CCLH Women's Retreat 2013 -- Personal Revival--Through The Book of Habakkuk

Last weekend, a large group of women filled the Maranatha room at Calvary Chapel's Bible College in Murrieta for our annual women's retreat.  The theme was "Personal Revival", it was a time spent sitting at our Lord's feet, attentively seeking Him. 

Friday night, the retreat started with amazing worship by Sherri Youngward and a devotion by Lori Cook.  Lori reminded us what revival is.  Revival is the state of being revived, alive, flowing, and fresh.  Revival comes as we study God's word.  Revival is to strengthen something that once was vibrant.  Lori gave us six key actions that bring revival in our lives:

1.  Salvation
2.  Prayer
3.  Confession of sin
4.  Brokenness
5.  Obedience
6.  Boldness

What a sweet first night!  Everyone was excited and ready to receive what God had for them!

Saturday morning, we started our day worshiping our Lord. Sherri took us straight to the throne and the room was filled with His presence.  As a special treat, Gia Lucid joined Sherri for worship!  Two amazing voices leading us in worship.  It was beautiful and quite the surprise!

God's work in our hearts had only begun, Sandy Macintosh followed and shared a rich study out of the book of Habakkuk.  She covered the entire book in three sessions, too much to cover now (the entire recording is available to order).  One of the many things she shared that hit home for many of us is, "it's NOT our feelings that give God pleasure, it's our FAITH."  She also said, " it is so important to watch, write and wait on God's word."   Additionally, she mentioned that God has a hole in His heart with our name on it.  He is waiting on us to have a relationship with Him, He longs for us.

In between studies, we saw a clip of the movie:  "Billy The Early Years".  A movie depicting the life of Billy Graham.  We also saw a brief music video of the song "Feel the Love" by Love Song.  A tribute to Pastor Chuck Smith.  Examples of two men who loved Jesus and brought revival to the world.

After a delightful lunch, Xochilt De La Cueva, led us in a powerful prayer where there was adoration of God, confession of trespasses, thankfulness towards our God and petitions in supplication to Him.  We did this all together as women, as the body of Christ.  It was a special time.

Then, Bea Martin, led us in a thought provoking craft that reminded us to be refreshed and revived by God's Word and each other.

Our time with Sandy ended Saturday evening with an incredible time of prayer.  There were so many spirit led prayers lifted to our Lord.  It was intimate and heartfelt.

To end this amazing time spent with our Lord and each other, on Sunday, Sherri Youngward shared her heart in a study out of Luke 8:43 and Luke 22.  She reminded us that Jesus came to earth to teach us who our father in heaven is.  After, in a time of reflection and remembrance, we ended with communion.  A perfect ending to a blessed weekend.

In this retreat, there was joyous laughter, fun and quite time with our Creator.  More importantly, there was restoration of hearts, re-dedication of lives, and it was beautiful to see a non-believer fall in love with Jesus.  Praise the Lord!  A memorable weekend for many who experienced His power to save and His power to transform and revive hearts.

In Him,

CCLH Women's Ministry



Love Song Music Video "Feel The Love"

Sherri Youngward "She Looks To The Sky"

Upcoming Events: A Night With Joni Eareckson Tada

Ladies,

We are so pleased that Joni is coming this Friday, May 24th at 7:00 p.m .  Have you put your reservation in yet?  We are almost full.  

I'm so encouraged as I am reading her books and watched her movie.  She is my hero who displays a perseverance above all others.  Her tenacity for Jesus is overwhelming and  inspirational to me.

We plan on having refreshments afterwards in the mini chapel for fellowship. Bring a generous portioned dessert as well!

Most importantly, please keep this evening in prayer.  We are amazed at her willingness to come and share with us.  

 It will certainly be an inspiring evening filled with worship, fellowship and a fabulous message by a pillar in our faith.

In His mercy & grace,

Lori Cook
womensministry@calvarylahabra.org

Speaking From The Heart

This past Sunday during service, Pastor Lance continued to teach on 1 Thessalonians Chapter 3. Towards the end of his teaching he stressed the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He mentioned that the return of Jesus is mentioned more than three-hundred times in the New Testament. As I was listening to the teaching, the Lord so graciously gave me a simple but very effective illustration of His return that I felt led to share with all of you.

When I serve with the toddlers, whose ages are between 1-2 years, there is inevitably at least one child, sometimes all of them, that will cry for their mom. They feel abandoned, lost, uncomfortable with strangers, or just plain upset. I have found that there are five words that brings comfort to their little hearts. I tell them, "Your mommy will be back." I don't tell them what time she will be back because they don't yet understand the concept of time but I sometimes add that she will return in little while. For these precious souls who find love, comfort, and security in the arms of their mommies, those five words bring peace to them. Some have to be reminded several time but eventually are comforted by those words. It's no wonder that Jesus tells us to become like little children (Matt 18:3).

 If we find love, comfort, and security in Jesus, then trusting that He will be back will bring us peace in whatever circumstance we find ourselves in. The trials today are temporary and will soon pass. In the meantime, we learn through these circumstances how to bring glory to God.

So, when I see the huge smiles on theses precious kids as their mom or dad returns for them, I envision myself with the same expression on my face running to my Abba-Father's outstretched arms as He returns for me or He calls me home.

Thank you Jesus for loving us so much and reminding us of Your soon return. Help us to trust and focus on Your unfailing promise to come back for us. Thank you that until then, the Holy Spirit will help us become more like You so that You may be glorified in all that we do!

Awaiting the soon coming King,
Xochilt De La Cueva

CCLH Women's Spring Tea 2013

Here is a recap of this month's Tea.  It was amazing for those who missed it.  The ladies worked so diligently to provide an exquisite setting.  We savored the delicious food that our women prepared in our church kitchen!!  We have the link for more pictures click here: http://calvarylahabra.org/photo.php?pageID=40

Our guest speaker was Lenya Heitzig who has authored many of our women's bible study books.  She was delightful to listen to and was emotionally moved as she began to share what this area has meant to her as she grew up in La Habra Heights!!

Also the message was intense on His Peace which is also on our website: calvarylahabra.org under teachings, women.

In His mercy and grace,
Lori Cook

Hannah Overton

As many of you know we have been fervently praying as a church for the release of Hannah since her imprisonment 5 yrs. ago. We continue to hold out hope for her freedom and for truth to prevail. To keep up with her story and the recent hearing held a couple weeks ago, please visit her website at http://freehannah.com/.
Amos 5:24...But let justice run down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream. 
In Him,
Women's Ministry

"A New Way to Process Conflict"

Courtesy of Proverbs 31 Ministries...

"When she speaks she has something worthwhile to say, and she always says it kindly." Proverbs 31:26 (MSG)

It was like we were speaking two different languages. Even though my friend and I were both talking in English, we couldn't seem to understand each other. I started the conversation with the assumption we would see things the same way, but emotions rose, opinions conflicted, and wounds were inflicted. How did we get here?

After a little cooling-off period, I called a wise, truth-telling friend. I told her the basic outline of the conversation, trying to keep it neutral. Finally I asked, "What do you think went wrong?" She astutely turned the question back to me. "What could you have done differently?"

Honestly, at first, I couldn't think of one thing. After all, I was convinced this conflict wasn't my fault! But after some reflection, God began to soften my heart and show me some big mistakes I made.

I called my friend during an extremely busy time in her life with a suggestion that would add to her overloaded schedule. Instead of being sensitive, I pushed and pushed my own agenda. As our emotions escalated, my defensiveness increased, making my responses sharp and prickly.

My wise friend who I had called for advice gently prodded, "How could you have listened more carefully? Would truly listening have made you more compassionate? How could you have responded with more grace?"

For the rest of the afternoon, God etched a new way of interacting in hard situations on my heart. This is the truth He carved: Listen with compassion. Speak with grace.

Listen with Compassion
Years ago, my pastor shared an invaluable method for re-adjusting his attitude when dealing with conflict. He asks, "Is this behavior consistent with the person's general character?"

Wow! If I had applied that question in the conversation with my friend, I would have remembered her kindness, her servant heart and her calm nature. Then I might have wondered what was changing her normal response. I could have been compassionate toward her and the stress she was under. I would've listened with a heart to serve her, instead of insisting on my own way.

At its core, listening with compassion is simply obeying the biblical commands to die to ourselves (John 12:24-25) and to consider others more highly than ourselves (Philippians 2:3).

Speak with Grace
Proverbs 15:1 says, "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger" (NIV). There is no downside to a gentle, grace-filled answer. I'm embarrassed to admit that I've often viewed responding this way as losing or giving in. That's simply not true. Needed truths can be told in very kind and gentle ways. Just think about how my wise friend treated me when I sought her advice.

Before I called my friend to ask for forgiveness and clear up the misunderstanding, I prayed for a Jesus-sized dose of compassion and grace.

Since then, I've been rehearsing "Listen with Compassion - Speak with Grace" over and over in my mind. Last week I had a chance to put it into practice when I received a difficult email. My first response was defensiveness, but then I started to repeat my new way of processing until I could hear the needs in the email with compassion and respond with grace.

I love how God gave me the chance to practice when I had time to take a breath, pause, rehearse my new motto and then respond. Life and relationships are filled with conflict, so I have no doubt I'll have a chance to practice again. Next time, I'm praying I'll be ready!

Mentoring Moms

Our 3rd meeting of the year...

I’m a mom with a 19 year old and a 17 year old. One has been in college for 2 years and I am about to graduate my “baby”. I have been homeschooling for 14 years so I am graduating tooJ. I am truly blessed because my girls are really good in spite of all my mistakes as a parent. Praise God for he is good.

I used the illustration of ironing to help me communicate how our children are like garments that we must know before we iron them. We must know what fabric they are made of, the structure they are to hold and what temperature they can withstand.  Are these wrinkles or are they pleats. The first I will want to get out, but the later I will want to iron very carefully so as not to ruin the garment. Do I use a cool iron? Medium heat? Can I use steam? This  is where temperaments come in. We are born with different temperaments/personalities. Gary Smally and John Trent developed a fun way to classify them: the Lion (dominance), Otter(influence), Golden Retriever(steadiness), and Beaver(compliance). Each personality has strength’s and weaknesses. Our job as mother’s is to understand our children’s personalities with their strength’s and weaknesses and train them by praying God’s word which is our iron and the holy spirit is the steam. Proverb’s 22:6 tells us to “train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he won’t depart” so it is important to know their strengths and weaknesses so we can TRAIN them/Direct them. As we train them they become more balanced. As an example, a Lion’s strength’s are strong willed and independent with weaknesses of seeming domineering and unemotional. As a mother of a Lion we would want to pray this  way.  May_________________ obey his/her parents in the Lord, for this is right. Ephesians 6:1.  They are wired to be in charge, but a 5 yr old is just not ready for the job yet, so we must help them.  They need to learn that the ultimate one we are to be obedient to is Our Lord Jesus. May_________ show his/her love for Christ by obeying His commands. John 14:15.  We can pray Job 22:21 to petition for submission to authority. For the weaknesses we can pray for a servant’s heart by praying 2 Timothy 2:24-25- As the Lord’s servant, may ___________ not be quarrelsome, but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. I LOVE this! That is sooo how we want out Lion to turn out to be. By knowing your child’s strengths and weaknesses you can pray purposefully and passionately for their heart’s  by using God’s word effectively. It says in James 5:16B The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Let’s use the iron the Lord has given us-His word. Even before they become readers we can direct them to the word when we are disciplining them.

There was a point I had wanted to share in this area that I forgot so if you don’t mind I will share now. When Rebekka (my oldest) was young (@ 7 or 8), she was still very strong willed and she didn’t want to obey. At children’s church they were doing a series about obeying your parents, but not just obeying,  obeying ALL the way they called it. This was something the Lord brought at the right time. What an answer to prayer. Because it was not just coming from her parents, (it was coming from the Children’s pastor) we began to see a change in her. She began to obey a little more, however her attitude was still not obeying. Her body was obedient but her heart was not.  If I asked her to pick up her toys and put them away, she would pick them up roughly and storm out the room, gritting her teeth saying ”fine, I’ll put them away”. So the Lord gave us  the phrase “ are you obeying or obeying all the way?” to help train her and God worked on her heart.  Our prayer was that she would obey ALL the way.  And we are blessed that the Lord worked in her this way to give us a very respectful, obedient daughter.

We must also know our children’s Love language before we can truly understand how God made them to receive love. The five love languages are:

1.       Word’s of affirmation

Lots of I love you’s are important and the reason why is icing on the cake

2.       Quality Time

Undivided attention-Being therewith no distractions/chores, TV, etc.

3.       Acts of service

Doing things for them like fixing a broken toy is the bomb.

4.       Receiving gifts

Loves gifts-a piece of candy is the crown jewels to this child.

5.       Physical touch

Hugs and kisses mean the world to these children.

We all need all of these, but there are usually one or two that really speak to us. If we speak their love language they will be responsive. If we don’t we can really hurt their feelings. I shared how one time I LOST it and yelled at them then I realized it really hurt their feelings (their eyes were as big as saucers). I apologized and put myself in timeout. Soon they were sitting beside me with their arms around me forgiving me. If I had not done the right thing I could have caused terrible harm. I also shared how my Katherine is a Quality Time kid and was always pulling on my leg for attention. The Lord impressed upon me how I could train her and her sister a better way to get my attention since I was obviously not aware of when they needed it. I sat them down and told them that I wasn’t very good at realizing they needed attention so whenever they wanted my undivided attention all they had to do was put their hand on my leg or shoulder and that would be MY que that they needed attention. Once I gave them eye contact they could tell me ”mommy I need attention” and I would actually stop whatever I was doing and go sit on the sofa and cuddle. We roll played this many times with me being me and then them being me. We pretended to wash dishes, talk on the phone, be in a conversation with a friend, all events that naturally happen so they could understand the application. And it worked and it still works today only I can’t put them in my lap anymoreJ  

I hope I have been able to give you tools that help you know your garments(children) by understanding their temperaments/personality types and how they receive love. Also how you can use God’s word effectively to pray purposefully and passionately for their strengths as well as their weaknesses so your garments can come out crisp, ready to be enjoyed. I want to thank you for your graciousness  and I pray God’s blessings on you all as you do YOUR ironing.

Blessings,

Alicia Ramirez