I have to tell you, I thought blogging would be easier than it is. My friend Marybeth is so good at this. I remember one week she blogged 16 times...okay, maybe it was in a two week time period but it seemed like a week. It has been 3 weeks since my last blog and I'm still unsure what to write. I guess because I speak and write about fashion I think that's all I'm supposed to blog about but Marybeth said I don't need to. I can write about what's going on in my life. Therefore, if no one reads it, I still have a journal of the goings-on in my world. I like that! So, I think I'll do just that. But, I also think I'll just journal on Mondays. That way if anyone really does read this blog then they'll know only to look for a new post once a week...I can do that...I really can.So, here goes. My first Monday post. I must tell you how excited I am about my call to the doctor's office today. Luke is having trouble with his foot...actually, it's his left heel. He can barely run a lap without coming to tears. He is 12 years old and is 6'1" already with a size 15 shoe. That's tall and big. He is projected to be somewhere around the 6'7" range so basketball is in his future...and his present. At least that's what we thought until this whole foot thing. I took him to the doctor after he had to leave his soccer game 2 weeks ago in pain and they took x-rays. It appears he has something going on with his growth plates. We will see an orthopedic this week. In the meantime, if there is any chance at all he will play basketball this year, he has to have a sports physical. Tomorrow. Tryouts are next Monday and he and Dave are going to Miami with me this week so they can have fun in the sun while I speak at a women's conference. However, I found out my new insurance doesn't cover sports physicals until you've had the policy for at least one year. $205 must be paid at the appointment. Let me tell you why I'm so excited. The doctor's office informed me if since I just need a sports physical, I can go to Presbyterian Urgent Care at any of their 3 offices (we're going to the University one) and get a sports physical for only $30. I am jumping for joy! I felt so blessed that she told me that...she blessed me. I hope this little bit of info blesses you or someone you may know that might need that for their child. Yes, we'll have to wait a little for the appointment, but we'd have to wait in the waiting room anyway even if we did so at the doctor's office. So, that's what I'm excited about today! And lift up a prayer on behalf of my tall son...he REALLY wants to play basketball this year....But God may have other plans for him. love you, Shari

Small Groups!

Are you in a Small Group? Some churches call them "Life" groups, but whatever you call them, they are so much bigger than "small" and they definetly are critical to "life". Dave and I hadn't been part of a small group for several years...actually, closer to 5 or 6 years. Partly because on Sunday afternoons, we just wanted to have some family time watching football or time to take an afternoon nap. But the message was out at church that everyone should join a small group if they weren't in one so we took the plunge. We just went to our second one last night of a six week stint (you know, just try it out, they said at church!) and let me tell you that I am soooo glad we did. I don't think I have ever laughed so hard or had so much fun with people in a very long time. There are 6 couples in our group and we are doing a study by John Ortberg called Building Community. The study is good but I have to tell you the reason we will keep going back is because I could do LIFE with these people. They are awesome! Heather told us that she broke most of the blood vessels in her eyes at the first meeting from laughing so hard...(she wasn't kiddding.) Her husband, Tim was laughing so hard he was crying. One couple probably wondered what they had signed up for cause they didn't know most of us but they came back with the best dessert ever and said no way were they gonna miss this. The food is amazing, the study is good, but honestly, these people are really cool. The purpose of a small group is to have folks to lean on in times of good and bad. As our churches grow bigger, we need to grow "smaller" so that's the reason for our small groups, so we don't get lost. Big churches have the capacity to do so much that I wouldn't trade it but I am hooked on this small group of mine. I am going to encourage any of you who are not in one....go sign up! Find a group of friends and commit to just 6 weeks...and see what happens! Tell me about yours...what's yours like? Big Blessings this week! Shari www.ShariBraendel.com

A Family Affair

Hi all, It has been too long since my last post so I'm gonna promise not to wait too long before the next one! Just to catch you up on things that are going on around here I'll give you a little update. This is a BUSY speaking season for me...so thrilled God has enabled me to do this thing called ministry all the while using my gifts and passion for the fashion industry. It is so much fun! Along with the ministry speaking I still have time to work with individuals and small groups of women for personal shopping time. This weekend I did a workshop for my friend Heather and her family. Her mom, Carolyn turned 70 last week so Heather thought it'd be fun to have me there to do an image workshop for her mom, 2 sisters and sister-in-law. We had a great time. It's always fun watching the dynamics of a family play out. All of them were beautiful women...inside and out. About an hour into the session, I stopped them and told them to do an exercise. I had each one go around the room and tell the others what they thought was beautiful about her. Each one had to tell each other...if that makes sense. It was a very precious time and tears flowed. Heather, the youngest is a drop-dead, 6 foot tall, blonde super model-type and told her oldest sister, Patti, that she always thought she was sooooo beautiful. Patti cried because she had never been told that before.(Patti should be the model for the Dove comercial for amazing skin.) Patti told Heather the thing she liked best about her was her mouth, because nothing bad ever came out of it. Wow. The girls told their mother she was always so beautiful and they were so proud of her for her weight loss as now she had almost dropped 40 pounds and would be healthier. (I'll be looking for Carolyn on one of those Weight Watcher commercials cause they always pick pretty ones for that... you go, Carolyn!) One told the sister-in-law Christy that she was just HOT all the way around, (and she was beautiful on the inside, too) and Karan (a natural, Ralph Lauren model type) was told she looked very young for her age. All in all, the compliments flowed (along with tears) and everyone felt good about themselves. Girlfriends, give the women in your life a compliment today. Whether it is your mom, your daughter, your sister, the cashier at the grocery store, your child's teacher...whoever it is....tell her she's beautiful. Compliment her on her smile, her hair, her eyes...help her to feel good about the way she looks. I realized that if Patti never remembers being told she was beautiful then we just aren't speaking it enough. My mother always told me, "stand up straight, you're beautiful, Shari".....over and over again. So I did...and I thought I was.....because she told me. Your daughters will become who YOU say they are. What are you telling your daughters today? love ya, Shari http://www.sharibraendel.com/