Promises, Promises

I feel like I have been out of the bloggyland loop this week! Thank you for your precious comments about my uncle. I do appreciate them all. :) I subbed 3 days as well and ran around delivering cross country t-shirts also! They are done, praise the Lord! So, not much computer time. I plan on visiting blogs and catching up this holiday weekend. I promise!

I told y'all a week or so ago that I had some exciting news to share! I do! I promised! Last year, I had the wonderful opportunity to take an online Bible Study with Lelia. It was Behind Those Eyes by Lisa Whittle. Wonderful truths! Well, Lisa is going to be coming to our church next Saturday...one week from today!! I am so excited that I can't stand it! Our Women's Ministry, Growing in Grace, will have brunch for the ladies of our church and community. Then, Lisa will be our guest speaker! I wish that all of you could hop on a plane or in a car and join us! I would love that!! Of course, I'd have you helping me with the breakfast casseroles and muffins! Yes, you would be put to work! But you would not be alone--promise! I'll take pictures and share them the following week.

I would so appreciate your prayers for Lisa and her family, our church, and for the hearts of the ladies God is encouraging to attend. I can't wait to see how He speaks to us through Lisa. Thank you all so much! Seriously, if you are near Mauldin, SC and want to come, give me a holler! I'll save you a ticket--I promise!

I hope that you all have a wonderful Labor Day weekend. I am going to use part of this weekend to get a little organized. Ever since school started, I have not been very focused, and my house and crafts have been neglected(not my family though!). I am working on those beautiful crosses that I showed you all a few weeks ago. I'll show them to you real soon...promise!

I looked up "promise" in the Bible, and I found so many wonderful references. In Psalm 119:162, David says that he will "...rejoice in Your promise....". We know that when God promises something to us, He is a God of Truth. He will honor that promise. I loved this as well in 2 Peter 3:9, " The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some undertstand slowness." His timing is different from ours, but His promises are always kept. He delivers! What an awesome God we have!

Sweet Blessings!

Beach Blanket Bible Celebration

Friday afternoon, our Women's Ministry team gathered to create a beachy area in our very "beige" Fellowship Hall! 50% off summer decorations at Party City helped! Within an hour, every corner was filled with seashells, flip flops, palm trees, beach chairs, shell lamps, paintings, umbrellas (some of these still had the beach sand on them!!), etc.!! Oh, and plastic pink coconuts (Target) in the bathrooms! We were ready. Then, the aroma of southern BBQ filled the air! Oh, my goodness! Y'all, it was delicious!! We added a slew of sides and desserts--pound cake, lemon tarts, brownies, cookies, and the list goes on! We prayed this celebration through and through.

Back in May, we chose 4 different Christian books. Each had a follow-up Bible study in the back. Our plans were to have 4 groups of women discussing the book that they had chosen over the summer after this meal and fellowship.

Do you recall the scripture that I posted last Friday when I had computer issues? I'll refresh your memory! "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21 We had prayed and planned and were hoping for 50 something women. Friday nights, at the end of the summer, are just difficult! We learned some valuable lessons! Many folks are still on vacation. Others were following the Lord's purpose and were needed elsewhere. The numbers were a little less than we had hoped for, but God was there!

One woman caught me at church yesterday and apologized for not being able to come. She had run by the hospital right before the celebration to visit a friend who had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. When she needed to leave, the friend begged her to stay. Can you imagine a close friend simply needing your presence to comfort her ? What could she do? She did what Jesus would have done. She stayed and visited with her friend and just loved her. That was God's purpose for her on Friday. Stories like these were shared with my team and myself yesterday. Although we had planned a huge meal and Bible Study, His purpose prevailed. His ways are so much higher than ours.

It was so sweet when a close friend asked me if I was disappointed with the turnout. No way! Every woman there had a divine appointment with God! We had smaller groups in each class, and all of the ladies took part in the discussions. Had the groups been larger, that may not have happened. Each woman there was loved on and made to feel special...because she is!! And, each lady there could go back for seconds and thirds of the delicious baked beans!!

Sweet Blessings!

Growing in Grace Women's Ministry

Y'all....it's a coming!! Yes, Christmas is too, and I can't wait! I'll be posting Christmas thoughts and stories next week. No, I am referring to our Women's Ministry at our church!! Our big Gala to kick off the ministry is on Sunday afternoon! We've given each lady in the church handmade invitations--darling hot pink bookmarks with lime green fru-fru ribbon--that they can keep in their Bibles for ever and ever!

We are thinking outside the box on this one! The day that we handed out the bookmarks, our girls had the ministry moment during church. We all dressed in black with black sunglasses and lovely pink boas around our necks ( Hobby Lobby)! The sound guy played the theme from "Mission Impossible" as we carefully dragged a secret black box down the aisle! We looked over our shoulders--secret agent style--as we carried it to the front. I was in my element! When we got to the front of the church, we pulled items out of the box to see what our mission was. Each item represented a ministry--most of them new--that our church would offer to the women of our church and those in our community. Y'all, we pulled out overnight make-up bags (retreats), Karen Kingsbury books (book club), microphone (guest speakers), scrapbooks (scrapbooking), Bible (of course!Bible Studies). The last items that we took from the box were 2 Barbie's! Can you guess what that was??? Mentoring!! Pretty cool, huh? We are going to have a mentoring Bible Study in the fall! So many of our younger moms and wives are needing this!

Ok, maybe "Mission Impossible" was going a little over, but...it got their attention! Our leadership team is working profusely via email--no time for meetings last week with it being Thanksgiving!--to get our ducks in a row! And God is GOOD...all the time! Things are falling into place, and I am having an absolute ball! He is in control, and we are praying that we will have a hedge of protection around us on Sunday from you**know**who! I ask you to please cover us in prayer the rest of the week, you darling sistas! God has orchestrated this entire ministry from step one! He placed it in my heart this summer during She Speaks. We are doing nothing unless it is from HIM. And, I can't wait to see the fruits of His labor of love. Thanks in advance for your prayers! I'll post about it and include pictures!

Many Blessings,
Susan