Deanna Doss Shrodes

It's been a busy few days which is nothing new for me, but always varied.   This is one great thing about the roles I juggle...you really never know what the next week is going to bring.  This can be good, or bad.  One week someone may be asking me to join them for coffee and a wonderful conversation and the next moment something bizarre might happen, like seeing someone poop in our flower beds at church.  You think I'm kidding?  I wish I was.  That really happened.  Some guy, yes a grown man --  just squatted down on the sidewalk, dropped his drawers and went.  This is the stuff other pastors might not tell you, but you have me to expose you to this stuff, pardon the pun. One day maybe I'll write a book compiling all these vast experiences.  Over the years I have learned to laugh a lot and roll with whatever comes my way each day.  If you don't do this in my line of work you will end up owning stock in Xanax.   Especially if you are going to combine marriage, parent

a hot shower a friend's shoulder to lean on. tea or coffee with a friend for a few hours, whether everything's going right or wrong, or in between -- you just need to spill it all out without worrying about sifting it first. a quiet walk by yourself. to sit in a rocking chair on the porch for a while. a word in due season. a friend to say, "I understand, you don't have to give a disclaimer or explain it." dark chocolate. two days off in a row, something really rare for me and most pastors I know.   to not be responsible for anything other than yourself for a day. to order takeout. to laugh until you cry or your sides hurt. to watch a movie  you don't have to try hard to follow or figure out.  (Something totally opposite of Duplicity .   Oh. my. gosh.  I got so sick of trying to figure it out I went to sleep half way through and told Larry, " don't you dare wake me back up until it's over .") to just zone out and wa

It's the simplest things in life that I love most.  Just thought I'd list a few today.  Taking a nap with Maxie and Maddie.  It never gets old.  Having something wake me up, (preferably rain) looking over at the clock and discovering I have a few more hours to sleep - burying myself under the covers even more and drifting off. Spending a whole day in my bed without leaving except to use the restroom.   Notice a lot of these things have to do with my bed?   Yeah, I guess I'm getting older.  I love rest!  And I earn every single bit of it , believe you me!!!   Black tea with peach flavor -- I drink way more of this on a daily basis than any other person should ever consume, I'm convinced.  At least I do drink it unsweetened. Olive Oil & Goat's Milk Almond soap from Lori's Soap and Sponge Market s in Tarpon Springs, FL.  I love, love, love this soap and every time I go to Tarpon I pick up a few bars, and try to keep them on hand.  They are not terrib

I hate reading something and being convicted over it... yet I love it at the same time. Being a Jesus freak is perplexing at times.

"Count your blessings...name them one by one...count your many blessings see what God has done..." Anybody besides me remember that hymn?  I have a journal where I do nothing but count my blessings!  It's called my "Things I Love" journal.  I write on good days in the Things I Love  journal and just make lists and lists and lists of things I love.  Then on the "not so good" days I read that journal.  Without fail it always lifts me up because I have counted my blessings and reminded myself of all God has done.  In reality, He doesn't have to "do" anything else --  He's already done it all  by sending Jesus, but amazingly He just keeps blowing our mind and giving us more blessings!!  So today I thought I'd name a few blessings I'm excited about.  Keep in mind, I don't just write super spiritual gobbledegook in my Things I Love journal.  I write everyday stuff like, "What a blessing banana night is at Bruste

God knows what we need when we need it!  He is such a good God . This hasn't exactly been the easiest week of my life.  I'm not complaining.  Nobody has it easy in this life and we've all got our stuff to deal with.    So why should I be any different? This week was one of those weeks where I was really wondering if it's worth it all.  I went out to my mailbox on Friday and there was a beautiful letter from a woman we pastored in Maryland.  I haven't heard from her in a long time.  The letter was one full of thanks and gratitude for what I poured into her life when I was her pastor.  Then I opened my e-mail  yesterday and there was an amazing letter from a young woman who came from our church here in Florida and is now in full time pastoral ministry.  It was also one of those "thanking God for you" letters, the subject line of which was:  "how you have blessed me..."  What prompts a person you haven't heard from in a while to just

Here's a photo of us last night at the Olive Garden where we celebrated Savanna's birthday as a family.  I didn't realize the photo was blurry until we actually downloaded it this morning.  (Ugh!  I hate when that happens!  It didn't look that blurry when we checked it in the little window in the camera after the server took it. )  We normally go to Kobe for Japanese on family birthday celebrations, or we stay home if the birthday person requests me to make a special dinner.  However, Savanna said she's tired of the chefs at Kobe asking her why she's not eating all her food!  :::chuckles:::   She is a healthy eater, but not a real  big eater and they give so much food at a Japanese restaurant.  She usually boxes most of it to take home and eat later.  She feels awkward when they ask her every time  if there is something wrong with her food because she has only eated a few little bites of each thing.  So...her choice last night was for Olive Garden since she lo

Do you see the motorcycle? Now do you see it? Surely  by now you can see it... The Honda crotch rocket rider was traveling at approximately 85 mph. The VW driver was talking on a cell phone when she pulled out from a side street, apparently not seeing the motorcycle. The riders reaction time was not sufficient enough to avoid this accident. The car had two passengers and the bike rider was found INSIDE the car with them. The Volkswagen actually flipped over from the force of impact and landed 20 feet from where the collision took place.  All three involved (two in the car and the bike rider) were killed instantly. This graphic demonstration was placed at the Motorcycle Fair by the Police and Road Safety Department. A picture is worth a thousand words.   Someone told me recently that texting in the car has now replaced drunk driving as the #1 cause of fatal accidents!!!    On a related subject, I believe everybody should see the movie Seven Pounds, especially teenagers who

People ask me how I handle my multiple roles .   Most of the time it's just about continuing to put one foot in front of the other and move forward. There are days I definitely don't "get it all done"...even when I stay up 'til 3 am trying. There are days I am exhausted... days I stay in bed... With every role in my life I feel like I'm  flopping  with at least one of them at any given time.  I have learned that is one of the greatest tactics of the enemy -- to flaunt whatever I'm struggling with to try to get me to wallow in feelings of inferiority so much so that I stop whatever I'm doing .  Putting one foot in front of the other and moving forward is what sets any effective person apart from someone who isn't.  The commitment to stay in the race and not quit despite whatever we feel  is one the most important attributes we can possess.  Pastor Tommy Barnett often says that if you feel like quitting that's a sign of success be

A doctor has to deliver terrible news -- a patient has died, a surgery didn't go as well as expected. Someone who has been practicing medicine for two years accepts the news and delivers it differently than someone who has been a doctor for 23 years. I'm at the 23 year mark in ministry and I now accept, process and deliver information differently than I used to. Almost nothing surprises me anymore, and rarely does something catch me off guard.  I have a love/hate relationship with this reality.  I  don't feel  things in quite the same way I used to, and have what I call emotional nerve damage.   Like most if not all others who have done this for a long time, there are parts of me that are numb.   Sometimes when people tell me disappointing things  I just stare into space and say, "okay, thanks for letting me know " and almost robotically move on to the next task at hand.  It's really almost like an out of body experience some days.  I'm convinced

Savanna Rose is 13 today. Where did the time go?   Everyone told me this would happen, I just didn't want to believe them.  I feel like my life didn't really start until my daughter was born.  I wanted a girl so much .  We waited six years after Jordan was born to try for a girl.  We kept saying we were going to wait for Jordan to "get under control."  Finally after six years I said, "honey we have tried our best but I don't know that he is ever going to get under control, and I really want a girl."   There were no guarantees in the land of X's and Y's, but at least we could try. It's a good thing we just went ahead and got pregnant because Jordan is 19 and still not under control.  But, we have our girl.   By the way, in 34 days Jordan leaves for boot camp and the Air Force is going to take a crack at getting him under control.  :)  But back to our Savvy girl... I wanted so badly to have a girl...Larry and I not only prayed about

This past week I was reading Seth Godin's blog post  about the fact that one random blog post might be a reader's first and only impression of you -- ever.   It resonated a lot with me because in life -- not just in blogging -- this reality pretty much haunts me every day.  Every article might be somebody's first and only impression ... Every phone call... Every church service... You NEVER get a second chance to make a first impression. Years ago there were fifteen guests from out of town who were visiting our church here in Florida.  It would be the one and only time most of them would ever be here.  I had some advance notice that they were flying in.  Needless to say I wanted things to not just be  smooth -- the goal was for them to be stellar.   I let this be known in advance and on that week of all weeks, a major player let us down and was not there.  It was too late for me to even do anything about it although I knocked myself out trying.  I couldn't

It has been an amazing week with Kathryn , and sadly our week together (in person) ends this morning as I take her back to the airport.  I will miss her terribly.   Here we are with my life coaching group -- which she taught on Saturday - two great workshops on conflict management and active listening.  We not only experienced her two workshops but we had a tea including breakfast and lunch as well as the ladies presenting her with many gifts as a blessing.  She was just overwhelmed by their love.  I count my blessings often, as I'm a person who believes it's a key to not just surviving but thriving.  Kathryn and my life coaching ladies are among my greatest blessings.  I am realizing more and more as time goes on that every woman needs the strength and power of other women in their lives.   I have always known this on some level but never have I ever known it like I know it at this time in my life.  If it were not for the women in my life I would be like a ship without a

Here's a photo from our tea with Tina on Thursday... What a lovely day we had!  And today is going to be another level of wonderfulness.  We have life coaching at the church and Kathryn will be teaching two workshops for us today and we also have many surprises in store.  I can't wait!!!  Will be back with photos and details...stay tuned.

Yesterday was a lovely day.  Kathryn and I met our mutual friend Tina for tea at the Empress Tea Room in Tampa.  (I  adore that place and highly recommend it for any of you who live in the area, or are planning on visiting the Tampa Bay area.  You will not be disappointed.)    The main feature of the day was conversation and the joy of being together face to face.  Nothing can compare .  I am so grateful for the time we shared.  It was really unforgettable. Larry and I were able to have a quiet eveing together sharing dinner and conversation and then we went to Brusters for ice cream and saw Eddie Rivera and John Torres there and enjoyed some time with them.  We had planned on going to Tarpon Springs together last night.  Some circumstances prevented it last evening however we WILL be going before Kathryn goes back to CA.  We wouldn't miss that experience for the world! I am trying really hard to not think about the fact that she is leaving on Monday morning.  In years

Well, life with Miss KK in Tampa is simply divine , so much so I haven't had time to blog, which is a rarity but a wonderful one at that. We had a splendid day yesterday, mostly working however it was just great to be in the same city for once!  She also had her first cuban sandwich (she loved it) and a great night at Fusion topped off by a late night at Steak and Shake.  She loves it there and they don't have it where she lives in CA so it was a treat for her to be there.  We got home at almost 1 am, and exhaustion prohibits me from expounding further, but suffice it to say...it's amazing to have her here and I am trying hard not to think about the fact that we only have four more days until 3,000 miles is a factor once again.  [sniffles]

cupcakes... new shoes... warm and breezy weather in Tampa and having a boss you are crazy about. Mine arrived from Oakland, CA yesterday at 4 pm.  As I blogged about yesterday, she's with us for the week and started off by having dinner with our family last night.  We enjoyed a relaxing evening.  I'm really blessed, and that fact isn't lost on me for a second. Kathryn has some appointments today for work but other than that we'll spend the day together and she'll be at Fusion tonight.  Can't wait!