Deanna Doss Shrodes

My soul-sista, Tara Sloan , wrote a post today that was an absolute slam dunk. I am still coming down off of a high from reading it. I'm telling you, if you are limited on reading, skip my blog today and tomorrow and just go read her post about Clinton/Palin. I'm serious as a heart attack when I tell you, it's ANOINTED. And when you have time, if you haven't already read it, come back and read my post from yesterday, on the same subject! Now you know why I say that woman and I eat out of the same box of Cheerios although I'm in Florida and she's in Illinois, we are abso-freakin'-lutely two peas in a pod, and might as well be joined at the hip. Now you know why we instantly became bff's when we met on that fateful day, over 10 years ago now. :-) By the way, for any of you still reading this post who haven't clicked over to Tara's, we had a great day at church today. For a holiday weekend, attendance wasn't too bad and I was pleasantly surprise...

By now everybody is bouncing back from the shock of Sarah Palin being chosen as the Republican VP nominee. Relax. This post is not about who I'm voting for...or not. I know I have many readers on both sides of the aisle, and some of you no where near either aisle. (lol) I don't share from the pulpit or my blog who I think people should vote for - it's not appropriate, not to mention it's technically illegal! Quite honestly you just might be surprised at times were you to know how I vote! It might shock some of you to know that I'm an admirer of BOTH Hillary Clinton AND Sa rah Palin. (Okay, pick yourselves up off the floor...) I know what you're thinking. These two women believe COMPLETELY different things. You're right! I read a blog yesterday that said, "The only thing Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton share in common is that they have the same kind of genitals." Well, perhaps. I actually think they'd probably find a little more common ground th...

Many of us spend our whole lives running from feeling with the mistaken belief that you cannot bear the pain. But you have already borne the pain. What you have not done is feel all you are beyond that pain. - Kahlil Gibran

"Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor! The Lord rescues them when they are in trouble." Psalm 41:1 (NLT) On Sunday, the Lord led me to read Psalm 41 for some reason. I mean, I literally woke up at 6 am, knowing I had to turn there. I did and the first verse got my attention. I got excited! I said , "yep, yep Lord, that's me! So I know you are going to rescue me! You specifically promised it in Your Word! Yippee!! I'm fixing to get rescued!" I've always been kind to the poor. Always. My whole life. I can say that with all confidence...I have never looked down upon anyone that is poor -- EVER. If I can possibly help in some way, I do...sometimes to my husband's chagrin. It's not that Larry isn't compassionate. It's just that he gets upset with me at times for giving things out the window to people when we are in the car. He thinks they will just throw it away or squander it. I have given Hillsong worship CD's to prostitutes on...

"Your salvation requires you to turn back to me and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves.Your strength will come from settling down in complete dependence on me—The very thing you've been unwilling to do. Isaiah 30:17 (The Message) It seems that most weeks, the Lord sends people to my husband and I to talk to and encourage who are struggling, many of them in the ministry. We never mind it even when we are struggling ourselves, because first --we do care about people, especially those who are walking this road that we are walking. And second, it helps us in getting our mind off of our own problems for a while! Recently Larry was encouraging someone who was having many hard times and the frustrating thing for Larry was that no matter what he suggested, this man was not willing to budge in doing anything at all to help his problems. If Larry said, "why don't you try getting up fifteen minutes earlier," the person would respond with, "wow, that would b...

I couldn't resist pulling out my camera from my purse and taking this last Wednesday night... Michele had Marcus in service because he fell asleep before Royal Rangers and so here he slept during our service, underneath one of the altar cloths. I definitely believe in "raising them on the pew"! You're a great Mom, Michele. Keep your chin up and keep going! "Do not be weary in well doing, for at the proper time you shall reap a harvest if you faint not." Galatians 6:9

We went today to have Jordan's senior portraits done at Thompson Studios in Tampa. It went fantastic! The way they do it there you see the proofs right after taking the pictures and order everything the same day. So we will have the photos within about four weeks. It's the same place Dustin's photos were done and we have a special photo of both boys that was taken that will soon go up on our wall. It's going to look spectacular! Well, get this... Jordan was such a natural in front of the camera and he looked so awesome. I feel that way of course as his Momma, but today the owner of the studio said, "I honestly don't say this to many people nor do I make any kickback on this, but this guy is really a natural and honestly better than many of the pros I work with. You need to take his proof's down to such and such agency and see if he can get some work." (He was SERIOUS.) Right there on the spot he gave me a referral to three agencies he works with and s...

Thoughts from today: I had an incredibly busy day ~making breakfast... getting the kids off to school (back into the routine)... reading Streams and my Bible... getting to work... busting through a few Unstoppable initiatives quickly with Cathy... Going to a sectional credential meeting... heading to staff lunch where we had a meeting about our upcoming friends day... rushing home for another appointment... and then tonight catching up on all the work I missed today by being in the sectional and staff meeting. I had to get at least 3-4 projects on my weekly list done or tomorrow would be just a horrible pile up. I have Jordan's senior portrait appointments tomorrow...can't risk having a pile up of work...gotta keep it moving... Ahhhhhh...finally time to take my contacts out, get my glasses on...put my feet up and watch some TV with Teeb. I'm tired. Didn't blog last night, just too wasted, but from a real good day. In a nutshell: Real good service Sunday morning. Kille...

Many of my friends and acquaintances are going through difficult times, but I really learned the extent of it more when I wrote my " Wrecks" post earlier this week. I've gotten quite a bit of mail about it. All good - as far as people appreciating me writing it, but bad in that so many related to it at this present time. If you would have asked me a month ago I was utterly convinced I was alone in the darkness I was feeling, but right now it seems we have more people that not who are living in a time of darkness in their lives. Remember the excellent book by Frank Peretti, This Present Darkness? I loved it. I am realizing I need to pull it out and read it again, for truly we are all in a time of spiritual warfare that I believe is unprecedented. I am not glad that so many are walking through a time like this, but one thing I have realized is that we don't have to be in the dark alone. Jesus is with us, but we can also join our hearts together and stand with one an...

love it when school starts but feel guilty that you do? think often about the disproportionate amount of housework you do? wake up and then can't go back to sleep? hate to pee in the middle of the night? twitter on some days all the time, and absolutely none the next day? really believe nobody else would do your job and pick up the slack if suddenly, you weren't there? have a hatred for weeds? clean the shower while you're in it? love wearing just a t-shirt and underwear around the house? wake up in the middle of the night with a horrible headache, take an Excedrine Migraine tablet and then be so "awake" from it that you never go back to sleep? hate your phone? think some Christians will end up following the anti-Christ because they are so biblically illiterate and driven by mysticism? always go to the bathroom before you get on the scale? have a love/hate relationship with e-mail? get irritated when people crack their knuckles? feel like the older you get the mor...

I wrote this during the past few weeks, and was getting ready to post it and had second thoughts. I just couldn't bring myself to press the "publish" button. So I saved it to draft. I don't like to leave things unfinished, so a few days ago I was going to delete it but couldn't bring myself to do that either. I thought it over, prayed it over and have come to the conclusion it really might help somebody. On the other hand, it could make some people never read again. But after thinking it through it's a risk I'm going to take. I think it's important to note that I've made major strides forward since writing this. Although my circumstances haven't changed, I have. I am personally moving forward...through several sources of help ~ the greatest one being Jesus and His great love, and some of His followers who are particularly compassionate. Day by day, my strength and hope have started to return. I post this here to help somebody who might still be...

Okay, I am not getting paid nor am I getting any kickback by saying any of the following so please don't see it as a sales pitch. This truly comes from my heart. I am amazed by the Hilton Garden Inn Tampa North , their entire staff, and in particular, two women who work in sales -- Joyce Johnson and Sarah Garcia. I want to recommend strongly to all of my readers -- if you are ever coming to the Tampa area and need a hotel, please consider staying at this hotel if at all possible. You will not regret it, I promise! You'll love the beautiful clean rooms, the restaurant, the very comfortable lobby where you can visit with friends, the pool, the jacuzzi, and you will be impressed by the helpfulness of their staff, I guarantee it. This is the hotel where we hold the Unstoppable Conference . Last year they were awesome to work with, and we could not have possibly had a better experience. This year I was nervous about quite a few things, not on their part, but on mine. The conference ...

You won't beeelieve what I am getting ready to tell you.  First let me set the stage. God is blessing so much on Wednesday nights. I am more excited about this than anything right now.  God is doing stuff that is OFF THE CHAIN! I was especially excited about tonight's Fusion. I knew God was going to do something special. It was truly our best night ever of ministry. People were expectant! They are more on time than ever... cause they can't wait to get there! Worship went awesome, then prayer and then the Word. I preached tonight on the subject "Fused for Burden Bearing." (Based on the passage of scripture that says "Bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.") The main text was Galatians 6:1-5, although a lot of additional scripture was incorporated and some great illustrations to go with it as well as a song with multi media that went with the message. This was right before we got into our fusion groups (small groups of 1...

This is the coolest thing...it will pull the most often used words from your blog, or you can make your own. Try it, you'll love it! Just click the above box and you will see my "Wordle" in a larger box. Hmmmm...could be addicting...

But I'm glad! The storm was...not even a storm. It was merely a threat to us, which did not materialize. think about that spiritually...how often does the devil threaten and scare us with impending storms and they don't ever manifest? I realize some spiritual/physical/emotional/financial storms do happen. (I've been in one recently...and I'm still there...) But there are just as storms that we worry about that don't ever come to pass! And I've wrung my hands and stayed awake at night over many of them that I never needed to give any attention to and wasted a lot of my valuable energy. I'm learning that even in a bona-fide storm that really does occur, worrying doesn't help anyway. In fact it saps energy we need to get through. We can't just ignore the storm if it comes, but allowing fear to consume us is not the course of action needed. This morning I got up, put dinner in the crock pot, made Savanna french toast and went to the store right away. We...

I'm not worried, as I've been through this a lot of times since I've lived here the past six years. We usually have hurricane parties. I actually look forward to it in some ways. No, not the possible devastation of everything around us (I'm not that sick) but when we have hurricanes on the way and have to stay indoors and stock up and stuff, it's an opportunity for me to work from home. And I get so much done! Usually I can get so much work done (without interruptions) that I have a lot more time to spend with my family. Actually I have quite a number of friends that love hurricane days and have gatherings at their house to wait it out. You'd have to be here to experience it I guess, and I'm sure none of you outside the state of Florida would want to right now. School is cancelled tomorrow. (Tuesday) The kids are thrilled to be able to sleep in. What a shock to their systems to wake up so early today. I can tell Savanna is fully into middle school mode. ...

So I'm admitting it here, folks. As I'm eating crow, you'll probably find it amusing. It will also give you some insight into mine and Larry's interesting relationship. Conversation in our car on the way to work one morning when the presidential campaigning first started: Deanna: You know Lar, although I don't agree with John Edwards' political views at all, I can't help but love him. In fact, I might even vote for him if he actually makes it to be the nominee! Larry: (incredulous look) WHAT?! You've got to be kidding me, Deanna! What in the world would possess you to do THAT?" Deanna: (wistfully) Well, I know, I know, but on a personal level, I'm just crazy about the man. I mean, look at their story...awesome marriage...losing their son in a tragic car accident...making it through that...now facing Elizabeth's cancer...and the way he loves her, and is so faithful and caring...and their recent vow renewal...I start crying just thinking ...

(Recent photo of Savanna and I at left... can you believe my baby starts middle school tomorrow? Sniff...sniff...) Amazing day today. First, I enjoyed my class this morning so much. I've been a Sunday School FREAK as long as I can remember....well, this is my 26th year teaching if that gives you any clue. The more time goes on, the more I love teaching. I never, never, never tire of it! I don't teach out of a quarterly, by the way. Curriculum is a great tool but it would drive me crazy. I'm a student of the Word and I write my own messages, my own teachings. I rarely if ever use any other material for anything. Too many creative ideas flowing through this head of mine to copy somebody else's. Right now I'm on a series I'm calling, "Honest to God" which is about integrity/honesty. I think somebody else (maybe Bill Hybels?) wrote a book with the same title, but I am not getting any material from it, just using that title. Man, we're having some good ...

Sunday comes every week. Isn't it amazing? For us pastors, we REALLY realize just how quick Sunday and Wednesday both come. They never stop, they just keep on 'comin. I'm so ready for today. I have been saturated in worship all week long...my heart is prepared for whatever God wants to do. Last night I was reading Streams in the Desert and there were some great points about God doing what He said he would do. You know, the whole, "if He can move my mountain, He can move your mountain," thing. In my life coaching class yesterday, one of my ladies brought up the fact that she knows the promises of God "academically" as she called it, but is having a hard time believing them in her heart when she sees her life circumstances right now. It seems like a lot of people are eating out of that box of Cheerios at this time. I talked about saturating ourselves in God's presence, and also the power of agreement with a friend, and borrowing a little of their fait...

Tara felt led to send this video to some of us a few days ago...it's "Anyway" by Martina McBride. I'm going to post it here again for those who haven't seen it. After you watch it please come back to see the rest of what I have to say, below! :-) Yesterday I just watched this video again and again and cried...and let it sink into my spirit. It's anointed. I found out through this article online that it's based upon the poem by Mother Teresa. Martina co-wrote the phenomenal song, being inspired by these words: ANYWAY by Mother Teresa People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Love them anyway! If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway! If you are successful, you will win false friends and enemies. Succeed anyway! The good you do will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway! Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway! What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Bui...

Lately I have just needed to soak in worship. Ever been there? It's a place spiritually and emotionally when you can't get by on the normal amount of God's presence. Life has become abnormal for some reason, so the level of dependence on Him is also more than normal. Hopefully that abnormality brings you to a different place in your walk where you never want to go back to where you were again. I've said it before about stuff I've gone through in the past and I'll say it again... I've gone through too much hell in my life to stay at the same level!! I believe if you go through hell you better get a payback for it. The devil is supposed to give you back seven times whatever he stole - so don't ever settle for going through hell for nothing. Ever. Demand the payback! Demand the next level! When I go through something, I just keep saying to the enemy, "thank you, thank you, thanks for my next level! Couldn't have done it withoutcha!" I've ...