Monday Morning Minute

What are you shopping for?

Yesterday, Pastor Jabin Chavez, Youth Pastor at the Church at South Las Vegas, made a comment in his sermon that went something like this: stores entice you to come inside by placing their best outfits in the window in hopes to draw you in to see the other things in their store and hopefully buy something.

And I mulled over that thought (and I apologize Pastor J-I think I missed the next 5-10 minutes of your sermon) for a while and began to think how much like stores we are.

We dress up the outside of our lives with words, acts and fashion, but how often do we take a good look around what's on the inside?

You see, a window display might get you in the store, but if there is truly nothing of value or nothing of beauty once you pass through the doors to the inside, then you most likely will turn around and walk right back out, empty handed.

Our relationships, with others and ourselves, are the same way. The window dressing may draw people to you or make you feel good about yourself for a while, but if you don't choose to invest in good merchandise on the inside, you will never be happy with who you are and others will never make a investment in you long-term.

So my question for you is, what are you shopping for? Are you investing time and energy in outward appearances and window dressing, or are you taking the time to invest on the inside, which will lead to richer relationships and a happier you?

Monday Morning Minute

Ok...so I know it's not morning, but I hope to have a little nugget each Monday morning to start your week of right.

So here goes....

This morning I was reading in Having a Mary Spirit by Joanna Weaver (a follow-up to the wildly successful Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World) and she brought up a scripture that a lot of us are familiar with: Philippians 3:12-14. And as I read the passage, I came across something I had never remembered reading before.

In this letter to the church at Philippi, Paul is writing a thank you letter to them for their support and also using this opportunity to pass along some wisdom.

When we come to chapter 3: 12-14, we read the familiar:


....butI press on to take hold of that which Christ Jesus took hold of me....forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead...I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

And at that, we all say "YES" and "AMEN!" Because we are all on this road straining toward the prize.

But, how often do we question God's ability to work through us when his plan is different from out own? Or do we let sin take our eye off the prize and allow that moment of failure to be a roadblock, rather than a stepping stone?

You see, when I read that scripture this morning, there is a Part A to verse 12 that we rarely hear repeated when this passage is quoted. It goes like this:

...Not that I have obtained all this [this being the power of Christ's ressurrection and fellowship in his suffering-vs 10], or have already been made perfect....

Three little letters: N-O-T. Not.

We have not obtained all Christ as for us, and probably will not this side of heaven.

We have not already been made perfect.

And because of these "nots," we do as verses 12 & 14 tell us do to: WE PRESS ON; exchanging our need for answers for childlike faith in a Heavenly Father who wants the best for us and dropping our need for perfection and picking up grace and forgiveness.

Press On. Not toward perfection, but rather to the person that God has called you to be through Him and through the power He has given you as a Child of God.

Real Women Newsletter-August 5, 2010

I hope the end of summer is finding you all happy, relaxed and tan!

Real Women's Ministries has taken sometime off for the summer, but we are back and ready to do great things together!

So, here's what we've got going on!

Upcoming Events/Things you need to know!

1) DATE NIGHT! Friday, August 20th, from 7pm-10pm, the Church at Northwest Arkansas will be hosting it's very first date night. We will be watching the kids at The Office, located at 903 SE 28th St, #9. Please sign up at the information table so that we can be adequately staffed!

2) SMALL GROUPS! With this session of small groups, set to start up at the end of August, we are going to be introducing a weekly Women's Bible Study on Sunday nights. The actual study is yet to be decided, but it will be open to all women: married, single, divorced, kids, no kids, ect! It is a group for women, by women. More information to come and if you have any suggestions for studies, I am still open to suggestions.

3) REAL WOMEN OUTINGS!

SEPTEMBER (Date to be announced): We will be going to see the movie Like Dandelion Dust, based on the book by Karen Kingsbury by the same name. If you've read the book, you know what an amazing story it is; if you haven't, you still have time to read it before. This movie as swept Film Festivals across the world!

OCTOBER: TBA

NOVEMBER: It's time to start spreading the love. In November, Real Women Ministries would like to embark on their first outreach. We will be preparing "goody" bags of necessary items and treats to bless the residents of TouchStone Retirement home. More information to follow!

4) The Real Women Blog has been updated! Along with information on upcoming events, check out the story The Godly Closet Cleaning. If you think miracles can't happen, you might change your mind after reading it.

So, as you can see, we have a lot going on. I hope to see you all soon!

Think Miracles Don't Exist? Read On....

This was a Godly encounter a co-worker of mine had and I had to share it.

A Godly Closet Cleaning by: Vickie Mullen

My husband works out of town every week. On this particular morning I had the urge to clean up and clean out our closet. Our closet was your typical closet: shoes on the floor, dirty clothes hanging out the clothes hamper and shelves in disarray. I was on a mission, I had a Walmart bag that I was putting the things in that I was getting rid of .

I started on the top shelf and worked my way around the closet, ending by the closet door. Like most men, my husband had a "collection" of ball caps. I thought, "Oh, does he need that many caps". I told myself that I would go through them and get rid of some and he'll never notice that probably 1/2 of the caps would be gone by the time he got back home. I just pulled all the the caps down all at once. They fell to the floor and a little red sack fell straight to the floor. My first thought was, "What the crap, he'll keep anything. ". I never looked in the red bag, I thought I'll throw this away and he'll never miss it. I just remember shoving it in my trash bag.

Finally, I was finished cleaning our closet. I tied a knot in my trash bag and took it straight to the pantry garbage and as I put the bag in the garbage I remember very vividly seeing that small red sack in my trash bag. All that happened on Monday morning.

On Wednesday, our trash bins were placed on the curb for pick up. I was so excited on Thursday to show my husband. He was impressed by the work I had done that he walked straight to where his ball caps used to be and reached up to the shelf and asked me, "Where is my little red sack?"

My heart sank to my stomach.

I told him that I had thrown it away. I asked, "Why?"

He said, "You didn't!, you knew that's where I kept my side business money."

I was devastated. We tore the closet apart. I guess I just going through the motion of helping him look, but I knew I had put the red sack in the Walmart bag which I placed in the garbage and I also knew that the garbage had been picked up on Wednesday.

He told me that he had saved about $450.00 cash , in order to make our 1st car payment. He forgave me and we both agreed that he would open a separate account for his side business and I told him I would look in things BEFORE I threw anything away. We joked with each other that we had so much money that I actually throw it away.

The little red sack was always on my mind. I looked for it every time that I was in my closet, all the while knowing that it was in the land field. I was sick over what I had done. I felt like God was telling me/us that we were depending too much on money and not trusting him enough.

I told only1 person what I that done, my chiropractor. She was shocked, but she had words of wisdom. She told me that maybe God would let someone in need find the sack that needed the money more than we did.

Those words were affirmation for me. I told God that I was sorry and I would let go of that dependency I had on money.

Two weeks later on Sunday my husband's work took him out of town early that week. Sunday night I went to bed early around 10pm since my husband was gone and did the normal nightly routine, brushed my teeth, checked on my boys, turned the lights off in my closet and room and went to bed.

I woke up earlier than I intended to and decided to start getting ready for work. I went straight to the closet to decide what I would wear to work.

And as I stepped in the closet that little red sack was in the middle of our closet floor, with the money in it. I got chills and looked straight up expecting to see a hole in the ceiling where the bag had fallen through. I immediately called my husband crying telling him what I had found laying in the middle of the closet floor.

I had been in my closet hundreds of times during those 2 weeks and that little red sack WAS NOT in the middle of the closet on the floor. We truly believe that God put it there as a sign for us reminding us to trust him with everything. After I found the sack of money, I didn't hestitate to tell anyone who would listen. Some friends were skeptics while other friends called it a miracle.

And the little red sack didn't have $450 it had $520.00 cash. And God did let someone needy find the money, ME! God is So Good, if we just take the time to look.

Still think miracles don't exist?