I did a little tweaking to the Advent Calendar Devotions to make them fit into the 2013 (slightly shorter) Advent season. I also made them a cinch to cut out and fit into your Toilet Paper Roll Advent Calendar (or whichever calendar you are using). I hope you find it helpful! Click the link below to access it!
Let me know if you have any suggestions to make it better! This just started out as something that would fit my family, but I am glad to know that it has blessed many other families and churches over the years!
Of all the interesting things Allen and I have done together, church planting takes the cake. It's hard to accurately depict the challenges, trials, emotions, heartaches and even joys that accompany the journey, but I am so thankful that a book has been written with the church planting wife in mind.
In the first chapter alone, my emotions were peaked and my eyes were watery thinking about our first year. As I remembered the early days of church planting and what it felt like to be on an emotional roller coaster...crying out to God for rest, for friendship, for balance... As hard as it was, I am ever thankful to God for testing and strengthening my faith as it could only be done in the church planting fire. I'm grateful that my faith, my marriage, my security all came through the roughest part fireproofed. Christine accurately represents the challenges we face and I appreciate her appeal to the heart of the church planter wife.
"Your heart is vital to the mission. As you give God your heart, He will give you His. God's heart for you is that church planting be the soil in which you grow in Christlikeness. With His heart as your own, your role and the challenges of church planting become opportunities for growth and ministry, and church planting becomes an exciting adventure of radical faith." (p. 23)
Weaved in and out of every chapter is a heart check and plea to cultivate a dependent heart on the Lord. I am thankful that this book isn't a church planting rant, an opportunity to discuss the injustices that the wife faces. On the contrary, the heart is addressed first and continually as the primary object of God's mission.
Relating to Christine's experience was easy. If you watched me reading this book, you would have seen me nodding and smiling (or crying!) as I progressed. From knowing my "role" to sleepless nights wondering if we were insane, to trying to find balance, to seeking true friends, I related to most everything she covers in this book. As a"Helpmate to the Man Who Does Everything," we, as church planting wives, NEED wisdom and encouragement to assist us on our journey. I am thankful that God called Christine and her husband to plant a church, as well as share her wisdom through the journey.
{GIVEAWAY}
If you would like to receive a copy of Christine Hoover's new book, The Church Planting Wife, she is giving away a copy to one blessed Duty Chronicles reader. It may just be YOU!
What a sweet blessing this was to be a part of and to see mothers pouring into their relationships with their daughters! Several moms got together and planned this adorable event, appropriately named,
Apple of My Eye.
We asked moms to take their daughters out to eat on a "mommy date" and then bring them to the church to do fun activities together and to enjoy each others' company. We put everything together so all they had to do was show up to enjoy quality time with their little princess (or princesses).
We started off with prayer and then explaining what the night would entail...a main part of the night being that they would get to make an Apple Brown Betty with their moms! So what better way for them to get an idea of what they are making than to eat some? With ice cream on top, of course!
Then we gave them a demonstration on how to peel, core and chop the apples
and let the girls go to work on their apples.
Then we went to assembling the betties with layers of bread crumbs, apples,
brown sugar, cinnamon and butter. Mmmm...can't go wrong there!
There might have been some taste testers...
The mothers and daughters laughed, smiled and maybe even cried watching the video that we put together. Having videoed them earlier in the week, they were able to hear each others' responses about how God made them special. And after that, a fun devotional about how we are the apple of God's eye, the finale of His creation and how we can live in light of that. The moms were able to discuss at their tables and pray over their girls. To seal the night with perfection, we had a beautiful song that was sung over us (Beloved, By the Tree).
We gave the girls these sweet apple patches, in hopes that we can give the girls a patch for each Mother/Daughter event that we have and give them a special embroidered bag or apron to sew them onto so they can remember the sweet times and the special skills that they learned.
Some fun questions we asked each other:
Daughters:
1.What is your favorite outfit your Mom wears? What is your favorite way she fixes her hair?
2.Would you rather see your Mom dance, hear her sing, or look at something she crafted/ drew/ or painted? Give an example.
3. What is your favorite “girl time” thing you do with your Mom?
4.If you could go on a trip with your Mom ANYWHERE you wanted, where would you go and what would you do?
Mothers:
1.Use your best adjectives to describe the things you love about your daughter’s personality.
2.If you could go on a trip with your daughter ANYWHERE you wanted, where would you go, and what would you do?
3.What is one of your sweetest, first memories of your daughter?
4.What unique and wonderful things do you see in how God has created your daughter? What gifts have you noticed that God has given her?
Special thanks goes to:
Sarah Ezell for the wonderful pictures.
Sarah Saunders, Taylor Walling, Kelsey Roberts and Beth Cloutier for setting everything up for us and cleaning up our mess. What servants they were to us!
Lindsay Bickham and her amazing, God-given voice that she used to sing God's truth over us.
Just a friendly reminder and announcement that New Life is having 3-week classes starting this Tuesday, Nov. 1st on a variety of helpful topics, including: dating, marriage, the Gospel, missional living and finance. They should be really fruitful and we would love for you to join us! Childcare is available, but be sure to sign up online to make sure that there are enough workers.
This is an excellent book for churches to implement with current or future leaders to get them ready to step up and serve with leader capacity or to stretch them as a current leader. If you know of a pastor or leader in a church who could benefit from this, please forward the link along. We would also be willing to send a sample PDF for those leaders who are considering implementing this study for their church leaders. The book examines the leader's relationships, the leader as shepherd and reproducing leaders.
If you would like some more information on the book or
how it is used in a small group setting at New Life, please let me know!
Hop over and check it out. Hang out awhile and check out all of her other great articles. Grab a cup of coffee. It's well worth foregoing naptime production.
I have been meaning to post this for some time now and I guess now is that time!
New Life hosted LifeGivers, our quarterly women's meeting in September with the topic of Modesty. Jason Kinnard gave a powerful sermon on adorning the heart and how that affects our wardrobe. There is also a panel discussion at the end with ladies of all stages of life answering questions. Enjoy!
Allen has written some really helpful blog posts about our Gospel Ministry as he is going through Galatians at New Life this fall. I strongly encourage you to take a look:
I was thinking it might be fun to get together and make some of these bags that Allen referenced in the post about remembering the poor. We could call them "Good News Bags" and include a copy of the scriptures. After all, we want to nourish their souls as well as their bodies. Anyone interested?
I have wanted to write about Guatemala for awhile now, but I have been a little preoccupied with my husband. Let me explain.
He was gone the week before last at a Pastor's conference called Together for the Gospel. He came home for ONE day. Then he left for Guatemala for an entire week. He's been home for a week now and I still can't get enough. I think all of that being gone can really spice up a marriage. We've been so intentional about spending time together this week and it has been so bonding and refreshing.
While Allen was gone we became socialites. Allen will tell you (and if you know me well), it takes him prodding me to pursue activities outside the house. I generally love to be home and doing stuff with the kids around the home and in the home. If we have a free night, I like to spend it with my kids and my husband. So it takes him to encourage me toward calling up friends and inviting them to do something or hanging out. It's not natural for me.
This past week was opposite. I needed to stay busy so that I wasn't dwelling on my missing him so much. We had stuff planned every day and every night that he was gone. As I was worshipping at church one night (alone with the kids in the back of the church), God overwhelmed me with thankfulness for our body of believers. I'm not exaggerating when I say that at least half of the people had either offered to help with the kids, hang out, bring a meal or pray for me while Allen was gone. I felt so cared for and loved by our body.
Meanwhile, Allen was persevering through trial after trial in Guatemala. From the get go, he and Nathan got lost from the group at the airport and the other part of the group (from Redeemer) was looking for them for 4-5 hours. They found each other while Rebekah (Nathan's wife) and I were on the phone with the team. What a great start to the trip! Phew! Later in the week they got in a car accident and several of the team members sustained minor injuries, a complete miracle of the Lord that no one had anything major happen to them! And yet, others trials along the way (such as their ride not showing up to take them to the airport on the way back), learning how to trust God all over again. And back home, God teaching me how to entrust Allen to Him even more. So, the theme of this trip: TRUST IN GOD. So thankful that God, in His mercy, is teaching us this.
Here are some pictures (many thanks to Brittany for the amazing pictures!):
Oh my! How did he not smuggle one of these cuties in his suitcase? I am smitten with these little ones!
