Category: For Sisters of Faith

Good times….

Long remembered…and treasured, as are so many sweet surprises.

Hugging each neck was like a present for me. A big surprise gift tucked in the holding of a dear friend from miles away…close to heart.

I give God the glory for all the blessings He POURED into my life from the hearts of these dear friends…

And we have 3 little friends who think you can talk into a banana….

Can you hear me now???

I know I’ve bombarded you already with a slide show…

But this one goes beyond the cute.

This one shares the heart of the retreat.

I have to say God has a great variety of girls. From all walks of life. All colors of skin. All with the same heart condition before we met Him.

And then…we meet HIM. The One who gave all, IS all, and loves us all! I have a few favorite pictures…I bet you can guess which ones when you see them. Get your kleenex. If you were here with us, these sweet reminders will cause the flood to begin …. AGAIN. (That’s for my sister, Lisa)

I have lots of emotion that surfaces when I watch this slide show. Every single time. While I didn’t know what to expect, God did. He knew WHO was coming because He selected them.

There is a message in one of the messages from Joanne Kraft. I hope to share it before she does (*wink*).

If you get a chance, visit everyone you can that was blessed at the retreat. I know that I came to pour out on others…but I must say…it was poured out on me.

My dear sweet Marsha, Susan and Aimee are the best team to work with! God placed our lives together in such a way, each with our own gifting (still working on figuring mine out), but if you enjoyed the food, it was because Aimee and Mother are the best cooks!

On Saturday, we catered lunch in from a marvelous pair of Sisters, Gail and Linda. Thank you girls for that sumptuous meal!

The “Shopping District” was filled with goodies of almost all kinds. AND it was CHEAP!

Susan is Ms. Jewelry Creator Extraordinaire. Marsha had the BEST information on babies . . . growth . . . physical and spiritual! (Marsha, I have ENJOYED my book! I looked up stuff last night! Very good!!) Joy Lord has some of the most beautiful photography cards of the local sights, sunsets, beach scenes, animals, etc. You might even be lucky enough to one day find one in your mailbox!

I cannot express how grateful I am for all that God did. There are many stories that will come out of this…one important thing I want you to know today.

If God whispers something in your heart, something that seems impossible, or perhaps might even seem ridiculous to the average person, but you KNOW in your heart, if obeyed could change someone’s life, especially yours, Do it. (Sorry, Tiff-I know that was a way too long sentence!)

Do whatever it takes on your part to fulfill what God has called you to do. No matter what it costs you, I promise, you will not be sorry. You will bubble over with the unexpected joy that will pour forth! Your tired bones will be REVIVED!
http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf

Well, for now, I’d better close. I am out of kleenex.

I will write more later—I have a special message to share.

I love you all.

© The Knightly News 2007-2009

A few weeks ago, I was BLESSED beyond words to hear Connie share her testimony and speak such an awesome Word of Truth to the women at Grace Assembly of God Church! Connie is a dear precious friend, and you will be so blessed to have the opportunity to hear her. Please forgive the “shaky” camera! That was my fault :). You can hear a snippet of her message—she has so much to tell us at the retreat!

Connie is an inspiration to anyone who meets her! The challenges we each face must be met head on with the Word of God! There is no other way! I’ve tried other ways…they don’t work! Avoiding them won’t make them disappear. Stopping up our ears and heart will not make them go away. Challenges are faced and conquered when we meet with the Father and hand them over to HIM! He will give us the strength to go through them, or sister, He will deliver you out of them! Either way, you win —through the power of Jesus Christ!

Connie will be with us in October for the 2009 Bloggers Retreat!

July 1, 2009 at midnight ends the early bird registration. Get over to the retreat and sign up. You can pay with “paypal” using your credit card—or send us a check. But get signed up! Hurry!

Yes, I know it is in October! Yes, I realize it is only July right now….but do you realize it seemed like almost yesterday that we celebrated New Years Day??

See how fast the time is going!

Hurry!

A decision is made. WE NEED TO GET AWAY!
We call each other and find out who has what—when. (If you understood that sentence—you might be one of us!)
Then we set a weekend! We call again to confirm that NO ONE has anything to hinder—and assure one another that whatever comes up can be handled!
We then make plans.
We decide on the “where”.
We find out how much it’s going to cost to rent the facility.
We divide the cost of the house, cabin or condo between each of us. Then we share in the cost of gas and food.
There are a lot of “we’s” in the above statements—but it is a combined effort all the way around! (As for the co0kies being snatched…see—it’s combined—Aunt Evielean bakes…we EAT!)
I wish I could say we drew straws or said ennie-minnie-miney-moe to decide who drives…but no matter who’s vehicle is used…I drive. Not my choice. But it’s okay. I have learned that I am either in the driver’s seat…or I am the vehicular “ONSTAR”. (Aimee named me that after our She Speaks Conference—she drove—but I HAD to be the OnStar 🙂 to watch for the signs…of the times…you know. We went through Atlanta. Remember??

We make SURE the snacks are well within reach for munching while traveling! We have our Bibles in hand (well, all except me—I have the steering wheel in hand), and whatever book we might be reading.
There is great music ready to go (sort of like the Jack Nicholson movie, “As Good As It Gets”…sometimes we make our own CD from a compilation of the Worship songs we all enjoy! (I made everyone a CD last year to take home.)

We load up, join hands and pray, and take off!
We generally have the trip planned, however, we have been known to stop at an interesting looking Flea Market, Thrift Store, or Antique Store on the spur of the moment. These are great adventures!
We eat out when we need to—but generally, we take food to cook for our dinner meal, or go to the grocery store. Usually we have a cook crew and clean up crew. Aimee calls it the “Butler System”.
I wish you could hear her…actually, I may talk her into demonstrating this process in an upcoming video commercial for the Bloggers Retreat!
After the “Butler” (Aimee pronounces it “But-la”) does the cleaning up, we get ourselves ready for bed.
But bedtime will be a few hours yet. It’s just more relaxing to us to read and sing in our p.j.’s and robes. Not all restaurants allow this.
We gather in the living room, around the fireplace (it was very cool weather at night during this retreat), and with the worship music playing softly in the back ground, we start our sharing.
Jesus is shared—talked about, worshiped and sang to. We sing old songs and new ones.
We have a Bible Study session—many times impromptu –and I can tell you those are AWESOME lessons! We share stories of faith and perseverance and testimonies from our own lives, AND we have an incredible time of prayer for one another. Usually around midnight we shuffle off to bed…. 🙂

The above pictures was from the retreat of 2007. It was the last Sister’s Retreat Wanda joined us on.
Today, she is already enjoying the next retreat—

An incredible journey to heaven!

This collage was made by Susan, a dear sister of faith. She attended the Retreat of 2008. It was a blessed one.
Aimee and I spent weeks planning, praying and getting everything together. We wanted many things to be a surprise for our “adopted sisters”. We surprised them with PURPLE bags—full of surprises! That was fun!

I believe they had a good time. I know that Aimee and I enjoyed ourselves! God was indeed present! And He was so good!
Before we left on this retreat to North Georgia, I felt the strong desire to share my love for Jesus to many women who may have never had the experience of the love of a sister. I can tell you there is nothing like it! You don’t even have to be REAL life sisters to enjoy the fellowship of sisterhood!
This group pictured above are not all related. Not by birth—oh, there are a few of us, but there are those who are simply sisters by choice. Not birth.
I invite you to join us on the Bloggers Retreat 2009!! You will have a GREAT time!
Be a sister by choice!!
See you here!
Angie

Excuse our corny-country commercial…but the point is “get yourself ready” for the Bloggers Retreat 2009!

Girls, I know by now you may have had to run to the potty —or you may have had an accident. Trust me. Aimee is the funniest sister and friend to be around—I am so blessed!

We are going to have a blast of a good time! I need y’all to pray though. ~~~ If Aimee tries to take that big suitcase full of shoes to the retreat…she will be late for EVERY SINGLE class! (She has a difficult time making up her mind!)

If you are having trouble deciding on whether or not to pinch the pennies to come—grab some girfriends, make it a road trip!

Aimee and I forked over 5 times the amount (remember I sold furniture to go) to attend the She Speaks last year! I LOVED the She Speaks! I promise you will have a good time here! Worshiping, learning, fellowshipping, singing, eating, praying, praising, and on and on! You’ll make some new friends—and get to visit in REAL LIFE with your blogging sistas!!

We look forward to seeing you in October! Register now for the early bird special!!! It ends July 1!!! ($25 off !!!)

If you are like me—you LOVE getting to meet up with friends that you haven’t seen in a while and catch up on the happenings of their lives—and what the LORD is doing in their heart—what their passion is all about—and you love to hear their voices when they are EXCITED about what they are sharing!

Well, have I got some treats for you:

The bloggers Retreat info is up at the new site! Go here to read the details! We’ve already been getting registration info in and we are PUMPED!

One of the seven speakers is a dear woman of EXTREME faith and she is going to share a little bit on a VIDEO blog about her passion for Jesus and her excitement about the coming retreat! I cannot wait to hug her neck! She is a true sister of faith! Be sure you visit Lisa Shaw!
I KNOW without a doubt this will be one major life changing event—We are praying, believing and fighting off the enemy of our lives all at the same time! The praying IS happening –but the fighting can be tough, but we are holding up one another and the LORD is hearing and answering! WITH strength-power-passion to continue on!
FINALLY, Marsha-of Marsha’s Musings is having a blast off give-away for the RETREAT! It’s a writing contest and it will be GREAT fun! Be sure you visit her and read the directions carefully so you can enter to win!!
I encourage each of you to visit these ladies—and pray about the retreat—if you would like to come —seek HIM for the way! Last year—I knew there was NO possible way outside a miracle for me to attend the She Speaks Conference—and the registration fees were almost $500 last year—BUT I REALLY felt the LORD lead me in that direction—and although I had no money to go—I prayed—and sought His divine will and plan.

In just a few days the thought came to me—“sell that “chippendale sofa” and those two sweet chairs! That will be your “way”.

Girls, I loved my little chippendale sofa—it was from the Hickroy Hill Furniture company! Even though I bought it second hand…I LOVED it. Sure no one was allowed to sit on it….except “company”….sure I got upset when the boys jumped on it!—but sell it???? ARE YOU SURE LORD???

I mean—I really want to go…but are you sure this is the ‘way’ to get there?
Yes. He was sure.
If you can possible ignore the absolutely adorable chubby boy and look at the pretty sofa…very prissy sofa—but no one enjoyed it—except maybe me on a Sunday afternoon…for a nap.
So, I apologized for questioning HIM and sold the sofa and chairs –lickety-split…for the exact amount for registration. Yes, I could have gotten more for all of it—Sofa, 2 Chairs, and one really awesome burl-wood top antique table with pretty pull-out trays for your tea cup….yeah. I know. But hey, that’s what He said and that’s what I did. No more than that.
What I got in return was the most incredible two days of my life! Aimee and I went together and we had the best time—meeting some terrific women—following the same path—worshiping together in one place—and learning A LOT about writing (although most days you can’t tell) and speaking—and THAT is something YOU REALLY can’t tell about! ‘Cuz—I ain’t called to speak! 🙂

So—I blabbered on just to encourage you to try and join us…I know that the LORD will meet us here–I know He has plans already in motion for this event! He has already worked miracle after miracle just getting this all going!
I hope to see you there! (Here)

Some mighty incredible sistas!! All together in one place!


Girls, this promises to be the most incredible time you could ever imagine! 

Already Marsha, of Marsha’s Musings is settin’ on go to give away a “free” registration to this event!

A note to our regular readers (if we have any)–We want you to do several things:  .

*Pray for us.  All of the speakers, the workers, the bloggers who want to come, the worship leader, the prayer team, the cooks, and the transportation for all! 
*Pray for the anointing in the worship services—for lives to be touched, women blessed, and ministered to!
*Pray for the LORD to provide a way for you to come!

We will be learning LOTS and having fun while doing so! These ladies are full of fun and information on how you can get started blogging and turn that blog into ministry for Jesus Christ!
There will also be personal testimonies shared—did I already mention you will be BLESSED? YOU will!  You will hear from all the sweet faces pictured!
To get a sneak peek at the workshops, head over to “Free To Be Me Bloggers Retreat” and click your heart away in the sidebar!

Be sure and visit Lisa Shaw (you’ll find her over in the sidebar), she is doing a special VLOG for the retreat (I think that’s what it’s called) and you can see it tomorrow!
Our keynote speaker is Mary Snyder — you will LOVE her—she will have you laughing and, yes maybe even crying— she will bless you with her wit and wisdom from life’s experiences and the Word!
We cannot wait until October—there is much going on in our little corner of the world! We hope to see you here!

BE SURE you stay tuned to the Free To Be Me Bloggers Retreat site…there will be updated information continually—you can register there and see who else is coming!

So—what are you waiting for?

The porch swing at my mother’s is a favorite place of reflecting.  Yo-Yo, the spoiled cat,  likes to attend his daily regimen of grooming while bathed in the light filtering  through the screen.
There has been many pouring of heart and soul on this porch for more years than I can count.  I have been prayed over and read to, prayed for in the quiet dawn, and as the hush of dusk fell on the grounds.
I have felt the power behind the prayers prayed from this porch.  God heard.  AND He answered.  Today, I need to sit on that porch of prayer and peace.  Today, I need to feel the strength that comes from the prayer—the power and anointing is ours when He reaches down, through and into our lives and meets the need. 
The need?  I can’t put a name to it.  Have you ever been in that place?  Where the prayers you pray seem to stop at the ceiling?  The urgent need of your life remains nameless to you, all the while He knows the need of your heart.  I’ve been there more than once.  I sit in that place today.  Even though I can’t get to that porch today, I can get to the cross.  Unload and unwind.  Allow the fingers of the Holy Spirit to kneed away the frustrations of life and apply the balm that soothes and strengthens.
Strength is gathered.  Soldier boots are pulled on and laces tightened.  With the renewed strength for the journey, we carry on in a run now—headed for the finish line.  Doing all we can for the cause of Jesus Christ!
You save the humble,
       but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low.
²⁹ You are my lamp, O LORD;
       the LORD turns my darkness into light.
³⁰ With your help I can advance against a troop;
       with my God I can scale a wall.  2 Samuel 22:28-30 NIV


Keep praying and believing sisters!
Love, Angie

ON SATURDAY
Aimee and I had a yard sale!  It was great fun—hot—tiring—but fun. We were able to clean out some clutter, make a few dollars for a retreat project and share some sweet treats along the way!

Aimee made white chocolate macadamia nut cookies…and I made some red velvet cake balls.  Yeah, I know.  I’ve made them before—but these are so good!

We had them bagged up in cute bags, had some water and soft drinks on ice, and when the “shoppers” felt that they didn’t need any “stuff”, they bought sweet treats!
Another idea, if you are a blogger, or have a ministry you are focusing on, as in raising money for, have some cards made up (you can do that on the computer!) and pass them out.  It is a great way to witness and who knows, someone’s life may be touched, just from a silly old yard sale!
BEST IDEA, make SURE you have some comfy fold up chairs for your tired rear-ends to rest in the shade! Bring an umbrella (large one) if you have no trees nearby to park thyself!
Wear a handy-dandy money changing apron.  Aimee bought me one last year at a craft show and it is made from old jeans and some cute lavender fabric for pockets.  If all else fails, go to your local (homegrown) hardware store and ask for a nail apron! They have ROOMY pockets and long ties! (You will look oh so cute!)
LARGE pockets are necessary to hold all that money you will make—a calculator, some gum, pen for marking prices you forgot, extra price stickers (we bought colored dot stickers) and germ-x wipes. Yes.

Well, that’s all the time we have today! I’ve shared some yard-sale secrets—oh, one more thing, Smile! Big!  Share the love of the Lord!  You never know what condition they left their house or heart in—it will bless them, and you!

Love y’all!
Angie and Aimee