Tuesday

First off, here is the plan I'm doing for March with Scripture writing.

There is a book that I just ordered by Emily Freeman called Simply Tuesday.  The little one liner thing after the title says this: small moment living in a fast moving world.  It sounds so good, and I've read really great reviews on it, so I am looking forward to reading it.  I'm going to embrace this theme for today and write a little about what I did last night, and share a line from a blog I just read.

I'll start with last night.  We had a women's event at church called Girlfriend's Cafe, and it was the first of more to come.  I wasn't sure what it was going to be, because none of the posters I saw advertising really mentioned what it'd be about, though it did mention building relationships and bridges between generations.  That is always so appealing to me, because I have a couple of ladies I really look up to in the faith, and I have a few that really look up to me in my faith.  So, I am all about some discipleship.  My church is HUGE on discipleship, and it was a term I had never really heard mentioned much before coming to our church that we now attend.  I knew what it meant, of course, but I'd just never heard such emphasis placed upon the importance of it.

Anyway, I signed myself up and convinced a few of my friends to join me, but we didn't sit together.  Well, I did get to sit with one I'd gotten to come.  We signed in and were given tables to sit at.  The goal was to meet new people, and though at first this was my introverted self's nightmare, I am so glad they did it this way.  I sometimes get too comfortable in my little box with all my same people.  It's good to move out of that and to open myself up to new friends.

We had a table facilitator and she asked us questions to get our conversations started.  Questions like, "Who was your favorite band in high school" and such.  After a few minutes of that, we had a friend we know and love speak about how Jesus chased her from a young age, and how He had changed her heart and inclined it toward Him.

I've known this friend from choir for a few years now, but I did not really know anything about her until last night.  The main takeaway from the night was something she kept saying: "And I was at church every Sunday.  And I was at church every Wednesday."  She spoke of her life before she knew Jesus and how she thought she was a believer from a young age, but really was not.  I guess in the discussion for this night and how they wanted it to go, she said that she felt it was so important to share our stories.  Because how many people do we "know" at church?  But how many do we REALLY know?  Like now I know about my friend Amanda that shared with us last night.  We are always at church...but I wonder how many women and high school girls her story resonated with last night?

That was what this night was designed to do....facilitate new friendships with women and sharing more about ourselves and all the Lord has done for us.  I am already looking forward to the next one.

This is not just for the ladies at my church.  When I share things on social media, inviting you to come, that is for ANYONE.  Whether you're a believer or not, whether you go to another church or my church...these are open to any and everyone.  I pray that some of you reading this will want to come to the next one, or if you're not local, to find something similar nearby to you to attend.

Fellowship is so important!  Especially for believers, with like-minded people.  It is so important to be REAL with our like-minded friends.  I have absolutely no time for anyone that is fake, and I try my best to not be that way with my friends.  I do sometimes have a hard time opening up completely, but eventually, the Lord gets me there.  It does get easier with time.

This leads me to the blog post I read by Kelly Stamps this morning over on Kelly's Korner.  (If you've not read her blog, you should.  She is just a real person and wife and mom, just like many of us, who shares from her heart.)  She wrote of how she attended a conference this weekend where one line that the speaker said stood out to her as she wrapped up her talk: Find a church and serve it like crazy.

Find a church and serve it like crazy.

Having a church family to be part of is so important.  It's important to be fed by a shepherd each week, like our pastor is to us, and it's important to have fellowship among believers.  The reason it's important to serve is because that's just what we're supposed to do.  All of us, in some way, can find an area to serve in.  Whether it's as a Bible fellowship teacher, a choir member, a door greeter, a parking lot attendant or a helper in the nursery who rocks babies~all of us are needed and valued.

I cannot encourage you enough to find an area within your church to serve.

It's funny, that I started helping with the student ministry to fill a spot, and though it was something I was doing for students, the students have ended up being a huge blessing to me.  I am often challenged by their walks with the Lord, and how they share His love and His gospel with people they meet.  Here are just a few of such students who were at church last night.

Well, one of them is someone who also works with students and is in college, but look at them.  I am so thankful I get to be even a TINY part of their lives.  I know the love I have for them was given to me by God.  I cannot even begin to list all of the ways that the Lord has worked in my heart through helping out with students.  But I know that He has done it all.

I pray this encourages you to reach out within your church home, or if you don't have a church home, to consider finding one.  I am so thankful for mine, and how God placed us there almost seven years ago.  I loved our old church and didn't want to leave, but we needed to for our kids.  And now, all these years later, I know why.  It's so that we can be a part of a church body that is local to us in our community.

Thanks for reading on this dreary Tuesday.  Love to all.