From Hillbilly To Heiress

From Hillbilly to Heiress
"The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance."

Psalms 16:5-6

For those who don't know - I went to the Beth Moore Conference in San Antonio, TX and I am over loaded with information and could write for days, but I promise - I will not!

Before leaving for my trip I was pretty bummed. My ministry partner, Leigh Gray, had nearly broken both ankles just a few days before she was to drive to my house so that we could fly out together and head to Texas. But, that's a little hard to do when both of your feet are in boots! You see -- we just knew that God was going to tell us great and mighty things about ourselves and ministry as we worshiped and prayed together during the course of the weekend. Now, she wasn't coming.

So - thankfully, I had two other ladies on our ministry teams going to the same conference. I had talked to them by phone, e-mail, heard their messages on tape, etc.... but NEVER officially met them. Also, right before leaving - I recognized a name on a list of ladies attending a special event offered during the course of the conference. Ends up - it was a Mom I know from Nashville. So long story short here (this isn't my main message for today) ---- God worked out all the details. I left Nashville not really knowing a soul and came back with a slew of new friends!!

OK - now for the main thing ---- the point is, I was determined that I was going to hear from God this weekend. I mean I wanted the Alamo Dome to part wide open and have rays of sun light shining down on me with angels singing and my face glowing like Moses in the Old Testament!

Beth's message was right on. I took pages, upon pages of notes. And I can't wait to share what I've learned with all my "peeps". It was GREAT stuff and Beth was very anointed and profound in her speaking.
But, for me - the Alamo Dome didn't open. The rays of sun didn't fall on me. And I was definitely not glowing. As a matter of fact - I was caught blocks away from the hotel when a rain storm hit and have never been so soaked in my life --- we are talking wringing your clothes out bone chilling soaked.

Nope. Instead, I heard the Lord say these words to me. "You are a Hillbilly Heiress." WHAT! Does the Lord even use the word Hillbilly in His vocabulary?! That is nuts --- I have no doubts that you are agreeing with me at this point. As strange as I thought it was - it kept coming back to me.

You see, Beth's theme was that "we" are an "Heiress of God." She had 8 points and they all started with "I am an Heir of God ........." and then another point would be stated. She laid the foundation for this on Friday night and then hit the ground running on Saturday with two sessions. Very early into the first session on Saturday, she talked about our past and how God's inheritance trumps anything else that we've inherited. This got me thinking .......

My family has no literal inheritance. I lived in a trailer park in Tennessee when I was young. I remember taking a bath in a tin tub in the front yard at my grandparents house --- they also had an out house! I remember at Russ' first Thanksgiving with my family, my relatives just busted out the instruments (including a canjo -- that is a literal can of food that has been turned into a musical instrument) and started sangin'. No,that is not a typo - they seriously talk that country. So --- they do not sing - they sang. At that time they were in a gospel "sangin' group". Russ also learned other vocabulary words he had never heard that weekend!!! I come from a line of Lilly Mae's and Clementine's. Until this weekend I was aware of all of this about my family, but never realized one thing. Yes, it is true - I am a Hillbilly.

You see - in my talking with God during the weekend (in addition to begging Him to part the skies for me to receive "my Word") --- I asked Him for a title. A title for my blog or for my book that would be cute, catchy and draw ladies in so that they could learn about Him. He was so faithful this weekend. He didn't speak to me the way I wanted Him too, but He spoke to me in the way I needed Him to. Soft and gently - very casually during the course of my day.

When I got back and was sharing everything with Leigh about the conference, she said to me, "You know, I've learned that conferences are great. But I don't need to go to a big conference to hear from God." AMEN! And I think that precious Beth Moore would agree with that. YES - God moved at her conference. AND, I'm confident that for someone there --- the Alamo Dome did part and the rays came down and the whole nine yards! But, not for me – this time. And that's OK. God desires a personal relationship where we can talk daily - just not one powerful time. And a relationship where He can be a little funny and say words like Hillbilly!!

So, ---- it looks like I'm on my way as being known as the Hillbilly Heiress from Tennessee. Sharing how God can take anyone and forgive their sins, give them worth and make them an Heir (even if they’ve used an out house and taken a bath in a tin tube in the front yard!).