Be Our Guest! Wow - I'm a Guest!

One of the best things about blogging is the friendships you develop in the "blog-o-sphere."  My friend, Joanne from California, is one of those friends. We met at the She Speaks conference when I had no idea what I was even doing there. It was a God thing, to be sure. It was part of my "Get Smart" year where God opened doors for me, like the opening credits of the TV show and movie where Maxwell Smart walked through doors he didn't open. For the first time in my life, I (like Max) walked through doors rather than run the other direction. Joanne, a gifted writer, was there to meet me after walking through the doors, an accomplished Agent 99 to my bumbling Maxwell Smart.

After initially meeting over lunch, we sat in on a session that we thought would be helpful. Instead, as Joanne says, she received "some disappointing news from a woman who was an over-achiever in the discouragement department." So later, when Joanne had to leave for her publisher interview, she was understandably anxious. Rather than say (as I usually would) "I'll pray for you," I felt strongly impressed by God to pray WITH her, not just FOR her, to pray OVER her, not just ABOUT her. So right there, in the front row of the conference room, we 3 had a little heavenly tête-à-tête, Joanne, me and God. Normally apprehensive about putting myself out there, Joanne helped me learn a little about walking in obedience. And though the verse Eccl. 4:12 is often used in weddings, Solomon is also talking about friendship, and that afternoon it was alive for me:
"Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."

Joanne is a gifted writer, often with side-splitting humor. This month, Joanne is using her newly renovated corner of the web to interview some blog-friends, including me! She's such a good friend, I don't even mind that she called me an "oxymoron."

You can read her interview with me here.

Thanks Joanne. May God continue to use you abundantly.
Susan