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Wrangling in the Pew

HEATHER MOLENDYK|CONTRIBUTOR A modified journal entry from not so many years ago… Today’s church service was such a blessing! Getting to witness my four children fight each other using subtle gladiator-style battle strategies to be the ones to sit right next to me in the church pew totally validated my worth as a human being. It was an enriching experience to helpfully point out each word in scripture to my younger children only to realize at the end that they had been studying a small ant crawling on the floor the entire time. It was so joyful to sing those old hymns as a family while my small ones bounced mosh-pit style, accidentally knocking my hymn book to the floor. I took such pride in the generosity of my offspring as I pried open his little fingers from the dollar bill that belonged in the offering plate instead of his snug, little pocket. But then, like the eye of a hurricane, I was able to buy myself a limited amount of uninterrupted time when I passed out a small suck-on candy to each child. The winds hadn’t stopped blowing quite yet. I knew full well that when the eye finished its journey overhead, the storm would continue with the winds blowing in the opposite direction. Nevertheless, while their little legs swung back and forth, their little fingers twisted empty candy wrappers, and their little mouths were momentarily occupied, I was able to take that deep breath I so desperately needed. I opened my Bible to the sermon text.

Wrangling in the Pew2023-03-24T17:57:31+00:00

John 16: A Perfect Peace

BETHANY BELUE|GUEST It is 6:00 p.m. on a Friday night. The kitchen is a mess with dirty dishes scattered on the counter and crumbs blanketing the floor from a toddler who thinks throwing his food is funny. My hair is tied in a messy ponytail, and spit-up stains dot my shirt. My 19-month-old is running wild awaiting bath time while my two-month-old cries, ready for her last little nap before the end of the day. As I look around at this scene, with toys scattered everywhere and the sounds of young children filling the home, I can’t help but laugh. Although I’m living in my very own circus and a far cry from how I used to spend a Friday night, I laugh at how different my life is now and how peaceful my heart is in this moment of chaos. For all of us, the last few years have felt heavy, unnerving, and probably at times like living in a dramatic movie. Between a pandemic which has completely changed so much about our world, political divisions, racial unrest, and continual brokenness that fills our lives, we can all say we have faced tribulation. While all of these things have impacted my life personally, the biggest focus in my world has been the birth of two children in less than two years after years of struggling with infertility. These babies were prayed for, longed for, and still very much a surprise to us. In a short period of time, while the world around us changed dramatically, everything in our personal lives changed as we welcomed these two little lives into our family. As I navigate this new season that feels like I’m barely keeping my head above water, I surprisingly told a friend recently, “I think I may be more at peace now in this season than I've ever felt before.”

John 16: A Perfect Peace2023-03-24T17:57:50+00:00

The Church In One Accord

SHARON ROCKWELL | GUEST My husband and I recently attended the 34th Annual Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast in our small town. Several hundred people gathered to pray for our nation, our state, and our city. We watched our area Explorers and the Pipes and Drum Ensemble post the Colors and lead the Pledge of Allegiance. We acknowledged those in local leadership and first responder roles, and we listened to our public high school sing both hymns and patriotic music. Several community pastors read Bible passages and led us in prayer. It was a deeply moving time to come together with those who live side by side with us, who may attend different churches, who may disagree on the need for masks, and who may be on the opposite side politically. But none of that mattered. For the few hours we were together praying, we were in one accord. I was reminded of the story of the early church. After Christ’s resurrection, He returned to present Himself alive to the apostles. He offered many proofs that He was alive, appearing to them for forty days and speaking to them about the kingdom of God. The apostles were undoubtedly excited to spread the news of what they had seen and heard. But Jesus commanded them to wait for the promised Holy Spirit to come. After this commandment, Jesus was lifted up into a cloud and taken from their sight. Acts 1:12-14 records their obedience, “Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.” The crowd totaled about 120 people. Later, after Pentecost and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, the church grew as 3,000 were baptized and continued in prayer and thanksgiving.

The Church In One Accord2023-03-24T17:57:59+00:00

John 16: Peace in Jesus

ALLISON VAN EGMOND | GUEST The world news blares updates about recent warfare. An email alert chimes with bad news from a doctor. A mom yells in frustration. A pastor is persecuted for speaking the truth. A teen is plagued with suicidal thoughts. A kid screams for attention. A couple quarrels regularly. A woman struggles with falling into the same sin. There are many daily concerns that threaten to steal our peace. Longing for Peace Our chaotic lives can cause us to feel overwhelmed and unsettled. We are surrounded by various forms of suffering. Sometimes in the midst of the turmoil in my own life, I dream about lounging on the beach with a book in my hand, a salty snack to nibble on, and the soothing sounds of the ocean around me. Perhaps you’ve had a similar daydream. When life seems to swirl in chaos around us, we tend to want to escape the noise. We dream about another world, another place where there are no demands on our attention, no noises filling our ears, no fears or sorrows filling our minds. We long for a break. A pause button. Peace and quiet.

John 16: Peace in Jesus2023-03-24T17:58:18+00:00

Resilient Hope

BECKY KIERN | CONTRIBUTOR Think of your favorite book, film, or TV series: if there were no conflicts or obstacles to overcome, what would remain of the story? Would we know the name Harry Potter if there were no curse to battle; Jane Bennett if there was no pride (or is prejudice her vice, I can never remember) to overcome; Frodo without an evil ring to destroy, or Cinderella without a cruel step-family from which to escape? Conflict may be the driving force for story development, but the best stories are not simply fables of conflict avoidance. What pulls on our heart strings is the resilience and growth these beloved characters undergo in response to the adversities they face. Will Luke Skywalker give into his father and the power of the Dark Side? Will Elsa choose to stay isolated in her ice castle or will she choose to love and be loved by her sister? Conflict may provide the impetus for a story, but the resilience of a character is what teaches us to have courage, value friendship, or to love another.

Resilient Hope2023-03-24T17:58:31+00:00

John 16: A Perfect Peace

JENNA TEACHEY | GUEST What comes to mind when you hear the word “peace”? It’s funny, but when I hear the word peace, I think about the movie Miss Congeniality.  It’s a cute comedy with Sandra Bullock starring as an FBI agent who goes undercover as a beauty pageant contestant. At the end of the movie, the final five contestants are asked, “What is the one most important thing our society needs?” They all say, “world peace” except for Bullock’s character who says society needs stronger punishment for parole violators. When she says it, the auditorium goes completely silent, and the crowd looks appalled and Bullock quickly adds, “and world peace.” The crowd then goes wild, cheering and applauding. It makes me chuckle every time I watch it. I recognize the movie is clearly making fun of the typical beauty pageant answer of “world peace.” But really, who doesn’t want world peace? Who in their right mind prefers war over peace? So, what exactly is this peace that we all want? Webster defines peace as a freedom from disturbance; a state in which there is no war. This definition of peace sounds awesome but the more I have pondered this, it also seems fleeting.

John 16: A Perfect Peace2023-03-24T17:58:57+00:00

In a Given Day: Giving Praise to the Giver of Days

SUSAN PYKE | GUEST What’s in a day? Every life has a first day. I recently witnessed that joyful day in my first grandchild’s life! And we all will have a last day. We can probably describe our happiest day, and our saddest. Days that felt like they would never end, and days that ended much too soon. We are anxious about upcoming days: the scheduled biopsy, a meeting with our child’s teacher, a presentation at work, or the day the rent is due. The simple truth that God gives us each day to live for His glory can quickly get lost in these emotions and anxieties. How can we remember to praise and trust God for today when our minds and hearts are filled with memories from the past and fear about the future? We can find help with this searching question in John 1:1-5. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. With these verses in mind, we can go through our day more intentionally aware of Christ’s love and life for us. In the morning, we remember that Jesus, who was there at the first morning of creation, abides with us today. At mid-day we remember his sacrificial, redeeming love for us. At the close of the day, we see his truth by the light of his life in our darkness. God’s design of the daily rhythm of any given day can remind us to praise the Giver of days.

In a Given Day: Giving Praise to the Giver of Days2023-03-24T17:59:06+00:00

John 16: From Sorrow To Joy

PEY CHU|GUEST I am a huge fan of modern medicine. My first three children were born in North Carolina with the marvelously numbing help of an epidural. Sure, I felt uncomfortable but I did not feel the excruciating agony of childbirth. This was not the case for baby number four. He was born in East Asia where the epidural was not often administered and so, it did not take. I did not know that birthing a baby was actually supposed to be so painful. At one point, I was so convinced that I was dying in childbirth that I tearfully looked into my husband’s eyes and apologized for dying and leaving him a widower to care for three, possibly four, children. From Sorrow to Joy In his farewell address to his disciples, Jesus compares his impending earthly departure with a woman’s sorrow in labor. This metaphor would not have been a new one to those listening to Jesus. It was used in Old Testament biblical literature to allude to “the birth pains of the Messiah refer[ing] to a period of terrible trouble that must precede the consummation.”Jesus uses this imagery to show his disciples that they were at that point. The misery of Christ’s death would be countered with the bliss of Christ’s resurrection. In the Upper Room Discourse, Jesus has been preparing his disciples for what was about to come. As he looked ahead to his own death, Jesus tells them in John 16 that soon they would not see him. Their sorrow at his departure would be like the pains of childbirth. But their sorrow would not be the end; their sorrow would turn to joy. The intense agony of labor (and their sorrow) would be followed by inexpressible joy just as a woman “no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world” (John 16:21). Jesus follows with, “So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (John 16:23).

John 16: From Sorrow To Joy2023-03-24T18:00:32+00:00

Falling Down Laughing

LEAH FARISH | GUEST Events of the last couple of years have robbed us of several wonderful things, and one of them is laughter. Oh, we’ve had a few humorous moments—I recall trying to talk from behind a mask.  I wanted to ask an acquaintance, “Are your roommates nice?” and instead said, “Are your roommates mice?”  I suppose she could have said, “Yes--I wanted to get a cat and they won’t let me….” And as we all resorted to written communication, typos abounded: “I loom forward to seeing you,” and “I’m drowning in the hot tub” when my friend meant “drowsing.”  I contributed this gem to one discussion: “I have a couple of other thighs to point out.” Churches tried to market themselves online, which reminds me of one cheery offer—“Don’t go crazy in isolation; let the church help!” My hope is that God will return joy and laughter to His people in the coming days.  Laughter is not something mentioned much in the Bible, but let’s compare two of those mentions. In Genesis 18, we see Abraham’s wife Sarah, eavesdropping beside the tent flap where, outside, Abraham was entertaining three mysterious “men.”  Through them, God spoke to Abraham and said that Sarah would bear a son.  She was old, well past childbearing age.  So she “laughed to herself” at the idea of pregnancy.

Falling Down Laughing2023-03-24T18:00:47+00:00

John 15: Abide, Wholly Dependent Yet Secure

MELISSA OSTERLOO | GUEST Relationships are powerfully influential; we begin our lives completely reliant on the love and care given to us by our parents. Secure attachment— trust built over time through consistent encounters of dependent needs being fulfilled— informed us that we were seen, safe, and valuable. Children naturally feel at home in their parents’ arms, no matter what circumstances surround them. They grow and thrive, confident that their longings will not go unnoticed. We can learn a lot from children. In John 15:1-2, Jesus describes himself as the true vine, and his Father as the vinedresser. "Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit." Over the past four years, I have been living through a tough season of pruning. My husband, Adam, and I moved to northern Alabama in March 2018 for what seemed to be a great opportunity. He had built a solid reputation in the commercial truck industry and was recruited to open a new sales territory that had great potential. However, within just 8 months, instead of reaping the rewards of hard-earned commissions, we found ourselves endorsing the back of a severance check. Just enough to get by for a couple of months, and mere weeks before Christmas. Our harvest had not been fruitful.

John 15: Abide, Wholly Dependent Yet Secure2023-03-24T18:00:51+00:00
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