Category: TLC4Women

Time For Beth Moore and Dog Allergies

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Some of TLC goes to see Beth Moore

I’ve missed writing this past week! April 1 saw some of the women of TLC head to Fresno, CA to see Beth Moore at the Save Mart Center. What a blessing for us. We stood in a stadium of 6,500 women and worshiped to the music of Travis Cottrell and then heard a powerful word from Beth Moore. At one point, during the worship, I looked around the stadium and just shut my mouth. I watched in awe as the daughters of the Most High King praised him with song. It was just beautiful. Tears filled my eyes as I stood on holy ground and watched women from all denominations, all colors, all sizes and shapes, all ages including babies come together for one common purpose. To praise and learn about our Father.

The Save Mart Center became holy territory the moment our feet entered that space together in one mind and one accord. With all debate between denominations and all the Christian voices we hear battling one another it was pure honor to be one voice among many that sang in unison, that laughed in unison and that talked non-stop during break! There were so many of us, honestly I saw about four men there, that we not only used all the women’s restrooms but the men’s as well.

Of course the women of TLC who went to the conference, spent the night in a local hotel, and I spare you the details of that, but suffice it to say that we all slept about 3 hours or so and then went back to the conference. I can tell you that our ride home in the church van was MUCH quieter than our ride up!

I wasn’t able to catch up on my sleep that night or for many nights. Lulu, the wonder dog, began to scratch like crazy. I thought she had fleas so I pulled the flea comb out and began to brush her out but there was not a single flea. A trip to the vet told us that she has an environmental allergy. What the heck does that mean? Well, she allergic to either her food, her treats, flowers or grass. So guess what? Lulu and I are on prednisone, my seasonal allergies and her whatever allergy. There’s a problem though. We decided to eliminate one thing at a time to see what she’s allergic to. So we had to eliminate all snacks and put her on a special diet. Lulu, is not used to getting told no she doesn’t get people food, so she’s not happy. Plus swallowing a pill without a treat afterward is not her idea of fair.

So life’s been rolling along and my writing has lapsed but I’ve got so much to share. So many things on my heart, so many things I am learning. I can’t wait to get back to time writing. For now, I have to give my dog her next dose of meds!

We Are Women

Greeting my uncle who is in his 80’s, we began talking and somewhere in our conversation I referred to myself as a girl. He scolded me saying, “I hate when women refer to themselves as girls. You go through so much to become a woman and then you refer to yourself as girl.” I laughed […]

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Gilbert Caraveo

Greeting my uncle who is in his 80’s, we began talking and somewhere in our conversation I referred to myself as a girl. He scolded me saying, “I hate when women refer to themselves as girls. You go through so much to become a woman and then you refer to yourself as girl.” I laughed and brushed it off in the moment but later I realized that he had a valid point. I’d been mulling it over off and on when I gathered with a group of women for tea yesterday.

I looked around the room. This tea brought 30 women together. We began to speak about the topic at hand that day which was the privilege of being adopted into the family of Christ and what responsibility that carried with it. The women began their stories slowly and softly as is always the case. They began to tell of where the Lord had brought them from and where they thought they were going. These were women who had earned the privilege of being called a WOMAN. Two hours later and a few cups of tea, there were women who were laughing, crying, comforting, counseling and you began to feel the camaraderie of women who had made their way through some STUFF! I realized I was in the company of some strong women, some women who had, as my uncle said, “gone through so much”.

The things that were discussed in that room, stay in that room. Suffice it say that there was breakthrough and prayer and that when women get together and pray SOMETHING HAPPENS. The next day at church, I saw a sparkle in the eyes of those who attended. I saw a look of acceptance and love and knowing, we had opened up our hearts to each other and the payoff was love. One thing I know about women is we can be each other’s biggest enemy but also each other’s biggest ally.

Although we may not have walked in the footsteps of the other, we had walked through things which had hurt us deeply and we had come through. We understood the pain, the trial of overcoming and the triumph. We also understand the gift our God has given us of redemption and restoration and future and a hope.

My uncle is right. We aren’t girls, we’ve come through a lot to be women. Now we need to own it.

TLC’s Conference

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We were honored to have such powerful conference this weekend. Almost 150 women gathered to discuss why God asks us not to arouse or awaken love before it so desires. Women from the ages of 10-100 came and learned what God’s plan was and why he said wait. I was so impressed by our teens who were honestly saying that they had never really considered why God said wait.

Some of the comments that touched my heart were:

“Now I understand why my dad acts like he hates boys to talk to me you know? He is trying to protect me. I mean, he’s still not doing it right but I see his heart now you know?”

“I would never do the things I do in front of my dad but I had never considered that my father in heaven is always watching. It makes you think.”


“I can’t talk to my mom because she always runs and tells her sisters and her friends.”

“I can’t talk to my mom because she always starts yelling and judging.”

“I feel helpless when my daughter comes to me because I see my baby asking 13 year-old questions and it scares me.”

“I sometimes don’t know what to say to my daughter so I revert to rules.”

“I still wear scars by the things boys said to me in high school”

“I didn’t live what I am teaching and I want more for my daughter but I don’t know what to say.”

“I’m scared of what I see happening to the young girls today.”

“My mom just lectures and I have no one to talk to but my friends.”

Thank you Jesus for a ministry that allows us to come forth with the questions of our heart. Thank you that you see every question and that it is meaningful to you!

RETREAT!

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It’s time to go to retreat. It sounds funny that we drive off to go to a retreat that we hope will advance our relationship with Christ, but I’m praying for a few days of some serious revelation and relaxation! See you in a few days. I have no idea whether I’ll have Internet or not, and it doesn’t even matter!

Young Mother’s Group

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http://www.1sky.org

Titus 2:3 Guide older women into lives of reverence so they end up as neither gossips nor drunks, but models of goodness. 4 By looking at them, the younger women will know how to love their husbands and children, 5 be virtuous and pure, keep a good house, be good wives. We don’t want anyone looking down on God’s Message because of their behavior.

Tonight TLC starts a new class for the young mom’s in the church. Those of us who have older children and have been there done that and have the t-shirt have decided to feed them with a potluck dinner and then begin to mentor them.

What kind of chores can you give a toddler?

How can you get a shower when you can’t even get a single moment alone?

How can you keep the house clean when each time you leave a room, a child or children come and throw their toys again?

What do you do about a husband who wants to have some sex and you just want to sleep?

What happened to the pretty perfume smell you used to have because now you smell like baby spit-up?

Is there anymore ME time?

What do you do with a child who refuses to do anything you say?

What do you do when your child asks why for everything?

How do you get your child to eat something other than chicken nuggets?

What do you do when a child throws a major tantrum in the grocery store?

Yes, lots of questions that the older moms and grandmothers can answer. It’s going to be a great night! Looking forward to being a help and support!

TLC4Women

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messenger international

Nurture
Give and get what you need to flourish
Find your voice, discover your strength, & make God connections.

Tonight starts our new bible study. We are studying Lisa Bevere’s Nurture book. Cost is $12.00 for the workbook. Can’t wait to see all of you there!

Oasis At Work!

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God never ceases to amaze me. On Thursday morning I woke up and had one thought…”Oh God, it’s supposed to be so hot today, 105, and for the next seven days it’s supposed to be like this.” Then in what I know is a God-inspired question…..”What will the homeless do now that the rescue mission has closed?”

From there sparked an idea. Not a fix by any means, but a respite, is probably a more appropriate word. What if we got water and food and went out to the rail trail and passed them out? It’s not a solution but it’s something. Our city spent some bucks on a beautiful walk trail in our city and we can’t really use it because the homeless hang out there and in the evenings they are pretty hammered and sometimes give people a hard time, but we know where to find them!

My next prayer was, “Lord, you know my calendar. Who can help me today? Who can kick this into gear for me?”

As God is so wonderful, upon getting out of the shower I hear the buzz of a text message on my phone. I read with a smile a note from Cruz, my TLC Leader. “I have meeting with Lauren in one hour. After that, I am available to help you with whatever you need help with today.” Father! You are just too amazing for words!

“Cruz, I have a burden on my heart today,” I tell her when I see her. I explain the whole morning and say, “Can you get on the phone and make this happen? It’s supposed to be hot over the next several days, I need some crews to get together.”

Within hours, our sweet little Kingdom Kidz are on the rail trail giving out cold water and a ready-to-eat flavored tuna packs that we had put away for disaster relief food.

A great big THANKS to Cruz for her service to the Lord! A great big shout out to our precious Kingdom Kidz, who know most of the homeless people on the rail trail because their parents take them to Manna Ministries each time it’s our turn to cook for the disadvantaged and so they consider these men and women friends. They greet them when they see them walking around town and they care about them!

Most of all thank you LORD, for the wonderful way in which you direct our path and put such wonderful people in our lives!!

Oasis YOU ROCK! WOOT WOOT!

TLC4Women

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This year we gave out our first scholarship to a high school senior. We got a committee together of three women and had two meetings. One to determine the criteria for the scholarship and one to read the applicant’s essays. We three unanimously choose one girl whose letter touched our hearts.

Then the three of us arrived at the high school last Monday night and walked up to the microphone and nervously presented our first annual scholarship. We were so excited! Our winner is Damaris Raluy and I wanted to share our picture with her.

Our Pastor challenged us with a question several years ago. He said, “Do you want to be a small part of something big or a big part of something small?” We all unquestionably answered that we wanted to be a small part of something big. Here is the women’s ministry of our church’s response to that call. Here is a small seed into the education of a young woman, which is a big thing! Praise you Lord that I stand beside these two mighty women of God and together we made a small thing happen that we pray will reap big results. Congratulations Damaris! We will pray diligently for your success!

In this photo left to right: ME, Damaris Raluy, Tracy Jurado, Vikki Grijalva