Category: TLC4Women

Plans

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This is a picture of me, Pastor Doug and Bishop Holley taken this last week. The dog is Missy and she is Bishop Holley’s dog.

The last three weeks have been a whirlwind of activity as Bishop Holley and Dr. Gayla Holley came to help us wrap up the final plans of the church, work tirelessly on the store and just generally be the great friends and pastors that they are to pastors around the world. We are blessed to have such great support!

We are wrapping up the final part of the building and moving back home. I am excited to be back to our permanent place. Our temporary place has been a blessing but there’s nothing like being home after an extended stay away.

So many things are happening at Oasis. TLC will give its first scholarship away to a deserving high school senior tonight. For us, it is important that when we believe Romans 12:2, renewing your mind causes your life to transform, that we put put faith and finances to that action. To be a little part of helping a young Christian life get started on their first grown-up adventure is exciting.

This past weekend we did a giveaway of vitamins and toys and school supplies to our community. I’m proud of our church. They aren’t content to sit in the four walls and be consumers. They are producers as well. It doesn’t get better than that!

Date Abuse In Teens

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This is a best of TLC4Women from 2007. I thought it was worth reading again!

http://www.hope4uth.com/ Parenting-Resources/

In a 2005 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the statistics show that 1 in 11 high school girls are victims of physical abuse. While other experts say this statistic is low and could be as high as 1 in 4. Reporting can be spotty since most girls keep it a secret. On the surface it’s hard to understand why a girl would go through this when she has her life ahead of her and her choices are endless. Only the problem with this type of thinking is that we forget to think like a teenage girl whose completely infatuated with love and having that cute boy at any cost.

As with adult women in abusive situations these men are often quite apologetic after their abuse. They cry, they send flowers or gifts, the promise that it will never happen again. They swear that if she hadn’t have angered him so much he wouldn’t have done it. If a grown woman falls for these lines time after time then what can we expect from our teenagers?

At TLC we are studying Fight Like A Girl by Lisa Bevere. It’s an excellent study and through the discussions we are tackling these very issues. What does it mean to fight like a girl? What does using our strength look like and if we as the women God has placed to lead our girls don’t know then how do we think they respond? A question I asked last week to our youth girls was, “What does showing your strength as a woman look like?”, it was met with blank stares. I then asked the women, “Why can’t the girls that we mentor answer this question confidently?” and it was boldly answered by one women, “Because we don’t know either”.

We must empower our girls to know that they are the Crown of Creation. There is a way to treat a woman and that must be taught. I know you are reading this and thinking we have to teach our sons but the fact of the matter is that you as a woman need to understand how you should be treated and not accept anything less than that. I have to admit I saw that we aren’t doing our job with our daughters when I heard a young woman of 17 say, “A woman shows her strength by being tough, showing a man she can do it by herself you know? They can’t hurt her.”

A woman doesn’t show her strength by being tough. We weren’t designed to be physically tough. We were designed after everything on the earth was created. God didn’t create anything else after he created us. We show our strength in our nurturing, we show our strength in our ability to be relational, we show our strength in our love. Teen girls are being abused because they don’t know their strength, they don’t know their worth, they don’t know their possibilities. So they think being abused is as good as it gets and that saying sorry fixes it. We need to elevate our worth to a higher standard.

Just because a male is good-looking, charming, popular, smart or a jock doesn’t mean he has character and integrity. A person can be smart but that doesn’t mean they are decent humans. Just because he says he is sorry doesn’t mean we take him back. We are worthy of so much more than this! How will our young women know these things though if we aren’t teaching it? How can we change these statistics unless we speak out and have dialogue? Stop for a moment as you read this and think about it. Have you talked to the young women in your life about abuse in dating? Are you watching for the signs?

We must learn that our strength is in our ability to think for ourselves. Our strength is holding ourselves to a high standard of morality and worth. Our strength is in not following the crowd. Our strength is in the ability to discern right from wrong. These things only happen when we are able to truly know who we were created to be.

The Heart Of A TLC Woman

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TLC4Women are women with a heart for service. They help paint over graffiti. They lead children in Sunday School classes. They mentor young Christian women, and non-Christian women alike. They get calls from others in the community for help, prayer and advice. I am so very proud to serve these women. Recently, I was asked to lead a prayer vigil at a church 30 minutes away. A dozen of them went to support me and to help the women at this church. I know of many women’s groups and ours is unique. I love these women more than anyone knows.

For Pastor’s appreciation they got me a gift that was extravagant! I have to show it to you!

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It is beautiful but more than the gift was this poem that was beautifully written by a woman who I am mentoring as a leader in TLC. It blessed me and I wish I had words to express what it meant to me. Some things are beyond words! The poem reads:

TRANSFORMING LIFE CENTER

Pastor Susan, Pastor Susan where do I begin?
I am going to tell the story how ladies hearts began to mend.
In 2006 God put a women’s bible study in your heart
Which is how TLC got its start.

We came together on Moday nights to learn about Him
We came hiding our wounded heart and tried to look proper and prim.
As we began to open up and trust each other more,
God dealt with some past hurts He got right down to the core.

Captivating was our first bible study that helped us climb out of our cocoon
We started the healing process and mighty women of God we would be soon
Other bible studies such as: Kiss The Girls And Made Them Cry, Deal With It, King David
The Patriarchs just to name a few, Bad Girls of The Bible were very important who had a clue?

Soon our open wounds were healing nothing left but a scar,
With lots of prayer, encouragement and the Lord you helped get us this far.
So thany you from a bunch of butterflies who just wanted to say:
We love and appreciate you on this special day.

Love The Women Of TLC

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My smudgy fingerprint messed this picture up! Sorry!

Man! Can you see why I am blessed? I have a great group of women around me who wanted so desperately to be used by God! All they needed was a nudge, well in some cases, I had to tie their ankles to a bungee cord and push them off the cliff but they soared!! Yes, Lord I give you glory because they soared! I am overwhelmed with joy and appreciation to the Lord for these women. They are the new generation of women who love and follow Jesus. I share this with you today not to brag about us and how far we’ve come but I share this with you to say Look At God!

Look At God! He loves you no matter where you are in life. He loves you even the deepest part of you, the part that shames you, the part that makes you feel guilty because you think if someone found out, you’d be thought of in a bad way. He formed you before the foundation of the earth. He counted the hair on your head. He determines your future not based on your past but based on your destiny in Him! His mercy knows no bounds. When God forgives he forgets. He says your sins are as far as the East is to the West. So what have you got to lose? Trust him! Love Him! Believe in Him! Watch Him transform your life! I’ve seen His work first hand and I praise Him for it!

New Ministry

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Pastor Doug measures and praying about leasing this space

Yesterday I told you that I’d fill you in on what’s been taking up my days and nights for weeks now. We are opening a RE-Store. A RE-Store is a new name for a thrift shop. For weeks now, we’ve been gathering items, and now we should have our official grand opening on Saturday.

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Can you imagine what we can do with this space?

We modeled our store after the La Porte, Texas store run by an organization called Role Models Of America. This RMA store will be called Oasis RMA and will be the West Coast representation. We are proud that they trusted and allowed us to join forces with them.

Dawn and DeWayne taking a break from their hard work as volunteers

We had to first dispel the notion of what a thrift store is with our congregation. As you all know the TLC4Women scripture that we base our ministry on is:

Romans 12:2 2. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.

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The grid walls are in. Let's start moving in!

This scripture applied here big time. We had to change our mind about what a thrift store looked liked and felt like. So here is the vision of our new ministry:

We are not a yard sale or a junk store. Our ministry is one of excellence and so the items in the store are items that are in good condition. No stains, no rips, no tears, no “good enough”. We want to offer a good product to our community because, after all, it represents the ministry. Nothing is wasted. Anything that doesn’t go into the store is sent to be recycled. This is important to us because we don’t want to waste resources. God’s commandment of replenishing the earth doesn’t mean making more landfills!

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Mary Lou and Dawn working some long hours!

This ministry will help on multiple layers. We have partnered with our county to help clothe people for their job interviews. Sometimes all it takes to land a new job is to have a new outfit to boost your self-esteem. We also offer help getting your resume together and giving mock interviews. We also will have items to help with benevolence. The economy being what it is, we will have access to things that can help. We aren’t even open yet, and a woman who is a week away from giving birth just moved to town. They don’t have furniture and we got a couch donated that we think will be a blessing to her. Being able to help is what we are called to do! Besides it makes me really happy!

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What a blessing!

The money that the store generates, will help with our food pantry, a youth program that we need and help us with our missions work. Our community has been so helpful! We really live in a good city with good people who have a desire to make it a better place. We could not be more grateful!

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Pastor Sergio who works tirelessly!

So now you know what we’ve been up to. The store will open on Saturday. I’ll be sure to post some pictures and update you as we go. For now, we covet your prayers!

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Naomi and Ruth offer comic relief at the end of hard day's work

This Christian Believes In Evolution

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Yes, you read that right. I believe in evolution. I don’t believe that I am a descendant of an ape but I do believe that I have choice to either evolve in my life or atrophy. The second option just doesn’t seem like an option to me. No, I can unequivocally say to atrophy or get stuck isn’t even in the thought process of my life.

So, I read, I listen, I watch, I search out wisdom. I want to be learning something on the day I take my last breath. I don’t think that I will ever achieve nirvana and complete enlightenment, but I want to go out a whole lot smarter than I came in. I’m not content to just believe something because someone told me it was so, I want to know it for myself. I plan to be a student forever.

I also work on myself, not just intellectually but emotionally as well. I want to find a balance in life. Where there are too many deadlines and stress in a life, there is a shortening of life where eventually you meet your own deadline in the form of a flatline because of a heart attack or high blood pressure or a stroke. I have the ability in my hands to shorten my days and I don’t plan to do that. For this to happen, I must plan my life and I must take control of my health. This means that I must balance my life between the world of my work and my personal time. I can’t let either consume me. This was a hard lesson to learn but I believe I’ve come to a peace within myself.

1 Corinthians 13:11. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

While many Christians are consumed with the earthly debates of rapture and end-time prophesy and their opinion on pre/post/mid, I don’t even care. God isn’t here yet and I have work to do. I know that whatever God decides whether it be pre/post or mid I will be secure in Him. In the meantime, there is an urgency to find out what my destiny and purpose is and then to fulfill that purpose. There are people who need someone to talk to about their problems, I am a good listener. There are people who need a meal. I am a good cook and I have in my hands a network of resources to buy some groceries or get some help. There are people who need a coat for winter. I’m not above asking someone to help with an extra coat. There are babies who need strong arms to hold them and love them, and I am capable of that. There are animals who need our help and humanity and I have a heart for that as well. There are just too many things that need my mind to be focused on them. For me to be worried about at which point my Lord decides to take me out is just a waste of time. One day God will reveal to me all I need to know. For now, I have work and love to give and I have my part of this whole picture called life on earth, to live out.

So yes, I believe in evolution. So what about you, are you evolving?

Romans 12:2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.

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TLC4Women

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As the TLC summer series comes to a close it’s time once again to set the vision for the new year and to remind the women who are a part of TLC about what our goals were from the start.

Transforming Life Center was started with the premise that once we were born again, we had to learn to live a new life in Christ. This meant we had to leave a lot of the things we knew before behind so that we could learn new things that would take us to the purpose and plan of who we are.

Romans 12:2-And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Romans 12:2 is the verse that carries our ministry forward. Our goal in everything we do is to move forward and forget those things that are behind us. In dealing with our pasts once and for all, we then put it behind us as it no longer defines us. Then, applying those things we have learned, we move forward, becoming more aware of who God is and what he is doing in our lives. We aren’t about becoming the Church Ladies, there are enough of those already, we are about becoming disciples of Christ.

So what does TLC have in store for this next year of study?

  • We have four bible studies coming up. We are continual learners and we have a desire to know God more intimately day by day.
  • We have a conference to plan that is just around the corner.  This is a lot of work for us but the end result is that the word goes forth and women’s lives are transformed by the messages that the speakers have for us!
  • We have a scholarship that we are going to give to a deserving senior this next year. We have got to begin to put our words into action. If in fact, we are students for life then we place a high value on education and we will put our efforts where our mouth is.
  • We are mentoring the youth and college-aged women who are coming up behind us. We have a class set up for them that is being put together as we speak. We are taking the charge in Titus of the older women teaching the younger and applying it where it is most needed our youth girls.
  • We are going to work closely with Moms Against Hunger to help feed the world.
  • We have a “detergent ministry” where we go to the laundromats around town and distribute detergent.
  • Finally, this year, we are adopting a child from Compassion Ministries whom we will support with gifts and letters.

Our mandate is big this year but our hearts are strengthened by the word that has already gone forth and been implanted into our ministry. We are pregnant with vision, power, prophesy and courage as we move forward in the new endeavors of this year!

I am proud of these women and look forward to a destiny and purpose that we may think we know but watch God blow our minds!

Moms Against Hunger

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Dr. Gayla Holley is a wonderful friend to me. She grew up as in Zimbabwe while her parents were missionaries there. She played along-side the children there, was educated there and has a very special place in her heart for the people there. That is her adopted country. You can see the love she has for the people there when she recounts her stories of her childhood. 

Her life has been spent helping others. She is not your average Pastor’s wife dealing with her local church and funding missions. She has made missions her life purpose. This year she started Moms Against Hunger. Her God ordained task is to send food worldwide. With her ministry Role Models Of America she has not only fed, clothed, moved medicine and building materials worldwide, she has been involved in being a first responder to the catastrophes of Hurricane Katrina, Rita and Ike, just to name a few. So she has the experience to get this done.

Currently, she has 150,000 meals ready to ship from La Porte, Texas to Zimbabwe Africa. Zimbabwe has agreed to waive the tariffs. Because of her connections there she has people on the ground that are ready to get this food starving people. The food is purchased and ready to go. She needs $10,000 for transportation costs to get the food there. $10,000 seems like such a huge amount but if each of us gives up our Starbucks or McDonalds meal for the week, we can make this happen. There is a small window of opportunity where the government is being cooperative.

Oasis and TLC are proud to be a small part of getting this food shipped. Can you help? If so, please click on her link above and give your help. If we all do just a little we’ll be able to make a small dent in hunger in the world.

If you aren’t familiar with what is going on in Zimbabwe click here to learn more.

Thanks for all your help and may the Lord richly bless you!