Treasures - both physical and spiritual

Today was a wonderful day. I went to a Women of Worth retreat and I was so thankful I had found time for it. The speaker was Sarah Fry along with some of the ladies from our own church. Sarah was amazing!! I had never heard a speaker who was so able to explain the Bible and biblical concepts the way she did. Some one who wasn't a preacher that is. She was really good. I gleaned so much food for thought from her words of wisdom.

She talked about being good stewards of our time and about living for Jesus in the real world. Sometimes we set our standard too high. We make our expectations way out of sight until we get so discouraged and just want to give up. Sarah reminded us that we are not perfect in body. We are human. There will be frustrations in our lives and we will not always walk a perfect walk. She also reminded us that we should fill our minds with the good things of God. To carry scripture around with us and say an encouraging verse every day. She made me feel like I don't have to worry about what other people think of me, but rather to focus on what God thinks of me. Am I pleasing to Him? Those kinds of things.

Sarah also told us about the Bear and the Duck. So cute!! :):) The duck was so clean and perfect and the bear was laid back and didn't worry about a messy house but focused on baking to give as gifts. She told us that we were either the duck or the bear and could be an extreme duck or bear. I guess I would be the bear in the sense that my house is never spic and span. I don't even spring clean. Bet that got your attention!! :):) Yet I worry what others will think if they see my house and go away and talk about me. Yet at other times I feel like the duck who has everything clean and sparkling (and that is very seldom) and when bear came over she made him take off his shoes and put newspapers under his feet while he had a brownie. I don't mean to come across like that and I guess it's because I have worked so hard to clean the floors (tile takes a lot of time if you have a whole house full of it) that I just want to enjoy it for a day or a few minutes. You know what I mean. I just have to do better in this area.

She talked a bout gossip and what a terrible tool it is for Satan to use against us. How much it hurts to have someone talk about you and ruin your influence. I had to stop and think that my influence will always be with me and I don't want it to be tarnished. Rather I want people to know that I cherish my reputation and would never do anything to harm it. I want to remember that there are other people who feel the same way that I do and not gossip about them. To tell tales on someone and spread hurtful things to everyone we know is not Christ like.

One thing that I really appreciated was Sarah's point about all of us being beautiful in God's eyes. Even though others may see our flaws and our disappointments, God sees the beauty He has created. We are made in His image. How can that be ugly?

She also focused on our devotions and the time we spend with the Lord. I fail miserably in this area. I am so busy that to get that extra 15 minutes of sleep every morning is so easy to do. But I have to find time for God. If I don't, I will die spiritually. If it's just 15 minutes a day, I have to do this. She gave us some schedule sheets and I started each day out with devotions. I'm really going to focus on taking that time to pray and read and to meditate on the Word. If you want to pray for me I would appreciate it.

Now for the physical treasures!! You've all heard the saying "One mans' junk is another man's treasure." Well I thought I found some treasures today. Not that I am saying that the ladies brought junk. Please if you read this blog don't be offended. I thought everything was so nice and well taken care of. And no these items were not "junk." :):) Any way, I was really pleased with what I found.

What we did was to have a silent auction. If your participated you got a number and then you would go around to see everything that was on the tables and if you find something you like you put your number on the list along with a bidding price. It's like no one know who bid for what. The first thing I saw was this crystal bowl. I absolutely love crystal!! I have several pieces, some of them antiques, that I love. I had to have this bowl...isn't that awful??? Any way, I kept going back every little bit to make sure that no one outbid me...lol. In the end I won this beautiful bowl (thanks to whoever brought it.)

Then I saw this lamp and just fell in love with it. I don't know if I will ever use it but I went home and put it directly on top of my computer desk (I have a high backed desk with shelves) so the girls couldn't break it.

I went on around the table and found these picture frames. I love Boyd's Bears and this one was actually a Cottage Collectibles but they look very similar. I just fell in love with this frame and I intend to put my girls pic in it.This frame is absolutely beautiful. The picture doesn't do it justice. I am going to put one of our family pictures in it.

We also were supposed to bring a purse that we wanted to trade for another purse. I found this purse that I like really well....

I thought it looked really springy...is that a word? Any whoo, I ended up getting this purse (thank you whoever brought it) and bringing home the purse I had taken because no one chose it.

So that's what I did today and I really had a great time. Tom stayed home with the kiddos and mommy got to go be with other mommy's. What a relaxing time.

Maybe I could do this every Saturday....hhhmmmmmmmm!!!! :):)