Lifting Me Up

Just wanted to share some encouraging words from the Lord that have lifted me up this morning. Yesterday was gruelsome...is that how you spell it? We decorated the church for the girl's retreat for almost 5 hours...my body was truly aching all over. This whole baby in the belly sure makes things a little more challenging. :) I came home last night not really even being able to sit comfortably and relax. Dustin worked on me with his OMT for a little bit which seemed to help. And of course last night I couldn't sleep at all...it felt like I just laid there all night tossing and turning. This morning my body is sore and tired and my heart was a little overwelmed with all the little tasks I had to finish up for the retreat today, but as I made time for the Lord and just seeking Him this morning in His word.....He truly lifted me up with this little commentary in my study bible. I pray that it brings you encouragement in your life today as well..
"Jesus' desire is that each women yield herself to Him in utter dependence, recognizing that "without Me you can do nothing." John 15:5. and relying on His Holy Spirit fo fulfill the special ministry that He selects for her. God challenges each one of us as He did Queen Ester, "Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Each women is hand-picked by God, situated by Christ's body as He desires, and it indispinsable in reaching her particular sphere of influence for Christ. If a woman feels inadequate for the ministry task the Lord reveals to her; she need only to remember Jesus' words "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."........Praise the Lord!

Exciting Day!

Today is a very exciting day.....our brand new website is up and running! Praise the Lord! This has been a three month process and I am so thankful that it is complete and beautiful! Let me know what you think!
www.modestmommycover.com

Baby Abigail this week

What is going on in Abigail's world this week....her brain can now control her breathing and body temperature. She can also cough, and her sucking abilities have been perfected. Her skin is looking less wrinkled as she packs on the pounds. She's now beefing up on the energizing and insulating white fat she'll be born with (unfortunately, white fat is not energizing and insulating for adults!). She is full of energy these days. She is a little over 15 inches long—about the length of a loaf of bread—and weighs about 3 pounds, as much as a Macbook Air laptop. Wow, huh! I find myself thinking more and more about her and can't wait to cuddle with her...she will be here soon in the meantime I am getting bigger and bigger as she grows, of course! :) Funny story--the other day Andrew was sitting with Dustin and pointed to his belly and asked, "Is Abigail in there?" He! We all laughed...Daddy's belly isn't nearly as big as Mommy's. Funny Andrew.

Knee Deep with Girl's Retreat

Girls Retreat.....today I am knee deep in final details for the 1st Annual Girl's Retreat at our church. It is so exciting and sooo much work! We have officially 30 girls signed up and I am expecting another 15-20 friends and last minute deciders to join us on Friday! A freind that was a couple of years older than me that I played basketball with in Highschool, Courtney Smith Bullard, will be coming and leading it with her IDMinistries team. I am so excited about what the Lord has in store for this weekend! It has been so neat to see how He has grown the girls ministry that we started just this last September and I soo look forward to seeing who He connects with us through this awesome Retreat opportunity! Our Theme is grecian spa and we have decided to use greek like wedding columns, ivy, greenery, and bundles of candles. I can't hardley wait to see it all come together! We actually had a member of the church that owned a wedding rentals company and she is letting us use some huge 8' Columns and also some smaller ones and tablecloths for decoration---such a blessing! I can't wait to see the girls reactions to the decoration. Details....thier are so many details to complete and finsish up today. I have decided that I am a planner....I really enjoy the planning and the organization, maybe that is why I don't really enjoy sometimes not knowing what God is planning. :) But He is teaching us ever so patiently to just trust in Him. Also this week our renters are moving out so we are scheduling all the repair work, carpet cleaning....to get it ready to list on the Market on Monday. Please pray for a quick sale. I really am not anxoius about this but it would sure be a blessing to sell it quickly so that we don't have to make double mortgage payments for another month. What I am learning in the midst of all these planning details this week is that God is a God of details....He loves planning and creating just as much as I do and He does a much better job connecting all the dots in His perfect timing....I soo look forward to seeing how it all comes together for His glory! Praising Him! -A

A Time of Transition...

The Cupp Crew is officially in a time of transition. It seems thier are so many things right now that are "up in the air" so to speak. Item 1: The Market business this past week was down 75%...we do not know what the Lord has in store for the business. Please pray for my sewing ladies, we will have to stop production for now and wait on the Lord. Please pray that the Lord would provide them with alternative work to supply thier needs. They are both such wonderful christian believers and have been faithfully praying for the business during the past few weeks...pray specifically for Thursday when I will meet with them and share with them. Item 2: Our Rental Home will be vacant and listed on the market February 2nd. Not exactly the best time to sell a home. Item 3: Where will He send us? Dustin has a meeting wednesday with the CEO in Drumright, OK to discuss job opportunities. We also got a call this morning from another doctor in Cushing that is very interested in Dustin possibly joining Him....and Integris Bass in Enid is still wanting to meet with us. Item 4: Abigail Ruth is only about 12 weeks away from joining our crew... or less! Wow! Transition....lots of not knowing, but the awesome part about it is that God has given us both such a wonderful peace. We know that He will supply all our needs and that He will so masterfully take care of all the little details and plans during this transitioning period. It seems like every day He is confirming to me to not worry...that He is faithful! This we have totally experienced many times over and can testify that He is so faithful with His goodness and graciousness to His children. Here is the verse He gave me today.

"So do not worry, saying what shall we eat? What shall we drink? Or what shall we wear? For the pagans run after these things, and your heavenly father knows that you need them. But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well." Matthew 6:31-33

Trusting Him! Praising Him! ....Amanda

Market Preperation Day in Dallas

I arrived in Dallas at the Market Center about 4pm today and was excited to see all of the activity in preperation for the show. Many exibitors were unloading and getting all of thier things "spruced up" and ready for the show. I made it to our showroom after standing in line to get my new key card for only an hour and a half...yuck. Not a good time to decide to update the key card system during one of the largest shows of the year. Finally, I was on the 8th floor and made it in to the showroom to check things out and I was shocked to see all of the empty spaces. We are in a shared showroom where people can lease 10 x 10 or 10 x 20 spots per year to display and market thier products. Thier are probobly 50 shared showroom spaces in the Kids World Studio. I counted 10 that were vacant...this is alarming because of the economy and the pace that even our sales have done since July. It really made me sad to see all the empty spots and the evidence that a business had most likely gone under during this hard economic time. I talked with a few other owners and asked what thier expectations were for this show and I was... I guess shocked would be the word...to find out that they were not expecting much because of the lead certification law that is being inforced and knowing that the boutique owners, our clients, were going to be very cautious as to whom they purchased products from not only because of thier lack of sales this fourth quarter but also the lead law that is being passed. I knew nothing about it until then....basically what the law says is that any product that is made for a child under the age of 12 to use has to be lead certified by February 10, 2009. What does that mean? Certification means that we would have to send one of every nursing cover fabric that we offer to be certified by a lab and tested for lead. The cost for this is thousands of dollars. I wondered where the line was...we technically are not an item for a baby, but for a mother to use while nursing. One of the other owners told me that a sling manufacturer company had decided to go ahead and get the certification and instead of offering 10 different fabrics because of the cost of certification they would now be offering 3.....Please pray....I have no idea what this means for our company. We need a really great market financially and cannot afford to sink in thousands of more dollars into this company merely for lead certification.....I do not know what the Lord has in store with this but I will continue to trust in Him and His plans for this business...Please pray.

"But I trust in your unfailing love, my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for He has been good to me." Psalm 13:6

Off to Market...

Off to Market....today I will be leaving to Dallas to work Market in our Showroom. Please pray for our business and what the Lord would have in store. We are needing quite a few new accounts and reorders from current accounts. With the economy as it is now business at the Market all around has slowed down and we are praying that this will be a very profitable show for our business. Please also pray specifically for the plans that God would have in store...whatever that means...we have so many options here and just want to be doing His will in regards to this. Pray for my dear mother-in-law, Beth, who is so self-sacrificing and coming to stay with my monkeys Tueday through Friday. Please pray that God will give me enough strength and endurance to get through the days victoriously on my feet over 8 hours each day. Please pray for divine appointments that He would set up for this week...pray that we may be given opportinities to share Him with others during Market. Bless you dear friends for praying. Love you all. Looking foward to seeing what He has in store for this week at Market....