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Cannon Beach was a great location for 50 women from Camas, WA to meet up with me, look right out at the Pacific Ocean and consider with me what it means to "Leave A Legacy".  I just have to say that these were amazing, intentional women who had a heart to know God and heal anything in the way of that goal.  I was so blessed to walk this weekend with women of such calaber.  Two things stood out to me as I taught throughout the weekend: 

1.  We can only pass on what is truly a part of us.  This includes what we are passionate about.  2.  What we receive or pass on is more "caught" than "taught".  How do we pass on healthy things and not everything else??  We shared laughter and tears as looked at our lives with honesty and grace..

Much thanks to the amazing retreat team that took care of their women down to the minute detail.  I was impressed!!

It's been two years since we've been in Larch Mountain and we were excited Sunday afternoon to return.  My son had just lost a dear friend from High School, so my heart was really tender, but the men at Larch know all about loss, and as I shared honestly where I was at as we began, I really sensed a compassionate spirit from the men.  

It was the first time we did a concert in the auditorium instead of in the chapel, so we had a great turnout...18-20 men prayed to receive Christ.  And afterwards, we had a great chance to hang out with some of the men and hear them play tunes for us!  This prison has a great mentoring program and chaplain.  Thank you, God!

First off, check out the lovely Cynthia (Robert's fiance!) and Jonathan (our bass player at the far right), now living locally!  Both were pretty excited to go in with us for the first time.  Denny Juvenile is the first stop kids make when arrested.  It's like county jail for adults. We drove 3 and 1/2 hours to get there.  On this particular Sat. night, we had to do 2 concerts so the two groups wouldn't fight... The biggest thing that hit us was how young some of the kids were.  I think the youngest was 11...So sad...

The acoustics were horrific - like a huge racket ball court! I worked extra hard to make myself understood and felt like we didn't have the kids attention the way we usually do.  Then I shared my story.  How I honestly hated God for letting certain things happen to me.  He was faithful and everyone was listening.  I prayed that the kids would be able to understand me through the "sound barrier".  God showed up that night and 13-20 young boys and girls prayed to receive Christ.  The saddest thing is this is like home to some families.  One of the guards said, "Yeah, I know the mom's really well - some of these kids are the third and fourth sibbling to be here."  May God change hearts and behavior...

It was a beautiful Friday afternoon but all I could think about was how sick I was becoming and whether I would make it through the concert that night.  I thought about canceling, but we were doing an anniversary celebration for one of the larger Celebrate Recovery groups just outside of Gresham.  The church had done such an amazing job of promoting the event and I didn't want to let this group down...they have already experienced so much of this in their personal lives.  Completely nauseated, I powered through sound check and layed on the couch of my own green room in misery..."God, would you show up?  Would you make this happen?  They need your hope and mercy." 

Two minutes before going on stage, I raced to the restroom and made it just in time to puke my guts out.  I know, NOT a pretty picture.  We then raced to the stage, I got a throat losenge from someone in the audience, and we did the concert.  God was SOOO merciful!  I don't even know how I got through the night, but God did it and these people were sooo very grateful.  My story hit home and several told me later it was just what they needed to hear.  A comfort, a challenge, a reminder of God's faithfulness.  And God held my serious (swine?) flu at bay from the moment I stepped out on the stage in faith until I was back in my car headed home.  Thanks for praying for this ministry, and a special thanks to John and Donna, Ann and all the others who worked so hard to make this a special event.  I know I now have some new folks in my extended family for sure...