Deanna Doss Shrodes

Got this idea from Sharon over at A Hoosier Family . Try a few yourself by going to http://www.faceinhole.com/ ! This is part of what I'm doing today on "Fun Friday" - my day off - to amuse myself. I have to figure out what to do now. My original plans for the day have changed. Why? I was supposed to get my permanent crown today (on my tooth...my heavenly one's still being made). However, on this day which is ONE IN A MILLION, my day is CLEAR because the dentist office called this morning and said they have an emergency to deal with and can't do my crown today. Drats! Now I'm just sitting RIGHT HERE. I thought I would CRY. I wanted to say, what do you think that EVERYTHING'S ABOUT YOU? All this because my tooth was GOOD AND BROKEN. Now I'm just sitting here AS I AM. Another week of putting up with this temporary one that I have to eat ever so gingerly with!!?? Now another week is gonna START ALL OVER with me having to be careful of this crown not comin...

The Shrodes brothers are headed to PK Retreat in Orlando today. (That's "pastor's kid's retreat for all who don't know what PK means.) They will be there for 3 days. They have gone every year since they were just in kindergarten! In our previous district they had a PK retreat from kindergarten on up - here in FL they do it for kids in middle school and up, so next year will be Savanna's first year. She is so excited! You might wonder why Dustin is going now that he is 18 and graduated from high school. Well...they asked him to be a counselor! Wowee. What a moment for me when I realized my son is now going, not as a camper, but as a counselor! My boy is indeed growing up. Our boys have always loved PK Retreat. They can't wait for it! They get all excited when the brochure comes in the mail. I can't thank the AG enough for having this retreat. It means so much. If only people knew what pastor's kids went through. Let me just give you a little teeny gl...

For the past few days I've been hearing a lot about Silda Spitzer and her decision to (literally) stand beside her husband, Eliot Spitzer, who has resigned from the governorship of New York now that he's been caught with a prostitute. This has become one of the most vigoriously debated issues and in addition to reading about it through major news sources, some of my friends are also blogging about it and making some very insightful statements about it. People wonder why this woman has decided to "stand by her man" when he's been guilty of such flagrant betrayal in their marriage. Feminists everywhere have raised their voices as to the "poor example" this sets for teenage girls who are watching to see how grown women handle these situations. What will some of them do when it inevitably happens to them one day as statistics tell us it will? Will they follow the example of Silda Spitzer, Hillary Clinton and Dina McGreevey? (Dina McGreevey is since divorced ...

" I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts he has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus. Through him, God has enriched your church in every way—with all of your eloquent words and all of your knowledge. This confirms that what I told you about Christ is true. Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. I Corinthians 1:4-9 (NLT) I want every pastor/pastor's wife reading this today to remember that you have everything you need to do what is on your plate to do today as long as you are filled with Him. You are anointed. God has strategically placed you where you are. It is God that puts the Word in your mouth and gives you knowledge, and yes, t...

" I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision." Acts 26:19 Have you taken personal responsibility for your walk with God, and your calling? Your personal journey with God and your obedience to His call on your life rests squarely on your shoulders, no one else's. Many people want to blame God and everyone else when have been disobedient, whether it be a case of being backslidden, or walking out on their call to the ministry, or doing anything that's wrong, instead of putting the blame right where it belongs...solely on themselves. Today I was having my time in the Word and prayer this morning and one of the books I was reading was My Utmost for His Highest , and Oswald Chambers said, "If we lose "the heavenly vision" God has given us, we alone are responsible— not God. We lose the vision because of our own lack of spiritual growth. If we do not apply our beliefs about God to the issues of everyday life, the vision God has given us will never be ful...

Yes, folks, this type of thing actually goes on in ministry. To read an eye opening story of how one church almost made a tragic mistake in bringing in an Assembly of God pastor who does not support women in the ministry, please click here . My friend Pastor Leanne Weber has shared an extremely revealing TRUE STORY of how it's important to get to the nitty gritty of what people's views are up front - because what you don't know can most definitely hurt you!

It's still cold outside by Florida standards (I'm wearing my leather coat today) but in the house of God it was a beautiful day! It might have been cold outside but it was hot in the Spirit! I knew things would probably be a bit down today regarding attendance because of the daylight savings time change, but was determined not to let that affect me spiritually, and it didn't. God was in the house in a powerful way. The Lord moved in a great way in worship and through the gifts of the Spirit. Today I brought our second message in our preaching series on "Pride and Prejudice." As most everyone knows, this is a theme that resonates on my heart not just one week out of the year, but at all times. This is one reason I write the blog Equal Time along with my friend and co-founder of the blog, Pastor Tara Sloan. Neither of us write as much over at Equal Time at least right now...but when we do we have something power packed to say! (And we plan to write there a lot more ...