I'm finally able to blog about the bridal shower I helped do two weekends ago.  I was able to get more pictures {better pictures} than the ones I took.

Here are the bridesmaids and the bride.

Jen, Kelly, Jinny (the bride), Ashley and myself.

 

Here's the awesome food we put together!  So much deliciousness! I got a recipe for coffee punch that was to die for!  I can't take credit for the yumminess.  I can only enjoy it 100%!

Decorations!  They decorated the deck, the trees, the tables...Anything that would hold something.  I was not in charge of the decorations.  Balloons and streamers just wouldn't do...

Here is a fun group shot of many of the ladies who came (several had left already).  I do believe the shower was a success!

Hidden Truth

The following post is what I spoke on at the last women's breakfast. It may seem a tad long but there are pictures! :)

This month we dug a bit deeper into God's Truth and how to know the difference between a truth and a lie.

"Half of all spiritual growth is learning things you didn't know, the other half is unlearning what you do" from In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day by Mark Batterson

From the time we are born we are in a constant state of learning. Unfortunately not everything we learn is Truth. It can be so similar to truth, however, that we have a hard time even knowing that it isn't Truth. I (Jill) asked the Lord why it's so hard to see the difference between truths and lies and here's a word picture he gave me.

{I took pictures to help make it easier to understand}

This pin represents truth-God's Truth. Plain and simple. Easy to see when it's by itself.
This pin represents lies. Very similar to truth but obviously different.

When they're next to each other it's obvious which is which. Truth vs lie. Easy to see.

I believe what the enemy (the father of lies) does is come into our life and sprinkle some more lies near our truth making it harder and harder to see the truth clearly.

Frankly I think he comes in with a whole dump truck full of lies. It buries the truth. Can you see the truth in that pile? I promise I didn't move it. Just added lies to it.

I think that people in general - and then God said me specifically and other Christians - stop there. We just look at the pile and try our best to find the truth but we don't ever sort through the lies or remove them. We just keep looking for that one pin in the midst of all the rest. It's so hard to see!

The Bible says "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Luke 11:9 No where does it say, sit back, relax and the truth will come and smack you on the face! Ask, seek and knock are action verbs. We must actually do something. Like dig through that pile of lies in a desperate search for the truth! Don't just stare at it, sort it. Throw away the lies. Search for the truth. God promises that you will find it! It may take time but it's there. That's the truth!

Some of the lies that we have believed are about God and the Trinity. We've absorbed what we've been told or experienced and we've believed it to be true and we've never really known any different. Our ideas about Who God is and Who the Trinity is is so powerful in affecting our relationship with Him and with others. The enemy has clouded our understanding of God and therefore kept us from Him.

When you think of God the Father, how would you describe Him? Distant? Judgement? Holy?

Some words I have found are: Holy, Just, jealous, patient, loving, Almighty, Provider, Creator, Life-giver, Healer, Righteous, Peace, Master, Shepherd, Our Banner, Fortress, King, Shield, Refuge, Deliverer, Strong Tower, Rock, Seer, Savior, God of the covenant, I Am.

God the Father is Holy and we are to have a holy fear (awe and reverence) for Him. If He came into the room right now what would your posture be? I would be on my face in the presence of His holiness. God hates sin because He loves us so much. Sin is what keeps us from Him. How would we live differently if we understood the hatred for sin? If we hated sin like God does? It would change us!

Who is God the Son and what words would you use to describe Jesus?

A few names: God with us, Anointed One, Shepherd, King of Kings, Deliverer, Advocate, Ancient of Days, Cornerstone, Immanuel, Head of the Body, Great High Priest, Lamb of God, Savior, Healer, Coming King, Sinless, Grace, Mercy, Redeemer and Friend.

He's our friend! He conquered death for us! He's merciful. All true but we tend to end there - sticking with the "feel-goodness" of Jesus. There's so much more!

Who is the Holy Spirit and how would you describe Him?

A few names: Counselor, Comfortor, Baptizer, Advocate, Strengthener, Spirit of Truth, Spirit of Grace, Spirit of Mercy, Spirit of God, Spirit of Holiness, Spirit of Life, Breath, Wind, Fire, Water, Oil, Light, Dove, Wisdom, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Gentleness, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness and Self-control.

The Holy Spirit is God IN us! When we ask for patience/love/wisdom etc...God sends us His Holy Spirit. But sometimes that's all we seek. We get stuck there.

The Trinity has 3 parts. There are seasons when we need and rely on each different part but we can't ever leave the others out. They have a purpose.

What is your favorite food? Chocolate? Imagine if you were on an island and your favorite food was all you had to eat...forever. How long would that sustain you?

We do that with God. We find our favorite part of Him and stay there. And then we wonder why we aren't growing, why we are literally starving our spirit. He is a balanced God and we are to know all of Him - not just our favorite parts.

To know all of God we must be knowers of the Word. And again, not just our favorite parts of the Word but all of it. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are throughout the entire Bible. To know the Word better is to know the Trinity better. Don't leave any one part of the God-head out. They all work together to grow us, mold us, save us, love us, change us.

In order to continue to learn and unlearn we must saturate ourselves in truth. Dig out and get rid of the yellow pins. Identify truth and cling to it! We MUST NOT quench the spirit. He is the giver of Truth and Wisdom. He is the reveal-er of lies. He will lead us to a deeper relationship with the Trinity.

Think about what you have learned about God and the Trinity. What was taught to you when you were growing up? What do you need to unlearn? What do you need to learn? How will this affect all of your relationships?

To tell you the Truth....

Yesterday morning was our women's breakfast. Considering the worst thing that happened was that I forgot to order the coffee until 8pm Friday night I think it went rather well! We had about 25 women there at 7-early-30 on a frigid Saturday morning. I was so proud of them for rolling out of bed and showing up!

I didn't sleep well Friday night. The message just swam around in my head all night. Going over it over and over and over again to make sure I knew what I was going to say. I don't really know why I do that to myself. It doesn't matter how prepared I am, if I trust the Holy Spirit I can usually say what God wants me to say and it goes smoother than I can imagine. Like yesterday. All my thoughts were a jumbled mess but when I started speaking they sorted themselves out. It was wonderful! I was so blessed by it. I can't wait till April when we do it again!

A friend requested the notes and since I had wanted to blog a little about my talk I thought I'd take a few minutes to share. I can't share word for word - it would just take way too long - but hopefully these notes can highlight some of what I shared.

I started off by sharing an experience I've had in the past couple years where I was in a situation with someone and I was really frustrated with it and wanted to see change. I felt compelled to speak truth with this person even though it was stinkin' scary! What happened as a result was better than I could've thought. So many times we don't speak truth because we're afraid of the outcome.

What is a lie?
*It's an exaggeration of the truth, an embellishment, an over-dramatization to make the truth seem better or worse than it actually is.
*It's a half-truth, an omission of part of the story.
*It's a full out untruth.

Why do we lie?
*We're afraid of the outcome.
*We don't want to show a yucky part of ourselves.
*We want people to like us.
*etc........

We live in a society saturated with lies. Saturated with exaggerations, half-truths and total deception. We even categorize lies to make us believe that it's OK to lie {ie. white lies}.

Who is truth? Jesus said I am the Way, the Truth and the Life...The name of Jesus is synonymous with Truth. Jesus=Truth.

How did Jesus speak truth to people? It was a combination of grace and truth. He never spoke one without the other. Ever.

Truth+Grace over time = change

Speaking Truth brings Jesus into our conversations and into our relationships. It brings change.

The enemy's only weapon against us is lies. All our issues can be rooted in belief in a lie.

Are you sad, lonely, bitter, feeling isolated or worthless etc....? What lies are you believing about yourself or others?

How do we stop it?
*We meditate on truth/God's Word to us. Philippians 4:8 says "Whatever is true.......think on such things"
*We study it so we can know what is truth.
*We speak it. Even when it's tough. Because we want to see change.
*We receive it when it's spoken to us.

I crave hearing Truth and I crave relationships with people who will tell me the truth and not what they think I want to hear. I can't change if I don't see the truth about myself or others. Good friends love you enough to speak grace and truth into your life and I am very blessed to have friends like this.

Speaking Truth:
*shines light and God into our darkness
*it removes Satan's foothold
*builds trust and healthy relationships
*challenges us to say what we mean and mean what we say
*proclaims Christ
*it heals and changes us
*it sets us free!

Proverbs 12:22 says "The Lord detests lying lips but He delights in those who are truthful"

I want the Lord to delight in me and in my relationships with others! I want to be set free by His Truth in my life. I want to experience all He has for me and not settle for anything less.

Will you speak Truth today?

Band of Sistas

A couple of months ago our pastor's wife, Linn, asked me to head up the part of women's ministry {Girlfriends} that puts on the women's breakfasts. I was thrilled as I had felt God leading me to teach or disciple women but I wasn't sure how to do that. This is a wonderful opportunity and I'm really excited about it.

I put together a team {so far there's 3 of us} and I think we're gonna be a good team. God has brought together different women with different gifts and I'm so thankful for that. I can sure use help in so many areas! Our first breakfast is tomorrow.

I'm going to speak on Truth. If I give out much more than that my friends who read my blog won't come tomorrow to hear it since they've already read it ;) But I will say that I love learning about, and seeking, the truth. What it means to know and believe the truth about God, other people, ourselves....It's really fascinating actually. Can you imagine having a relationship with someone that was completely truthful/honest 100% of the time? Many of us can't. But we should be striving for that! God desires us to know the truth.

You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free!

It isn't just a famous scripture. It's truth! So much in that one little scripture....Can't wait to speak about it....tomorrow!
Oh and the reason this blog is titled Band of Sistas is because our men's ministry does Band of Brothers {BoB} Breakfasts and I thought we needed a catchy title too. Ya know, BoS[s]. Makes sense to me :)