We have an exciting announcement we will be making at our Night of Laughter fundraiser so mark your calendar and join us…

Tuesday’s Trench Truth and Invitation, too!

We want to help you live transparently, love healthier, and laugh more…

Click on the image below to buy tickets now! There will NOT be tickets available at the door.

Love,

Kim-Evinda

He’ll meet you @ your mistake! EL

 Monday’s Mantra

^{Have you ever ignored the little gut feeling that tries to warn you not to do something? Well, darn it; I just did that and as the day continued, the warning got louder and louder and louder!
Thanks for joining me today for Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power and Monday’s Mantra with Trench Classes United. Please, come on in and et comfy for a true story, from my heart to yours that actually may take us to Wednesday’s blog as well.}

^{I was pretty tired this particular morning and by the time I was dressed and ready to head to my deposition in Temecula, I had made a decision: beginning in two weeks, I would no longer work more than one day a week; I would trust God to meet us in our financial needs and hunker down as we prepare to launch a program that will truly help others live more transparently, love healthier and laugh more.  Oh, how many times have I said I would do this? I groaned aloud as I loaded my car and got the dogs situated.}

^{But I mean it this time! Sound familiar? Oh, thank you, Abba, for your grace that out-waits our unfulfilled promises to you and to ourselves. I asked Him to help me be a light to someone in that room today.}

^{Looking back on the day, there were actually plenty of warning signs of a tough road ahead. For starters, I’m not sure how it happened, but my GPS sent me on a crazy hunt for my location. I mean it had me going on and off the freeway and what felt completely out of the way and instead of being early enough to be calm, cool and prepared, my equipment set up and a job dictionary built, I arrived with only 10 minutes to accomplish all of that. Talk about hot flashes running down my back! But it doesn’t stop there.}

^{As I’m getting set up, I turned my computer on and it’s telling me “Preparing updates; 30% complete; don’t turn off computer.” WITW? (What in the world?!)  And then just like that, it let me into my court reporting program…and then proceeded to freeze! At this point I had only five minutes to be ready and waiting for counsel and the witness.}

^{To top it off, when I finally took a moment to look at the caption and let it sink in, I groaned – to myself of course, as I realized we had a minor in the witness chair with a claim of molestation by a teacher. L L  As I was frantically trying to get my computer to cooperate – ever have one of those moments? – I invited God into my frustration and literally offered up some honest-to-goodness begging! HE HEARD ME! J}

^{I was ready to go by 10:01, thankful, trying to put the previous warnings behind me and focus, focus, focus! J J}

^{Within the first hour, I could tell that this witness had definitely been molested…but the teacher wasn’t the first person who had molested her. When I hear cases like this, it confirms my knowing that dysfunction is a cycle, whatever flavor, and is cross-cultural, non-denominational and worldwide. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t keep the cases stored up in me, allowing their truth to weigh me down; but I do use this information for others good and His glory.}

^{Several times the witness and her counsel had to confer off the record – which means we stop and they go outside and chat. No big deal; I begin editing my transcript so there’s less to do at the end. There were some questions that you could tell that while she may not have been lying, she was trying to be very careful with her response as it was a tricky question; and then there were others that she just flat-out didn’t get. To top it off, she is an African-American high school student with lots of Ebonics and once fired up, wow, all I can say is my fat fingers were all over that keyboard and my machine was smoking as the speed indicator kept flashing. They actually got up to 310 words per minute!!!}

^{Towards the end of the day, as we tread on the waters of this witness’ promiscuity, her attorney asked to confer with defense counsel outside. I was totally a proponent for this girl, but as the case began to unfold, I began to realize she has been a troubled child since grade school, and the teacher was not the only contributing factor. In fact, when a jury hears her case, her promiscuity may deter them from the facts, from the root of it all, but is really a symptom of it all. Oh what a complicated web of dysfunction that I long for the world to understand.}

^{I’m not sure what came over me but in the first few minutes that both attorneys were out of the room, I took the liberty – I could get in trouble for this – to begin talking with her and at the risk of incriminating myself, let me just say, it was a pretty powerful conversation and as I said the last thing, I returned to my computer screen and the door opened and the attorneys returned; I breathed a sigh of relief, and we went back on the record.}

^{By the time we finished for the day, I was pretty wiped out. I sat in my car for a moment, allowing the air conditioning to cool me from the inside out, shaking off the oppression of the case, and then pressed my destination of home.   I didn’t even give it a second thought, just expecting it to take me home the right way, not the long way.}

^{I began to return phone calls and it wasn’t until I had been on the phone for a while, that I realized I had followed the voice on GPS and gotten off the freeway. But WITW Why? Unbelievable! It took me home the same way we came and I’m still perplexed as to why. So what should have taken about 45 minutes turned into an hour and 45 minutes! Needless to say by the time I got to my next mistake, I was pretty wiped out! Have you ever noticed that one mistake often leads to another?}

^{Join me Wednesday for part two of this blog where I will share something that I am still trembling about, and probably will every time I think about it. What comforts me is I know that I know that He was there at the beginning of my mistake, and He certainly met me in the midst of another one.}

^Love,

^Kim-Evinda

Are you in a soul desert? Time for refreshing.

 Faith Filled Friday

Thanks for joining us for Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power and Faith Filled Friday with Trench Classes United. Have you ever stopped to examine your heart and your time you spend with Abba? Are you thirsting for more of the Lord?  How great it is that we are thirsting for Him because we know He is the only one who can quench our thirst. Oh, Be Still, My Soul!

Psalm 63:1 (NLT):  “Oh, God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you;  my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.”

Do you find yourself like me, where days fly by and it’s the end of the week before you know it? When I looked back at my week, I found myself in somewhat of a desert as a result of not taking time to be still before the Lord. Sometimes setting that time aside is more difficult than other times.

 Do you take the time to be still before the Lord? It’s a difficult task in our fast-paced world. I’m so grateful for the knocks and whispers from the Lord, gentle reminders and requests telling me He wants to spend time with me. But my flesh has been so tired these past few weeks, so much so that my need for more sleep has been canceling my appointments with my Abba.

Recently I saw this question: "Am I allowing myself to be interrupted by God?" ^{Dietrich Bonhoffer}

WOW! This quote spoke volumes to my heart. I cried out to the Lord, “Oh, please, interrupt me.

Interrupt me that I might spend time at Your feet, quietly sitting and letting all my days, plans, and list of things to do fall away. This is what refreshes the soul and it is when I am refreshed that I can dare to research my soul:

Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT) Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

 Can you relate to what I’ve shared? If so, please take this time to pray with me, that we may refresh our souls:

Jesus, forgive us for getting caught up in the hustle and bustle of our lives.  Help us to set aside time just for You so that we can be refreshed and revived by You daily. Show us the areas in our heart that we need to repent for and fix our eyes on you. Jesus, discipline us to set aside time with you. Oh Lord, help us to put you before ourselves. Thank you for hearing our prayer and being ever so faithful to forgive us.  Oh what a gracious God we serve. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Have a great weekend,

Ashley

Spending time with God is a rhythm, not a requirement! MF

 Thursday’s Trench Truth

Thought to ponder: You are as close to God as YOU choose to be!
Join us for more encouragement for your soul at www.facebook.com/trenchclassesunited

Need a break away from the seriousness of life? Join us for a fundraiser to continue the mission of Trench Classes United, Helping others live transparently, love healthier & laugh more

Click on the image below to buy Tickets NOW!

Hope to see you there!
Kim-Evinda

Are U your own Goliath?

Wednesday’s Word

The messages told me no one would want to hear it, see it or participate in it. As the messenger came close enough to wrap its evil claws around me, I almost chickened out, called it off and said to the heck with it.

Thanks for joining me today for Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power and Wednesday’s Word with Trench Classes United.

Have you ever gone to church and listened to the message and felt like you were the only one in the room? I’m so thankful for those times, and even more thankful that they happen just at the most divine moments. Last Sunday was one of those times wherein even though I was in the VERY last row, his message be-lined it straight to my soul, did not go left, right, but came right at me and I was so refreshed by it.

Just like you, I’ve got a lot of life coming at me; my adopted mama just recently graduated to heaven – I’m crying as I write this – and I’m struggling without her; she was my major cheer leader. In addition to that, I’ve taken two falls, two different times, bruised my ribs, caused a hairline fracture to my elbow, and I was scheduled to begin filming my project the next day that Jesus wrote thru me so many years ago and we’ve been fine-tuning in the trenches for three years.

Anyway his message was about focusing on the good helps us to navigate thru the bad. I admit, I still need some work in this area. I’ve had a lot of negative thrown at me lately, which I have no doubt the enemy wants to use to distract me from this project. But thank God for community, corporate worship and the meaning behind the message: Jesus invites me to trust Him in the pain, not to adjust to the pain!
And then he had us take off our shoes, so, hey, if you have shoes on, feel free to do this. Write one to three things that are interfering with you trusting Him thru whatever you’re going thru. It was in this exercise I realized that fear was driving my emotional car as it relates to one of the painful situations, which was also spilling over and causing me insecurity about this upcoming filming project.

So write those things on your shoes, put them back on…and stomp on them. That’s right! Romans 16:20 says: The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

So since God is not the author of fear and insecurity, but the enemy is, I stomped on fear and insecurity but good and walked out of church ready to film the project He wrote thru me, brought me to and will see me thru.

It occurred to me that this lines up with last week’s Wednesday’s Word about David and Goliath, that David did not pay on iota of attention to him and he won the battle…or better said, just showed up…and so did God and the battle was won. Sometimes maybe we need to hush up so we can show up and stop being our own Goliath!

Have a wonderful Wednesday

Kim-Evinda

Hungry for approval, acceptance & accolades? Return to the Bread of life!

Tuesday’s Trench Truth

Join us at www.facebook.com/trenchclassesunited for more encouragement for the soul

Oh, and by the way, need a night out? Join us for A Night of Laughter with Squeaky Clean Comedy…a fundraiser to continue the mission of Trench Classes United, Helping others live transparently, love healthier & laugh more

click the picture above to buy tickets now!

Hope to see you there!

Kim-Evinda

Negative habits & emotions have a lot in common with ants

Monday’s Mantra

Welcome to Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power and Monday’s Mantra with Trench Classes United. You’re in for a treat with Jenn’s thoughts today! Enjoy.

Ants...they have got to be one of nature's most annoying insects. J L J  Just when I think I've won the battle, I'll find a new line marching along, mindless to my eyes on them as they continue on with their business. Everywhere I turn, there they are: Cupboards, the sink, the fridge handle, stove top, an opened bag of chips, all things kitchen. But…yes, but, they were even on the bathroom rug. Imagine my dismay when I stepped on it and discovered that it was covered with ants!

Strategically and consistently placing ant poison is the only thing that will stop them in their tracks.

You have to hand it to them; they are persistent, hard-working, and definitely sneaky.

Kind of like those habits that are hard to change: Fear, discouragement, doubt, anger, despair…oh can’t those things behave just like ants, sneaking in when least expected? One day it seems I've won, and the next, there's that familiar line of reactions or negative emotions making their way into my heart. 

Prayer, praise and meditating on the hope God gives: this is the only defense against these most annoying issues of the heart, daily, hourly, and sometimes by the minute. It's the only thing that stops human nature in its tracks.

Learning and unlearning…

Jenn