WOE 03/08/08

Here is this months Words of Encouragement Newsletter from Vacation Education Books.
Hello Familes!
I love sending out this email to all of you. It has been such a blessing on my life. In order to keep my promise to all of you, I have to think of something encouraging to say every month. That is not always easy.
But, God always provides!
I arrived home this morning from a conference, and I am exhausted from our trip, there is a mountain of "TO-DO"s at home, I saw my oldest for five minutes before she ran off to her friends. After kissing and hugging all my babies I'd missed for three days, I just wanted to soak in the tub, but there was no more hot water, so I settled in with a hot cup of coffee and got back to work. It was hard to think of something encouraging to write today.
So, I'll begin by encouraging you to avoid driving all night long and also to avoid situations where you lose two hours (we lost one hour when we crossed from Illinois into Michigan and then another when we got home and had to move the clocks ahead)
Anyone know why we are still doing that???
But, then I looked at the sales I'd made, the list of new contacts I had with other vendors (here's a thought for those of you who love our books - and happen to be Rainbow Resource Catalog customers - go to their website and request that they add our titles!)
I am sitting here looking at the sign up sheet for this email, and remembering the faces of all the families that I talked to at the conference and as I add them to my mailing list, I realized that it is not about me, or how I feel today, or how tired I am. I do this for the moms and dads who put their names on that list in the hopes that I would deliver what I had promised: Words of Encouragement.
So, I know that you all have days that you are tired, exhausted even, worn down and discouraged...
So, take Courage! Be En-Courage-d! God is with you!
I worked my booth from open to close Friday and Saturday. My mom and daughter watched it for one hour while I went to present my workshop. I arrived at the room where I was supposed to speak, and it was empty... Completely empty! Not one person came.
Now, I could have been upset, but I knew that I had run ahead of God. So, I sat down and asked Him to show me where He wanted me to be. I heard Him tell me to go back to my booth, then go home and write the next book, and leave the rest up to Him.
Reassured and energized, I headed back to my booth. I arrived to find a somewhat frazzled mother and daughter...
The booth was mobbed with shoppers while I was away!
It was the busiest it had been the entire conference.
While I had been on my knees before the Lord, He really had taken care of the rest!
We have an amazing God!
Whatever you're doing, where ever you are... take a few minutes to ask God if it's what and where He wants. He has a plan, and He is the only one who needs one.