It's the most wonderful time of the year!

“ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord” Luke 2:9-11'

Dear ladies, 

Christmas time is here. You can see it everywhere. At the mall with the christmas carols, christmas commercials on  TV, lot’s of sales and all the extra chilly weather. 

Another women’s connection group went to a tea house for Christmas. We are having a party and it is going to be special because we are celebrating Jesus Christ was born.   But He did not stay a baby but he grew to be a man, live a perfect sinless life, died in the cross for our sins, and arose from the death. 

As Christmas arrives a new year also is around the corner. Be excited because God always has the best for His children as we walk in His will and and love His ways. We might not always understand His ways or His will but he commands us not to be trouble but to trust and obey Him.  I have found that is not always easy but things always turn out better for me when I give them over to Him and simply trust.

Casey and I had the opportunity this past Sunday to give Sarah our connection group gift. She was super happy and very surprised. Bellow the picture if you can’t see the attachment click on the link. 

Love, 
Carla 

Christmas Party

Hey girls,

How was your thanksgiving? My thanksgiving was very nice and relaxing. 

This Friday is our last session of the book of Esther. Then we are having a PARTYYYYYYY on the Dec 10th. celebrating Christmas. I know some of you have hubbies deployed so I definitely want to have this get together to support and pray for each other.  

Our Christmas Connection Group party is going to be at 10:15 am and we are going to have a lot of food, games, and fun. But there is something else I want to add and that is a time of sharing and testimony. Very simple if you want to you can share what the Lord has done in this year in your life and your family and what are your resolutions for 2011 if you have any. 

By the way I still have Sara’s gift at one of the church’s offices because I haven’t see her to give it to her. So anyways just letting you know. Instead of thanksgiving gift is going to be christmas gift  LOL. 

Anyway, I love you all and I will see you on Friday 

Carla

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; though its ⁽waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride.” Psalm 46:1-3

Ugly cry

Hello girls,

Question: 

Have you ever had an ugly cry in public? 

If you have we can share it on Friday. We saw that queen Esther had a very ugly cry in front of her husband “The King”.(Esther 8:3)

God moved in an amazing way in Esther’s story.  So to Him be all the glory.  At times we feel like we have done great things for people because we have let God use us in His plan. 

This week I called the lady we are going to prepare the “baby basket”  to see how she was doing and to find out how old her baby boy is and what diaper size He is and to make sure she was going to be there this Sunday. 

So here is the list:

baby food

formula

diapers (size 4 or 5)

wipes

Please I don’t want you go out of your budget to buy something. If you can bring something that is good and if you can’t that is OK. I know we all have children and families. It is just a show of love for her. All these perishable things are going to be a great help for her. 

So I’ll see all on Friday. 

Carla

I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise!

Hello girls, 

Can you believe we are almost at the end of our Bible study on “Esther”? All I can say, so far, is that I have been experiencing an amazing blessing from the Lord studying the Bible along with all of you. The fellowship between us reminds me that friendship is truly a gift from God. 

                                    Psalm 18:3-6, 16-19

3 I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,

and I am saved from my enemies.

4 The cords of death entangled me;

the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

5 The cords of the grave coiled around me;

the snares of death confronted me.

6 In my distress I called to the LORD;

I cried to my God for help.

From his temple he heard my voice;

my cry came before him, into his ears

16He reached down from on high and took hold of me;

he drew me out of deep waters.

17He rescued me from my powerful enemy,

from my foes, who were too strong for me.

18They confronted me in the day of my disaster,

but the LORD was my support.

19He brought me out into a spacious place;

he rescued me because he delighted in me.

I love knowing God is taking care of us. It makes me feel confident and secure. We are His precious treasure, His love for us is perfect. Just as God help queen Esther in a situation that seemed impossible to resolve God can help us with anything. 

Friday, November 26th we are not going to have our connection group. If you would like, you can be apart of the Ronald McDonald House outreach that afternoon.  Let me know if you have any questions. We will be serving dinner for the families in the hospital. 

Love you all!! 

Carla

Esther-Chapter 6

Hello girls,

I am thrilled for our connection group every Friday and I am looking forward to seeing you all and to see what God has in store for us as we study this weeks lesson together.   

Don’t forget we start at 10:15 am. We are going to meet at the fellowship hall this Friday. Mandy volunteered to bring the refreshments.  Michelle is faithfully helping us with the childcare in the nursery. 

So here is something for you to think about and we share our answers on Fridays. 

List four words you could use to complete the sentence. 

I’d much rather endure __________ than humiliation.

We are in chapter 6 of the book of Esther. This coming Friday we are going to have a blast and see how God always comes to the rescue in His perfect timing. God is Never late! 

Praying for all of you!

Love,

Carla 

Do not fear.

Hello Girls,

“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 41:20

Last Friday was an awesome session focusing on our fears. Who better to represent the fears of a woman than queen Esther from the Bible.

Who hasn’t experience the fear of not knowing what the future holds? A fear of not being a good mom, good wife or whatever circumstance you are going through. At times there may be fears in your heart that you feel like you can't tell anyone but God.

To trust God is a decision we have to make. God sometimes puts us through situations where the only thing we can do is to trust Him with all our mind, heart, and soul. He does this so we can have that peace and let him do the work in us and around us. 

So woman do not fear because God is with you!!!! This is a promise we have from Him. 

Don’t forget to do your study on Esther. I wish I could put all the great things God is speaking to me this week of study in this blog but I gave you just a little glimpse so you can check your study books.

TOMORROW is the Harvest Festival. A lot of candies and games. 5:45 pm.

Hope to see you there. 

For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." So we may boldly say: "The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?"Hebrews 13:5-6

Love you all, 

Carla Sparks

Women's Connection Group

Hey girls,

 Every week I tell myself I am going to drop some lines to the ladies of my connection group and let them know I am praying for them and I love them. For some reason I always ended writing over a couple paragraphs. So much comes to my mind =). I am girl so it is ok. 

 I hope you are preparing your hearts for our class tomorrow because it is going to be great. So Thea asked last Friday “Why Mordecai did not change his clothes and entered to see the  Queen Esther?” In your day no. 2, Pag 88 you can see the answer to that question.

 If you are a little behind or very behind in your studies please don’t let that stop you from coming to the connection group. Doing our daily bible study is a personal blessing that I wouldn’t want you to miss but you can always start where you are. Our last class and this week's bible study is “It’s tough being a woman thrown a giant size weight”. 

 So here is a question for you to meditate on and we can share the answers tomorrow in our chit-chat before the video.

Has God ever allowed a threat of trouble in your life to drive to your knees? If so, what did yo learn    through that experience? 

 This session Beth shared a song with us and I hope you liked on the day No.5 “Miracle of the Moment” by Steve Curtis Chapman’s This moment CD. Check out the video. 

Love, 

Carla Sparks