Running!!

Recently I’ve been running quite a bit. One of the fantastic things about running is the chance to think, pray and listen to encouraging music or lectures. As I was thinking the other day I was reminded of why this ministry is so important. When I become to focused on the tasks of this ministry, I begin to think “does this ministry really matter? Is it in fact important for girls to be ministered to in a specific way?” And then I remember specific girls in my life….specific hurts and pains they endured, messages that they believed about themselves, habits that they were stuck in and I remember that it is indeed important to minister to their hearts.

If we believe that we are part of God’s kingdom and we are instructed to do kingdom work on this earth then we must. How is Girl’s Ministry part of this kingdom work? Let me tell you! The world has distorted what it means to be a female to the point that figuring out our place is complicated. Girls’ Ministry helps girls identify their place in God’s kingdom as His daughters. A girl can never be told too many times that she is a valued princess and daughter of the most high King. Ministering to the hearts of girls is vastly important!

Please join with me in praying for this ministry and the hearts of girls!

Prayer, Prayer and More Prayer!

As I write to you today I am overwhelmed with the desire to express  the need for prayer for the SMM/Girl’s of Faith Ministry. As we move ahead there are many details that are in God’s hands, pieces of the puzzle that I don’t know yet but that I know God is calling me to. The one thing I know for sure is that we desperately need prayer. As we prepare for “Daughters of the King: Ambassadors for Life”, our event for girls at Momentum Youth Conference this summer, I can’t help but feel that this is a pivotal event for us. We are not only celebrating God’s faithful work in the lives and hearts of girls over the 100 years but we are casting a vision for our future!

I took some time this week to check out Dove’s Real Beauty campaign and Disney’s “I’m a Princess” campaign. I couldn’t help but notice how much they get the need to connect adult women with girls and the need to empower girls. They however are missing an integral part of the self-esteem message, that we are all daughters of the most high King and that our value and worth comes from Him. As I think about our upcoming event I dream that people would connect with our message and mission in the same way that people have been able to latch onto Dove’s real beauty campaign!

I would ask that you begin right now to bathe this event in prayer. It is only through God’s grace and glorious work that this event will be a success.  I can’t help but feel that this event will set the stage for our next 100 years of ministry, that the perception of this ministry and the event will set the tone for the future our future. Please join with me as we begin to bathe this event in prayer. Please pray boldly that God would move and that this event sets a grand stage for our ministry ahead!

Thank you for your faithful Prayers!!

In light of the Season!

Nearly 10 years ago I began my freshman year of college. It was at this time that my journey to understanding God’s grace commenced. Having grown up in church and having lived my life trying to do right, I felt that I was a pretty good person. It is interesting that you can “know” you are sinner, but not grasp it, and if you do not grasp your status as a sinner, what need have you for a Savior? This is where I found myself as I traversed my college years. I must admit there have been some very dark lows, during this journey God has had me on, where the glimpse of my sinful heart threatened to drown me. Yet, God is faithful, oh so faithful, and it is with this heart that I love to enter the Easter Season. I am able to view myself as fallen now, in need of a Savior. I can lay at his feet the many things I have done and continue to do wrong. I can do this not because of my great merit, but because He chose to bear my sins upon himself and die on the cross so my status might be changed to that of “Saint”. Praise God! So, in the midst of this season, how do I live in light of my sainthood and in gratitude that my sinfulness no longer defines me? I live in humility and praise! It is through Christ that I am able to do any good at all! It is because of Him that I have a mission in this world to help girls understand who Christ is and who he calls them to be. 

Thank you so much for your prayers!!

The Faithfulness of God

God is so faithful! We recently obtained office space! We have been praying for a physical presence in Winona Lake, Indiana for quiet a few years. We weren’t sure how God would answer this prayer but we continually brought it before His throne. He answered! We now have a space we can call our own! We have a place where we can hold our weekly meetings, store all of our ministry belongings, and invite people to when we want to meet with them! Praise the Lord! 

It amazes me that God continues in His faithfulness, not because I doubt his  faithfulness, but I know how undeserving I am, yet He continues to come through! SMM/Girl’s of Faith is completely dependent on God, and He comes through every time. Thank you for being part of this ministry! Thank you for praying for us and supporting us financially. Thank you for being ministers of God’s faithfulness. 

2013!

It is inevitable. At the beginning of every year, we look over the past twelve months and ask ourselves how it went. Could it have gone better? Could I have done more? What were my successes? What exceded my expectations? We begin to plot and plan for the next year and years ahead based on our answers to these question. This practice isn’t just part of our personal lives but our professional lives as well. As I look at SMM/Girls of Faith over the last year I ask myself these same question, and ultimately ask how this affects our future. There are so many ways in which God has exceeded my expectations and many areas in which I feel I personally could do better. No matter what my answers are to the questions above, I know that God is faithful, God is sovereign and we will continue to be amazed by what God does in this ministry. Thank you for your faithful support and I ask that you would continue to cover SMM/Girls of Faith in prayer!

Tis the Season

I’m not sure about you, but I have found myself thanking God a lot this season. Almost everytime I sit down to pray I thank God not only for this season I get to spend with family and friends, not simply for the awesome things we have seen Him do in SMM/Girls’s Ministry’s but ultimately for the fact that He sent His son for us. For some reason this thanksgiving I was struck with the perfect timing of the holidays. I’m not sure why I have never felt this before but this season I have been struck by a deep gratitude. I am thankful to live in a country that allows religious freedom, that allows women to have rights, both of which have allowed me to pursue this specific ministry that God has laid on my heart.

Ultimately though, I have become thouroughly grateful for Christ’s willingness to humble himself to step down out of the perfection of heaven in order to enter this fallen, broken, and ugly world. He didn’t simply lower himself to become human, but he went supremely farther by becoming the most fragile of human beings, a baby. As I find myself in awe of this, I remember He did this all in order to save sinful humanity from death. He did this to save me from permanent seperation from Him.

I’m not sure about you, but I can not help but be deeply, throughoughly and supremely grateful for His sacrifice which we celebrate this season.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support! Thank you for joining me as I continue to share God’s truth with girls who desperately need to hear about the love and sacrifice of God’s Son!

Thank you!!

Whew! The whirlwind of October!

Have I mentioned before that God is good? I’m sure I have, but let me say it again! God is so good!

During this month I have met with the Steering Committee for our national event at Momentum youth conference, spoke at a Kick-off event for Grace’s mentoring program, and held our first ever sleepover event for high school girls. I began a twitter account, and have launched our website! I also finished my Master’s Degree! Whew! It has been a whirlwind, but a very good one. 

I am so thankful for God’s faithfulness and the way He has gone before us every step of the way. I prayed that He would provide the right girls for our sleepover event and I can not begin to tell you how blessed I was by the women and girls who attended this event. We discussed that we are God’s beloved, that we were each created on purpose for a purpose, and that we are God’s unique design  The girls had a chance to hang out and have fun with one another and women who love them and God but they also have a chance to spend time alone in God’s word finding out what Scripture has to say about who they are in Christ. It was such a great time and we are hoping to have several more! Check out our website for some great pictures of the weekend!

Thank you so much for your prayers, support and faithfulness! Your giving is allowing girls the chance to find out who they are in Christ!

Some things to check out:

Our website: http://co-ju2.wix.com/girlsoffaith

Twitter: @SMMgirlsofFaith