2024 - April Newsletter

What’s happening in women’s ministry:

• Mom’s with Littles - We are so blessed with the opportunity to open this program as an outreach into our community. God has truly blessed but we need your help. We are in desperate need of childcare help. We have two remaining weeks that we could really use help on Wed, April 17 and Wed, May 15 from 9:30-11:30. If you have two hours you could volunteer, please contact Mallory at [email protected]

• Mentoring - We’re excited at how God is moving in this area for us. Trina and Diane have been faithfully meeting with different ladies and seeking God’s will for our mentoring program. We have some exciting things planned and look forward to sharing more soon!

If you would like to know more about what’s going on in Women’s Ministry or upcoming dates please click here.

DEVOTIONAL – “Freshman Flashbacks”

by Linda Coco

Years ago as a freshman in college, I was invited to a campus bible study. An icebreaker question was posed: What is the most valuable possession you own? Answers varied:

“My car which I drive to class instead of waiting for a bus which means I can sleep in longer.”

“My engagement ring. The diamond has monetary value, but I value what the ring represents: the hope of a godly marriage.”

“My grandpa’s coffee mug. He died a couple of years ago and sipping from it reminds me of joyful summers spent at his cabin.”

As I listened to each person’s answers, some poignant and others practical, I distinctly remember having a moment of panic, not uncommon for introverts suddenly put on the spot and thrust into the spotlight. With no time to ponder a worthy answer, when my turn came to share, I blurted out, “My piano.” I actually didn’t own a piano. My parents did. And although they paid for years of piano lessons, I did not value their investment in me because I dreaded lessons and hardly ever practiced.

From time to time I ponder that question posed years ago. What IS my most valuable possession? Different seasons in life prompted different responses, but a recent incident made crystal clear what I deeply value.

MY BIBLE.

A few weeks ago my husband Joe and I entered the church sanctuary for the 9:00 service. We took our seats (third row from the back near the center doors because I am an introverted creature of habit with an easy exit option!). After a lovely time of worship in song and prayer, I sat down in anticipation of the sermon. I reached for my Bible which I always place to my right. It was not there. I lifted my coat hoping to find in underneath. It wasn’t. I turned to Joe on my left thinking he may have moved it. He hadn’t. I had the urge to bolt upright and search for it outside the sanctuary but didn’t want to create a disturbance.

I was surprised by the angst I was feeling over my missing Bible. It’s not as if I would be left forever bereft of God’s written Word. The church has Bibles galore for congregational use. I also have access to the Bible via my cell phone. But there I forlornly sat mourning my absent Bible which had faithfully accompanied me to church for nearly 30 years.

After the sermon, I backtracked through the church in search of my most valuable possession. Not finding it anywhere, I headed back to the car and was greatly relieved to see my Bible resting on the floorboard. It was lost but now was found! Hallelujah!

Joe and I have thirteen Bibles at home, but this particular Bible of mine has deep sentimental value. In 1996 the youth leader at the church we were attending was handing out student Bibles to everyone in the congregation. I loved the format of that particular version which had commentary peppered throughout. The cover was soft and the pages light for ease of use. I added book tabs and bought a zippered book tote, essentially christening it as my go-to Bible.

My go-to book literally got to go to hundreds of Sunday services, to mid-week studies, to women’s retreats, and through nine years of Bible Study Fellowship (and counting!). It has traveled with me on plane, train and automobile. It has soaked in summer sunbeams on my back deck while I sat soaking in the Son during devotional time. On winter evenings next to the fireplace, that Bible was as comforting as the quilt wrapped around me.

My beloved Bible’s cover is now frayed. The pages are starting to yellow and some of the tabs are torn. Three decades of scribblings and highlighting and underlining embellish the pages. The map section detached from the binding years ago and was relegated to the pocket of my book tote for safe-keeping. Ink from a medium ballpoint pen has bled through in spots (I’ve since switched to fine point pens – those onion-skin pages love to drink ink!).Every color of highlighter has graced the passages along with heart symbols, stars, smiley faces and a few bold exclamation points!

MY BIBLE. My most valuable possession.

It’s like a best friend who lends encouragement and a listening ear, a faithful husband who offers unwavering support, a counselor who gives sage advice, a father who disciplines with love, a child who brings joy. My handwritten notes in the margins are a diary of my life as a Christian, a flashback to my past, a glimpse of my heart’s desires, my hopes and dreams for the future, and my forever-growing love of God. His Word is indeed so very valuable. As 2 Timothy 3:16-17 states, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for very good work.”

As I reflected on that memory from the campus Bible study, another freshmen flashback surfaced. I was blessed to have several Christian women in close proximity in the dormitory we shared. My roommate was a Southern Baptist from Arkansas. The gals next to me were leaders in Campus Crusade for Christ. Diane, the gal on the other side of me invited me to a dorm Bible study and gifted me with a copy of the New Testament. She wrote a sweet sentiment and shared a couple of Bible verses on the inside cover page. I still have that Bible. Its pages are yellowed as is the cellophane lining the cover. Most endearingly, it sports a large smiley face sticker.

The memory of Diane’s gift brought on another sweet flashback. On one particular Sunday evening when the dorm cafeteria was closed and we were left to fend for ourselves for dinner, Eileen, a dorm mate across the hall invited us to her room for take-out pizza and calzones. Several of us readily accepted and as we gathered for a fun meal, I mentioned my cool New Testament gift with the cool cover of a couple running through green pastures. In what seemed like an abrupt change of topic, Eileen asked, “Do you know that song by Neil Diamond “Forever in Blue Jeans”? I looked at her quizzically and responded, “Um, yes?” Eileen giggled and shared, “I thought Neil was singing “REVEREND BLUE JEANS”!

And now, as I sit here reminiscing and chuckling over Eileen’s misheard lyrics, it dawned on me that my beloved go-to Bible is like a pair of go-to blue jeans, the pair you repeatedly reach for because they’re comfortable. Though the denim is faded from many washings and is starting to fray in spots, you love them because they flatter and fit you like a glove. In time the knees of those jeans might wear thin and end up holey, but you’ll keep them and be forever in blue jeans.

And with that silly analogy, I’ve dubbed my favorite Bible my “Blue Jean Bible”. It’s well-worn, well-loved and HOLY!

In closing, I pose the same question asked at the campus Bible study all those years ago. What is your most valuable possession?

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