Getting to hear Joyce Meyer

All week long I was thinking that I would be going with my friend Tuwana (who is staying here to attend the Joyce Meyer conference in Hershey) this morning. Usually Dick goes to a football game on Friday evenings and is home Saturday mornings, so I figured that's when it would work best for me to go with Tuwana, since we always have Destiny here on the weekends and someone would need to be here with her. However, Dick reminded me Thursday evening as I was busily cleaning the house for Tuwana's arrival, that he switched his Saturday schedule at Advance Auto Parts from Saturday evening to Saturday morning because we are going to our church's barn party Sataurday evening. I couldn't believe it. Joyce Meyer is in Hershey - 45 minutes away, I have someone staying in my house who's going to hear her, but I can't go. My dear husband would have decided to give up going to the football game, I'm sure, but he didn't have to make that decision. Yesterday the rain became increasingly heavy and the game was postponed!

So after school I went to Lancaster to get Destiny (Friday traffic is always horrible), called home to Tuwana and asked her to please wait for me because I'm going along with her to the evening session and would she please put a frozen pizza in the oven because I was starving, I got home, grabbed a piece of pizza, Dick arrived home from work, and Tuwana and I hit the road - the WET road. Wow, I hate driving in the rain. Meanwhile we were listening to the local Christian radio station who had someone at the Giant Center telling how full it was getting, that even the "peanut heaven" seats were filling up. We finally got there and walked a long distance in the rain, the two of us crowding under my big umbrella, getting our feet wet. Once inside we did climb the stairs to peanut heaven, but there were still seats up there, thank God.

The worship was led by Hillsongs London and I didn't really know their songs so it was hard to enter in until they slowed things down a bit. But that was okay. Joyce was every bit as good as she is on TV - SO funny, but so full of extremely powerful, helpful, applicable, rememberable truth. I just love listening to her. She is not just a bunch of "fluff". She stirs me up and fills me with motivation. One time last night she said, "Stop wishing you had what someone else has when you're not willing to go through what they did to get it. People say, 'I just wish I knew the Word like so and so.' Well, then STUDY it!! Or they'll say, 'I just wish I had peace like so and so.' Well, look up all the verses on peace and start putting them into practice." She told, as she often does, about how years ago she would so easily become upset by everything and lose her peace over the smallest things. As she's grown in her walk with the Lord she has worked really hard at not letting circumstances destroy her peace. Then she gave a neat example of when she knew she had really grown in that area of her life. They were getting ready to leave the house to go to one of her conferences. She reached up to get something off a shelf in the bedroom closet and a box of things that Dave has kept (he's more of a pack rat than she and likes to save things in boxes) came falling down and spilled the contents all over the closet floor. She showed how she stood there and looked at that stuff and took a moment to compose herself and then said, "Well, I guess that stuff will still be there when we get back," and she closed the door and left. Like I said, the things she teaches are really, really down to earth and helpful.

When it was over Tuwana and I walked to my car in DRIVING rain. At first we almost thought we couldn't find my car, but we did. We were so glad to be out of the rain. I think it took at least 45 minutes to get out of the parking lot, and the drive home was no fun. Driving in the dark and rain has to be about one of the worst things. We got home about 11:20. Dick had taken Destiny swimming at the rec center and she was sound asleep of course. Tuwana and I ate and talked and listened to CD's until 1:00. She is also a worship leader at her church so we just love sharing our favorite new music with each other.

Later today I'll do my Saturday story. It's one many of you have heard before, but not all. I told it to Tuwana last night when we were hunting my car. So check back later.