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Last Thursday was not your typical night at Youth Group. Instead of starting with an action packed (and only slightly dangerous) game, we launched straight into an intro that reviewed what we’d been learning. The past few weeks Thursday Night Live has been digging into the book of James. If you haven’t read James before, it’s an incredibly action focused book. James tells us to let our works show the fruit of our faith. (James 2:18)

As a youth group, we want to follow the commands in God’s word, to let them bring transformation in our lives.

We want youth members to understand that the bible is more than just words on a page; we want our actions to show the changes God is making in our lives. We want TNL teens to see that God’s Word is active and living.

So, we found a way to do that through collecting food for the MCC food pantry by doing “The Great Canned Food Scavenger Hunt 2017”.

This is how it went down: two teams were formed, each with a driver. We piled in cars with instructions to use any legal means we could think of to bring as many non-perishable food items to the church as possible within the 1.5 hour time limit. Extra points were awarded for having the most unusual food item, the largest food item and the most expired food item.

From 6:15 to 7:45, the high school youth group used various methods to relieve the East Mountains of as many canned goods as possible.

Some highlights:

• Marv buying out the canned food aisle at Triangle Grocery store.
• Creative instagram posts for bonus points, which included pig masks and tiaras.
• Arguing about whether canned soup counted as a “prepared meal” for... well way too long… (We finally decided that it did.)

At the end of the night, TNL was able to collect over 150 non-perishable food items.

More importantly, we had an opportunity to represent Jesus to our community, and serve our MCC brothers and sisters, showing the transformation the Holy Spirit is doing in our lives.

Less importantly, my team won the hunt! We’re excited to see where God will lead us to serve next. If you have an idea for a place the youth group could serve, please contact me, Sami Gutierrez.

Individual photo taken by Jasmine Mostrom.

I had never attended a bible study before and had no idea what to expect. Having grown up Catholic, my bible exposure was limited to the first, second and gospel readings during mass. In the Catholic faith we had lots of religious icons:  the rosary, the statues, and the confessional.  I found great comfort in attending church so as I moved when I moved from New York to New Mexico in 1997, I found St. Bernadette’s. Then, when I moved to North Carolina in 2000, I found St. Matthew’s. With yet another move back to New Mexico in 2001, Holy Child was my church.

But, then…. I married a Methodist and my Catholic church attendance quickly came to an end.  I could not have known the way my faith would grow in the coming years.

Fast forward to September 2004; I was a new stay-at-home mother and, having slightly different religious affiliations than my husband, we felt we needed to find a new church home.  We needed a place where we could not only attend church but also set a foundation for our family.

I noticed on the Mountain Christian Church marquis that a Women’s Bible Study was starting and it peaked my interested. But I waited...yes, I drove up and down Route 14 thinking I wanted to attend the Women’s Bible Study but I didn’t feel comfortable enough to stop.

Then, God intervened.

Out of the blue, my neighbor Kelly asked if I wanted to attend that exact study. And I said yes!

It was a decision that would change my life. The study was Jennifer Rothschild’s “Walking by Faith: Lesson learned in the Dark.” During that study I learned so much about faith, from both Jennifer’s book and my group.

I realize now that I was divinely placed in Pam Cravens’ small group. And while I haven’t seen Kelly Odegard since 2005, in the brief time I did know her, she fulfilled her purpose of leading me to a bible study and new church home.  I know that I would not have taken that first step to attend that bible study without her!

You see, even though church was always present in our family growing up; we were literally a dictionary definition of an Italian/Irish Catholic family, attending this bible study taught me about the personal relationship that I could have with Jesus.  While I revered and feared God, ultimately I hoped I could do enough good things to get me into heaven. Salvation looked different from the Catholic perspective. Until that bible study I had no idea about the personal and private relationship with Jesus that was just for me.  

In Jesus I found a friend who consoled, counseled, taught, loved, scolded and humored with me.  Because if you know me, you know He has to have a sense of humor.  

In the inner sanctum of Pam’s small group, we were bound by trust and I found new sisters in Christ. Being in the study was life changing in so many ways!

I was baptized by Frank in 2006 and have been what I like to call “living intentionally Christian” ever since.  Am I perfect?  Ha! Nope.  But I have a personal relationship with Jesus that I didn’t have before and I have been able to share that with my husband and children and anyone else God puts in my path.  

My mission field is not in my church, neighborhood, nor in my circles, but in every day dealings with business colleagues and school activities and with strangers, when I am brave enough.

My involvement in various ministries blossomed, from coordinating the first Food for the Hungry Bolivia sponsorships, to bringing MOPS to MCC, to running the VBS preschool and counting collections monies, to very occasionally playing the flute with the worship team.   

This all happened because I came to Women’s Bible Study.  I have found something here that I didn’t even know was missing and I am eternally grateful for Mountain Christian and all its women opening their arms and hearts to warmly welcome me.

Mothers of Preschoolers, MOPS.  

For me, the name elicits many things. For one, it is the mental image of a frazzled mom with a young child clinging to her side and maybe another strapped to her belly.  It is a weary mother who cannot seem to brush her own hair, though she has brushed her children’s. It is an exhausted momma who tries to keep a clean house, but fails regularly.  It is a woman, a mother, who might be tired, often overwhelmed, certainly underappreciated and likely underpaid.  She works hard, loves deeply, struggles mightily, and fights fiercely for those she loves. But still, too often she neglects her own needs and is left feeling empty.  This is one image I get when I hear Mothers of Preschoolers because…This. Is. Me. But this is only part of the story.

You see, there is another image that comes to mind when I hear the MOPS acronym, one of joy and of challenges shared.

After having attended MOPS for three years I see the image of a community of women and their children coming together to combine their strength, what is remaining of it, to combine their gifts, talents, ideas, and skills.

That together, these women would thrive; their burdens and joys shared!

Each woman content, knowing that there will be days when she is the one being carried through the messiness of life, and other days when she will be the one carrying! Much like Paul shared with the Corinthians, that both our abundance and need be shared.

“Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality—at the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality.”  -2 Corinthians 8: 13-14 (NIV)

Having seen and experienced the beauty of this community, of joys and burdens-shared, between mothers in the East Mountains I know that there is a transformation that happens as God uses a community of women to lift one another up. And as women, once we’ve experienced the hope, gratitude and strength of that generosity, it inspires us.

MOPS is about living lives intertwined.

It is about the hope given to other mothers in the middle of their struggle; whether it be the birth of a new baby, postpartum depression,  or health problems, MOPS moms have risen up to the challenge to provide for not just the basic needs, but also providing hope. 

I’ve seen God in our midst, as we are the served and the servant.

The MOPS community sends the resounding message that we are not alone in this marathon of motherhood and life. 

Instead, we persevere together. Friendship is born from this kind of space.  Stronger women and families emerge from this community because, though it can often feel lonely raising kids in your own home, you know you are not alone.

There are women here who have your back.

Visit MCC's MOPS page to learn more about this ministry.

Last Saturday, I was repotting several plants. I found that, though they looked to be flourishing and beautiful above ground, beneath the surface, the plants were completely root-bound. The roots wound around and through one another making balls so tight they were choking and strangling themselves while rotted and decaying roots threatened the health of the plant.

Simply transplanting to a larger pot would not solve the problem.  I knew I would have to unbind and free the roots for the plant to survive, much less to thrive. Sometimes we have to be drastic. Sometimes we have to cut away the old so that something new can grow.

This root work can be tedious and painful, depending on how root-bound the plant is. When my Nana transplants flowers she uses an old kitchen knife to separate the roots. Like I said, it can be a painful process!

But the simple truth is that no root-bound plant can thrive, just as no person stuck in their past can move forward in their walk with Christ.

As a plant is stuck growing in the same circular pattern, bound by the confines of its pot, we are often stuck in the same negative patterns we have so long lived by.

The sins and decisions we’ve made in the past may not be visible to anyone but ourselves and Christ, but they can continue to grow unseen until we choke the life and the light from ourselves.

But there is a way to thrive. To free the hidden secrets that bind us inside our potted lives.  Like Nana does, we can sever the unhealthy parts and lay them at Christ’s beautiful feet to make way for new and healthy growth. 

We can let our roots run deep by trusting that He has already taken the weight, the shame and the burden of that sin for us.

Colossians 2:13 says, “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.”

What will it take for you and me to thrive? What has to be cut away and laid before Jesus? Our past can be an offering laid before Him, knowing that we trust Him enough to carry the sin, the shame and the burden we have carried for so long.  

By trusting in Him, we can choose instead to carry our cross and to leave our sin behind, paid in full. In Luke 9:23 we are reminded, by Jesus, that

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”

Jesus calls us, daily, to leave our past behind and to embrace a faith-driven, Jesus-filled life.

I want to thrive in Christ. And while I hope it won’t be a painful process, I recognize that there are still things that need to be cut away. Those parts of my past that are preventing my continued spiritual growth.

There is a clear process of renewal that involves pruning the old and decayed so that something new and beautiful can flourish.

I will tackle this; strong in the knowledge that what God has planned for me is good and that He will use the entire process for His glory. Then someday, I can enter His beautiful garden healthy and strong in His image. 

“Your life is a lot like a quilt,” Barb said, “a masterpiece tapestry made by the Master Craftsman Himself, God.”

I was sitting in my kitchen, still in my pajamas, late in the morning, with a coffee cup in one hand and a phone in the other.  My two year-old hanging on my knee.  I thought, “Disordered tapestry, yes. Masterpiece, no.”

Barb Procter has spent years attending, and then facilitating, MCC Women’s Community Bible Studies.  I know she has been where I am now.  But more than that, I want to hear how she survived it.  What had studying the Word meant to her?  How had His presence made these times easier?  How had the relationships she developed, the moments of vulnerability, and the stories she heard from other women during these Bible studies helped her in the day-to-day?

As she spoke, I was reminded of Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose.”

Barb drew a beautiful word picture for me about how it is that God stitches together each experience, memory, and emotion to make something completely unique, completely you.

Yes, your life is like a beautiful tapestry; there might be days it feels more like a dishtowel than a masterpiece, but every single stitch, fabric, color and design are there for a reason.

Barb said, “The Lord weaves our lives together with wonderful colors of bright purple, royal blue, orange sunsets and yes, on occasion, darker colors too.”

While we may wish that every fabric was bright and beautiful, and mourn those dark colors, or hard times, there is a reason for those, too. In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, we are reminded of this when He says, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3).’  Barb reminded me that the tapestry of our lives wouldn’t look the same without these experiences.

I was taking notes as Barb continued, “Our life, this beautiful masterpiece, is a testimony of God’s work, in our lives. The stitches woven throughout our life, our quilt, are His Word; woven into every moment of our days, weeks, and years. It is the strong thread of His Word that holds it, and us, together.”

That image, this word picture, absolutely stuck with me and keeps me wondering what my tapestry will look like when it’s all said and done.  When I stand beside Jesus.

I have to think that it is good to consider where we are at. Are we spending enough time in prayer?  Enough time in the Word that He, our Master Craftsman, might stitch together the broken bits along with the brightest and most beautiful moments, the everyday and mundane?

What might he stitch together to bring something remarkable, Godly, and God-glorifying to and of our lives?

Is God, right now, weaving the experiences of your life together to make a unique tapestry?  Have you welcomed those stitches, the thread that weaves these experiences together, or have there been times when you wanted to pull them out? I’ve done both, sometimes on the same day!

My conversation with Barb has convinced me that there are women here who can help.  My mundane and terrifying is their melody and tenor.  And that the MCC Women’s Community Bible Study is just the place for our washrags to be transformed into tapestry. 

As Barb points me back to God’s constant and unchanging Word, I realize she is an example of how to thrive, not just survive.  My knowing that God is using every moment – even this one- to make a tapestry that I will laugh over, cry over, smile and sometimes mourn over, makes me happy to be His work of art. 

We have four amazing women's Bible studies at MCC going on right now! Today is the perfect day to get involved! Click here to see all the Women's Bible Study options!