Update

Sorry for the overload of product posts in a row. I've gotten a little bit behind. But I wanted to give my faithful readers an update. One of the items on my 40 before 40 list was to complete my life plan. My church recently opened up a Life Purpose Coaching Center, and I have been trying to schedule a Life Plan with her for about 9 months. The timing just never worked--until now. But we both realize this was the right time for us. Over the next few weeks and months you will be hearing more about this process.

But for now, I have committed to make some changes in my life. One of those changes has to do with the way I spend my time and how much time I spend on the internet. So you may see some changes with how often I post.

I have been working with the women's ministry team at church. We are in the middle of plans for a retreat (May 1st).

Life has been busy and good.

Mac4Missions

A ministry is launched. I told you last month about all the Macs invading our home. John and a friend have been busy getting them cleaned and restored to their original configuration. He started with replacing (and adding to) some of the computers in our house. (I'm typing this on one of the eMacs.) Then he got a few ready for some of the people who have helped him. He's getting a few ready to sell to help pay for shipping computers. And there are already about a dozen ready to be deployed.

John has set up a website: Macs4Missions with more information. Please stop by and check out the website and drop him a line. (Especially if you have some equipment to donate!

Here is a picture of our storage unit!

Letting go

My oldest son is 10. I know I need to start letting go. Next year Chewie will be in middle school. We have to start giving him opportunities to stretch his wings. For the first 5 years of schooling, he was always picked up and dropped off at school. Last week that changed. On Thursday, Chewie and his best friend walked home from school alone. (Without their knowledge, Grandpa followed them home in the car!) Then on Saturday, Chewie asked if he could ride his bike in our neighborhood alone. I let him. (I did go hang out in the front yard.) It's hard to let go.

But I'm learning to let go of other things too. 12 years ago, out of my grief, I began an AOL based infertility support group (Ladies in Waiting) that grew to include over 2000 women from more than a dozen countries. About 5 years ago, Ladies in Waiting merged with Hannah's Prayer. After a couple of years on the Board of Directors, I stepped down, but remained in leadership. My "baby" has grown up over the years. There have been a series of Directors over the years. While I have not been in an active leadership role for a long time, I've remained on the team. I know it's time to step out of the picture completely. It's time to let my "baby" go.

God is opening new doors for me. I am teaching a class at church this fall. I'm trying to get the women's ministry revitalized. My husband and I are working in the Marriage Mentoring Ministry. I've been accepted into a local leadership training program in my city. It's time to step away from the computer, and step into my life. I'll still be blogging, but I won't be spending so much time on-line.

Why am I here?

I'm sure you've all heard of The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. I attend (and agree wholeheartedly with the concept of) a purpose driven church. (If you don't know what I mean, check out or my church But I must confess. I have never read the book. I've started it a couple of times. If I could just read through it in a couple of settings, I'd probably finish it, but Rick says to read a chapter at time. I've made it to day 10 or 12.

I have, however, studied SHAPE. Shape is an acronym that Rick uses to help people find their fit or "SHAPE" in ministry. I began attending Grace on the exact day that they started "40 days of SHAPE". (Coincidence? I think not!) SHAPE stands for:
Spiritual Gifts
Heart
Abilities
Personality and
Experiences
that all make up who we are and how we were created to ministry within the church. At the end of the 40 days, the church brought in Erik Rees, who wrote the book on SHAPE. (Literally! He's a pastor at Saddleback with Rick Warren.) Over the course of the weekend, using his tools, I discovered my purpose in life--my Kingdom Purpose--what I am here for.

Are you ready for this? My kindom purpose is to connect women. That's it. And the funny thing is--I've been doing it for years. I just didn't realize how God was using me. About a dozen years ago, I got online for the first time and set out on a quest to connect women desiring children with other women desiring children. I expected it to be a little pen pal program. Within 2 years, we had over 2000 members. About 5 years ago, we merged with a large sister organization Hannah's Prayer: By the time we merged, we had reached over 10,000 families. I didn't set out with loftly goals. In fact, if I had known where it was going, I probably would have run away--scared to death. But God, wisely, didn't reveal the whole plan. He just told me to "connect women".

What is your purpose in life? Why are you here? Are you fulfilling your purpose?

Time to reach for my goals....

For several years, I've had a dream...it wasn't in the forefront of my mind, but it was something I've pulled out every now and then. When I "grow up" in my wildest daydreams, I want to be a conference speaker. There...I said it. I've never admitted it to anybody except for John, my dear husband.

Over the past couple of weeks, I've had the opportunity to be interviewed by two television stations and the local newspaper about the Twins group I helped establish. I also had the chance to do an impromptu speech telling about the work I do in early intervention. During the speech, I realized how much I enjoy speaking (once I got started and the nerves settled down!)

So I made a plan. Obviously, I'm not ready to book a tour. (Please...hold your phone calls!) But, if I ever want to be ready to be asked to speak, I need to start preparing. This weekend, I made a to do list.

Short term goal: public speaker
Long term goal: motivational speaker

Steps to achieve the goal:
1. Join Toastmasters International
2. Seek opportunities to talk about anything.
3. Start writing in a journal or blog every day.
4. Take a class on writing and/or speaking.

Today, I took the first step. I looked up Toastmasters (a public speaking club) and found a local meeting (tomrrow at lunch!). I called the contact number and spoke to a member of the club, and I made plans to attend tomorrow's meeting. 20+ years ago, I took the Toastmasters, Jr. program in high school.

I don't know where it's going from here, but it should be fun!