Gossiping says more about us than the one we’re gossiping about! EL

What do you feel when you hear/read the word gossip?  Most people when asked that question say they don’t like it; they think it’s wrong. The word gossip is a noun and means: “Idle talk, rumor, especially about the personal or private affairs of another.”

Welcome to Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power and Monday’s Mantra with Trench Classes United.

Recently I was at a function with people I’ve known for a while, people that I truly care about – I have to be careful here because I don’t want to go down that slippery slope of gossiping! Anyway, one person in particular began the gossip fest with “What do you think of your new church”? The tone was one of sarcasm and I know it’s based on her own experiences with the church and the pastor. As I write this and rewind the evening, I remember I started to go down that slippery slope with her…but stopped her gossip train by sharing with her this truth: “As I’ve said before, I have based my opinions on him, and the church on my own experiences.”

As I went from group to group, there were a couple of people who every time I went around them, they were talking about someone different, and it was like they were pulling from each other what they could to find out what the other thought of the person they were talking about. I sat in silence with another bystander and said absolutely nothing at all. AWKWARD! The truth is oftentimes, people are talking about others because of their own need to fit in, feel as though they belong. It doesn’t make it right but it helps to understand this so as to not participate in it. I’ve been the recipient of the harsh harm that gossip can cause; and though I’m not completely rid of this sneaky, slithering tendency that creeps in at the most unsuspecting times, I’d like to think that He and I have a better grasp on it rather than gossiping grasping me.

As the evening progressed, one of the party of two was sitting next to me and before I knew it, she leaned over and began to whisper about the other’s son and asking if I had seen the post on Facebook having to do with what she was talking about. I let her finish and then I looked her straight in the eyes and just said gently but matter-of-factly: “What if that was his need at the time and he didn’t do it with the intention that you’re implying? What if what you’re thinking isn’t accurate?”

Well that was like a splash of cold water on a cold day!

Why do we feel the need to talk about others? Is it really about the other person, or more about us?

When we gossip about another person, it says more about us than about the one we’re talking about!

Gossip is like alcohol, legal but deadly! It causes so much damage. Father, help us to live by the golden rule: If we don’t have nothing nice to say about another, let us say nothing at all. Set a guard, O Lord, over our mouths. Help us to keep watch over the door of our lips.

Learning and unlearning

Kim-Evinda

Unresolved bitterness snuffs out what He’s trying to bloom in you!

Happy Friday! Thank you in advance for taking time and joining me for Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power and Faith Filled Friday with Trench Classes United.

A few days ago I was talking with a friend; we were having great conversation, and boom! She mentioned something that she had no idea was very sensitive to me about a certain person and what that person had said. Now, I didn’t show my hurt and anger; I hid them from her, afraid to let my tongue unleash everything my heart was bursting to get out.

But when I got home, I vented to my husband and spent time praying over it, but this tiny comment planted a tiny seed of resentment and bitterness within me. It wasn’t until the next morning, which just happened to be Sunday that I realized that this seed of bitterness had taken root and that I was watering it with all my anger and hurt.

God knew my great struggle with this issue, and that I wasn’t releasing it, and He revealed that the next morning in church through the message. Take a look at the verse below…. and see how faithful our God is!

James5:9 New International Version (NIV) ⁹Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

This verse smacked me hard right in my heart: Don’t grumble against one another, even if they are wrong in their doing. God is the judge and is standing at the door.

I believed I had every right to hold onto this anger yet God, in His grace, showed me that it would only destroy me and do nothing to the one who caused the hurt. The enemy relentlessly sends his army after us, knowing just what is going to send our vision off of God and onto the issue at hand. He wants to distract us, to keep us trapped in the chaos that can so easily consumes us.

I must endure. I must be patient in times of hurts, anger, and suffering. It may seem like an infinite trail that will never let up, but the verse below tells me that God will count those who endure blessed. That through this trail, if I keep my focus on my Jesus, loving those who seem impossible to love isn’t so impossible after all. It’s not through my love, strength, but through Christ’s love and strength through me. James 5:10-11: ¹⁰ Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

Beloveds, are your struggling with bitterness and anger in your heart? Has someone hurt you so much that you can’t comprehend forgiveness for them? Let me encourage you, don’t let the bitterness and anger fester inside of you because it will grow like weeds out of control. It will snuff out every beautiful flower that has taken root and has bloomed in you. Lay it at the Judge’s feet, for He is standing at the door.

Gripped In His Grace,

 Ashley

Relationships are like cars; they need consistent tune-ups! EL

Invitation Thursday

If relationships were cars, what would we do to tune them up? Join us for a powerful relationship tune-up with the best-selling authors of How We Love, Milan & Kay Yerkovich. Get your tickets today!

 Looking forward to sharing these tune-up tools with you

Kim-Evinda

We can get so busy being busy that we lose our balance! EL

Wednesday’s Word

Have you ever had one of those weeks where you felt as though you were juggling so many things that your brain would burst and surely something important would fall through the cracks?  And when everything was all said and done, your body collapses but your mind keeps running around like mouse in training for a triathlon?

Welcome to Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power @ Wednesday’s Word with Trench Classes.

You know, there’s nothing like scripture to rein it all in, mind, body and emotions! And yet, scripture needs to be our first go-to daily in order to accomplish any and all things that we do throughout the day, whether you’re a mom of little ones, teenagers, or someone who has the freedom to enjoy volunteer work for a cause or causes, and then of course, if you’re married, maintaining that marriage in a way that we are called to.

The truth is, we can get so busy being busy that we lose focus and when that happens, it’s time for a three-point balance check:

1.     Why am I doing what I’m doing?

2.     Do I need to be doing as much as I am doing?

3.     What are my motives for doing what I’m doing?

Here’s what we discover when we answer these questions:

What we are doing reveals who/what we are pursuing!

Seek Him first…and all other things will be will be added. (Matthew 6:33); in other words, you will never be last as long as you put Him first!

Love,

Kim-Evinda

What’s the temperature of your significant relationship?

 Invitation Tuesday

Maybe, just maybe, you and your significant other are in a good place right now, or maybe, just maybe, your child or children and you are enjoying a great parent/child relationship. That’s great! Then join us for a great temperature-taking event that will test the temperature of your significant relationships.

Is it lukewarm, cold or sparked by understanding, great communication, and respect?

Looking forward to seeing you

Kim-Evinda

Angles Flexing over Our Protection!

Have you ever experienced a moment where you just knew that God had His angels watching over you?

Thanks for joining us for Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power and Monday’s Mantra with Trench Classes United. Come on in for one of those moments of divine intervention which I pray encourages your soul and helps you know there are angels watching over you, “For it is written: He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you.” (Luke4:10)

Mondays always seem to be extra busy for some reason, especially now that I’m back to court reporting three to four days a week. Last Monday was no exception; in fact, my to-do list seemed to be put on steroids – meet with assistant, leadership training preparation meeting, our upcoming workshop list of things to do, upcoming class to begin preparing for, raffle gifts to procure, but in the midst of it all I needed and wanted to make time to have a late lunch with my adopted mom who is recovering from pneumonia. This would be our first lunch in weeks. I was determined to have this time with her for a couple reasons: to let her know she’s a priority in my crazy life, and I just needed to be with her. She’s calming for me, understands me like no one else, gently advises and offers her wisdom, and has this ability to bring my world back to a more accurate perception. She was God’s first example of unconditional love in human form!

Anyway, we were inside eating lunch for a good hour and as we made our way out, we were still talking while walking to my car…that is until I looked up. What I saw rendered me speechless! Imagine me, a person of soooo many words, speechless! J I stopped mid-sentence and stood there, holding mom back as I pointed to what I was seeing: my driver’s side car door wide open!

The movie replayed in my head and I realized that after getting out of the car, and not shutting my door, heading for the trunk to get her walker, then over to her to help her up, I just had a brain toot and forgot to close and lock my door! We stood there a couple of seconds; I looked at her, and she looked at the open door and at first this feeling of dreadful fear came over me. I motioned for her to stay right there as I made my way across the lane toward my car. With every step the fear lessened and when I got to the car and peeked in the back seat to confirm that my laptop and newly purchased bags of Bath & Body Works stuff was still there, I gasped…in thanksgiving more than disbelief.

“Nothing’s taken, Mom” I hollered across the lane. I went and got her and both of us were in a sort of dumbfounded quiet, both of us knowing with every cell in our being that God’s angels had to do a bit of overtime when it came to watching over me that day. Angels were flexing over my protection for sure, protecting everything that concerns me. There is no other explanation; no denying He was defying any evil coming my way, protecting me from my mistake, going ahead of me and watching behind me. To say I felt loved and protected is an understatement.

May I challenge you to look for ways that He protects you throughout your day; they may be blatant; they may be subtle but I can say with an experienced certainty, His protection is there! Seek and find…

Love,

Kim-Evinda 

Taking inventory of all He has done is a great reminder of all He will do! EL

Happy Friday, Beloved! Come grab a cup of coffee and sit with me, and thank you in advance for taking time and joining me for Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power and Faith Filled Friday with Trench Classes United.

I am a list-maker, organizer, and like to be in control of what’s happening in my day, every day! I run my own daycare business I have had children come and go, and each time I go through a phase of sadness because I am going to miss the little one and a phase of worry of what child will replace the one leaving. We don’t understand why God moves in our lives the way he does, but as I have been reading Esther, God is opening my eyes. I love how perfect His timing is.

In Esther chapter 3:12-15, Haman had ordered all of the Jews to be annihilated, and it was to take place during the time they celebrate the Passover, which is a time of remembering all that God had brought them through. Imagine with me the children of Israel telling their kids and grandkids the stories of how God had rescued them, and all of a sudden, here comes a letter from the King declaring they would all perish in eleven months! L

I can’t even imagine what they must have gone through, but I know that they received that letter by no accident when they did. All God had done for them was fresh in their minds, to help them mustard up the tiniest bit of hope that God would rescue them…yet again.  

Now, I don’t experience a threat of annihilation, but sometimes my finances do and as I go through a decrease in pay, I wonder why and also how we are going to get by. That’s when the enemy spews his awful lies in my ear, and if I’m honest, sometimes I cave in by believing the lies. This only serves to increase my worry and anxiety even more.

Friends, remember, the thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. God’s purpose is to give us a rich and satisfying life. (John 10:10)

Reading about His provision in Esther, I was reminded of all that God had done for us. Before I started my business we were so poor. We had nothing and went day to day, in prayer, for our daily needs, and each day God showed up. We went from nothing to being blessed a hundred fold. It is so good to look back on those days and remember. And when I do, I can’t help but give Him all of the lies, fears, and worries, because God has a perfect plan for good and to prosper us, and bring His glory. He allows these events to take place, so we are reminded to look a back and remember how abundantly He rescued us, and will again.

Beloveds, if your life seems like it has turned for the worse, remember who sits on the throne. Who knows every hair on your head and cares for you more than the sparrow. Matthew 10:31  (NLT)

^31 “So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.”

 You are His beloved and He is yours. Sit at His feet and reminisce all that He has done for you. It can truly be difficult to deafen all the lies, but as you sit and thank Him, one by one the lies will fall at His feet where they belong. I pray this encouraged you as much as it encouraged me.

 Blessings,

Ashley

“Take Two” of your significant relationship’s temperature!

Maybe, just maybe, you and your significant other are in a good place right now, or maybe, just maybe, your child or children and you are enjoying a great parent/child relationship. That’s great! Then this relationship temperature-taking test can be deemed just that, a check-in to maintain great communication in all of your important relationships.

With your most important relationship(s) in mind and the last 12 months, answer the following questions:

1.       Do you ever find yourself overcommitted, overwhelmed and under-appreciated; in other words, you have a hard time saying no to others?

2.       Do you tell “white lies” to avoid conflict and keep the peace in a relationship?

3.       Do you experience some form of worry or anxiety when you know someone is mad at you?

4.       Are you the peacemaker in your home?

5.       Do you feel like your feelings matter?

So how did you do? If you answered yes to the majority of them, perhaps you’re running a little warm. Stay tuned for Take 3 of our relationship temperature series next week…but for the full picture, plan on joining us for our How to Love workshop Saturday, May 12. Get your tickets today!

Milan & Kay Yerkovich, best-selling authors of How We Love are joining us May 12!

Looking forward to seeing you

Kim-Evinda

Being green with envy only makes one feel blue EL

I met one of my BFF’s for lunch the other day. We go way back but sort of got out of consistent contact and that is now starting to change and I’m so grateful because she has such a special place in my heart. After we ordered, she very casually announced that her husband was quitting his job. With my mouth open – quite wide for the first few seconds – I listened as she replayed the plans her and her husband had for their future which sounded pretty financially successful and secure.  I was happy for her, truly happy, and yet, there was something else tugging on my emotions. Was it envy? Welcome to Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power and Wednesday’s Word with Trench Classes United.

It sounded like a great plan; they are on to something and their finances, which we all know trickle down into every other aspect of married life, have been really blessed. I mean, God’s really brought her so far in so many ways. “Do you ever look back and marvel at how far you’ve come, how far He’s brought you?” I asked her.

She didn’t hesitate, “Absolutely!”

We took a quick trip down memory lane and at the end of it, I admitted that I was super happy for her and a bit envious, too, because I really didn’t think I’d be in the financial position I am currently – which isn’t bad, but definitely not where I had wanted to be.

We talked about that for a few minutes and our conversation veered over into priorities and I found myself admitting that though I enjoy court reporting and thankful for the ability to still do it part time, my heart and soul are in the ministry…my heart beats for the church, for people to understand the reality of the necessity of Christ in their lives.

I’ll never, ever forget her profound and matter-of-fact response: “That’s why. Your priorities are different; that’s all.”

In that moment I was reminded of Abba’s words to me years before; I have more of an ERA (eternal retirement account) than an IRA (individual retirement account.)

Oh, to live for my next life and not be so caught up in this life!

That’s easier said than done, right? I love this reminder from Paul in Philippians 4:11-13  (NIV)

¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

 And truthfully, I wouldn’t change my life…or my calling…even if I could!

Love,

Kim-Evinda

Ministers are responsible for the care; God handles the cure!

Are you results-oriented or process-oriented and does it matter when it comes to serving the LORD?

Welcome to Coffee Hour and Megan’s Monday Mantra with Trench Classes United; a division of Chicklit Power Ministries.

Last Sunday my 20 classmates and I got commissioned as Stephen Ministers. The Stephen Ministry trains Christian lay people to provide confidential Christian care to individuals who are experiencing difficulties in their lives.  A Stephen Minister’s responsibility is to “plant” and “water”; God provides the growth. The main focus is on the process of caring rather than on the results. Stephen Ministers are responsible for the care. God handles the cure.

Christian Care-giving by Kenneth Hauk teaches the difference between result goals and process goals. Result goals focus on the results of your relationship. Process goals focus on the individual you are in a relationship with. The focus is on the many actions that make up a good relationship. The successes come as a result of that process. Ultimately all results in a caring relationship are in God’s hands.

To summarize Sarah Young in her devotional, Jesus Always:

“Be willing to follow My lead, beloved. Trust me enough to let go of your expectations and demands. Sometimes you obstruct the very things you desire by trying too hard to make things go according to your will and timing. I know the desires of your heart. I also know the best way to reach those goals. Instead of trying to be in control so you can get what you want, seek My Face. Invite Me to show you the way forward. Be still and know that I am God.”

As Christians, it is not our job to cure our neighbors, friends and family. But there are many ways we can care for them. If we focus on what we can do, God brings the results only He can bring.

Your questions and comments are always welcome.

Lovingly in Christ,

Megan

In God’s economy, nothing is wasted…not even sickness! EL

Faith-Filled Friday

Good, Morning Coffee Hour Friends. Grab a cup of coffee and sit with me. Thank you in advance for taking time and joining me for Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power and Faith Filled Friday with Trench Classes United. 

Recently, God put things into perspective for me and my hubby. It was the weekend and we were going about our day-to-day life, but sickness had hit our home hard. It went from both our kids to my hubby, and then to me. I thought I was fine and it was just a sinus infection. However, it turned out to be much worse for me than I ever expected.

Monday morning, I woke up feeling better than I felt in a week, but I had a horrible pain in my right side of my chest. I thought I had just slept wrong. That night I went to urgent care to then be rushed to the hospital by ambulance. Turns out it was pneumonia, and not a sinus infection, and the chest pain was as a result of my inflamed right lung. See, my heart was working overtime to keep up with the chaos going on inside my body. It was quiet scary for my husband and me.

I love how this verse comes to life even as I write this for you: “But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?” Psalms 56:3-4

As more doctors than I can count scrambled around me in the ER, my husband shared with me his fears he had while everything was happening. He told me he didn’t know what bills needed to be paid, where anything was in the house, and if there enough money to pay the bills. I tried to assure him I’d be all right.

But as I was alone in my hospital bed, I realized that I took no time for myself, no down time to just rest. I’m always busy, caught in the day-to-day work to keep everyone and everything else going.

Through this hospital stint, God gave my husband and I a much better perspective. My husband realized that though I do it all and was happy to do it, I needed help…his help. God spoke to me that I need to let him help and I need to take time for me, to decompress, to rest and refresh.

⁶ So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Deuteronomy 31:6  (NLT) 

Are you going through a sickness, a change at work, a layoff, a relationship problem, or even a broken marriage? I encourage you beloveds, through the scary circumstances, go ahead and ask God to give you His perspective. What is it that He wants you to see and or change?

Change, I know, can be scary and we often put it off, but God knows what’s best for us, for me and my family, and while I detest change, I am embracing it today. I am thanking God for opening my husband and my eyes to see that we were off balance and didn’t even know it.

Let me encourage you in this truth: He will never leave your side, and will never guide you down the wrong path. He cherishes us and wants the very best for you and me.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” say the Lord. They are plans for a good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 NLT

Ashley

Sometimes we are moving so fast in life we forget how to be alive!

Thursday’s Trench Truth

Do you ever find yourself overcommitted and overwhelmed? Welcome to Thursday’s Trench Truth with Trench Classes United.

Sometimes it is not until we are having a meltdown that we push back and are able to experience a comeback. Most of the time, this is as a result of not knowing how to say no!

Learning to say no to others is saying yes to you!

The next time you’re asked to do something, before saying no, step back…then proceed forward.

Truthfully,

Kim-Evinda

On the dance floor of life, how well we dance is seen in our relationships! EL

Invitation Thursday

What do you do when you feel someone you love pulling away from you?

Do you experience a push and pull in any of your relationships? Join us to learn how to “dance” well on the dance floor of life in the most important dance: Relationships!

Looking forward to showing you the steps

Kim-Evinda

An attitude change can change everything in the moment! EL

Just last week I was trying to turn in my assignment online – I’m not sure if that’s up- or downloading -- J but I managed to get locked out! For the next hour I wrestled with passwords, technical support and finally, after remembering that I forgot to pray and ask for help, I offered up a quick and frustrated cry for help. It worked, but that was just the beginning.
Welcome to Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power and Wednesday’s Word with Trench Classes United.
When I finally got into my email, and then the campus’s online site to turn in my assignment, I noticed that there was a test due the next day…I swear it hadn’t been there all week and now, here it was, plain as day. I’d like to say my first response was to just be chill, not complain and just take the test…but I’d be lying.
I got lost for a moment in my fit and falling in it, complaining and carrying on until I got myself so worked up that even I didn’t recognize me. I had my day planned and taking a test was not part of the plan. I didn’t have time for a test. My thoughts teetered on over to blame where I began to want to give my professor a lecture on how to manage his class! Ugh, I cringe in humility just remembering how frustrated I was. L
And then the quietest thought danced across my mind…so fast I almost missed it, but it veered on over into my heart and suddenly I heard myself say: I can either spend all my time and energy on being ticked off over this or I can invest my energy and just take the stinking test!
I chose the latter.
I mentally rearranged my day and determined in my heart to move forward and move well as I logged back in to the test site. Now, me and test taking…well, we don’t get along too well. See, these tests are 60 minutes long and there are 50 questions! And they are not true/false questions; they are very specific with answers that all look the same until you stop, and really chew on each of the choices. But you have to chew fast because you’re on the clock.
The first few questions actually began to send me into a panic but then I stopped, asked God to help me and kept clinging to the promise “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” like a mantra for momentum and I finished the test with only ONE minute to spare! 
I pressed submit and held my breath waiting for my results. I didn’t have long to wait: 40 out of 50! Not bad, and don’t get me wrong, I was grateful, especially considering the surrounding circumstances, but I did take the time to look at the ones I got wrong for two reasons: one, I really do want to understand what I’m learning, and two, we get two chances each test and I usually take advantage of this opportunity, not because I’m an over-achiever or anything -- J -- but I do like seeing a score closer to the 50 than 10 away.
I quickly looked over the ones I had missed and determined to come back in a couple of hours and retake it.
God honored my attitude change because when I returned to the test, I let out a “Thank you, Jesus” when I saw they had actually given me the same one! That NEVER happens…well, almost never, because it just did. J
So guess what happened?
Give up? Okay, I’ll tell you: I finished the test in 13 minutes and only missed 2!
Now brings Philippians 2: 14-15 to life in my life: we do the task at hand without grumbling, He will make us shine like a diamond in the sky! 14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky.” (NIV)
An attitude change can change everything in the moment!
Learning and un-learning
Kim-Evinda

Relationships are like cars: they have all kinds of warning signs when headed for trouble! EL

Ignoring my fuel light almost cost me…a lot more than a tank of gas! Welcome to Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power and Tuesday’s Trench Truth with Trench Classes United.

Have you ever done that, push your gas tank to the very last drop, praying all the way to the nearest gas station while holding your breath…as if that makes a difference! J I have, and more than once!

But if I’m honest with myself, I do this with my significant relationships, especially with my husband, where I’ll be going and going and forget to stop and fill him up so he knows he’s loved and important to me. And after a while, we fall into a pattern of distance which creates tension and before we know it, we are dizzy with discontentment.

The truth is that relationships need maintenance, too!

We don’t need to wait until the relationship is in a rut to get it back on track, and this goes for any relationship: husband/wife, boyfriend/girlfriend, parent/child, brother/sister, co-workers and friends, too.

Join us for all the tools you’ll need for relationship maintenance!

Looking forward to seeing you

There is a difference between servant-hood and servitude!

I find annual cancer screenings as dreadful as dental appointments. I put them off until I can’t procrastinate any longer!

Welcome to Coffee Hour and Monday’s Mantra with Trench Classes United; a division of Chicklit Power Ministries.

I’m sure my hesitancy falls into the “normal” category when it comes to routine cancer screening. Even though I feel healthy, I realize test results can prove otherwise. I have had tests prove otherwise. I always pray God will grant me concrete results, regardless of the outcome. Still, I arrived at my mammogram appointment tense and nervous.

My mammography technologist picked up on my tension. She immediately went to work to diffuse it. As she put me through the routine procedures, she engaged me in conversation. Somewhere along the way, our conversation turned to the subject of food. I hardly remember the mammogram. I vividly remember her recipes for corned beef, cabbage, and Spanish rice! She accomplished what she set out to do, ensuring that everyone who enters her exam room leaves relaxed and comfortable. This honorable woman of God displays the perfect example of servant-hood.

As Christians, we can confuse servant-hood with servitude. Servitude implies slavery and involuntary labor. Someone ensnared in servitude serves out of a sense of fear and duty. Someone serving in the spirit of servant-hood does so willingly with a sense of love and commitment. Servant-hood is beautifully illustrated in John 13:12-15.

“When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example: that you also should do just as I have done to you.”

In Matthew 20:28 Jesus defined servant -hood when he said, “the Son of man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

By the grace of God, we all can rise to the calling of true servant-hood. Through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we can fulfill possibilities otherwise unknown. We need only to allow God to guide us.

The greatest among you shall be your servant. (Mathew 23:11)

Your questions and comments are always welcome.

Lovingly in Christ,

Megan

No storm is higher than our Resurrected Jesus! EL

What if we were to treat every Friday like Good Friday? In fact, after refreshing my memory of the details of the most horrific crucifixion in history, shouldn’t every day be a good day? Funny thing is our Friday writer obviously thought the same thing.

Welcome to Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power and Faith-Filled Friday with Trench Classes United and Ashley.

As Easter approached, I began reading in the book of John. It is a very powerful experience to walk down memory lane of what Jesus went through, all so we could have access to His father and the gift of eternal life. As I read, I wrote this from my heart a little recap of what Jesus went through and all that illuminated on that glorious third day. I encourage you to read John chapters17-20.

Father you sent your only son to come and fix an undone world.

You sent Him to show your pure and perfect love. Oh, but few believed and received what your precious son had to bring. He walked the earth fulfilling your will, spreading your righteous and holy love.

Jesus came with a mighty power to heal and save; yet, the world was afraid that the power they held dear to them would be taken away. Oh Lord, you knew their hearts would be hardened and full of pride and self-righteous thoughts.

Jesus came so humbly on Palm Sunday riding a lowly donkey. He came riding in as our humble King to save us all. Many came with palm branches and their precious clothing to lay before our Lord to praise Him with their sacrifices.  However, the men in higher power feared Jesus’ power and plotted on how to get rid of Him.  They took Jesus and had Him beaten…for crimes he didn’t commit.

As He was stripped of His clothes and mocked for all to see, He never gave up on you and me. Jesus full of Gods power could have struck us all dead. Instead, Jesus endured the blows of all of our sins and a crown of thorns was placed upon His head. Thorns are like sins…they taunt, torture, and tear a soul apart.

Why did He do this? So we wouldn’t have to bear our own thorns.

He looked up on the cross and cried out on our behalf “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do!” Oh what love is this, that He bears our cross? As He gave His last breath, it was finished! Until three days later, when after He had died, He rose again! 

 Coffee hour friends, though Easter has come and gone, may I encourage you to always remember what Jesus has done for you and me. As we go through our day to day life, we can tend to forget the details of all that it cost for our eternal freedom.

Perhaps you’re struggling right now with circumstances in your life; can I encourage you to remember the Easter story that you would remember that you are not alone, beloved. Jesus suffered it all and knows exactly where we are and what we are going through. He will provide a way for you no matter how big the storm He awaits you to invite Him into what He’s already calmed!

 HE IS RISEN

Ashley

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Kim-Evinda