this is my story, this is my song

i'm linking up today to Lysa TerKeurst's Blog & this post:

two years ago, i heard about a conference. the Proverbs 31 Ministries "She Speaks Conference". several of the bloggers that i follow daily were going. while they were there, they posted photos & when they returned back home, they blogged about it. it sounded like a great conference & a little seed of a dream was planted within me. hmmmh. maybe i could go in 2009.

well, you know how it goes.

life sometimes gets in the way of little dreams. we lead the usual active lives. we're involved in a lot of ministries, we have a large family, we watch our grandchildren during the day & we have a lot of health issues.

during the year, i kept talking about the conference with shelly, my husband. he kept encouraging me to do it(probably just so he could get some alone time for himself, hah!). the cost was a major factor. we usually like to spend our money on other people, not ourselves. but, shelly thought i should go & do the "She Speaks" track but i wasn't so sure. heaven knows i'm not a very good public speaker(but i do it when God says to do it) but i really felt that i should do the "she leads" sessions. well, by the time i got around to going online to register in 09, i found that registration was closed. at first, i thought i hadn't been obedient in listening to the Holy Spirit's leading & as a result, didn't move fast enough & would miss out. but now i know that the timing wasn't right.

i love God's perfect timing. i pray for sensitivity to His timing. i always pray that i won't go ahead of God but will wait for Him. of course, too often than not, i plow on ahead so full of myself. but He is so patient with me. giving me opportunity after opportunity to wait for him. (click here to read a story about what happens when you wait on God)

he gives me so many great opportunities to serve him, as well. i've always had a passion for women's ministry & in serving the Lord through serving His women.

but, in 2001, i found myself in an odd place. i had just gone through a battle with breast cancer. the Lord had given me a single verse from His Word for the battle: Exodus 16:4 “I will rain down bread from heaven” each & every day, i asked the Lord to give me what was needed for just that day. (like the israelites, i would be tested. would i trust & obey when my very life was at stake?) so i started with a lumpectomy, followed by just 3 rounds of chemo that had to be stopped because it was killing me. the chemo was followed by a radical mastectomy (without reconstructive surgery). & i was found to be cancer free! praise the Lord, He had surely healed me. the tumor had been small but very aggressive & the 3 rounds of chemo were not enough to get rid of it but only to shrink it & i was supposed to start radiation after the mastectomy. but now it wasn't needed. i was healed. i no longer had a breast, but i was healed. i will forever sing of the mighty healing power of our Lord Jesus Christ! i only asked him to give me what i needed for each day but He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us (Ephesians 3:20).

but that's not the end of the story. the chemo had been so strong that it wrecked havoc on my already weakened immune system(from a condition that i've had for a very long time). i started getting infection after infection, shingles, pleurisy, & even a strep infection in my chest muscles. i had an allergic reaction to quinine (from malaria tablets i took for a work & witness trip) & my skin peeled from head to toe, again & again, for weeks on end. the chemo had caused memory loss & i had trouble with concentration & i was sent straight into menopause. i started having anxiety attacks. i started questioning the Lord. why did He heal me & then send me into this? was the struggle with cancer so much worse? why was this happening?
and i began to have this restless feeling in my spirit. the Holy Spirit started speaking to me of God's great love. His healing of me wasn't intended to be the end of the story but the beginning of an even closer walk with Him. i would need to lean on Him more & more, not less. i must still pray that He will provide me with what i need for each day & be thankful for what he has given me & continues to give.

during this difficult time in 2001, he gave me a beautiful gift: an unquenchable thirst for His Word. i had always been such a "martha", always doing the needed & necessary tasks. now, He was calling me to sit at His feet & learn. I think Matthew 4:4 is the perfect follow-up after Exodus 16:4. we go from God giving me manna from heaven, which was just what I needed for each day to what Jesus says here. "it is written: man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." the humor of it does not fail to escape me. here i was, couldn't remember even my name somedays, & God calls me to His Word to remember it & live on it!

this led me to praying & studying His Word with just 1 friend (bless you Holly Welty!) & then 2(i love you Michele Abraham) & then there were 4 of us. for 2 yrs. we studied & prayed & out of that, an interdenominational Bible Study was started that now has over 100 women & over 60 children, with Holly Welty leading as the Teaching Director. the Lord allowed me the privilege of serving as the Coordinator of the Community Bible Study Columbus Northeast Day Class starting in the spring of 2003 to the spring of 2008. what a blessing to be daily in His Word & serving Him & His women in this way.

& then the Lord did a new thing. He called me away from that. what?!?

He called me back to my church(NAFCON) to be a part of the women's ministry team there. first, as a member of the team & since last fall, i've been the leader. what an awesome privilege it is! & what an awesome responsibility, as well.

i've been reading & praying & looking online & reading & praying for all the help i can get. my team (God's team!) are all very special women. they are so excited about what we get to do & the prayer is that God will be glorified through our women's ministry & all of our efforts.

one of the first things that was implemented last fall was a blog for our women. for this year, we chose a theme to carry us through the year & to unify us as a body of believers: one body, one mind, one purpose. and we're focusing on 12 verses, the "one anothers". you can read all about it on our blog: ICU WOMEN'S MINISTRY

so NOW - i really must go to the conference.

i've already registered & i'm going to the "she leads" sessions. i want to learn everything i possibly can about leading women to the throne of God, equipping them & serving them. and i'm also excited about the opportunity to rub elbows with women who are also serving the Lord in this way.

could i ask you to pray for our team & our ministry? could i ask you to pray for me & my health? i remain cancer free (thank you, Jesus) but i continue with some real issues (thank you, Jesus) that i need some relief from.

and, Lord willing, on july 30, 2010, i'll be in charlotte, n.c. at the She Speaks Conference.

if you're interested in going & could use a scholarship, go here to learn more.
i'm hoping that i win one of the scholarships.

i know this hasn't been my usual blog post. but -
this is my story, this is my song.


blessings & peace -

giveaway winner

without further ado -

the winner of a painting of their choice from CDE Designs is:

True Random Number Generator Min: 1 Max: 6 Result: 4 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

i do believe #4 is:

amanda at serenity now

congratulations, amanda! email me at randeeparker@gmail.com with your address & your choice & your prize package will be on the way to you!

thanks, everyone, for checking out corrie's etsy & for stopping by here.

have a nice weekend -

CDE DESIGNS Giveaway

i'm having a giveaway to commemorate the amazing accomplishment of actually writing 100 posts for this blog. (me accomplishing 100 of anything is pretty amazing)

what started out in january 2007 as a journal of getting in shape to go to italy very quickly turned into nothing. italy didn't happen, due to lack of interest from a certain someone & health issues with the other person. so only 6 posts were written in 2007.

in 2008 i started my 2nd attempt at blogging. i had a new interest & a new focus. we had moved into a different & newer home & i had discovered decorating blogs. Rhoda's from Southern Hospitality was the first one i found. this is what i wrote on feb. 13th, 2008:
Somehow I came upon a blog called "Southern Hospitality". This gal in Birmingham, Alabama writes about decorating & all her great finds at garage sales, thrift stores, etc. She also posts photos of her finds & her house. I noticed that she has about 100 links to similar blogs of women all around the world with the same interests. So, of course, I felt compelled to check out all these other blogs, 1 at a time, several a day, which has consumed way too much of my time the last few weeks but has been so much fun. 99% of them post lots of photos of what they're cooking each day, what they are crafting, creating, selling, how they're decorating for each month. I love it! I'm one of those people that like to ride down the streets in the evening looking in windows (no closer than from the car, however) to see how people have their houses decorated. Now, these people are inviting me into their homes & they don't even know me! I've gotten so many great ideas. I may even start posting my photos! Well, I guess I have already posted a few, haven't I? But now you may get to see the inside of my house! 2008 also brought me 3 more grandchildren to add to the 1 i already had & i love to blog about them. you really do see the world through "new & improved" eyes when you have grandchildren. i managed to write 28 posts for that year & they were mostly or maybe all about my family.

in 2009 i decided to step outside of my comfort zone & join some linky parties to show what i could do. what a lot of fun!

come back tomorrow & i'll tell you about them. can't do it right now because ------

i want to tell you about the GIVEAWAY.



it's a painting from CDE DESIGNS.
you can go here to check out the store. these are the most adorable little paintings. they are only 5" square but cute as can be. would be sooooo sweet in a kids room or bathroom.

i know the artist well. in fact, i gave birth to her just a few or thirty some years ago. she's my daughter & when she's not chasing after her own daughter, you can find her creating something sweet!

here's how you can win:

go to the etsy store & look at her paintings. come back & leave a comment telling me which one you like, that gets you your 1st chance to win. if you sign up to follow me, you get a 2nd entry. if you come back & tell me you're sending a friend & they come by, you'll get a 3rd entry.

i'll be doing a random drawing of all the entries. one lucky person will win.

if you win - you'll get your choice of one of the paintings & i'm sure ;) there will be a little something extra to go with it.

i'll be announcing the winner on friday, the 19th.

thrifty find and 100th post

so glad Rhoda at Southern Hospitality has resumed her weekly party to showcase all the thrifty finds out here in bloggyland. it’s a little too early for garage sales in ohio but weekly trips to GW are a must around our house. (wish we were better at the “something must go out for each thing that comes in”. oh, well!)

one day – i happened upon these knives.

didn’t need them, but i LOVE THEM SO MUCH! i’m assuming that they are bakelite.

i know they’re from denmark but beyond that, i can’t find any info.

BUT THE PRICE – 1.99 for 6 table knives.

i had to buy them.

just had to.

absolutely positively had to.

they remind me of yummy caramels.

&– this is my 100th post since starting this blog.

so - i’m going to have a giveaway to celebrate the event. stop back on tuesday, the 16th, for the details.

peace -

delightfully beachy!

back in september, i came to amanda's party & showed everyone this room

it's my keeping room. just a small room off the kitchen where we watch tv & videos & it's where i keep my cookbooks. it's one of our deer watching rooms, too (we have a herd of 20 in the woods behind our house).

the paint is a milk chocolate brown color, i don't know the actual name, it was that color when we moved in. i like yellows, golds, even oranges so the brown was really getting me down.

i didn't have anything up at the windows other than the wooden blinds that are on all of the windows in the house.

so i needed help & i knew who to ask. you all!

& "you all" came to my rescue. amanda, nancy, songbirdtiff, xazmin, beth, diana, & alanna rose all gave me suggestions of what to do. somehow i read "beachy tv room" in those suggestions & went to town with it!

i kept everything in the room except for the desk & 1 chair & then i shopped the house to accessorize. i love anything having to do with the beach so i had lots of things to choose from.

let me show you around -

a bit of a contrast from this

to this

and from this

to this

i had bought these curtains on sale at target last spring & had never gotten around to doing anything with them.

the beachy frames are from goodwill (brand new from target)

the stupid curtain clips cost as much as the curtains!

this sign was one of my prizes from kimba’s diy day last summer, it’s from whiteflower farmhouse. i love it soooo much!

had a dropcloth so i made a couple of pillows. just took 8 1/2 x 11 canvas & printed this out & sewed it on {before making the pillow ; ) } then i hot glued the twine around it. we’ll see how fast my grandchildren can pull it off & which kid does the deed! hah!

this pillow i left open on the sides & tied it with brown ribbon

my daughter corrie made this little piece for me for christmas

and she did this one, too. once again, using canvas in the printer.

this photo shows the true color of the wall.

the lantern was on my front porch. (probably still has porch crap inside of it). just hung it from a strip of burlap.

this is one of the few new things in the room. just bought it yesterday at homegoods. it was too white, so i used the ralph lauren smoke glaze to “beachy” it up.

this is how it looked before

this is an old mirror of corrie’s that was in my basement, so i dry brushed a bit of ivory paint on it. it’s a dark pine underneath.

gotta go mingle awhile now. thanks, amanda, for hosting this awesome party.

next time i'll boil some shrimp for the get-together.

i love you a latte

has your fireplace ever talked to you?

mine has.

honest, it has.

see this bare spot

the one just under the mantle, see the big framed rectangle (with the tacky command hook stuck to it)

the big framed rectangle started talking to me (in a smoky voice kind of jessica the rabbit voice). she said:

“what’s up with the tacky command hook? i’m not the kind of girl to show her underwear, especially that kind!”

so – i started dressing her. a little easter thingy

a little autumn attire

but still – she wasn’t happy. she said (in her smoky, jessica the rabbit voice) “you just don’t get me, do ya? i need to be heard. i have a voice & i have something to say.”

i thought i understood, so down came the command hook & up went a banner.

& she was happy.

or so i thought. but somewhere along the way, i forgot what she had said. and soon i reverted back to my old ways.

occasionally words would be used - so sometimes she was happy

but sometimes she was not happy. even the use of red didn’t seem to help.

all eyes had been diverted upward & she was not amused.

“hey! i deserve more than a sideshot from a distance! & what’s with this flimsy bow & heart? i have something to say!”

meanwhile, back at the ranch, er i mean back at the parker house i was getting ready for my valentine’s coffee that you can read about here.

i kept being drawn to jessie, the big white rectangle (when i should have been doing important things like cleaning, cooking, paying bills). i could tell she was trying to say something & it involved my cricut. what? my cricut?

so down to my little crafting area in the basement i went. i went online in search of just the right “wingdingy” font. when i found it, i had my dear, darling hubbie download it to my zillion other fonts.

i went to my sure cuts a lot program & started composing what i thought jessie might want to say. then i turned on my cricut & started cutting.

jessie’s soooo clever, she knew a little play on words was needed for a morning like that.

*dear jessie, my sweet white rectangle under my mantle -

thank you for providing me with the just the right words to say to my friends.

love,

randee

p.s.

i love you a latte, too*

****************************************

if you want to see some creative cricuting, go here:

this is jen from more than we deserve. she’s my great nephew’s wife & i adore her & you will, too.

if you’re looking for some darling little paintings – go here. this is corrie from change is good. she’s my daughter & i love her soooooo much & you will, too.

peace -

i’m linking up to kimba’s diy day