Running 4 the Gold

Hello friends, I am praying for my new girlfriends who just left for Peru yesterday. The group calls themselves "Running 4 the Gold" as they run towards all that God has for them. This is the ministry of women that hosted me in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale this past weekend. It was an amazing experience as I told you before, but today I want to lift them up in prayer as 9 of them stepped out on faith and flew to Peru to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Dean. They had this trip planned before Dean even went thru there...isn't that the way God works when we are obedient? Wow! I stand in awe of women who are sold out to our heavenly Father. I received an e-mail from Jannette, who so graciously took pictures all evening at the event I spoke at last week and who is also on this trip with them. She sent me a link to their myspace account that has pictures of all of the beautiful women who attended last week. I'd love for you to click over to it, and pray for them. Also, check out the AMAZING decorations that ONE WOMAN took upon herself to do for this event, and see what happens when God shows up for His daughters. Look at the smiles, the laughter, the hugs, the kisses, and the beautiful sight that it is. And while you're at it, sing along to the praise music that's playing (unless it's in Spanish and you don't know the words!) I call each of you to lift up these amazing women while they are traveling in Peru, being the hands and feet of Jesus. And look what happens when women support and encourage one another. Click on this link and turn up your volume (or down if you're at work!) www.myspace.com/running4thegold Love to you all, Shari www.ShariBraendel.com

Looking back on the Miami Event

Wow! What an amazing trip to Miami and the Ft. Lauderdale area! I was greeted at the airport by Running for the Gold's Gabie and was treated like royalty for the 24 hours I was with her and her wonderful team of servant hearted women. I LOVE you guys! The event was the most beautifully decorated place I have ever spoken at! I am not kidding. It looked like an amazing wedding and I wasn't even the bride....but aren't we all Christ's brides? Wow, never thought of it like that before. It was a sold out event with 150 women, and not one chair available left to sit on! You girls really out-did yourselves with this event. The food was delicious, the worship music was awesome (thank you, Connie!) and the women attending were so tender and willing to hear about fashion and God...what a combination, huh? God is so good! One of my special delights of the evening was that Luke's half sister, Elizabeth whom he has never met was able to attend with her mom and grandma...it was truly a blessed evening, especially for me. We ended the evening with a sleep-over at Cindy's beach condo where she (Cindy), Nicole, Gabie and me sat up talking until 2:30am! The next morning, Gabie made me breakfast, Cindy made me coffee and they called Dave and told him to please send me with a list of instructions the next time I go there! Maybe he could just pin it to my clothing! They asked me how I took my coffee and I told them I didn't know...Dave always makes it for me!
Then we sat and talked and decided to do an event again...sooner than later....on November 3rd of this year! They have offered to fly Luke, Dave, and me down to Ft. Lauderdale and put us up in a beachfront condo, and also get tickets for Dave and Luke to attend the University of Miami football game when they play North Carolina State! (For those of you who don't know, Luke's FAVORITE team in the whole world is the University of Miami and this is their last season EVER to play in the Orange Bowl as they are moving to Dolphin Stadium after this season, so this is REALLY a history making season for them...and for Luke,now!) When I told Dave, he about freaked out...but when we told Luke, he about jumped out of his seat....we were in a restaurant and I numbered 9 envelopes and put hints inside each one until they spelled it all out by the 9th envelope.....he was soooooo excited he didn't know what to do. He couldn't wait to get home and call his friends and tell them. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Ft. Lauderdale girls....I LOVE you! See you in November! Check out their site www.running4thegold.com and see some pictures of the event. Love you, Shari www.ShariBraendel.com

Going to Miami!

Don't you just love it when you see God in action? I mean, wild, crazy, completely in-your-face action. I am leaving for Miami in the morning. This is nothing unusual as I have been headed to Miami this particular weekend for the last 13 years to meet up with 3 girlfriends for an annual girls weekend. We always arrive on Friday about noon and head back home on Sunday. What's different about this time, however, is that I am arriving on Thursday. I'm also being picked up at the airport by some women I've only met once in my life...actually, less than 2 months ago. You see, I got bumped from a flight about a year ago and got a free ticket so I've been saving it for this weekend but US Air couldn't get me on a flight on Friday so they had to put me on one Thursday. So what's a girl to do? Okay, yes, I could have called my friend to pick me up a day early since she lives in Ft. Lauderdale but God prompted me to call my new friends of only 2 months...so I did. I told them I was arriving a day early so if they wanted me to do an event for the women in their church, I would. They loved the idea but had no budget nor did they even have a place they could hold such an event. Well then I felt God whisper to me that I should do the event for free...so I let them know. Little did I know that God was also working in their hearts and they decided to do an event not knowing how it would ever come together. Well, apparently God did and has been planning this event for quite a long time! Everything has come together, the location, the worship music, the people....as of early last week, they had already sold close to 100 tickets! So, off I go! I can't wait! If you live near Miami, please go to http://www.running4thegold.com/ and get the info and come out and see us! I am going to do a What Not to Wear Workshop and also give my testimony. I am excited and in a way a little nervous. You see, I became a Christian in Miami....I also walked away from God in Miami...I also came back to God in Miami. And the location of the event is very near where I felt God whisper something to me that I will share tomorrow night. It's crazy. I believe God had this event planned long before any of us were obedient to His whispers. I'm excited. Please, if you catch yourself thinking about any of this, send up a prayer for the women who will be attending. I don't know what's going to happen but I have a feeling it's going to be pretty powerful. Off to pack! I can hardly wait! love to you all, Shari http://www.sharibraendel.com/

School Starts!

Luke starts back to school this week. I can't believe summer has come to an end. He is excited, though. I think it's more about seeing his friends than anything else. You know, in middle school, (he's a 7th grader) it's all about the social scene and he is very much like his mother (me!) in that it's all about having fun and being with friends!
My husband decided to measure all of us yesterday because Luke is just getting so tall! I am still 5'10 and 1/2" and Dave measured in at a little over 6 ft. Luke measured in at 5'11"! I KNEW I was looking up a little bit at him. We went school shopping yesterday for clothes and shoes. I am so excited that we were able to get him 3 pair of shorts, 4 shirts, a belt AND a pair of Nike basketball shoes all for under $100. Total! Can you believe it? I was so excited! Luke has to wear kakhi shorts, and a collared polo shirt with a belt to school to be in dress code. If you have never been to Steve and Barry's before, you MUST check it out. It has college approved apparel, you know, with college team logos, etc. and amazing clothes and amazing prices! Everything except the shoes came to $59.02! If you have girls, they have a new line by Sara Jessica Parker....most every item there is under $15....Luke's shorts were $6.98 and his shirts were about the same. Then we went shoe shopping. Okay, my son is tall for 12 years old, but his shoe size is out of the ball park! We can't find that size just anywhere ...he now wears a men's shoe size 15! His shoes usually cost around $100 (I try to find them on sale) so I had this idea to go to Value City. They have a huge shoe department. We looked all around and they only had sizes up to 13 for men. So on our way out the door, I spotted this display they must have just put up a day or so ago, with new Nike Basketball shoes that were only from size 12-17!!!!!!!! I was so excited....there must be MORE than ONE big boy in North Carolina! We are known as the basketball state, after all! And the best part of all was the sign that read $125 and it was crossed out with a new sign of $39.99.....yippee!!!! Noooo, the BEST part was that he actually LIKED them! When I got to the register, the cashier leaned under the counter and pulled out a coupon from a paper and took another $10 off! So, we got the shoes for $29.99!!!!!! On the way home, we stopped by McDonalds so he could top off his day with an Oreo McFlurry...of which he gave me 2 bites so I was happy! We had a good day! love ya, Shari http://www.sharibraendel.com/

Modest is Hottest

I am so excited about this weekend! I am kicking off my fall speaking schedule with a Modest is Hottest event and fashion show right here in Charlotte! I LOVE this event! It will be held at Central Church of God. Dillards at Northlake Mall is providing the fashions...they are soooo good to me. I went by the mall today and Jackie, the Clinique manager gave me gifts for EVERY girl in attendance! Isn't that amazing? And they are even in a cute cosmetic bag! Wow! What is so neat is that any time I go out of town to do an event in another city, if there is a Dillards there, they provide the fashions for the show....I love that store! When I did this event in St. Pete this past April, Dillards couldn't do the show so Plato's Closet provided the clothes...that was pretty neat! For those of you who don't know, Plato's Closet is a consignment shop for teen girls and guys. Anyway, I can't wait till Saturday...I heard it's gonna be a big crowd....and then, in 2 weeks, guess where I get to go? MIAMI! Oh my goodness, I can't wait! I'll tell you that story another day! God is on the move! love ya, Shari www.ShariBraendel.com

Jesus Bling

I just turned on my computer today to Wendy Pope's devotional about Jesus Bling! If you haven't seen it, go to http://www.proverbs31.org/ and read today's devo. Oh my goodness, I NEVER thought of Jesus as an accessory before! I LOVE that! Whenever I am speaking about how to determine what size accessories to wear, I put people in the catagories of Rock Star, Movie Star or Glamour Girl. You see, I am 5'11" with a large from....but who wants to be known as having a large frame? Not me! So, I came up with new names for those catagories...therefore, Rock Star is the large framed gals, Glamour Girls are the petite women and Movie Stars are the rest of you....so now, when you think about putting on your accessories, make sure JESUS goes on FIRST! And march out the door being sure that you are accessorized well! Love ya, Shari www.ShariBraendel.com

About Me!

http://www.sharibraendel.com/

What Not to Wear from a Christian perspective, and helping women feel better about how they look is what I've been called to by our loving God.

Personally, I love coffee in the mornings with my husband, Dave, spending time alone with each of my children, curling up with my cats, talking on the phone and shopping.

I enjoy traveling and speaking and am sooo excited for my first book "Good Girls Don't Have to Dress Bad. It is the first full color, Christian women's style guide and will be released this August, 2010 by Zondervan.

My passion... what I feel called to is to help women be more confident in the beauty God has given them... to share the things my mother taught me and what I've learned.

God made us in His image and He is beautiful.