Mark Your Calendars - May 2009

We have so many exciting things going on in May!

First, we have our WAC's annual Ladies' Night Out tomorrow night (May 1st) at 7:00 p.m. The B-Team Angels will come to perform and minister to us as we enjoy a night of fun, food and fellowship.

On Saturday, May 9th, Northport First Free Will Baptist Church will host our State Youth Competition beginning at 9:00 a.m. Come and support the kids from our association as they compete in Bible competition and music programs.

Friday (May 15th) and Saturday (May 16th) is the Extraordinary Women Conference at the BJCC in Birmingham. This 2 day conference will include messages from Chonda Pierce, Angela Thomas, Thelma Wells, Stormie Omartian, and Karen Kingsbury as well as concerts by Matthew West and Newsong. Check out http://www.ewomen.net/ for more information.

On Sunday, May 24th, Sulphur Springs Free Will Baptist Church will host our Homecoming Service.

May 31st will be our associational Youth Rally.

Be sure to mark your calendars for all the fun events we have planned for this month!

WAC Emphasis Month: Tell Your Story

I'm still being inspired and challenged daily by Mrs. Danita's call to "bloom where [God] has planted you." One of the great things about Women Active for Christ is that every member has the chance to "bloom."

WAC is so much more than a social club. It's a ministry. It's intense Bible study and a chance for spiritual growth. It's fellowship with other Christan women. It's knowing that you have a prayer support group. It's getting the opportunity to serve others. It's a place to learn about the mission field. It's your chance to make a difference. It's a tool to help you "find and fulfill your God-designed roles in the home, church, community and world!"

May is Women Nationally Active for Christ Emphasis Month. During the month of May, I am going to be posting about what WAC means to you (and to me). I would love for YOU to help by emailing me your story. How has God worked through your local WAC group? How is He moving through the ladies in your group right now? What is He doing in your life? What does your local WAC do that you enjoy being a part of?

WAC gives us all the chance to bloom, and your story may just be the "sunshine" that someone needs to help them grow closer to Christ. I'll be waiting for your emails!

Love, Christina

"Bloom where He has planted you."

This weekend, I was blessed to be able to attend our state WAC Meeting. There, I heard messages from three different women: our state President, a friend and fellow WAC Member, and our national WNAC Secretary/Treasurer. None of these women planned their messages together, but they all went together perfectly. What an awesome God-thing! He knew exactly what we needed to hear, and He worked through these women to bring us His message.

Then, on Sunday, my Sunday School lesson and the sermon that Bro. Rick preached both continued the same message that I had heard on Friday and Saturday.

It is so humbling to see God working like that. He orchestrated two devotions, a lesson that was written and printed months ago, a message and a sermon all together to show me that He is in control and that I need to stop trying to be and just let Him lead me.

What's even more amazing is that I'm not the only one that got a blessing out of this weekend. I have a dear friend that attended the meeting with me and heard all of the same messages (including the Sunday School lesson and the sermon on Sunday). We heard the same words and read the same scriptures, and God spoke to us about completely different things.

Only the true God of the universe could do that! My friend said that God showed her that we all need to spend more personal time with Him. He revealed that to me as well, and also showed me that I need to stop worrying about what my purpose and my gifts are and just let Him show me.

One of my biggest problems lately has been trying to figure out what my purpose is. I'm at a point where I need to decide what I want for my future. I should be picking out a college major and setting goals for my future career, but I feel clueless.

When Mrs. Danita High (WNAC Sec./Tres.) spoke on Saturday, she said, "Bloom where He has planted you."

Of all the messages and all the great things I heard this weekend, that saying has stuck with me the most. I'm the type of person that wants everything to be perfect. I always say, "I would love to do this, but I have to wait for this to happen, and to get this bill paid off and to get this done first..." The list goes on and on. I always want everything to line up and form the perfect situation before I feel like I can "bloom."

Unfortunately, that perfect situation never happens and I end up never doing what I had planned or dreamed of doing because I'm still waiting on the perfect opportunity. God showed me this weekend that I really need to step out on faith and follow Him. Even when I can't see how something will work, He can make it happen.

Lately, I have been so focused on what's going to happen next and trying to figure out where I'm going from here that I haven't been living in the moment. I've stopped "blooming," and I'm sure that I have missed many blessings and many opportunities to share the love of Jesus in the process. It just breaks my heart that I've let myself get so caught up in the future that I've forgotten to live for today.

Matthew 6:33-34 says, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself."

That tells us that God will provide for us and that we need to live in the moment. It doesn't mean that we can't make plans for the future. God wants us to make plans and have goals. But we can't let our plans and goals get in the way of His divine plans for us.

Mrs. Amanda York, who gave a devotion at the meeting this Saturday, spoke about obedience. She said, "God asks us to be obedient in small ways and He rewards our obedience." Sometimes, being obedient can mean putting your plans on hold to do what God leads you to do. Her main points were that:

1. We must be where we need to be spiritually. We should make personal time with Him a priority and we should make an effort to be in His presence and in the Word daily.

2. We should find our Spiritual Gifts and USE THEM!

3. We should be willing to be used for God's glory.

She also said that our goals and dreams are no good if they take precident over God's will. But, if we are where we need to be spiritually - if we are walking with God daily like we need to be, then our dreams and His plans for us will be the same.

I still don't know what God's ultimate plan for my life is. He has not revealed it to me, probably because I am not ready for it yet. He's still working on me every day - strengthening my faith, drawing me closer to Him, and testing my obedience - all to prepare me for His ultimate purpose for my life.

I may not be where I want to be yet, but I'm where God has planted me for now, and I am going to bloom for Him. Are you willing to do the same?

Taught by the Bible, Led by the Spirit

I just got home from our Alabama State WAC Meeting. We met on Friday night and again on Saturday morning at First Free Will Baptist Church in Vernon, Alabama. Our theme was "Taught by the Bible, Led by the Spirit."

Mrs. Danita High, our WNAC Executive Secretary/Treasurer was our main speaker. She did a great job presenting the theme and offering encouragement to our ladies. Here are some of my notes from her presentation:

"Taught by the Bible, Led by the Spirit"

1 Corinthians 2:12-13 "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth: comparing spiritual things with spiritual."

Do you have a teachable spirit?

• Are you willing to admit that you are wrong?
• Are you willing to change?
• Are you willing to deny yourself and follow God's will?
• Are you willing to be used?
• Are you willing to give up time to develop a personal relationship with God?

Being taught by the Bible

• 2 Timothy 2:15 "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
• You always had to study for tests in school, right? Life is your ultimate test and the Bible is your ultimate Study Guide. God wants us to put in the effort to know and understand His word.
• 2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."
• Our God is so awesome - there is no situation, no issue, no struggle that we may have that is not covered in His word. He has "thoroughly furnished" us with all that we need, and He reveals it to us when we need it.

Being led by the Spirit

• Galatians 5:16-17 "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would."
• Every day, there is a war waging between our flesh and our Spirit - but WE CAN BE VICTORIOUS!
• Matthew 7:20 "Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."
• Do people know you by your fruits? Do people see Christ shining through you on a daily basis? Do people know that you know the Lord by the things they see in your life?
• When you live in the word and let the Spirit lead you, you will naturally bear spiritual fruit.

"Bloom where He planted you."

• Luke 9:23 "And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me."
• No matter what your title, no matter what your role at home or work, God has a divine purpose for your life. He has placed you in this moment so that you can grow closer to Him, so that you can witness for Him, and so that you can bloom.

Pray - Lord, give me a teachable spirit. Help me to study and understand Your word. Please fill me with the Spirit and lead me in the way that You would have for me to go. - Amen

Thank you so much, Mrs. Danita, for coming to minister to us today! We all really enjoyed you being there and hearing what God had laid on your heart for us.

I will be posting more pictures of the event later, so make sure to check back! Thanks for reading...

Our State Officers: President - Carolyn Hendrix, Vice President - Jane Brazil, Secretary - Elwanda Oakes, Treasurer - Cynthia Knowles

More State Officers: Field Worker - Wendy Shuemake, Member at Large - Carolyn Mitchell, Scholarship Chair - Allecia Phenicie, Member at Large - Amanda Taylor

The Provision Closet Items:

We had over $2,000 of products donated for our missionaries!

What an answer to prayer!

The ladies from Sulphur Springs that attended the meeting.

Mrs. Amanda, Mrs. Janet, Mrs. LaWanda, Kayla and Christina

Generation Lost...

I just got home from a wonderful weekend at the beach with my aunt and cousins. Usually, we go to Destin or Gulf Shores...somewhere that's private and away from all the party scenes, but this time we went to Panama City because my cousin was competing in a cheerleading competition there.

We rented a condo and were on the top floor of our building. Our view was amazing!

While we were sitting on the balcony one night, my aunt looked at the sunset and said "How can anyone look at something that beautiful and say there's not a God?"I've always heard people say that, and I've thought it myself. It really made me think that night. All weekend, we had been surrounded by kids that were in PC for their Spring Break vacation. They all had one thing on their minds...partying. I can't tell you how many high school kids we saw drinking, and there were a ton of teen clubs close to the beach that stayed open all night long. These kids certainly were not looking at the sunset thinking about the awesome Creator that made it.

And my biggest question is why? It seems like kids (teens and young adults, especially) are the hardest age group to witness to. They seem to think they don't need God. I know that I fall into that category - I'm only 22, but I have no idea how to witness to my peers or how to make them understand that they won't live forever and that THEY NEED GOD!

I've heard a lot of young people say that they want to have fun for now and that they'll worry about God and all that other stuff when they're older. That statement makes me cringe. You can't put off a relationship with God - you need Him NOW.

I've been wanting to read the book UnChristian (by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons). It's about the way that young Americans view Christians. Since I haven't gotten around to reading it yet (it's a little thick for a beach read), I'm going to quote the book review in my Sunday School book (Fusion Magazine, March - May 2009, Randall House Publishing) -

"[The] book, UnChristian, presents finding from research done by the Barna Group showing that young Americans (16-29) outside the church view Christians as 'Antihomosexual, too political, hypocritical, insincere, and sheltered.'...Using the hard evidence of research, UnChristian chronicles a growing polarization between the beliefs of this generation and their parents. Increasing numbers of young Americans accept homosexuality, cohabitation and premarital sex as viable lifestyle options. As the older generation expresses strong views against this type of behavior, younger Americans outside the church grow more and more disillusioned with the church."

It sounds like we need to bridge a really big generation gap, doesn't it? And I mean WE...I may be 22, but I have an old soul. A lot of the things mentioned in that paragraph were going on at the beach this weekend and it just made me cringe. But cringing and correcting isn't going to win any souls. The book review in Fusion continued to say -

"Christians are known for what they stand against. We are famous for what we oppose, rather than who we are for."

I know people that look at Christians that way. I've had friends say "thou shalt not judge" when I start harping on them to start acting right. They all like that verse. (Matthew 7:21 "Judge not, that ye be not judged.)

Why is it that they seem to think my concern for them is judgment? I know that's the devil working - trying his best to get me to stop trying to tell my friends and peers about Jesus. He is always so quick to point out to me that I'm not perfect either and that I seem like a hypocrite trying to tell others how to live. But I have God on my side, and I know that He can use imperfect people like me to bring about great things.

I didn't get to actually share my testimony with anyone this weekend, but I hope that my actions showed my testimony to them. I hope that they could see the way I treated others and see Jesus shining through me.

We do have a huge gap between us and the unchurched young people in this country, but God still saves. And His net is wide enough for any generation gone astray. Please pray for our young people - the unsaved and the saved. They are our future and our responsibility.

Somehow, we have to show people what and Who we are for - instead of what we're against. We need to dwell on the positive instead of the negative (my Sunday School teacher tells us that every week). And we need to have fun! Why would anyone want to be part of something that's dull and serious and somber all the time? God wanted us to be joyful! (Check out Psalm 17:22)

Food for Thought

I was looking at the WNAC website (http://www.wnac.org/) last night and noticed that underneath the title "Women Nationally Active for Christ" it said,

"Finding and Fulfilling God-designed Roles in the Home, Church, Community, and World."

I love that quote! I can't think of a better way to describe what we do at WAC. What does that quote mean to you? What is your perfect "God-designed" role? How has being a member of WAC helped you find and fulfill that role?

I'd love to hear your comments! Thanks for reading! :)

Provision Closet Reminder

Don't forget to be picking up some items for our WAC Provision Closet! We try to help out our missionaries by providing common household items like sheets (Queen sized are needed this year), blankets, towels, etc.

I know that money is tight for everyone right now - but there are some great deals going on. I recently bought a set of towels (2 bath towels, 2 hand towels, and 2 washcloths) at Wal-Mart for $10. There are also a lot of things going on clearance right now - especially the darker fall and winter colors.

When money gets tight for us, it really effects our missionaries - especially the ones that are overseas and have to convert money. The Provision Closet provides them with some of their basic necessities so they can put their support money to better uses.

For more information, you can check out the Women Nationally Active for Christ website at http://www.wnac.org/

Stewardship Month

This month, Bro. Rick has been preaching about stewardship.

Usually, when you mention stewardship, most people think about money. We are supposed to be good stewards of our money (check out the story of the rich men and the poor widow in Luke 2:1-4). The most important thing for us to remember is that all of our money and material belongings are gifts from God. Take a look at your checkbook - based on where you spend your money, what are you committed to?

Managing our money is important, but being a good steward is so much more than numbers. I think the hardest thing for women (or at least for me) is managing our TIME. Every second of the day is a gift from God. It is our duty as Christians to make sure that we use our time in a way that would be pleasing to God.

Sometimes, that means taking a little extra time to DO something - whether it's spending a little more time on your daily Bible study, spending more time in prayer, volunteering to help with the Children's Church class or nursery, or even dropping a card in the mail or sending an email to a friend that needs a little encouragement.

At other times, it's about saying NO - God knows that we're not super heroes. He doesn't expect for us to be Wonder Woman. He gave each of us unique gifts and abilities so that we can ALL work TOGETHER to accomplish His divine plans. No one is expected to do it all alone. Women are multi-taskers. We want to fix things and we usually like to do things our own way. We tend to volunteer for tons of positions and put tons of pressure on ourselves when it isn't necessary. I like the way that Vicki Courtney put it in her book The Virtuous Woman: Shattering the Superwoman Myth* -

"There is nothing wrong with cultivating our God-given gifts and talents and using them to the best of our abilities. In fact, in the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), God reminds us that we are to be good stewards with what we have been given. However, often this gets out of balance when worth is defined by our accomplishments...Even today I find myself sometimes reverting back to performance-based worth, but then I stop, take a deep breath, and remind myself that God loves me for who I am, not what I do. How about you? Is your worth based on who you are in Christ, or are you spinning a hundred different plates of good deeds to feel like you are worth something?...Ephesians 2:10 puts it into perspective: 'For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.' Our worth comes in knowing that we are his workmanship, and the 'good works' result as a by-product of that truth."

In other words, if you're stressing yourself out with all these jobs, titles, and good deeds to bring glory to yourself, STOP. If you truly want to bring glory to God through the work you do, continue on - but make sure that your work time doesn't cut into your personal time with God. If you're too busy working to take time to pray, read your Bible, and glorify God, then you need to say no to something. Even Jesus took time from His busy schedule to be alone with God - don't you think we need to do the same thing?

While our money and our time are gifts from God and we need to be good stewards of those things, the greatest gift we've ever received is the gift of salvation. I know what you're thinking...how can I be a steward of my salvation?

First, you have to accept the gift. God and Jesus were good stewards of our salvation from the beginning. They both knew that a sacrifice was required, and Jesus provided that sacrifice. After the sacrifice was given, our salvation was freely offered.

In the Old Testament, a sacrifice was required to "cover up" a man's sins. But sacrificing an animal didn't change a man's heart.

Now, the Perfect Sacrifice has been given and we are "covered" by the blood of Jesus Christ. But Jesus does more than cover our sins - He forgives our sins. His sacrifice DOES change hearts and lives like the Old Testament sacrifices never could.

After salvation comes sanctification. We must be good stewards of our daily lives - turn from sin, give up selfishness, and commit to carry our crosses and follow Christ.

*The Virtous Woman: Shattering the Superwoman Myth by Vicki Courtney, Broadman & Holman Publishers, Copyright 2004

Ladies' Night Out

Our next big event is our annual

Ladies' Night Out!

We gather with ladies from other churches and communities for a night full of fun, food and fellowship.

This year, our entertainment is provided by the

B-Team Angels,

a Christian comedy/drama group from Arab, Alabama.

Our night of fun will begin at 7:00 p.m. on

Friday, May 1st.

If you would like more information or would like to purchase tickets ($7.00 per ticket - includes your meal), feel free to email me.

We hope to see you there!

General Information

Our WAC meets on the first Sunday of every month at 4:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall at the church.

Our church service times are:

Sunday Worship at 8:00 a.m and 10:30 a.m.
Sunday School at 9:30 a.m.

Sunday Night at 5:00 p.m.

Wednesday Night at 6:45 p.m.

Visit our church website at www.sulphurspringsfwb.com for more information.

Blogging for Christ

Hello ladies!

I am so excited to be starting this blog for our church and our association WAC programs! I hope that we can use this as another way to reach our community and stay informed about important events. As you all know, WAC and missions are two of my passions, and I am so excited about what God is doing through our group of ladies!

I am new to blogging, so please bear with me as I learn the ins and outs of setting this up and getting it running properly. Hopefully I will have all of our information on here soon. I would love for this page to be a resource for our group and others like it.

I know that God has great plans for our WAC program and I want Him to use US to make a difference, not only in our churches, but in our communities, our state, our country, and even the world. I know that you share my passion to see God's will be done through us and I would like to thank you for all that you have done to encourage me.

To our older members - thank you for your unwavering faith and your passion that has kept our WAC alive throughout the years.

To our younger ladies- this is NOT your grandmother's women's auxillary! Check out all the new and exciting things that are going on within our group. We are so much more than a social club - we are a MINISTRY! Come join in on the fun! I promise that you'll get a blessing out of it!

I'll be adding more pictures and info later. Check back soon! :)