I felt a Godwink this morning.

I checked my analytics account before I checked my emails and saw there were a few users on my website. . . and 92 more users total. My heart skipped a beat. I felt the tears streaming down my cheeks before I even knew they were present in my eyes. I have a heart for people to just know God, for people to know His Word, and to live it out. I don’t know where this blog will go but I’m trusting the Lord and when I feel insignificant something so small as seeing that there are users on my blog just blessed me. (*Technically I can’t see “who” is on my site, it could be just some random person or a hacker but still, I’m taking it as a win. Lol*)

There are these women in my life who if you met them, you wouldn’t even need to know their names, because you would just know them by their faith and trust in the Lord. . . they are the women that I want to be like I when I grow up. They are the same women I want pouring into my daughters. Strong women in the body of believers is essential. I struggled for a while about where my place might be in the church; if we’re fair … I think I still struggle. A few years ago one of the ladies at my church said she was going to get the women’s ministry started back up for ladies (and there was a lot of interest from younger ladies this time but maybe not many working mamas were able to make the meetings). Then with each meeting we had the number got smaller until there were just 4 or 5 of us there in attendance. But I had never been more excited or ready to serve than at that time, and my child was the sickest she’d ever been, yet I still never missed a meeting, I definitely felt it was where I was meant to be. I showed up days after my tonsillectomy just to help with the first event we’d planned even though I couldn’t stay after we set up for it (obviously, the pain of surgery required me to rest, but I insisted on being there for part of it b/c I was so excited). I was excited! It’d be great if that was still active, I feel I might know where I was meant to be. I resolved to thinking my home was the only place that I “had a place” to serve. *I know that’s not the only place I serve, we all have ways/places we serve outside of the church building; but I mean inside.* I am serving in the children’s ministry, but I still definitely hope that in some capacity I’ll have the opportunity to serve women at some point.

I have this paisley binder here at my house, it use to be filled with ideas, and over time I’ve slowly ripped pages from it to use as scrap paper as I’ve needed. I’m going to chunk it, it’s hand written, except the few fundraising pages I had my husband print at work, so nobody is going to want the written stuff (I write sloppy) and there are peoples names I wrote when I thought I’d nominate some people for different roles, lol. I’ll type up a few of the things recorded in it. You’re probably already doing a lot of stuff listed but if you can use any of the ideas then do it!

“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.”

Proverbs 29:18

For now my blog can be my ministry, and I guess in a way if I really want to tell myself I’m involved in women’s ministry, I can rest knowing that somewhere out there the Lord will use the words that He has given me to minister to women. So there’s that.

If your heart is to serve the women in your church, rise up and do it, Deborahs.(Judges 4-5) Be the women pouring your lives out as an offering; be the women I want pouring into my daughters. Be the women doing life in community; be the women walking through life with other women even when it isn’t easy, especially when it’s not easy. Be the women who give their lives in service to the Lord; be the women who lead and disciple other women. Be the women who embrace the calling that the Lord has given them; be the women who God has called to be ambassadors to influence His kingdom. The time is now! Take your positions; set the captives free!

“The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.”

Judges 5:7

“Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam.“

Judges 5:12

I know I want to pour my life into women and teach them about God because He’s so good, He’s too good not to share, and this is what He’s commanded us to do. To love and to disciple. Let’s be the women who lock arms and don’t let anyone fall through the cracks; let’s be the women making a difference in the lives of other women; making a case for Christ.

Something my Pastor’s wife, Pam, use to say is, “You’ve heard the saying ‘Mama’s don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys…well do let your daughters grow up to be Deborahs.” When we went over the Book of Judges, that’s something she said a couple times and it really stuck with me. I wrote it down but never needed to look at it b/c I haven’t forgotten it; then again most of what she’s taught me has stuck (she’s one those above mentioned who pours into women). Deborah, the female judge of Israel; she was a prophetess of Yahweh, she was called forward and stepped up; she rendered judgment and prophesied the battle Barak would win over Sisera but Barak refused to go without Deborah so she went. She went! She was called and stepped up and answered the call; may we be more like Deborah. (Read the Song of Deborah in chapter 5 of Judges if you have a chance.)

“Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.”  “Certainly I will go with you,” said Deborah. “But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh.”

Judges 4:8-9

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Matthew 28:19

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

“Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. ⁴ Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, ⁵ to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.“

Titus 2:3-5

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

John 13:34-35

_____________________________Grace & Peace_____________________________

My Secret Sister

Ladies Breakfast & Devotional, Ladies Brunch & Fellowship (only), Dinner & Games

Craft Night Ideas: Wreath Making, Sign Making, Quilting, Knitting, Making Cards

Have a clothing swap. What’s more fun? We use to have a basket that got passed around between the ladies, one girl threw the things she didn’t want in it and passed it on to the next who might pick out something she wanted from it, but then threw her unwanted items in it, and so on. It was a great way to go through each others closets, and whoever got it last go to take it to Salvation Army or Goodwill and donate it. Then it started over again the next season. But you could have a clothing swap at church where every lady brought unwanted shoes/hats/clothes/accessories and laid them out and exchanged items: new wardrobes for free!!

Have Speakers to the church, Hold workshops (Parent/Bullying workshop, CPR/AED Certification, Special Needs, Foster Parent Training Classes, Caring for those in nursing homes or the homeless). Bible Studies, Growth Groups.

Events to attend: BGCO, Falls Creek, If:Equip, events at other churches, etc.

Social Ideas: Walking together, Host a movie screening or go to the movies with a group, go to dinner or coffee:  Pair into smaller groups and visit nursing homes.  Pair into smaller groups and meet at local parks and pick up trash.  Pair into smaller groups and volunteer at libraries to read Bible stories to children.  Pair into smaller groups and find something to do!!! Go find random people at the store to purchase groceries for, or buy fuel for, or something.  Pair into smaller groups and having “cooking class” for older ladies at church to teach the younger girls to cook (Praise Jesus, so many of our husbands would be thankful!). Recipe Swap Night, Make a church cookbook!, Volunteer to make dinner at the local City Rescue Mission, Help Organize a donation drive for an event like Jesus House, Toys For Tots, Infant Crisis Center, DHS, or adopt a foster family and shower them with love by providing them with dinner for a week or taking care of a birthday party for them or taking care of another need they have. Have a day where you all randomly go and complete a list of random acts of kindness or silly things together, or alone, then meet back at the church or someones house for treats and to talk about it. I write to women in prison and send them things to read (you could “adopt” a prisoner, or prison). Maybe that’s not your thing; that’s just something I have a heart for. Maybe you want to do something for children instead. Or for the elderly together. Or have your group go to a pregnancy crisis center and minister to scared and lonely women or just hold their hands and just be present.

Host Pants & Pancakes or Coats & Cakes (where your church provides free pants and pancakes or free coats and pancakes to those in the community coming in need, it’s a great time of fun and fellowship; a great opportunity to serve). Have a free clothing drive. We did this a few years ago when our friend, Keli, facilitated Jen Hatmaker’s study “7”, and us ladies went through and got rid of a lot of our things. We donated a lot of our clothing and then others did. She led us (the church) into hosting a free clothing drive and it blessed so many people who came in needing clothing, but not nearly as much as it blessed us.

Have a fundraiser for your church. What church can’t use more money to help provide resources for missions and if you’re like our church you may have a new extension to your building, why not use your numbers to help fund raise the money? Here are some ideas: Sell candybars, have church families donate pocket change, sell Blue&Gold Sausage, send home piggy banks for the kids to fill up with change, sell pizza fundraising cards, sell church scratch off cards (www.easy-fundraising-ideas.com), bake sale, garage sale, silent auction, chili cook off, pancake breakfast, spahetti dinner, church lock-in, movie-night-in, pizza and game night, Host vendors for craft show/fair (make each vendor pay fee to set up at church. You can charge an extra $10 or something if they need an electrical outlet to use electricity if you want. Craft shows are a huge event, especially in November and December. You can charge a fee for admission as well and even have a drawing at the end for a giveaway. Sell T-shirts, Have restaurants participate in a fundraiser for a designated night when they donate 10-15% of proceeds back to church. Have local business people within the church do fundraisers with their business (Avon, MaryKay, Scentsy, Essential Oils, LuluRoe, Thirty-One,etc), Start a GoFundMe or YouCaring Page.

Have a calendar for the ladies to access on social media, the church website, and/or at the church building so that all women know (in and out of the church) that there is a place for them to come!! Make an effort for their to be WILLING AND COMMITTED ladies to making sure there is something going on consistently, stay engaged. Example:

Monday: Mornings 8am-10am coffee at Deborah’s house

Tuesday: Morning coffee 9-11 @ Esther’s house

Evening Walk, Meet at church at 6pm

Wednesday: Dinner at church 5pm, AWANAS at 6pm, Ladies Bible Study 7pm over “Discerning Voice of God” led by Sarah

Thursday: Morning coffee from 8:30-10 at Abigail’s

Evening Bible Study over the Book Of Thessalonians led by Leah starting from 6-8pm, (dinner and childcare provided)

Friday: Naomi’s house will be open for you to come and go all day as you need, coffee provided, join us as we pray for all of our children.

Saturday: Meet at Hagar’s house at 7 am to go walking (garage sales, shopping, whatever you want)

Sunday: Sunday School at 9, Worship Service at 10

*Remember to make time for Sabbath and Growth Groups this week*

See? Something like that. The point is NOT for everyone to come every day. N-O! The point is to have something going on CONSISTENTLY so that everyone has the opportunity to be involved. Change the times around and what is being done, or just do a few days a week if that’s all your girls can afford; give yourself grace. But make the effort. I’ve had my doors open for other ladies to come over during all hours for me to pray for them during the day for a while for the ones that have reached out and needed to come over but we’ve never had anything scheduled like this. But this is on my heart. Outreach is so important and it’s always on my heart and I hope it will be on yours today. The point isn’t to do it all, it’s just to do something; and it’s not just about “doing something”, it’s about being intentional.

And this. My Heart….God has brought this back to me so many times and I don’t know what to call it, so ? Ladies Mentor Program Match-Up? I mean, what’s in a name? lol This has been something that has been on my heart for a long time and not just because I desire the connection, the relationships, but because I’ve had it and see where many don’t and it grieves me. Here’s the thing, I have kind of an old soul but I am very ornery and silly … this helps me because I’ve always been able to relate very well to elderly and younger people, my whole life. Ever since I was a child and now all these decades later, it hasn’t changed. So when I first walked into my church I first went to what the young ladies call “the old ladies class” lol. I only went a few times and then the majority of the next year I wouldn’t attend church with my family b/c I worked 16 hours every Sunday. When I was able to start attending I went back to attending “old ladies class” b/c that’s where I felt called to be and let me tell you I don’t regret one minute of it, because those relationships with the sweet lil’ ladies I have, mean the world to me, and I learned so much, and also I learned more in a couple years from class with my teacher than I knew my whole life about the Bible; talk about thorough. So by the time I went down and started having “small group” with the younger group, I grieved for the relationships I didn’t have. The group had been going for a couple years already and though my husband had been present from the beginning I hadn’t and I wasn’t there for the beginning of those relationships like the other girls and didn’t feel as close and welcomed and it was hard. I struggled with it for a while, but then as the years passed the girls opened up more and more about how they felt grieved for the relationships they don’t have with the “little old ladies”. There’s this invisible barrier. . . and all the sudden, I felt more blessed than I ever had; I had the best of both worlds. I had deep relationships with women of all ages and the more I thought about the Secret Sisters I use to have back at my old church, the more I thought we need to do something to bring all the women together. I began to speak to the older women and was delighted to hear that many of them desired to have relationships and spend time with the younger girls and more (than not) of the younger girls want to spend time with the older. The elderly are a treasure to us and we are missing out on a precious opportunity here! My thought was do something like this:

*All willing participants sign up then the coordinator of the group would assign matches based on matching ages up. Some examples:

* Pair a 35 year old woman with a woman 60 years old (+) to be mentored.

This dynamic will help the younger women fulfill their longing to get to know the senior women better and to learn from them.

*Pair a 15-30 year old young lady with a woman 35-55 years of age to be mentored

This dynamic will help the younger ladies to connect and have positive influences as they grow into adulthood and into their faith and their roles as women of faith.

Obviously the age bracket may need to be worked out a little bit but that’s a general idea. I mean have a Bible study together, go out to dinner and a movie, go shopping, just sit and talk, do a craft/hobby together, cook together. And if it’s not practical to do one-on-one because of your church size, do 3-on-3, or just MIX the groups. So many youth and elderly can learn from each other, but especially the younger. Combine Sunday School and Small Groups and Bible Studies so you’re all learning from each other. I can tell you that my favorite Bible Studies are when we have older ladies join in!