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A Journey Worth Taking

By |2023-03-24T17:45:44+00:00December 19, 2022|Blog|

BETHANY BELUE|GUEST When I was a child, our family would take long road trips in our brown-paneled Dodge Caravan. My sister and I each got our own row, and we would nestle down in our matching Care Bear sleeping bags, with all the snacks and activities a kid would want. My dad’s road trip tunes of choice, Barry Manilow, became the background music for our journey. It was the ideal family road trip setup. But no matter how many activities we played, how many snacks we ate, or how beautiful the scenery outside, I would always ask that question that sends a shiver up every parent’s spine, “Are we there yet?” Every trip is too long, and the destination is always better than the journey. The Journeys of Life As an adult, I still don’t like road trips, but I understand that to get to any destination there must be a journey. I thought about this as I recently celebrated my 40th birthday. I reflected on the past 20 years of my life and where the Lord has brought me. As a 20-year-old, I had big dreams for my life. I had a plan for marriage, children, career, and even where I would travel and when. I had no idea I wouldn’t meet my husband for 13 more years, or that I’d walk a road of infertility before becoming a mom 17 years later. I didn’t know my career would go in a completely different direction, that friends would pass away, that desires would go unmet, or that I’d receive gifts unimaginable...

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Giving Thanks Every Day

By |2023-03-24T17:46:59+00:00November 14, 2022|Blog, Thanksgiving|

BETHANY BELUE|GUEST Ten years ago, I sat across the table from a dear friend whose mother had recently passed away.  As we shared a bowl of cheese dip, she talked to me about the pain of losing someone so close to her.  Her grief was raw; her questions were real. But what I saw even more was how she clung to Jesus through her pain. That night she shared with me about keeping a journal of gratitude through the difficult season of watching her mom battle an illness and eventually go into the arms of Jesus. Each night, she wrote out specific things she was thankful for, things she was trusting God for, and a promise of God she was clinging to. Over time, she had pages and pages filled with her thoughts and desires. Although it did not change her circumstances, it gave her perspective in the midst of life's storms. What Happens When We Trace God’s Goodness As I walked the Manhattan streets back to my apartment that night, I was challenged by the discipline of my friend and her simple practice to remind herself of truth. At that time, I was in a season where life felt mundane and so many desires were unmet. It was so easy to lay my head on my pillow at the end of the day and think that the Lord was not answering my prayers and wonder where He was in my story.   That night, I decided to start keeping my own journal...

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Hurrah for the Seasons

By |2023-03-24T17:47:08+00:00November 10, 2022|Blog, Christmas|

HOLLY MACKLE|CONTRIBUTOR In college a friend told me she welcomes the seasons—even celebrates them. I’m sure I nodded to look cool, “I totally get that.” (Not likely.) I’m getting older now, with definitely more wrinkles and possibly more maturity, but finally I get it. Now I too celebrate the seasons. For me, this celebrating of the seasons is more than pumpkin spice lattes and tall boots—it’s about worship. God has been about the business of seasonality for a long time. He’s the One who set the Old Testament festivities for his glory and our good when we were just being introduced to his character. By way of introduction, the Old Testament Jews were given Passover, Purim, and the Feast of Booths—just to name a few. Through them it’s as if he said, Allow me to introduce myself. And once you understand me a little bit more you’re going to want to worship me—so here’s how you do it, and here’s how you celebrate who I am and the story I am writing. On this side of the cross, we have tremendous Christian liberty and holiday celebratory leeway as we walk around indwelt with Christ himself—the personification of the Temple, Jesus—abiding in our very hearts. In John 2:19 Jesus referred to himself as the temple, and 2 Corinthians 6:16 pulls from Leviticus 26:11-12 to explain how this indwelling extends to us, “For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, ‘I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.’”...

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The Most Important Discipleship Group

By |2023-03-24T17:49:07+00:00September 26, 2022|Blog, Parenting|

SHEA PATRICK|CONTRIBUTOR In high school and college, I participated in discipleship groups. These groups met each week to talk about our struggles and what the Lord was teaching us. I grew in my relationship with the Lord because of these wonderful opportunities to learn and grow in my faith. But as I became a mom and began to consider what it looks like to disciple my children, the discipleship model I was used to did not seem to fit. My children would not even sit still! With the Lord’s help, I have reconsidered what discipling my kids means and how it changes as they grow and mature. Now that my kids are nine through fourteen years old, discipleship looks very different from my early expectations. But the three main components of instructing, coming alongside, and getting at the heart have remained consistent...

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Mercy in Modesty

By |2023-03-24T17:55:26+00:00June 3, 2022|Blog, Mercy|

MELISSA MCPHAIL|GUEST So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. (James 2:12-13) I’ve read and studied James’ book of wisdom multiple times throughout the years, but this morning I realized the law of liberty is a New Testament explanation of Christ’s gospel of grace. Immediate conviction overwhelmed me. So speak and so act according to [grace]. Do I do that? No, most of the time, I do not. The recipients of this letter did not do that either. James instructed the believers to hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, and in so doing, they were to show no partiality (James 2:1). None. Zero. They were not to have a spirit of judgmentalism or display a critical eye having strong opinions of others. They were not to make distinctions among Christ’s people and become judges with evil thoughts. They, too, knew the right thing to do and struggled to obey...

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John 16: A Perfect Peace

By |2023-03-24T17:57:50+00:00April 28, 2022|Blog, Last Words to Live By Series|

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.”

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Resources

By |2024-08-23T02:27:38+00:00January 1, 2022|

Women's Ministry Resources CDM strengthens your church by connecting you to the resources you need for Women's Ministry. Whether you are creating a Women's Ministry from scratch or looking for help reenergizing an existing ministry, [...]

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Planted for a Purpose

By |2022-05-08T01:33:08+00:00April 9, 2018|Blog, Ministry|

RENEE MATHIS|CONTRIBUTOR “When in April the sweet showers fall…” Chaucer was right. He knew something about April.  He knew that after the bleakness of February and the bluster that is March, that we could use some sweet showers [...]

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