A "Words of Wisdom" Wednesday meme, just for good measure!
It's so true! Keep pressing on, friends!!
And now, a mini life update...
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| Melissa Snow (wife of Ruffin) and Lynette Layden |
- Last Thursday, Evergreen had their kick-off dinner for the Women's Ministry. I decided to go just to check it out and learn more about the church. They catered in Olive Garden and had lemon bundt cake - yum!
- Several tables were full, so I randomly chose one where only three women were sitting. (God chose it for me, really. I was stunned by the connections that came out as we started talking.) The women were Kim, Lynette, and Rachel, and they were all exceptionally friendly and helpful!
- I sat next to Kim, who is the wife of the Discipleship Pastor at Evergreen. She works as a school nurse in Jenks and helps with secretarial stuff for her brother's law firm (one I was familiar with). She also grew up in Midwest City, and she attended Meadowood Baptist Church (my first church) for several years and knows Pastor Bob Rutherford, who is currently my parents' next-door neighbor! So crazy!! lol
- Next to her was Lynette, whose husband leads their largest Sunday School class, which I was happy to attend on Sunday. Harry (her husband) helped lead a church called Eastwood Baptist several years back, alongside Ruffin Snow and Tom Elliff, awesome pastors I'm quite familiar with from my years at First Southern! She works as a secretary at Mingo Valley Christian School (where her son attended), and she knew Shannon and Scott (who I met through Chet Lee) and spoke very highly of them.
- Next to Lynette was Rachel, the history teacher at Mingo Valley, who also knew Scott and Shannon. She was closer to my age, and a little quieter but very kind. She said multiple times that she was impressed that I had chosen to come without knowing anyone there, and she walked out with me when it was over. (On our way out, 3 other women stopped us to introduce themselves - it's the friendliest church I've ever seen, honestly, and it's impressive to me how much they seek out new people to meet and talk with!)
- For a tiny minute, someone came over to talk to them and I was just sitting there finishing my food, but a woman at the next table noticed I wasn't talking with that group, and she came right over to introduce herself and ask about me. She said, "Who's your connection here? (pointing at the women at my table)" And I said, "Well, all of them, really! But I didn't actually know anyone before I got here." lol
- After dinner and chatting around, they went over the women's ministry calendar. They're starting a Priscilla Shirer study on Discerning the Voice of God in February, and I'm excited for that already! I already met Diane, the woman who will be hosting the home Bible study for those who can't go in the morning.
- I almost asked those ladies to be in a group picture (and I should have), but I didn't want to come on too strong, so all I got was this lovely pic of my soup, salad, and breadsticks. lol
- Needless to say, I felt very encouraged by everything that happened that night! ❤
- Saturday was Evergreen's class on Evangelism and Apologetics, learning to share your faith with atheists and/or people of other faiths. The teacher, Phil, had written and compiled a 75-page book along with several pamphlets, and he gave those to each person taking the class. The amount of time and work he put into that was really impressive to me, and the content was solid and simplified in a way that was easy to remember and apply!
- Jace's baptism was rescheduled again, so I stayed in town and went to Evergreen on Sunday. I sat with Lynette and she introduced me to several more people in the Sunday School class. She has a feisty personality, and I was very encouraged to see that she spoke up several times to explain or emphasize something her husband was teaching - it didn't feel like the women were being stifled or belittled, and that's pretty important to me.
- I sat with her and Harry at the 10:30 service, which was much more contemporary (in a good way) than what I had experienced the week before at the earlier service.
- Pastor Gabbert taught on discipleship, and he said so many things that made me feel strengthened (and comforted and relieved to be there). He said the health of a church can never be measured by numbers, but by whether people are truly growing and changing in their faith through discipleship, and whether God's kingdom is advancing. Loved that!
- He talked about the importance of being set apart through committed obedience to Christ. He said, "The road to hell is paved with signs that say, 'What would people think!?'" Loved that too!
- And he said that his job as the pastor is based on Scriptural commands, not congregational expectations. That his job was not to cater to the crowd, but to "bring the Word of God to you every week in a fresh and truthful way that God will use to strengthen you and continue the work He has already begun in your life." LOVED THAT!
- *I promise not to give an extensive report like this every week, but I wanted to have all this documented. From the moment I set foot in that church (barely more than a week ago), I feel like God has been confirming that it's the right place for me, and I'm very encouraged by what I'm seeing and hearing! I needed this, and God knew it. ❤
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Okay, majorly shifting gears now. I snapped these two random pics because Facebook is a creeper. lol I mentioned to Mom on the phone that I ran out of deodorant and would have to buy some the next day. (Never searched for it online or typed anything about it.) But there was a deodorant ad that night that hadn't been there before. Kinda funny, but kinda creepy! The shirt was also from an ad on Facebook - I've seen more than one ad for a shirt about turning 35 this year. lol
Birthday season has begun... Mom, then Kristin, then Tiffany, then Jace and Tate, then Bill and Blake, then Rachael, then me! Tracking my calories will undoubtedly be challenging, but worth it! lol I'm excited to celebrate Mom's bday with the fam this Friday at Charleston's! =)
And that's all I've got for this lovely Wednesday. Hope your week is going well!!
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