"Fitting In"

We've all heard the term "fitting in." What kind of emotions does that phrase evoke in you? For me, I personally do not like it when people say, "oh, you fit in just perfectly," or "you'll fit in fine." I'm a person that feels most of the time I do not fit in anywhere, or when I'm told I CAN fit in, it makes me wonder "what do I have to do" in order to have someone tell me I fit in. Hey, it could just be me that feels this way, but I wonder who else may feel like I do.
I thought a lot about this during our Bible study "No Other Gods." We talked about how sometimes phrases like "fitting in," "accepted," "part of the group," etc., can become like an idol to us. We may dwell so much on these things that we become obsessed with just fitting in and being accepted and lose sight of the fact we already very much matter to our Father God. People may make us feel like we'll only fit in if we are beautiful, talented, are witty, stylish, but God says to us, "you matter to me because you are YOU." I don't know about you, but I am thankful for a God who sees past all my "stuff" and says, "just be you."

As I seek what God would want for us during the next few months in Aroma, oddly enough "fitting in" comes to mind. We want to foster opportunities for you to be a part of what is going on in the lives of women at LifeSong and in our community, but what we don't want to do is ever make you feel like if you can't or don't come that you don't "fit in." We want you to know that you already "fit in" just because you are YOU! That is what I love about LifeSong. It's a place that says, "we all have a lot of life going on...sometimes it's ugly...sometimes it's full of joy, but it's your life, and you matter." We can all walk through the doors of LifeSong and know that we fit because we all have the same God. Thank goodness we won't hear from God in heaven, "you sure do fit in because you do such and such so well, so I'll let you stay in the group." Rather, He says, "you fit in simply because you are my child and I love you." I pray that you know that for your life today. He sent His Son so that we would fit, but not for some exclusive group, but that we would fit in the palm of His hand for eternity because we named the Name above all Names, Jesus! Ladies, I pray that you know Him. Aroma exists for two reasons, the way I see it. We drive toward the cross in all we do in order that you may know Him, and secondly, we provide an outlet for relationships with one another, in order to spur one another on. I pray that you go today knowing that you matter. Go today knowing that you fit in because you are you, and you don't have to jump through any hoops. Most of all, thank you for just being YOU. You know, I hear the word is out...God says you are BEAUTIFUL!

Coffee Connection

Join us Monday, October 13 for a Coffee Connection. Great time to hang out with your girlfriends over a nice hot cup of coffee. Childcare is provided. Contact Barbie George for more info. See you there!

Outdoor Movie Night

All ladies are invited to join Aroma Women's Ministry for an Outdoor Movie Night on Sunday, October 12 from 7pm - 9pm. We will be watching the Hallmark movie, "Magic of Ordinary Days" on the outdoor stage. We'll enjoy popcorn, hot chocolate, s'mores over the fire and great, great fellowship.Bring your favorite two liter drink to share, and make sure you bring a blanket and lawn chair. Bring a friend and come out and get to know other ladies from LifeSong and the community. Contact Bonnie Moody for additional information (by commenting to this blog post). Childcare is available on a sign up basis ONLY.

Family Day at Niven's

24:7 Moms is sponsoring a Family Fun Day at Niven's Apple Farm on Saturday, October 4th from 10 am until 12pm. Come out and bring your entire family. This is NOT just for moms...we want the dads to come, too! You choose your activities. You can pick pumpkins, take a hayride, go through the corn maze, shop in the gift shop, or just come and hang out in the fresh, fall air. There's no set price, only what you decide to do with your family. At 11am, everyone will meet at a designated location for a picnic lunch. You will need to provide your lunch, but Aroma will provide soft drinks and juice. Please see Jennifer Greene for more information, or for directions.

A Word for Thursday!

Apologies, again, for big chunks of time between posts. Today, be encouraged by the Word! Hope what the scripture says today fills your heart, moves you to action and reminds you of a Father who loves you wholeheartedly!
Stay tuned for many exciting announcements for Aroma Women's Ministry! If you are new to Aroma, hope you'll join us soon and allow us to introduce ourselves and get to know you more!

May God's Word penetrate your heart today, on this crisp Fall day.
Psalm 136:1-8; 23-26

136:1 O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endureth for ever.

136:2 O give thanks unto the God of gods, for His mercy endureth for ever.

136:3 O give thanks unto the Lord of lords, for His mercy endureth for ever.

136:4 To Him who alone doeth great wonders, for His mercy endureth for ever.

136:5 To Him that by understanding made the heavens, for His mercy endureth for ever.

136:6 To Him that spread forth the earth above the waters, for His mercy endureth for ever.

136:7 To Him that made great lights, for His mercy endureth for ever;

136:8 The sun to rule by day, for His mercy endureth for ever;

136:23 Who remembered us in our low estate, for His mercy endureth for ever;

136:24 And hath delivered us from our adversaries, for His mercy endureth for ever.

136:25 Who giveth food to all flesh, for His mercy endureth for ever.

136:26 O give thanks unto the God of heaven, for His mercy endureth for ever.

Mouths Open....Or Shut!

I realize it has been a long time since I posted on here, but thankfully that doesn't mean a pause in life, because I've been living it and I know you have, too, because I've been living it with YOU! We sure have had a busy summer and while busy sometimes isn't a good thing, I am so thankful that is not the case for what has been going on at LifeSong. I am so thankful that God has been right here with us, guiding us and building us.

I've thought and prayed long and hard about what I would post today. Would it be something witty? Something inspirational? Something deep? Something informational? I just couldn't decide, and well...I didn't have to. God always leads me in a variety of ways and most of what I write...EVER...is from living life with Him. Sometimes life is hard and confusing, and that is pretty much where I find myself these days. With all that is within me, I desire to be what God wants me to be and let me say, on the flip side of that is a desire to NOT be what people think I should be. The two worlds often collide for me...do they for you? Sometimes God has us do, say or be the hard thing, all for a purpose in the end - His Glory! How does this play out in your life?
I often find that just because I'm a woman that I must try to fix it all because that is how God wired me. I want to nurture, protect, take care of... It gets hard doing it all by ourselves, doesn't it? I don't want to do it anymore, though. I want Him to do it for me, don't you? One thing I have felt a great burden about lately is "unwholesome talk." How almost funny it is for a women's ministry blog to "talk" about unwholesome talk. I mean, come on, we're women for Pete's sake! Women, whether you want to hear it or not, talk...and I do mean talk! We can, in name of "I'll take care of it", fixer mode open our mouths to fix it, take care of it, make it all better, etc., just because we think we are supposed to. Pause button! We're NOT supposed to let "any unwholesome talk proceed from our mouth." I have a real hard time with this. I am a "if you think it, you say it" kind of person and sometimes that means I just need a Holy Shut up and let God handle it, right?
Let's not confuse the notion of unwholesome talk with the other side of things...saying that which builds another up, and edifies. That sometimes is really not pretty to hear either, is it? Have you ever made the comment after you hear a sermon, "Wow, sure did get my toes stepped on today"? I have! Sometimes what we need to hear hurts, doesn't it? Sometimes being the one to have to say the tough stuff hurts, but I just want to say today...say it! When it is for the purpose of building and protecting the Kingdom...say it!
Read this... In Jeremiah 15:19, we're told...."...if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be My spokesperson." This verse puts so much in perspective on how we use our tongue. I don't know about you, but to be found worthy to be God's spokesperson is much more appealing and purposeful when I stop and think about how I want my life to influence. You know the great thing, too? The truth is that we all fail when it comes to how we use our words. If you don't fail, then you must not speak at all. Our words get the best of us by swallowing us up sometimes. The great thing is that we don't have to remain that way. We CAN make a turnaround. Our talk can become that, which we've designed our mission for Aroma to be..."life leading to life." Let me encourage you today. If you find yourself in a place where you feel bound to unwholesome talk, make that turnaround today and allow God to show you the way to those "worthy" words.

The Boogey Man

Growing up, my dad pastored Washington Baptist Church in Greer. We lived in the parsonage there, which just happened to be right beside the cemetery (Sidenote...the house is not there anymore...they actually picked it up and moved it years ago). My sister's and my bedroom was located across the hall from the guest room, and the guest room overlooked the cemetery. Many a night, I had trouble going to bed because I could "just swear" I saw ghosts rising from the cemetery and looking in the guest room window. My parent's never really bought into the whole "I see dead people" theory, so you can imagine their "understandingness" (yes, I made up a word!) when I was still crying and hysterical at 10pm at night, and they couldn't get me to go to sleep. Let's just say I got many "a Holy talking to" and we'll leave it at that! Irregardless, in my young mind, I still felt as though I saw the spirits of church members past rising up to greet me each night, only to cause me great angst and a mounting fear of the unknown. I wouldn't exactly say that this is the root cause of my fear today, but it certainly isn't unlike me to fear the unknown...whatever the situation. Until this Bible study on "No Other Gods," I hadn't really realized what a grip fear has on me. I am terrified of my children being hit by a car (really, I am!), which is in part because I was hit by a car when I was five. I am somewhat scared of the dark, due in part to my nightly visits from the ghosts in the graveyard and in part to too many Dracula movies watched as a child. I fear "not measuring up." I obsess, all too frequently, over not being what others think I should be, or even fear who God sees me as. I fear losing friendships. I am not too sure why I fear this because I really have only had to part ways with one friend my whole entire life, yet I still fear it. I fear what God may ask me to do, and yet I thrill in what God could ask me to do. You see, fear is such a strange thing for me. Half the time I am fearing, I don't know that I'm doing it at all. The part of fear that scares me, however, is how much I take it for granted. I know that we are told all through God's word to fear Him. This isn't something that means what I just previously described as situations of being scared or afraid of Him. This is a good kind of fear. It's an awe of a Holy God that has my very best interests in mind. A God that desires to see me soar and not remain stagnant. A God who will love me no matter what my past is, or how I screw up my present, and quite possibly try to control my future. He is a God that just sees me for me, and that's that! Typing those words overwhelm me because I see in them such hope and promise. I know that if it were just me on this earth, He would still love me just the same - wholly, completely, utterly!
Sunday night something happened to me that I don't have happen much. In the midst of our class in "No Other Gods" having a time of prayer God spoke to me so clearly, that while it wasn't His audible voice, it might as well have been. I heard God so loudly in the midst of ladies in the room praying to lay certain idols at His feet, that I almost had to look up to see if the Father Himself wasn't really standing right beside me. God clearly spoke to me, "pray for the one who needs to lay fear and worry down." Again, "pray for the one who needs to lay fear and worry down." As I began to pray a loud, again, "pray for the one who needs to lay fear and worry down."
I prayed it, ladies. I prayed it as best I knew how, as God told me to. The result of this has been just like God is and always wants to be in our lives. Specific lives needed to hear it. Two ladies in particular have shared how the thought of laying fear and worry down shook them to the core. At first I was surprised, but hey...God was trying to tell me something, wasn't He? He wanted them to know just how much He wants to take this fear, which had become an idol in their life, and wanted to remove it from their life. What a promise He has given us to "never leave us or forsake us." Today, I just want to grasp this...to wrap my little mind around it and just BELIEVE it!
All those years ago, I believed the Boogey Man was out to get me every night. As ridiculous as it sounds to be so scared of ghosts today, the reality of fear is still there. The other reality is that there is the same notion of the Boogey Man being out to get us. Lives were shaken Sunday night because the Boogey Man, or Satan, if you will just indulge me for the purpose of this illustration, is out to get us. He is prowling around, looking for those who desire to name the name of Christ...just so He can destroy us. Giving fear a foothold is just what he wants. Let's make way for the greater fear, though. Today, let's just see how a Holy fear of God will take us straight to the door of freedom, because it's there we find a Savior waiting to take it all on our behalf!