Gather & Grow Group

Last week we wrapped our Gather & Grow group for the summer. It was an exciting, thought provoking six weeks! As we studied through What Happens When Women Say Yes To God, each week we were challenged in different ways. Here's a brief synopsis:
Week One-Utensils....Read about it here.

Week Two-Saying Yes to God will mean allowing Him to smooth out some rough edges in our lives; we are becoming like river rocks; no longer jagged and edgy, but smooth and resting.

Week Three-Being Radical about Obedience means letting go of the "I can'ts". We actually took the time to write down anything that we thought was keeping us from saying yes and threw it in the fire!

Week Four-Focusing on God, worshipping Him alone will sustain us when the road is rough. We used this song as our prayer, Hear My Worship.

Week Five-Holding loosely to all that we've been given will make it so much easier to say Yes when God asks us to do something. Realizing also, that our obedience has an affect on others.

Week Six-Wrapping our calling and desires up in God's Word is what will sustain us. Nothing else will suffice!

If you are looking for a great book and bible study to do this summer, I highly recommend this one. Those of us who participated are still basking in all that was taught and shared.

What a week!

The last several days have been a whirlwind of activity and a roller coaster of emotions. I had an incredible opportunity to help lead a class called Next Steps on Sunday at my church. It was designed to help those new in their faith or those who maybe didn't know how to grow in their faith get started, to take those first steps.

We spent the morning talking about salvation, prayer, the Bible, quiet time and church. We had a small group, but definitely one ready to be brave!


Later that evening, I got a phone call that a dear friend was very close to taking her last steps here on Earth. She had been sick for awhile but chose to privately deal with her illness. Very brave! She would go and meet Jesus less than 24 hours after the phone call.

I am just now realizing the amazing connection of these two events so close together. In the Next Steps class we discussed that to be a Christian is to be Christ-like, to follow Christ's example. It's intentional, purposeful. My dear friend would live her life faithfully serving others, intentional about following Christ. In her own words, she wanted to have a life of purpose, to leave a legacy, be secure and to hear God say, "Well done!" Without a doubt, she did.

As I've reflected on her life and thought about what the last few weeks must have been like, this song kept playing in my head. I will miss your sweet smile this Sunday, but I hope you know you make me want to be brave.

Gather and Grow

Last week I started a Forever 31 Gather and Grow group! It's a division of Proverbs 31 ministries and you can check it out on the link. We'll be meeting for about 6 weeks and talking through a book/bible study by Lysa TerKeurst. But for our first meeting we got to know each other a little by telling what kind of utensil we would use to describe ourselves and why! It was funny and insightful...here are a few of the responses:


whisk-likes to stir things up

spatula-likes to smooth things out
(These first two should get along great!)


soup ladle-always has a lot on their plates
spaghetti server-commits to a lot and some things fall out
slotted spoon-likes to weed through and get to the good stuff
wooden spoon-stays calm; gets the job done
pie server-likes to keep things in order, be in the background
can opener- likes to pry
sand shovel-not really a kitchen utensil, but I think she was still on a tropical island somewhere!!



This is going to be great group and I can't wait to share what God teaches us about saying Yes to Him!

He gave...

The past few weeks our church has been doing a series based on Max Lucado's book 3:16. The services were awesome and you can go here to listen. Here are some thoughts I took away:

• God is love; it's not something He does, HE IS LOVE.


• He gave....these are probably the two most powerful words in John 3:16. I don't know how long I've known this verse, but it took my six year old about two seconds to help me understand it! We didn't attend church on Easter because both kids and I were sick. So while we colored eggs, we discussed what Easter is and how John 3:16 relates to it. Joshua kept saying, "he gave, it's about God giving." Right on Little Man, right on.


• Heaven and Hell- they're real places, with real consequences. My pastor Mike did a great job explaining that heaven is an eternity spent with God and hell is an eternity spent without Him. Sadly I don't remember the last time I sat in a church service that made the distinction clear. It was a great closing to this series.

You've Got A Friend

Today I read this post about friendship. At the end there is a link that says "because I can't resist" and of course I couldn't. What a blessing for me. I needed a bit of encouragment today and this was like having a lullabye from God. He sounds a little like James Taylor, but just close your eyes and let the words speak to you. Hopefully it will encourage you too!

Happy Easter!

Happy Birthday Hannah!

My girl turns 10 today...double digits!! We celebrated this weekend with her BFF by getting our nails done and seeing College Road Trip together. The nails are fantastic as you can see, the movie was good. (Funny in the beginning and end, but a little slow in the middle.) Tonight we have the family dinner, Mexican, of course. My girl loves her some Mexican food, some Hannah Montana and some Softball. She got Hannah Montanta lipgloss and a watch, some cool clothes and a new softball bat.

It seems like yesterday. She was born on a Thursday afternoon, 7 pounds, 12 ounces and 21 inches long. But alas, it's been a decade! Time really does fly.

Have fun sweet girl. We love you bunches, but God loves you the most!

Opening Day at the Ball Park

I love Spring! Flowers blooming, the weather is milder, and we can get outside and play. That's exactly what we did this Saturday. It was opening day at my son's baseball park, so we were off to get the season started; his last season of T-Ball. T-Ball is a great form of entertainment...the kids are so young and so funny to watch as they figure out exactly how to play this game called Baseball. One little guy really got my attention.

He had made it to third base. Then when the next guy hit the ball, he should've ran to home plate. Unfortunately, he wasn't so sure about that or maybe he didn't know where it was! He started to run, but then he stopped and froze. Desperately he stood there, looking around. Everyone was screaming; the crowd behind him, the crowd behind first base, the coaches, the other players. He couldn't decide who to listen to. Then suddenly he spotted his parents behind first base calling his name. His eyes locked with theirs, they pointed in the direction of home plate and he took off! He was SAFE.

We were all cheering and laughing. It was such a great moment.

I couldn't help but wonder, would I recognize my Father's voice...in all the noise, the chaos and confusion. Would I be able to filter out and focus in on God's direction for my life?

"The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." John 10:3-5NIV

These verses teach us that we can know God's voice, we can recognize it above others. How? By spending time with Him, by knowing His word, by hanging out with God. Get to know God today, spend some time with Him.