down in my tote and used it as a rain hat. Not my best look, but I headed off the frizz, which would have been my ‘do, had my hair gotten wet.

Lisa was great, as I had anticipated she would be. There was another break before the evening’s “CELEBRATION” & concert, but we headed out for our second dose of hooky. Come back next week and I’ll let you know how that went!

Attractions, DESTINATIONS, TRAVEL, United States

Joyce Meyer’s Love Life Women’s Conference Words

Jane Sadek

Travel There – From God’s Mouth to Our Ears

If you read my last post about my dissatisfaction with the musical offerings at this conference, then you might expect me to pick apart the rest of it and you’d be wrong. I loved the messages delivered by the speakers: Joyce Meyer, Lisa Harper and Christine Caine.

Though I had been worn out by the drive and beat up by the music, when Joyce came to the stage she had words which were formed in her mind by the heart of God just for me. I had come looking for healing and encouragement. By the end of the first night’s teaching, I knew I had come to the right place.

Joyce started off in Genesis with our old friend, Abram. We all know his story. Abram had received great promises from God and things weren’t so bad, but they didn’t exactly match up to what God said there would be. “Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up…” She encouraged us to get outside our tent and look up.

She shared the difficult things in her life that she would change if she could, but reminded us, none of us can, no matter how much we may want to. However, she also guided us to Isaiah 45:3, “I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.” From one of her greatest challenges, Joyce eventually received and continues to receive great blessings. She encouraged us to get out of our tents and look up, so God could reveal those hidden treasures to us.

Joyce Meyers was talking to me. I’d been so busy in my tent I’d been failing to consider God’s many blessings in my life, because I was distracted by the drudgery and the challenges in the tent. By getting out of my tent and driving for two days I found a star-filled sky. My hope for hidden treasures, riches which were stored up for me, broke through and joy seeped once again into my heart.

Joyce’s Guests

Friday morning Joyce took the stage with her speaker friends and talked about the mistakes and hard places in life with them. I loved the format and it fleshed out what Joyce had said about getting outside our tents, looking up at the stars and being aware of the hidden treasures. The time was like a balm on my heart.

That afternoon, Lisa Harper taught us with humor and Scripture about our God of second chances. She reminded me that no matter how much I mess up, I have a God who can use my mess to to be blessing to others. Since I seem to have a lot of messes at my disposal, it’s nice to know God can even use our mistakes to His glory.

Christian Caine, with her lovely Aussie brogue took one of the shortest Scriptures in the Bible, “Remember Lot’s wife!” Luke 17:32 and turned it in to a battle cry against our post-Covid doldrums. No matter what your life was like before Covid – good or bad – Covid has come and gone. Lot’s wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt who lost both her past and her future. She urged us to embrace what was ahead and I walked out of the conference ready to do just that. I was out of my tent, looking at the stars.

Imagination Station

During one of the breaks I went down to see why people were standing in line in a certain part of the arena. There was an area called the Imagination Station and if that wasn’t it, it was something along that line.

The idea of it was to imagine something you wanted God to do for you and tell Him about it in a tangible way, by writing the thing you imagined on a strip of cloth and then tying it to a grid on the wall.

Confession, I am horrid at goal setting and vision boards are a craft to me, not an inspiration. I tend to have hopes, not tangible goals. I can set a goal for activities, but saying I am going to sell a certain amount of product or raise my profit X%. It’s beyond me. I can easily tell you places I want to go and things I would like to buy, but translating them into measurable goals, it just doesn’t happen.

For these reasons, I was a bit threatened by this exercise. I was tempted to walk right through the display area. Then I remembered. This was between God and me. There wasn’t going to be a quarterly review. I wasn’t going to be graded on it.

I got a strip, wrote three wishes on it and tied it on the grid. Then I walked through the rest of the display area and was encouraged by the verses displayed there. Especially this one, since being in my later 60’s could be construed as a reason to go sit quietly on the bench.

Now I can tell you how God works. I tied my wishes to the grid on the wall and while I fully believe that with God I can do anything, I was in no way sure my love of scrapbooking and my desire to pursue it more aggressively professionally had any interest to God.

I left the conference the next day and went on with my life. I thought from time to time about the strip I had tied to the grid, but I told myself, I left that in God’s hands, not going to worry about it. Within a week and a day, I had gotten an email, virtually out of the blue, from a potential customer who needed my scrapbooking assistance.

This new client was not magic. I had done the things I should. I am signed up as a consultant with both a traditional and a digital scrapbooking company. I have a website. I have social media to tell people I am a memory keeper. When I go to networking meetings, I mentioned it, even though Spot On Images, by necessity was the focus.. However, most days of my life all that goes unnoticed. That is until I turn one of my wishes over to God.

So that’s how Joyce and her guests impacted my life at the Love Life Conference in St. Louis and propelled us into selling SOI and making Memory Keeping my priority., but I hope you’ll come back next week, because we are going to play hooky during some of the conference’s sessions and I’d like you to come along.

ART, DESTINATIONS, Music, Performing Arts, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

Joyce Meyers and Love Life 2022 Music

Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE – LOOKING FOR THE BLESSING

The excitement inside America’s Dome was palpable. We were among the last few people showing up for the 7 PM opening session. We picked up our intro packet and stopped at the concession stand for something to eat. Minutes after we found seats the music started and I confess I was not ready for it.

Disclaimer – I am not a big fan of praise and worship music. I am on Team Hymnal. I don’t stand with my eyes closed and wave my hands in the air. If you do, that’s great, but it makes me think more about me than I do Him, so I don’t like to go there. Love Life was locked and loaded for praise and worship: Chris Tomlin, Tauren Wells, Phil Wickham and Brandon Lake. On Thursday night at 7 PM, the kickoff for the Joyce Meyers’ Love Life Women’s Conference, I was wrung out.

The musicians on the other hand were wound up. At 7 PM they blew on the stage and blew up the sound system. They were jumping and dancing and rocking and rolling, while I just needed to bow down. I knew they weren’t doing anything wrong, but for me, they weren’t exactly putting me in the right frame of mind for worship. For a few minutes I resented it and then the Lord made me aware of the fact that this was my problem, not theirs.

I bowed my head and asked for the power to worship, in spite of my preferences and my exhaustion. Almost as if I had communicated directly with the performers on stage, the atmosphere stilled. On the stage were Phil Wickham and Brandon Lake. Though I would still have preferred to turn the volume down, I could tell powerful worship was going on.

Too Much Music for This Old Woman

If I had one criticism of the Love Life Conference it would be that I felt there was entirely too much loud music. I’m probably one of three women out of the entire crowd that felt that way, but it was what I walked away with.

The opening ceremonies had been loud and frenetic. Then some crazy DJ guy would warm up the crowd before each session and you had to go early or you’d be sitting in a corner. Each performer got time during each session and then Friday night there was a concert. Needless to say, I did not go Friday night. It was just too much for this old lady. If some of that music had been quiet and peaceful, if there had been a hymn or two, if a lot of things, I might have been happier, but as it was I wished there had been a lot less music and a lot more teaching.

Is It Really Praise & Worship?

I have actually found a church in my area that sticks to traditional hymns and classical worship music for Sunday mornings. I love it. The lyrics are rich in Scripture, they profess the glories of God and the miracle of salvation. I feel worshipful and reverent as I join in with this music. I would welcome a couple of praise and worship choruses to round out our musical offerings, but I don’t see that happening.

I have also attended a whole lot of services with a praise and worship band. I watch others stirred to near frenzy while singing this music. Obviously, it moves them. I remain awkward and self conscious. I see band members who seem to only lack go-go boots and a cage to complete their performance. They’re up there waving their arms, shuffling their feet and sometimes thrusting their hips. That’s OK for Elvis in concert, but is it really worship?

I do not want to be Mrs. Morrison. During my teenaged years, occurring in the late sixties and early seventies, Mrs. Morrison was still giving lectures on the dangers of Rock and Roll. By then Rock and Roll was here to stay. I thought she was a nut case. Then during a service at what I call the Rock and Roll church, I understood why she was upset. Rock & Roll didn’t feel very worshipful to me.

I really wanted to be open-minded, but I knew I couldn’t worship when I was moments away from starting a Conga Line. As I have said before, if that does it for you, more power to you, but how about me? Are you as willing to spend time worshipping with traditional hymns and classical worship music for my sake? The resounding answer in modern churches is ‘NO!’

Since I was at the conference for spiritual renewal and what I was served was, for the most part, very loud Rock & Roll, I spent some time in quiet reflection. Had I become Mrs. Morrison?

My Conclusion

Music either honors God or it doesn’t. While I still might have turned the volume down, before the conference was over, I was a fan of Phil Wickham and Brandon Lake. Their music was all about the glories of God and the mercies of Our Savior. Their lyrics were right off the pages of Scripture.

To me, and I will confess this is my opinion, not a condemnation of the other singers, their music is not worshipful. To begin with it is very repetitive. The same words over and over and over. Matthew 6:7 says, “When ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.” Along about the 20th time I say, “I love you Jesus,” it has lost all real meaning and is just sounds I am matching to notes.

It also seems very self centered to me. As I listened it focused on what the “worshipper” wanted to tell Jesus, not on the glories of God or the salvation of Christ and it had nothing to do with Scripture. “I love You, I worship You. I bow down. I lift my hands. I serve You. I need You.” As my mom used to say, “The emPHAsis seemed to be on the wrong sylLAble. “

So, if Joyce called me tomorrow and asked me what changes I would make, I’d tell her to cut down the time devoted to music, to bring traditional music to the stage and keep away from the vain repetitions. Someone else might tell you the music was the most meaningful part of the whole conference, but this is my blog, so I get to share my own opinion.

Come back next time and we’ll talk about what I did like. The preaching and teaching was powerful.

Accommodations, DESTINATIONS, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

On to St. Louis

Jane Sadek

Travel There-Getting There

Finished with the Clinton Library, we pointed Wayz to the Travel Lodge in St. Louis and hit I-30. As had been true the day before, trucks dominated the interstate. In fact, the last hour of the drive on Wednesday had been maddening. I was so glad to be off the road, even the potentially worst Days Inn in the world looked good.

Thursday started off in much the same way, with trucks all around us. The only improvement was we weren’t mired down in construction, at least most of the way. I couldn’t put the peddle to the medal though, because the trucks set the pace. Finally, when we were almost to Memphis, we turned onto I-55 and things improved. Once we made the corner, we made a pit stop for gas, the potty and a snack.

I roared up I-55 as fast as I dared and we got into St. Louis just in time for rush hour traffic. Just as had been true the day before, the last bit of our drive was the worst, but this time it wasn’t the trucks or construction. I’m convinced the engineers who designed the roadways in St. Louis must have been high on something!

The right lane was constantly an “exit only” lane, so staying in the next lane was life threatening. As people entered the expressway, they had to immediately get in the next lane, so they wouldn’t be forced to exit again.

They also love to build both entrance ramps and exit ramps on the left side of the road, so the left lane was no safe haven. And God help you if you entered on the left side and needed to exit on the right – which Wayz must have thought was a lot of fun, because it didn’t hesitate to offer that up as our route.

Because the hotels and motels in the downtown area cost hundreds of dollars a night, I just couldn’t bear to stay there. I booked a hotel about 10 miles from the convention center. I’m from Texas, so 10 miles is nothing and it really presented no real challenge – except that in coming from I-55, you had to navigate 255, 270 and 170 to get there.

Once we made it to the hotel, commuting back and forth to the conference was no big deal, but to tell the truth, after that little drive to the hotel nothing would have seemed like that big of a deal.

Arriving at the Travel Lodge, we knew we weren’t staying in the lap of luxury, but we pretty quickly knew it was going to be better than the night before. I’m so grateful Deb was with me, because to tell the truth, if I had been on my own, there was a good chance I would have laid on the bed and never climbed back in the car until the next day.

Since Deb was with me, we unloaded the car, moved ourselves into our room and headed back out for the trip downtown. The commute was easier than the road to the hotel had been, but as soon as we exited, we were in gridlock.

Instead of getting out of the car, laying down on the asphalt and having a good cry, I tried to negotiate the traffic according to the directions Deb was giving me. By some miracle we came to a garage that wasn’t very far from the convention center and the price was decent. It was undergoing some severe renovations, but we climbed up the ramps to a parking spot.

Now, when we discovered the poorly lit section of the garage we’d happened upon was the BROWN level, we thought they had probably gotten the name right – just think of something brown that stinks! At least it was easy to remember where we had parked.

The hard part was over. I’d driven 10 hours from my home to get there. Now I was going to walk into a convention center full of women who loved the Lord. No way that was going to be anything but wonderful.

Come back next week and I’ll tell you about the Love Life Conference. It was pretty darned amazing!

DESTINATIONS, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

Meet Me in St. Louis?

Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE – WHEN GOD SENDS YOU A POSTCARD

My tribe knows when I am struggling with something I sometimes say, “I wish God would send me a postcard and tell me what to do about this.” The summer of 2022 was a tough one and I was looking for a postcard.

Our real estate photography business was exploding, which was good, but it brought new challenges. To make it just a little more difficult, our long time editors went out of business with no warning. One morning we got the day’s delivery of images and when we sent a batch later in the day, they apologized and said they were closed down for Covid and they never reopened.

In addition to this, we had two remodels going on. We were adding a sunroom to our house and we had a rent house we were renovating to sell. As soon as the rental’s renovation was over, we put it on the market and had all the headaches associated with that.

The lethal cherry on top was my health. I got an awful summer cold, improved and then got it back. A week or so later after that was gone, I got hives – maddening blossoms of hives, which itched all the time. As a remedy they put me on prednisone, which was almost as bad as the itching, but was only a temporary solution, because a few weeks later I was back in the doctors office. So they gave me another temporary solution. I was half nuts with it.

Then the postcard arrived. Joyce Meyers was having a Women’s Conference called Love Life. I wanted to love life, but wasn’t quite achieving it. I was making it through my days, but there was little joy.

My first thought was that Bill would never let me go. He’d really had a rough time of it when we went to New York a few months previous and the first thing he said to me when I walked into our house was, “You’re not traveling without me, ever again.” It wasn’t because he loved me so much, but because handling both ends of the business and the remodels by himself had been too much.

But I had gotten the postcard from God. I have not been a consistent follower of Joyce Meyer Ministries, but there had been a season when she was very helpful to me. A guy I’d really been crazy about broke up with me and I was having a tough time with it. I knew, for a number of reasons, he wasn’t the guy God wanted for me, but oh, there were so many reasons I wanted him for me. A cornerstone of our relationship had been having lunch together daily and when the relationship was over, lunch hour was a big gaping hole in my day.

So, I created a new lunch routine. I’d pack a lunch from home, go to a park to eat and listen to the radio. It just so happened that my lunch hour was at the same time as Joyce Meyers radio show, “Enjoying Everyday Life.” I love the “just so happens” with God and now it just so happened, I had gotten a postcard.

I worked up my courage and mentioned the conference to Bill. I’ve always enjoyed Women’s Retreats and Conferences. He’d seen me go away with the world on my shoulders, only to come home refreshed and happy. He knew my struggles and he knew I needed it. He didn’t necessarily want me to be away without him for several days, but he gave it the green light.

The next part was the best bit. I told Deborah about the conference and my green light. She was thrilled. A girl’s trip was on!

Though you are reading this in July of 2023, I got the postcard in July 2022. It’s now the end of September 2022 and I just returned from seeing Joyce. I tell you that, because I just made a discovery yesterday, as I picked up the infamous postcard to scan it for this post. I really did get the postcard from God, because it was addressed to a neighbor. For months on end I have had this postcard on my desk and then I carried it with me to the conference. Only now did I realize God had to reroute it from it’s intended mailbox to get it to me.

This is not the first piece of mail I have ever gotten in error, but for the other letters I knew right away they were not ours. About once or twice a month I’ll get one of theirs and walk down the street to put in in their box. When I saw this postcard, I knew without a shadow of a doubt God had put it in my hands. I just didn’t realize until yesterday it hadn’t been because I was on some mailing list, but because God arranged a very special delivery.

Come back next week and I’ll tell you about our adventures – and there were adventures!