Church

Giveaway: Focus on the Family Group Starter Kit Women’s Series

By Lisa B on November 26, 2008

Several years ago, God placed hurting women in the church on my heart. I thought then that I might become a Women’s Ministry Leader in the church we were going to, but several closed doors later, I realize my ministry is going to be online. I have had this kit sitting on my shelf for several years. I don’t recall ever once opening it and using it, and frankly, I feel guilty every time I look at it. I’m sure it has some great resources for someone out there.

In the spirit of being thankful, I am thankful that I have too much stuff because it’s going to allow me to bless one of you. Leave a comment below (1 per person please) with a valid email (only I will see). I’ll enter you into a drawing for this Starter Kit. If you are not in a leadership position at your church, perhaps you can gift it to someone who is — or perhaps this is a gentle nudge to you from God that you are the one He’s calling up in your church. Regardless, it needs to leave my house and go to a good home where it will be read and used as intended.

Comments close Monday, December 1 at 10 am EST.

You can go to the Focus on the Family’s website and see what this kit contains.

| Filed Under: Books, Church, Giveaways

Looking For A Few Good Churches

By Lisa B on July 12, 2008

I must have had a major brain fart. I wrote this last Monday and thought it posted. I wondered why no one had commented on it, and I just saw it in my drafts folder. So I’m posting it today.

This past Sunday, the pastor preached on knowing God’s Will. It was a great sermon, and one I desperately needed to hear. It confirmed in me some other things God’s been leading me to in the past few weeks after She Speaks. See, I’ve been working on my quiet time, prayer time and reading my Bible. I’ve been praying that God would lead us to the church He wants us to serve in. We’ve been visiting this church for a few months now and I think Duck and I have both been wondering if this is “the one.”

In an effort to get involved a little more, I decided to take Doodle to a Girl’s Night Out at this lady’s house. It was neat how she had stations set up for a pedicure, manicure, makeup and hair. At each station, there were tips for that station as well as scripture to help each of us remember it’s not just about looking good on the outside, we need to be concerned with our insides as well. There were other daughters there who were much younger than Doodle, and others who were much older. At one point, I had let Doodle go into another room with a couple of teenage girls. Hindsight is 20/20 though, and I should not have let her be put in that position. Doodle was very upset because the girls had pushed her into a closet and wouldn’t let her out.

Since that happened, we’ve been questioning whether this church is the place for us. I’m not sure how to explain it, but hopefully you mothers will understand. We know there’s no such thing as a perfect church. We know there are going to be kids who do stupid stuff. But we need to do our best to protect Doodle, and I failed when I assumed those teenage girls would have enough sense to be nice. I have been praying about it, wanting God to show us where He’d have us to serve.

During Sunday School, I was making a mental list — you know, good on one side, bad on the other. The Sunday School class is good. The preaching is great. The music was good for awhile. They have a small children’s ministry — not a lot of kids in Doodle’s Sunday School class and it’s either second or third grade through fifth grade. They have a small youth group. Most of the congregation are older, more mature people.

A big thing for me in a church is the pastor. How does he preach? Does he use scripture? Are we even reading the same book? This may sound funny to those of you who have always been in a good church, but I’ve been in a church where the pastor twists scripture to justify whatever he desires. Thank God, He convicted both Duck and I that we needed to get out of there. A good part of this church is the pastor.

I’ve been waiting for Duck’s direction on joining the church — well, that and God’s direction of course. I find that God will confirm what He’s telling me through Duck. That’s one of my prayers that God makes us like-minded — there are less struggles that way. Unfortunately, the pastor is leaving this church. After his wonderful sermon on God’s Will, he turned in his resignation. I truly believe he is following God’s Will for his life, so it’s hard to be ill with that. I am, however, disappointed. I feel like this was confirmation that this isn’t the church for us.

I’ve heard pastors say before that you just can’t please everyone — meaning there will be people who church hop. I do not want to be like that. I desperately want to find a church where we should be serving and learning. It’s hard not to have relationships with other Christians where you can get support, prayer and grow in Christ. I hope and pray that we are not just being “difficult” to satisfy and are seeking God’s Will.

If you don’t mind, pray for us to find the church God wants us in. That is our greatest need right now.

Just out of curiousity as well, what would you have done if you were me when Doodle was upset? I don’t think I handled it very well at all, but I know we’ll have to deal with bullies more in the future. Maybe I can handle it better next time with your advice.

| Filed Under: Church, Prayer Requests

Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes

By Lisa B on April 13, 2008

“But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.” — Matthew 5:37 (NKJV)

Today we went to church and the sermon was great. It was on Matthew 5:33-37 “The Moment of Truth” as the Pastor titled the sermon. This is usually a sermon that I don’t have problems with — meaning, I think I do pretty good at being honest. I’m not as good as I would like to believe.

There are many things I’ve said in the past that I would do or work on. Many projects, promises and things I have not completed. I am not good at following through with things, and I’ve been using that as a crutch — an excuse. Instead of working on what I said I would — or finishing what I said I’d finish, I offer up an “oh well, I’m not really good at following through on things.”

God convicted me of a few things I need to follow through on. A promise to Him and to myself to read scripture daily. Taking a few minutes each morning to have my quiet/prayer time. I must write — finish the writings I’ve started and start some new ones.

One of the other things I was convicted of was finishing the study I started online with a few women in the simply His forums. I apologize to each of the women who joined me in the start of that study. I know you were looking for me to hold you accountable when I really needed someone to hold me accountable. I will be posting another lesson this week. I will finish the study and stop making excuses for why I haven’t done it earlier. Isn’t it ironic that the study is on time management?

Things need to shape up around here. I know that. I need to continually pray before I say I’ll do anything, and when I say that I’ll do it — I need to make sure I do it. I hate to think I’ll let someone down, but even worse, I’d hate for someone to think “oh she sounds good but she’ll never do it.”

On a side note: Thanks to Heather @ Desperately Seeking Sanity for making me her Blog Pick of the Week. She’s has tens more readers than I do I appreciate it!

| Filed Under: Blessings, Church, Writing

Do you watch Oprah?

By Lisa B on April 10, 2008

I love reading Rachelle’s blog at Seek First His Kingdom. Today she posted a link to this video.

If you do watch Oprah, can I suggest you turn her off and do something more productive? Even a nap could do you better than watching her show. Don’t fall for the lies. Read the Bible and learn for yourself. Don’t take my word for it — God will show you if you just start looking for Him and not Oprah (or Dr. Phil for that matter!).

| Filed Under: Church

Wonderful Video

By Lisa B on April 2, 2008

I have become a big fan of Casting Crowns music. Here is a video my sister sent me the link to today. It’s really amazing to me how they go along with the words of the song “Who am I?”

I hope you enjoy it. I cried. Then again, I’m PMSing

| Filed Under: Blessings, Church, Music

You know you’re in trouble when …

By Lisa B on March 24, 2008

Mom IM’s you to make sure you’re still alive — because it’s been for-e-ver since you blogged!

I’ve actually had quite a few people get on me for not blogging lately. So here’s a somewhat update since the last blog post.

Charter School: Well, I went to the lottery. I was really disappointed because Doodle is #31 on the wait list. I know God has a plan, but it’s really hard for me to believe His plan is for her to stay at the school she’s in now. I know others whose children were on the waiting list last year and got in, so I’m holding on to the hope that she’ll get in. We’re trying to get her in to the 4th grade there. To give you an idea of the public school system around here, there were 2 spots open for the 6th grade — and about 175 kids on the wait list!

Walking Pneumonia: Almost 2 weeks ago, Duck was sick with coughing and congestion. I wanted him to go to the doctor, but he kept saying he was getting better — that it was viral and the doctors wouldn’t do anything about it. After he kept me up a few nights coughing, I made him an appointment and told him he’d better go. He was a good boy and went — the doctor said he had walking pneumonia, gave him an antibiotic and super-duper cough medicine, and he’s all better now. Doodle started coughing along the same time Duck did, but neither she nor I have it.

Allergies: I am allergic to many, many things: grasses, trees, pollen, house dust, pet hair, makeup, housework, laundry, work, etc. You name it — I’m probably allergic to it. Friday morning my nose started running and hasn’t stopped yet. So whether it is pollen season or the little bit of cleaning I tried to do Friday, I’ve felt run down. Yesterday I broke out in my typical rash — the kind that makes it sort of painful to be wearing clothes. Out comes the big sweatshirts (it was kinda cold yesterday!). The rash will go away in a few days and hopefully my runny nose with it. With this crummy feeling, I haven’t been riding my bike either.

Easter: I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. We ended up not going to church, which bummed me out but I needed the rest. I had to take Benadryl for my allergies — which knocks me out. Poor Callie did her best to wake me up at 7:45 am Sunday morning to see what the Easter bunny brought, but I couldn’t make myself move. She was excited to get a Google — did you know there’s actually some kind of animal from Webkinz that they’ve named Google? Amazed me.

Softball: Softball season will be starting soon — for all of us. Doodle is actually doing quite well with Duck coaching. We picked up some more girls on Doodle’s team, and lost a few. We’re still at 16 which is still too many for one team — and not enough for two teams. I’ll share some things about Youth Athletic Associations in another post. There’s too much to comment on in this post.

Slump: I am in a slump. I started out the year desperately wanting to be in God’s Will for my life and it’s just March — I already feel off-track. I haven’t been doing my quiet time each day or reading my Bible. Due to sickness and my motorcycle class, we haven’t been to church in 3 weeks — and I feel it. I’ve fallen into looking at other blogs and thinking I don’t have anything really important to say or share. I look at other women who are making money online and know I have the knowledge to do the same, something’s just holding me back. Whether it’s procrastination or the lack of follow-through I’m not sure. I had wanted to work my way to She Speaks, and I saw last week where they are full — they’ve started a waiting list. So if I go to this conference, it will truly be a miracle from God.

| Filed Under: Bloggin', Church, Family, School, Softball

Leaning, Leeeaning …

By Lisa B on February 11, 2008

A friend of mine had surgery last Thursday and I stayed with her some Thursday and Friday. Friday, while she was sleeping, I watched an old Andy Griffith show where they were trying to get a new organ for their church. They were in the church singing Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.

I mentioned it to Duck over the weekend how great it was to actually hear that hymn. It’s probably been a year or more since we’d heard that song in church — not that we’ve missed church for a year, but that most all the churches we visit are doing those “praise” choruses.

I don’t have anything against praise choruses other than I don’t like singing them all the time — 24/7 — I heard one description of them as being 7 words sung 24 times. Anyway, we would rather have hymns and maybe a praise chorus or two thrown in — but not beat to death.

Saturday I asked Duck if we were going to try another church on Sunday. He asked me what I felt like doing to which I replied, “half of me wants to say forget it and stay home. The other half is ok going somewhere.” So being the ever-supportive, helpful wife I am, I left it up to my spiritual leader

Duck woke me up Sunday morning to get ready for church. He’d looked up some information on the church he felt we should visit and we were off. We got into the church and sat down, only to find that some of our friends from an old church were now going there.

Imagine my surprise when the music director led us in singing Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. That had to be a God thang. AND, the preacher actually preached the Bible. I’m talking, take a few verses, break it down and give some real life examples I can totally understand. I hate to admit it’s been a long, long time since I’ve heard a good sermon.

I really try not to be negative about church and our experiences, but when I can take something the pastor’s preached and it doesn’t jive with what my Bible says, I know that’s not the church for us. Please don’t think I’m trying to say I know everything, I don’t — but I believe God’s given all of us the ability to read the Bible for ourselves and to know what it’s saying with His help. There’s only 1 God and He doesn’t change — ever. So He’s not going to tell me one thing and someone else something that contradicts what He told me. Just not going to happen.

But yesterday, the preacher simply preached the Word and it was so good to hear. Then, to end the service? We sang What a Friend We Have in Jesus. Awesome.