Deanna Doss Shrodes

by the black church!
Yes, it's true.
I have come into the realm of purchased hair. I have learned this weekend from Pastor Lisa and my sistas that HAIR IS AN ACCESSORY. Who knew? I had no idea it was right up there with shoes and purses.
Pastor Lisa Alexander has officially indoctrinated me to this truth about hair.
Okay, so I knew some of the ladies at my church did this, but I didn't realize until recently... Oprah does it. Gayle does it. All those fancy hairdo's that look like they took 10 hours are...purchased. Even Paris Hilton does it. Beyonce does it. Nicole Richie does it. More women that we know in our daily lives do it - they just don't tell us. It's not just a black thing, not just a white thing, it's a GIRL thing, evidently. Here I have been friends with Pastor Lisa all this time and I did not realize her hair was simply an accessory.
I was fascinated by hers and Lindsey's beautiful hair. She says, "I've got to take you by the shop before w…

Houston is an hour behind us in Tampa, so my body is still on the Tampa clock. It felt easy to get up this morning (after 9 and 1/2 hours sleep!) and eat breakfast and work out in the fitness room here at the hotel. I did come here to minister and give my all doing it, but I must say, a little rest was absolutely wonderful. I had time each day to work out in the fitness room, read the Word, pray, and SLEEP. Translation: heaven. Whoever said that when your kids grow older you just sleep unhindered any time you want? No, it doesn't work that way. All I have to do is lay my head down on the pillow and start to get in the deep stage of sleep and there's a knock on my door... "Momma, I need lunch money." So yes, I love SLEEP unhindered whenenever I can get it. I am meeting Pastor Lisa to spend some fun time together and just sharing our heart as girls (and pastors) and then fly home this evening. I'll probably touch down in Tampa Bay just as the sun is setting. I…

What a wonderful time we had today in Zion! God graced us with His presence in such a wonderful way.
I am so blessed by my hosts, Pastors Elgin and Lisa Alexander, and their children Lindsey and Evan. Here are some photos from this morning...
I am loving my time here in Houston. Right now I'm winding down from this morning/afternoon in my hotel room, having a cup of Earl Grey, and resting. God is good!
I do love and miss those of you in Tampa, however I am very much looking forward to my one last day left with Pastor Lisa tomorrow before I have to fly home tomorrow night. We're going to savor every last moment...

Last night before I went to speak, I was preparing and I sensed God just ask me..."put your notes away. Come talk to me." I'm one of those people who prepares an exhaustive amount of notes and if there's such a thing as being "over-prepared" I guess sometimes I am. I had planned on reading the Word and Secrets of the Secret Place later, just savoring some time before sleep to be with Him. But He said, "no, you really can't be any more prepared in the natural than you are right now. So just spend some time in my Word, and talk to me." I read John the 5th Chapter, which went along with chapter 40 of Secrets, the chapter entitled, "The Secret of Beholding Jesus." It was all about beholding and knowing Jesus, not just His Word, but Him, the person. It centered on the fact that our reading in the Word is meant to be a living encounter with the person of Jesus Christ, and the fact that we can read the Bible and truly never get to know the …

Tonight was a fantastic night with Pastor Lisa Alexander, and the women's ministries of Zion Tabernacle. Pastor Elgin (Lisa's husband) and her two children (Lindsey and Evan - cute as buttons!) were there too. I am very impressed with her kids - they are just super. You can sense the touch of God upon their lives. I am impressed with everything from Pastor Elgin's keyboard playing to Evan's drumming, to Lindsey's sparkling personality, to the anointing of God on Pastor Lisa's life. She truly is a "worshipper to the core." Impressed seems like such a shallow word to describe it. I don't know what word I'm looking for. If I weren't so tired from ministry tonight I'd sit here til' I think of a word but I really want to rest. However, I didn't want to miss a chance to blog just a minute and put up a photo. Here are pastor Lisa and I, this evening. What a great time we had ministering together, worshipping, praying for women. Women …

I'm here! I got to Houston right on schedule this morning. Pastor Lisa actually met me in the airport. I was surprised! You know most people just pick people up outside at curbside these days. So I expected to go get my baggage and meet her outside. But there she was as soon as I exited the area that goes through security, she was coming at me, and instead of a cyber scream, we had a real one! We were so excited. We got my bags and went to Applebees for lunch. I introduced her to the Pecan Encrusted Chicken Salad (my favorite!) and she loved it. We talked for a few hours about life, ministry, and stuff that you just want to sit across another ministry woman who walks in your shoes and talk about. Good stuff. Then we went for a tour of the church which was very nice, and then on to my hotel. I love it here. I have my own little suite complete with a little living room, kitchenette, and you know, I think the beds are sort of like they are at Hampton Inn. I feel a good night's sl…

oh glory, I'll fly away... to Houston, that is. I am at Tampa International Airport right now...and they have free wireless internet here. Can you say HALLELUIAH? Wow, I'm loving it. Answering e-mail, reading the news, blogging...how much better can life get? So it's everything I can do right now not to go over to the restaurant next to me and get a Republic of Tea... but since I'm boarding in about 10 minutes and they don't allow liquids to be carried on...I couldn't bring myself to throw it away. Got up while it was still dark today. Took a bubble bath in my big tub... Took Geena out and watched the sunrise... Made a WW recipe egg and cheese sandwich (4 pts.) Got ready Left for TIA! Only a little more time, Pastor Lisa and we'll be having a coffee together in Houston.

I'm finally all packed. And I'm getting up at 6 am to get ready to leave for Houston. Today was my day off but I had a lot to do both fun and home/work related. Larry got up and went to his appointment with the specialist for his arm and he dropped me off at my nail salon. Today was Larry's consultation with his x-rays. He has to have an operation on his shoulder on October 4th. He has an Impingement and a Labrum tear. Therefore he will be having shoulder arthroscopy and rehabilitation after that. He's actually relieved that perhaps this is coming to an end. The damage has been there for a while and it's been getting worse and worse until the pain has been really unbearable lately. It prevents him from doing a lot of things he wants to do. The surgery is supposed to pretty much "almost" guarantee a full recovery and him being able to do the things he once did. I say "almost" because doctors never give 100% guarantee. He has a great surgeon, Dr. …

Today's my day off and I took time to sit down and write a whole long drawn out rant about O.J. Simpson. If I were to print it out it would probably be at least ten pages. I just sat down and got out all my feelings toward "the Juice." In case you are wondering, (and I know you're probably not but I'll tell you anyway) I have read almost every book written about the Simpson case. I watched every day of the trial (taped it and watched it after work each day). I can tell you just about any fact about the case and discuss it very knowledgeably. And, it's something I still have a lot of passion for even 13 years later. Apparently, a lot of America does too. I am not the only one, by far. We have not forgotten. I have often thought about what I would be if I were not a pastor. I always wanted to be a high school teacher but another job I seriously thought about was criminal prosecutor. I would love to be a "Nancy Grace" and work hard to get justice for v…

I love it when I come home to a clean house. Perhaps there is nothing more glorious. When I walk into a clean house, I feel the power of the Holy Ghost. Yesterday Jordan cleaned the house...I mean really cleaned it and when we walked in the house from work, my whole being just went, "ahhhhhhhhhh..."

Then he led me over to the fridge and said, "Look Momma! I made you something!" Upon looking inside I found he had made me five pitchers of iced tea. He said, "here's more than enough Momma...you will not run out!" Indeed. There's at least enough here to last me til' I leave Saturday for Houston.

He really is the sweetest boy on earth when he wants to be. Moments like that make up for all the times I have wanted to wring his neck. :-)

After work, Larry made dinner. (I know what you're thinking...I hit the jackpot! Yes, it was a great night.) He made turkey tacos. (yum!) While Larry made dinner, Dustin wanted me to watch Kid Nation with him. He tiv…

A few days ago in my iced tea post, I spoke about my favorite tea which is Republic of Tea. I wanted to share with you about it and maybe if you've never tried it, the next time you come across it, you will remember that I encouraged you to try it!

I first tried it in Landry's Restaurant in Tampa. I believe if you order an iced tea that is what they automatically bring you - they do not have iced tea that they brew in-house. You will find Republic of Tea served in bottles in some nicer restaurants, airport restaurants, and the tea bags for hot tea or for fresh brewing at home are available in Panera Bread.

My favorite thing Republic of Tea offers is their bottled teas. This is a miracle since any other bottled tea, I absolutely can't stand. I want it fresh brewed on site, or not at all. I'm a true tea connoisseur. I can tell if it's not fresh brewed or if they have lied to me. Sometimes I'll ask a server, "do you fresh brew your tea here?" They will say…

On Wednesday nights, Larry and I take turns teaching in the adult service in the sanctuary. Last night was my night to teach and our subject this month is productivity and how it is part of our spirituality and maturity in Christ. I thought I'd share my message here on my blog. I don't post every message I preach, nor do I want this to be a sermon blog (refer to yesterday's post) but occasionally I like to post what I preached. So here goes...

ARE YOU WORKING HARD? OR ARE YOU HARDLY WORKING?

The anointing of God extends not just to the altar, but for business, for work, for anything that encompasses our lives. We are literally, ANOINTED FOR BUSINESS...FOR WORK.

Many people hate work. They even refer to slogans regarding the fact that…”at the end of your life, you won’t regret not working more.” I don't believe that is necessarily true, it just makes for some nice plaques! Even Michaelangelo said something at the end of his life about having so much work left to do and wan…