LOVE

Tonight we had a very special speaker, Carol Faas. She is a servant of Christ who is currently serving at a small church in Grand Rapids. She came to talk to us about Love and how we should do everything in love.

The church teaches love but do they really show it? How can we show love?

She talked to us about how we can react when people "attack" us. All words said to us can be seen as information and we can choose what to do with that information.

We can choose to walk away, knowing the attack with words was not intended to hurt us.

We can choose to receive the information, hear it and be done with it.

Or we can choose to hear the information and process it and accept it. We can confess and repent and look for ways to correct.

Words have power

We can use them to hurt or heal...what are you going to choose?

Piece of Mine and yours

Tonight we were able to bring out our creative hat and paint some ceramics. Jerin from Piece of Mine in Grand Ledge brought plates, bowls and mugs for the women to paint. Such concentration as the ladies paint, but LOTS of talking!Michelle's heirloom!All the beautiful pieces made by beautiful women!

The beautiful women of Club Mom and Girlfriends...

Join us next week as we have speaker Carol Faas!

A mess in your life means there's a mess in your mind!

We watched section three of Joyce Meyer's DVD Battlefield of the Mind called What would Jesus think?

When we have a mess in our life, it is most likely because we have mess in our mind. She encouraged us to know God's word and to wear it on your heart because where the mind goes, the heart will follow.

She told us we can choose our own thinking and we need to be careful about how we're thinking about yourself. Ephesians 4:23 tells us "to be made new in the attitude of your mind." EVERYDAY we need to renew our minds.

We need to "have the mind of Christ" (I Cor 2:16) so we'll need to SLOW DOWN and ask ourselves "what would Jesus do in this situation?" We need to choose to line our thoughts and behaviors with the Holy Spirit, dying to self.

We should train our mind to stay focused, quit worrying, and clothe ourselves in His Righteousness.

What a wonderful series this has been...a good way to start the year--with a new mindset...a mind set on using God's word to shape and mold our thoughts and actions so we can be more Christlike.

Join us next week to paint pottery!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New Year...New You...and me!

I apologize for not keeping up with the blog...it's a new so we'll start blogging about our wonderful group again.



We've been watching a DVD by Joyce Meyer called "Battlefield of the Mind". We started the DVD last week and watched a section called "What's Been on Your Mind Lately?" Joyce encouraged us to choose our own thoughts carefully.

So often, our thoughts control our lives and we don't know what we're doing in our lives until we look in the mirror and our mirror should be the Bible!

Tonight we watched the second session of this DVD called "Thinking you way out of Bondage". Joyce said that we all have problems...but if our life is a mess, it's because our mind is a mess. In other words, we have stinkin' thinkin'!!

She talked about the biblical story of the Israelites who took 40 years to make an 11 day trip. They were stuck in the wilderness because of their attitude. She encouraged us to go through the wilderness because we have to go through it, but not to get stuck in because of our stinkin' thinkin'. We need to plow through but were the devil tries to drag us down, we should sew a seed so God can provide a harvest.

Although we are a small group this year at Club Mom and Girlfriends, we are a powerful group. We can feel God's presence as we pray over each other and others that we bless through our mission projects. We can feel God's power as we hear speakers and do Bible Studies that touch our lives. We can feel God's peace as we gather together in love, laughter and friendship.

Feel free to join us any Wednesday, 6:15p.m. at Immanuel Community Reformed Church, 3200 Delta River Drive, Lansing, MI.

Our adjusted schedule is as follows:

Jan 6 DVD Joyce Meyer
Jan 13 Joyce Meyer
Jan 20 DVD Joyce Meyer
Jan 27 Ceramics
Feb 3 Speaker-Carol Faas
Feb 10 DVD Joyce Meyer
Feb 17 CARNIVAL-No Club Mom
Feb 24 YOGA
Mar 3 MISSION PROJECT-Freezer Meals
******Invite your hubbie to March 10 & 17
Mar 10 SPECIAL CLUB MOM-MARK GUNGOR DVD-TALE OF TWO BRAINS-PART ONE
Mar 17 SPECIAL CLUB MOM-MARK GUNGOR DVD-TALE OF TWO BRAINS-PART TWO
******Invite your Hubbie to March 10 & 17
Mar 24 Bible Study Lesson 4&5
Mar 31 Craf-Soap Making
Apr 7 SPRING BREAK
Apr 14 Karen Ehman
Apr 21 Speaker
Apr 28 PARTY!!

Healing a Wounded Heart

Tonight we heard Ken Davis talk about how hearing "I love you" can heal a wounded heart. He told us that following rules does not make you a good Christian but loving one another is the true way to act Christ like.

Sometimes we get twisted in what Christianity is really all about. God tells us if you really wannt to show people you're a follower of Christ you need to love one another. The human soul needs to be loved.

Each one of us have a wounded heart and that would wound can be healed just a little when we hear someone say "I love you." A husband, a wife, a child, a parent, a friend...they can all benefit from hearing you say "I love you". We are all desperate for love.

Sometimes we try to heal the wound in our heart with things, homes, cars. We make mental lists of what we've accomplished and perhaps that will help heal the wound. But wounds cannot be healed without love.

Sometimes we expect from others only what God can provide. A wound can only be healed completely when we stand before God, naked, all our sins revealed, when we understand that we need a personal relationship with God.

When we know we're loved, our wounds are healed.

What a wonderful message to hear. Jesus can heal our wounds, and through that healing, we can be an ointment to help heal someone else's wounded heart.

Next week, we'll be putting together bags to give to EVE, women's shelter. We'd love to have you join us!

Let the Music Play

On Weds., we had a very special guest speaker named Noreen Midgley. She is a Junk lady. I say that in the nicest way since she collects what other people think of as "junk" and refurbishes it into something beautiful. She related it to how Jesus can take someone others think of as junk and turn them into a beautiful new creation in Him.

She showed us some really fun ways to use things others may have put at the end of the driveway to have the junk man take away and make them into treasures.

My favorite was a piece of an old player piano that had moving parts that she turned into a photo holder. She added a bow and a note on the paper of the player piano that said "Let the Music Play". How cute!

She gave us some creative ideas on how to display food at a potluck--cutting a globe in half, putting it on a stand, putting a bowl of beans inside and putting a note sticking out that said "Best Beans in the World". Cute!!

She encouraged us to not be afraid of tools--a hammer, a screwdriver, a tape measure and even a belt sander that she proved could not hurt us!!

What a fun evening full of fun ideas for us all. Thank you Noreen for sharing how God is using you to share His story through your junk!!

Visit Noreen at http://www.refunctionjunktion.com/

Taking a Walk with Deborah

Tonight, we started our first Bible Study out of the book A Mile in Her Shoes and we discussed Deborah. In the book of Judges, we read the story of Deborah who was a Judge. She was a woman who rose up in oppressive times, she was connected to God, she was flexible, she was able to work with the opposite gender in a time where that was not the norm, she was an encourager and she was grateful to God for her victories.

As a woman who rose up in oppressive times, she demonstrated how we can take the negative situations in our lives and use them to propel rather than sink us. The author tells us that we have the God-given ability to lead others, or maybe yourself, out of a bad situation.

As a woman who is connected with God, she showed us that we too must be connected to God if we want to hear God's instructions for us. Not only did Deborah hear, but she responded with obedience.

As a woman who is flexible, she showed us that change can catch us off guard sometimes, and change has the ability to knock us off balance. Our relationship with God gives us the needed stability.

As a woman who was forced to work with the opposite sex in an environment that is not the norm, she showed us that when life places us in circumstances requiring teamwork, it is vital to rely on God.

As a woman who encouraged, she showed us that there is amazing power in the gift of encouragement. God has designed your circle of influence to include people who only you can reach so we should make it a priority to learn how to encourage others.

As a woman who is grateful for her victories, she showed us that being grateful to God reflects how we feel about God. God expects thankfulness from us.

We had some wonderful discussions on what a great example Deborah is to all of us as women leaders.

Join us next week as we hear Noreen from Refuntion Junktion.

A Walk to Remember part two

What a wonderful evening we had watching the second half of the video A Walk to Remember by Renee Swoope.

She talked about how she was a Busy body Christian...always doing, being busy for God. She was saved but not satisfied. Then she felt an uneasieness in her soul which made her stop and it at the feet of Jesus and Listen.

She was ready to say "Yes, I'll be a fool for you, God."

In her life, she was busy with marriage, motherhood, and ministry. She found a book on motherhood that encouraged her to be "Miner for Gold in the lives of her children." She thought about how nice that would be to have in her life and felt God saying to her "I am the goldminer!" God told her that she was the one who was always focused on the negatives, on her mistakes but God wanted to see the good in her. God took her mess and gave her a message.

She brought out a vase which represented our life and how we put things in our lives to fill it, like clothes, children, spouses, friends, houses, food, chocolate but there things never fill all the empty places in our heart. It never satisfies us.

She told a story about Jesus at the well with the Samaritan woman. Jesus offered her living water saying "Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:13-14.

She brought back another vase that was empty and filled it, with no empty spaces with water. If we allow Jesus to be our living water, we will be satisfied, there will be no holes.

She encouraged us to open our heart through reading the Bible and to read books by Christian women who have walked with Christ.

She encouraged us to move from having Christianity be a Sunday experience to having Christianity be a life experience.

She gave us some Faith promises that each women took home with her. One of those faith promises was our theme verse " For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11.

What wonderful comfort to know that God has a plan for each and every one of us.

Next week, we'll do our first Bible Study on Deborah. Please do your homework every day before you come!!

A Walk to Remember

Tonight we watched a DVD of speaker Renee Swope titled "A Walk to Remember". Renee told us about her life and how she came to know the Lord on a personal level.

She told us how she was living a life that focused on accumulating things, money and working towards success but there was something missing. Those things did not make her feel complete, there was a hole in her heart that was not filled with any of those things.

She wanted to have a life that was a "Walk to Remember", a life that made a difference for Christ.

She committed her life to Christ and learned that the Bible was her "Manna in the Desert."

Next week, we'll finish the DVD with more of Renee talking about her own life and how God called her into ministry.

A New Year...Walking in Obedience

We started our 4th year of Club Mom and Girlfriends today. There is an amazing group of women that come and we want to welcome women of ages in all stages of life to join us and experience all the wonderful fellowship we have.

This year, our theme verse is found in Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."We talked about how in the Bible, Joshua told the priests who were carrying the ark to step foot in the fast moving, overflowing Jordan River and the waters would not part until they all stepped foot into that river. We talked about how much faith it took to be obedient and take those first few steps.

We talked about how God is calling each one of us to be obedient to His calling . We traced our feet, put our name on one foot and wrote down where we feel God is calling us to be obedient on the other foot. Then we put our feet on the wall with one foot stepping into the river as a reminder that we need to take that first step of obedience before God will hold back the waters in our life.

We put special yellow feet in the rushing water of the river to remind us of Sandi, who is daily walking in obedience to God as she is working to recover from her double lung transplant in North Carolina.

We look forward to an exciting year, leaning on each other, helping each other grow, and watching how our obedience to God will provide blessing beyond our wildest dreams.

See you next week for a DVD of Renee Swope, a speaker for Proverbs 31 Ministries.

Ready for the New Year

Summer is almost over...although, some days this summer I wondered if summer ever came!

We'll be jumping right back into the Club Mom and Girlfriends schedule on Sept. 16 and you DON'T want to miss it!! This is going to be an incredible year! We have some incredible speakers lined up, some fun activities and service projects. I can't wait to get back together with all you ladies and hear about your summers!!

This year, our theme verse is found in Jeremiah 29:11 and it says "'For I know the plans I have for you,' delcares the Lord, 'Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"

This verse always gives me such peace as I think about my future and what it holds. God knows the plans for ME! He doesn't want me to be harmed but he wants to prosper.

A definition of prosper: to be successful or fortunate, esp. in financial respects; thrive; flourish.

God's definition of prosper might be very different. Have you ever thought about the fact that if God gave you success in financial respects, you may think you have everything under control and think you don't need God anymore. Or, if you are flourishing, that it's by your doing and that you don't need to rely daily on our Lord and Savior.

Just because our society says that "success" is having money and a flourishing career, that doesn't mean God defines it that way.

The Hebrew word for prosper in this verse is "Shalom". We may associate this word with peace but it also means “Completeness, wholeness, harmony, fulfillment. . . . Unimpaired relationships with others and with God.”

So the emphasis of the word is not on economic prosperity, but more on the positive relationship with God and others.

God wants a relationship with me...He's waiting for me to initiate it...waiting for me to come into his waiting arms...waiting for me to ask Him what His plans are for my future and boldly walking in faith that God plans will "prosper (me) and not harm (me), giving (me) a hope and a future."

Join us this year as we walk together on a journey of obedience to God in our daily lives.

It's almost here...Real Beauty Weekend!

I'm so excited! The speaker, Shari Braendel is coming on Friday to talk to us all about "What Not to Wear"! She is so fun and full of energy and I promise you will laugh and learn a lot about yourself and what does and doesn't look good on you!

Join us by e-mailing us for tickets at realbeautyweekend@gmail.com.

See below for all the details!

You probably have seen or at least heard of the tv show on TLC called “What Not to Wear.” On this popular show Clinton and Stacey help those who are fashion challenged make over their wardrobe by throwing out the old wardrobe and replacing it with the right clothing that accentuates and enhances your body.

You are invited to a Christian version of “What Not to Wear” on May 8 & 9 with nationally known speaker, fashion consultant, and author Shari Braendel at Grand Ledge Baptist Church. Shari (www.sharibraendel.com) firmly believes that “good girls don’t have to dress bad” and will be sharing her tried and true tips of how to dress so that the clothing highlights the entire being rather than just a few suggestive regions. She offers practical image and style advice for all shapes and sizes.

Friday evening ($10 for adults, $5 for girls 18 and under) will be a night devoted just for girls (ages 8 & up) and their moms. Every girl loves a fashion show! What better way to raise awareness of the impact of how we dress can have on every one. What Not to Wear- Teen Edition is an exciting event packed with music, videos, and fun. Shari involves every girl as they discover how to be fashionable and feel wonderful about who they are. She will be sharing age appropriate style and fashion tips, the truth about real beauty, and the value of raising the bar on modesty and purity. The girls will leave having experienced the joy of loving themselves exactly as they are and exactly as God intended.

Saturday ($20, 2 tickets for $30 with lunch) is a day devoted just for women. What Not to Wear- A Girlfriends Guide to Glamour will be a day of opportunity for women to hear a Christian perspective on Fashion and Beauty. Women everywhere ask the same question, “How does this make me look?” Women will learn how to become the whole package as Shari details professional and practical tips to accentuate your God-given natural assets while unveiling your true, inner beauty.

She will share how to do the following:
· determine your real body type and clothing styles that suit you best,
· the truth about color (including individualized color analysis)
· share fashion tips that make you slimmer, more confident and inspire you
· tips to accessorize with confidence
· tips for buying jeans that fit
· why God thinks you are beautiful.

All events will take place at Grand Ledge Baptist Church on May 8 & 9. Friday evening is from 7-10pm with doors opening at 6 pm. Friday tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for girls 18 and under. Saturday is from 10 am to 3 pm with doors opening and individual color analysis available at 9 am. Saturday Tickets are $20 or 2 for $30 which includes lunch. Tickets can be purchased at either Grand Ledge Baptist Church office or Immanuel Community Reformed Church office. Or can be requested by e-mail at realbeautyweekend@gmail.com (you will receive directions for payment with a return e-mail.)

End of our 3rd year

A Barbie cake $10A few more snacks $20

The group of women at Club Mom and Girlfriends $$PRICELESS$$

We took our flowers off the wall tonight...the flowers that we worked on the first week of Club Mom and Girlfriends! We each had 6 petals and on each petal, we wrote down what we wanted to work on throughout the year. The 6 petals were: YOURSELF, EXTENDED FAMILY, CHILDREN, YOUR MARRIAGE, YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST, and FRIENDSHIPS.

Some of us looked back on what we wrote and were surprised that we actually did work on what we had written down. Others saw that they still needed to work on these petals of our lives. We learned a lot this year, we laughed, we cried and most of all, we grew closer in our relationship to our Lord and Savior and to each other.

I thank God for each and every woman who stepped foot in the door of Club Mom and Girlfriends and I pray we touched their life in a way they will never forget.

We look forward to seeing you all back next year!

Friendships of Women

Tonight our speaker was Heather Vanderlaan! She gave a great talk on how important friendships are.

Friends can be helpers, protectors, and an emotional support. Heather told us it's normal to have friends that are annual friends and friends that are perrenial friends. Annual friends are ones that are in your life for a season and you may help them or they may help you and then they are gone from your life and that's O.K. Perrenial friends are friends that will always be there for you. You may not see them everyday but you know they will always be there for you when you need them.


Heather told us "Relationships are more important then accomplishments."

She told us the story in Mark 4 about the paralytic man whose friends brought him to Jesus and when they saw the crowd and saw that there was no way to get through the crowd, they went through the roof instead! What incredible friend and what incredible faith they had, so much faith that Jesus told the man that his sins were forgiven and he was healed because of the faith of his friends.

From this story, we learned the we should persue friends like the paralytic man's friends persued him. We learned that we should serve one another, being the hands and feet of Jesus-like the man's friends were his hands and feet that got him to Jesus. We learned that we should believe for each other, Jesus healed the man because of the faith of his friends.

Thank you Heather for reminding us that we need to make friendships a priority.

See you next week for our end of the year celebration.

Nurturing Your Friendships-a little late

I'm so sorry, I forgot to blog last weeks lesson so here it is a week late!

Pastor Rich talked to us about Nurturing Your Friendships and told us that strong friendships require nurturing and protection.

He said that building friendships can be just as complicated as maintaining friendships. A friendship starts with self-disclosure, then requires taking risks, opening doors and taking down walls. It requires active listening and time.

For a friendship to remain strong and healthy we need to do some work! Friendships are often sacraficed to the business of life-job and family. But friendships can help you get through life by being a support system, an escape from stress and an avenue to express a part of you that you may not be able to express in other avenues of life.

He asked us to take a friendship test:
1) Make a quick list of all your "good friends"
2) Now, write the date when you last communicated with them in any way
3) When was the last time you tried to find out about the struggles in their life?
4) What is the ratio of your telling them your problems and your asking them about theirs

It was good to review how much we need our friends and how much they need us! I found a study that stated that when women are able to connect with women on various emotional levels it can assist in lowering blood pressure, heart rate and cholesterol. So, what that says to me is that you should go have coffee, dinner, desserts or just water with your friends, explaining that it's all for our health!

So, enjoy your friends and spend time with them!

Learning new recipes is always fun!

Tonight, we were blessed to have special speaker, Deanna House. She shared some incredible recipes with us and a few of us were able to take some of the goodies home!

She shared recipes for Cranberry Chicken Salad Sandwiches, Asparagus and Carrots, Sunny Fruit Salad and Rhubarb Lemon Muffins.

Deanna loved our wild group and enjoyed talking about our awesome MSU Women's Spartans who are in the sweet 16. She recommend we top our sandwiches with a mayo "S" if they get to be a bit dry.

She also loved how one of our group misunderstood her story about Martha Steward being incarcerated and thought Deanna was talking about her mother being in prison!

We had a fun evening and lots of laughs. Thank you everyone for coming!

An update on our birthday bags...Marcia Kamphuis will be bringing all 26 bags to Lansing Christian Services for them to distribute, along with 12 ziploc bags with wrap, ribbon, tape, and balloons and 24 ziploc bags with wrap and ribbon and tape. Thank you ladies for all the donations to make these bags possible!

We'll have two weeks of spring break and then we see you on April 15 to hear Pastor Rich talk about "Tending to your friendships".

Birthday Bags

First, an update about the awesome aprons we made last week... Here are a few of the guys wearing them! They loved them and they loved picking out which ones to wear. Thanks again for all the hard work you guys do each week to help us enjoy a night off from cooking...we love you!!!

Now, onto the fun of the evening...we made Birthday bags for Lansing Christian Services to give out to people who are in need. Children of parents in need can receive a special present from a church and we made up bags to go along with those presents which will allow them to have a fun birthday. We brainstormed for a few weeks about what would be in the bags...we came up with :

Cake

Frosting

Candles

Streamers

Balloons

Wrapping paper

Ribbon

Tape

Party Favors

A Birthday Card

We prayed over the bags, knowing that God will bless everyone who receives a birthday bag.

Thank you ladies for your generosity and we'll see you next week to hear Deanna House!!!

A creative group

Wow...when you give this group creative freedom...they provide!!!

Tonight we were supposed to have a speaker talk to us about growing closer to God, but our speaker cancelled. Instead, we gave away 2 devotional books...not the same but still fun! We also had some special giveaways from The Preppy Princess-always a treat!

Then, we did a special project...APRONS for the men who serve in the kitchen each week. Since there can be a rotation of men, we didn't put specific names but gave them special names...check them out:

We brainstormed ideas of names and then the women picked which one they wanted to work on and these are the results...so creative! I can't wait to see the men's reaction next week when we present it to them. We really do appreciate all the hard work the do to provide us dinner each week! (And we appreciate all the hard work Sally and her helpers do as prep and shoppers! Thank you!)

Here's a few more...

We'll see you next week as we prepare Birthday bags!

Tending to your relationship with God

Pastor Rich talked to us tonight about how to begin and maintain a daily quiet time with God.

First, he encouraged us to pick a special time for our quiet time with God...to schedule it. He told us the best time to schedule this time is when you are your best. For some of us, it may be first thing in the morning. For some of us, it may be late in the evening. Whenever it is, be consistent.

Second, he encouraged us to choose a place to have our quiet time. It should be a place where we are comfortable, where we are free from distractions.

Third, he encouraged us to gather the resources we would need for our quiet time with God. We should find a readable bible...some of us may need a large print bible, but we should find a bible that is easy to understand, like the Message. We should take a notebook so we can write down what God is saying to us as well as keeping a prayer list in which you can keep track of answered prayers. We should have a picture of the cross or of Christ. Also, we should have a candle to represent Christ's presence with us, and a song book or CD of praise music.

Fourth, he encouraged us to begin with the right attitude, to approach God with reverence, expectancy and obedience.

He gave an easy plan of how to spend 15 minutes with God:
1 Minute to be still and be quiet
4 minutes reading God's word
4 minutes reflecting on what you've just read
2 minutes to write out a personal application
4 minutes in prayer

Lastly, he encouraged us to share the insights we gain in your quiet time with others.

Make a priority, ladies! Take time to spend time with your Lord and Savior.

Just a quick note about next week. Our speaker cancelled so we have a special project we'll be working on. Join us!

Creativity flows

Tonight was Jewelry making and boy, do we have creative women in this group. First, they had to look at all the beads. And look and look and look. Then, they got some ideas, put them together...Shared ideas with the other ladies...shared beads...took a break to smile!And here are some of the results of the night...look at how creative these ladies are...

Tessy was so quick she was able to make a necklace, earrings AND a bracelet! And they all turned out beautiful! Great job, Tessy!!!

Michelle made some beautiful earrings!!

Wow, you ladies are amazing! See you next week for another bible study!!