On Mother’s Day at our Church they lined the walls with paper for kids (or anyone) to spend some time drawing, writing or doodling out prayers to God…

…R1 drew this picture of a boat with the cross of Jesus on it.  It’s in the water.  There’s an additional boat with a treasure on it leading away from Jesus.  When I asked him to explain this to me he said that people are looking for treasure but they should be looking for God and there are pirates too!  He’s deep, yo!

This pic was on the wall from the 1st service.  Perhaps a Kanye fan? =)

My pic.  “You have my heart, Lord” are lyrics from one of my favorite worship songs on the moment: You Have Me, by Gungor.

Mother’s Day!  I couldn’t have R2 on my lap because he’d just fallen in mud of course.  He’d also stomped through a puddle and was soaked.

That’s m’ boy for ya!

My home-made Mother’s Day gift.  Dave took the boys to a Lowe’s kids building workshop, where they made me this card holder.  So sweet.

…the building process…

…hammer happy!

R1 & I were listening to an audiobook the other day.  He told me he’d be right back and ran off.  He came back with a 2 liter, 2 cups & 2 bags of fruit snacks.

What a sweetie, eh?

This is R2′s classic grimace.  He’s such a munchkin.

Okay, so I let the mail build a little too much before opening it.

::::sigh::::

The group I launched at WMU back in 2003 was featured in a local magazine. I love it.

Little Jerri Seinfeld sits with me each morning that I spend time with the Lord.  If cats had faith, I believe Little Jerri would be a Jesus follower.  She’s faithful that’s for sure. =)

And that concludes today’s…

I’m planning to start my own Friday #iphoneography blog hop next week!  In the meantime, if youv’e captured the best moments of your week and post them to your blog, link back to your post in my comments.

Hope y’all have a FAB weekend!  What are you up to? 

My little guys are running a race today!  A 200 dash for 2 yr. olds & a 1 miler for the 6 yr. old.  They have been training all week.  Pics in next’s week’s blog hop!

**Don’t forget to leave me your opinion on what webinar I should host and be entered to win a $10 Starbucks gift card.**

Marla will sit with me. Will YOU sit with me? =)

Would you sit with me for an hour?

First things first: I know what your thinking…

“For reals Grace? What is this going to cost me?”

(Trust me, I get it).

Nothing.  Nada.  Well, truthfully, it will cost you that hour but that’s it.  And, that’s A LOT.  Our time is valuable.

Okay, whew, now that that’s covered you’re wondering what’s this hour going to be about?

In short, that’s up to YOU.

I’m planning to do my 1st ever webinar and I’m trying to gauge interest about what types of things any of you would be interested in giving me the absolute honor of an hour of your time to listen to.  For giving me your opinion and engagement level, you’ll be entered to win a $10 Starbucks gift card.

Why?

As I mentioned the other day, I’m facing a lot of change.  In a little while, I’ll be able to say more about that.  My blog too, is undergoing change, not just my beautiful new web design but also my focus and content.  More on that later though as well.  One of the changes I’m making happen for myself is pursuing this little-inner-entrepreneur that’s been blooming in my heart, head & passions for the past year or two…this is the BIGGER picture.

As I try to figure out how exactly to pursue and follow my dreams I’m taking  stock.

I’m reading a lot of books on the subject.

I’m making plans, setting goals.

I’m taking risks.

I’m inviting others to give me feedback.

I’m asking y’all to take part in my Mompreneur journey, and naturally I’m bribing you with $10 Starbucks gift cards in order to do so. =)

Meet: risk #1

So. Have I ever done a webinar before? Hecks naw.  But, I have been speaking, teaching, training & consulting for 15 years.  These are among favorite professional things to do.  I love engaging with folks on real issues and communication is my passion (and consequently my undergraduate degree).  If I’m not communicating in some way I’m probably dying inside…or sitting somewhere in a corner doodling a picture for you.

Literally, I was born in this slice of human history for a purpose!  If I’m not using my gifts to somehow bless this planet I’m squandering them.  We can’t have that now can we?  For 15 years I’ve been primarily using my gifts on campus and in Churches so it’s HIGH TIME to move this rodeo the interwebs!

Below are a few of my ideas.  What I’d like from you is to vote on ONLY a topic (or two) you’d sit for an hour and listen to.  If you aren’t interested in any of these simply say, “I’m not interested in any of these,” and you’ll still be entered to win the gift card.  And of course I’d love to hear what you ARE interested in hearing from me.

For an extra entry, come up with your own idea of what you’d sit for an hour with me about.  Leave that in a separate comment.

Here we go…

1. Sharing my Story

Essentially the abridged version of the memoir I’m working on… life in Detroit, surviving poverty, racism, instability and sexual abuse, from chaos to Jesus, getting married to life on staff in ministry.  I’ve shared several versions of my story over the years with much different focus.  Generally, people ask me to share about being an adult survivor of sexual abuse.  If you’d be interested in hearing any aspect of my story, be specific.

2. How to get started blogging

I am no guru, and I’m no expert.  I’m not a huge blogger and I’m not a “professional” blogger.  What little I do know I would share.  I could talk about the basics: gathering content and marketing strategies or the specifics: getting started with WordPress, etc.  I wouldn’t be coming from an “I’m-an-expert-at-this” but more from a curator perspective.  I gather, I give.  If this interests you, be specific about what you would be looking for.

3. Growing a life of faith that matters

How to grow a life of faith that matters – If you feel completely stuck in following Jesus, have no direction, feel frustrated with yourself i.e. “why can’t I just be perfect?” or just plain old confused by God, Jesus or the Bible.  This could easily become a part 2, part 3, part 4 or part 5.

4. How to gain a vision for your life and then plan for it

How to gain a vision for your life and begin planning it out yearly, monthly, weekly and daily.  Again, I’m no expert at this but I have been doing this in my own life for about 4 years now.  I’ve been off and on with planning and have experienced the pitfalls of not planning and the triumphs of following through a well thought out strategy born from a great vision.

5. How to share your faith in your workplace or neighborhood

How to share your faith in your workplace or neighborhood – This is for those who share my faith in Jesus and want to learn how to share it effectively without coming off as a giant weirdy.  Becoming a relevant witness for Christ doesn’t come naturally though it seems like it should.  I’ve done a lot of training in InterVarsity on this topic so not as much to prep however it’d be just as fun to deliver in a different format.  If you’d be keen to listen in on this webinar let me know what setting or context you want to be better prepared to share your faith in.

6. How to have a SUPER fab wardrobe on an itty bitty budget

Fashion, dahling.  I’m a bargain shopper and I dress cute, y’all.  I aint even gonna hold y’all up – I’m a fashionista on a leeeetle budget.  Maybe I’d cover the basics like: what every gal should have in her closet?  Etc.

~

Our time is so precious and so valuable.  I WILL honor that by prepping something amazing.  Epic shizz all up in this mug.

Since this is my first go at this, if I have 5 highly engaged people willing to do the webinar it’s going to happen.  I’ll aim a bit higher once I can establish myself a webinarist (?)  For now, I’m happy to share the knowledge with at least 5 people willing to take a risk on my webinar skillz. =)

~

In order to win the $10 Starbucks gift card:

1. Leave me a comment on which 1 (or more) you would sit for an hour on an online webinar.  Be specific about which details you’d enjoy. 

(Man, I get wanting free stuff, but please don’t comment if you aren’t willing to actually attend the webinar once I set it up).

2. Give me your own idea of something you’d like to hear me talk about, teach, train or consult on in an hr. long webinar format.

3. Subscribe by email (top right, in the header) and leave me an additional comment to let me know you have.  If you are all ready subscribed just write in the comment section, “I’m all ready subscribed.”

Thank you so much for getting this far.  I’m really hoping and praying this will be a great start to a new journey in my life.  I’m convinced we can do beautiful things together! =)

*If you think any of your peeps, tweeps or feeps would also enjoy a webinar gimme a like, tweet or share and I’ll love you forever*

This felt like a great chance to try out my new red pants.

I went to the Goodwill about a month ago with the express purpose of finding a pair of red pants for $5 or under.

They were $4.99

They were floods, so I rolled them up.  They were a leeeetle bit tight, but I decided to roll with them anyway because at only $5, dahling there is no harm done!

Bracelets – Walmart

Necklace – Chicago International Airport – jewelry booth(!)

Nude shoes – Vera Wang for Kohl’s

And of course I finished the look with bright red lips.

**Am I looking familiar here? Yes, this is the outfit I had on in my first ever VLOG, (video log).**

I’m linking up with The Pleated Poppy’s WIWW (what I wore Wednesday) blog hop where the purpose is to share mutual encouragement to get out of our pj’s each day.  Put a little love & effort in now and then.

…and…

 So. Of course I took 65 pictures of myself with a handy-dandy tripod just to get these 3.  I wanted to share with you the funniest out-takes ever but for some reason each additional pic is showing a fatal error.  Seriously, could I be any worse at technology? Ha! The pics are hilarious.  Fret not, dear friends you will laugh at things to come!

Later gators!