May 26th, 2009 by Kristi Stephens

Remember last week’s tackle when I cleaned out the master closet? I had some extra motivation to tackle our closets (the kids’ closets and dressers were next, although not nearly as dramatic!) – I was preparing for our church’s first clothing and toy swap!

I have been thinking about an event like this for quite a few years, actually. We get lots of hand-me-down kids’ clothing, which has been such a blessing to us – I’m not sure what in the world they would be wearing without these much appreciated boxes of blessings! Our ABF is pretty good about sharing clothes with one another, but I thought it would be great if we could open it up to a church-wide swap. Especially during difficult economic times, knowing that many are on reduced incomes or have lost their jobs entirely, this is a very practical way for the church body to care for one another.

We asked that anyone interested in participating drop off any gently used clothing (washed and sorted by size) and toys that they were ready to part with at the church on Friday evening. We set tables up and labeled them according to gender and size and set all the clothing out on them, and also had toy, book, and baby item areas. On Saturday morning the room was open for everyone to come “shop” for free!

I came home with some clothing and some little tikes gems: a see saw (which is shaped like a fish and hence has been named “Moby”), a xylophone, and a dishwasher/sink for AG’s kitchen!

We didn’t have as many people participate as I had hoped – next time we do this I hope more will join in. That is not to say that we were lacking donations – wow, did we have a lot of stuff! However, the ratio of what was brought to what was taken was way out of proportion – we had so much left over!

It did not go to waste – the children’s clothing was boxed up and taken to family services for foster kids, the adult clothing and baby items were put into the closet for a ministry our church has to families in need, and the many, MANY toys that were left were trucked over to Salvation Army.

Lessons learned:
1. We need more than two women to man this event! We were expecting to have more of our women’s ministry committee there, but almost everyone ended up being out of town or unavailable for other reasons. This was a lot of work – if you do this at your church be sure to have adequate people on hand, especially for clean up. We really underestimated how much there would be leftover that needed to be dealt with before we could even consider cleaning up the room and setting up for children’s church the next day! By God’s grace we somehow accomplished this with 2 people in about 2.5 hours… and I thought I would sleep for the next two days!

2. Advertise, advertise, advertise. Even though the response from the church was much less than I had hoped, it was worth it because we had at least one mom come who does not attend church anywhere and said she is considering coming to the church, now! Next time I would love to open this up more deliberately to the community. What a great opportunity to show God’s love! The little boy of the woman I mentioned actually came up to me on Friday night and said, “Why are you doing this?” What an excellent question! :)

Have you ever attempted (or attended) a swap like this? Please share your gems of wisdom! :)

February 8th, 2009 by Kristi Stephens

This picture pretty much sums up the state of affairs at our house this week:

Sadly, this was not staged!

On the bright side, we had a great weekend with our church women’s retreat to the beautiful Carlisle Inn in the great metropolis of Sugarcreek, Ohio. The weather was warmer, the sun was shining, and the dairy farm across the street provided a great country smell to greet us when we walked outside. :) It really was a lovely, relaxing weekend. I would live at Carlisle Inn if I could!

We mixed things up this year – instead of having a speaker, we broke everyone into 7 small discussion groups and worked through some guided studies of the Psalms together. It’s amazing how anytime you do something out of the ordinary, it makes people uncomfortable! Even though it was different, I hope that everyone enjoyed it as much as I did. It is a precious thing to look across a room full of women, Bibles open before them, discussing the meaning of Scripture and the greatness of God in their lives. I pray that His name was lifted up and that our time together was a pleasing aroma before Him.

Our theme was “Journeys of Grace” and we spent our time studying the psalms. One of the reasons we were very drawn to the idea of focusing on the Psalms was the opportunity it provided to discuss God’s faithfulness through all aspects of our journeys. Throughout the Psalms, David and the other psalmists share their innermost thoughts and struggles – and then always come back to the fact that no matter what pain, affliction, suffering, etc they experience, they know without a doubt that God is faithful, God is good, God is trustworthy.

This theme also lent itself well to hearing testimonies from other women, and we were blessed by hearing some incredible testimonies of God’s grace. After hearing a testimony, we spent the session times studying the Psalms together.

If you are interested in working through our study materials on your own or sharing them with other women, please do! Session one is a study of Psalm 23, focusing on the fact that the Lord is our Great Shepherd, and we can trust Him through pain and loss. Session two is a study of Psalm 73; it looks at God as our refuge, and at how we can trust him through times of anger and hurt. Session three is a study of Psalms 25-27. These Psalms together show how God can be our confidence, and how much our perspective is changed when our greatest desire is truly to know God above all else. All three of these files are available for download here.

May God bless you as you continue on your own “journey of Grace.” Praise the Lord that we’re not on this journey alone!

December 6th, 2008 by Kristi Stephens

This was a reading I prepared for our ladies’ Christmas tea at church this year, based on Matthew 2:1-12. As with everything on my blog, feel free to use/ share this – I just ask that you include the url to this site. I pray that we are all preparing our hearts for Christmas along with our homes!

Dusty and physically spent from their journey, their hearts beating in anticipation, the Magi arrived in Jerusalem. They had seen His star, and felt compelled to find Him, to worship Him: the long-awaited King of the Jews! They had traveled for months, years, and had finally arrived at their destination, anxious honor Him, this child-King announced to them from the heavens themselves.

These sincere worshippers from a foreign land went to the most logical place they could think of to find Him: Jerusalem, the city of David. “Where is He? Where is the King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him!” Their enthusiasm was not mirrored in the faces of those they talked to in the city. In fact, rather than the spark of recognition and excitement they had expected, they saw fear, confusion, and distrust.

The news of their visit and inquiry about a new king reached the ears of King Herod. The King was more than curious and unsettled. He was enraged. He heard their words as a threat to his kingship and power. He knew what to do, for the words of the Magi had been too familiar. The promised Christ. The King of the Jews. Oh yes, he knew the King to which they referred, and a bunch of dusty prophecies could not be allowed to infringe upon his power.

Herod gathered together the chief priests and scribes, and soon he had received his answer: prophecy stated that the Christ was to be born in Bethlehem. He quietly summoned the magi and sent them on to Bethlehem with instructions to inform him of the child’s whereabouts. He would destroy this so-called king before it was too late.

The magi set out from the palace on their way to Bethlehem. As they neared the town, and the last gleams of daylight disappeared from the western horizon, they glanced at the night sky which was so familiar to them and were suddenly overcome with wonder. The star! THE star! The one they had seen, discussed, studied two years earlier was winking back at them from the velvety, diamond-studded heavens. It appeared to be moving, shining, gliding its way through the streets of Bethlehem until it gloriously shone on one tiny house jumbled among many on the crowded street.

Their knock at the door was answered by an obviously poor but dignified young woman. When they noticed the small boy clinging to her cloak, they knew. This child did not look extraordinary – his appearance and surroundings would not distinguish him from the scores of common children in Bethlehem. But still, they knew this was the one. He was not marked by elegant trappings, but the bright star which shone down on this house made it unmistakable: this was the Christ, the King of the Jews.

One by one these regal and learned men knelt before the boy in worship, recognizing that this child was more than a future human king – He was divine. Each produced a treasure – gifts worthy of a king. Gifts which foretold more than they realized.

The first gift revealed was gold – a shining treasure seemingly out of place in the simple house. This gold was more than an expensive gift. Gold signified kingly glory, for they were paying tribute to the True King.

As the second gift was opened, the strong aroma of Frankincense filled the air. Frankincense was part of the unique recipe given by God for the incense to be used to in the tabernacle and temple. The scent of Frankincense was to come before God in a pleasing aroma of worship, and these magi were honoring Him as God in flesh.

The third gift, although still costly and beautiful, was unsettling. Myrrh is a bitter herb used in the embalming of the dead. This third gift foretold the suffering and death which awaited the child of the promise who stood before them.

As we consider the events of this day long ago, we must consider our own approach to this one True King. Some will hear the news of the Christ and will react as the people in Jerusalem did – they will not respond with excitement and joy. They will be afraid, confused, and suspicious. This King they have heard of could disrupt the calm of their lives and demand a different kind of allegiance than they are willing to offer. Rather than searching for the King themselves in order to enter into the joy of serving Him, they will stand back and miss the gift of Immanuel – God with us.

Others will hear and respond with anger, as King Herod did. Who is this One who claims the right to rule? Who will seek to usurp the power and authority we feel we have over our own destinies and daily lives? They will not stand back, they will wage war. The Wonderful Counselor will be seen as a threat, and they will seek to destroy this King and erase all memory of His name. But one day, they must bow the knee. For He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

A few will hear of His coming and rejoice, search for Him, and seek to present themselves to Him in worship. They will recognize Him not as just another child, but as the promised Christ. They will give all they have to Him, the one True King, the one True God, the Redeemer and Savior of their souls.

Where would you have been that day? Would you have ignored Him, hated Him – or would you have worshipped Him? What will you do with the problem of Jesus? Who do you say that He is?

O come let us adore Him, for He is Christ the Lord.