Finding My Way Home--Heidi Myers

I am Heidi Myers ~ Wife to Brian for 10 years ~ mommy to Madeline, Nathan, and Griffin.
I have loved Jesus my whole life…I was saved in 7th grade….chose to really live for Him 4 years ago!
In my daily life, I take care of my husband and 3 spirited children! I love cooking and cleaning ~ I have a passion for taking photos ~ I love to sing and worship ~ I enjoy walking and riding my bike ~ I love to read novels ~I am also a social worker and work part time outside the home. Although we both grew up in Crawfordsville, we moved here from West Lafayette 2 years ago when Brian’s job brought us back. We love attending Calvary Chapel and desire to get to know everyone there!

Ten years ago, Pastor Dave married Brian and I at a park in Lafayette. Brian and I had been attending Calvary before we married, but then decided that we needed to find a church home in Lafayette, where we lived. We found a wonderful church and lived in Lafayette and West Lafayette until two years ago, when Brian was offered a job in Crawfordsville as an estimator/general manager for Gould Body and Paint.

When Brian and I first moved back to Crawfordsville, naturally, we did some
"church-shopping!" We visited a few other churches that we liked and had some of the characteristics that were important to us and that we wanted our church to have. Once we visited Calvary, though, we couldn’t leave! It was clear this was where the Lord wanted us to worship.

We loved the church in Lafayette that we had attended for several years and even considered driving there every Sunday, but I had a nudging that we were supposed to be part of a body here, in Crawfordsville. I decided that I would search for the same kind of church and worship-style as our previous church, which I guess would be natural. I found that if one church had the same music style, it didn’t have the same great pastor. Or if one church had lots of outgoing, inviting people, it lacked the Bible teaching we wanted for our children. All along, the Lord was convicting me to see the new and different, and not the old and the same. He showed me that His Holy Spirit was very present at Calvary Chapel and that He wanted us here!

Proverbs 3: 5,6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
It was a difficult process to leave a church and join a new one. For me, this has been the hardest part of moving home. The sisterhood that I shared with many women at our previous church still exists and it’s hard not to continue that part of my life ~ worshipping, learning, and growing together. The Lord is teaching me to lean on him and to be content with what he has for me. I know He wants me to trust Him.

“The Lord is my light and my salvation ~ Whom shall I fear?” Psalm 27:1
I have felt the Spirit really moving here in the hearts of the people, especially in the last few months! When we first moved here, I felt like I was in a dry and weary land ~ now, I feel that I am drinking His living water ~ my children are being poured into by blessed teachers ~ We are getting to know the body of believers that we worship with and I am finding some new sisters in Christ ~I feel that we walk away each Sunday overflowing with the love of Christ extended through Pastor Dave.

I am excited about what He has planned for me and my family at Calvary!

Navigation

Well, the blog has been live for less than a week and already, we've had 122 visitors...though, between Nina and I checking and re-checking for errors and odds and ends, it's probably a little less than that:)  If you've been having trouble making comments, I'm working on a solution to that and hope to have that fixed in the next day or two. 

If you are new to the world of blogging and still trying to find your way around, let me start by saying that I am so honored that you are here!  The general idea of this blog is for us to grow in our relationship with Christ and with each other...to build community and fellowship.  We're all busy, right?  It's hard to get together and get to know one another.  This blog is a simple tool to help build community and encourage each other in our daily walks with God.

Second, I want to highlight some things you're going to want to check out.  At the top of this site is a series of tabs marking different "pages."  Each page is something unique...a welcome letter, what we (Calvary Chapel) believe, information about the upcoming Women's Retreat, a daily scripture and prayer written by our very own Cindy Billings, how to come into a relationship with Jesus, and a page about those who are contributing to the content of this site.  I'll try to alert you when we make updates to those pages, but be sure to check those out regularly.

Third, you'll notice a box to the right labelled "Blog Archive."  This is a simple system that keeps each post (like this one) categorized.  If you think you've missed a few things, you can click on each month for a list of correlating posts.  Or, if you like one particular post and can't remember where it is, you can search through the archives.

Fourth, though I know we have had some technical difficulties with folks leaving comments, leaving those comments is really the heart and soul of this blog.  It's how we'll get to know each other.  So, while it's nice to stop in and read what is being shared, don't stop by anonymously--let us get to know you, too.  That's why we're doing this!

Fifth, did you check out the VBS slide show?!?  Look how many of our sisters shared the love of Jesus with our kiddos!  It really was an awesome week and I was personally blessed to get to know many women on a deeper level.

Lastly, would you keep this ministry covered in prayer?  The Lord is working mightily in the hearts of many women, I believe.  Drawing us closer, making us one in Him.  He wants to do a work with us and we need to lift this opportunity to the Lord.  I would love to hear from anyone who might want to share what God is doing in her heart right now.  You don't have to be a professional writer to share...just be willing to share God's love!

Again, thanks for your encouragement (and patience!) as we work out the kinks.  May the Lord bless each of you with His love, His grace, His mercy, and His peace...

~Jen

LifeLine--Nina Cunningham

Nina Cunningham is a graphic artist at a local screen printing company. She is also a fine artist and is involved in a local art gallery in Crawfordsville. She and her husband, Matt, have been married for almost 2 years. Nina and Matt are on our "worship team." Below is a story about one of her paintings titled "LifeLine." See how God uses situations and gifts to produce awareness, healing and encouragement.


Last year, I was involved in a "cardboard skit" at the Agape Praise Fest. This skit is a group testimonial which involves writing something you have been delivered from on one side of a piece of cardboard and writing on the other side how you were delivered. On my particular piece of cardboard, written in magic marker, was the word "ABORTION" in capital letters. On the other side - three words - "I AM FORGIVEN". I was asked to be a part of this skit again at church the next day...

I was absolutely terrified...

I regarded church as my family and wondered if I was ready to reveal this to them. The skit during the festival was much easier to participate in as the crowd was made up of mostly strangers. The church setting hit home. Still, I knew I had to go through with it to obey God and to potentially encourage someone else.

Encouraging someone would be worth the shame that I felt when I held up my cardboard. Holding up this cardboard should have allowed me to feel victory, but yet, I still felt shame and I know now that was not of God. The shame came from me not trusting the fact that God has truly forgiven me! The shame was to man's reaction to my confession. There should have been no shame - because God has taken that shame and nailed it to the cross. He was with me, holding my arms, holding my cardboard, giving me strength...and He would have to once again hold my arms on Sunday morning.

Sunday morning came and after the skit was over, a few women told me that they also had gone through abortions. One woman in particular had never told anyone about it until that moment. God allowed this woman to free herself from her secret by telling another woman! These women were now aware that they were not alone! Not only was it important for them to know that they were not alone in their sin, but that they are never alone if they are in Christ.

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." (Isaiah 41:10)...For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

Since the cardboard testimony skit, God has repeatedly brought the subject of abortion up in my life. As a Christian, I am to minister to others, but I also need to allow God to heal the sorrows of my life before Christ. It is a process of discovering that through Christ I can be free from the chains of my past. When we come to Christ, He begins this process of showing us how to become whole, how to change. Yes, I have suffered consequences from my sins, but my sins have been forgiven.

"Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool." (Isaiah 1:18)

I am continually learning what the fullness of this forgiveness means… To truly be free!

As an artist, through the gifts of creativity God is showing me how He is restoring my life. I have never been one to simply "paint a pretty picture." Since coming to Christ, I have tried to create with intention - to somehow use my art for healing and allow God to work through me to help others. I am also learning how to worship through the process of creating my artwork, as well as sending a message through the final piece.

A year ago, I created a piece of art titled "LifeLine". I did not know when I started creating this piece, what the finished artwork would be. That is always exciting - to create having a simple idea and then having it explode before me. And, what I see is that God had an intention all along. He knew what the final piece would be. He knows what we will be in our finality, as well. It's up to us to allow Him to use us in the process of creating His masterpiece - us.

God is the master artist. He created all things new and with full intention of its final purpose. As an artist, it is challenging to be in a world that is very postmodern - meaning “my intention/truth may not be your intention/truth.” “We may all be the product of a giant’s dream”...and so on. This type of thinking for an artist is one that allows the viewer to dictate what their art is and what it means to the point that the viewer "tells" the story rather than the artist who created it. As a Christian however, I understand that there is an absolute truth, but absolute truth has no place in this postmodern world and that is the caveat. I know the Creator has a specific reason and definition in mind. The viewer can disagree if they want, but it will still be fact. It will still be the truth. Why it was created and what it means can only come from the creator - the creator of a painting or the ultimate Creator of all.



Descriptive elements within the painting "LifeLine:"

The Heart is a stylized representation of a fleshly heart.
(Ezekiel 36:26) I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
God can take away the hurt and the walls we put up when we keep a sin like abortion locked inside. What is the function of a heart? It controls physical life, pumping life-saving blood - without it we can't survive physically.

Spiritually however, the heart is deceitful!
(Jeremiah 17:9) The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
During this time of hiding what we have done, we can listen to our deceitful hearts telling us that no one will understand, God could never forgive this sin, I feel so ashamed, I can never tell another...

But it tells us in the Bible that our heart can be changed and it can be made new!
(2 Corinthians 5:17) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. We can now begin a new life in Christ Jesus who does not condemn.
(Romans 8:1) There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…

The plastic babies represent life and aborted babies.

The plastic flowers as well as the abstractly painted flowers which are intermixed with the babies cover over and hide the ugliness of abortion with the prettiness of falsely promoting the "rights of the mother."

Band-Aids represent themselves. Society has covered over this hurt by changing the very definition of the act of abortion by simply making this a choice rather than show what it truly is - the taking of a human life. A tiny Band-Aid can not mend the hurt of abortion - only Christ can.

There are smashed soda cans which represent a throw away society. Aborted babies thrown away, discarded.

The color or lack of color creates a mundane feeling. Muted colors of browns and creams, the only colors being the flowers and the red cord.

The words "Viable Existence" reside within the heart. The definition: capable of living, growing, developing, working and existing.

The word Life is scattered across the painting. We ask: What is Life? When does it begin? The world view differs from the Christian view, but then again some Christians argue this point. So what does God say about Life?

(Jeremiah 1:5) “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart...(Psalm 139:13,16) "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb...your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

The painting LifeLine contains a truth, it is an ugly truth - that abortion is sin. But, it is also a painting of redemption. The red cord literally represents a life-line to save. It can be viewed as an umbilical cord which gives life sustaining nourishment to a baby in the womb. It can be the rope attached to a floatation device thrown to one who is drowning. Or, it can be Christ who is the scarlet thread woven throughout the Bible reaching across the entirety of our sin. Christ, the One who gives life and the One who saves those who are dying.

WE ARE FORGIVEN…

Welcome!!!

"And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." Hebrews 10:24-25

Welcome to We Gather Together! I am so excited to be a part of this aspect of Women's Ministry at Calvary Chapel. It is our desire that this blog will help draw and knit us together as a body of believing women, in order to encourage and edify each other and glorify our Lord, Jesus Christ.

So many exciting things are happening for women at Calvary! Bible studies, ministry opportunities, a women's retreat, praise gatherings...it is truly awesome to see the Lord reviving our hearts, even in these times of economic and social uncertainty.

Maybe you're here reading because you're just curious about what a "church blog" would look like. Maybe you're looking for fellowship. Maybe you're new to the body at Calvary Chapel and want to connect with other women. This is a great place to start!

Feel free to share this web address with others in the body. That's what it's here for! Comments are certainly welcome, but don't forget to make that personal connection with each of our writers and reach into each others' lives. Please keep this blog as well as the other aspects of women's ministry in prayer as the coming weeks and months unfold. Exciting things are on the horizon!

~Jen Henze

Emily Denny--Missionary to Spain!

Emily Denny is a middle school English teacher at Northridge Middle School. She is currently serving as a missionary in Spain with One Mission Society for the summer. Below is a brief description of what she is doing as well as important ways you can pray for her through the summer. We’ll continue to update you as the summer progresses of what Emily is doing as well as ways you can continue to prayerfully support her work.
~Jen

Being a teacher gives me a great opportunity to serve the Lord through ministering to the students in my classroom. With all of the challenges and rewards, I love being a teacher. Not only does being a teacher give me the chance to minister to students during the school year, it also opens up my summers for ministry. The past several years, I have been able to use my summer vacations for various ministries. I have been able to work with inner-city youth with Wheeler Mission, to be a counselor for my church’s youth camp, and to serve in various aspects of the ministry of Bambi Lake Retreat Center.

During June and July of this year, the Lord has opened up an opportunity for me to use my love of camping ministry and of teaching English in a cross-cultural setting. Through One Mission Society (OMS), I will be serving in Spain this summer. My time will be split among various cities and activities, including helping a children’s choir as they make of tour of Madrid, Granada, and Motril. I will also be teaching English in Madrid as well as assisting at a youth camp near Guadalajara.

As with any ministry, it is vital to have a group of people to support it through prayer. Some aspects of the trip that I am in need of prayer include...

Maintaining daily time in Bible study and prayer

Traveling to and from Spain in addition to traveling within the country
A smooth transition to a new culture and then a smooth transition to returning home
Increasing dependence on the Holy Spirit for boldness to communicate to the Spanish people about Jesus Christ
Building relationships with the people I meet, including my mentor, Sylvia, and the host family that the Lord will place me in
Opportunities to be an encouragement to the missionaries currently on the field in Spain
Softening of the hearts of people in Spain to receive the gospel

I have been extremely blessed by the support that I received from my church, my family, and my friends. Knowing that I have many people praying for me helps me to enter into this new ministry with hope, courage, and strength. I can only praise God for what He is doing and for the people He has placed in my life. Nothing else in this world can ever come close to the joy of knowing Jesus Christ. Whether in times of difficulty or times of joy, we can stand firm in the knowledge of His love for us. It is my hope that I will continue to learn the depths of this truth as I step into a new country, culture, and ministry.