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Jennifer's schedule has been very busy with
writing and traveling, so this week we pulled one
of our favorite articles from the archive to share
with you. It was originally published in October
of 2004, but we know that you will be blessed by
the timeless reminder.
I just returned from speaking at a wonderful
women’s event in Dallas, Texas. I always enjoy
meeting my sisters in Christ -- each unique, each
interesting, and each reflecting a different and
beautiful attribute of our Savior.
As the book signing line drew to a close, a
lovely woman from Louisiana placed her newly
purchased book before me. As I asked for her name,
she wiped away tears and quietly replied, “My name
is Jeannie. But I must tell you about my husband
Bruce.”
I laid down my pen as I listened to my new
friend. With a quiver in her voice she recounted
that her husband Bruce was injured by a bullet
when he was only eighteen. Because of this
terrible injustice, Bruce became a quadriplegic.
She spoke with admiration of his steadfast
faith, his deep contentment, and his abiding
peace. As she painted a lovely word portrait of
her soul mate, I was captivated. The eyes of my
heart could see the beauty of our Savior in her
words. At that point, I too was wiping away
tears. And then, her final remarks made me wish I
wore water proof mascara!
She told me that over the years, her husband
had heard many kind and empathetic comments from
friends and strangers alike. Comments such as, “I
bet you can’t wait to get to heaven so you can
walk -- then, you’ll be able to run, and even
jump!”
Jeannie confided that Bruce’s tender and
wistful response to her was, “I’m not so
interested in getting to heaven so I can walk, or
run, or jump. I look forward to heaven because
then -- I will be able kneel.”
I was humbled by the words of a meek and grateful
servant whom I have never met. I was inspired by
his equally humble and faith-filled wife.
Often we long for our bodies to be healed, our
circumstances to be changed, and our sorrows to be
alleviated. Why? So we can walk, run, and jump. So
we can be free and unencumbered.
But, what if, like Bruce, our motivation for
deliverance and healing was to be able to kneel --
to bow before our Savior in worship.
Oh, may I have a deep longing to kneel. May my
longing to kneel always be deeper than my longing
to be healed. When I bend my knees and bow my
heart, that is when I can walk by faith, run and
not grow weary, and, yes, jump for joy!
Until my brother Bruce gets to kneel for
himself, this sister in Christ will kneel humbly
and gratefully on his behalf. I will worship our
Savior with a renewed sense of privilege, and, I
bet you will too. Thank you Jeannie and Bruce, for
exposing our deepest longing.
O come, let us worship and bow down:
let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
Psalm 95:6
First, let me say that you girls are too
much fun! I (Robyne) received as many emails
commenting on the pink shoes in the picture, as I
did suggestions for developing the theme!
We asked you to take the following theme and
develop it into an event...
Theme Idea: In Step With the Spirit Scripture Reference: Gal 5:25 Description/decor: Shoe theme in hot pick,
lime green, black & white
... and here are some of the creative ideas
you sent in!
From Kathleen ...
I would plan a fashion show as a community
outreach and witnessing tool. But I would make
sure that the shoes take center stage.
Shoe choice represents a lot in our lives.
Do we wear comfortable flats that allow us to get
to where we're going quickly? (Wearing comfortable
"shoes" allows us to keep in step with the Spirit.
There are things in our lives that slow us down
and distract us from our walk)
Do we love to wear the 3" heels? (When we stand
tall, we are able to look above and beyond the
things of this world and are able to see ahead to
God's promises)
Do we rid our feet of our shoes as soon as we get
home and slide into a pair of comfy slippers?
(Keeping in step with God is just like those
comfortable slippers - being with God should be a
comfortable, well worn fit. God can give us the
warm fuzzies!)
Possibly our preference is a barely-there sandal.
(We should let others see who we really are - see
God through our walk as our feet show through the
sandals.)
So, as we watch the fashion show, the clothing is
described and then someone talks briefly about
God's promises if we walk with the Spirit. (using
each shoe type as a basis for that portion of the
talk)
I possibly would talk to a local podiatrist to
find out about care of our feet - just as we
should take care of our spiritual lives. Possibly
a table can be set up with information on foot
care. We need to be ready to walk the walk.
Gifts might be lotions meant for the feet or
soothing tablets for the bath for our feet. I've
also seen adorable notepads in the shape of shoes.
Desserts could be cookies cut out in the shape of
shoes or the shape of a footprint.
Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step
with the Spirit.
Oh my gosh - I think we'll try this one!
_________________________________________
From Beth... Talk/Lesson: You could have different types
of shoes available (tennis shoes, high heel shoes,
work boots, high top shoes or boots and ones that
don't cover much, dress shoes, etc., etc.). Use
each type of shoe to illustrate the different
kinds of walks we have with Christ as people or in
different times of our life.
Example 1: Dress Shoes - when we want our
Christian walk to look good but does not have much
support and when we do this it makes it harder to
walk just like being in high heel dress shoes.
Example 2: Work shoes/boots when we really put are
whole self into our work for God and don't care
how nice we look - not afraid to get in there and
really work.
Example 3: Old Tennis Shoes - don't care how we
look but are comfortable in our walk with God. Our
relationship is trust worthy and supportive just
like an old pair of tennis shoes.
Example 4: High top shoes (could go either way
with this example) - in our Christian walk we try
to cover too much up in our Christian walk, don't
want people to see the real us, hide behind our
religious words/deeds. Or you could go with high
top shoes representing when we are completely
covered by God and His Word.
Example 5: You could even have shoes in different
colors (white, black, green, red & yellow) to tell
the plan of salvation.
Game 1: You could have a really big pair of
shoes or a pair that might be difficult to walk in
for most women and do a race where women form a
couple teams and have to take turns walking in
these shoes (maybe doing something while they are
in them) and see which team finishes first. Could
illustrate what happens when we try to walk the
Christian walk acting like someone else or taking
on things that don't fit us (not our spiritual
gift).
Game 2: Everyone take off their shoes and
put them in a big stack. Then form two teams and
women have to run down and find their shoes, put
them on and run back, then next person goes. First
team to finish wins.
Game 3: Have teams where you go two at a
time and try to put on each other's shoes. When
you are done the next pair of women to this and so
on until one team finishes. First team to finish
wins. This illustrates the importance of walking
together/working together to get through life.
Gifts/Prizes: Get little shoes on a key
chain to give away. Or for bigger prizes give a
gift certificate or more than one to a shoe store.
_________________________________________
From Cynthia...
So many times we judge others, and its not until
we walk in their shoes do we truly comprehend what
they are going through...so I think I would
decorate with black tablecloths and spring
colors...have the shoes on the table...Talk about
when the spirit of God takes us down paths, we are
not to judge, because we may be in their shoes
someday...
_________________________________________
From Laura...
I am new to this web site and I love to create
ideas so... I immediately thought that at 40
something plus, I could never wear those heels!
But when I looked at the theme: "Keeping in step
with the Spirit," I thought I CAN do that!
So I would propose that you have heels of varying
styles and heights symbolizing the different
stages in our life and in our Christian walk. Life
changes and so do our heels, but the most
important thing is the next step.
_________________________________________
From Joy...
This looks familiar! Last year for our annual
women’s tea, our theme was “If the Shoe Fits.” Our
colors were hot pink, lime green, black and white.
The only difference so far was that our theme
verse was Ephesians 6:15.
Each year our church hosts an outreach tea the
Saturday after Mother’s Day where approximately
300 women attend. Each table hosts 10 women and
the hostess of that table decorates it however
she’d like. So we have 30 tables in our worship
center that are uniquely different and very
beautiful! We give the women time to go around and
look at all the beautiful tables before we begin
our program for the afternoon. When the program
begins, we have an opening welcome, then lunch and
tea. This is typically followed by a skit that a
gal from our church writes. Then our speaker
(sometimes a women from our church, sometimes an
outside speaker) shared. We then had dessert and
tea and finished up with special music and prayer.
One of our ladies took a black and white picture
of a pair of black high heeled shoes on a white
quilt background and enhanced it with light pink
on the inside of the shoe. That was used for our
posters, the cover of our brochure and our
programs. We also displayed a large portrait of
the same picture on a large easel in the foyer. We
decorated with hot pink daisies around the picture
throughout the stage area in large vases. At the
dollar store in town we found gift bags with
pictures of shoes on them, and guess what colors
the bags were? Black, white, and pink. We used
those with hot pink tissue paper and green tissue
paper in them around the registration table for
decorations and in other parts of the tea area.
_________________________________________
From Denise...
I went to Jacksonville, Florida for a conference
and they used a similar theme! One thing they did
was buy $1 flip flops for everyone to decorate and
take home with them. I have seen some cute napkins
and centerpiece ideas using the high heels and
bright colors.
There are soooo many directions you could go with
this theme. It can be used for a retreat, a ladies
night out at church, a girl's get-together in a
home or restaurant, or an all night slumber party.
Have some of your ladies share what they have
learned about walking in step with God and living
by the Holy Spirit's power. Perhaps, you can have
5 short testimonies on how they have learned to
submit and walk with God - emotionally,
physically, socially, intellectually, and
vocationally. As daughters of the King, we need to
keep in step with Him and let Him determine our
values and standards in " such a time as this".
(Esther 4:14)
_________________________________________
Wow! Ladies, thank you for sharing your great
ideas! It was so much fun to see the variety of
responses we received. And for those of you who
want a pair of the shoes in the picture...sorry,
they're mine! :)
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