So the thing that has been consuming most of my waking hours for the past few weeks and months has finally come and gone. Today was our women's event, His Very Own: Becoming a Titus 2 Woman. It was born from the verses in Titus 2: 4-5: "(Then) They can teach the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, busy at home, to be kind, and subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God."
What I envisioned was women of all ages sharing their experiences and wisdom, helping each other to grow and become more like Jesus. There have been so many people who have helped me in various points in my life, and they are all so different. I hoped that other women would be willing to be open to each other and allow for some exchanging of ideas and thoughts that would be helpful when we face troubling times.
It can be incredibly intimidating for some people to stand in front of a group and speak, but those people still have valuable insights and I didn't want that to stop ladies from participating. So we made it a panel discussion with several ladies sitting in front of the group together and each taking a few minutes to share their experiences in a certain area. We used the subjects from Titus: Loving our Men, Loving our Kids, Toward Self-Controlled Living, Desire for Pure Living, Home-making, not Housekeeping, and Called to Goodness and Kindness. (We narrowed it to 6 instead of 7 so we could have an even number and they could run 2 at a time.) And my favorite part was the resource fair: The ladies from the panels shared books, web sites, Bible passages, and seminars that had been helpful to them in their pursuit of these qualities. We assembled that and printed it out for each person to have as a place to go beyond the Bible. The ladies who did this were amazing! They called it "The Other Books on the Shelf". We also had almost all the books available that day for ladies to peruse and consider before purchasing them. Our goal is to have a women's library and have all these books available for people to borrow from the church. Someday soon I hope!
The ladies in our group are very talented. Kimberly designed our logo, Shellie and Melanie created some ultra cool decorations, and Jennifer, Daicia, and Ashley assembled the masterpiece of a booklet for the resources. There were ladies who arranged for food, some who did readings, and all the panelists who shared of themselves. For me, maybe the most important role was played by Sherry, who was my cheerleader. She encouraged me when I kept toning down my expectations and praying that I wouldn't get hung up on numbers and that if one person was touched, it made it all worthwhile.
What I envisioned was women of all ages sharing their experiences and wisdom, helping each other to grow and become more like Jesus. There have been so many people who have helped me in various points in my life, and they are all so different. I hoped that other women would be willing to be open to each other and allow for some exchanging of ideas and thoughts that would be helpful when we face troubling times.
It can be incredibly intimidating for some people to stand in front of a group and speak, but those people still have valuable insights and I didn't want that to stop ladies from participating. So we made it a panel discussion with several ladies sitting in front of the group together and each taking a few minutes to share their experiences in a certain area. We used the subjects from Titus: Loving our Men, Loving our Kids, Toward Self-Controlled Living, Desire for Pure Living, Home-making, not Housekeeping, and Called to Goodness and Kindness. (We narrowed it to 6 instead of 7 so we could have an even number and they could run 2 at a time.) And my favorite part was the resource fair: The ladies from the panels shared books, web sites, Bible passages, and seminars that had been helpful to them in their pursuit of these qualities. We assembled that and printed it out for each person to have as a place to go beyond the Bible. The ladies who did this were amazing! They called it "The Other Books on the Shelf". We also had almost all the books available that day for ladies to peruse and consider before purchasing them. Our goal is to have a women's library and have all these books available for people to borrow from the church. Someday soon I hope!
The ladies in our group are very talented. Kimberly designed our logo, Shellie and Melanie created some ultra cool decorations, and Jennifer, Daicia, and Ashley assembled the masterpiece of a booklet for the resources. There were ladies who arranged for food, some who did readings, and all the panelists who shared of themselves. For me, maybe the most important role was played by Sherry, who was my cheerleader. She encouraged me when I kept toning down my expectations and praying that I wouldn't get hung up on numbers and that if one person was touched, it made it all worthwhile.
Well, it was beyond all my expectations! While there were flaws that I saw, and some panelists who called me this morning with a stomach bug, it turned out fabulous! God had marvelous plans for this day far beyond what I could have imagined. Most of the ladies had such good things to say and they were blessed by the words of the panelists. Many women wished the day could have lasted longer! I am praying now for continued connections and bonds to be formed among the women of all ages. That is the ultimate goal, for women to do as Paul commanded in Titus: teach each other and grow in love.
Sherry, my cheerleader!
Table decorations: They used red, pink and yellow and planned a "candy and gift" theme. They thought about us all having gifts to share and this was a way to pass them on, and then they spray painted fortune cookies because we are fortunate to have these gifts, and we have to be willing to be used, "broken", to get them out. They spent hours stuffing little slips of Bible verses into the cookies! Amazing!
This is Shellie showing off our resource booklet!
And this is our too cool book nook! The ladies decorated the tables with little lamps, picture frames, flowers and greenery. It made me wish there were some recliners to sit in and curl up with a book! I felt God's encouragement to plan this day because I have been so blessed by some of the ladies who have taught me. And I have always felt like I have nothing to share and teach, but I quickly realized that that wasn't true. Not only do I feel that I have something worth teaching, but I am not being obedient if I don't share it! I was amazed by the stories I heard from women I know! There was the story about a family that lived separated from each other to help a child fulfill a sport's dream. And a women who sold her home in Texas and moved to California to care for her dying ex-husband of 30 years prior. For 5 years! Discussions about modest dressing, ministering to those dealing with death, and jealousy toward women who have the privilege of staying home with their children. It felt like this day was a drop of rain on a thirsty crowd. Several women said that they wished something like this was available when they were younger. And one of the evaluation forms said that she wished she could spend more time at these women's feet. Both the older women and the younger women recognized each other's value in teaching and clamored for more.
1 comment:
I am so happy that it turned out so well! I love the idea of the fortune cookies- it is often that when we are broken we find our hidden treasures!
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