Faith Filled Friday

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

It’s Faith-Filled Friday! Grab your coffee and your strand of faith for some great knot-tying in and for your faith! Jennifer has a thought-provoking question to ask us…and an answer, her answer to that same question! Come on in for a few!

How would it change your mindset if you suddenly realized that you were born to solve a problem? 

When I was young I would read history books or stories of people who did great things and marvel at what they were able to accomplish.  If only I could do great things.  If only I had a special purpose in life.  That hope was tossed aside by the realities of my life: Parents who often worked late and weren’t home, bullies at school, an abusive husband.  I have often felt unworthy, not good enough and that having a purpose in life was for someone else and not me. 

Then one day I heard… “You are a solution to a God problem.”  It wasn’t a voice from on high but from the pulpit. I had just moved to Florida and it was the second or third time attending this church.  The pastor went on to explain that all of us were created to solve a “God problem.”  Every hard situation, every joy was meant to fulfill that purpose. 

Every person is born with purpose, to solve a God problem.

“The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out.” (Proverbs 20:5)

All people are made in the image of God. Each of us are born with a purpose and calling that we can discover… or completely miss. The influence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers gives us insight to His purposes for us.

I have an assignment from God specifically for me.  Jeremiah 29:11 states, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

This truth opened up a world of hope and a resolve to discover that plan and achieve it.   I no longer feel like someone tossed about by my experiences.  I feel free to walk out what God has called me to do.

How about you?  Do you feel bound up by the past and/or how you view yourself?  Do you believe God has a special assignment for you?  He does, and He is waiting for you to accept it.

Until next week,

Jennifer

Spots are filling up!

Join us in the trenches to learn how to live fearlessly, forgiven and forgiving, because a life lived forgiven is worth the living!

Part I: Living Fearlessly, Forgiven and Forgiving: What do you do when conflict arises? Do you duck and hide or are you able to face it without creating more conflict? Is there something you haven’t forgiven yourself for, or someone who needs your forgiveness? Join us in the trenches as we tackle our seven most common fears and learn how to give and receive forgiveness because a life lived forgiven is worth living! (Cost: $50 and includes materials. First class begins 2-4 -16 to 3-17-16).  Click here to register.

WEDNESDAY’S WORD

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Mission Statement

Welcome to Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power and Trench Classes United. I love Wednesday’s Word time, a time where we can take a scripture and apply it to our own life in a way that brings it to life within us so that it may come out of us! Grab your coffee and your Strand of Faith and let’s go ties some knots together!

A couple of years ago, I was asked to emcee a pretty impressive event for an organization I had never heard of before, NAWBO, which stands for National Association of Women Business Owners and it was for the San Bernardino County Chapter.  Thereafter I was encouraged to join and did so, wondering what in the world, and why in the world, as if I didn’t have enough to do already!

To make that LONG story short, there was a significant purpose for that adventure; I learned all about a mission statement, the value of a mission statement for a business/ministry and how it can lead others to you. At that time, our mission statement for the ministry was so long and so deep, one really had to read it several times and come up for air in order to understand what the heck we were trying to say. J Ugh, sometimes I can be so deep! Praise God for lessons learned and the grace to stay in the classroom of life!

A commercial mission statement should have three essential components and/or answer these three questions:

1. Who is your target client or customer?
2. Contribution: What product or service do you provide?
3. Distinction: What makes your product or service unique?

A mission statement gives a business, a ministry a purpose, a direction to head and hopefully a destination to reach. I got to thinking about that and I thought what would our worlds look like if we each had a personal mission statement as believers and followers of our Loving Father? If it is developed and created with the same three principles followed for a business, ministry, non-profit organization, it would include what you or I wish to focus on, what we wish to accomplish and what we’d like to achieve or become as a result of that focus.

See, a personal mission statement reveals where our energy is focused, helps determine our actions, our choices and behaviors. In other words, our personal mission statement reveals a lot about what is most important to us.

Wouldn’t it be fun to begin reading His promises and principles in search of your own personal mission statement? What is it that you would like to achieve in this life to prepare you for the next? What is nearest and dearest to your heart? I’ll share one of mine with you and by all means, in the Christian economy, I wouldn’t be the least bit offended if you adopted my mission statement as your own! After all, these words are directly from Christ Himself, for me and for you!

Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven”!

So let’s answer the questions to see if this is a good personal mission statement: Who is our target audience? Anyone He puts in our path! Our light should be on at all times…except when we’re sleeping! :-)

What service or contribution do you or I have to offer: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, goodness, gentleness and self-control! Against these there is no law! Those are some good works for all to see in our actions! (Galatians 5:22-23)

What makes you or I unique in the offering of all these? He that is within you and me! He says we are wonderfully and uniquely made to do good works.

Oh, how I earnestly yearn to be a light before all, even those I know don’t like me, that they may recognize His love in me producing good works and ultimately come to the reality of the necessity of their need of a Savior, our Father in Heaven!

Thanks for joining me today!

Evinda

Did you know conflict can be a character developer?

Join us to transform your conflicts into character and live fearlessly!

Join us to Transform your conflicts into character!

Jenn’s Journey

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Good morning, Friends. How is January treating you so far? Sometimes this can be a melancholy month after the excitement of the holidays. To me, it seems it's already going by so quickly! Thanks for joining me here today for my reflections.

I may use Facebook a little too much but I swear I find the most thought-provoking posts and memoirs. The one that stood out to me this week was, "You can't use an egg unless it's broken." The post went on to say how perhaps we are best used by God after we are broken. I posted this on my own wall and some of the comments were thought-provoking.

My boyfriend remembers an experiment he saw as a kid. Hold an egg in the palm of your hand and try to crack it…apparently this is very hard to do. I Googled this to read more about it, and I guess this has been tried a lot! One of the experimenters concluded that if you hold an egg in an upright position, it is impossible to crack. It's very difficult, yet possible, to crack one when holding it on its side.

A shell is made for protection. Eggshells protect life growing inside. Seashells protect the animal inside from harm. Necessary, right? At some point though, the life inside the shell has to break out to completely fulfill its purpose. If that does not happen, it equals death.

We tend to build shells around our lives and our hearts. Perhaps there are wounds so deep we want to encase them so as not to remember the pain. Maybe routine and rigidity keep us in familiarity. Staying inside the shell, our own little world, feels safe and comfortable. I am here to tell you, you cannot grow that way.

I tend to fear 'cracking.' I don't want to be pushed out of perceived safety. At times, life does this to us just by its nature. Other times, choices we make cause breaks in the shell. I don't believe God causes harm to come to us…but I do believe when it does, He uses it to help us and those we come in contact with. Yes, we have to allow Him to do that. How better to allow Him than to first admit we're broken? It's okay to be shattered. Let's stop trying to hold the shell in place, or piece it back together.

Since it's January and we're still full of hope for a new year, I challenge you to let the pieces of YOUR shell fall away. Grow in 2016, and let your growth be an encouragement to others. God has a plan!!!

Until next week, be blessed

Jenn

Faith Filled Friday

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

It’s that time again, our Faith-Filled Friday Coffee Hour! Grab your coffee and your strand of faith and join us for a powerful message from Jennifer!

Whew!  What a week.  It was hard and intense but my faith is stronger today than on Monday.  Through all the large and small lessons I walked through and captured, Mathew 19:26 was illustrated the most.  As Christians, we can fall into the “Christianese” trap and recite this verse as an answer to any question, especially when we don’t know what to say.  “With God all things are possible”…..we know it’s true but do we believe it in our heart?  The Message Bible puts it this way “Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it.”

What a change in perspective.  It’s saying the same thing, but I read “all things are possible” as passive.  To me it’s like saying “someday this will happen,” and it feels lofty and in the distance.  The definition of possible is being within the limits of ability, capacity, or realization.  When I am in a difficult spot, knowing that God is capable is not the issue.  He’s God, He can do anything.  Duh! :-)  But how does this apply to me? 

Here’s how The Message version spoke to me.

When I am in a place where there is no possible way I can fix, change, push, manage, do [or even when I’m not in that place] I have to realize that I can’t do it myself; there’s no fruit or good by-product of doing it in my own strength or will.  Every chance if we trust….

Trust means a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. It’s the same or similar definition but with one difference, firm belief.   “Firm” is having a solid, almost unyielding surface or structure.  I don’t just want to know it’s possible…. I want to firmly believe that He can do it.

What’s in your heart, possibility or firm belief?  It’s not always easy to be firm.  It can take practice or even someone to hold you accountable.  My prayer is that you are or are becoming an unyielding structure of faith.

Until next week, may your faith hold you firm

Jennifer

Transform has transformed!

I am excited to present to you, Transform, the Series and I hope and pray that you will join us back in the trenches:

Part I: Living Fearlessly, Forgiven and Forgiving: What do you do when conflict arises? Do you duck and hide or are you able to face it without creating more conflict? Is there something you haven’t forgiven yourself for, or someone who needs your forgiveness? Join us in the trenches as we tackle our seven most common fears and learn how to give and receive forgiveness because a life lived forgiven is worth living! (Cost: $50 and includes materials. First class begins 2-4 -16 to 3-17-16).  Click here to register.

Part II: Living Fueled by Hope, Free from Anger: Do you often feel let down by others? Have you ever been hurt by love? There are five things we, often unknowingly, put our hope in, causing unrealistic expectations to rise and relationships to fall and as the cycle perpetuates hopelessness and anger can become two emotions that drive our emotional cars. Join us in the trenches to learn about realistic relational expectations that fuel us with hope and free us from anger. (Cost: $50 and includes materials. First class begins 4-29-16 to 6-09-16).  Click here to register.

Part III: Embracing Truth and Letting Go… Often what we do to minimize a problem in our life is the same thing that maximizes it! Would you like to be more easy-going, not feel like you have to have everything manageable, or managed? Join us in the trenches to learn how to embrace truth and let go and live more flexible. (Cost: $50 and includes materials. First class begins 8-11-16 to 9-15-16) Click here to register.

Part IV: Finding Your Identity without Chaos and Confusion: Do you fear being alone? Do you believe you have to have someone to be someone? Relationships can be so confusing! Join us in the trenches to embrace your identity based on YOU and rise above relational chaos and confusion! (Cost: $50 and includes materials. First class begins 10-27-16 to 12-8-16) Click here to register.