Chocolate & Chuckles 2013.

Do you know that Chocolate & Chuckles is one of my absolute favorite outreaches that we do?

I mean, who doesn't like chocolate?  And who doesn't like laughing and having fun with friends?

You know this girl does!

But what really matters about C&C, what it really boils down to is the one thing that we all need:  Jesus.

It's a great opportunity to show Jesus's love to our friends, family and co-workers - many who wouldn't say yes to going to church with us, but have no problem going to a girls night out (which just happens to be at church, right?)

This year's event was a huge success all because of three beautiful new sisters in Christ who asked Jesus into their hearts and the overwhelming generosity of you lovely ladies who gave $1500 to Project Rescue in their fight against human trafficking.  For this girl, it's worth every bloody finger that Carrie & I had while cutting out those chandeliers.

So, who want's to see some pictures?

 

Thanks for your prayers, your support, your hard work - and of course, your desserts! 

Can't wait to do it again next year.

How Rich is Your Family?

If you have seen the movie Courageous, then you likely remember a scene that evoked a lot of inspiration. Javier, a humble construction worker, was struggling to make ends meet for his family. As he began to grow in the Lord, he and his friends developed a new spiritual resolve to better lead their wives and children. To commemorate a coming resolution ceremony, Javier bought a new suit, but then began second-guessing the expense. Still delighted with his purchase, his wife Carmen convinces him to put the suit on so she can see him wearing it. As Javier looks in the mirror, he mumbles, “I feel like a rich man.” Carmen wisely redeems the opportunity by speaking into her husband’s life and reminding him of what true riches are all about.

“You are a rich man! You have a strong faith, children that love you, and a wife that adores you.”

Her words demonstrate the importance of seeing life from God’s perspective and also of the great influence a wife can have in her husband’s life. We’ve spent the last few years challenging men to step up to spiritual leadership in their homes. We wanted to take a moment and challenge wives in their priceless place of influence as well. If women knew how much their words can build up or tear down the men in their lives, they may be shocked at the power God has entrusted to them.

The Bible says, “No foul language is to come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear.” – Eph. 4:29

Have you applied this verse to your marriage? Men are always “someone in need.” As you know, we need a lot of help. So we ask you, “Do you wisely affirm and strategically praise your husband or do you cut into him with your words and tones? Do your children sense rottenness or a fragrance of grace coming from your lips when you speak to the man who is the ‘Christ representative’ in your relationship” (Ephesians 5:22-24)? When men are treated with disrespect, they tend to either get angry and go on the attack, or they withdraw and start avoiding the source of their ridicule. Both are poisonous to a marriage.

However, men naturally try to please and spend more time with those who respect and praise them the most. When you speak to your husband “as unto the Lord” and support his leadership as best as you can, you draw his heart to your heart and help strengthen his resolve to take better care of you and your children. When you edify the man who is primarily responsible for your home, your entire family benefits.

Your husband may not deserve any of your praise. All men are sinful messes. We do not have it together. No man is worthy of the respect that God commands wives to give their men. But Christ is. And that’s why Christ should always be a wife’s focus and the never-changing inspiration behind her words, not the flawed male that forages around her house.

When a wife prays for her husband, encourages him, and walks alongside him, the Lord is pleased. And in many ways, she is a living portrait of the Holy Spirit in her husband’s life—who is also described as a Helper from God to him.

We pray not only for the men involved but also for the women who need their husbands to step up and lovingly lead in the home. Each of you is priceless and irreplaceable. We want your entire family to experience the rewards of bold men who fearlessly embrace the responsibilities God has given them, both now and for future generations.

We are so grateful that God is still using Courageous and The Resolution for Men to change families. We praise God that couples on the brink of divorce are finding reconciliation and restoration. Lukewarm men are turning into warriors for God. Young boys are stepping up into courageous responsibility. Many times, these stories result in direct answer to the prayers of a supportive wife or mom behind the scenes. May God bless you as you point your husbands and sons to Jesus with the beauty of your life and put fresh wind in their sails to go forward to be the men God is calling them to be.

The Kendricks, in partnership with LifeWay, have just released The Resolution for Men Bible study, an eight-week group curriculum that challenges men to love their wives with a Christ-like love and unpacks the twelve promises in The Resolution for Men book.

This post is from lifeway.com.  You can find the original post here.

All About Church Face.

Oh, church face.

You know what I mean? 

That face you put on when you go to church.

That smiling, nice to see you face that goes so well with your favorite earrings and those great shoes.

The face that gives no hint to the fact that your family has made you crazy trying to get ready for church - including your son that can't find anything other than green flip flops to wear with their church clothes.

The face that we wear sitting comfortably in our pews - when maybe what we really need to do is lay it all down to Jesus at the alter.  (Not that we would go to the alter.  Someone might think we have problems.  And we can't have that, can we?)

 The face that makes you seem like you have it all together instead of being the hot mess who needs buckets full of grace from Jesus. 

I was reading Matthew 23 where Jesus is really letting the Pharisees and teachers of the law have it.  Brood of vipers, hypocrites, whitewashed tombs that look nice from the outside but are full of bones and unclean inside.  None of these are things that I want said of me.  Not by anyone, but especially not by Jesus! 

And while I do try my best to live for Christ, how many times have I avoided someone because I feel that they drain me or avoided making eye contact at church so I don't get drawn into their drama. 

Instead, I put on my church face and stroll through the halls saying good morning to the other lovely church faces smiling back at me. 

Makes me feel a little "white washed tomb-y".  

No, it makes me feel that way a lot.

Look at verse 23.  Am I following the "letter of the law" - keeping the big ten (commandments), praying, tithing, attending church - but forgetting to show others justice, mercy and faithfulness?  Is my "church face" or my fear of being real, of letting it be known that despite my best intentions and desires that I fail Jesus daily - is it keeping me from showing others who Jesus really is and how crazy in love with them He is? 

The thing is, it's OK to not have it all together.  I have a very strong suspicion that no one else in church has it all together either.  I'm actually pretty sure that no one really has it all together. 

Maybe, just maybe, instead of focusing on trying to make it seem like we have things under control, maybe we can drop our church face and hit our knees instead.  Praying for God to help us to show His love through us, using us to reach our family, friends, co-workers, neighbors - even enemies. 

You see girls, we don't have to be perfect. 

Which is good because there's no hope of that happening.

We just have to be willing.

And that I can do.

Scripture Memory Verse for October.

Everything is still a mess right now, huh?

The government is on shut down. 

So many are uncertain in their jobs. 

It's more than enough to keep a girl up late at night. 

When I'm tempted to worry - and I'm tempted to worry a lot - I have to ground myself with the word of God. 

This month's verse is Philippians 4:11-13

Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.


Lord, help me to remember to be content whatever my circumstances and to rely on Your strength, not my own.