Sensitivity 3/22/11

Today our topic was on learning to be sensitive to the needs of others and demonstrating Christ's love to those people.

One of our first activities involved a whole lot of coins, blindfolds & gloves/mittens. Different girls volunteered to try to collect as many coins as they could in one minute while blindfolded & wearing some sort of gloves. Everyone else enjoyed the amusement as they tried to pick up the coins & find the cup to put them in.

Heather & Gretchen with work gloves on...

Cecily, wearing snow gloves, trying to find her cup.

Melissa helping Audri get her snow mittens on...

Sophie helps lead Jenna to the starting place..

After this activity we talked about "spiritual gloves" that we wear that prevent us from being sensitive to the needs of others. Just like it would have been easier for the girls to collect the coins without any gloves on, it's much easier for us to be sensitive to others when our pride or selfishness is not keeping us from recognizing those needs.

After the lesson, we made an "encouragement web" with yarn. Everyone stood in a circle and each girl would take a ball of yarn, hold part of it & throw it to someone. The girl who threw the yarn would give an encouragement for the person she threw the yarn to. We threw the yarn back & forth, always holding on to it until everyone had been encouraged & it created a big web.

It was really sweet to see the girls encourage each other.

Once the encouragement web was over, everyone split up into small groups to discuss the lesson and pray. I don't typically get pictures of the small groups so I tried to get at least one shot of each group this evening.

The Rebekah Group...

The Mary Group...

The Esther Group...

Finally, we ended with tea & fellowship. This week, because of our lesson, I encouraged the girls to sit with someone they didn't know very well during tea time. It was fun to see everyone all mixed up & enjoying each others company. :)

Sarah, Brooke, Katie & Cecily...

Haleigh, Karen, Audri & Jenna...

Kalei, Martha, Rachel, Sydney & Jessica...

Katelyn & Jenna...

In our group, if you sit near Shelby & Sophie, this is what happens to those who refuse to pose for pictures... ;)

Gretchen & Sophie..

Shelby & Sarah...

Impromptu movie production?

Allison, Jenny & Rachel...

Sarah & Taylor...

Once again, I really enjoyed my time with you ladies this evening. I'm looking forward to our next meeting on April 12th! See you soon!

March Discipleship

For the next three months, a group of older girls from our Bright Lights group will be meeting together for fellowship & one-on-one discipleship. The hope is to encourage and disciple our upcoming leaders while fostering closer friendships. Today was our first discipleship meeting and we were graciously hosted by the June's for a spaghetti lunch.

After some fellowship, a delicious meal and a brief lesson on leadership, the girls broke up into partners. Each little group is comprised of a "big sister" and a "little sister." Together they completed a Bible study sheet, encouraged each other in their struggles and prayed together.

Gretchen & Jenny...

Brooke & Sylvia...

Rachel & Sarah...

Karen & Jenna...

Taylor & Haleigh...

Sara & Katelyn...

Kalei & Jessica...

Judging from all the smiles when we gathered back together, everyone enjoyed and benefited from the 45 minutes of discipleship time. We ended with a brief group discussion and prayer time.

Karen & Sarah posing with the fruit arrangement Taylor brought. :)

I'm very excited to see how the Lord uses this time to strengthen each young lady in their walk with Him. We've got a wonderful group of girls & it's exciting to see them growing!

Contentment 3/8/11

Tonight we started Set 3 with the topic of contentment. Throughout this set we will be looking at different character traits of godliness. I shared about the Israelites and how God had blessed them so much with many miracles yet they chose to complain rather than acknowledge the blessings. In the same way, we often choose to be discontent with what we don't have rather that thanking God for what He has given us.

During we talked about Fanny Crosby and how even though she was blind, she chose to be content with the way God had made her and thankful for the blessings she had. I had the girls put bags on their heads to simulate blindness and they had to complete different tasks.

Mass Chaos :)

Trying to form a circle

These make for funny pictures. :)

After the girls wore the bags on their heads we talked about how many blessings, such as our eyesight, we take for granted.

We also discussed how the enemy likes to use different tactics to make us become discontent with what we have. One of those tactics is through advertising. At the beginning of the meeting the girls competed to come up with a list of company slogans. There is a reason why McDonald's says "I'm Loving it" not "I'm Hating it."

Later on, the girls broke up into groups and created television commercials for wacky items. The goal was to get them to think about some of the things advertisers do to make you discontent with what you already have.

Taylor, Katie, Sara & Sophia with the "Moldy Ham Sandwich."

Jenna & Jessica in their "Your Face Could be on the Statue of Liberty" commercial.

 

Rachel, Kalei, Cecily & BrookeAshley in the "Empty Tube of Toothpaste" commercial.

Karen in the "Chicken Hat" commercial..

Jenna & Karen. :)

Katelyn putting the chicken hat on to cover up her "bad hair day & pimples."

After the lesson and small groups we closed with tea and some delicious desserts!

Karen & Haleigh...

Sarah, McKenzie & BrookeAshley..

Taylor, Heather & Sara...

More Karen & Haleigh antics.

Sylvia (hiding), Kalei, Karen & Haleigh still being silly..

FYI - These girls aren't very shy. :)

I am SO incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful group of girls to spend every other Tuesday evening with!! Girls, thank you for sharing your infectious joy with me every week! I look forward to seeing everyone very soon.

Don't Miss Our Next Meeting...

...on March 8th from 6:15 - 8:15pm. We'll be diving into Set 3 which discusses "reflecting Christ in every response." Don't forget to work on your ministry goals & be prepared to share with your small group (and maybe the big group) how it went.

I can't wait to see you all soon!