At Peace or In Pieces? It's a decision I had to make today because I was thinking of all I need to get done before Christmas. It's overwhelming! Have you felt that way recently? I caught myself thinking "If I can only make it past December 15th, I can make it." This is no way to live.
Okay, to be honest, one of the things I was thinking about is rather stupid. This will be the first year we have a "live" Christmas tree. Yes, we live in North Carolina in Christmas tree country but we've had an artificial tree for the past 12 years. Actually, I think there have only been two Christmas' in my life that I know we had a "real or live" tree. My sister was allergic so my mom pulled out our tree year after year and when I got married, I did the same. So I was thinking about going to get this tree the day after Thanksgiving and these thoughts filled my mind. Will there be bugs on it? Will one of my girls be allergic? What if a mouse lives in the tree we pick? I know this is silly but on top of everything else I was facing, I was starting to feel anxious.
In Galatians 5:22 it says: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." I know I wasn't walking in the fruit of the Spirit by thinking those types of thoughts. A side note in my Bible reads: Peace: the rest of heart and mind based on the knowledge that all is well between the believer and her heavenly Father, resulting in freedom from the turmoil of anxiety.
What are you anxious about today? Rest in the knowledge that all is well between you and your heavenly Father. I'm choosing to rest in this throughout the holidays.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Pastor Care
As we celebrate the holidays, we do not want to forget our pastors and their families. This year has brought a lot of change for some of our pastors. We have had two weddings, a new pastor, and a pastor with 3 additional children. Each year, we try to do something special for each pastor and his family. This year, we are starting with collecting phone cards for Stephen Andrews, son of Scott and Tana Andrews, who is stationed in Kuwait. It is rather expensive to call home so we thought we would surprise him with a box of phone cards and some treats. If you would like to donate a phone card, please purchase and turn in by November 30th to Nancy Landry or Marci Parker or leave at the Welcome Center. For gifts for the other pastors and their families, please watch your e-mail for an update on when we will be putting together their baskets. The phone cards may be AT&T, Sprint or any major company, but the most important thing is they must be an INTERNATIONAL phone card.
Missions Opportunity
Kirsten Eckstam (one of the ballet dancers on Sunday) is heading to Ecuador to intern for IncaLink. She is having “Ecuador Missions Benefit” this Saturday, November 22nd at 8pm at the Son’s Light Coffee House. Laura Kaufman and Harrison Lane will be sharing in music and Kirsten will be sharing how you can be involved through prayer and financial support.
Upcoming Events at Alliance
OCC Collection Sunday: Don’t forget to pack your shoeboxes and bring them on Sunday to the service. They will be collected during the worship time. Boxes can be picked up at the ABF office or at Samaritan’s Purse. For labels for your boxes, you may go to www.samaritanspurse.org
Thanksgiving Dinners: This Sunday, we will host our annual ABF Family Thanksgiving Dinners at 4pm and 7pm. If you haven’t turned in your response card, please e-mail me and let me know which dinner you will be attending. If you would like to host a table, we still have a few tables that need a host. For more information on hosting you may e-mail me or Shirley Beske at the church office sbeske@abfboone.org .
Hanging of the Greens: On Monday November, 24th we will be decorating the church for Christmas. If you would be interested in helping put up the Christmas trees, stringing lights, fluffing poinsettias, etc., please meet us at the church at 6pm. (Men are welcome to help too.)
An Alliance Christmas: This year, our Christmas dramas will be on December 12th and 13th at Alliance. It is a wonderful time to invite your friends and family. Pick up your tickets at the Event Booth on Sundays.
Thanksgiving Dinners: This Sunday, we will host our annual ABF Family Thanksgiving Dinners at 4pm and 7pm. If you haven’t turned in your response card, please e-mail me and let me know which dinner you will be attending. If you would like to host a table, we still have a few tables that need a host. For more information on hosting you may e-mail me or Shirley Beske at the church office sbeske@abfboone.org .
Hanging of the Greens: On Monday November, 24th we will be decorating the church for Christmas. If you would be interested in helping put up the Christmas trees, stringing lights, fluffing poinsettias, etc., please meet us at the church at 6pm. (Men are welcome to help too.)
An Alliance Christmas: This year, our Christmas dramas will be on December 12th and 13th at Alliance. It is a wonderful time to invite your friends and family. Pick up your tickets at the Event Booth on Sundays.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
A Missions Opportunity
If you went on the women’s retreat this year, you may remember meeting Kirsten Eckstam and Laura Kaufman. These two lovely ladies are hosting a benefit concert to help raise awareness and support for Kirsten’s internship in Ecuador. It is this Friday night, November 7th at Son’s Light Ministries (located next to Los Arcoiris) in Boone. It begins at 7:30 pm so come and listen as Kirsten shares about her upcoming trip and live music by Laura Kaufman.
Kirsten is interning with a missionary organization called Inca Link in Quito, Ecuador for six months beginning in January of 2009. She will have the opportunity to:
~Receive training in cross-cultural ministry
~Spiritually connect with the Ecuadorian people
~Working with children in orphanages, various church ministries, and homes
~Participate in worship services and small group meetings
~Coordinate and administer different short term teams from the U.S. and Canada
~Take language and culture classes
She needs both prayer and financial support, so come out to join in fellowship and help raise funds AND enjoy live music with Laura Kaufman!!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Marci's Moments
Our God is a good God! I stand amazed at how wonderful He is. He is faithful, holy and sovereign. This morning as I was driving to work, I was meditating on the scripture found in Psalm 103:8 where it says: “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love.” As I thought about it, I realized that I’m made in the likeness of Christ so I should also be compassionate, gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love. My first thought is that “slow to anger” is probably the hardest thing for me to do but as I think on it more, do I really abound in love? Is love overflowing in my life? My prayer today is that the women of ABF would abound in love as we talk with our friends, meet women in the store, or as we are driving down the road with our kids in the car. Lord, help us to be compassionate and gracious every where we go. Let people see your love as it overflows in every area of our lives.
Women's 12 Step Study
Are you looking for a safe place to take off your mask?
Sometimes we are powerless because of our stations in life. We may be in a situation where other people have power over us. We may feel that we are trapped by the demands of others and that there’s no way to please them all. It’s a double bind: To please one is to disappoint another. Sometimes when we feel stuck and frustrated with our relationships, we look for a way to gain control or escape through our addictions or by trying to fix things ourselves. What if your life didn’t have to be this way?
Some of us were reluctant to come to the women’s step study. We weren’t about to reveal our deep hurts, compulsive habits or the painful secrets in our lives. Plus, we didn’t know where to begin. As we each shared our stories through the weeks, we began to feel that our group was a safe place. And when we finally had the courage to share, no one flinched, disapproved, or tried to fix us. No one forced us or guilted us to do anything. The group just encouraged us to keep coming back and keep working our program. Over time, we surprised ourselves by openly telling our story to other women as we realized that it is ok to be broken because sometimes God waits until we realize just how broken we are before he restores us. We worked the steps together, asking God to give us the power to face our resentments, to help us forgive and to make our amends.
The Women’s 12 Step Study is not a fill-in-the-blank Bible study. It is a safe place of sharing where you can face your hurts, habits and hang-ups using God’s principles to guide you in your recovery. This study is about learning to take life one day at a time and trusting God to make all things right. The next Women’s Step Study will begin on October 22, at 6:30 pm, at Alliance. For more information, call Michelle at 828-898-6456 or Tonya at 828-964-5049. All inquiries will be kept confidential.
Sometimes we are powerless because of our stations in life. We may be in a situation where other people have power over us. We may feel that we are trapped by the demands of others and that there’s no way to please them all. It’s a double bind: To please one is to disappoint another. Sometimes when we feel stuck and frustrated with our relationships, we look for a way to gain control or escape through our addictions or by trying to fix things ourselves. What if your life didn’t have to be this way?
Some of us were reluctant to come to the women’s step study. We weren’t about to reveal our deep hurts, compulsive habits or the painful secrets in our lives. Plus, we didn’t know where to begin. As we each shared our stories through the weeks, we began to feel that our group was a safe place. And when we finally had the courage to share, no one flinched, disapproved, or tried to fix us. No one forced us or guilted us to do anything. The group just encouraged us to keep coming back and keep working our program. Over time, we surprised ourselves by openly telling our story to other women as we realized that it is ok to be broken because sometimes God waits until we realize just how broken we are before he restores us. We worked the steps together, asking God to give us the power to face our resentments, to help us forgive and to make our amends.
The Women’s 12 Step Study is not a fill-in-the-blank Bible study. It is a safe place of sharing where you can face your hurts, habits and hang-ups using God’s principles to guide you in your recovery. This study is about learning to take life one day at a time and trusting God to make all things right. The next Women’s Step Study will begin on October 22, at 6:30 pm, at Alliance. For more information, call Michelle at 828-898-6456 or Tonya at 828-964-5049. All inquiries will be kept confidential.
Mug and Muffin
This Saturday, Oct. 25 at 10am, Joan Royle will share with us about life and ministry in Burkino Faso. We have an unexpected surprise as our Adopted Missionary Child, Rachel Fisher and her mother, Terri Fisher will join us and share about life and ministry in Moscow Russia. If you would like to bless Rachel with an early Christmas gift, she is 14 and loves crafts, reading, Christian music and horseback riding. They currently are on furlough in Cary NC so even gift cards to Wal-mart, Old Navy, or a bookstore would be fine.
Refreshments will be served and we will have an opportunity to pray for these women that are called in to serve in other countries.
Childcare is available for children up to age 5. Please leave a comment or e-mail me to reserve a spot.
Refreshments will be served and we will have an opportunity to pray for these women that are called in to serve in other countries.
Childcare is available for children up to age 5. Please leave a comment or e-mail me to reserve a spot.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Letter from Karen Dagher about the retreat
Dear Sisters in the Great Exchange:
I just want to tell you how profoundly blessed and moved I was during this weekend retreat! I can call the “wardrobe exchange” I witnessed nothing short of courageous, miraculous, and humbly obedient. The Lord used you to move me and speak to my own heart.
One question someone asked Saturday night has me thinking this evening: “What does this movement of God in our hearts this weekend mean for our church?”
In short, “What now?”
Let me share what happened prior to my final talk Saturday night. I went outside to clear my thoughts and pray just before the talk. As I stood on the trail beside our bunkhouse, unsure of how or what to pray, I heard a sound that reminded me of rain.
But it wasn’t rain.
While I am no expert on nature, I did notice that the noise came from the dry, dead leaves of the rhododendron plants, falling to the ground with the gentle breeze. When the brown leaves were cleared, the green, healthy ones that remained became more prominent. They weren’t competing with the withered leaves anymore.
The Lord quietly spoke to my heart as I looked at this. This women’s retreat was truly HIS retreat, as the Holy Spirit gently blew away some of our “dead leaves” (our decaying wardrobe) to better display the work He is doing and the wardrobe He has given us.
My prayer, fellow sojourners in this faith walk, is that the changes—rather, exchanges—we have committed to the Lord this week will begin to do what Paul hoped: Give people ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus.
My hope is that over the next couple of weeks, each and every one of you will have someone—a husband, a friend, a child, a co-worker, a neighbor, someone at church who longs to be spoken to more than a “hi”—say, “I’ve noticed something different about you.”
And if the day comes that they ask us what has made that difference, we can tell them about our “wardrobe” makeover. Who knows? We might help lead them to the Designer Himself.
That is how the change begins. That is how the bride of Christ grows more radiant. One day, one exchange, one step of faith at a time. To quote Paul again: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. (Phil. 4:23).
In Deeper Wonderment of His Ways,
Karen Dagher
I just want to tell you how profoundly blessed and moved I was during this weekend retreat! I can call the “wardrobe exchange” I witnessed nothing short of courageous, miraculous, and humbly obedient. The Lord used you to move me and speak to my own heart.
One question someone asked Saturday night has me thinking this evening: “What does this movement of God in our hearts this weekend mean for our church?”
In short, “What now?”
Let me share what happened prior to my final talk Saturday night. I went outside to clear my thoughts and pray just before the talk. As I stood on the trail beside our bunkhouse, unsure of how or what to pray, I heard a sound that reminded me of rain.
But it wasn’t rain.
While I am no expert on nature, I did notice that the noise came from the dry, dead leaves of the rhododendron plants, falling to the ground with the gentle breeze. When the brown leaves were cleared, the green, healthy ones that remained became more prominent. They weren’t competing with the withered leaves anymore.
The Lord quietly spoke to my heart as I looked at this. This women’s retreat was truly HIS retreat, as the Holy Spirit gently blew away some of our “dead leaves” (our decaying wardrobe) to better display the work He is doing and the wardrobe He has given us.
My prayer, fellow sojourners in this faith walk, is that the changes—rather, exchanges—we have committed to the Lord this week will begin to do what Paul hoped: Give people ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus.
My hope is that over the next couple of weeks, each and every one of you will have someone—a husband, a friend, a child, a co-worker, a neighbor, someone at church who longs to be spoken to more than a “hi”—say, “I’ve noticed something different about you.”
And if the day comes that they ask us what has made that difference, we can tell them about our “wardrobe” makeover. Who knows? We might help lead them to the Designer Himself.
That is how the change begins. That is how the bride of Christ grows more radiant. One day, one exchange, one step of faith at a time. To quote Paul again: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. (Phil. 4:23).
In Deeper Wonderment of His Ways,
Karen Dagher
W2W Retreat Highlights
The fall ABF retreat was fantastic! We had 58 women attend and what a wonderful time we had getting to know one another. Martha Foulkes and Karen Dagher spoke on the elements of "A Peaceful Life" and many women were ministered to. Here are just a few comments from some of the ladies who went.
...Things we loved...
- Having multiple generations of women attending, meeting new people, getting to know others better. Great food! Scheduled, but relaxed.
- The fellowship, music, speakers, small group time, large group time, crying, laughing, the food. It was so wonderful.
- I loved seeing the different ages and different seasons of life of women who attended the retreat. I loved the hand of God being present during the retreat.
- The non-rushed/relaxed schedule. The content was meaningful, real, but also fun.
- Getting to know new people, time away from the distraction of home, worship time and sessions.
Welcome to the Woman 2 Woman Blog
Welcome! Thanks for stopping by. We're excited about this way for the women of Alliance Bible Fellowship to share thoughts and connect. It is something new and exciting. All the information on upcoming women's events will now be published on this page. Stop by anytime for an update on what is happening with women at ABF.
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