I’m not very good at knowing my limits. I say yes to things, and most often it’s not other people putting things on my list. It’s me. Yes, I will clean the fridge today, and make something special for the last day of school, and write a blog post, and mop the floors, and go to your school lunch, and, and, and. You can see the problem. Next thing I know, I’ve driven 4 miles past the grocery store, completely forgetting where I was headed and why.
So, that nice, thoughtful, encouraging blog post I’ve been working on? Not going to happen this week. You get this honest confession instead. BUT, come back on Monday for a very fun post and give away to kick off the summer.
Today, I just wanted to pop in and let you know about a few, exciting things.
I’ll be sharing at Baker Book House in Grand Rapids, Michigan this Thursday, June 12 at a Ladies Night Out. The event starts at 7 p.m. and features Dove chocolate, Icons coffee, a salon offering makeup tips and hair chalking. I’ll be sharing a fun message of encouragement to kick off your summer around 8 p.m. We would love to see you there. (it’s free!) The store does ask that you RSVP to them at 616-957-3110. More details about the event here.
June 23rd starting at 6:30 p.m., I’ll be at the Women’s Worship Night at Ada Bible church at the Cascade Campus. This is also going to be a fun ladies night out for ladies ages 10 and up. They will have a fun barbecue dinner, a craft, a time of music, and then I’ll be sharing very briefly about “Roots & Fruit” and how you can cultivate your spiritual life this summer. It’s going to be a fun and encouraging evening – another great way to kick off the summer. I believe sign ups for that event will start this weekend (it’s free!) and you will also be able to sign up on their website.
June 26-28, the Speak Up Conference is returning to Grand Rapids. I will be at the conference and teaching a workshop on social media. If you’ve hung around here much, you know that I love this conference. I’ve learned so much and made lifelong friends. I’ve blogged about it here and here. There is still time to sign up for this year’s conference. If you’re interested in writing, speaking, or leading a ministry, this conference will equip you to take the next steps forward. I always view this weekend as more than a conference, but a spiritual retreat. Check out the conference details here.
I would greatly appreciate your prayers for all 3 of these events this month. Please pray that God will bring the women (and men to Speak Up) who need to be there, and that I would listen to God’s promptings and speak only what He would have me share.
A quick note about Facebook. I share details about upcoming events (and pleas for prayer) on my Facebook page, along with other encouraging thoughts and questions. If you haven’t “liked” the page on facebook, you can do that here. Also, if you have “liked” the page, but aren’t seeing the updates, Facebook has made some changes, and you might not be seeing my updates, or the updates of other pages you’ve liked. To ensure you don’t miss an update, hover your mouse over the “like” button on my page, or click the little arrow next to “like” and click on “get notifications.” That will ensure you receive updates in your news stream.
Also, on my Facebook page, I will post photos from these events, and fun things like the book club I met with last night. Oh my, what an incredible group of women! We discussed my book Isn’t it Time for a Coffee Break? and I loved, loved, loved hearing their stories and thoughts. When you sit in a corner and write a book for months on end, praying for the women who might someday read it, it’s such a privilege to meet some of them and hear how God is working in their lives. If you ever want to go through the book with a group of friends or ladies from your church, I’d be delighted to meet with your group after to discuss it, and if you’re not local, we can always do that over Skype or Facetime. E-mail me at amelia (at) ameliarhodes (dot) com.
One last chatty piece of info. I’ve started to scratch out words and ideas for a new project (ok, book) that’s been on my heart and mind for about a year. I’m not ready to discuss the theme and details here on the blog. However, if you’re on my e-mail newsletter list (which I’ve been so lax about sending this year!), I will be sending updates that way and asking for input, ideas and feedback. If you’d like to participate in the development of this project, please sign up for my e-mail list at the box on the top of this page where it says subscribe to my newsletter. I never give your e-mails to anyone else, and you never know what I might say in the newsletter that I won’t say elsewhere 🙂 Note: if you get my blog posts (like this one) in your e-mail box, the newsletter list is different, and you need to put your email in the form here.