ACTUALLY HEARING GOD SPEAK

One of the things my husband and I used to do was to buy a lottery ticket on Saturday while we were out riding and talk about what we'd do when we won. And of course, we just knew we would win...one day. Our list always started with pay our tithes, pay off everything, help the kids, help certain family members, build my cousin a new church, find some property we could use for rental property, etc. At the end of our ride the last question we would ask each other is where we would live when we won. Certainly we wouldn't stay where we are. Both of us want to be closer to family members but can't really see ourselves living in the places where most of them live; some of those places have too much snow, the cost of living is too high in others, one of the places we just don't want to live. But all the while we talked about where we would like to live we were disrespecting God for giving us the house we live in now and the city where we live.

Early in our marriage we visited Memphis, loved it and prayed to move there. The Lord answered our prayers and provided my husband with a job that moved us within 3 months after visiting. We learned when God works He works fast! We lived in Memphis in the early 90's until both of us decided to quit our jobs and move to Florida. We wanted to live near the water or so we thought. We explained our moving away by telling ourselves "God told us to move." Neither one of us had actually heard God tell us that. After a couple unexpected hurricanes came so far inland to Orlando, we packed up and moved to Georgia. Things were so expensive there we were miserable. Jobs weren't as plentiful as we thought they would be. While living in Georgia, my husband got a call from a good friend about a great job that brought us back to the Memphis area to live. Right back where God allowed us to move earlier.

The second time we moved to Tennessee we must have looked at 1000 houses. We even put offers on 3 or 4 which were pulled off of the market before the deal could be consummated. One house we found, we loved but it was far from my husband's job and the back yard wasn't great. Then I did hear from God...I kept hearing Lyon's Gate. I had seen something about Lyon's Gate but the only thing I could think of was the movie production company. One Sunday morning while watching HGTV and what people could do with their homes, I jumped up and said let's go for a ride and find Lyon's Gate. We had on nightclothes under our coats determined just to ride and find something..anything that said Lyon's Gate. My husband was driving so fast I couldn't look from side to side fast enough but suddenly I saw a sign...LYON'S GATE! "Turn around! Turn around!" I cried out. We found Lyon's Gate. And it was a subdivision owned by the same people who owned the property we liked with the ugly back yard! And when my husband went in to the model home (yes, he went in with nightclothes on under his coat!) the same agent was sitting there! She showed us the house and we put in an offer that day!

So do we move when we get some big money? Not unless the Lord says the same. In fact since we came to the realization that we were being blasphemous against God and what He had in store for us we even quit playing the lottery. For surely if could give us the house we wanted out of all of the houses we looked at then He will take care of the rest of our needs.

MORE GREEN

It's been quite some time since I've posted pictures of my favorite green pieces for the season. But with autumn in full swing it's time to take a look at what I want in my closet. (all pictures provided by net-a-porter) What's in your closet?

J. Crew satin skirt

J. Crew Cafe animal jacquard capri pants

J. Brand denim

Malene Birger

WE WILL MISS YOU MR. HILL

It's been quite a while since I've posted anything. Lots of projects going on: just launched the second chapter of the Green Slipper Society in Muncie, Indiana. Still working on my novel MIRRORED MIRAGE (at least that's the working title for now). I'm still writing the third book in the LOVED TO DEATH trilogy. My husband and I are still dealing with the effects of his recent illness..like everyone else, I just have a lot going on. It all reminds me of something my mother used to say..."always so busy doing nothing" Actually she would say it to describe a lazy person and while I used to be lazy life has a way of kicking your butt into a gear you didn't know you could get to.

While in Muncie this past weekend we had the opportunity to stay with a dear friend and her husband. (Fortunately they would always let us stay with them when we were in Muncie! Thank God!) The husband had been dealing with cancer for a few years. And although we knew he was sick we always had a great time being together. He loved food around the house and his wife loved to cook....we loved to eat! What's not to love? He loved chocolate, she couldn't eat it but loved buying it for him. My husband doesn't eat chocolate but somehow he loved eating the candy at their house. Their garage looked like a big box store with all of the soft drinks, water, teas, wines and beers. You never ran out of toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, paper cups etc. We absolutely loved visiting them. Sadly however, we will head back to Indiana this week to help our dear friend bury her husband. Yes, a couple days after we got home the husband passed away.

Things may be different when we go there to visit again. The wife may move away and start somewhere anew. She may no longer buy the chocolate he loved to eat. She may not cook like she used to. She may stop buying in bulk like she did when he was alive. But she will still be our dear friend and he of course, will always be remembered. R.I.P. Mr. Hill

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

pic provided espn.com

Stunning! I don't know a whole lot about football but over the years I've learned to enjoy watching it because my sons played it in high school and its been a way to spend time with my husband on Sunday afternoons and Monday nights. But I do know what I saw Monday night didn't look like the same thing the referees eventually claimed they saw. I saw an interception that would have allowed the Green Bay Packers to come away the winners. What the referees finally announced they saw allowed the Seattle Seahawks to walk away victorious.

Now this has absolutely nothing to do with the color green except that the two teams that played last night had green in their uniforms and I love Seattle's colors! If you went to sleep on the game you missed a doozy! In the first half of the game, Seattle sacked the Packers quarterback something like 8 times and they were leading the game. They weren't leading by a large margin but they were still ahead. Green Bay came back and was leading. I don't even remember what the score was but at the very end of the game Seattle's quarterback threw a pass which was simultaneously caught by a Seattle player and a Green Bay player. The replacement refs called it a touchdown by Seattle and even the people upstairs whomever they are, reviewed it and it was still called a touchdown. Seattle won the game.

This game reminded me of  the roller coaster of emotions one feels of almost winning and then almost losing and then almost winning then winning or losing. Eventually somebody has to win and someone has to lose. That's just the way it is when we compete. Why do we wait for the last minute "hail Mary" to try to win? If we have to depend on the referees to win the game for us then we weren't prepared for the game we were playing in the first place. We also have to remember under that theory the referees can lose the game for us as well. It goes go both ways.

How many of us have tried to publish a book only to be rejected time and time again? How many times has an actress auditioned and been called back but never getting that one big role? How many houses did you have to look at before your offer was accepted? How often have you had to pray your credit was good enough to get the car you wanted? Instead of having to ask those questions why aren't we asking questions like: did I write the very best book I could write, did I reread it, proof read, edit, having it professionally edited before sending to a publisher? Was I prepared for that audition, had I taken acting classes, singing classes, dancing classes or whatever classes were necessary to make me competitive? Have I paid my bills on time so my credit is where it needs to be and if I didn't make enough money to pay them, did I get a part time job or find a way to make extra money to straighten out my credit? You get the point. There are too many things we can and should do for ourselves so we don't have to depend on someone else to decide our fate.

So do we blame the replacement refs for the debacle that ended last night's game or do we blame the players for not playing better earlier in the game so the end of the game wouldn't be or couldn't be decided at the last minute by someone else?

MORE GREEN ON RED CARPET

There was more green seen on the red carpet but no credit was given for the designers. 

All pictures were provided by Getty/aol.com. Tell me which ones were your faves!

GREEN AT THE 2012 EMMY AWARDS

Allison Williams was wearing Oscar de la Renta at this evening's Emmy Awards. I wish I was there to to wear my green gown!

pic provided by getty/aol.com

Let's talk about the word NO. By definition it is a negative used to express dissent, denial or refusal as in response to a question or request. 

But it is so much more than that. It's one of the most powerful words in the English language. A lot of times we don't like to use it for fear of hurting someones feelings. Used with the wrong inflection it can scare someone. The word NO can save someones life. The word NO is a complete sentence. It needs NO explanation (NO pun intended). Many times the person who's feelings get hurt by not using the word NO is the person who should have used it in the first place. How many times have you agreed to something only to find out it was more than you should have committed to or more expensive than you could afford? How often have you gotten close to the time of an event and wished you had said NO up front for whatever reason. A good friend wouldn't put you in position to have to say NO and a good friend should be understanding if you have to say NO. Do you know if you say yes and not do what you said yes to it make you a liar so you should have said NO in the first place! As parents, the usual answer is NO! Sometimes the right word is NO. NO is not always negative. If a friend ask your honest opinion on whether or not they should wear a specific item and you tell them NO to keep them from embarrassing themselves...that's a positive. I could go on and on about the word NO but you get the point. Maybe we should use the word NO a little more often. Be proud to say NO! What have you said NO to lately?