Christian Momma

I was asked to be on the Women’s Ministry Leadership Team a couple months ago.  I was so excited to become involved in helping Women get connected with each other…to strengthen the bond of friendship in our church.

Friday was our first meeting of the New Year at The River Church.  The title of the meeting was “Have a Soup-er New Year”.  It was a Soup dinner…there were lots and lots of yummy soups and breads and desserts!  We talked about Friendship and did a devotional called A Recipe for Friendship.  Then we spent some time doing a few “get to know you” type of mixer games.

One of the first things we had the women do as they entered was write something unique about themselves on a slip of paper along with their name and put it into a basket (folded of course).  We used these as a transitional type of thing.  One of the leaders read a couple of the slips of paper (one at a time) and everyone would just throw out names trying to guess who it was!  It’s funny the things you get to know about other people…and who knew one of my friends from church had the same talent as I do…zyxwv…

We also went around the room and told our names, a little about ourselves (how many kids, how long you’ve been attending the church, the city you live in, etc.), along with a “Truth or Lie”.  We had to come up with a statement that everyone would guess would either be a truth or lie.  I now know those women who really can’t lie.

However, I think the best game, by far, was another get to know you type of game we did.  We all got into a circle, the first person would take a small stuffed animal and throw it to someone while saying their name.  Then that person would throw the animal to another person saying their name.  As that animal went through a couple people, the first person would grab the next animal and throw it to the same person.  One rule about the game is that you ALWAYS throw it to the same person and you ALWAYS receive it from the same person.  Just imagine a circle about 25 women large and 6 stuffed animals flying through the air and people yelling each other’s names.  It had us all laughing…mine (and a few others) stomach hurt from laughing so hard!

We are also starting a Secret Sister program in the church.  We are hoping to get all the women in our church involved in this.  Each member fills out a form, then they will be matched up with another member that you will pray for, send encouraging notes to (using a designated return address of one member who has graciously agreed to helping), and gifts.  We will be revealing at our Women’s Retreat (May 7-8), or that weekend for those who are unable to attend.

Next month, we will be doing a Service Project.  We are making those No-Sew fleece blankets and giving them to one of our local ministries.  So, if you are planning on attending, please remember to bring your 1 1/2 yard or 2 1/2 yard fleece.  If you are making a double layer one, please remember you need 2 pieces of fleece the same size (one solid color and one print that match each other)

I hope and pray that all the Women in our church will be blessed by our Monthly Meetings which are the 2nd Friday of each month with the exception of April (Spring Break) and May (Retreat).

I was reading Soliloquy’s end of year review that she wrote and thought…I wrote something like this last year, I should do it again!  Thanks Soliloquy!

So…Let’s begin, shall we?

January

I felt God’s direction about Vacation Bible School.  It was the beginning of January that I realized that God had been calling me to be the director of VBS for 2009.  I had helped run it in 2008, but the call to lead was stronger than the year before.  So by the end of January, it was decided that I would be the director of VBS.

February

Daniel and Andrew turned 4 and I celebrated my 35th birthday.  There was that LONG gap of my internet time.  From the moment that we decided to drop the DSL line and get the Cable line…December through February!  WOW, I remember being so upset that it was taking so long and we would get the run around!

March

The stress of VBS was in full force.  My dad struggled with clots one big one that he had been hospitalized for that ran from his groin to his ankle.  I was so happy that he was able to get that taken care of and sent home.  Kevin and I started our online search for a house.  Our intentions were to get a house big enough that my parents could come and stay when a kidney would become available for my dad, since dad’s Kidney doctor was down here by us.

April

I was so excited to be joining in on the A Woman Inspired online conferences!  My dad’s kidneys were getting worse and the doctors were moving forward with getting dad ready for dialysis and his kidney transplant.

May

God began speaking to me about a ministry that my heart had desired to work with.  At the time (May) I didn’t mention the ministry and I really hadn’t mentioned it much since…things just recently came to pass.  I was speaking of the Ladies Ministry at our church.  God had began to open the doors for me to work with that ministry.   I also began writing about the Road to a Kidney and the feelings regarding my dad and a kidney transplant.

June

We were packing up our place and getting ready to move into our new home.  What an exciting time!

July

Michael turned 12.  We had a 4th of July party in our new home!  My dad had to have open heart surgery in July.  It was a triple bypass.  How hard that was to know that my dad going into this surgery would cause his kidneys, that weren’t functioning properly, to completely stop working.  It was extremely hard for me to be there and see all those tubes he had when he came out of surgery.  At that moment, I had realized just how hard it was to watch my dad struggle and be in so much pain.

August

VBS month!  Wow, it was such a whirl-wind and a blur!  I was so happy when the week was over!  The day after VBS, however, I jumped right into working on the Women’s Ministry Retreat.

September

Noah turned 9!  We had the Women’s Retreat and I had so much fun!  I enjoyed every minute of getting all the things together as well as participating.  I started my research on 2010 VBS’s…I was overwhelmed again.  While praying for which program to run the next year, I felt God telling me my time as the director was over.  I was actually very relieved at that, but decided to pray more to be sure it just wasn’t my will.

October

An amazing month.  How I realized that distance doesn’t matter when God is involved and how God was using technology to minister to someone first hand!  My dad’s feet had began to turn purple from lack of circulation.  I had mentioned it to a pastor/friend who had mentioned it to a pastor/friend of his who just happened to be having revival services at his church…streaming online!  So I was able to get online with Larry Silverman’s church (who, by the way are STILL in revival and stream their services online) and hear them pray for my dad while having my cell phone up to the speakers of my computer so my parents (who were on the phone) could hear the prayers for my dad.

November

Unfortunately, my father passed away at the beginning of November.  It was very hard to watch him die.  My heart was split from being happy that he was no longer in pain to being sad that he was no longer with us.  I still struggle with this!   Kevin celebrated his birthday, it wasn’t much of a celebration time (sorry honey!) since it fell between my dad’s viewing and his funeral.

December

Our first Christmas without my dad had it’s moments, but we all had a pretty good time.  We celebrated this Christmas by having my mom spend Christmas Eve/Christmas Day with us.

As an overview, the beginning of 2009 was really great, the ending, too many deaths in the family!

I am looking forward to a new year!  Happy 2010!!

Are you purposely going out and connecting with people intentionally?

That was a question asked of us today in church (maybe not exactly, but very close).  I can honestly say, no, I’m not.  I should be, but I’m not.  I am a shy person by nature…I’m not nearly as shy as I once was, but overall I am…that is until I get to know you, then it’s a whole new ballgame.

If I’m in a crowd of a lot of people where I don’t know many people, I will stand near someone I may know, but not talk much, just listen.  I find it really hard to go out of my comfort zone and talk with people.  I am working on it…

How many times have you passed someone on the street and ignored them?  Or just didn’t even pay attention to them because you were so focused on yourself.  I’ve done that a lot.  How many people have missed out on something because I wasn’t open to talking to them or paying attention?  What if all God wanted me to do that day was say “hi” or smile at someone and I didn’t do it because I thought it was very insignificant?  That “hi” or smile could have changed the mood of that person for the day.

What about people in your own family?  How often do they get ignored or missed by you because you are too busy doing things that really aren’t important?

How many times has life gotten in the way of you calling up that friend you haven’t heard from in a long time?  Or that church member that didn’t attend church that Sunday?

Reaching out intentionally…Opening your eyes to those around you who may be hurting or just need a quiet little smile to change their life.

God wants us to reach out to the lost and hurting.  Speak into the lives of others to change their life.  How many times I’ve missed the opportunity to do that with so many people!

Change is inevitable…change is hard.

To grow, you have to change.

The transition from one place to another is very straining on everyone involved.  Friendships are strained.

A true friend walks in when the world walks out

But when God is in the midst of change, you know something powerful will come out of all the changes.

During this midst of change, I’m on my knees asking for God to guide me, direct me, protect me.

A Woman Inispired Online Conference: Ministry Online began today.  4 wonderful woman spoke today about different aspects of having an Online Ministry.  Karla Porter, Leigh Gray, Tracy Jackson, and Alyssa Advant.

First there was Karla Porter who talked about Social Media and your Ministry. She talked about how to use Social Media in your Ministry.  I already use some social media, however, I’m not using it to the potential that I could be using it.  I’ve got some work ahead of me to see what exactly I’m going to be using it for.

Followed by Leigh Gray on Spilling the Beans and the Motives attached.  The things she said in her talk that really struck me was being Honest and really knowing what my motives are behind each  blog I write.  Above all, prayer before writing…putting God at the forefront of what I write so that His Word comes forth and touches the lives of those that I am trying to reach.

After Leigh came Tracy Jackson on Mommytography.  Oh how I loved this talk!  If you’ve followed me for very long at all, you know it is my dream to one day open my own photography studio.  To sit and listen to someone talk about how to take photos…ahhh…it was heaven to me!   Time to pull out that camera manual and read it again!  I don’t know why I never thought about highlighting the manual, but what a great idea!  I tried to just read it and remember it…why?  I can use it as a reference each time I play around with my camera!

The final conference for the day was by Alyssa Advant on Finding Your Passion.  What great insight on how to find out what your passion, your destiny is!  How your passion is drawn from your personality and your gifts!

I learned so much today, I feel God teaching me things already about what I’ve heard.  I can’t wait for the next 3 days of conferences!!

Schedule for the next 3 days…

Day 2, Amy Bayliss, Maria Reyes-McDavis, Dawn Camp, and Darcy will be speaking

Amy Bayliss will be speaking on Split Decisionz: How To Give Your Blog A Facelift

Maria Reyes-McDavis will be speaking on Biblical Principles for Social Media Success: A Complete Starter’s Guide to Marketing Your Business, Ministry, or Personal Brand

Dawn Camp will be speaking on Facebook: Inside & Out

Darcy will be speaking on Okay So I Have A Blog, Now What?

Day 3, Leah Adams, Mary Snyder, Kristen Schiffman, and Carrie McGinty

Leah Adams will be speaking on ‘I Did It My Way’ Is Never the Best Way!!

Mary Snyder will be speaking on Facebook Friends, Twitter Tweets, and Blogging Buddies: The Blessings of Online Friendships

Kristen Schiffman will be speaking on Embedding Excellence

Carrie McGinty will be speaking on Does Your website/blog reflect who you are? Does it catch your audiences’ attention?

And Day 4, Sara Martin, Genikwa Williams, and The Amies (Amy Bayliss and Amy Stults)

Sara Martin will be speaking on He Knows Your Words!

Genikwa Williams will be speaking on Touching Lives Online: The Power of Social Media to Minister

The Amies will be speaking on Starting Your Ministry From Scratch w/ Full Q&A

A few months back I had briefly mentioned another ministry that God has been laying before me.  I had no idea then exactly where things were leading, but I’m starting to get a fuller direction as to what that may be.  I’m not quite ready to fill you all in yet, but in time, I will.

Just know that I have been searching more now to find that purpose, that destiny that God has in store for me.  I’m striving to find out exactly what it is and then strive forward in that ministry.

There are things that have sort of “fallen” into my lap (so to speak) that seem to be leading in the same direction as what God is calling me to do.  It’s exciting!  I haven’t been more egar to get involved than I am right now.  It’s scary to me to not know exactly what it is, but I know that God will take care of that, in time.

I know there isn’t much information here to go on and it’s like telling you “I’ve got a secret, but I can’t tell you”…it’s frustrating…but hang in there.  I will share it with you, once I am fully aware of what all is involved!

Prayers are always appreciated!!

Growing up, every year on Good Friday, mom would take us to the Good Friday service at the Lutheran church we attended.  And every year, my Choir director from school would sing a solo.  I knew the song…but every time he sang it, I would be lost in the song.  Even today, when I hear this song, it hits me hard.  The true meaning of what is going on…I thought I’d share it with you!

Ray Boltz “Watch the Lamb”

Even today, as I watched this video and listened to this song, tears were streaming down my face. The thought of what God has done for me on that cross all those years ago, brings me to my knees.

Be blessed today and remember what God has done for you!

Ahh, the beginning of a new season.  Each Spring brings about a new beginning…trees begin to bud new leaves, grass starts turning green, flowers begin sprouting out of the ground.  Colors emerge forth…life begins again.

I am also beginning to emerge from the ground, so to speak.  I have been in this stagnent place Spiritually, waiting to be revived.  I feel a stirring in my Spirit, a newness coming about.  It’s exciting!!

I will be attending my first online conference this week…it’s called “A Woman Inspired: Get Revived”  I’m excited to go, I need to be revived!  I see the glimpses of new things on the horizions…God has called me to move into a deeper relationship with Him.

This week is Spring break for my boys, however, they are going to enjoy their Spring break at Grandma and Grandpa’s, allowing me to have a few days to myself.  I’ll be doing some Spring Cleaning…of the Spiritual kind.  It couldn’t have come at a better time either, right before Easter.

As the Steven Curtis Chapman’s song Dive goes:

The long-awaited rains have fallen hard upon the thirsty ground
Have carved their way to where the wild and rushing river can be found
And like the rains I have been carried here to where the river flows, yeah
My heart is racin’ and my knees are weak as I walk to the edge
I know there is no turning back once my feet have left the ledge
And in the rush I hear a voice, it’s telling me it’s time to
Take the leap of faith
So here I go

I’m diving in
I’m going deep
In over my head I wanna be
Caught in the rush
Lost in the flow
In over my head I wanna go
The river’s deep
The river’s wide
The river’s water is alive
So sink or swim
I’m diving in
I’m diving in

There is a supernatural power in this mighty river’s flow
It can bring the dead to life, and it can fill an empty soul
And give a heart the only thing worth livin’ and worth dyin’ for, yeah
But we will never know the awesome power of the grace of God
Until we let ourselves get swept away into this holy flood
So if you’ll take my hand, we’ll close our eyes and count to three
And take the leap of faith
Come on let’s go

I’m going to Dive in!

I cannot believe that I’ve struggled so much with coming up with something to post.  This never used to be so hard for me.  I would come and post something about my day and that would be it, but now I feel like that’s not what I want to post…I want each post to have meaning.  But, in doing that, I haven’t had posts.  So I guess, they will have to both happen to get me to post more often!

My dad is now home from the hospital, the blood clot is gone…Praise the Lord!!  He is still having issues with his Kidneys.  They are functioning at 22%…which I think is Stage 3 Kidney Failure (Stage 4 is dialysis/transplant level).  That worries me.  My mom and dad have been going through the counseling for this already.  Getting the information they need to know before he gets to that point.  I talked to my neighbor, she’s a Dialysis Nurse at the VA hospital down here.  She is going to get me some information for me.  She used to work at UC Hospital (which is one of the hospitals that the doctor said they would do the transplant at).  She only had good things to say about the transplant wing (is that what they call that?).

So, Kevin and I are looking for a house!  I’m so excited!  We are being a tad picky at what we choose.  We want a 4+ bedroom house, 3 car garage, and a full basement.  We want to have the extra room so that if my dad were to need a transplant down here, they could come and live with us for a time (hence the full basement and the extra garage space).  It’s exciting to see so many houses in our price range!  We originally said we didn’t want to have a pool, however, we have found a few places that offer a pool in our price range…and even lower than our price range…causing us to take a double look at it.  I know foreclosure is bad, and I would never want anyone to go through that, however, us being in the position we are in, we are finding that the foreclosures to be to our benefit!  We don’t own a house right now, we rent, so we are in the best position to get a house right now!

Our church has been going through a lot of changes (or hints of change) here lately.  Sometimes change hurts…some of these changed directly affected me.  God has called us to this church, and I know great things will happen in this church.  Satan has been attacking this church left and right, I can see it.  I have always said that if Satan is trying so hard to take down a church, that something good will come from it.  He wouldn’t attack if we were “luke warm” or “stagnant”.  He attacks when the Kingdom of God is going to advance. We are fighting Satan, not people.  It’s a Spiritual war going on right now.

Our church is doing a church-wide study on Ephesians.  I have learned so much already.  About my prayers and about Church Unity.  It’s awesome that this study comes at a time like this!!

VBS is starting up.  I have neglected it since all the “shake-up” at the church.  Why you ask?  Well, the lady I was working closely with to run VBS is no longer in our church.  That hit me hard, I went through my “I can’t do this” stage and have since came out on the other end with a clearer head.  I have been on my knees speaking with God about direction, I think it’s becoming clearer and clearer as to what I am to do.  I’ve had more offers of help from people that I know would be wonderful helpers!  Thursday, I will be meeting with the Elder that is over VBS to get him caught up and show him what is needed, where we are going and what we are doing, so he can help and get plugged into the position that he should be in.

I can say this post has been a bit of a random “dump”, but I had to get it all out.

God is changing me, molding me into the person He has called me to be.  I’m learning…and one day I’ll get there, with God as my guide!

Growing up you heard the chant

“Sticks and Stones may break my bones but Words will never hurt me”

I used that phrase a lot when I was younger, however, the truth of the matter is that words will hurt…words can cut you down…words can crush a Spirit.

God has given me the gift of mercy, which comes with things I need to be aware of (click here for information on the motivational gift of mercy).  The biggest struggle I have is when someone hurts I hurt…which isn’t a problem, unless I pick up the anger towards those that made others hurt.

It’s hard…some times I’m so upset my husband has to remind me that it’s not my fight…which usually helps me to come to terms with not being mad and asking God to forgive me while praying over the situation.

Lately, though, I have been struggling with feelings of being hurt…of hurting other people (I am such a people pleaser)…of being under appreciated…lack of decisiveness (or being firm on those things I did decide on)…of second guessing my callings…was I really called to do what I’m doing or was I just having a difficult time of saying “No”?  I guess the only way to figure that out is to approach the throne of God and speak with him…spend time with him to get a clear direction.

That’s where I’m at…in case you wanted to know!