Deeper Retreat

This past weekend a group of the older girls from both this group and the other group I lead in Belleville, gathered for a time of seeking the Lord, encouraging one another & growing intentional relationships with one another. Unfortunately, we were so busy enjoying our time with the Lord & each other that we forgot to take very many pictures! However, I've asked the girls to share a few testimonies about what God did or taught them through the retreat.

"I had such a blast at the Bright Lights retreat! Not only did it give me the opportunity to dig deeper into the relationship I have with my Lord and Savior but also with the girls around me. It was such an encouragement to spend time with other believers and learn that I'm not the only one who struggles with spending as much time with God as I should. I was challenged as we spent time learning new ways to spend time with God." - 17 year old

"I was so encouraged by the videos, encouragement groups and prayer time. I loved spending time getting to know the other girls, just knowing that we are all struggling and that we can all help each other is cool. I loved being able to spend a whole weekend in prayer and talking with or about the Lord, and also finding new ways to have a deeper relationship with Him. I was really convicted by the fact that I need to surrender my entire life to Him and let Him write my story. Also, that I need to be spending more scheduled times in prayer. I really appreciated all the times we spent in prayer in our encouragement groups. It was really cool to share different thoughts, stories, verses and struggles. I know the Lord was working in each of us, and I'm so thankful for this opportunity." - 15 year old

"I had one of the most amazing times at the Deeper Retreat. At first, I didn't want to go because I didn't feel 'good enough.' However, I grew so much closer to the girls and realized they struggle with the same problems I do (even Allison! Shocking, I know! ;), which means we can pray all the more sincerely for each other. The Holy Spirit convicted me of many things - like how I wasn't surrendering my whole life to Jesus - and the retreat pushed me to answer those questions which sit in the back of your mind that you don't want to deal with. After the retreat, I felt so refreshed, encouraged and close to my Lord." - 16 year old

"God further instilled in me a fervor to fear Him and obey His calling no matter what other people think or say. To possess Chazak and Amats! RAK CHAZAK  people of God!!" - 18 year old

Preparing to be a Wife & Mother

Tuesday was our first meeting back together after our break over the holidays. What a joy it was to see everyone again & get started for the semester! We began our new set of lessons with the topic of "Preparing to be a Wife & Mother."

I shared the vision for our God-given role as women and the exciting potential we have to impact many for the kingdom of God when we choose to embrace the jobs God has chosen for us. We also talked about the importance of beginning to prepare for these jobs now while we're young so that by the time God brings along our husband & family we will be able to serve well.

During the lesson, I had the girls throw out various skills that would be important as a wife & mother. Then, I had them share important character traits for a wife & mother to possess while I recorded them onto the dry erase board.

After making our lists, we used them to discuss how many areas we have to grow in as we prepare. We should have not problem keeping busy between now & then! ;)

At the end of the lesson, I encouraged the girls to be aware of the independent mindset that the world promotes for us as young women. I encouraged to truly seek the Lord about their future & pursue His heart for their seasons of preparation between now and the day they are married.

Once the lesson ended, the girls broke up into teams and worked together to create a skit. Each team chose one of the character qualities from the board to base their skit on. The skits had to demonstrate a situation in which a wife/mother would need to demonstrate that character quality & also show what would happen if she had not developed that quality in her life. ;)

We ended the meeting with small groups followed by tea time!

I look forward to seeing everyone again for our meeting on February 5th!

Christmas Party!

Last week, we gathered at Dr. Jazz Soda Fountain & Grille for a few games, Christmas carols & fellowship! Here are a few pictures from our annual Christmas party!

Thanks for the lovely evening, ladies! See you next year! ;)

Reliability of Scripture

Here are a few pictures from our meeting last week. Our topic was the "Reliability of God's Word" and we talked about how we can trust the Bible to be a strong, faultless, foundation for our lives.

We look forward to seeing everyone again in just one week!

Being Wiser Than Your Enemies

On Tuesday, we met & I shared with the girls the secret to being wiser than your enemies - Scripture memorization & meditation! We talked about the benefits, practicals & I encouraged each of them to set a Scripture memorization goal that night when they got home. (Have you set your goal yet?)

"Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me." Psalm 119:97-98

Receiving Rebuke

Tonight the house was bustling yet again, with a large group of energetic young ladies! To begin our meeting, the girls broke up into groups and prepared "Proverbs" to present to the rest of the group.

These presentations, which were rather amusing at times, were on topics including correct table manners & interacting with siblings.

Towards the beginning of the lesson, we had a rather abrupt & rude interruption by some pretty strange looking characters. ;)

They seemed to think they had the liberty to be in our meeting room doing whatever they pleased & got pretty offended when I told them they were wrong.

Our lesson for the evening was on receiving rebuke. Rebuke is whenever someone tells you that you are wrong. The Lord uses rebuke in our lives to help us grow to be more like Him. A young lady who is seeking to apply wisdom in her life will respond to rebuke with humility while a young lady who is walking the way of folly will reject rebuke.

Once the lesson was completed, the girls split up for small group discussion, prayer & fellowship. Finally we ended with tea & fellowship!

We'll see you all for our next meeting on October 29th!

Leadership Retreat

Every year there is a group of young ladies in our group who are chosen to serve as small group leaders throughout the year. In preparation for the year ahead, the O'Fallon leaders for 2012-2013 gathered to spend the day in prayer, training, discussion & fellowship.

We started the day with a delicious breakfast made by our hostess, Mrs. B. Then, we gathered briefly before each young lady went off by herself to spend some time in individual prayer & Bible reading.

Once everyone was finished, we gathered back together to pray as a group for the upcoming year of Bright Lights. It was so encouraging to spend time asking the Lord's blessing on our group. After that, each of the girls paired up with her co-leader & spent some time brainstorming & praying for their small groups.

The Rebekah group leaders

The Mary group leaders

The Esther group leaders

The rest of the day was filled with lots of discussion, training, planning, games & good food (thanks to Mrs. B!).

The day was full of anticipation as leaders got excited for all the Lord has in store this year. It was also a sweet time of building friendships & enjoying good fellowship.

New Members Meeting!

Tonight we had a new members meeting with a group of young ladies who will be joining either the O'Fallon or Belleville group this fall for the very first time. The purpose of the meeting was for Allison to introduce the girls to Bright Lights & review the foundational set 1 lessons. Many of the girls were enthusiastic & it was a joyful evening of fellowship & learning. The girls all seemed eager to get going & meet the other girls!

Lots of silly faces.... :)

I'm really looking forward to getting started with meetings in just a few more weeks! I will see everyone on September 18th!