This year has been a powerful one as I sought opportunities to learn about prayer and encourage others in their prayer life. As life has gotten incredibly busy, I have realized even more the need to face life from my knees, praising God, thanking Him for all good things, and bringing all requests before Him, honoring His will as I prayed.

Friday, I sat in a prayer room, a converted room at the Wachovia Center, for much of the day while women listened to speakers and musicians at the annual Woman of Faith Conference. Moms in Touch was in charge of being there for anyone who needed to pray and to pray for the speakers and the whole event every minute it was happening. My friend, Patti, took on the responsibility this year to run the room and gather women willing to pray. I was grateful she allowed me to participate.

I had never been to a Women of Faith Conference. This year was themed "A Grand New Day." Since we took turns going into the event, I was able to listen to the engaging, spit-fire Patsy Clairmont and then hear the rich tones of Steve Curtis Chapman who sang his Princess song, the one written for the daughter accidentally killed by his son who backed into her in the driveway. Tears welled in the eyes of those who knew the story.

I would say that the conference is a delightful chance to enjoy Christian entertainment. It is not intended to be a deep time of bible study or reflection but a time for women to come out of their busy lives and enjoy hearing humorous heart-tugging speakers and talented Christian musicians praise the Lord and lead hundreds of women in doing the same. There are many materials by each of the speakers and performers to lead you in deeper personal study at home but I didn't buy anything this time. I have many books at home that I still need to read!

I had to laugh when the guy who opened the event asked who Twittered. I think I was the only one to yell (which wasn't too loud with my sore throat)! Follow @Women of Faith to get them on Twitter. Inspirational speaker Sheila Walsh was twittering in the crowd! Follow @SheilaWalsh to see what she is doing today. Looks like she got Lisa Welchel on Twitpic! Lisa is another inspirational speaker at the event, best known for her role on Facts of Life so many years ago now. (Man, am I feeling old.)

Overall, I am glad I attended for that day. I hear the prayer room is overflowing on Saturday when it is announced at the end of the conference as a place to talk to women about a personal relationship with Christ. I was supposed to go but I realized during the day on Friday that I was coming down with an UGLY cold. Sometimes you have to say "No."

I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed the rest I did get on Saturday instead and when I woke up, I was praying for them from home in my PJs with my favorite coffee cup – which is OKAY too!

 ⁵⁴ When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the LORD, he rose from before the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven. 1 Kings 8:54

I would definitely recommend anyone who wants to gather friends and attend an event like this – especially since it travels around the country. You will be uplifted and encouraged and hopefully motivated in your walk with Christ. It is a nice time to share with others who need the same!

“The Lord's love never ends; his mercies never stop. They are new every morning . . .” Lamentations 3:22-23 NCV

Devotional for PresWIC e-newsletter: Women in the Church (WIC) Leadership Training.

MEMORIZE IT! Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths." LEARN IT! The Bible instructs us to put all things into the Lord's hands and to trust that if we walk in His truth, He shall guide and lead us. But how often do we really listen? How often do we get into our planning meetings and start right into the when, where, what, and whys of everything before really lifting up our meeting to God? As a practical kind of person, I know I easily fall into that temptation. About two years ago, I attended a meeting where several wonderful, godly women sat planning an upcoming event. One woman begin to gently and calmly tell us how much we needed to put our event before the Lord. Another woman, quick to action, said, "Okay, let's pray then." Knowing both of them to be strong women in the Lord, I marveled at the gifts God gives each of us and how they are all necessary in the body of Christ as we put our plans before the Lord. Some women are better at praying publically and reminding others of the necessity to do so. Others are better at the planning stages and moving the meeting to vital conclusions which are equally valid when an event is underway and decisions have to be made. The beauty of being servants together in Christ is that when we seek His understanding and read His word and study it together, we can know that God will be honored and praised and in return He will lead and guide us in joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (The verbal self-control really comes in handy in some meetings and you now what I talking about.) Planning events for the year can be stressful. Often a few good souls with the time during any given season of their life take on the brunt of the planning and implementation. It is important for us all as leaders to go back to these simple words: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart" as told to us in Proverbs 3:5a. Don't be anxious or worried or over-stressed. "Lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:5b-6) We don't always know why we get the reactions we do, why some events go over better than others or why some people just need to complain and break our spirit when we are just trying to do what we trust to be the service of the Lord. Be encouraged because God sees. He knows and He is there holding you up. You play an important role in your community, in your church and if you are truly seeking the wisdom of the Lord, He will guide each step of your way. APPLY IT!

Have you prayed in earnest over your upcoming events? Personally? As a team? Have you ever noticed what happens when you get too busy and try to achieve your goals without praying and putting your plans in God's hands?

And he said to them, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And, a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.'" Matt. 22:37-40

Here's my first article to appear in The Voice of Grace & Truth, a Christian newspaper for the PA Delaware Valley. (It ran on the front page of the June/July 2009 Issue)

This year we celebrate 233 years of freedom following the signing of The Declaration of Independence in 1776. The signers demanded release from taxation without representation, freedom from a faraway government making unilateral decisions about their future. When they later crafted the Constitution, they were quick to build in freedom to worship God without governmental interference and the cherished freedom of speech we still fight to protect.

 When the signers of The Declaration placed their names on that document, they knew that their freedom might be cut short. Their act put all their lives in jeopardy. They were committing treason. They had to make good on their declaration or die. They were intelligent men who came together from all walks of life. Lyman Hall was a physician and minister. Benjamin Franklin was a scientist and printer. Benjamin Rush published the first American textbook on chemistry. George Taylor was an iron master and Robert Morris a financier. Many were merchants, lawyers, and land owners. They were men who knew the value of their name and signature.

Life would not be easy for these men in a country which still needed to be defined and defended. Some supported the new government through their written essays, educating the public on how the new world should be run. Others became influential decision-makers in the new Congress and military leaders, fighting in the Revolutionary War. Some died in debtors prisons when everything they had was taken from them because of their stand; other succumbed to unknown illnesses. All died knowing they stood up for the most important document our country ever produced. They launched a nation that would eventually put "IN GOD WE TRUST" on most of its currency in acknowledgement of the principles on which it was founded.

Though our nation is now engaged in debate about the continued use of the motto, the historic reasons for it are unchanged. As Christians, we continue to fight for the right to share the gospel in public places with the same fervor our founding fathers felt about their cause in 1776. Like them, sometimes we fight the government; other times we fight our own reluctance to be bold, to please people and not cause controversy. In this regard, we must all look within and ask what we can do to stand up for our  Lord and Saviour, and to stand up to the enemy that threatens to kill and destroy by making us hold back, rather than enjoy our freedom in Christ.

In Galatians 2:11-21, Paul opposed Peter, the great apostle and proclaimer of Christ, because Peter had slipped into hypocrisy, limiting his fellowship to Jews only, excluding Gentiles. Paul reminded the aging apostle to not give up the freedom Christ gave us when he redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us through his death and resurrection. His words remind us to be proud of our heritage as sons of God, to stand firm and rejoice because “it is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” (Gal. 5:1 NIV)

Just as Paul helped shape a new church after Christ's resurrection, the signers of the Declaration helped shape a new country by standing up for their ideals. We can live and die knowing that through faith in him, we are a part of the greatest nation–the kingdom of God. The signers of the Declaration affixed their own signatures to the document; Christ has written our names for us in the book of life when we trusted in Him. Because of Him we can stand up for our freedom, and speak the truth in love, grace, wisdom, and discernment with a bold heart.

 

Sarah Peppel serves as the president of women's ministries for the Philadelphia Metro-West Presbytery. She is also the Frugal Living columnist for The Phoenix, a professor of Communications at Valley Forge Christian College, and featured storyteller for Story of My Life. Sarah can be reached at sarah@peppel.com. Her blog is www.genesismoments.com

You know summer is coming when you put on your jeans and you begin to feel prickly sweat start to crawl up your shins, defying gravity. You push all fears that the shorts in the bottom of the drawer might not fit this year and shimmy into a pair that at least keep your legs from sweating, all the while weighing the fact that had you left the long jeans on, you might actually sweat off a pound or two.

After inspecting my legs to make sure I shaved sufficiently to warrant summer attire, I decided to don a pair of shorts the other day. I reached into my drawer for my favorite pair of jean ones. Pulling them out, I was appalled. When did I let them go to pot? Ragged strings hung down like the bangs of a toddler-turned hairdresser and paint drips streaked the front in a random pattern giving no clue as to where and when I was actually painting last because honestly I don't remember actually doing any painting for years. I couldn't believe it. Had I lost my mind? When did these shorts get so bad?

Waxing poetic, I thought of the bazillion parallels to life. When did those weeds get so high? When did the cabinet under the girls' sink become such a mosh pit of miscellaneous girl stuff requiring a shovel to extract a single hair barrett? When did I give up on cleaning? Well, that was an easy answer. It was when I learned about blogging and the fun of connecting with other women online also complaining about the piles of laundry and life that were now being unattended because we were all having so much fun meeting each other and figuring out what life might hold in the next stages after kids or perhaps swapping stories about what life held in that moment that day and enjoying the comraderie that immediate feedback brought without tying up the phone lines, creaking the neck changing the sheets.

And then, I forced myself off the computer and opened my Bible at random. Falling on Nehemiah 9, I came across the story of God's people, His covenant with them, their betrayal, their repentance, His forgiveness, their betrayal again, their repentance AGAIN, and His forgiveness AGAIN.

So true the old words which read, "But you are God, ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness, . . ." Nehemiah 9:17c

How often we get so busy with our lives. The important things get pushed aside out of view, under the cabinet or in the drawer with the summer clothes: our relationship with God, our God-given need for Christian fellowship, and our bible studies. We turn around one day and our Christian walk that used to fit in God's plan is now in rags, paint spattered and mishapen. We look on with horror and wonder just where we went wrong.

When did the licks and bites add up to extra weight in our heart and in our jean shorts? Sometimes it is so slow and steady that we can't even remember the slide down the hill. Sometimes a single event takes us down a quick disintegration into prideful abandon and disillusionment with our Christian sisters and brothers. Satan doesn't care which way we fall, just that we do fall and miss the incredible freedom and love that God, through His Son, Christ, has to offer us and the joy of the accountability of the Holy Spirit whose whispers are muted and veiled when we let other voices crowd in.

But, praise the Lord for His forgiveness. Because of His love of us, His creation, He keeps letting us come back, clothing us in fresh robes and giving us a new start!

Are you disillusioned or overwhelmed with the burdens of life that have become heavier than you can bear and yet you still try to bear them alone? When Jesus came to earth to die as a final sacrifice for our sins, He said this, "Take My Yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matthew 11:29-30.) What joy and freedom there is in Christ, in staying in His word, in fellowshiping with other Christians, being held accountable by each other every day, in spite of the eventual fires that can only bring forth gold from dross if your heart is true.

Don't let life catch you unaware. God knows your heart and is waiting to help you organize and clean out. You have to knock. You have to open the door. Let the light shine off those new robes of glory once again.

Here is my latest entry for the e-newsletter I create for the women's ministry leaders of the Philadelphia Metro-West Presbytery PresWIC. Thought I would share with all you lovely bloggers too!

MEMORIZE IT! 1 Chronicles 16:14-15 "He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth. Remember his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations." LEARN IT! Ever wonder what a coffee machine, a car, and a screen door have in common? They all have filtering mechanisms that protect us from the dirt and grime of life. With my coffee machine, I change the filter daily so that I can start fresh with new grinds to reap rich mocha rewards. With a car, the oil filter has to be changed every couple of months to keep the car running smoothly. With our screen door, we have to repair holes when they occur so that bugs don't get in the house. Just like the filters of our everyday life, our spiritual filters need upkeep too. By spending time in the word of the Lord everyday, we are able to learn what true obedience to our God means. Yesterday's grinds just don't make the same coffee as starting fresh today. Imagine only having coffee on Sunday and expecting those grinds to last you all week, brewing pot after pot each day. The result is watered-down and stale coffee that gets worse with each brew. Though you may remember what was said on Sunday throughout the week, daily study makes the word of God more vivid and real, providing a fresh perspective on handling life as each new challenge arises. Your car oil filters don't need to be replaced as often but changing them is still critical to the ongoing maintenance of your car. Church events and biblical retreats help keep our spiritual "engines" tuned throughout the year. In 1 Chronicles, we hear about a people returning from exile to claim God's promise of inheritance. We see King David working with his people to rebuild the kingdom. It wasn't always easy as his people worked out how to live according to God's laws and purpose. By being faithful to plan events for the women in the church, we provide the opportunity for members of God's kingdom today to be encouraged together in faith and to be reminded of the importance of life in covenant together, a fallen race redeemed through God's grace and mercy. Screen doors create filters for our home that often need repairing or even replaced. In our spiritual walk and Christian ministry, a personal issue may need to be dealt with or an entire program in the church may need to be reevaluated. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. As leaders, we need to be aware of our own need to fall before the Lord our God and repent of sins that block us from learning or block those we lead from learning. When you are in leadership, prayer and submission to Christ as your God and King becomes vital as you constantly evaluate your walk in the Lord in light of his scripture. God is faithful to meet our needs for wisdom and guidance, helping us rise above temptation. He has also given us the authority in our church, through elders and deacons, to whom we should submit our plans and from whom we gain direction to ensure accountability in all circumstances. Just like a screen door, some bugs are easy to see, obvious to the naked eye, but some bugs are tiny and seem to sneak through no matter how tight the screen. Sin is the same way. It loves to sneak in and destroy from the inside. Be wary of the small stuff! Satan will use whatever he can. In covenant theology, we are taught that God saves sinners as individuals into a body. As your church provides opportunities for biblical encouragement personally and in community, be thinking about each event in light of God's redemptive covenant with us, the body of Christ. APPLY IT!

How do your women's programs encourage women in their walk in the Lord, personally and in groups? How do you decide which Bible studies to use? God's covenant plan is the redemption of his fallen creation. How do your women's ministries reflect this ultimate purpose?