Lesson 2 from Oregon

While at the convention, God really impressed on my heart the fact that I should be discipling other women. Now, I have always believed in discipleship, but more for the men in our church. I guess I thought of it as more of a leader training. I think women's Bible studies are great, but I believe discipleship is taking it one step further (actually many steps further).

 Matthew 28:16-20:

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

I need to better apply the words of these verses:

• "...make disciples of all nations..."- I need to be involved in sharing with others how to follow Christ. Also, this should not be limited to any one people group. So, going back to Lesson 1 from Oregon, I need to be witnessing to the lost.

• "...teaching them to observe all that I have commanded..."- I need to be training others to follow and obey Christ. This is what I would call the discipling area. Honestly, this is an area that sometimes scares me. Opening myself up and sharing my faith and failures is a hard thing to do. But, being obedient to God is more important than my reputation is.

Lesson 1 from Oregon

During our main sessions at the IFCA convention Dr. Alex Montoya spoke to us about church planting. Each message had a specific area of church planting as it's main focus.

Dr. Alex Montoya

The first message was why we need to church plant.

Many things touched my heart, but most of all I was humbled by my lack of obedience in the area of witnessing to the unsaved.

Dr. Montoya said this of Matthew 28:18-20, "This is the Great Commission, not the great suggestion."

I have been trying to witness to our neighbors through the friendships we are cultivating. But this is not enough. I need to witness each time God gives me an opportunity.

This was just two blocks away from the convention. Notice the flag. This world is filled with lost people who are going to hell.

I am praying and asking God to give me boldness and wisdom as I strive to be more obedient to Him in this area.

One change I will make this week is, I will be going out into our church's neighborhood on Saturday to witness to our neighbors. I do not want to miss another opportunity to share the Good News of the Gospel with anybody. I also want my girls to understand the importance of sharing Christ with others. What better way for them to learn, than watching Mom step out of her comfort zone and share with others.

Oregon

Last Friday my husband and I were able to travel to Oregon for the IFCA national convention. It was an amazing time to be both challenged and encouraged by God's word. Unfortunately, we did not see too much of the scenery outside, but here are a few pictures of the beautiful area we did see. I am not complaining in anyway. Learning more from God's word is more important than anything. It was an amazing blessing to attend this convention. 

This is a train station. At the bottom of this "monument" it has mileage to all kinds of places, some local and other places around the world.

This is a quiet corner in a used book store we found. They had an amazing amount of books for sale. This is the children's section. I almost started to cry because I missed my girls so much. My girls all love their books, this would be like visiting a candy store for them.

This is one of many little animal sculptures around this city. He was my favorite. I liked him so much my friend Monica and I took pictures with him.

I love this house and it's placement in the woods. I understand it is actually a museum with people who are dressed for the period. I would have really enjoyed seeing the inside. I took this picture from the 12th floor of our hotel.

Last but not least, this is my presidential picture. Doesn't every candidate have this thinker picture? This is actually a self-portrait. I was so excited to be on a plane and my husband was trying to read. So I tried to entertain myself with the camera.

Just a couple of things for everybody to know:

• This was the first time I have flown in 21 years.

•This was the first time Richard and I have been on a plane together. (In October we will celebrate our 19th wedding anniversary).

• I was extremely excited to be flying somewhere. I am usually the one dropping family off at the airport. Last Friday I was able to get out of the car and walk into the airport with luggage. My wonderful friend Elisabeth and her Grandma dropped us off.  I must admit the two hour wait was kind of  a bummer.

• I am still a little kid at heart. Driving to the airport was so exciting, I honestly felt like I was going to Disneyland. I kept smiling at Richard and he kept laughing at me. 

Over the next few days, I will share some of the things God challenged me with this past weekend.

Father’s Day Bonanza ($533.99 for $43.36 )

This year’s Father’s Day was a huge blessing. Two weeks before FD, Mervyn’s had a sale. You bought one polo you received two for free. They also had many of their men’s clothing on sale.

Then last Monday I read the following blog post over at Families.com. The title was Dress Dad for Father’s Day. Here is the deal I did twice.

Sears is giving away a $75 Shell gas card plus a $10 reward card when you purchase $100 in Dockers men's apparel and accessories. Purchases may be made online or in the store. Visit Sears or print out a rebate form and mail it in with the original receipt. You can make this deal a little sweeter if you combined it with the Kmart Hulk movie deal. Go to Kmart first and purchase two $50 gift cards. Take the Kmart gift cards to Sears and exchange them for a $100 gift card. Use the Sears gift card to make the Dockers purchase. When you are done, you will have a $75 Shell gas card, a $10 Sears reward card, 4 free movie tickets to see the Incredible Hulk, and a Father's Day gift. Remember Sears will price match 110% on exact items. Does any other department store have Dockers on sale cheaper? Purchases must be made between June 7, 2008 and June 15, 2008.

Also, Sears had many of the Dockers on sale too. So here is what we got.

Mervyn’s

Price paid Regular

Boxers $ 5.99 $12.00
T-Shirt $ 4.99 $10.00
Polo $30.00 $30.00
Polo 0 $24.00
Polo 0 $24.00

Total: $44.36 w/tax $106.00

Went to Kmart twice and bought gift cards. Received 8 movie tickets at $7 each.



Sears (Used Kmart gift cards)

Dockers pants $24.99 $50.00
Dockers Pants $24.99 $50.00
Dockers pants $29.99 $29.99
Dockers shirt $23.00 $45.00

Total: $111.47 $174.99

Sears #2 (Used Kmart gift cards)

Dockers pants $24.99 $50.00
Dockers pants $24.99 $50.00
Dockers socks $ 8.40 $10.00
Dockers shirt $18.00 $36.00
Dockers shirt $18.00 $36.00
Dockers socks $10.50 $15.00

Total $113.53 $197.00

Here is the final breakdown

Mervyn’s $ 44.36
Sears $111.47
Sears $113.53

Total $269.36

2 Sears GC -$ 20.00
2 shell GC -$150.00
8 Movie Tix -$ 56.00

Total OOP $43.36 $533.99 in clothes and tickets

My husband now has 5 new outfits, socks, underwear, a t-shirt and movie tickets.

Praise God!

MMMMM

Don't you wish they made blogs with scents?

I have made these cinnamon rolls from Cooking With Littles Under Foot twice this week. The first time I made them at night, so they would be ready for breakfast. My husband had one warm out of the oven and he said they tasted like Cinnabon. So you know I made them again for Father's Day. They are delicious. I am sure they are not healthy, but they sure make the house smell good and they taste great.

They are messy, but oh so good!

A House of Women

This weekend my husband has the opportunity to join 3,000+ young people at The Resolved Conference in Palm Springs, CA. This will be a great time for him to get to spend with the young people in our church, especially the two young men he is sharing a room with.

This afternoon I relaxed on my couch with my Victoria magazine and King Arthur Flour Catalog. It was nice to enjoy the quietness of a Saturday afternoon.

CVS this week

Well, it has been quite awhile since I have hit the CVS stores with force. Usually I am just trying to roll my Extra Bucks so I don't lose them. This week I did 8 transactions, whew.

Here is what we got:

6 boxes of cereal

2 bottles of Dove shampoo

2 bottles of Dove conditioner

2 Brut deodorants

11 bags of candy (used these for fillers mostly)

1 Fusion razor

2 packs CVS cotton swabs

3 boxes CVS band aids

4 picture books

3 Nivea travel packs for men

4 Nivea shaving gels

4 powerades

4 Garnier facial scrub

4 Kotex pads

2 Kotex pantiliners

1 Coffeemate creamer

Drum Roll please.

$174.68 in merchandise

$15.00 in EB

$11.68 OOP

I believe I could have spent even less, but the cashier rang up the photo books weird. I went in with my transactions already figured out, but that really messed me up. I would not be able to do this without the help of two awesome websites. Money Saving Mom and 

The "Cent"sible Sawyer are tremendous resources for helping to find all these great deals.

Thank you for stopping by today.