Are You Waiting on Something?

Check out these words from Whitney...

"The Day a Weight was Lifted"

A Little Thing Called… Bible Study!

For the last six Monday nights we have gotten together for some great Bible Study.  No matter how tired we are after work, or how much we just want to stay home with our families… we are here and committed to studying the book of Esther.  With each other and Beth Moore, I think we would all say that we leave refreshed and blessed every Monday night.

Melissa was modeling the workbook for us in this picture.

And Robin was waving hello asking me to take more picture of her. *wink, wink

Live action shot of half of the group digging in to the weeks lesson.

Janet didn’t know I was taking her picture… but Charlotte did. 

Our fearless leader. 

Like Hollie said this week… It seems like every week Beth Moore is talking straight to me and saying something that I need to hear. 

What has stood out to you in the last six weeks? 

(If you have done day one of week six this will help you with the personal question on page 134)

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I have learned a lot in these weeks, and enjoyed every minute.  It has been challenging, but great at the same time.  I have come face to face with my insecurities…. and at the same time feel God’s comforting peace.  A couple of my favorite things have been in the last two weeks. 

Many of you know that I have lost two dear friends very suddenly.  Back in June of 2008 when Courtney died, I can pin point the night that I let fear take over.  Since then the enemy has been using this against me.  I have been fearful of everything…. Sure there were times when I let my faith lead me through the valleys, but really… I was a scared little girl inside.  In session four, Beth Moore said some things that really opened my eyes to this bondage.  She encouraged us to be brave and courageous, saying we are only one decision away from the most important step.  We don’t deny our fears, we just deny it’s power over us.  She continued the idea of having freedom from fear, teaching us about conditional faith…. It’s not enough to believe that what we fear the most will never happen.

I needed to hear this lesson in the worst way.  I have been praying constantly that God would increase my faith and decrease my fears.  I want to make decisions out of wisdom, not fear.  God offers us His very presence… so I can be convinced that I am brave and courageous.  Courage is not the absence of fear… It’s knowing that there is something so much better!  Take that!  Take courage!  Do not give in to vain imagination.

The second thing that I just loved and have been thinking about every minute since she said it on Monday is concept of waiting on the Lord.  I have heard this sooo many times… It was even read at my wedding… but it never clicked like this before.  Session five was about the importance of knowing when it’s time.  We all get impatient and things in our society just keep pushing immediate gratification, BUT if we cannot wait on the Lord, we will not fulfill our destinies.

Too many time we are waiting on the thing.  Right now I am personally waiting on several huge things in my life.  Our strength will just continue to expire if we continue to wait to the thing…. We wait on the Lord.  The longer we wait on the Lord, the more our strength is renewed.  Exalt God to the position to fight for you, humble yourself, and live a life full of passion and patience. 

~Whitney~

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That is far too much from me... I want to know about you.  Please take time to comment and tell us what God is showing you.

Also, if God is showing you too much to fit in a comment, please feel free to email me a new post.

Women’s Ministry

Don’t forget what Glenette talked about at Mugs & Muffins….

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.  It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”  Colossians 3:23

 

Five Steps to Ministry

1.  Commitment:  He will not be glorified if it is a you thing.

2. Look:  See where God is working and join him. {Ruth 2:2}

3.  Communicate:  Don’t keep it to yourself.

4.  Ask:  Always be sure you are asking the leadership of the church.

5.  Believe:  Know that God can use you to make a difference in the lives of others.

I'm Telling This Story For a Few Reasons...

Last weekend we had our kick off event… Mugs & Muffins.  It was so great, and God blessed all of our efforts and answered prayers!  Our guest speaker, Glenette Russell, challenged us all to get involved and open our eyes to where we need to serve in this new ministry.  When she had finished I gave a short testimony to kind of…. encourage all the ladies to not waste their lives.  I didn’t get to say all of the following, but this is what I had planned…
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I am going to close with a story.  This is the story of great friendship… the kind that lasts a lifetime.  Let me start by saying I’m not telling you all this to make you sad or depressed or anything… I’m telling you all this story to show that God is sovereign.  He is in control.  He still works miracles, and most importantly to remind all of us to not waste any of the time we have left on this earth.
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Nate and I got married right after he graduated from college, here at OBU.  I still had three years left (yes, Nate is three years older than me) so when we moved to Arkansas, I went to the U of A.  When you are married and in college for a degree, and not to party you quickly find others that are like you.  I had one great friend in college, Courtney.  Courtney and I met in my first class in business school.  After that semester we coordinated our schedules and took every possible class together.  She was full of life and always stretched me to get out of my perfectionist ways.  Like whenever I would doodle all through class, Courtney would bump my hand and make me mess up, or just draw a big line across the page… If you know me, you know that is a big deal.  As I look back at that time I treasure those memories because Courtney taught me not to take things so seriously.  She taught me how to slow down and see the big picture.  After we graduated from college in May 2008 we make plans to go to dinner so our husbands could finally meet.  Nate and I just had to go to one youth camp first.  It was Wednesday night of camp when Courtney’s dad called me with the news that she had died.  That was June 18, 2008.  So instead of going to dinner together, I went to her funeral.
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Kristin and I got to know each other in middle school and by the time we were eighth graders we had a bond that couldn’t be broken.  Do you notice how your friends are a lot like you?  Well, Kristin and I were that way… We had the same morals, the same mind set, and the same dreams.  I don’t think about middle school or high school or my wedding without thinking of Kristin.  In middle school we would draw pictures of our futures with our husbands.  Then in high school we would go on all kinds of choir trips and she would make me tapes of her singing for my birthdays.  She lit up the room with her laughter.  She was a red head that could always make anyone smile.  On July 29, a few weeks ago, while Nate and I were in Wal-Mart of all places, Nate got a call.  It was someone close to her family giving me the news that she had died while on vacation with her family in Hawaii.
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You are probably wondering… how did Courtney and Kristin die?  Well, on motorcycles…. but that isn’t important.  What is important is why I felt like I needed to share this story.  I am 25 years old and have lost two of my best friends.  I spent a lot of time in prayer after these two deaths, and especially after Kristin died a few weeks ago just trying to go see a sunset with her husband.  I asked God why?  I started to throw a pitty party for myself asking Him, If this normal… to have two good friends die?  Couldn’t Kristin and JD just waited one more minute to leave their hotel room… then that truck wouldn’t have hit them.  Couldn’t Courtney have waited til her husband got home to go for a ride?  There were endless questions.  But last Thursday after Kristin’s celebration of life ceremony, I felt at peace, which is why I am able to stand here and talk about it right now.  God worked a miracle of peace in my heart and in Courtney’s family back in 2008.  And God worked a miracle in my heart and in Kristin’s family just a few weeks ago.  I feel that it is my job to keep Courtney’s and Kristin’s story alive.
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The best thing about both of my friends… they were dedicated, authentic, faithful followers of Christ and I know where they are right now.  Courtney served in her church every time someone came to know the Lord.  She was there counseling with them and standing there with a towel when they got baptized.  Kristin was an extremely gifted singer and had been leading worship in her churches since high school.  Their lives were not wasted, and today I feel like I’m following God’s prompting, getting way out of my comfort zone, and telling this story for a few simple reasons….
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Sure, so my friends’ memories will live on, but more than that….. So we won’t take our fragile, temporary lived for granted…. So each one of us can look forward to Heaven and carry that hope around with us every day…. So we, as women, will not take for granted the friendships we have or the ones we need to make… So we can get past ourselves and get our focus on what really matters, and that is the Lord, Jesus Christ….. And mostly, so we can search ourselves and see what God is call us to do.
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What is God calling you to do in your own personal relationship with Him?  In your family?  In your church?  And, if you are a part of FBCY, in this new women’s ministry?

Why We Suffer

My dear friend passed away this last Friday on July 29 in a motorcycle accident while on vacation in Hawaii.  Even though all of her family and friends are devastated, sad, and confused, we know her life was not wasted and are very happy to have the peace that she is in heaven right now in the very presence of Jesus, who she loved so much.  I also know that she would want the love of her Heavenly Father to be preached a little, and this sermon from a few weeks ago has been on my mind, so here goes....

Why We Suffer?

*Suffering is a normal part of being a Christian... but the suffering doesn't win!

4 Reasons We Suffer As Christians

1- Sometimes we suffer for the cause of Christ.

"We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.  For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that His life may be revealed in our mortal body."

-2 Cor. 4:10-11

"...though now for a little while you may have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that your faith - may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."

-1 Peter 1:6-7

When we suffer the right way: we start to look more like Christ, and God is glorified.

2-Sometimes we suffer for the benefit of others

"We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is for your perfection (salvation)."

-2 Cor. 13:9

We want others to notice our perfect peace in difficult times.  People should say, "look at the way the handled ____."

The difficult times set us, as Christians, apart from other moral people.

3-Sometimes we suffer for our own inner renewal.

"Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day."

-2 Cor. 4:16

As we get older, our body wears out more and more, but your relationship with God should be growing more and more.

"Jesus Said, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me..... For when I am weak, then I am strong."

-2 Cor. 12:9-10

4- We suffer because our treasure is in heaven.

"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

-2 Cor 4: 17-18

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Please be in prayer for my friends family -- The Goldston and Widner families -- and her dear friend Jennifer.

 ~Whitney~
Get the whole story at my blog: The Story of Us

Bible Study

Coming in September!

Contact our Bible Study Coordinator Phyllis Morris for more information.

We will have a sign up at Mugs & Muffins!

"Trust in Him at all times. O People, pour our your hearts to him, for God is our refuge." Psalm 62:8

Devotionals

Why we suffer?