~ My Husband Rocks! ~ He was made for this!

Click here to read about why I started MHR Fridays!

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I love getting to serve the Lord every day with my very best friend! It has been such a wild, crazy, roller coaster ride to get to this point, but I am so thankful that God has given me someone so amazing to face the ups and downs with!

This week I had a fabulous moment of "Austin is so good at his job!"

We hold Club every Monday afternoon for Middle School students and Monday evening for High School students. This week was Austin's turn to give the talk, and his topic was sin and Easter. I was able to video tape a chunk of it:



People are often very resistant to this topic, and Austin was speaking to a pretty tough crowd on Monday evening, but as I was standing there listening to him clearly communicate the Gospel message and the hope and joy of Easter, my heart was so full! It hit me, once again, that God obviously knew what He was doing (He always does) when He put us here and when He put us together!

I may be a little biased (just slightly), but I think Austin is so naturally gifted in speaking and interacting with our students! I LOVE watching him be used by God!

My husband rocks! <3

Hope you all have a fantastic Friday, and a wonderful weekend!


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I am the only person who has the ability to add blogs to the MHR blogroll. If you are a MHR blogger, and have not been added to the blogroll, plase comment or e-mail me at katylinvw{at}yahoo{dot}com and I will gladly add you to our little group!!!

(if you would like to add the MHR Fridays button to your sidebar, use this code ).

<a href="http://honestandlasting.blogspot.com/2008/06/my-husband-rocks-friday.html"><img src="http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/katylinvw/mosaicmhrf.jpg"/></a>

If you're not a blogger, but still want the world to know about your amazing husband (or wife, or husband to be, or wife to be, etc.) leave a shout-out in the form of a comment! If you're unable to comment, e-mail me at katylinvw [at] yahoo [dot] com and I'll add your shout out to this post!

As always, on Fridays Union 28 will refund your shipping on any order of two or more items if you mention the great adventure and ~my husband rocks! Fridays~ in the "how did you hear about us?" section of your order form, so run on over there and check them out, too! Thank you Union 28!

~ My Husband Rocks! ~ just love to love him . . .

Be sure to check out the new deal from Union 28! (In green at the bottom.)


Click here to read about why I started MHR Fridays!

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HELLO!!!!!!!!

Long time no blog!

We are back in the States for about a month checking in with our families and friends, speaking at churches, and doing some more fundraising!

What that means for the great adventure is that the Internet will be far more reliable, and I may get to post more often - hopefully, that's the plan anyway, lol!

Anyway, here we go:

My husband ROCKS because people just can't help but love him!

I know what you're thinking ('can you say partial?'), and I know I probably am a little biased, but once you hear my stories, you'll understand :)

The other day we were visiting some friends, and we ended up getting to their town on the night of their small group. We told them not to cancel, and they invited us to go with them, so we found ourselves eating dinner with a roomful of strangers, except for our friends with whom we were staying (not an uncommon occurrence these days, but always a little rattling for me). Part of the way through the meal it struck me that not only was Austin having a great time, he was also the life of the party! He kept us all laughing from start to finish, and everyone was having a ball! He has such a great sense of humor, and he just puts people at ease!

This got me to thinking, and as I reflected upon it I realized that he does this all the time - no matter where in the wide world we are!

When we were in the Czech Republic we were working with Military Community Youth Ministry, and on our second week there, Austin was put in charge of a group of American students doing a work project in one of the schools. He was also in charge of running a workshop that would encourage the American students and the Czech students to hang out and get to know each other. The first day that the groups got together to plan their strategy for the week, Austin's work group took to him so quickly, and by the end of the meeting everyone was referring to him as "awesome Austin!" The first day that the groups were in the schools, they were offering several workshops (journal making, football, basketball, cheerleading, etc.) Austin's group (board games/hang out) drew about a dozen Czech students. By the end of the week they were up to almost sixty!!! :)

Lest you think his magnetic personality is only in effect on the other side of the ocean, I have one more piece of bragging anecdotal evidence! :) As I said at the beginning, part of the reason that we're back in the States for a bit is to speak at churches and raise support. (And when I say "we" are speaking, I mean Austin is speaking and I'm in the back being nervous for him, lol!) So, this past Sunday we had engagements at two churches, one right after the other, so after the first one Austin had to hurry over to the second one, so I stayed and greeted people as the service got out. It seemed that everyone I talked to had something to say about how interesting and entertaining it was to listen to Austin speak, and many went on and on about how they couldn't believe how polished and professional he was - and he doesn't use ANY notes!!!

He's pretty amazing!

Wow! It's obvious that I haven't been doing this often enough because I had A LOT to say! And there's so much more I'd like to add, but if you're still reading this I don't want to push my luck :)

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I am the only person who has the ability to add blogs to the MHR blogroll. If you are a MHR blogger, and have not been added to the blogroll, plase comment or e-mail me at katylinvw{at}yahoo{dot}com and I will gladly add you to our little group!!!

(if you would like to add the MHR Fridays button to your sidebar, use this code ).

<a href="http://honestandlasting.blogspot.com/2008/06/my-husband-rocks-friday.html"><img src="http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/katylinvw/mosaicmhrf.jpg"/></a>

If you're not a blogger, but still want the world to know about your amazing husband (or wife, or husband to be, or wife to be, etc.) leave a shout-out in the form of a comment! If you're unable to comment, e-mail me at katylinvw [at] yahoo [dot] com and I'll add your shout out to this post!

Our good friends over at Union 28 have sweetened the deal for us! They will give you 10% off any order of two or more items (on any day of the week) if you enter the following code at check-out: U28mhrFriday10 Thank you Union 28!

Hope you all have a fantastic Friday, and a wonderful weekend!

She Speaks Conference

I was excited to learn about The She Speaks Speaking, Writing, and Leadership Conference via Drawing Closer to Him.

Although I have neither written nor spoken professionally at any time, both are pursuits to which I aspire. The more I read about the conference the more I think that this could be a tremendous opportunity! For awhile now I have had a very strong desire to develop ministry in these areas, especially with respect to the ~ My Husband Rocks ~ concept, and this conference seems like an ideal situation in which to do that!

Amazingly, Lysa TerKeurst is offering the chance to win a full scholarship! So you can understand my excitement, here's some more info:

For Speakers:

Whether you are ready to take the main stage and start speaking at conferences and retreats or whether you want to learn how to more effectively teach a ladies’ Bible Study- this track is for you. After attending this conference you will be equipped to:

* Know how to develop a message from start to finish

* Understand what keeps an audience engaged and how to make your message memorable

* Deliver your message in such a way that not only inspires your audience but motivates them to make life changes

* Increase your number of booked speaking engagements by using proven marketing strategies.

For Writers:

You have had a passion for writing and have even had people encourage you to write a book, but have never known how to get started on the pathway to publication. You will have the chance to attend sessions taught by some of the top Christian publishers and make appointments to pitch your book proposal.

Or maybe you are a blogger and just want to learn how to more effectively connect with your readers and increase the impact of your blog. What better way than to sit in sessions taught by three of the most widely read blog authors. Whatever the case may be, after attending this conference you will:

* Discover your unique writing voice and the mechanics of effective writing

* Understand what publishers are looking for and how to write proposals that get their attention
* Better understand how to build your writing portfolio by getting published in magazines

* Know how to write a book that will impact your reader from start to finish

And as though that was not incredible enough:

We will get to learn from Big Mama, Boo Mama, Chatting at the Sky, Barefoot Blogs, the Nester, and Musings of a Housewife.

So, even if writing/speaking professionally, or in public at all, is not what God has for my future, I will at the very least, learn how to make my blog far more effective in whatever ministry he leads me through in blogland :)

With the growing list of "competitors" for the scholarship, the chances seem pretty slim, so I'll know that I'm really supposed to be there if I'm selected :)



Thanks for reading!