There are a lots of summer weddings going on right now, and one that is creating some buzz is the one of Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former U.S. President Bill Clinton and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The media is covering everything from the secrecy of the wedding details to Chelsea, raised Methodist, marrying a conservative Jew. There’s also talk that the wedding may cost $1 million on upward.  Rumors are that Chelsea’s wedding gown will be designed by either chic designers Vera Wang or Oscar de la Renta.

Some reports say that guests may include Oprah and Steven Spielberg – but not President Barak Obama, who said he wasn’t invited and that two presidents at a wedding would be one too many. (I thought this remark was hilarious.)

Reporters are supposedly going on private properties in Rhinebeck, NY, where the wedding is located, and a Norwegian photographer and a newspaper editor have been arrested for trespassing on Astor Courts estate, which may be the location of the wedding.

Really, I can’t imagine starting off a marriage with this kind of media frenzy!  It reminds me of sharks feeding, and blood everywhere.  Weddings are stressful enough as it is.  This isn’t helping them to start off on the right foot!

Marc and Chelsea will have the usual challenges, no doubt – working through the (BIG) male/female differences, adapting to each other’s personalities, learning to communicate well and how to handle disagreements,and  balancing work and family.  They also will have to adjust to married life with the pressure of  paparazzi, the scrutiny of the public eye, and their differences of faith.

I’ve certainly never been a fan of the Clintons, but I do hope for the best for this young couple and that they can endure the course, finishing the race well – not wind up another sad statistic.  Marriage is a marathon, not a sprint.

In the weeks ahead, I’ll be sharing more about marriage, from some things God is putting on my heart, so stay tuned. 

Below is a cute video of a couple just pronounced husband and wife…in this social media era.

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is Matthew 14:25-33, when Jesus told Peter to get out of the boat. The disciples were in  a boat on the lake, and about 3 a.m. Jesus came by, walking on the water. When the disciples saw Jesus, they were terrified, thinking it was a ghost.  Jesus told them to not be afraid, it was Him.

“Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.”  “Yes, come,” Jesus said.”

My husband Ray likes to joke, “What if he was really a ghost and had called Peter? What if Peter had walked to him and found out it was a ghost? Then what?” 

Despite the contrary wind and the waves, despite the human impossibility of the situation, Peter stepped out of the boat, walking toward Jesus. But Peter did not get out of the boat until Jesus called Him!  “Lord, if it’s really You…”

A lot of people focus on Peter sinking into the water after he looked around at the strong wind and the big waves. Yet Peter walked on water!  None of the other disciples did this!  This story is one of Peter’s incredible faith, courage, and trust in Christ.

Over the last couple of months, God began putting it into my heart to do a webinar.  For those who know me well, they are aware of how tech-challenged I am. I didn’t know how to do a webinar, and was so afraid of something technical going wrong if I did one!  But in my heart, God told me to do one, and I obeyed.  “Lord, if it’s really You…”

Over the last two months, I have done two webinars, 3 P’s in a Pod: Prayer, Purpose, and Passion. God’s presence was there, several women signed up, attended, and were blessed like Hope, and there were no major technical problems. The webinar services at CWA are excellent. The software is VERY user-friendly, and I just LOVE all their cool webinar features, like video and chat capability during the webinar! 

 Tara McClenahan did wonderful speaking on leaving a godly legacy, and I shared about discovering and fulfilling your God-given purpose.  Thank you, Jesus.  Now I can’t wait to do more webinars in the coming months, and am so excited! (Get signed up today on my mailing list at the top of this page on the right hand side to stay updated!)

All I had to do for these webinars was to step out of the boat of my comfort zone, and to trust God. I had to have faith in Him. I had to do it afraid, as Joyce Meyer says. 

What about you? What is God telling you to do today? 

Don’t look at the winds and the waves. Keep your eyes on Jesus, and just start walking. “Lord, if it’s really You…”

Last night our oldest daughter Heather left with a team from her church, Eagle Creek Church in Lee’s Summit, MO, to drive all night to Tennessee to help with Nashville’s flood relief efforts.  The teams will be going into houses with flood damage and ripping out all affected materials (drywall, carpet, etc.) and also will be helping to organize and distribute goods at a warehouse to the families in need.

It will be hot, hard work.  The floors and walls may be unstable from the water damage, and may not allow much weight on them – posing risks for floors falling through and walls collapsing.

Yesterday and today, I babysat Kyle’s and Heather’s daughters, Annabelle and Violet. Tomorrow and Saturday, Kyle and his mom Becky will watch the girls until Heather comes back home late Saturday night. It’s been six years since Heather’s last missions trip, and she is VERY excited!   

When Annabelle was a baby, Heather went to Mexico for a week with our former church for a missions trip. Prior to that, after graduation from our homeschool in the year 2000, Heather went to South America in remote jungle villages for a month and to India for a month for missions trips with YWAM. YWAM and these missions trips changed her life, and they confirmed her desire to be a missionary.

This morning about 2:45 a.m., I got a text from Heather that they safely arrived in Nashville.  They woke up at 6 a.m. today for devotions and went right to work in the houses.  This afternoon, she sent me a cell phone picture of herself  wearing the face mask and eye goggles (for protection against mold and mildew.  These are non-construction teams.) 

When I asked via texting how she was doing, she replied, “Hot.”    They were just about to call it a day.  Tonight the team was able to relax and go out to dinner, then tomorrow they’ll begin work again on the houses.

Please continue to keep Heather and the missions team covered in prayer.  Eagle Creek Church has live video streaming of their missions team while in Nashville through Ustream.   You can view the live stream here. 

Below is a video of Heather sharing about the work they will be doing there, just before she left yesterday.  The video below that is a humorous vlog of Annabelle and Violet, explaining what a train sounds like, when we stopped to look at the big, black train after we ate lunch.

Vlog of Heather about Nashville missions trip

Vlog of Annabelle and Violet on train

“Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work.”

He also tells us in Isaiah 58:13-15 to take the sabbath, to keep it holy, and He will bless and satisfy us:

“Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don’t pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day. Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day, and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly. Then the Lord will be your delight.  I will give you great honor and satisfy you with the inheritance I promised to your ancestor Jacob. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

From John MacArthur’s tape, Entering God’s Rest, the word rest has the following definitions:

• To cease from labor or exertion
• To be free from worry – to be quiet, still, peaceful, free from guilt
• To be settled, rooted and grounded in God’s word
• To be secure, trusting and confident in God
• To have something to lean on, to have supply for all your needs.

Typically the Jews set aside Friday evening to Saturday evening for their sabbath, and Christians often celebrate the Sabbath on Sundays.  I don’t think we need to get hung up on which day of the week is the real Sabbath (although I usually honor it on Sundays).  The point is that God wants us to rest one day a week – as He rested after He finished all of His creation work.

We can enter that rest by going to church and worshipping God, fellowshipping with other believers, reading the Bible and praying, physically resting through naps, enjoying time with our family,  relaxing at home, enjoying tasty meals, having friends over, going for a walk, or doing fun things to get a break in our routine.

Today I took that rest and on the way to a matinee, I stopped by a new restaurant. There was a patio in the sunlight with tables, Greek music played in the background inside the restaurant, and a tv screen showed the beautiful scenery of Greece.  I enjoyed hummus and warm pita bread, chicken kabobs, and stuffed grape leaves (beef and rice stuffed inside grape leaves, dotted with olive oil and lemon juice).  I didn’t realize it was so much food when I ordered it (no, I didn’t eat it all!), but it was delicious.  Truly it was a feast, and I was very thankful! 

What about you?  Do you need to enter God’s rest today?

 Here is  a brief vlog of the restaurant, and of the fountain by the movie theatre in Overland Park, KS. 

Vlog of restaurant and food

Water fountain by theatre

Whether you are just starting out or you already enjoy a thriving, profitable business, God is interested in every aspect of it. God loves you, He cares about you and your business, and He wants to bless you – in ways you can’t even begin to imagine!  (1 Corinthians 2:9).

My friend Laurie Neumann asked me to write an article for her website Christian Home Business Connection.  Here is her blog post with the link to my article.

While you are there, be sure to check out Laurie’s website. Her site is a wealth of information on having a home business. She’s a wonderful, giving person, an anointed writer, and she has great, practical resources available to encourage you and to help you in your home business. I just love Laurie!

Want to go even deeper with your business?  I especially recommend Laurie’s membership site, The Christian’s Guide to Starting a Home Business. It is packed with wonderful info for your home business – AND for the first month’s resources, Laurie interviewed me, so I want you to hear it!      This membership site will truly bless and encourage you with all of Laurie’s goodies – even with bonuses from experts like Jimmy D. Brown, Alice Seba, and Kelly McCausey.

PS:  Don’t forget to check out my article at Laurie’s site here. I also love her site’s newest article on business success for introverts.

God created all of us differently – men are different from women, we all have different personalities, we have different learning styles, we love different things. It is the same way with our interests.

Some of us are interested in traveling, seeing new places, meeting new people, trying different ethnic foods. Others love sports, internet marketing, gardening, crocheting, running, getting more education, painting, writing, or just staying at home, loving on our families. Whatever it is that you enjoy, God created you that way.

Maybe my ebook Walking With God or my 7-audio devotional series is not for you. You don’t have time to listen to seven different audios, or even want to!   But a webinar that is as short as a lunch break may be just the thing for you!  It will encourage, refresh, and inspire you to draw closer to God, to discover and fulfill your purpose, and to leave a godly legacy to your children.  In other words, you’re not in the mood for spaghetti, but you might just love the duck l’orange!

This week check out Tara’s website. You will just LOVE her. (While you’re there, fill out her survey as  a favor to her.) This lady is classy, anointed, and will encourage you about Biblical parenting.  If you’re not already registered for our webinar on Tuesday, July 27 at 11 a.m. CT, sign up today as space is limited.  With this webinar, you will be sure to dine with your destiny! 

To register for our webinar, just click here.

If you saw yesterday’s vlog on evaluating your relationship with God, others, and your own heart, you may remember my questions of “What are the hindrances?” and “What has you stuck?” about achieving your goals and seeing your dreams come true. 

I truly believe with all my heart that God answers our prayers and that He wants to give us the desires of our hearts. In fact, He wants to bless us in ways that we can’t even begin to imagine. (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Yet so often we subconciously or unconciously sabotage our own success. There are emotional, mental, spiritual, and financial roadblocks that obstruct our path, which we need to define and to remove.  Our lives and our destiny are put on hold – or worse, the great purpose and destiny that God has planned for us is never fulfilled. This is tragic.

Here is an article on Stopping Agents that I receive in my inbox today. I hope it speaks to you and challenges you to identify those stopping agents in your life, that are keeping you from getting ahead – and that you will push through every obstacle to achieve your goals this year and to see your great purpose and calling fulfilled.

***

What’s Your Stopping Agent?

by Paige Stapleton and Brian Stark

The Universe is soooo amazing! And here we are, standing in the middle of it, building our business…knowing on the one hand that abundance is all around us, knowing that what we have to offer can truly help people, knowing that the opportunity for us to have everything we desire is right here, right now…and yet….we stop ourselves…Arghhhh!

When you think back over the history of your life, I bet you could come up with a hundred if not hundreds of examples where you have stopped yourself from moving forward and getting what you desire. Most of the time, it is because something (your Ego) gets triggered, gets threatened and it pulls the plug on all your forward movement…leaving you lingering in doubt, confusion and INACTION.

As we heard over and over in the Summer School for Entrepreneurs Telesummit, having your own business is like self-he lp on steroids. Every single demon, doubt, fear, and insecurity is going to show up, sit right in front of you and do it’s ever lovin’ best to stop you. And most of the time, it is in pretty much the exact same place that it stopped you before. Each time it seems vaguely familiar…more Arghhhh!

We call that your “Stopping Agent”. That place you get in your progress where the fear and doubt and insecurity get the best of you and stop you in your tracks. Now you may not always be aware that this is happening or what is really going on, but we know you know the place. It is full of confusion and self-sabotage. And you just can’t afford for this to take a hold in your business.

The biggest defense against the “Stopping Agent” is to become aware of it….break it down and relinquish it’s power over you. I n order for you to not let it take its nasty hold on you, you have to look it squarely in the eye and just say…”No, not this time. You don’t get to decide my path, my progress or my results. I’m calling you out and I say NO MORE.”

So how do you start recognizing your Stopping Agents? Well, most likely you have a pretty good idea what they are. You can probably mark certain times in your life where you have consciously or subconsciously stopped yourself as you were getting closer and closer to your dreams.

Here are just a few of the ways that stopping agents show up and try to distract us from our path:

Unable to make a decision and stick to it
Blaming others for your results
Withdrawing or just plain quitting
Continuing to doubt yourself and your gifts
Telling yourself you don’t have the time or money
Creating drama around you and your business
 
Your Authentic Assignment

Where are you stopping yourself? What is your stopping agent? It could be in big ways, it could be in small ways.
 
If you’re not sure ask a trusted friend or colleague who really knows you, but here’s the deal, you can’t get upset when they tell you.
 
Be sure not to beat yourself up about it, but become aware of it, for it is in awareness that we can affect change.
 
And the next time you take action and move out of your comfort zone, you will be better prepared to see the signs of your Stopping Agent approaching.
 
© 2010 www.AuthenticMarketingMadeEasy.com

As founders of Authentic Marketing Made Easy™ and The Authentic Marketing System™, Paige Stapleton and Brian Stark publish the inspiring “Authentic Living and Marketing” weekly ezine to help healers, practitioners, therapists, coaches and other helping professionals build a thriving local practice as well as a powerful online presence, so they can create a consistent flow of clients and make more money without compromising their integrity.  Visit  www.AuthenticMarketingMadeEasy.com for an instant download of their FREE audio: “3 Secrets to Getting New Clients Without Spending a Dime”.

Here is a video to encourage you to evaluate where you’re at right now in your life so that you can get to where you want to be.

Vlog about award

Many of you know that I am NOT a morning person, but once in awhile I do wake up early (early is defined as any time before I drag out of bed!).  This morning was one of those rare occasions, and my eyes suddenly popped open at 6 a.m.  What a mystery – what do you DO at this benighted hour?     Well, the only thing that seemed right to do.  I prayed – and then went to wake up Ray to take me to breakfast!

Our breakfast date was great. We drove to a little mom-and-pop-owned restaurant on the town square. The petite, gray-haired, sweet waitress poured the coffee (even later, she poured it a 3rd time when Ray didn’t want any more), and we made our orders. Ray got the “breakfast pie” (eggs, sausage, and hashbrowns mixed together with hot, white gravy poured over it).  Mine was a cheese omelette and hash browns with ketchup. Oh, it was delicious!  We were also blessedly alone in the restaurant.  Ray was still bleary-eyed from sleep as I happily chatted away.  

Afterward, we went for a relaxing drive down country roads in the morning sun.  No radio, no cell phones, just peaceful quiet, looking at green fields with horses and cows, dairy farms, blue and yellow wildflowers.  It all sounds so simple, but I had so much fun!  (Hopefully Ray did, too!)

Come to think of it, God probably enjoyed the quiet time of solitude that I had with Him this morning, too.   When was the last time you had a “breakfast date” with Jesus?

It amused me that the townspeople were so excited about this. I don’t know the actual number of turn-outs, but a crowd came to hear a band play, to eat hotdogs, to wear their Shine On, black t-shirts available on sale for $10 at the Chamber of Commerce, and of course to shine their flashlights as the plane circled several times overhead to get a good picture.

Senior citizens brought lawn chairs to be comfortable while they waited for the “time to shine” and children ran around at dusk, playing tag. Pat with the Chamber of Commerce had a megaphone to shout instructions to the crowd as we stood two by two on the letters, “Shine On, Butler,” drawn on the townsquare concrete. It was like something out of a goofy comedy movie. Yes, this is DEFINITELY a small town! (WHY am I living here, LOL!)

This morning I was thinking that if people could get so pumped up over such an event, then how much more believers in Christ could get together and work in unity to spread the good news about Jesus!  

Are you “shining your light” for Christ today? Are you sharing your story, your heart’s important message, with others?

Here are some brief videos of last night’s event for your amusement.

Vlog of people in line getting a number (for Chamber of Commerce counting participants)

Vlog of people shining their flashlights toward plane, circling overhead to get pictures.

In this video below, I am standing beside two kids who I don’t know who were fighting!!!

Vlog of Butler townspeople giving “victory shout” after “Shine On, Butler” event