Y’all.

Here’s the thing. I wasn’t planning on going to Deeper Still in Atlanta this weekend. In fact, Mom had asked us repeatedly to go, but for some crazy reason, none of the sisters wanted to go. Fast forward to the SheSpeaks Conference, where my friends Sophie and Melanie are talking Deeper Still up like a storm. So I beg Mama to have mercy and get us tickets… though a little late. As usual, she succeeded. Duh.

And let me tell y’all. This was an amazing event. 19,000 women seeking God. Are you kidding me? It was insane. You can go to the LifeWay Blog to see updates from the front rows. (Check this out- this is what happens when you are a REALLY good blogger. Yeah, those seats are none-too-shabby, girls. Nice job.)

Which I swear I wasn’t stalking them- they know I took that picture…. well, Sophie and Melanie do. I didn’t check with Beth or Travis, but I’ll call their cell phones later to check.

I’m gonna let you figure out whether I mean that or not.

We were there Friday night and most of the day Saturday. Each session began with a video clip about each of their lives, then worship, then teaching for each women individually. The afternoon had all three women sitting together on stage in a panel like Q&A.

The worship was amazing- the voices. Oh. My. Gracious. It was like an orchestra of beauty. I could have listened for a long LONG time.

And the teaching was unlike any I’ve gotten to sit under in a while. Deep. Challenging. Smart. Encouraging. Did I say CHALLENGING?!? All three of these women, Beth Moore, Kay Arthur, and Priscilla Shirer, brought fresh words that were very timely and very scriptural. And maybe a bit CHALLENGING.

Which is good, y’all.

These women. They love the Bible. I leave their sessions and, among other things, think this- I want to love the Bible like that.

And I think they would consider that a success.

There are tons of great pictures and some live blogging up on the DEEPER STILL BLOG, so you can check that out too.

Another joy to my weekend was spending time with these girls. It has somehow happened that a mere weekend together, a handful of texts, and far too many emails, has made us real friends. And I’m grateful. They are both wise women in the Lord and a few steps ahead of me in life- it is NEVER a bad choice to add to your arsenal of mentors, I say.

My Mama, Mom’s friend Melissa, and my friend Kathleen, Sophie, Melanie, and myself ate lunch together outside. And Kathleen made these shut-up-how-in-the-world delicious brownies. Because she loves all things bloggish, though she refuses to blog herself, we have named these desserts Blogger Brownies. Please. If you love me at all, you will make these for yourself. If I could make them and send them, I would. But it is never wise for me to bake this amount of awesome when I’m alone in the house…. there will be nothing left to ship out. [At least I know my limits.] Enjoy!

BLOGGER BROWNIES

1 box yellow cake mix
1 stick of butter, melted
1 1/2 cup chopped nuts, divided
1 cup brown sugar
2 8oz packages of cream cheese, softened

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9×13″ pan. Combine cake mix, melted butter and 3/4 cups nuts. Press into bottom of dish. Combine brown sugar and cream cheese until well mixed. Spread evenly over cake mix crust; sprinkle with remaining nuts. Bake 25-30 minutes. Cool. Cut into squares. Store in refrigerator.

Yes, you have come to the right place.

Things are kinda getting switched up around here at the ole blog, but don’t you worry about it.

Just cause the restaurant gets a fancy new menu doesn’t mean the food is any different.

And by “fancy”, I mean “a shorter name that doesn’t feel ridiculous to say outloud to people when they ask the title of my blog”.

Don’t stress about changing your blog roll [thanks for having me on your blog roll], cause there are bigger changes coming and I’m not one to lay a yoke of multi-link changing on your neck.

So just hang on and I’ll give you the thumbs up when it’s time for the ole switcharoo.

For the weekend, I’m HERE, at Deeper Still in Atlanta. (You can check in throughout the day as Sophie aka BooMama and Melanie aka BigMama blog their little hearts out live from the event.)

There aren’t even good words to start to explain what God is doing. Ok, here’s one – BIG.

We’ll talk later.

Question: “What does Annie do?”

Annie Blogs.

See? Easy huh? I know. I like it too.

I went to pick up a friend at the Atlanta Airport today. It always amazes me the mass amount of people that travel through this building in a day.

As I arrived a few minutes early, pear-scented air freshener hanging from my rear view mirror, I decided just to go on inside instead of waiting at the curb.

There is a long escalator from the tram to the baggage claim. If you are meeting someone, you stand at the top of the escalator, about 30 feet back behind a seriously enforced yellow line and wait.

I was there for only two minutes or so when a woman yelled, “Welcome home, soldier!” and then the crowd began to clap.

I clapped, thinking she was a bit too loud for my personal “public place” preference, but I understand her excitement over a family member or loved one returning home.

But as I stayed there, she continued. Apparently it is a service provided now, on a volunteer basis, for the soldiers. A welcome home, a hug from a sweet lady, the offer of a cell phone to call someone, a gentle leading in the direction of the luggage.

The first time was a shock. The second time, an investigation. By the third, fourth, fifth times- I was dripping tears on my book. To watch these family members see their soldier for the first time in who knows how long was a bit much on the emotions.

And you never knew when it was coming. There could be two trams with no soldiers, and then one tram with ten. And every time, family members would come running from amongst the crowd, usually weeping, and embrace the one who has just arrived. Rarely have I seen people so grateful to be home. So grateful to have made it home. So grateful to be picking someone up from the airport who somehow made it home.

It was a bit much for me. I didn’t see it coming.

So I provide this public service to you.

Should you find yourself waiting for someone in the Atlanta airport, there are men and women who have been serving our country returning through here. And their families love them deeply. And you will have to stand there and watch as they are appropriately appreciated for their hard work and sacrifice. You will clap, even if you don’t mean to. You can try to look away, but your gaze will be drawn back to the raw beauty of it all.

It will mess with your heart.

Consider yourself warned.

I leave for Scotland in 12 days. I could not be more excited. Nervous. Ready. Unprepared.

I pray and believe that something happened in the spiritual realm on this day. This was at a Christian music festival held in Scotland last month. Was I pumped to see Christian musicians filling Scotland with their songs? You better believe it.

Singing “Jesus is alive” in the shadows of the Edinburgh castle? Yes and amen.

I am really excited to take part in the 40 Day Fast. Today is my day to fast, pray, and share with you about a ministry that is making a difference in the world. We want to see God’s Kingdom here on Earth. Let’s love, and live, like it. Also blogging today is P.D. Ross. Pray for these ministries, and all the others blogged about these 40 days, as God uses them to make His name famous around the globe.

I’ve been to an orphanage once. Not because I wanted to, but because it fit in that file of “I’m in Africa so I should do more than lay at the beach”. Do you have that file? Get one.

I thought I knew what to expect, I mean- haven’t we all seen the commercials? But I had no idea. What I found, at that orphanage in Ghana, was virtually a kid city. Classes. Dorm Rooms. Big kids feeding the babies. Loving adults. Volunteers galore. Soccer games. Art classes. It was awesome.

That day was moved to the “Great Experiences” folder, just so you know.

Every orphanage is not this way, as Lindsay Orr discovered in Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa.

When Lindsay arrived at Ithemba Community Center, it was definitely not what she expected. 200 orphaned children stream through there from 7am-7pm, almost like a day care center. But there was not enough food. There was no medication for the sick ones. There was only one large room and a fenced play yard. No school. No Biblical education. Just a building.

These children still came, even though there was so little to be had. A heartbreaking testimony of their lives- if one apple slice was more than they could get on their own, what was their life like outside of these bare walls?

Where would they get an education? Was there any hope of these children succeeding on their own without it? And had they even heard of Jesus? Without Him, they would never know hope. The Community Center was a step in the right direction, but it needed help. A lot of help.

So Lindsay came home. A twenty-something single girl from Atlanta. Not rich, not famous, just willing. And she decided that she had to do something. Because those children aren’t just subjects in a picture, they are future adults. They are a generation. And they are of great worth to God.

Mere months later, Lindsay and her fiancé Gavin began their ministry- Luo, which literally means to “set free”. Their mission is to set children free from poverty by supporting them and connecting them with the local community. And when I heard about it, and read about it, I immediately fell in love.

Luo provides those things the children need- an academic education, a Biblical education, food, medication, financial support. But Luo isn’t their savior- the ministry isn’t the focus. The ministry is a conduit- Luo is meant to connect these kids to their surrounding community. Especially in areas like South Africa, where there is extreme riches and extreme poverty, Luo calls upon the local churches to embrace these children and support them.

The goal of Luo is to have the orphanage be sustained by the local church within five to ten years. So Luo doesn’t rush in and bombard the orphanage with Americans- in fact, the teachers and cooks there are local women. The ministry brings the supplies, provides the curriculum, and then says, “Local church, love your neighbors as yourself.”

And now. The children are well fed. They not only are learning to read and write, they are learning to live for Christ. The sick are taken care of and recover. The local community is reaching out. It’s a beautiful start.

But how does Luo raise the money here in America to send the supplies and hire the staff?

Through art. (And this was the coolest part to me. Cause I do love me some artistic children.)

T-shirts designed by the children raised $3,000.

Canvases painted by the kids are given to their sponsors here in the States. One child can be sponsored for one year for $250. Here Lindsay helps one of the children “sign” their piece of art.

When Luo was presented at the Orange Conference in Atlanta, 185 of the 200 children were sponsored. In one day. This money goes to providing the basics to the children, paying for supplies, and giving salaries to the adults.

Now that Ithemba Community Center is doing so well, Lindsay and Gavin are looking around the globe. They desire to find other orphanages, in other cities, countries, continents, that need a jump-start. The places, like Ithemba, that have the opportunity to raise a generation of orphans that love their Heavenly Father, if only those around them would help. Luo believes in setting these children free from poverty- so they may walk with Christ.

Today, I pray for Lindsay and Gavin, for Luo, for the orphans, and for the local church. The people who live around these orphanages. The ones to whom Jesus calls to be His hands and feet. Through Luo’s guidance, may they see the beauty of the opportunity that is in their own city. And may the world be changed through these kids.

Go to Luo’s website to see more videos and pictures, as well as to sponsor a child at Ithemba- there are still some canvases left!

Want to learn more about Luo? Have specific questions?
Email them at info@luo-setfree.org.

Summer is rather revealing.

This morning I had a breakfast meeting to discuss some very important things [such as house remodels and costumes] and then another very important meeting at church [do we make the kids eat the whole can of beans or just hold them in their mouth?]. This entire time, my dear car was sitting. Basking in the sun.

Now you may or may not know this about me. But I tend to err on the side of “messy”.

So my car, being the mirror image of my life that it is, also is a smidge messy.

And when I say “messy”, I mean “for the blog girls to ride in my car on Saturday, I had to throw piles of junk in the trunk.” That kind.

A messy car basking in the sun for a couple of hours can be…. well…. revealing.

Because when I got in my car after my meetings, let’s just say it didn’t have that new car scent. In fact, either my car cooked itself some lunch or something hazardous has melted. Heat has revealed that something is rotting. Inside my car.

The smell is not super strong. It’s not like a “Oh my dear week old Taco Bell burrito!” smell- mainly because I never have burrito leftovers. Obviously.

It’s just a nagging smell. Something being just a bit off. Just enough to make me wonder if there is a small sliver of banana peel under a seat. Or maybe something plastic has melted [this is Georgia- that can happen] and now has gaseous fumes rising from it’s puddle? Not sure. But whatever the mild stink it, you can be certain of this.

It is not bad enough that I want to stand out in the blazing sun and clean my car out.

Yet.

Give it another day or two, when I have to roll down the windows just to be able to breathe, and then I’ll clean it out.

Update- it was tomatoes. Tomatoes I pulled off an Arby’s Turkey Sandwich. Let’s just say as soon as I went back out to my car to go to the next location, the heat had intensified the smell considerably. So a clean out was necessary. Eww.

Ahem.

This blog post is not exactly what you are thinking. Because if you think I would sit and write paragraph after paragraph about bodily function issues…. okay, you’re right. If it was funny enough, I totally would.

But this is a different kind of blockage.

Saturday, after KEYED UP 08 [the incident's official name now], I was trying to think of any way possible to avoid crying. “Make a list,” I said to myself, “of all the things that have gone wrong since you attempted to leave your house on Friday morning.”

Because nothing will dam the tears like a list of things gone awry.

My goal was to leave my house at 9am Friday morning. I was actually ready about 8:40am. Props to me. And then….

1. The book I wanted to listen to did not download completely. Add ten minutes to departure time.

2. Get in the car to go, plug in iPod to get started, and it is COMPLETELY EMPTY. Ooohh boy. 1293 songs missing somewhere between my sofa and the car. This is getting ridiculous. So I go back in, reload the Pod, and end up leaving at 9:10am.

3. Stop to get gas. Every time I swipe my card is says, “GO SEE ATTENDANT”. Like, four times. He kept saying in his thick accent, “I do not know why it will not let you have the gas-o-line.” I was thinking, “Uh, I know why. Cause today is out of control.” The gas pump finally conceded and gave me my 16 gallons.

4. Around 11:3oam, ye ole tummy began to beg, so I started looking for a Chick-fil-A. No luck. FOR SEVENTY MILES. What kind of America do we live in where one can not find a grilled chicken sandwich with a pickle for SEVENTY MILES?

5. In the seventy miles of desolate chicken-free land, I was behind a huge truck carrying rocks. [I bet you can see where this one is going....] One tiny little pebble flings out of the truck and WHACK! Makes one of those spider cracks in my windshield.

At this point, I said outloud, “Are you freaking KIDDING me?”

6. Danny Garmin. I love him. Don’t get me wrong. But let’s just say that his skill is limited in and around the Charlotte area. I had to call the hotel twice to be able to find it. [Which is totally not surprising for me, just surprising when Danny rides with me.]

7. Last, but surely not least, I present the grand-daddy of them all. KEYED UP 08.

Why do I laugh all this stuff off instead of balling up on the floor, sucking my thumb, and weeping?

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them,
because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

- 1 John 4:4

Oh yeah. That’s why.

Well. That was a better week. See for yourself. 1 pound. I’m so cool with that.

Next week-
Exercise 4 times before Sunday
Do Weight Watchers Core Program Monday-Sunday. [Small goals, people. Small goals.]

Check on EVERYBODY ELSE! (We started at 70+, now down to the 30s? Tragic. Hang in there, commenters. Only YOU can prevent blog-drop-outs. So give these folks some love.)

And for you guys who look for my updates every week on Carlos’ link [which is super kind and much appreciated], I’m doing the ole name switcharoo after this week. Instead of “AnnieD”, look for “AnnieBlogs”. It’s a long complicated story involving intense blog-peer pressure and a bunch of girls shoving me in a locker, stealing my lunch, and threatening to beat my blog up if I didn’t switch names.

Not really. They didn’t steal my lunch.

Focus- okay. Just look for AnnieBlogs from now on, okay?

Because at this point in my life I specialize in the recap and the mundane [see yesterday's post].

And for your own personal knowledge, I always say “ReeeeCaaaappp” like rappers say “ReeeMiiiixxxx”. Cause I do have a love for rap music. Fo shizzle.

Every writer’s conference is different and I think it is fair to say that every person will have a different experience. With that being said.

SheSpeaks was excellent. Truly.

Let me tell you why. In list form. Because Sunday nights and making lists have been friends since I was a child.

1. Jesus Speaks. First and foremost, Proverbs 31 Ministries loves them some Jesus and it runs through the conference like a river. No joke. They want the attendees to grow as professionals, but I would venture to say they care MORE that we leave there with a fresh heart. There was much less self-promoting than I have seen at previous places and much more cheerleading. Not the skirt type, the hug type. It was cool. And it had everything to do with Who was the focus. That being Jesus.

2. She Tracks (Writing/Leadership/Speaking). I’m chunking these together like hashbrowns at the Waffle House. All three of these tracks were amazing. There were classes offered to each group, but you weren’t pigeonholed like, “I’m on the Speaker track so I must take 843 classes on speaking”. But it was cool that there were options for women with all types of callings and you could float through them all. I REALLY enjoyed the classes and I ordered a handful of CDs with full plans to listen to them. [Whenever I catch that motivation-bug that is going around.]

3. She Blogs. It’s about time someone gave Bloggers the big ups they deserve. It’s awesome to see Lysa (P31 bosswoman/author/on Oprah- watch it you will cry/enough said) recognizing that in all honesty, blogging is becoming a way to minister. And she has the foresight to see that their ministry needs to reach women through EVERY outlet- including blogs. Well played, Lysa. Well played.

Here’s a handful of us, minus my buddy Missy. I’m not going to tag every, but sweet Jo-Lynne did- so check all these blogs out there.
4. She Sings. Good gravy alive. This girl can bring it- Lindsey Kane. She led our worship and I like her mucho. You need to hear her, buy it, book her at your church, all of it.

5. She Proposes Her Book To Real Agents. Yeah, that was a long one. But the way they set up meeting with agents, publishers, etc. is awesome and VERY low stress. I was TOTALLY impressed.

6. She Eats Dinner in a Food Court and Discussing Methodism and The Bravo Network. Self-explanatory, but completely list worthy.

Will I go again to this particular conference? Budget willing, absolutely. Did it go well for me as far as my writing goes? Yes. But that’s all I can say about it. Did I make new friends? Yes. Was it fun to be around bloggers I already loved? Ab-so-freakin-lutely.

If you are a new writer or a pro, or just a blogger who loves to blog, I TOTALLY think you should consider the SheSpeaks Conference next year- July 31-August 2, 2009. Because seriously- are you going to want to be outside that time of year? Obviously not. Inside a hotel loving Jesus and learning how to be a good writer? Don’t mind if I do. Mark it on your calendar… we can be roommates.

After a long day at the office, I like to relax. With Jake and Melissa.

Except for the office part. I don’t work at an office. And let’s just be honest, after a long day of relaxing, I like to relax. That’s just how I roll.

So in order to wind the evening down right here at Hunt Mansion, we sat down, pulled out the old computer, and opened iTunes.

Then we played our favorite songs. “Songs” is probably an exaggeration. Actually, we played, and sang along, with exactly 30 seconds of each song- the 30 seconds that iTunes chooses. Just like Michael Scott.

For example.

Electric Youth- Debbie Gibson.
You’re The Inspiration- Chicago
I Just Called To Say I Loved You- Stevie Wonder (my all time favorite song)
My Love- Lionel Richie
We Built This City On Rock and Roll- Starship
Africa- Toto
Uptown Girl- Billy Joel
Girl You Know Its True- Milli Vanilli
Lost In Your Eyes- Debbie Gibson
[And this is a direct quote from Melissa- "Ah... I thought this song was so beautiful."]
Glory of Love- Peter Cetera, karaoke version- luckily Mel knows all the words.

And we are proud of our evening. Because there is zero shame in finding pleasure in hits from the 80s. I recommend it.

[Side note- thanks for your prayers. The day got better. Y'all are the best. If this doesn't make you want a blog, I don't know what will. More updates on the conference and RagamuffinTop Challenge by Monday.]