Over two years ago, I sat in my car on the way home from a court hearing. My daughter had been violently attacked, and her assailant had been sentenced to a simple year's probation. As I gripped the steering wheel, I looked up to the sky with my tear-stained face and anger gripping my heart, and said to God, "If I can do anything at all in this life...raise me up higher so that I can help women. Dear, God...I know nothing about women's ministry. I'm just a little brunette worship director. I know about music and art. Help me, God. Help me so I can help any woman who experiences this type of pain and grief but doesn't know how to deal with it. Show me how to help them." That straightforward prayer...that desperate cry for help to submit to a place I've never walked, on a path I've never taken... began the redemptive part of the heartrending story that ultimately birthed the ministry called Best Life.

It has been two months since I resigned from my full-time position as Worship Director to move ahead as full-time Executive Director of Best Life. There have been days that I have questioned myself and questioned God. How did I get here? How did the journey that I was on, take an amazing turn in the road? That road led me to a small, off the well-beaten path, with rugged terrain, where I am now climbing. I am climbing with determination. And I am climbing with some of the most authentic, mercy-filled leaders I've ever known.

The Best Life team that God has provided, these wonderful friends who are journeying with me, are climbing to places they've never been. God is using their own stories of pain and in using their stories; they are becoming stories of redemption as well.

Best Life Ministries Team

I see ahead of us. I see more and more women coming to know Christ, more women deepening their walk with Him, and more women partnering together with their local church to reach the lost.

On our path, there is incredible warmth shining down, dispersing light onto our feet as we're walking. There will be some tough places on the path, but we know that it is meant for us to walk. For in walking this path together, we will share our hopes and dreams....that women might come to know Christ as their Savior. For He alone ultimately offers to us..Help, Hope and Healing. 

"All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us."

II Cor. 1:3-4 The Message Bible

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.   Col. 2:6-7
 

I was checking my email this morning when Julia, my nine-year-old,  announced, "Mom, I'm taking pictures of the incredibly obese squirrels in our trees!" I laughed and turned from my computer to see that she was poised with camera in hand, capturing shots of three very well-nourished squirrels sitting just outside our window in the tall birch tree.

Just one look at that tree reminded me that winter is upon us: except for a few stubborn leaves, the tree is now completely bare. Megan, my 17-year-old, came down the stairs this morning, looking half frozen, asking if we could turn on the heat. Liana, 14, decided to wrap herself in a fleece blanket to stay warm while she studied. I know it is time to pay the utility company, once again, for the privilege of living in Minnesota. It all made me a little sad. I admit that as much as I like fall, with its gorgeous, rich colors and crisp, fresh air, it's winter's predecessor-- and winter is my least favorite season. 

I wish I could go to Starbucks this morning, I thought. Now, I'm not actually a daily coffee drinker, but on a morning when the winds are whipping and the air holds a chill, a Pumpkin Spice Latte to warm up my hands and tummy sounded just perfect to me--that pumpkin pie flavor is the essence of autumn to me! Unfortunately, taking our three girls and me out to an overpriced coffee shop is not in the family budget. So today, I decided to do my best at creating a homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte, delicious enough to rival the ones at the coffee shops.

After we had poured my sweet coffee creation into pretty mugs and sat around the warm kitchen, sipping, chatting, and laughing, I decided that I would inspire you all to do the same. Happy Autumn! Enjoy!

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte

Ingredients

Coffee

Milk or Half and Half

Pumpkin Spice Syrup**

Vanilla

Spray whipped cream

Here's how you do it!

• Take your favorite fall coffee syrup (Pumpkin Spice or Gingerbread syrup) and put some of it in the bottom of a mug. 
• Heat "half and half" or whole milk on the stove and add a bit of real vanilla. Don't boil the milk though! 
• Make double strength coffee. (For instance, I made 5 cups of coffee but used enough grounds to make 10 cups, just make it extra strong.)
• Take out your blender and pour the hot milk in the blender and blend it for a minute or two to make it frothy. Do not do a large quantity as you have to make sure the steam has enough room in the blender.
• Pour enough hot milk/half and half to fill half the mug and then add the strong coffee to fill the other half of the mug.
• Leave a little room at the top to spray whipped cream on top, just like the coffee shops do! 

 **If you don't have any flavored syrup, you can brew a teaspoon or two of ground Pumpkin Pie Spice with your coffee grounds, or experiment with a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Once it's brewed, add sugar to taste.

As a loan officer, I look at people's financial situations all day long. I have watched people become successful homeowners and watched people, unfortunately, lose their homes. In this month where we reflect on what we are thankful for, I am thankful for an economy where many of us have learned some difficult financial lessons which have changed our lives. Coming from the "boom years" where it was the norm to leverage and borrow against our assets, keep up with the Jones', charge up our credit, it has been a big financial wake up call for many of us.

The lesson that I am so grateful for is that our financial life can be simplified. Getting control of it is simple, but not easy. We need to be disciplined with spending and saving, and not live outside of our means. It's a time of rebuilding, and for some of us, starting over. But with every hardship comes growth...and for that I am thankful.

Valerie McKay provides financial consultation as a licensed Residential Loan Officer, and First Time Home Buyer instructor through the Home Ownership Center of MN's Homestretch Program. NMLS #323696. Val likes to encourage women to get back to the simple basics of understanding money.

"God's plan is for you to become the best version of you, but right now there are two versions of you. There is the you God made you to be - and there is the you that currently exists. What do you do with the gap?...Jesus will always lead us toward growth, and growth always requires risk, and risk always means failure. So, Jesus is always leading us into failure. But He never gives up on a student just because he or she fails." 

John Ortberg

This past spring, I had the wonderful opportunity to meet John Ortberg, author and Sr. Pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, CA. John has long been my favorite author, writing many favorites such as If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat, The Life You've Always Wanted, When the Game is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box, and his latest, The Me I Want to Be. His writing style, wisdom, and motivational outlook have been huge inspirations to my faith walk. 

Kathy Meets John Ortberg

Thankfulness is an attribute,

a quality of life.

Which can make existence sweeter, and lighten every strife.

To appreciate is golden;
To say so is divine,

And thankfulness should come each day,
Not wait for special time.

Thanksgiving day is every day;
November brings it near,

Remembering with grateful hearts the blessings of all year.

By Mary Barnard

TIME TO START GETTING THE CHRISTMAS MUSIC OUT AND READY TO GO!!!  This cd has become a standard in my life. It's just a constant play for me. I have to admit, it is the comfort music for my life at the office, in the car and at home. Between the four Windham Hills cds, and The Carpenters, I feel like I've just had a big bowl of mac and cheese! This cd offers piano and instrumental solos by such artists as Jim Brinkman, Liz Story and George Winston. If you don't know much about these pianists, it's time you find out what you're missing. The soft soothing tones of piano, strings, guitars, bass... is just dreamy music. You can imagine yourself with your feet up in front of the fire, sipping hot apple cider, watching "It's a Wonderful Life" and looking out back at the field of corn...oh, wait...that's my life. Well, you can come over and we'll do that together!!! I cannot begin to express to you the beauty of this music. It is uplifting to the soul and brings the Christmas spirit into your home and car. Pick one up....fast. I purchased mine at Target a couple years back, but I saw you can order for as little as $6.99 on amazon.

Michael W. Smith It's a Wonderful Life