Professional Fashion and Fun-Mrs. Montana International

Reader Question: How do you know what to wear to an event like Mrs. International?

Angie: I researched it by going to the website and looking at lots and lots of photos :-) Ultimately, I fell back on my own sense of self. What do I like to wear and feel confident in any time? I have had a lot of fun shopping for just the right outfits that promote my personality and professionalism. I've stretched a little too. I've worn a lot of solid colors and decided to try on a few dresses with bold patterns. They still have my figure in mind and I fell in love with them. It was just as much fun finding accessories for each outfit as it was the dress! Leopard print-never! Ahem, but I did and I can't tell you how elegant it looks. I promise photos after the competition. ;-)

Angie: The first thing I look at in choosing clothes whether for the competition or for my personal choice is does it fit me physically and personality-wise? We need to look at our body type and dress to enhance who we already are and not how it looks on someone else. I have to honor my own sense of modesty to maintain my comfort in public. (I don't think I need to be intensely sexual. In fact, I think it's harder to get people to listen to what a woman is saying if she is too immodestly distracting.)

The next thing I look for is the simplicity of care. If it is too hard to take care of or travel with, I don't buy it. Bald truth. Why make your life harder than it needs to be? I tend to lean toward beautiful colors and tailored lines made out of fun to touch and wear fabrics. My interview dress is a gorgeous non-wrinkle jersey. All my rehearsal wear and appearance outfits are also fun to touch and non-iron. The lines fit my figure well, though sometimes I have to have them altered.

I also want the clothes to be something I can wear later for appearances, church or fun social events. So I'd say those 3 values are how I shop.

Reader Question: Why do you alter?
Angie: I happen to have a very small back/rib cage. Clothes don't fit me well there and hang like a sack. I've found a wonderful seamstress at Kathy's Bridal here in Missoula. She adds darts or takes in seams so my clothes fit me well and I feel more confident in them.

Tip: If you've never altered your clothing, I'd suggest trying one or two outfits/dresses that have always bugged you. Loving the piece is fine, but it should make you feel comfortable and confident. Get suggestions from friends or ask your favorite dry cleaners for referrals. It's amazing how great the right fit makes you feel and look! It's really about the confidence.

Biga Pizza for a Biga Cause Mrs. Montana International Appearance

Lots of people have asked me about my appearances. Why I do so many and work so hard. For me, my heart is impassioned to raise up other people so that they have the opportunity to make their mark on the world too.

My husband and I agreed long ago that we want to support children's causes. That's where our hearts are and what can make us cry or laugh.

Tip: You can find your own passion by paying attention to what makes you cry and laugh. Take that a step farther and ask yourself what really makes your blood boil. Those things that grab your emotions long term are your passions and possibly a link to your life purpose. I say long term because anyone can be swayed for a few minutes. Really examine what strikes you over and over again.

So let's have fun with the fund raiser for the Neema Children's Home!

We had a $10 all you can eat pizza in downtown Missoula to raise money to build a well for the Neema Children's Center in Kenya. The kids roll 50 gallon drums a mile to the river, fill them, and roll them a mile home each day for drinking water. There are 167 children in the orphanage at last count.


Of the $40, 000 raised, we have $11,000 to go. The fund raiser was such a success we are going to do another pizza fund raiser in late September for the well. The event was super crowded and very fun.


I walked all over downtown into stores and visited with people to invite them to eat with me. And they came in droves!

One fellow paid double to help the children, one car load couldn't come but because I stopped to talk to their children, the grandma pressed $10 on me to give to the Kenyan kiddos!

Some young men biking across country met me by the County courthouse and called their friends to come to eat. We filled the restaurant with a line out the door! It was very, very exciting.

Q & A with Mrs. Montana International

Tosca asked: I missed the teleseminar interview with you. Can I still hear it somehow?

Angie: Thank you so much for wanting to hear it! Yes, it is available on my website by following this link.

Another link is here.

Randy asked: Why did you want to be Mrs. Montana or Mrs. International?

Angie: This was an easy one :-) I think the Mrs. International pageant gives women a voice and the ability to reach out and leave a legacy with their work and the things we believe in. I want to help people discover the gems of wisdom from their experiences and turn around to use them as building blocks and gifts for others. I use my gems of wisdom to write, speak and support children's causes around the world through Hope's Promise and the Jadyn Fred Foundation. That's why I wrote my book and started life coaching (you can find more about that at MyGemofWisdom.com. In the process, I commissioned a line of jewelry that helps support two of Hope's Promise Orphan Homes in Kenya. So it was a natural charity to include in my life. My slogan is Personal Growth = Powerful Living!

Rosy asked: How can we help?

Angie: There are several ways to help depending on your own heart's leading.
There is a special fundraiser right now that the Mrs. International Pageant is involved with specifically for the American Heart Association. Since my mother passed away from congestive heart failure and my dad has had a quadruple by-pass, I feel the research and life style guidance the AHA provides is essential. Please visit the Mrs. International Contestant page and scroll down to Mrs. Montana to vote for me. It doesn't sway who wins the title, but it does help the American Heart Association continue their work while it also helps me continue my work for the charities I represent. Thank you if this is also a passion for your heart. A fun aside, there are 5 questions each contestant answers. So you have the opportunity to get to know the ladies before the pageant. I like this unique aspect!

Another way to help is by donating toward the financial needs of the Hope's Promise Orphan Ministries. You can donate online and it is very simple. I urge you to take a look at the website and get familiar with the international organization. Pray about it and consider how you might touch a life and leave your own legacy.

One very simple and fun way to help is how you shop for presents! Please visit MyGemofWisdom.com when you need a gift for birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas or just to enjoy the beauty of natural gemstones. We'll have purses and small bags from Kenya late summer or early fall. The jewelry not only helps support the orphan homes but the purses and bags will support the single moms with AIDS. These hidden victims are in the Taraja Project. The project helps mommies stay with their children as long as life allows. Consider buying a gift with immense value outside of the beauty, you'll be offering hope as well. Who wouldn't love a gift like that?

Each gem in the jewelry has a significant meaning. The pendant is interchangeable. This one is the snowflake obsidian and the meaning is--courage! Each piece is a one of a kind and has a registration number as well as a map to the meanings of the gems (they correlate to each chapter of my book, Insanity Rules: Gems of Wisdom.) We send you the treasure map for your piece so you know which stone is which and the affirmation statements of each gem.

And I'd love to have your support at the Mrs. International Pageant! If you are in the Chicago area on July 17th and 18th, tickets to attend are available from the Skokie Performing Arts Center.

Thank you so much for the great questions!
Angie
PS I'll post some photos of the Biga Pizza for a Biga Cause-building a well for the Neema Children's Home after the event today. If you are in the Missoula area, it's from 2-6p.m. at Biga Pizza, downtown Missoula, on Main Street. I hope to see you there!

What's Mrs. Montana International up to these days?

Hi all,

I've been getting lots of fun questions about what I do as Mrs. Montana International and how I am preparing for the upcoming Mrs. International competition in Chicago at the Skokie Performing Arts Center. (It's July 17-18th in Skokie.)

Here's some of the recent questions :-)

Tiff asked: So, how are things going as you gear up for Mrs. International in 2 weeks? I've never personally met anyone who has represented a state for those competitions. How exciting!

Angie: Really great! I want to do my very best so I am paying attention to even the finest of details. I want people to know they can count on me to bring 100 % to the table, not just for the judges, but for the people I'll serve through the year should I be honored to win Mrs. International. I actually schedule in prep time and have a list that I'm checking off to be ready. A little done every day layers the professional readiness and fuses it into a natural expression of who I am and what I am accomplishing. I think if I were to try and race it all in at the end, something would be forgotten and that would distract me from my goals. So checking off that list makes me feel I've done everything possible to be ready and fully present when I get to Chicago. Thanks for asking, Tiff!

Tip:
Regardless of what big event you are planning toward, make time to write down all the details. For some reason it is always the little one that gets forgotten that buzzes around you like a pesky fly. Supersede it with great planning.

Misty asked: What kind of appearances do you do as Mrs. Montana?

Angie: I've been doing several appearances here at home for my platform charities. We've had the U of M Capstone Dinner in May to raise scholarship funds for culinary students.


My job at the Capstone Dinner was as MC. I love it and feel doubly blessed that I was asked again this year! (That's the band, several U of MT music students, setting up behind me.)

In May I also had the privilege of acting as hostess for a women's event called Smart About Life with author Deborah Dunn. We held a teleseminar available on the internet, in person at Atonement Lutheran Church and by telephone. I was again the MC for this event and the fun dessert social afterward. The focus was on teaching women to improve the relationships with the men in their lives. Awesome time!


Then I ended May as the Women of Faith coordinator for our church and area. I had the honor of leading and coordinating 25 lovely ladies to travel over for the Spokane event the last weekend in May.

This is the Mandisa concert from Women of Faith. Very moving testimony and a wonderful addition to the whole weekend! She told us all that she'd already lost 80 pounds! Now she is fully committed to continuing toward a healthier lifestyle. Whoo hoo! What an excellent example of personal growth and reaching out to share that gem of wisdom with others!

The Jadyn Fred Foundation has had the annual live auction where I assisted in acquiring auction donations prior and then had a blast playing "Vanna" as I helped show the items during the auction.

I made this one a little bigger so you could see the painting by Larry Pirnie, a local Montana artist. (I'm sure he has no idea, but we are actually neighbors, lol. I've walked by his house on my 5 mile route often and never met him.)

Then the Jadyn Fred Foundation also had their annual golf tournament. It was so, so cold, but the golfers showed in force and opened their hearts to help children with expenses that insurance doesn't cover. My job was to welcome the golfers while selling raffle tickets at the check-in table! How fun that I met Kraig Michaels there as my work buddy and on my right (your left in the photo) one of the board of directors for the Jadyn Fred Foundation who also delivered my grandson! He's Dr. Mark Garnaas. Wonderful men and such fun personalities to banter with during the check-in for the tourney.

I'll add more of my appearances in later posts as I've gotten quite a few questions about them. Upcoming, I'll tell you about my own teleseminar, a television appearance, and interviews :-)
Thank you,
Angie
PS
Please come if you are in Missoula on Sunday, June 28th, 2-6p.m. for the Neema Children's Home Biga Pizza for a Biga Cause. We are raising funds to dig a well. Biga Pizza is on Main in downtown Missoula. $10 all you can eat and you help the children have all the water they can drink!

Sunset Beach by Trish Perry

All right, I confess, I have a little bit of a partiality to this book. What's that you say? Not allowed? Oh well let me tell you why :-D
Two years ago at the American Christian Fiction conference, I had the most wonderful honor of chatting with the author, Trish Perry. It was so much fun brainstorming ideas for books while eating late night snacks with about 6 of us. Tosca Lee hosted the table after the awards banquet. We had a blast in a round Robin that pinged around more like hot potato game :-)

One thing led to another and Trish connected with me later on for the next book, ta dah, Sunset Beach. I shared a story with her about going on a mission trip to Mexico with 40 some-odd teens. While visiting the beach, we came across a wounded seal. She loved it and felt like that story could be tweaked to fit into her fictional world. How cool is that??

People ask authors where they get their ideas all the time. Well, they get them from real life. Those real stories don't get told exactly as they happened because in the fiction world, new characters are living them out. So the "real" situation is now seen through someone else's eyes. It becomes a foundation for a new idea. Think of it like this: a builder lays a square foundation for a home. A home is built. What does it look like?

Ah, you are beginning to see. Your imagination can fill in the details, but those details will be totally different from anyone else's. Your house might be brick while your friend might see a log home. Still has the basic foundation but is no longer the same. The truth is in the story even if the color or style of "home" appears different. That's why fictional worlds are believable--the truth is still in it.

You simply have to go to Trish's blog and sign up to win the book and a $200 prize! Here's the link.

Summary:Sonny Miller is tired of not knowing who she is. Soon she'll begin graduate school to earn her masters in Psychology. But how can she counsel future clients about their identities when she isn't even sure about her own? To that end she has cooked up a little meeting at a certain beach house in San Diego.

Sonny's mother, classical soprano Teresa Miller, isn't aware she's about to be reunited at the beach house with her sister, Melanie Hines, after 25 years of estrangement. And Sonny isn't aware her mother has invited a surprise guest of her own. Russian adoptee, Irina Petrova, finds herself dragged along on a trip so tumultuous she summons her handsome concert violinist brother for moral support.

The four women converge on the funky little beach house in San Diego, each with her own disappointments and hopes about family, identity, and love. For Sonny, the trip reveals all she expected and more than she ever dreamed.

Order Sunset Beach here.

Author Bio:
I started writing seriously about fourteen years ago. Up until then I thought I had finally figured out what I wanted to do when I grew up: I went back to school and got a degree in Psychology. I was drawn to how our minds and emotions work. But while writing for my classes, I found myself drawn to how we relate to one another's minds and emotions.

Hey, guess what? That's what stories and novels are all about (good ones, anyway)!

I started writing short stories—pretty bad ones. And I started taking creative writing courses to round out my degree. So I was in classes full of people just like me—lousy writers. But we were learning!

Then the Lord led me to a local writers' group, Capital Christian Writers, and the contacts and friends I made through CCW enriched my personal life and my writing life more than I can measure. Through CCW and through reading just about every book and magazine ever published by Writer's Digest, I started catching on. Now I'm writing full time and man oh man do I love it.

Before the writing began, I worked for attorneys in Washington, D. C. I worked for the Securities and Exchange Commission. And I was a stockbroker. A horrible stockbroker. How do people do that? Take responsibility for other people's financial futures? Yikes. I'm perfectly happy to take responsibility for the amount of time any one person wants to spend reading my books. If you enjoy the experience, then know that we both enjoyed it together. I love that about books.

In the midst of all that fretting over other people's money and writing about other people's lives, I racked up a few personal experiences myself. Some good, some bad, but all part of God's plan. Now I live in Northern Virginia with my brilliantly funny son. I have a savvy, gorgeous grown daughter who eloped at 19 and eventually blessed me with an amazing grandson.

Oh, and we have three lovable, goofy dogs and several feral cats who think they're our pets and force us to feed them.

What the Bayou Saw by Patti Lacy

Synopsis
Rising author Patti Lacy's second novel exposes the life of Sally Stevens, the chatty Southerner who unearths Mary’s past in An Irishwoman’s Tale. Sally has her own burial ground for secrets set amid the shadows of prejudice in Louisiana. Since leaving her home in the South, Sally Stevens has held the secrets of her past at bay, smothering them in a sunny disposition and sugar-coated lies. No one, not even her husband, has heard the truth about her childhood. But when one of her students is violently raped, Sally's memories quickly bubble to the surface unbidden, like a dead body in a bayou. As Sally's story comes to light, the lies she's told begin to catch up with her. And as her web of deceit unravels, she resolves to face the truth at last, whatever the consequences.

Angie's Take: I love the genuine feel to the story. Patti doesn't write the standard formula for "feel good." Instead, we find characters that connect deeply with us because they live in the real world. Sally isn't the barbie doll heroine. She's a woman trying to live the best life she can and find her own sense of self-worth in the process. I enjoy watching Sally process through the "right thing to do" and finally achieve that balance we all search for between truth and being able to live with our pasts. Bravo, Patti Lacy!

Author Bio:
Patti Lacy graduated from Baylor University with a B.S. in education. She taught at Heartland Community College in Normal, Illinois, until 2006, when she began to pursue writing full-time. She has two grown children and lives in Illinois with her husband, Alan, and a dog named Laura.


Visit Patti's website at www.pattilacy.com

Multiple Streams of Contentment

Multiple Streams of Contentment is a guest blogger article By Karen Whiting. I truly felt her writing voice and style connect with my soul and it became important to share what she'd written. So please welcome and enjoy this guest blogger article.


My mother didn't smile on my wedding day. She spent the day overwhelmed with sadness although she loved me and loved my fiancé. He was everything she wanted in a husband for me. The wedding stayed within budget and everything went off fairly smoothly. My extended family all attended, everyone got along, and tried to cheer her up. Yet, my wedding photos will always show her sad expression.

The day before the wedding my mentally handicapped brother had lost his little job of waiting on tables at a school cafeteria. Although social workers could easily place him in a new position, mom remained discontented and focused on that problem the entire day. She made the mistake of magnifying one problem, so that it robbed her of joy on such a happy occasion.

Many people let one problem override all the blessings in their lives. It steals their contentment. They forget to trust their anxieties to God and rejoice in the blessings he has given them.

Some people fixate on something until it changes their personality and fills them with negative emotions that spill out in sin. Herodias, in Matthew 14, is an example of a person whose discontent led to a life of sin. She had a husband but chose the sin of adultery. She must have been discontent with her husband. She felt more discontent at hearing John the Baptist speak of repentance and point out her sin. That led to her plotting the murder of John the Baptist. She trampled over people and even used her beautiful daughter to get her way. She ignored John's calls to repent, the one action that would have healed her heart and given her joy. Her bad choice snowballed into disaster for many.

In contrast, Paul spoke about contentment, in Philippians four, and said that he had learned to be content in prosperous circumstances and impoverished situations. His circumstances could not rob him of his joy or peace. It is very seldom that every detail in life is perfect because we live in a fallen world, but we can make choices that help us remain content despite our circumstances.

Continue reading the remainder? http://e2ma.net/go/2112774231/1930390/71676452/14449/goto:http://www.docstoc.com/docs/7088309/Mutliple-Streams-of-Contentment


About the Author:
A creative person with creative solutions- that's Karen Whiting! She has a heart for busy women and desires to help them free up time for what God has truly called them to do in relationships and ministry. She challenges listeners to discover ways to connect, serve, and treasure one another.

Karen found time to follow God's call to write even while she and husband, Jim moved around the US and raised their five children. They currently live on Maryland's eastern shore and are new grandparents.

An author of ten books for women, families and children, Karen writes to creatively strengthen families. Her articles have appeared in dozens of magazines, including Focus on the Family, Today's Christian Woman, Christian Parenting Today, and Parent Life. Karen has been named Who's Who of American Women, Who's Who in the World, and Professional Speakers Network member of the year award. Karen has been a guest on numerous radio shows and hosted the educational television series Puppets on Parade. With humor and inspiration, Karen loves to encourage women to nurture their relationships and family life.

Find out more about Karen at her website http://www.karenwhiting.com/

To schedule Karen for a speaking event or interview, please contact Kathy Carlton Willis Communications at WillisWay@aol.com or check out kcwcomm.blogspot.com

Firstborn by Conlan Brown

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
The Firstborn
Realms (May 5, 2009)
by
Conlan Brown


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Born in 1984, Conlan Brown was functionally illiterate until the fifth grade, when he learned how to read and write, as well as a love of story, from his grandmother. Conlan went on to start college at the age of sixteen, and now holds a Master's degree in Communication, which taught him the academic principles needed to write Firstborn.

Conlan lives on Colorado's Front Range where he is working on his next book. He enjoys video editing, film scores, and developing high octane, thought provoking fiction that turns pages and excites the senses.


ABOUT THE BOOK

Three supernatural gifts. Two thousand years of division. One moment of truth.

Hannah's head hung, long brown hair in her eyes. Her face felt pasty with cold and fatigue and pain. Arms behind her back, she sat in a chair, wrists and ankles tied to the wooden frame, chair legs bolted to the floor. A cold car. A gun. Horror. Pain. Grief. Screaming. A windshield blistering with holes. Darkness.

It all came over her like a flood. A pouring out of pictures in her mind. But then there was one more thing. Not an image, but a feeling--that half a continent away someone else had felt it all happening too.

The Firstborn, those gifted with Foresight, Hindsight, and Insight at the time of Christ's death are divided between themselves. And when an Islamic holy man is murdered outside of his mosque it becomes apparent that one of the Firstborn was to blame. Now, with the threat of a terrorist attack on an unspeakable target the Firstborn are spiraling out of control. Leaders are dying, members are being kidnapped, and unity is being forced. Three heroes, differently gifted and divided must work together to thwart those who would go too far.

Their breakneck race against time plunges them into a world of danger and through a gauntlet across the United States. From the Riverwalk of San Antonio, where Devin Bathurst, John Temple, and Hannah Rice must protect one another from assassination, to the gritty streets of Washington DC, a paramilitary compound in Pennsylvania, and ultimately back to our nation's capital, the Firstborn must unite to prevent an impending atrocity from becoming reality.

Watch The Trailer



If you would like to read the first chapter excerpt of The Firstborn, go HERE

Angie's Take: This is one talented writer! I was drawn into the story immediately. Great intrigue, setting and a sense of intensity. Love it! Another thing to mention, Conlan's use of vocabulary. Thank you, thank you for treating the reader as intelligent. Kudos!

Can you really touch a life across the ocean?

Sometimes it feels like the world is a place full of people isolated by imaginary borders and actual oceans, mountains and deserts. How in the realm of reality can we hope to make a difference for people thousands of miles away?

Honestly?

Simple. Take part in events that intentionally connect us. Those events exist in communities every where. But it requires open eyes and seeking hearts. Look for events you can take part in within your own community.

In my community, on June 28th, we are working to raise funds to build a well for Neema Children's Home in Kenya. This home has children from the surrounding area that are either orphaned or their families cannot feed them. Little ones like David above.

My son and his wife served there last summer. It struck them hard that one of the many hardships this children's home faces is the lack of fresh water. The kids had to walk a mile to get water for their compound. They really need a well.

Knowing this need, a local restaurant partnered with the Neema Home to help.

So how does that affect people here in Missoula?

Even more simply. On June 28th from 2-6p.m. the people of Missoula, MT can go out to eat at Biga Pizza. For $10 each person can eat all they want. Half the proceeds will go toward building that well.

And what did the folks here have to do to touch a life all the way across the ocean?

Eat.

As Mrs. Montana International, I have the blessing of inviting people to this event. Come and eat. Come and share a little of your life to support life in a small children's home that you may never see. Eat. While you eat, you will be providing the opportunity to touch the lives of orphans and poverty stricken little ones to have fresh water.

Please come. Please eat. Share laughter. Share a common cause. Share the most basic necessity--water.

Thank you for considering this simple way of touching a life on the other side of the globe,
Angie
Mrs. Montana International 2009

No-Cost Big Reward Father's Day Gift Ideas

By: Sharon Lovejoy Autry and Laurie Lovejoy Autry

There we sat at dinner - a time that, in my mind, is supposed to be calm and non-stressful. (I've heard food digests better.) But, after a draining workday, little things can seem huge. The kids were planning yet another summer business endeavor which crawled all over my husband. He began lecturing the negatives of such an endeavor...point 1, point 2...I felt like we were in a business meeting. I must have rolled my eyes. I glanced at my daughter who wasn't listening to her father. She was looking at me. Her response to point 1 and 2: rolling her eyes.

Children do what we do . . . Boy, that's a scary thought for me. How do you treat your husband? Do you respect him with your words, actions, attitudes, eyes? I struggle sometimes when I feel so justified in my disrespect. Can you relate? I think the best thing we as moms can do to help our children to respect their dad is to treat him with respect ourselves. Here are some Father's Day (and everyday) tips to help our children respect their fathers:

A compliment a day goes a long way! Brag on your husband in front of your children (and in front of him).
Show me the love! Let your children know how much you love their daddy. Show affection in front of your children. They may say, "Yuck!" but it provides much needed security for their lives.

Instead of being put-out -Pray! Include your children in praying for dad's job, leadership, etc. Give him grace . . . Show him grace even when he doesn't deserve it . . . remember, neither do we. Nehemiah 9:17b says "But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love."

Phone Manners. Next time you are in the middle of something and your husband calls you on the phone, be aware of your tone of voice, are you respectful? . . . little ears may be listening and learning.

"Daddy's Home!" Be as excited to see your husband when he comes home from work as your children are! Make yourself stop what you are doing to greet him.

Choose your battles -When you think your husband is being unfair (and it's a battle you need to fight) talk to your husband in private; listen first and speak last. Psalm 141:3 "Set a guard over my mouth O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips."

Try these no-cost (big rewards) Father's Day gift ideas and see if it proves to be the gift that truly keeps on giving!


About the authors:
Laurie Lovejoy Hilliard and Sharon Lovejoy Autry are wives, moms, sisters and great friends. They are the founders of Mom and Loving It Ministries whose mission is to provide hope for families by encouraging and equipping moms. After these sisters and their families toured 40 states speaking and singing to thousands of moms, they settled in the North Texas area near their hometown of Whitesboro.

They've been featured on numerous TV and radio shows and have written Mom and Loving It: Finding Contentment in REAL Life, and Hold You, Mommy: Moments with God for Moms on the Go. Their musical CD, Hold You, Mommy has encouraged thousands. Laurie and her husband Charles, have four children, Sharon and her husband Pat, have three.

This twosome inspires audiences at their Mom and Loving It Conferences to move from simply enduring motherhood to enjoying it. Through their genuine hearts and relatable stories, moms are put at ease and challenged to be a "Mom and Loving It!"

To find out more about using their books as studies in your ladies group, having them for a conference or to sign up for a free monthly Mom-e-Moment visit them at http://www.momandlovingit.org

Meeting Daddy

By: Cynthia Ruchti

Amy was six weeks pregnant when her husband’s army unit deployed to Iraq for eighteen months. I felt my friend’s pain deep in my bones, aching with a brand of grief reserved only for times like that. Caring for her two young children and their home would be stress enough for her without the added demands and challenges of a new baby on the way. Concern for her husband’s safety would mask every remotely joyful moment. The wonder of labor and delivery lay shrouded in loneliness. And the child would be many months old before meeting his or her daddy for the first time.

Change a few details and backtrack more than fifty years and that was my story.

My father served with the Marines during the Korean Conflict. Four days after I was born, his unit shipped out, leaving my mom and me to fend for ourselves for the next thirteen months. When relating my personal history, I have to start with that. It shaped my beginnings. I lived my first thirteen months seven thousand miles away from the dad who loved me and wasn’t allowed to hold me until I was already walking and capable of squirming out of his arms.

He’d read magazines during Mom’s labor. Fathers weren’t welcome in the delivery room in those days. He saw his first glimpses of me through the nursery window. Then he obediently reported for duty aboard the ship that would take him far from us and into the arms of daily danger.

In an era before the invention of camcorders, camera phones, and e-mail, my mother and father had only air mail letters to connect their hearts. Letters and scalloped-edged black and white photos.

As the firstborn child, my photo album bulged, all the more so since still pictures offered my dad his only tangible evidence that I was alive, growing, and as happy as a child can be without her father.

Mom would have sent him a lock of my hair from my first haircut if I’d had any to spare. When I learned to blow kisses, she’d “collect” some in an envelope to send to him. An amateur artist, Daddy sketched cartoonish scenes from his Marine unit—jeeps and tents and enlisted men and helicopters. Even before I understood a word she said, my mom read those letters to me over and over again. They were my lullabies. She showed me his picture and talked about what a wonderful daddy I had.

Mom wanted me to know who he was and what he was like before he came home. From the stories they’ve told, both of my parents were nervous about that first meeting. They worried I’d be frightened of the stranger who was my father. He’d survived the war, but my fearing or resisting him would have killed him, they said.

To compound the concern, I was just at that age when a toddler begins to fear strangers. Somebody would smile at me in church and I’d start screaming.

But my mom had prepared me well. The pictures. The letters. Her gentle words about how much that smiling man in the pictures loved me. I’m told that when he finally came home and walked through the front door, I looked up at my mom, pointed to the tall Marine and asked, “Daddy?” Mom nodded, her throat imploding on itself. Her nod was all the assurance I needed. The next minute I was in his arms, dodging his tears of gratitude that I’d accepted him.

I give my mother a lot of credit for the success of that first meeting. She had prepared me well, leaving nothing to chance. My toddler mind entertained no doubt that he cared about me. I knew that truth before he even got home from the war because of what my mother taught me about him.

If the Lord walked into the room in a few minutes, would the people around me recognize Him not by His beard or hair or flowing robes, but because of how I have described Him?

Would people meeting Him for the first time find the situation comfortable and reassuring because of how well I prepared them?

Am I constantly showing others snapshots of the Lord through the way I live and love, the things I say about Him, the things He said that I pass on to them?

Do I talk about Him frequently, with loving words, expressing how very much He loves even those who have not yet met Him?

Would His sudden presence seem intimidating and frightening, or more like a warm homecoming?

In light of how you and I act day to day, would others respond to His entrance into their lives this way:

“Oh, sure! I recognize Him. I've heard my neighbor talk about Him. I've seen my coworker act like that. I've heard those same affirming words coming out of my brother-in-law's mouth. I've seen examples of what He's like. His amazing love and generosity and compassion and caring don't surprise me at all. They are just what I expected from what my friend shared about Him. I heard that His touch brings healing. I heard that He can help make sense out of the questions that trouble me. I didn't need more of an introduction than the one my friend already gave me. I’d recognize Jesus a mile away.”

Pictures and reflections and stories and evidence still lack the wonder of that first face-to-face encounter. As I Corinthians 13:12 (KJV) reminds us, “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face; now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”

*Article reprint from Victory in Grace.

About the author:
Cynthia Ruchti writes stories of “hope that glows in the dark.” The drama/devotional radio broadcast Cynthia writes and produces—The Heartbeat of the Home—airs on 16 radio stations and two cable/digital television stations. Cynthia is editor of the ministry’s Backyard Friends magazine. She also serves as current president of American Christian Fiction Writers. Her debut novel—They Almost Always Come Home—releases in spring 2010 with Abingdon Press.

The Recorded Interview with Angela Breidenbach

In case you missed it, the interview with Angie Breidenbach was
rich with information about helping others as well as her special
gems project. You will be blessed!

You can still listen at:
http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=5KTzd&m=1auUgCxeDA1Axv&b=MY1R40KEjxQ_VtdNUmD9.Q

Warm wishes,
Rosey Dow

Diadem Ministries, Inc, PO Box 54, Camden, Delaware 19934, USA

New Technology for Interview with Mrs. Montana International tonight!

One of the most exciting new methods of communication today is the Internet teleseminar. This is similar to a radio interview but much, much simpler.

A teleseminar is an interview that is broadcast over the phone lines and the Internet at the same time. The speakers are using their the telephones.

To attend, all you need to do is dial into the special conference number and put in the ID code. You'll immediately enter the conference and hear the entire interview. You can even listen on your cell phone while in the car.

Or if you'd rather, you can listen from a special web page. The interview will come over your computer speakers just the same as if you were on the phone, but this method is free to anyone in the world--no international charges. People on the web page can also ask questions and hear the presenters answer them right there from their computer speakers.

Tonight, I'm going to be interviewed via teleseminar with Rosey Dow. Please join us and see how this amazing technology works. It's as simple as making a phone call or clicking a web link. And if you can't be there for the live event, you can listen to the replay. It will be up almost immediately on the web page.

To attend, just go to:
http://tinyurl.com/mrsmontana

and enter your first name and email address. Once you do that, you'll get the phone number and also the web page information via email. The interview is tonight. I hope to meet you there.

Thank you!
Angie

Please join me for a teleseminar interview on Jun 15th

Please join me on a fun interview with Rosey Dow of Experts In Focus. Rosey will be interviewing me as Mrs. Montana International about the work I will be doing this year with Hope's Promise Orphan Ministries



the Jadyn Fred Foundation


the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women Campaign, and how I help people discover their own gems of wisdom.

If you're on facebook, you can find the link here.

And you can go straight to the online teleseminar here.

If you go to the online teleseminar link, you can send a question for me to answer too!



I really hope you'll join me Monday, June 15th.

Thank you,
Angie

Greenough Park

Come visit another favorite place in Missoula with Cyber Tour Guides Angie, Kiddo #4, and Hubby. This park is in the middle of town, just off I-90. With a paved bike path bordering the West side and well maintained dirt paths winding throughout, you can't help feeling completely at peace no matter how you choose to experience the slice of natural Montana.



One gorgeous place to visit in Montana, Greenough Park. It's a bird sanctuary with amazing views throughout the park.


The paths wind inside through the trees.



The river splits into several forks throughout the park.



Very pretty wooden bridges span the small rivers.




There are such lush patches of greenery, that you feel like dinosaurs must be roaming through the area.



Of course, what would a nature hike be without a dip in the river?



Thanks for visiting Greenough Park with us.

Angie

Folfing (or Disc Golf or Frisbie Golf anywhere else.)

A Folfing we will go, a folfing we will go...
(Heh heh, couldn't help myself there.)



The goal is to hit the pole with your disc. These photos were taken last summer as my family took me on my first folfing run. I love the fact that this is a low impact game. As a Weight Watcher, this game takes a couple of hours. You can easily earn several activity points for your weekly plan. At my weight, it is worth 4!



A Folfing course in Pattee Canyon. This is the topography and layout of the course.


My first game of Folf. What a blast! It's a great family sport that gets you to excercise without really feeling like it. I'm not sure how far we walked and tossed our discs, but it had to be a good couple of miles hiking through the woods.



The holes on this course are large posts painted with a red marker. This is my youngest son mocking me, lol. He does not expect me to get a hole in one. And, I don't :-D


However, I never had to go searching for my disc like he did. LOL.


And he needed help!


(He has a really long throw.)




One of our older kiddos shows great folfing form. She's trying to teach me to play. Actually, she did a pretty good job. I stayed 1-3 over par on most of the holes. Okay, there were a few...



That would be me flinging my folf disc. We all have different colors so we can tell them apart. They are also different weights for better throwing ability depending on your personal strength.


This is my husband trying to get his disc uphill. This particular hole is straight up and over the mountain. Quite the challenge.

The discs cost anywhere from $6 on up. You can buy one good mid-range or build an arsenal of specialty discs.



I like folfing very much. It's an inexpensive activity that gets a family or group of friends outside playing, laughing, and excercising. In the above picture, one of the kids treed their disc and a squirrel is busy scolding my son for trying to help his sister bounce the folf disk out of the branch.


My kids tell me there are opportunities all over the country. Why not take discs with you on vacation? You can find a great place to run off energy and cause awesome laughter.

In Missoula, there are at least two courses. This one at Pattee Canyon and the other at Blue Mountain (which has baskets on the holes. It's a little more challenging.)

The perfect way to spend an afternoon!

Thanks for visiting :-D
I hope you'll try a game of Folf.
Angie

Angela Breidenbach is awarded Mrs. Montana International

Hi Friends,

I wanted to share a very exciting experience with you. A few weeks ago, I was awarded the title of Mrs. Montana International 2009! It's been a whirlwind ever since :-) I'll be competing for Mrs. International this July 14-18, 2009 in Chicago. The pageant is open to the public, and tickets are available by visiting the North Shore Centre for the Performing Arts.

Some of the unique items I've had to complete are online questions for the entire world to read as they get to know me. I included them here, with one answered. If you'd like to read all my answers to the interview, you can click over to the Mrs. International Contestant page and then click on Mrs. Montana International (hey, that's me) and see some photos too. I'd be honored if you would :-)

I thought it would be fun to hear all you lovely ladies answer these questions too! I'd love to learn about you. I'm going to post a different answer to one of these questions over on the six author blog, WritingbyFaith, with the same request to learn more about all of you. Please feel free to visit there also.

On this blog, I'll be sharing photos and posts about the journey to Mrs. Montana International and on to Mrs. International. Please join me on June 15th, 7p.m. Mountain Standard, (6p.m. Pacific, 9p.m. Eastern) for an hour long live interview event. I'll post the website and how to join the webinar/radio interview next week.

Might I mention, if you're an author or you might be writing a story for future generations, these questions are awesome character exploration opportunities.

On to the interview, tell me about yourself :-)

How do your personal / unique qualities best fit the International Pageant system?

What is something that few people know about you?

What do you do to stay healthy?

Everyone talks about "family values", what are they?
Instilled through our examples, our values show in how we live, laugh, cope with difficulty, express affection, and give of our time or blessings. It's what we do, not say, that reveals our values. By showing and building relationships, we gain the benefit to share our gems of wisdom.

What is your worst habit?
Why?

Don't Give In...God Wants You to Win! by Thelma Wells

Popular author and conference speaker Thelma Wells inspires readers to fight the good fight of faith and win the raging wars that they battle each day as the enemy tries to steal their joy, kill their hopes and dreams, and destroy their lives. In her personable and enthusiastic style, Wells helps readers understand:

what spiritual warfare is
why they fight
who they are fighting
how to dress for the war
how to win the war
who ultimately is in control of the fight

Don’t Give In—God Wants You to Win! will cause readers to understand that the battles they fight are really not theirs. Those battles belong to the God of “Peace, be still,” who will give them the strategies and courage they need to resist Satan’s tricks.

Wells writes for anyone fighting battles over family, relationships, finances, health, broken dreams, disappointments, and just the dailyness of life that can cause so much distress and hurt. Through instruction from God’s Word and stories of modern–day as well as biblical people, Wells shows how to relinquish those troubles to the only Person who can guarantee winning strategies for life.
About the Author

From times of singing in a dark closet to the founding of a national women’s mentoring ministry, Thelma Wells' life has been a courageous journey of faith. The name on her birth certificate read simply: Baby Girl Morris. Thelma’s mother was a severely deformed teenager with no husband and no place to go, since her own abusive mother insisted that she take the baby and leave the house. So when the baby was born, her unwed teenage mother found work as a maid cleaning “the big house” while living with her baby daughter in servants’ quarters. Eventually, the baby went to live with her great-grandparents, who called her Thelma Louise Smith and loved her dearly. They took little Thelma to church, where she learned to love the hymns and praise songs.

On those occasions when Thelma was taken to her grandparents’ home, her grandmother abused her, just as she had tormented Thelma’s mother. She was locked in a dark, smelly, insect-infested closet until just before her grandfather came home when her grandmother would bring her out of the closet, clean her up, and act as if all was well. In spite of her deep fear, little Thelma spent her time in the closet singing every hymn and praise song she could remember. She would sing herself to sleep in that closet, and the Lord received this little girl’s innocent praise and rewarded it with an abundant life of joy, protecting her from feelings of anger or bitterness.

Thelma grew up to become a trailblazer for black women, a prominent international speaker and author, and a wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. As a student at North Texas State University in Denton, Texas (now the University of North Texas), she was a member of the first group of girls to integrate the school’s dormitories. She earned her Bachelor’s degree there and eventually received a Master’s of Ministry from Master’s International School of Divinity in Evansville, Indiana. In 2002 she became the school’s first black female professor.

In 1980 Thelma became the first black woman in the South to organize her own international speaking and consulting corporation. Her natural talent for public speaking and storytelling attracted the attention of the Women of Faith Tour, and in 1996 she became the first black core speaker for the organization. She has authored several books, including God Is Not Through With Me Yet, an inspiring examination of her own life experiences in which she encourages readers to “sing in the closets of their lives.” She serves as the president of The Daughters of Zion Leadership Mentoring Program, an organization she founded in 2000 (another first for a black woman). Through this ministry, “Mama T,” as she is affectionately called, has mentored over 100 spiritual daughters, received an honorary doctorate degree and was ordained into the Christian Ministry on December 16, 2008, from St. Thomas Christian College and Theological Seminary and the Association of Christian Churches in Jacksonville, Florida. She was also was named Extraordinary Woman of the Year 2008 by Mrs. Julie Clinton, Host of the Extraordinary Women Conferences an affiliate of the American Association of Christian Counselors.

Thelma has been married to George Wells, her best friend, supporter, and encourager, for over 45 years. The couple lives in Dallas, Texas, and has three children, eight grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Interview with Thelma Wells


Thelma: I’m delighted to be here today to visit with you and your readers, and share about a topic that is dear to my heart.

Q: Thelma, you have had a successful banking and corporate career. You’ve spoken all over the country and around the world, done a lot of radio interviews, had your own television show, and written a lot of books. Many of our readers will be familiar with you from the Women of Faith conferences. It seems you’ve “done it all.” So when you left Women of Faith in February 2008, what was it that you were leaving them to do?

A: Actually, I really did not fully understand what I was going to do. I was simply following the very clear instructions of God that it was time to go. I had a few speaking engagements on my calendar but certainly not enough to make ends meet. My total dependence was on God and waiting to see what He had in store for me.

Q: Your new book, Don’t Give In…God Wants YOU to Win!, is based on a real life experience. Will you tell us a little of that story?

A: I was in elementary school when one of my friends told people she was going to beat me up. I could not understand why but it was real. After school for two days I faced a crowd hungry to see a fight and a girl who I thought was my friend hit me and frighten me to tears. One the second day of my fighting ordeal my great grandmother who raised me gave me some strong advice, “Thelma, the only way to deal with a bully is to fight them. You better fight her tomorrow and beat her up. If not, you’re going to get a whipping when you get home. That was the determining factor. My Granny who had taught me that ladies don’t fight had just reversed the instruction to “fight the bully.”

I did fight her the third day and hit her hard, so she ran home, not me. I learned that when we are faced with the bully, the adversary, the enemy of our souls, the devil himself, the only way to win is to fight him with all the ammunition we have, the Whole Armor of God.

Q: This book is about spiritual warfare, demons, the Holy Spirit, and some pretty heavy-duty areas. Why write on this topic?

A: In this day and age when all around us seems to failing like our economic system, the government, relationships, health, self-worth, business and workplace situations, the church, wayward children, divorce and so much more, it is imperative that people have something sturdy and reliable to hold on to. Everyday we are fighting some kind of battle small, great or tremendous. When we don’t know how to fight against the disappoint, heartache, confusion, depression, and all the emotional and spiritual fall out from these issues, we become desperate, violent, vicious and vile. John 10:10 tells us that the thief comes to kill, steal and destroy us. But, Jesus has come to give us life and that life more abundantly than the feelings of no hope. This book teaches about the only hope we have and how to use that hope physically, emotionally and spiritually with a guarantee that we are winners when we do.

Q: You’ve been known as the BEE lady, but it seems you’re evolving into more than that? Where do you see your ministry heading in the future?

A: God has so many surprises for me that my heart is overflowing. I have a teaching and preaching anointing that has made my ministry one of integrity and worth. God is doing great things in my life and reinventing some vital things that will be seen by everybody in a few weeks. He has guaranteed me that the international travel I’ve done over the past thirty years, the seeds I’ve sown over my lifetime, the barriers and tough times I’ve overcome are about to pay off in many different ways. He has put Christian people in my life that have and are changing the course of my life in great and wonderful ways. I will be taking a group to Israel next November, on other Ready to Win tours throughout the world, working with World Vision in their child sponsorship program, presenting mini Ready To Win Conferences throughout the world, and whatever else the Lord assigns me to do.

Q: Congratulations on your first Ready to Win Conference. We heard you had an awesome weekend in Garland, TX with a great group of speakers, musical artists, and attendees. Having done so many conferences in the past, why do another conference?

A: This is not just another conference. This Ready To Win Conference does not just excite people or create positive thinking, it gives everyone, saved and unsaved, the winning weapons to fight off all the wicked in this world. People are not only encouraged to win the war against the evil one, they are given easy to understand tools that they have reported are so vivid in their minds that they can apply every day in every situation. Coming together in a group and learning these tried and true skills is so much easier to understand than writing it in a book or seeing it on DVD. The reports have been that this works because they were able to see it, hear it, feel it, and use it instantly and forever. In today’s world, another conference is not what we are about. We are about people joining together from different denominations, ethnicities, geographic locations, languages, and thought systems and getting insight and instruction that can bring people of all walks of life together to become a mighty army against the forces of evil.

Q: As a follow up, how can people get the Ready to Win Conference to their area?

A: People all over the world can contact me at contactus@thelmawells.com and we will get back with them with the details of how the Ready To Win Conference can come to their area.

Q: In your book, Don’t Give In…God Wants YOU to Win!, you talk about doing rituals as it relates to fighting the good fight of faith. Will you explain that word to us and give us an example?

A: The word ritual is used on to denote the routines we have in our daily lives like fixing our hair, dressing ourselves, and being prepared for the day. It means nothing more than that and nothing mysterious that would attract any evil forces.

Q: Spiritual warfare and putting on the armor of God is a daily activity for you. Is this because you’re a nationally known Christian speaker and author, or is this something that everyone should be aware of?

A: Spiritual warfare is the state of our lives whatever and whoever you are. We fight against anger, gluttony, smoking, frustration, and everything else that can make us less than our best. The warfare that we are in daily is because we live in a fallen world where Satan thinks he has power. Each and everyday he tries to confuse us into thinking that things are unfixable, out of control, etc. He is the greatest liar of all times and he lays tricks in our minds, if we let him. From the moment we were born until the day we die we will be fighting spiritual warfare. However, the good news is…people who have accepted Jesus as their Savior never have to fight alone. The end of the story is that Jesus and His people win and the devil is a number one loser!

Q: Thelma, this book was released at a perfect time. So many people are struggling just to survive. They’ve lost jobs, money, health, marriages, and more. Many just want to give up! What can we do if we are in those situations to prepare for victory in the battle of life?

When you’re in a battle these are the things that must be done in order to win:

• Put on the helmet of salvation to cover your thought life.
• Put on the breastplate of righteousness to guard your heart against devil and sin.
• Put on the girdle of Truth so that you will be able to understand what real truth is and be able to use the Sword of the Spirit (The Word of God – the Bible) in every situation as Jesus did when He was tempted by the devil in the mountain.
• Put on the shoes that have prepared you with the preparation of peace so you can march and stay fit as you tell other people about the goodness and the gospel of Jesus Christ.
• Hold up the shield of faith believing that God will keep every Promise He made for our good.
• Pray for each other and for ourselves by asking God for what we need, seeking His perfect will in all we do and knocking continually until we know God has answered our prayers. We must realize that God does not answer all our prayers the way we want Him to but whatever way He answers them, they are for our good and for His glory.
• Praise God with thanksgiving for all He has done and will do for us. The worship of God brings us into an atmosphere of being able to fight the good fight of faith and WIN.

Q: Where/how does “submitting to God and the devil will flee from you” fit into spiritual warfare?

A: God asks us to do a simple thing, trust Him enough to give Him all of us. That’s hard to do when you try to control your life yourself. It really amounts to us (you and me) worshipping ourselves instead of worshipping God. When we live in humble submission to God, Satan will try to attack but God is our Protector. This is not a one-time submission to God. Everyday and sometimes during the day we must ask Him to lead us not into temptation and to protect us from evil because evil is always near. We are told to pray without ceasing. This means that we must stay in the attitude of prayer 24/7. It’s simple but it presents a challenge for us because we are so distracted by our day, our desires, our dreams, our relationships, etc. that we often forget that none of this would be possible were it not for the Lord who grants it. Submission means to let God be the driving force and the guiding force in our lives and trust Him that He will do exceedingly abundantly over and above what we can ask or think according to His power that works in us. The most peaceful, contented condition of my life is when I actually and earnestly turned my entire life over to the direction of God. I can now recognize when Satan tries to tempt me, confuse me, and drive me into doing or saying things I should not. It has come about with trust in God and practice of His word. Satan will attack but God will counter-act.

Q: Most of us are familiar with the list of spiritual weapons available for us to use as listed in Ephesians 6. You have a way to remember these that might be more relevant to today’s woman – as a mom, wife, business woman, etc. Will you share these five things with us that you do daily when you’re getting “dressed” in the morning?
Book DescriptionThelma, it seems you are all over the Internet these days. Anyone can find you on your web site, Facebook, Twitter, web casts, a blog tour, the You Go Girl Network, and other cutting edge things with technology. Why is it important for you to use all these various methods to spread your message?

Technology is the way God planned for us to get His message to the world according to Matthew 28:19.

How did you get the name, Mama T?

A young lady in my church named me that because she thought that was a fitting name for me and it has become a loving name for the ladies in my mentoring groups.

So what’s next for the Mama T and Ready to Win?

My website (ThelmaWells.com) is being reinvented to a teaching tool for people to learn more and more about how to win the battles of life. There will be powerful tools available, I will be personally speaking with people and many other changes that will enlighten, encourage, inform, influence and empower people to fight the good fight and win.

Where can our readers buy your new book and register for the webcast?

On my web site, which is ThelmaWells.com. They can click on the July RTW On-line Web cast button to learn more or register for the next series of web casts that start on July 7. You can also watch this video to learn more…click here.

My new book, Don’t Give In – God Wants YOU To Win! is also available online and at local bookstores such as, Family Christian Stores, Lifeway Christian Stores, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble Book Stores, Mardel’s, Anchor Distributors, Christianbook.com, and many other stores and vendors throughout American and the United Kingdom.

Is there anything that we didn’t ask that you’d like to share with us?

In all we’ve said, we need to remember that Jesus loves YOU and has a plan for your life. This plan includes you living a life free from worry and anxiety. God is in control of everything. When we trust in Him, give Him our lives to guide, seek the will of the Father, ask Jesus to be the Lord and Master of our lives, and accept the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we are winners and nobody or nothing can take that away from us!

CLOSING:

Thank you, darling, for having me today on your blog. I hope you and your readers will visit my web site at ThelmaWells.com. And remember always be READY TO WIN!