Actually, it was a night in the mall, but even THAT is a rare occurrence for these special ladies ~ all of whom are either married to a pastor, or are on staff at one of our church planting network churches. They are an incredible group, and I wanted to make sure they knew it!
We started our evening at 4pm by gathering together, piling into 2 mini-vans, and heading south to one of my favorite local getaways ~ West Hartford, CT.
P.F. Chang’s was our first stop for dinner and dessert.
Cindy (left) is our wonderful worship leader at Mercyhouse, and Jen (right) is the Women’s Ministry leader and administrative assistant at Valley Church ~ our most recent church plant. They are digging into “The Great Wall of Chocolate” here. And don’t worry, they shared the “Great Wall” with at least two others!
The other half of the group shared the “Banana Spring Rolls” ~ complete with coconut-pineapple ice cream and caramel/vanilla sauce!
Introducing….Nichelle, Jennifer, Sarah, Sarah, Christie, Cindy, Mel, and Lois
They were given an assignment a couple of days prior to this outing:
Bring a small object that you can use to illustrate how you are currently doing ~ what life is challenging you with at the moment, etc.
During dinner, we all took turns sharing our objects and catching each other up on our lives. I guess I wasn’t really surprised that there was a common theme….
A small toy firetruck ~
“I’m putting out lots of fires, I need to make sure I’m properly equipped and rested or no one is helped or rescued.”
An iPod ~
“I am overwhelmed with choices and opportunities like the music on here. I lose motivation quickly.”
A glass heart inside of popsicle stick house ~
“I’m struggling with security and contentment. I long for a safe and comfortable home more than ever. My current home feels like its made of popsicle sticks and is crumbling.”
A lavender scented spa pillow/neck warmer ~
“I never stop to rest. I thought that once my time was more structured, I would take better care of myself, but I don’t.”
A broken Mary from a Nativity set ~
“I’m emotionally broken and have been for a while. It’s no fun, but in His grace, the Lord is making me deal with the brokenness now.”
A “Hope” tree ~
“God has been giving me a theme for the year recently. This year He wants to show me Hope. I tend to feel hopeless. He wants me to believe there is hope in all situations.”
A 9-volt battery ~
“This is my guitar battery, and it’s almost dead, but not quite. That’s me. I feel burned out in ministry and its all-consuming nature, but I’m not totally dead yet.”
A running shoe ~
“Life has me running constantly. The treadmill just seems to get faster and faster and I can’t seem to get off. This shoe was a gift from a friend, though, and in gifts like this He shows me He’s sustaining me.”
After each woman shared her “object”, I could hardly wait to give them a gift. From a couple of sources, I was able to pull together a Christmas card with a modest amount of money inside and treat each of these special ladies to a mini-shopping spree! They were HEARTILY encouraged to spend their money THAT night in THAT mall BEFORE we left to head back home. I’m sure many of you can relate to the difficulty of this, when you are so used to only giving to others ~ in ministry to your family and your church. That’s why the hearty exhortation to these sacrificial and humble ladies to treat themselves for at least one evening.
So…..on your marks….get set…..SHOP! They had less than 2 hours to find something.
And almost all of them did! Two of these ladies are pregnant, so it was a little more difficult for them to find something, but I’m hoping that eventually they will.
I can not express how much fun this was for me! Fun to be together with wonderful women, fun to be with them and share burdens and joys, and fun to give them just a slight reprieve from a lifestyle of constantly giving their own lives away for others. I am blessed to know them, and I know the Lord is so pleased by their devotion to furthering His kingdom here in our little happy valley.
Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain,
But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
Give her the product of her hands,
And let her works praise her in the gates.
But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
Give her the product of her hands,
And let her works praise her in the gates.
Proverbs 31:30-31
THANK YOU for organizing this, Mel. And for the spending money 🙂 It was a wonderful evening.
Wow! What an amazing night! I am almost in tears reading, and knowing how encouraging this must have been for these women! You've given me a few ideas that I can use to hopefully encourage some wives! Thanks Melanie!
sounds like an amazing night.. how very special it must have been for ALL of you!
What a beautiful idea, Melanie! Thanks for sharing about it.
Hi Anika! So glad you stopped by! 🙂 It was a fun night for all of us ~ hope you are well!