Honoring Parents 4/24/12

I apologize, this post is a week late. We had a great time last week wrapping up Set 5 with a lesson on honoring your parents.

Our Gratefulness Banquet is quickly approaching! For the banquet, each small group has memorized a large portion of Scripture to share. During our meeting each group got up & presented the passage they had memorized to the rest of the group. It was so encouraging to hear each group share.

After we heard each recitation, I taught a lesson on honoring parents and gave the girls some practical suggestions for showing honor and respect to their parents. Once the lesson was completed, the girls surprised me with a birthday cake & bag full of birthday cards from each of the girls!

I am so, so blessed by each of you girls! Thank you so much for thinking of me & encouraging me in this way! It truly is an honor to know each of you!

Next, we did a Bible sword drill with various Scriptures related to parents, authority, honor & disrespect. We made it a competition between the small groups and the Miriam group won this time.

I look forward to seeing you all again for our last Bright Lights meeting this semester on May 8th at CBC!

Disputing & Arguing 4/10/12

This evening we discussed yet another way we frequently use our words to hurt others. I challenged the girls to consider their hearts and choose an attitude of humility rather than pride when tempted to argue with others, especially siblings.

"A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense." Proverbs 19:11

"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." Porverbs 15:1

During the lesson I had a few girls come up and "argue" with me about pretend scenarios. Then, the group would analyze the argument, what could have been done to prevent it or what could have been to stop the argument in the middle.

There were lots of laughs!

Many of the girls pointed out how foolish most of the arguments seemed. I reminded them that many times the things we choose to argue about are often trivial as well.

Here are a couple video clips from part of the arguments. (I apologize, the first one is tilted sideways, but it's still amusing)

We ended with small groups and tea time!

silly, silly girls! :)

See you for our next meeting on April 24th!

Group Pictures 3/27/12

 Today was group picture day for our Bright Lights group! Because our group is so large, it took a while to get everyone in place & get a nice picture but we finally got a winner!

Click the photo to view a larger version

Seeing this picture and all these joyful faces makes me so happy.. it is truly an honor to know each one of these amazing BRIGHT LIGHTS!

Silly Picture

We also took some time to take small group pictures as well. Here are the photos of each small group.

The Rebekah Group

Rebekah Group Silly Picture

The Mary Group

Mary Group Silly Picture

The Esther Group

Esther Group Silly Picture

The Miriam Group

Miriam Group Silly Picture

The Ruth Group

Ruth Group Silly Picture

After we finished all the pictures, we returned inside for a lesson on disrespect, small groups & tea. I look forward to seeing you all again on April 10th!

Gossip 3/13/12

One of the girls who was a part of our group recently moved & wrote us a letter. One young lady began our meeting by sharing this letter with everyone.

 This evening our topic was gossip.. something we take lightly but God takes very seriously. Gossip is destructive and rooted in pride. Our desire as Christians should only be to speak words of love that will build up and encourage those around us.

As talkative young ladies, it is easy for us to be caught up in this subtle sin, yet God has called us to a higher standard in the way we speak and place value on others.

"He who covers a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates friends." Proverbs 17:9


"Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers." Ephesians 4:29

During the lesson, we played a comical game, telephone charades, which illustrated how a story can get distorted as it is passed from one person to another. Each round a team of 6 was chosen.  While her teammates were out of the room, the first girl was given a Bible story she had to act out. Then her second teammate entered the room and watched her perform the charade. The 2nd person then acted it out for the 3rd person and the game continued until the last person had to guess what the original Bible story was.

It was amusing to see how the charade changed from person to person until the final act had nothing to do with the original story! In the same way, when we repeat stories about people, they often adapt and become a tale far from the truth.

Once the lesson was over, the girls spent time in small groups, began working on a special (secret) project for our upcoming banquet & ended with tea time. See you all again on March 27th!

Small Group Leaders 2011-2012

Something many girls in our Bright Lights group may not realize is that once a month, all the older girls who serve as small group leaders take time out of their Saturday afternoons to pray and plan for their small groups. These young women have faithfully invested time into serving and praying for the 6-8 girls in their groups.

Today was one of our meetings & we took time out to take a few pictures.

Miriam Group Leaders

Ruth Group Leader

Esther Group Leaders

Mary Group Leaders

Rebekah Group Leaders

I am so blessed by the way these girls love & serve with such willingness & joy! It is truly an honor for me to know & serve alongside them! Thank you girls for all that you do! :)