Freewrite on a Sunny Sunday

I just installed this cool washer/dryer timer on my Google Toolbar. So, I will have a timer right here when I do my freewrites. :)

I have a sore throat. I feel great, but I am probably contagious, and I did not want to infect my fellow brothers and sisters at church and in the close quarters of the modular for mediation training today. George is there. The boys are home because NWH had a celebration service at 10 a.m., and we just couldn't drop them off and pick them up for that. So, they sit downstairs. It is just as well as Michael is still coughing, and Paul has a runny nose.

I sit upstairs enjoying the "sunshine on my shoulder" after much rain the last few days. It is supposed to be sunny the rest of the week. So, if my sore throat does not evolve into too heavy of a cold, I hope to go running a couple of days this week. Katrina, Cheryl, and maybe Rachel are going to be starting another FACED loop in the near future. Hopefully tomorrow. Katrina and I both hope to work off the 5-10 that has creeped up on both of us, min because of my sprained ankle and menopause causing me to increase my eating. :(

Paul just came up saying, "I think we are going for a walk today." I said, "Yes, it is supposed to be a beautiful day." He said, "YEAH!!!" I love that boy's enthusiasm.

I woke up early this morning (4:45 a.m.) because of the painful sore throat. How good that it didn't come before the conference. I was totally healthy and well-rested for the breakout session that Anita and I led. It went well, and we had eighteen people altogether for the two classes. The people in the class were all lovely. Some of the great "encouragers" from Wednesday night Bible study like Lori R. and Ramona M. were there. I loved there smiling faces in both sessions. It went off precisely, but I wished we could have had time for more question and dialogue, but Anita ran over by about fifteen minutes in her section. I am just so THANKFUL that I had cut my time down by fifteen. It also worked out well to have her present the totality of her material after I was finished so as to cut down on transition time. It went much more smoothly the second time because I wrote everything up on the white board ahead of time. We already heard news that many ladies were going to go and actually spend days in prayer. That was our hope!!!

I don't think I can do this too often. As much as I love to speak and feel that it is within my gifting, it took me about twenty hours total to prepare for the whole thing. I carved out the time and fended off more requests for my time in other areas (registration and welcoming committee for Jubilee), but I really prefer to do something like this in the context of a discipling relationship or a small group Bible study so that we might follow through and develop relationships as a result of going and spending a day in prayer together. I know it is not all for naught (is that how you spell it?) though because I met some fabulous new people that I would not have normally met.

George and I talked about the college retreat and are looking at starting NOW to prepare for this since this is three (or four?) talks over a weekend. So, we need to plan accordingly. It will be fun to work with him though. He is so easy to partner with because we know each other SO WELL. (Well of course you do Carol, he's your husband!) It was good to partner with Anita, but of course, I don't know her very well, and I can't read her yet. So, that was a bit awkward. I think when I read "disapproval" from her, it was more fear on her part. She said this whole thing was way out of her comfort zone. I do appreciate her though because she was F.A.T. about the whole thing: Faithful, Wholehearted, Available. She was so responsible to get everything done on time. I really appreciate that about her. Great lady. I am going to pray for a mentor for her though even though I don't know if she knows that she really needs one! LOL! She is mentoring Melissa, but I think it would be good for her to have someone for her too, just like I have sweet Ginny and Lorraine!

Times up. :)