Spring Retreat Update and Pictures

Our Spring Retreat was held at ALOFT hotel this year!  What a great place to have an event!  It was a time to connect with others, enjoy food, worship, play games, sleep (or not sleep for some of you), laugh, meet new people, and learn about restoration from stories in the Old Testament. Carey Scott, our speaker, mentioned that restoration often starts with going back in order to move forward. Like layers of paint on an antique table, you have to take it down to its original design before you can refinish it with stain and varnish. So it is that God uses the corrosive pieces of our life to eat away false identities and reveal who He made us to be. In essence we are all in the process of being restored! Whether you are in the midst of the harsh corrosive of life or in the healing, know that the Master Carpenter is taking great care of His masterpiece, YOU!  Check out this post for a recap of the weekend!

Barb and Linda: can't get much better than these smiling faces to welcome you

Our evening began with dinner and then worship led by Sara Bieri! She has such a gift for leading worship and it was a great way to prepare our hearts for the message:

Carey Scott introduced us to three Old Testament characters who play a role in restoring Jerusalem from rubble to its former beauty. Our first character, Zerubbabel, showed us that you must restore your relationships. In doing so you will face opposition, but God will send reinforcements to sustain you.  For Zerubbabel, these reinforcements were the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah. Those men are the type of people that encourage and help you during your best and darkest of times. Do you have a Haggai or Zechariah in your life? Are you being a Haggai or Zechariah for someone?

Our next character was Ezra and he taught us about restoring our community. Community could mean your church, work, family, neighborhood, or any environment in your life.  Do you think that this is not for you or that God has someone better in mind to restore your community?  One thing we learned from this talk is that God has a purpose and a desire to use anyone who is available. If He can use prostitutes, adulterers, or murderers to make a difference, He can sure use you (no matter what your past is) to make a difference in your community. Are you willing?

Our last character was Nehemiah and he taught us that we cannot give into fear! Some form of "fear not" is used 366 times in the Bible. Clearly it is an important command! What fears or obstacles are keeping you from following God's calling in your life?

Carey shared a genuine and vulnerable message from her heart! I think we can all appreciate a woman who is willing to share with such openness!!

Friday Evening ~ Connecting with Friends, Playing Games, & Meeting New People:

 

 

Playing Games:

Saturday Morning: 

Cheryl and Jessica entertain us and give us some food for thought with their skit about restoration and strippers... a furniture stripper that is. We like to keep it clean at these events! Jessica’s character in the skit was a divorced mother navigating the challenges of single parenthood, relationships and how to restore an old chair. That's where the furniture stripper comes in...and he happens to be a single Christian man who leads a Bible Study (a potential match or what!) We learned that just like this poor chair, we all need restoration in life. See the previous blog post where we have some "Thoughtful Truths" regarding restoration using the analogy of the chair in the skit. Needless to say, I think they managed to make sure we were awake with their play on words!

Barb gives us an update on the Break the Chains event.  Look for info coming soon on the blog.

We also decided to spice the afternoon up by beginning with a purse exchange.  We encouraged women to bring a gently used purse and exchange it in a free for all.  Thankfully no brawls broke out this year! But as you can see we took this exchange seriously! Extra purses will be donated to Theodora House.

Enjoying the beautiful March weather before our Saturday afternoon session:

Cheryl and Kinsey after the retreat:

Are we really happy to have a Spring Retreat under our belts?

Or just delirious...Hard to tell!

We hope you will were able to grow spiritually through this experience!  One of many ways to continue this journey is by using the journals and heart boxes that contain application questions:

Or by investing in your relationships with women at the retreat!  Who is your Haggai or Zechariah?

What a great retreat!! Thank you to everyone who was able to make it. We really tried to capture the weekend through photos of everyone! However, there were a few pictures that didn’t turn out well and were not included! Sorry if I missed you in the photo collection because of that! If there are any specific photos you would like emailed to you, contact Kinsey.

Thoughtful Truths: Restoration

At our retreat this past weekend, I loved the spiritual lesson of the skit.  It's nice to have a little comic relief, yet at the same time provide a unique insight into life. 

I'm in a Bible Study on Monday mornings with a group of gals and we just finished studying redemption and restoration in the previous chapter of our book.  We even just finished the chapter the Monday before the retreat.  We had a story in the beginning of our last chapter that described a very similar situation to that of our skit.  Coincidence??? Well, let's put it this way.  Cheryl is not in my Bible study and I did not help with the skit.  I think God has a sense of humor and impeccable timing!

Let's review parts of the skit!  The two sisters in the skit were talking about life and this old, worn chair. This chair that had been in the family for years.  I imagine the sister who was wanting to restore it (Jessica) chose that chair for a certain reason.  Maybe the relative who originally owned the chair had special meaning to her, maybe she saw it and had the perfect place in her house to put it.  But maybe she felt the chair, like herself, needed restoration and that process may help her in her own life. So Jessica chose to restore this old chair.  She probably had an idea of what she wanted it to look like and where she would put it when it was restored. Her sister (Cheryl) suggested stripping away the paint to restore the natural wood.  I imagine they would have to sand and stain the wood. They also probably had to put a coat of polyurethane to finish the chair and to protect it.  I would also imagine them having to repair loose legs or spindles of the chair that had broke over time.  In the end, it probably took a lot of time but I am sure this chair looked beautiful!

The book we're reading in our Bible Study had a profound quote that related to this.  The book is called He is my Freedom by Debby Alsdorf.  I highly recommend it.  The quote says, "Just like me and my little chair - what once stated out as a broken chair in the heap of junk pile became a treasured possession of mine.  Sure, it took a lot of work.  But the work didn't make it mine, the purchase did.  The work only proved how much I wanted that chair.  The work showed I could see beauty underneath those ugly layers.  The work showed I had a plan and a place for my little treasure and proved that I wanted it." 

Wow...Isn't that a profound picture of what Christ has done for us.  I can't help but think how this parallels our own lives. We too can be broken and worn from life just like the chair. We may also have added a few coats of paint over time to make ourselves look better on the outside. But the truth of the matter is that we all need restoration and redemption. One definition of restore says "to bring someone to an improved condition." What about redeem? It means "to regain, free, or rescue by paying a price or to convert to something of value."

What does the Bible say about these words?

Isa. 43:1: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine."
It could say ~ Fear not, I have rescued you by paying a price and converting you into something of value.  You are mine!

I Peter 5:10 : "And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast"
It could say ~ God himself will bring you back to an improved condition making you strong, firm, and steadfast!

I hope the retreat was able to bring to light areas in your life where you may need a little restoration and redemption.  I'm so thankful that we have a God who is in the business of finding the "little chairs" who need restoration, redemption, and healing and making them into his masterpiece.  I hope you will picture that illustration as you allow God to restore and redeem you! I know I need it in my own life!

~Kinsey~

Get to Know You

We thought doing a "Get to Know You" post every few weeks with a different woman from church would be a great way to connect names and faces while learning something new about that person. To get us started we will interview the Vice Chair of Women Ministries, Kinsey Ringenberg:

Kinsey and her husband, Luke, on the top of La Plata Peak:

Nicknames: Kins, Kinzers, Kinsalou, KB, Brookster, Ringadingding

Passions: Jesus, Family, Friends, Women Ministries, Climbing 14ers, Hiking, Fishing, Rock Climbing, Skiing, Shopping, Sleeping, Photography, Decorating, Movies, Reading

Job: Besides being a wife, daughter, sister, and friend (which I think are my most important jobs) I am a pediatric physician assistant (PA). This means I get to see kids for their sick and well visits. I get to do cool things like prescribe medications, suture wounds, educate families and kids about important health issues, make boo boos better, talk with teens about anything (and I mean anything) in their lives, pull kidney beans out of ears and noses, make fashionable casts, do magic tricks, and the list is endless. I am passionate about my job and there is nothing like seeing a sick kid get better or supporting kids and their families as they go through tough times!

My favorite job story: I went in a room and introduced myself to a three year old girl. Me: "Hi there, I'm Kinsey." Girl: "You're Kinsey??!! You growed up!" Mom: "No honey, that's not your friend, McKenzie. She's still three." Girl: "Ohhhhhh =-(." She was so disappointed that I wasn't her friend that magically turned into a grown up over night.

Dream Vacation: I would love to go to either New Zealand or Italy before we have kids. I would also love to go back to Maui.

Challenges: I think the biggest challenge to my faith is my love for scheduling too much in my life and trying to control all those things. I like to think I know better than God about what needs to be done each day. I think our faith and walk with God is a lifelong journey. I keep praying that God would help me to let go of my will and plan for my life and let His plan be my guide. I love the verse that says "Be still and know that I am God." Being still is one of the challenges on my spiritual journey for now.

Hope you enjoyed getting to know me. Stop me in church sometime so I can get to know you!!

Spring Retreat

Spring retreat is quickly approaching! We are very excited about this year. Carey Scott from Crossroads Covenant Church in Loveland will be our speaker.

Carey is an inspirational speaker who is honest about her walk with God - stumbles, fumbles, and all. Women will easily relate as she discusses life's heavy issues with transparency, insight, and humor. Carey challenges and encourages women to take the next step in their relationship with God. For those women in MOPS you will have the chance to preview Carey on Feb. 23rd at your MOPS meeting! For more information visit her website at http://www.careyscotttalks.com/.

We are thrilled to welcome Sara Bieri back as our worship leader.

Sara led our worship at the Advent Brunch. She has been leading worship since high school, throughout college, and now in the youth and adult services at Lifespring Covenant Church. The love of music has reached many areas in her life, but the ability to lead others to God through the blessing of music is her favorite part. She is currently a student ministries associate and places to attend seminary in the fall of 2010 to obtain her masters degree in the area of youth and family ministry.

The retreat will be held at Aloft hotel in Broomfield. Check out these amenities!!

DATES:

March 12-13, 2010

The retreat will begin Friday evening at 6 p.m. and go through Saturday at 4 p.m.

COST:

Cost for Early Registration (2/14 - 2/28)

$79 for those not staying at Aloft

$69 for those who have a room at Aloft

Cost for Late Registration (3/1 or later)

Add $10 to above pricing

Please drop your registration off at the Family Life Center between services or at the office during the week.

MEALS:

The cost of the retreat will include three meals.

ACCOMMODATIONS:

Overnight accommodations are available at Aloft at a group rate of $79 per night (2 queens). If you choose to stay overnight please reserve your accommodations at Aloft Broomfield and mention the Arvada Covenant Women's Retreat to receive the group rate.

We hope to see you there!

Contact Cheryl Meakins (cmeakins@comcast.net) or Kinsey Ringenberg (kringenberg@gmail.com) with any questions.

Advent Brunch Update

On December 5, our Women Ministries’ annual tradition of an Advent Brunch was welcomed by 175 women in attendance. The Family Life Center was adorned with old fashioned Christmas attire of evergreen garland and the tables were dressed in traditional Christmas reds and greens. This year we encouraged the women of our church to bring their friends by offering discounted tickets. Our best count told us that over 60 women in attendance were from outside our church! With our speaker, Linda Evans Shepherd, this event was truly a front door opportunity to connect women in our neighborhoods in relationship with each other and point them towards a relationship with Christ. Linda Shepherd beautifully retold the Christmas story from Mary’s view point and encouraged our hearts to remain unguarded towards God as He calls us to serve Him. Amy blessed us with a special Christmas song that reminded us all of being home with our families. We ended with meaningful worship led by Sara Bieri of Life Spring Covenant Church. Her worship experience was just a taste of what the Spring Retreat will be like in March. Our national cause “Break the Chains” was featured in a small fundraising effort and we were able to gift over $300 to furthering the ministry of freeing enslaved women in North America. All in all, the Advent Brunch once again caused many women to set aside time to come before the King of Kings and remember what a great gift was given to us all on that first Christmas night. Take a look at our pictures from this event!

Lynn providing wonderful music from the hammered dulcimer as people arrive:

We appreciate the men who willingly volunteer to serve us during the meals:

Ladies before the brunch:

Linda Evans Shepherd:

Sara Bieri:
It was such a blessing to see all of you at Advent Brunch. What a great way to start the holiday season.

Advent Brunch

Advent Brunch is quickly approaching! The event will be held in the family Life Center on December 5th from 9-11 a.m. The event will include an awesome breakfast, worship, fellowship, and teaching. We are very excited to have Linda Evans Shepherd speaking at this event. She is an author, speaker, radio/television host. She will be speaking about Mary's Christmas. The last chance to buy tickets is on November 29th between services at the Family Life Center. Tickets are $12, but if you bring a friend from outside the church the tickets are 2 for $20. We hope to see you there!!

Chrismons Event

A week ago Covenant Women did a craft night where we made Chrismons. Chrismons are symbols that represent Christ. We had so many women who made this event possible. Thanks to Jan and Jenna Krankota, and Jessica Branaugh for the idea and vision for this event. Thanks to the Women Ministries team for organizing and setting up for the event. We had over 50 women (from every age group) at this event! It was great to see grandmothers, mothers, and daughters working together at this event! We hope to find ways to incorporate more mother/daughter events in the future. Enjoy some of the pictures from the evening!!

This may be the first of many Christmas craft events to come!!