I had the privilege of my first speaking engagement on Saturday. Now, any of those who know me are flabbergasted right now that I would even consent to speak. I’m painfully shy, especially in large group settings. I can talk to you one on one, but put more than that in the mix and I can’t think of a thing to say.

But the Lord was gracious and it went so well!! I wasn’t nervous – not one bit. I couldn’t believe it. I kept thinking the butterflies would start any minute, but they never did. The Lord gave me such peace about it. I actually – believe it or not – had a good time. In fact, it was a great day!!

My friend went along for the 1 hour, 15 minute ride to the church where I was to speak. We stopped along the way to do some outlet mall shopping. That’s a fun way to start a day.

The ladies at the church had everything set up so beautifully, with Christmas decorations and a wonderful spread of crackers, cheese, veggies & dip, nuts, and cookies. We were sorry we had stopped at Arby’s for a sandwich.

This is the same church my dad ministered at for over a year while they were without a pastor, so many of the names were familiar to me. My parents talked about their love for these people all the time. I now see why. I had met a few of the people at church camp last year, so there were some familiar faces in the audience. Better than that, there was at least one woman from the community they have been trying to get to come to church – and she showed up!

Everyone told me I did a great job on my speech, Building Christmas Traditions. They said they’d love to have me back some time. I know there were things I could do better, but I was proud of myself for my first time out. I thought of it as teaching, and teaching is something I know I can do.

Following my speech, they had a cookie exchange. Doug was quite happy with the selection I brought home. At our church’s cookie exchange, coconut and nuts are big. He doesn’t like those things. Here I was able to choose many plainer varieties. I brought white chocolate peppermint fudge. I’m told it was delicious (it has cream cheese, so I can’t eat it – there is a method to my madness). I’ll save the story about making that for another day 🙂

The ladies were so gracious to us. I sold a good number of books and signed them. I remember when I was nervous about just signing books. They gave me a Christmas gift basket to thank me for coming. I would do it again for the pleasure of it. (I didn’t just say that, did I? I mean, now that I’m an in-demand speaker, my fees are going up LOL!!)

Of course, my friend and I couldn’t make it all the way home without stopping to do more shopping. We found a store we both at $10 coupons for and I bought myself a new sweater. A speaker does need to look good you know!!

I give all my thanks to the Lord for keeping my fears at bay and for giving me a clear mind to speak.