GREAT Luncheon Friday

As always, the luncheon on Friday was full of sweet fellowship and women getting to meet other women!

It was like any other wonderful 3rd Friday of the month...




until we learned the reality of what's taking place in our own back yard....  It was sobering and shocking.  Frankly, I'm still processing all I heard.

Did you know...  North Carolina is 8th on the FBI's list of states most likely to have trafficking?  8th! (This is due to our major highways, coastal and mountain tourism, military bases and universities...)

Did you further know, 50% of  trafficked children are boys between the ages of 11-13?  That surprised me.  I thought most would have been girls.  (girls 12-14 is the common age)



Abbi Tengalia, Founder of Transforming Hope Ministries, a nonprofit that provides help through education, prevention, and restoration was our guest speaker.

Abbi,herself, was a victim of human trafficking.  She bravely shared her story.  She even got teary eyed as she shared how her loving heavenly Father rescued her from the nightmare she once lived.



Before leaving - Abbi had time to take questions from the audience.



GREAT questions were asked!

Some of the things I learned:

Most children exploited in the United States, are American.  The common vulnerabilities to being lured into exploitation are:

• homelessness or children living in foster care
• interaction with social services or juvenile detention facilities
• history of abuse
• habitual running away or drug addiction
• living in a single parent home especially if the parent struggles with addiction.

As of January 2014, there were 527 homeless people counted in Durham and Wake Counties.  Of those, 333 were children.

SOBERING...

This is the first time we've had an issue based lunch.  After getting to know Abbi, I personally am looking for ways that we (KGM) can partner with Transforming Hope Ministries in the future.

My team and I knew the General Session would be... heavy... and it was.  So we intentionally decided to shift gears for the Workshop.

So not only was this a 1st  issue based luncheon, but this was the first in doing a fufu workshop!  And it was FABULOUS!!!  (We have nothing against fufu - we just try to use the time differently!)

The women LOVED IT!   It was tons of fun with practical application for the girl who struggles with hospitality!  (me!)


Kelly and Amy were amazing as they shared ways to prepare our homes and our hearts for the upcoming holidays.

If you could not stay or if you missed, they showed us how easy it is to make centerpieces like this:


and this!  It's SUPER EASY!



For a pdf download of hospitality tips - click here

For appetizer recipe's (that Kelly MADE and allowed for us sample:  click here
For cookie recipe's that Amy MADE and allowed us to sample:  click here

It was like the Kelly and Amy show!
I could have listened to them talk for at least another hour.   They've become great friends through KGM.   The way they bounced off each other was organic, funny and left you sitting on the edge of your seat as to what they were going to say next...

Especially when Kelly encouraged us to pre pray our holiday events - that she specifically prays a certain family member would merely keep his pants on!?!  (We never got to the bottom of that one - she said, "Another story for another time!")

We're curious, Kelly!

Point being - pray about the big details, the small details and the annoying details!

Great Luncheon - no GREAT Luncheon!

Don't miss December's luncheon:  
December 12th 
Johnny and Beth Evans!

Registration is NOW OPEN!   

Sorry for the technical glitches over the weekend and Monday morning.  They're finally fixed!:)

Free Ticket to Luncheon and Beyond the Veil - Ellen Stevens

Luncheon - Friday, November 21

Free Ticket!

A very generous gal contacted the ministry and told us she could not come to the luncheon despite purchasing a ticket.  We offered to refund her money.  But she wants to donate it!

If you or someone you know NEEDS ENCOURAGEMENT and can attend on Friday - be the first to contact Melody at melody@knowinggodministries.net !!!

For the Lord your God is living among you.

    He is a mighty savior.

He will take delight in you with gladness.

    With his love, he will calm all your fears.

    He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.

      Zephaniah 3:17

In the summer of 1989, I was planning my wedding. Browsing through many collections of bridal gowns and trying on multiple styles, I selected a lovely traditional dress glistening with stunning bead work, luxurious fabric with elegant lace and train. All at the right price! As any upcoming bride to be I desired to look my best for this very important day in my life.

Next, I worked to find a veil, and purchased a chapel length veil: it was 90 inches long and draped on the floor.

Most southern brides in the eighties had their portraits made in their beautiful gowns and I of course wanted to do the same. On a humid, hot August day my roommate came to help me assemble my dress and veil and keep me organized! My photographer, gifted in the skill of helping brides to pose took multiple shots —all elegant and classy.

When my pictures arrived, only one sitting portrait showed me at my personal best; all the rest seemed “disconnected” somehow. I was distressed!  Beautiful dress, lovely veil . . . Why only ONE photo which looked beautiful?!

It was then I realized an important issue:  the veil and the dress, while each beautiful, were not complementary to each other.  God got my attention:  I had failed to pray for HIS assembling of the entire ensemble and had done things piece-meal.   (I am a slow learner…didn’t even THINK about the veil and dress matching!)

Paralyzed in my heart, sad and feeling as if I had failed miserably with one of the most important assignments in life—I called my fiancee and asked for his counsel. He could tell I was FROZEN in disappointment.  “What am I going to do?" I cried.  "It looks like a big mess!”  Wisely he said, “Well, if Jesus can rent the veil in the temple for you to have full access to Himself, he can surely help you find a new veil!

Stunned at his response, I simply said, “But the veil is non-returnable!”

Jesus assures us that God provides for the birds, then asks, “Are you much more valuable than they?”  Matthew 6:26

So, two weeks before the wedding I drove home to Mt. Airy, NC, and found a cute bridal shop. Entering in, I prayed afresh, “Lord, I need the perfect wedding veil. Forgive me for not coming to you first and asking you for your help. I thought this was too small a thing to bother you with… but you are teaching me eternal truths—you care about the details of my life."

I walked over to the displayed veils—Blusher veils, elbow length, finger tip, and chapel length styles. One especially caught my eye twinkling in the daylight.  Inwardly I knew that He was guiding my steps.

I boldly asked the shop owner if she might exchange my purchased veil with the sparkling finger tip veil.  They were the exact same price. 

She said yes! 

Joy filled my heart. We made the exchange and I brought home a veil that fully complimented my dress.

October 7^th, Bob and I have been married 25 years.  My heavenly Father perfectly engineered my veil crisis to teach me something I did not know I had:  

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His Spirit. And behold the veil of the temple was torn in two form top to bottom, and the earth shook; and the rocks were split…Matthew 27:51. 

The veil separating the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple was torn. Our Father opened the new and living way, giving us access to His moment by moment supply of grace and mercy.

“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh”

                                                                             Hebrews 10:19-20

God removed my sin barrier thru Jesus . . . opening up an intimate relationship with the LORD and learning to partner with him in everyday decision making. 

He is trustworthy, faithful, merciful, and gracious to call me His friend, His bride, His beloved, His chosen one . . . nothing can separate me from His immeasurable love.

The Invisible Scarlet Letter we Wear

Friday, November 21, 2014

Last day to Enjoy Pre-Registration Special - Wednesday

REGISTER TODAY

Colossians 2:13-14

"Then God made you alive in Christ, for He forgave all our sins.  He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross."

Did you ever read The Scarlet Letter?   

I read it in high school.  The story is about a woman caught in adultery and forced to wear an obnoxious letter (“A” for adultery) on every piece of clothing.  The intent was to bring shame and embarrassment.  All would see and judge.  She was discarded from society, family and friends.  She was forever labeled “damaged goods.”

Sadly, in ministry I see a modern day version of this movie more often than not:  women wearing their own invisible scarlet letter. 

How do I know this?   After all, its easy to put on some makeup and do our hair all pretty and wear trendy clothes to hide it.  Yet a former scarlet letter wearer that's living in freedom can spot another letter wearer quite easily.

I used to wear my own scarlet letter.  However, because I plugged into the God through Jesus and I've learned what the WORD says about Scarlet letters - I don't wear that thing any more!   It makes me so sad to see women who continually wear their letters - when they don't have to!

Perhaps it’s the scarlet letter of:  D = divorce or depression; drunkard;  B = Bankruptcy; A = adultery, addict, abortion, abused, abandoned, abuser;   F= fornicator, etc... ;  Name it ______________  

Often, a woman doesn't even realize she's wearing an invisible scarlet letter.  Yet it comes out in her countenance; her perception of herself and others; through her eyes; through her fears; through her decisions and lifestyle. 

Sadly, the natural tendency is to label ourselves “damaged goods” when we're wearing the invisible scarlet letter. 

Yet what does God say about these invisible Scarlet Letters?  

The Word says He wants to:

• Make us ALIVE in Christ!
• Forgive ALL our sins.  (not just the ones we perceive are forgivable -  but ALL of them!)
• Cancel the record of the charges against us!  Never to bring them up again!

But there's only one way for this to happen: through the cross of Jesus!  

It requires going to God and doing life His way.  It requires accepting HIS way of being right with Him - Jesus.  It requires giving Him permission to lovingly and gently deal with our stuff at the root.

When we do... we begin to live with renewed passion and purpose!  I know this from personal experience!

So does our speaker for the luncheon on Friday.

T =  Trafficked...

Abbi Tengalia, 

Founder and Executive Director ,

Transforming Hope Ministries

Our speaker at one time wore the letter, "t." 

Yet Jesus rescued Abbi.   Part of her rescue (and mine) required allowing God, the Redeemer, the Restorer; the Healer; and the Forgiver - to direct her path.  This was a commitment of week after week, month after month, year after year of saying YES to God.

This doesn't mean that her life became easy and she lived happily ever after.  After all - she's now a single mom with a child born from the experience of life in the pit.  

Yet Abbi wears her scarlet letter NO MORE.   She knows she's forgiven and she's living the new life of purpose God has for her and her precious child!!!

Are you wearing an invisible scarlet letter?

You don't have to if you don't want to.  Take that thing off, girlfriend.

Be encouraged!  God delights and is able to give your life a new purpose!   Even if your life or the life of someone you love is a train wreck ...  God is able to forgive our sins, cancel the record of charges against us and make us alive to His purposes!

For more on taking off the Scarlet Letter:

Click on study for a sneak peak

Click HERE to order

For more on Friday's Luncheon - Click HERE!