THRIVE is a once a year event of over 300 6th to 12th grade girls gathering to be encouraged and pampered by women of all ages. It is the living out of Titus 2 where it says: Older women…are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. (Titus 2:3-5 ESV)
I was just watching a video from Paul Baloche. He recently released a new CD and the title song is awesome! In the video, he is in a urban area, singing, oddly enough, into a red SOLO cup. The cup is attached to a string and he goes across the city, in various areas, placing other SOLO cups, also attached to strings, where people will walk by.
I watched as numerous people, each wearing headphones, walked by these cups, not noticing the ‘sound’ coming from them that the singer was singing. Immediately I thought, “They are so plugged in they can’t hear.” I thought about our fairly recent visit to South Korea and how plugged in they were – a culture that barely talked on the subway, where everyone, and I mean everyone, had an iPhone or some other smart device. I thought, then, that they were a plugged-in society, not noticing much of anything or anyone around them. Then it dawned on me…Are they plugged in or are they tuned out? Are they missing out on things? Are we missing out on some things…maybe something God is trying to say?
Maybe we, also, are tuned out. Maybe we need to tune in and plug in to our real Source…of strength, of hope, of grace.
I want people to look at my life and say…
She sure is tuned in!
How about you?
I love to run. Well…love might be a little strong. I love the accomplishment I feel after running and knowing I’m doing something good for my body. I also love running with Britt Nicole. Britt and I have been running together now for many years. On days when I’m not running with anybody else, Britt is always there. You see, Britt Nicole is on my iPhone and I love to run while listening to her. She has great music and seems to have such a heart for telling others about the love of our Savior.
Lately, I’ve been listening to her new CD, “GOLD.” I love it…didn’t really expect to feel any differently. The song I really dig right now by her is “All This Time.” The song talks about the day her parents’ divorced, how torn up she was about it, and how God was, and has been, there for her every moment from then to now. There is actually a track where she tells her story and why she wrote the song.
It got me thinking…we all have a story. What is yours? What is mine? We all have reasons to share our story because it shows the hand of God working throughout all of our circumstances. He is there all the time. He is using everything we go through to shape us and mold us into the people we were created to be. Philippians 1:6 tells us to ” be confident of this, that He Who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.” That means that we can be sure that He isn’t finished with us yet. Our story, His story, our lives, have a purpose.
Consider sharing your story. Leave it in the comment section. I encourage you to think about your life so far and what God has carried you through. I’d love to hear about it and it just might be used to encourage someone else.
Have a great Saturday!
Kristi
A couple of Easters ago, our church was in a series called ARISE. During this series, the idea for the song ‘Arise’ developed as I reflected on what Jesus has done for us. So today, as we celebrate Jesus Christ’s victory over sin and death, remember this… Isn’t it amazing that the same power that raised Christ from the dead can live in us!
Here’s a look at ‘Arise’…
Happy Easter!
Russell and Kristi
‘Arise’ from the album Heart Revolution, is available on iTunes.
This past weekend, we had the privilege of leading worship for the Celebrate Recovery Ministry at Beach Church. This evening event was a time to reflect on the work God has done in the lives of people through Celebrate Recovery, a Christian 12-step program, which is celebrating its 11th year at Beach Church.
About three years ago, we began meeting with some other couples about a potential marriage event in Myrtle Beach. At the time, there were no other marriage enrichment events in the Myrtle Beach area, but we felt that God was leading us to begin this ministry. We have been extremely blessed to be a part of so many great marriage events over our years of ministry, like Lifeway’s Marriage Impact, where we will be again this summer, and God has continually presented us with opportunities and intersections for encouraging marriages. Out of the initial meetings, the Adore Marriage weekend was born.
Earlier this month, we held our second year of Adore Marriage at the Embassy Suites at Kingston Plantation. I can truly say that God is good and has blessed this ministry immensely. When the conference team had done all that was humanly possible, we know that God took the next five steps that only He could. To Him be the glory for all that happened during and around Adore Marriage. God presented us with a new ministry team partner, Theresa, whose contacts and skills propelled the conference forward by miles. And in addition to that, we ended up with about 30 couples from 6 different states who attended the conference.
Most exciting for us is the prospect of adding a second Adore Marriage event each year. With the Myrtle Beach weekend, we sought to keep costs as low as possible and make sure that the most value was given to couples for the costs they paid. We have tried to keep the costs as all-inclusive as possible, as well, so that when a couple commits to attend, there are no hidden costs.
In the weeks leading up to our Myrtle Beach weekend, we were presented with an opportunity to take Adore Marriage out to sea on Royal Caribbean later this Fall. While we weren’t actively looking, the opportunity came up and fell into place through God’s divine plan. So, at our conference earlier this month, we announced an Adore Marriage Cruise setting sail October 19-22, 2012. We are very excited to see what God has planned for the future of this ministry.
We have a busy summer of marriage events with our ministry partners Lifeway and the North Carolina Baptist Convention. We will be leading worship for two Lifeway Marriage Impact events later this summer and those events are always fun. Hosted at Lifeway’s Ridgecrest Conference Center, the weekends offer a great marriage getaway to the North Carolina mountains, along with all sorts of activities in the area. We will also be traveling to Ft. Caswell to lead worship for a Pastor and Wives event sponsored by the NC Baptist Convention.
For all of our upcoming events, please visit our Concert & Events page.
