Jenn’s Journey from Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Happy August! Can you believe how quickly this summer is flying by? It's been one of the best summers I've had in a long time! I will be sad to see it end and school begin. But, that is the cycle of life, isn't it? There is always a beginning and an end, so make the best of what is in between! Thanks for joining me today…may you be inspired.
The dry, hot summer has brought news of many fires around the country, particularly here in California. The devastation they create is hard to watch, the homes lost, animals with nowhere to go. It's hard not to wonder where the next one may pop up. A couple of weeks ago, I drove through the Cajon Pass here in Southern CA mere hours before a fire raged through, setting cars on fire, leaving people stranded as well as running for their lives. No lives were lost that day, and we can thank God for that. I was very thankful to have missed the whole experience!

The other day, my boyfriend took a picture of a sunset that was made more beautiful by the smoke of a fire. It was absolutely stunning. The words that came to my mind were, "Beauty from Ashes," a song sung by Christian artist Crystal Lewis I have loved this song for years.

Here are just a few of the lyrics:

He gives beauty for ashes
Strength for fear
Gladness for mourning
Peace for despair

When sorrow seems to surround you
When suffering hangs heavy over your head
Know that tomorrow brings
Wholeness and healing
God knows your need
Just believe what He said

Yes, fire destroys. It leaves ugliness in its wake, but have you ever seen the new growth start, almost instantly, afterwards? I got to thinking about my own trials by fire. By far, the biggest fire was divorce…just six summers ago: my husband walked out. Within a week I learned there was another woman in the picture. He was also diagnosed with several personality disorders. My world went up in flames.

I know many of you can relate to having your world destroyed. At the time, it can feel as if the burns will never heal. Sometimes the barrenness remains for a long time. Other times we replay the fire so much in our heads, it keeps right on burning. But, we have a choice. The choice is to turn to the One who makes all things new in His time. His word says this in 1 Peter 1:7 "These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold--though your faith is far more precious than mere gold, so when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world."

I do not believe that God purposely sends trials to us, but yet He uses the ones that come as a result of sin, whether our own or from others which is heaped upon us, to better us...IF we allow Him to.

I've spent time replaying the fires in my life, and I've also handed them over to God. I am here to tell you that the latter is by far the better choice. I've seen Him work in my heart and I am beginning to see the new growth. He can do it for you, too. You only have to choose.

Until next week, be blessed,

Jenn

Seven Sacrifices to Joy

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

It’s great to have our Coffee Hour and to write from my heart to yours. I know we’ve finally picked up speed and are moving through this series at a much quicker pace. In case you’re wondering why, well, the whole communication piece took the longest because it is the key to all the other sacrifices! So as we turn the corner and head to the finish line of this series with only three more sacrifices to go, I am excited to hint at a new series coming after this one. It involves four-legged children who steal our hearts … yup, dogs! I’ll be co-writing it with our Director of Development who taught her dog how to say “I love you” and of course she passed that lesson on to me and we, in turn, passed it on to our four-legged kiddos! Anyway, I’m looking forward to that fun series and the laughter and joy it will bring! Let’s get back to The Seven Sacrifices to Joy. Grab your coffee and your Strand of Faith and let’s go talk about the fifth sacrifice, joy!

So how could joy be one of the sacrifices to joy? Well, hopefully I’ll be able to paint the answer to that question in this blog.

It seems strange that offering joy before the Lord is considered a sacrifice. However, when we look around and see how many Christians do not exhibit joy we may begin to understand. When we offer up joy, we tell God that we are rejoicing because we have Him and know Him. Joy takes on many forms which actually involve all the senses: hearing, seeing, touching, smelling, feeling. Various things that we listen to can cause the joy within to rise up, for example, in the midst of a noisy day, to stop and take a little worship break and break forth with songs and praise to the Lord. Or how about the calmness that touches our soul when we sit still before the crashing waves from His glories oceans? Or what about the sweet sound of life coming from singing birds; doesn’t that sound squeeze our hearts with joy?

Oh, and His creation beckons and stirs our joy when we take in a glorious sunrise or sunset as the Creator whispers good morning or sweet dreams. The fragrance of flowers, their vibrant colors, their quiet ability to captivate…. Joy!

But how would we know joy if we hadn’t experienced sadness or unhappiness? It is the experiences of the antonyms of joy that increase our joy! It is through those times of the stretching of our faith and increasing our trust boundaries that our joy is not just stirred but increased!

Our joy can be active because of God not just for the good times, but also in the painful circumstances. Joy is based on our internal hope of our eternal destination!

This joy enables us to rejoice in and thru all circumstances, but it doesn’t mean we are joyous for those circumstances while we are in those circumstances! How is that possible? Because of our faith and trust in His faithfulness. And here’s something that can seem a bit unfathomable: Even when we are faithless, He is faithful. Now that’s something to offer up a sacrifice of joy for!

And when life’s difficult situations come crashing upon you like a giant wave, pray for strength to lay aside the innate tendency to worry, to exhibit fear and anxiety and instead, to offer up the sacrifice of joy. God will be well pleased!

Until tomorrow …

Evin

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Joshua 1:9: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
I know it’s already the 1^st of May and we’re still on April’s WOW… but I hope you are enjoying all there is to know about the virtue of courage, especially at its testing point! Grab your coffee and your Strand of Faith and let’s get back to a couple more definitions for courage and then I’ll share one more real-life example!
There’s another definition; are you ready for this one? “Obstinate”!
Yep, courage can be used for the wrong things. How? I’m so glad you asked. Courage is used for the wrong things and in the wrong way when we turn our strengths into stubbornness against God! It truly takes courage to defy God, to rebel against what we know to be right … and the more we participate in courage in this way, the harder our hearts become!
There was another reference under courageous and it does refer to Joshua a couple of times and I just loved it so I wanted to share it with you: Position of inner man -- the soul, which is the seat of wisdom and knowledge – and conscience and moral character. Joshua‘s life is one of my favorite, and definitely one of courage. He was assigned the task of finishing what God sent Moses to do, the completion of which made Biblical history.
Speaking of tasks that take courage to complete, have you ever tried to do something you were completely afraid to do? Well, the day after arriving here in Cabo, we set off with our adventurous friends down the beach toward the giant rocks that divided our resort from the infamous Lover’s Beach. Now, the highest point of those rocks is approximately 70-80 feet, maybe higher! Now, I don’t mind telling you I have a definite fear of heights and just looking up at the highest point of the rock made my stomach queasy. As I was looking up, and watching the ocean seemingly angry this morning, Rodney declared we would and could do it! And then he added, you can write about it!
Now I am not one who looks for thrills, nor am I one to take risks, per say, but … uh-huh, I said “but,” I am up for challenges and our WOW came into mind. As I began the ascent up each rock behind Rodney and Cheryl, and my honey behind me, my legs were shaking and there were these gigantic butterfly-like feelings in my stomach. I began to hear, “Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go,” even to the highest rock!
As we made it to what I thought was the peak, I looked out and over only to realize that in order to get to our destination, we had to go down the other side of what we had just climbed up and go up another mountain of rocks even higher and more dangerous than the first as this set was consistently being sprayed by the waves of the ocean daring to dance with rock climbers!
My heart fell and I began to have visions of going backwards, and not continuing. Talk about discouraging … having climbed all this way only to turn around and not reach the destination? Oops, I forgot who we were with! Rodney told us to stay there and he went ahead to check it out and sort of map out a way to get there. He looked like a gazelle, hopping from one rock to the next, stretching, straining, climbing, reaching … and there was this one set of rocks that were like narrowly hanging that he had to hug and get around and I just knew I couldn’t do it! But within minutes, just like that, he was back. Part of me was hoping he’d say nope, no can do! But, he said, yes, let’s go for it!
And so we began the descent, everything in me shaking worse than a leaf on a windy day, and then we started the ascent, the words of Joshua 1:9 echoing in my soul, granting me courage … until we made it to that one spot I just didn’t know how I was going to get by. I literally felt nauseous, discouraged because courage had gotten me into this mess. But that lasted only momentarily. With Cheryl already past it, and Rodney directly in front of me holding out his hand, my husband behind me promising he had my back, and His promise now reverberating in the seat of my soul, I made it around those rocks, up even further and back down to Lover’s Beach.
To say I felt exhilaration is probably a major understatement. I think it’s more accurate to say that His promise came alive in me again that day. I tied another knot in my strand of faith by believing what He says He will do, He will do!
Take a moment, Coffee Hour friend, and think about a leap of faith and the courage you need to jump … and then … take His hand and jump into His promises that will give you courage, even when you are discouraged!


In His courageous and relentless love,

Evinda

Coffee in Cabo April's WOW

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Joshua 1:9: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Welcome to our Coffee from Cabo and more of our WOW! I can’t believe April’s gone … almost. Grab your coffee and your Strand of Faith, and let’s go tie some knots as we learn more about courage in the face of discouragement.
Before I left to come to Cabo, I did do a word study on this word in the Hebrew and Greek concordance and I thought it would be fun and a bit enlightening to share with you a couple of the definitions for this particular context found in our WOW. “Be strong, strengthened; moral strength combined with physical. To be alert physical or mentally in courage; established, steadfastly-minded.”
How many of us are alert physically and mentally enough that when we are in the world we don’t act like the world? How does one find courage to go against the grain without compromising themselves, their faith and their courage? Or how does one find the courage to do what they know they need to do but have struggled to do it? Oh, but this question has plagued me on this trip, truly! In fact, it hit me like a forceful wave in the ocean that pulls at one’s emotions in its hardest hits. See, book signings are a bit of a struggle for me but I have to say this year, it was easier and I think it’s because my focus is now more on/in my calling of helping others in the trenches, and the books were the platform that He used to lead me there. Let me tell you, though, it takes courage to put yourself out there, to invite people to your table to look through the books. But with a little help from my friend, Cheryl, and a whole lot of “Lord, help me’s,” I did better than I ever have at a book signing, and I don’t mean book sales. By the time the afternoon one came around, I was much more confident, and ready to meet more people.
I need to give you this little piece of the puzzle to help you understand why this was courageous, if you will, for me to do what I did: I’m an introvert; in other words, I get my energy from being alone with my God and because I allow Him to pour into me daily, I can pour out. But the more I pour out, the longer I need to sit still and allow Him to pour in. I hope that makes sense. Okay, let’s get back to the afternoon session of the book signing.
As we were finishing setting up, a man stopped by and began talking with me, and out of nowhere asked so why do you write? I was sort of startled by that question and immediately thought, well, do I share my faith? “Courage won and I just said, I write from a place of healing because of an active relationship with my Living God.”
Well, he began to ask me all sorts of theological intellectual questions, and as I rewind the conversation – it was a long one – I realize that with each answer I gave, that prompted another question with a whole host of scriptural addresses. Now, that sort of thing intimidates me just a bit and I didn’t have a problem letting him know that while I’m nowhere versed on all the addresses he had quoted, I was familiar with the context. I also said I had much to learn and study as it relates to the Bible and in my journey, much of what I’m learning has come to life in my life. He then asked me this question: “At what level of spiritual maturity do you write?”
Again, I hesitated, but I know that I know that my God gave me the answer as I pointed to each book: “Well, this one was the first one and so the level of healing experienced when I wrote this one is nowhere near this one,” as I pointed to my latest book. He seemed pleased with that answer, but now there are people starting to come to the table and I need to end the conversation … as politely as I could, but he wasn’t having it! Here’s what he told me: “I’m here to tell you you’re in sin; using your faith to make it big, but I’m here to hold your hand; remember, there’s now therefore no condemnation”! Emphasis on the!!!!
I was stunned… and discouraged, but only for a moment and in that moment God filled me with courage, enough courage to ask him why he would say that and then more courage to reply to him that I was there to not make a name for myself but to offer hope so that others would see the reality of the necessity of our loving God. I also shared with him that the journey I’ve been on has been divinely orchestrated and I couldn’t have dreamt it, let alone created it. Then I invited him to write his email address down and proceeded to tell the others at the table that I would be right with them.
Oh, courage is necessary to push past the discouragement of what others may or may not think of us! Let me share one more example and then I’ll let you go.
It was the day after the book signing and we all were out at the pool and suddenly the whole scene just punched me hard and all I wanted to do was run. It’s not that anyone was doing anything wrong, per say; it’s just that I don’t fit in with the party scene, don’t even want to and yet, I needed to feel like I belonged somewhere! So you know what I did? I got up, told my husband what I was feeling, and got up and left!
My head and heart were a jumbled mess, like seaweed all tangled up, tripping me up so before I blurted something out I didn’t mean or even understand, I needed to go be alone with God, sort of work through all those weeds of thought. Have you ever felt like that, like you just don’t belong where you are currently? It was incredibly discouraging!
I headed to our room and once inside, I couldn’t sit still, so I walked outside our back door onto the sand and toward the beckoning ocean.
Oh, but the sea has a way of singing just the right song at just the right tempo, always different, but doing the same thing: calming me. As I sat there and talked it out with God, wondering why I had such an overwhelming feeling like that of not wanting to be where I was and not fitting in, I realized that I’m getting to understand me better, and my needs, my likes and dislikes and my inner struggle and/or convictions don’t need to change anyone else’s.
I asked Abba to give me courage to stand for my convictions and not get lost in a need to be understood, or in my desire to belong somewhere, somehow with someone. I’m not sure how long I sat there … enjoying the seagulls gliding in for a landing to take a little siesta, right at the ocean’s ebbing, and I thought about the truth that it takes courage to be discouraged, especially when you are still fitting into your new God-given skin!
Yes, Lord, you have commanded me to be strong and of good courage; to not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for You are with me wherever I go! Go ahead; re-write the verse according to this moment of time in your life!
Until tomorrow,

Evinda

The Waiting Room … In the Hospital of Life March's WOW

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.: Phil. 1:6
Wow, do I ever need a break right now! Grab your coffee and your Strand of Faith and let’s get back to the hospital that we may encourage one another in The Waiting Room … of the Hospital of Life!
So what if we were to look at life the way we know it and live it as a hospital? Before being admitted to the hospital, often an exam is required, and often there is a waiting time so the first room we must visit is the waiting room.
What do we do in the waiting room? How do we behave? Are we frustrated, anxious, irritable, especially when we are not feeling well? I know whenever I don’t feel well, I certainly don’t feel like engaging with others, so whenever I am literally in a waiting room to see my doctor, I either read a book – especially now that I’m back in school -- or play a game of Solitaire on my “smart” phone … funny thing is that phone’s pretty smart because I don’t always win my games! But I sure do enjoy having something to take my mind off of the waiting! Having something to do while waiting keeps my thoughts away from jumping off the cliff into a pool of frustration.
Now let’s bring that waiting room analogy into our personal circumstances.
I mentioned that my husband is not working, right? He’s been out of work for more than four weeks now … and the cry of his heart is not to find a job – that’s right. Every time someone asks him what type of job he’s looking for, he quite confidently corrects them: “I’m not looking for a job; I’m looking for a business opportunity.”
People’s responses vary, and I just love watching the eyebrows go up, but many get it … and I do too. But how long must we wait? Will it be until the savings is drained? Will it be until tomorrow? Next week? Next month? Will we have to lose it all to gain that one thing?
What about those of us who are waiting for Him to perform a medical miracle in the lives of those whose life is leaving them? Many of us wonder why suffering has to go on for so long, why pain has to be their constant companion, why waiting is necessary, even when the end of a physical life is hovering over a loved one.
How is it that we wait?
And there’s another circumstance that requires waiting … not writing off; that of a broken relationship. With each day that goes by, do we allow ourselves to erase a little bit more of the love we once felt? Do we stay stuck in the words that seemed to have severed that once important relationship? Do we hit replay over and over again on the hurt that was inflicted upon us?
Oh, how true it is that waiting is so much part of the process of His work that He has begun in each one of us, “but those who wait upon the Lord the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31 NKJV)
Waiting on Him and abiding in Him,

Evinda

Monday Manna from Castro's Corner

Happy Monday Manna!
As August comes to an end, fall approaches quicker than ever. The year has flown by once again and 2015 is just around the corner, unreal! As we get older, it seems that we lose the ability to “take it all in,” or at least I do, as life rushes by quicker than a train without brakes. Sometimes it’s just good to stop, breathe, and be still as we reflect on what God has done in our lives. Hopefully today’s reading will fuel you up and prepare you for a new week!
Last week was definitely an emotionally and physically draining week. I felt like the enemy was on the prowl and it was my week to be on the receiving end of his assault. I often wonder what is actually taking place in the spiritual realm. I sometimes imagine that the enemy and his entourage of fallen angels are lurking somewhere in the darkness as they watch and see if the trap set before me will bring me into submission or if through prayer, I will overcome and claim my victory in Christ. I have always wondered what that battlefield would look like. I’m reminded of Ephesians 6:12: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
As I felt like I was getting beaten, I did my best to keep my composure by refraining from saying something to someone that I know could have potentially caused a lot of damage. I know the danger involved with this, since I’ve blown in many a time before and the consequences are huge…after all words can kill and unfortunately I’ve learned this the hard way.
I called my wife Kay to inform her of what had happened and I began venting to her in such a way that she cut me off and said “Garrett, I understand that somebody has done you wrong but you have to let it go…you have to understand that you are being tested.”
Prolific words from my wife who has heard me vent a few too many times about this particular situation and I just sat there in silence on the other line.
There are times where we feel like we are being beaten and we feel compelled to remind the world of how it needs to “Play fair.” Unfortunately, it often takes us getting beaten for the world to see our light. Pastor John Courson nailed it when he quoted – “And He was beaten, and beaten, and beaten, and beaten but He never gave up; He never whimped out; He never backed down…and that’s when the light was seen.” Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ knew that He would literally be taking on the world as He carried His cross to Mt. Calvary. He was beaten; He was bruised. He was smitten, and He was afflicted for our transgressions and at His death that Roman centurion knew that this man was the Son of God. His light was seen.
That’s what I want. I want people to see Christ when they see me being beaten, when they see me afflicted, when they see me stricken. I want to take up my cross every day and even though it will be painful I pray that God will give me the strength to deny myself and overcome. I pray that He will do the same for you as well. God Bless and have an awesome week.
In His Love,

Garrett Castro

Am I a Parrot or an Eagle-November’s WOW from Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for joining me for a little break today and the conclusion to our WOW for this month. Grab your coffee and come on in and let’s wait a while together as we dig for diamonds in these words of wisdom found in Isaiah 40:31.

So this next part of the verse is why I titled the WOW what I did, but I had no idea I’d find so many truths to tie in my thread of faith that make this title ring out with beauty and nothing like a parrot! “They shall mount up with wings as eagles” definitely got my curiosity years ago when I read this verse for the very first time and it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I heard one pastor’s explanation for the use of the eagle. See, when an eagle is soaring, their wingspan can be as large as eight feet wide, the widest of any bird!

What I so love about our Father speaking about an eagle to and through Isaiah is He could have said, Those of you who wait on/in me, I’ll raise you up on wings of a parrot or a duck, for that matter, but He chose the most amazing bird with the most fascinating wingspan to illustrate His love and compassion for us in our times of waiting. Also, a parrot reminds me of someone who talks the talk and doesn’t walk the walk, but an eagle, well, talk about meek and beautiful!

But there’s more to this than I thought. As I researched about this, I came across a very old commentary regarding this verse which explains that the verb “waiting” brings rest which renews strength, allowing the ascending/raising of the wings. Clarke’s Commentary points out that “It has been a common and popular opinion that the eagle lives and retains his vigor to a great age; and that, beyond the common lot of other birds, he moults in his old age, and renews his feathers, and with them his youth.

And finally, the meaning of the Hebrew is simply, “‘they shall ascend on wings as eagles, or they shall lift up the wings as eagles; and the image is derived from the fact that the eagle rises on the most vigorous wing of any bird, and ascends apparently further toward the sun. The figure, therefore, denotes strength and vigor of purpose; strong and manly piety; an elevation above the world; communion with God, and a nearness to his throne – as the eagle ascends toward the sun.”

Oh, to walk the walk, or fly the journey with wings as an eagle instead of talk the walk like a parrot!
I love what Barnes writes in his commentary about this particular verse, and especially about the last few words: “They shall run and not be weary.” “This passage, also, is but another mode of expressing the same idea – that they who trust in God would be vigorous, elevated, unwearied; that He would sustain and uphold them; and that in His service they would never faint.”

This analogy was at first directed to the Jews in captivity in Babylon to encourage them to put their trust in God. But it is as true now as it was at that time. Many of us who have been in some form of captivity, have experienced some season of painful waiting have found that by waiting on the Lord, our heart has been invigorated; our faith has been confirmed; and our affections have been raised above the world. I know where my strength comes from to endure a circumstance without complaining – well, almost without complaint — to engage in continuous duty without fainting, to pursue the twists and turns in the journey of life without exhaustion, and to rise above the world in hope and peace.

Rising up to the occasion of life,

Evinda

Am I a Parrot or an Eagle-November’s WOW from Chicklit Power

Is it really November 1st? At the risk of sounding like a parrot, I have to confess, I’m not sure where the year has gone, because we all know that with the holidays, the New Year will be here in the blink of an eye! Wow, what a blur! Grab your coffee and come on in for our monthly words of wisdom and weapons of warfare.

I wasn’t too sure what we were supposed to talk about for our WOW, so instead of relying on my own understanding, I asked Him, and last Saturday, in the midst of my run, He reminded me of all that I am learning as I practice living outside my circumstances. I must confess, I am blown away by how much easier it is when scripture comes to life right smack in the middle of my circumstance, enabling me to rise above it instead of staying stuck in it. Not only does this month’s wow do just that, but it holds me accountable, keeping me from just talking the talk instead of walking the walk, or flying the coop!

So let’s get into our words of wisdom and weapons of warfare found in Isaiah 40:31: Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings of eagles, they shall run and not grow weary; they shall walk and not grow faint.

There are a few word pictures in here so let’s break this down so it will root in our heart and take flight in our hearts. The first words that beckon me to stop and ponder them are “wait on the Lord…” The verb wait never used to be anything I liked to do, and in some cases, it’s still a struggle. But when you add “on the Lord” to the equation, that’s like saying wait + the Lord = Hope, so it’s gotten a lot easier for me.

There are so many circumstances, seasons, difficulties that require us to wait: The mom waits for her prodigal child to return from his/her wandering. The wife waits for her husband to join her in her faith. The childless woman waits to conceive. The jobless person is waiting for a job while the ownership of their home is dwindling away. The hungry homeless man is waiting for food and shelter. The trafficked victim is waiting to experience a rescue. Some of us are waiting for someone we love to get over their addictions.

The list goes on and on and on. All of these themes of waiting have the same theme: they signify a measure of faith, a sort of looking toward or for, a faith that fuels hope, or is it hope that fuels the faith?

Back in the days of Isaiah, the term “wait upon” referred to servants waiting for their Master’s orders! Have we strayed from that waiting? In modern usage, those who wait are those who show their confidence in the God’s ability and willingness to fulfill His promises by patiently awaiting their fulfillment. Let me turn to my concordance and see what we find.

OMG, the Hebrew translation for the word “wait” is to adhere to! That makes my skin tingle as I visualize that. I can literally see myself clinging to Him, sometimes loosely, and oftentimes ever so tightly. I want so much to paint this verbal picture so you can see yourself adhering to Him! Picture a tree and its branches. The branches don’t worry about how they will stay attached; they just are. He is the tree and we are His branches. He’s our glue when we feel we are coming unglued!

During these tough situations of waiting on the Lord, there is something to help us wait, a promise if you will: renewed strength! Then if that’s the case, I’m not really waiting on my own, but on and in Him and when I am losing strength, I simply just need to come back to my source of strength. I can also almost see an exchange taking place here, the waiting for renewed strength. Wow, after all I’ve learned about waiting, it all boils down to the truth that this type of waiting is restful!

Whew, I’d better let you go for now, but please join me tomorrow for the conclusion of our monthly WOW! We won’t have Power Friday like we usually do because I don’t want to interrupt this!

Renewed,

Evinda