Because I am very organized {not} and have shared every thought that flows through my head here {not}, you probably already know about my work over at She Seeks {not}.

At the She Speaks conference last year, I was honored to be asked to work on a new site — a division of Proverbs 31 Ministries called She Seeks. Initially I was only going to setup the website, but have stayed on as their She Seeks Techie. I find that God has a wonderful sense of humor and thinks our plans are funny. See, my plan would be to write/minister to women just like me — 30-something, wives, mothers, bloggers But God’s plan was for me to be involved with a site for 18-29 year olds, singles, new mommies, college kids, etc. What I’ve found is even though the site may target that age group, I have been getting a lot out of the devotions written there and the video logs that have been shared.

This week She Seeks has offered up a challenge to those who may not be able to send money to help those in Haiti. When something that devastating happens, it’s hard to know what one little person can do. So, here’s the challenge — go over to She Seeks, watch the video and share the link to the Compassion site. Leave a comment there (not here – I’m closing comments on this post so you’ll go there!), and for each comment up to 300, $1 will be donated to Compassion’s Haiti fund. You may not be able to give financially, but maybe someone you share the link with can give financially if they only knew about Compassion’s work there.

What are you waiting for? Go, watch, share, comment!

Let me reassure you, I.do.not.

After I wrote my prayer post Monday night, where I laid my heart out there, honestly it felt great. It felt great to write like that again. The type of writing that I’ll know one day I’ll go back and read and not believe it was really me who wrote it.

Then Tuesday comes and I found out that a few tweets I’d sent out upset someone. If you have that little nagging feeling you shouldn’t tweet something (or Facebook status something) then don’t. I need to pray about my tweets too.

Nearly the whole day I felt frustrated and angry. School is out yet again (3rd day) for snow. We’ve been cooped up in the house since Friday. As much as I would like to blame it on PMS, I know it’s just my flesh fighting back. See, when I finally made the decision not to go to BlissDom, I felt God’s peace about it. I knew it was going to be hard when it got to the week of, but I thought I’d be ok. Honestly though I’ve been fighting having myself a pity party. So I’ve been praying.a.lot.

If you are going to BlissDom, it’s going to hit — if it hasn’t already. One or all of your children will start crying or fussing about how you are going to be gone. Things won’t get done. The house won’t be clean. Mommy guilt sets in. If you’re not going, it’s going to hit — if it hasn’t already. Plans change. Snow hits. You’re trapped inside your dusty, dirty house and don’t feel like cleaning. Kids get sick. You get sick.

I am praying for you. The devil doesn’t like it when we’re going about doing God’s work. He wants to distract us with those things that we think we should be doing instead. If you know it’s God’s will for you to go, then also trust in God to take care of things at home while you are gone. If it’s God’s will for you to miss this one, then focus on Him and what He’d have you do instead — maybe it’s joining me in prayer for our sisters in Christ to not be overwhelmed, to fight off temptation and make the better choice.

So, please don’t think I’m some great spiritual prayer warrior. Prayer is more than the most important thing — it’s necessary for survival — for every one of us.

Kimberly @ Raising Olives {must look up the story behind the name sometime} bought my ticket to BlissDom. She wrote this line in an email to me:

If you think about it, I’d love your prayers that I will keep my priorities in all of this and that Blissdom will ultimately benefit our family.

It struck me. That’s precisely what I am praying for all my friends who are going. In my massive BlissDom tips post, it was my first bullet point. It really deserves it’s own post.

In case you didn’t know it, God wants to be involved in your life — every part of your life. He’s into details. If it matters to you, it matters to Him. Prayer is our way of communicating with God — that means listening as well. My prayers for weeks were “God let me know in an obvious way if I should be going to BlissDom or not.” I add that obvious part into a lot of my prayers. And you know what? God answers in really obvious ways. See, I don’t want to miss what He has for me, so when I’m questioning what I should do, I always ask for obvious answers and that I’ll know are from Him.

I truly believe that He closed the door on me going because Kimberly needs to be there instead. But the praying can’t stop there. For me, I need to continue to pray that I won’t miss the opportunities God kept me here for. For those going to the conference, I’m praying for you too. I’m praying for your families who might feel left behind to be able to survive their time without Mom. I’m praying for you to learn the things God would have you to learn about yourself, about your blogs, and about other ladies. I’m praying that new relationships will be made and that old ones will solidify even more. And I pray that if any of you start to struggle with anything that God would send you your very own BlissDom Angel.

Pray for your blog. Pray that God would lead you to not only write the things He’d have you to write, but that you would have the graphics on there that He would have. Pray for your readers, especially the ones who don’t comment. The ones who may be suffering and feeling like they are alone — pray for them to get a little bit of comfort from your blog, your words. Your blog may be the only one they read. Don’t let that pressure you, but consider it an honor to write what God lays on your heart to share.

If you’re writing a blog to make a little money, pray about that too. God wants us to get paid for our work — though I still struggle in this area. Pray about how God can be glorified through you making money. Are the ads appropriate material for your readers? Do you share advice that will build up marriages and families? Do you know there are ways you can do that and not specifically mention your faith? Perhaps that’s in God’s will too. Maybe you share information on being frugal and one of your readers feels comfortable enough to start a dialogue with you about faith.

God has not called me to be a frugal blogger — I have no talent for clipping coupons. God has not called me to be a home blogger — I have no talent for decorating. I’m not really sure I can be put in a box and given a title — I know God can’t be put in a box. I pray whatever you see here on this blog is what He would have me to share. Oh, and I trust that He will bring about the people who need to read it — especially if it’s just one person. Because even if you were the only one on this earth that needed saving, Jesus still would have died for you. You are that important. But it’s not just about being saved, God is concerned with the details of your life. So pray about every aspect of your blog.

I know this may sound like I’m just a praying guru, but I’m not. I go through stages where I pray consistently and times when it’s just a quick 30-second “God please keep me from killing someone” prayer. Don’t envy me or compare yourself to me. That will do neither of us any good. If you do struggle with prayer time — especially if you like to wait until last thing at night and fall asleep before you finish your prayers, I want to encourage you to get a notebook. Get a really pretty one if it will help make you feel better. First thing in the morning — even if you have to wake up 5 minutes earlier — write out your prayers to God in the notebook. Just start small. Open the dialogue. He’ll be there.

Don’t worry about how messy your handwriting is — He can read it. Don’t stress about how much you write. Don’t worry about messing up the notebook or making it ugly. Don’t worry about scribbles and mistakes. You’d be surprised at how much it will bless your day.

Nothing like saying you are going to do something and then life happens and family comes first. I would have maybe posted this Monday or even yesterday if Doodle hadn’t been sick. She’s been coughing for several days. Running a low-grade fever a couple of times. Through all this I realize just how blessed we are that she’s hardly ever sick. So that’s why the tips are late. I know you’ll forgive me!

I’ve written, edited, and re-written this post a million times in my head. Every time I feel the need to preface it by saying you might not be like me and my husband may not be like your husband. I really hate to get into comparisons, so please don’t compare yourself to me because God made us all unique and similar. My official preface to this post would have to be, take what I say with a grain of salt and 3 cups of sugar. Not sure what you do with the salt, but the sugar will give you a good start to some southern sweet tea!

I’ve actually written some pretty good things in other posts about preparing for conferences — not just BlissDom. I have gone back and looked, and this one is a really good one … Maybe you click. Maybe you don’t. Seriously, go read it. I’ll wait {insert some upbeat, worshipful, inspiring music here}

Back? Good. Seriously stop stressing the clothes and whether or not you’ll make a friend. I don’t care who you are, you’ll make a friend. I say that with a lot of confidence because I know that if you’re reading my blog? You’ll make a friend or ten at BlissDom. I know some wonderful ladies going. Ones I wish I could hug their necks and listen to them talk all night. Some of them big bloggers, but they don’t know it — or at least they don’t act like they know it. Last year I wrote Angels at BlissDom and I think everyone is going to be back at BlissDom this year. So be on the lookout for those ladies. I know they’ll make you feel welcome.

Here’s another great post I wrote last year — What I learned about me at BlissDom. {insert more music}

Back? Ok, yeah. I know that’s a lot of reading. So you just want the highlights? Well, here are my highlights with another preface or ten — I’ve been working from home for 10 years now. I’m used to spending all my days interacting with people through email, messaging, Twitter and Facebook. Duck is not only my husband, he’s my best friend. We really enjoy going and doing things together and I don’t do the typical “girls night out” thing. Not only is he my best friend, he’s the worrier of the family, and generally he likes the standard schedule. When I’m gone? There’s no such thing as a standard schedule. So if you are anything like me, and/or your hubby’s anything like Duck — read along

• Pray. Start now. Pray for the travel. Pray for your family to survive you being gone. Pray for what sessions you should go to — what parties you should go to. Cover the whole thing in prayer. Seriously.
• Don’t stress the clothes. I don’t remember what anyone wore last year. DO pack comfy shoes. We didn’t have to walk a lot last year, but Opryland is considerably bigger than the hotel we were in.
• Know your bloggy purpose. If you don’t know for sure what your bloggy purpose is, keep these thoughts in the back of your mind while you’re there. Think on them. Once you know your bloggy purpose, decisions start to become a lot easier. Just writing for family? No ads. Writing about your interior design passions? No Ragu ads (tip straight from The Nester herself) or rather control your ads. Writing a frugal blog to help supplement income? Ads out the wazoo.
• Make some kind of business card with your name, email, twitter handle, and blog address (at a minimum). Even if you are just writing for family? You’ll make friends who you want to exchange info with and keep up with after BlissDom. Wanna be really cool? Include your picture. I’m horrible with names/faces and sometimes I wish I could see a picture.
• Look at the sessions ahead of time. See what fits into your bloggy purpose. Are you looking to become a better writer? Or are you looking to increase your income with ads? Knowing your bloggy purpose will help make the decisions easier. See a pattern yet?
• Schedule breaks for yourself. Quiet time. Short periods of time where you can refocus. I’m used to listening to music all day not hearing a gazillion conversations going on at once. It takes brain power to process that much information. Trust me. Don’t get overloaded. Take a break.
• Take a few snacks with you. I know there will be food there. I’m strange though — some of it honestly is a bit too fancy for me. Also sessions will inevitably run late no matter how well they are planned out. I typically need to eat *something* every couple of hours. When you’re used to working in the next room from your snack drawer, you might be a little spoiled. On top of that, if I miss that certain window of opportunity to get food — I get extremely a little cranky, ill and sick feeling.
• Let your family know when/how often you will be calling and then keep that time — no matter what. Even if you *just* talked to them 4 hours ago and don’t have much to say now — they may want to just hear your voice and know you are still alive. Remember, they are sitting at home with time on their hands. They aren’t experiencing the new stuff you are — meeting new people, going to exciting sessions, flying on airplanes, etc. Just do whatever you have to do to make yourself stop for a minute and call. This will probably sound like a no-brainer, but when you get there and take in so much information? Your brain may just disappear … or rebel … trust me on this. Setup alarms on your phone. Be sure you take into account the time difference (because your cell phone will automatically change to Nashville time!).
• Forgot to add my other tip — check out the Blog Hop here and add your blog. Get to know attendees before-hand!

I think some of the other posts you’ve probably read by now contain other good tips. What you haven’t read the other posts? Check them out! Link up your posts below and feel free to copy the code and put this on your blog!

So much to say, so little time Here’s some bullet points for ya. You’re welcome!

• I mailed half of my Women of Faith stuff out today. So Mandy @ Pennies and Blessings, Heidi, Jenny 86753oh9 and Punkinmama — your stuff is officially in the mail. Please let me know when you receive it! To Charlene @ A Virtuous Woman and Annabelle @ Christian Momma my sincerest apologies. It will be Monday before I have a chance to mail yours. Ran out of mailing supplies
• I want to specially thank Charlene @ A Virtuous Woman. She won 2 days of giveaways and wrote me an email to say give one of them away to someone else. Well, it just so happens that the new official winner of Sheila Walsh’s All that Really Matters book is a lady I know in real life. One that I had no idea read my blog until she left a comment on that post. So congratulations Monica! Now you don’t have to be mad at me
• Monica is a lady at Doodle’s school that I know well enough to say “hey” to — when I talked to her today and told her about the book, she thanked me for my blog. Ya’ll … that floored me. My blog? She thinks it’s neat. I told her that it felt good to be writing again like I believe God wants me to do. I mentioned getting overwhelmed at reading other blogs and the mentality of “well they said it so I don’t need to.” Monica confirmed God’s calling for me. She said “I don’t read those other blogs. Write for me.” Thanks Monica for sharing that with me today. You blessed me more than you know
• For my BlissDom ladies, I’ll have a post up Monday with tips for ya’ll. Shoot, I might have to make more than one I’ve got so much to share! So check back then to look for it. And even though I’m not going to BlissDom any more, I’m still going to keep the MckLinky up — so link up and get to know some of the other ladies going!
• I’ll be disappearing from the blog and Twitter this weekend. We’ve got a lot of good stuff going on, and I’m going to try doing life off my computer and with my family. I hope you make that kind of time this weekend as well.